1. Here is represented the State of the Body after Death 2. The State of the Soul 1. The State of the Body it shall be resolved into the Matter out of which it was made Dust it was in its Composition and Dust it shall be in its Dissolution Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was 2. The State of the Soul in the other World And the Spirit shall return to God that gave it Where 1 st The Nature of it or what kind of Substance the Soul is it is a Spirit or an immaterial Substance 2 dly The Author of it who is God he gave it he gave us the Body too but the Soul in a more especial manner 3 dly The Disposal of it or in what State it remaineth after Death it returneth to God It is not extinguished when the Body is dissolved into Dust nor doth it vanish into the Air but returneth to God All true Wisdom consisteth in the Knowledg of God and our selves We cannot know our selves unless we know the Parts of which we do consist This Text giveth you a right Notion of them both for it telleth you what they are and what shall become of them They are conjoined but distinct And therefore when the Union betwixt them is dissolved they go several ways We are concerned in them both but more in the Soul which hath the Preheminence above the Body The one is visible and therefore its Changes are known but the other is invisible and therefore more unknown but the State of both is equally certain for as certainly as the Body returneth to the Dust so doth the Soul return to God First For the first Branch Then shall the Body return to the Earth as it was I shall not stay upon it 1. It giveth you the right Notion of the Body it is but Dust moulded up into a comely Shape which is an Effect of God's Wisdom and Power to make such a curious Frame out of the Dust of the Ground We read in the History of the Plagues of Egypt that the Magicians were not able so much as bring forth Lice out of the Dust of the Ground Exod. 8.18 19. But God could raise such a beautiful Structure as Man's Body is But though it speaketh God's Power yet it sheweth our Frailty Our Body is here called Dust it is not Brass or Iron or Stone or stiff Clay but Dust and shall return to the Earth as it was Dust hath no Coherence or Consistence but is easily scattered with every Puff of Wind so is our earthly or dusty Tabernacle with every blast of God's Displeasure Gen. 18.27 Behold now I have taken upon me to speak to the Lord who am but Dust and Ashes Isa. 40.15 Behold the Nations are as a Drop of the Bucket and they are counted as the small Dust of the Ballance 2. What shall become of it It shall return to the Earth as it was Gen. 3.19 Dust thou art and unto Dust shalt thou return Psal. 104.29 Thou takest away their Breath they die and return to their Dust. Psal. 146.4 He returneth to his Earth Which should teach us to take Care for a better Estate 2 Cor. 5.1 For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a Building of God an House not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens The Soul dwelleth now in an earthly House it should look out for a more glorious Mansion Secondly Of the Soul three things are spoken which are so many Arguments to prove its Immortality which is the Subject I mainly intend 1. The kind of it it is a Spirit The Matter of which the Body is made is the Earth and so it is still maintained He bringeth forth Food for them out of the Earth Psal. 104.14 And so breedeth and casteth out Corruption every Day but the Soul is a simple Substance not compounded of corruptible Principles and therefore cannot be resolved into any The Body liveth by the Soul and from the Soul but the Soul dependeth upon nothing but God The Argument is good it is incorporeal and immaterial therefore immortal for Mortality hath Reference to some compounded Substance which hath in it self some Principle and Cause of Motion as well as a material and passive Part that may be moved by that Principle and signifieth no more but a Capacity of the material and passive Part to be deprived of the inward and active Principle of its Motion In short if the Soul die it must be from the Violence of some external Power or some Principles of Corruption within not by Violence without Matth. 10.28 And fear not them which kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul And it hath no Principles of Corruption whereby it should destroy it self for it is a Spirit 2. The Author God gave it our Bodies are also his Workmanship but the Soul is immediately framed by God both in the first Creation and the continual Propagation of Mankind At the first Creation we read the Body was created out of the Earth or the Dust of the Ground but the Soul out of nothing but immediately breathed into Adam by God Gen. 2.7 And the Lord formed Man out of the Dust of the Ground and breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life and Man became a living Soul And still the Soul is immediately created by God Zech. 12.1 He stretcheth forth the Heavens and laid the Foundation of the Earth and formeth the Spirit of Man within him The creating of the Soul is reckoned among the Works of his Omnipotency Heb. 12.9 Furthermore we have had Fathers of our Flesh which corrected us and we gave them Reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits The Fathers of our Flesh are distinguished from the Father of Spirits Our natural Parents under God are the Instruments of our natural and earthly Being as they procured the Matter out of which our Bodies were derived they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Fathers of our Flesh but God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Father of our Spirits The Spirit of Man runneth not in the material Channel of fleshly Descent it is not educed out of the Power of the Matter but immediately made by God 3. The Disposal of it When it flitteth out of the Body it returneth to God that is to God as a Judg to be disposed of by him into its everlasting Estate God challengeth Souls as his or belonging to his Government as universal King and Judg of the World Ezek. 18.4 All Souls are mine He will give to every one according to his Works adjudging and sentencing them either to Heaven the Mansion of the Blessed or Spirits of just Men made perfect Heb. 12.23 or to Hell the Place where damned Spirits are kept in Prison 1 Pet. 3.19 He went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison The Body is not said to return to God but to return to the Earth as it was but
thee pray to God for us that he take away the fiery serpents In Adversity Men will own the faithful Servants of God against whom they have murmured when all is well Moses forgetteth the injury and prayeth to God for them and God though he doth not take away the Serpents yet he provideth a Remedy unlikely in appearance a Brazen Serpent to cure the bites of Living Serpents but Divine Institution conveyeth a Blessing The word of Command is that they should look upon the brazen serpent and the word of Promise is that they should be healed Numb 21.8 Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole and it shall come to pass that every one when he is bitten that looketh upon it shall live This is in short the History Secondly The Mistery or Typical use of the Brazen Serpent The chief things represented in it are Sin Christ and Faith the deadliness of Sin the manner of our deliverance by Christ and the Nature of Faith 1. Israelites deadly Sin and Misery occasioned the setting up of the Brazen Serpent so the occasion of Christs sending into the World was Mans Sin and Misery we being all bitten by the old Serpent and so liable to the Curse The Devil is called the old serpent Rev. 12.9 And in the appearance of a Serpent he deceived our first Parents Therefore we read that the serpent beguiled Eve 2 Cor. 11.3 Humane Nature was then stung to Death by Sathan and the Venome dispersed its self throughout the whole Race of Mankind Among the Israelites there were but a few stung here all there their Bodies here the Soul there Temporal Death followed here Eternal In the Sting of these fiery Serpents two things representeth our Misery by Sin 1. It is painful 2. Deadly 1. This Sting is painful The bitings did presently cause pains and an intolerable thirst and burning which was very grievous to them so the sting of Sin is painful not alwaies felt but soon awakened In Spiritual things we are more stupid and are not so sensible of the Maladies of the Soul as they were of the pains of the Body We are subject to bondage Heb. 2.14 Though we do not alwaies feel actual horrour There is a fire smothering in our Bosoms though it be not blown up into a Flame One of our Spiritual Diseases is a Lethargy and it is a great part of our Misery not to know our Misery If Conscience were not lulled asleep we would be more sensible Surely Sathans bites are more painful than those of these Serpents his Darts are called fiery darts Eph. 6.16 His Darts are dipt in the gall of Asps and Vipers Boiling Lusts will in time awaken raging Fears and Despair O what horrour and torment will Sin procure to us if it be not speedily cured Sin is an Evil and a Mischief whether we feel it yea or no but we shall soon feel it an Evil as the stung Israelites felt the biting of the Serpents Sin in the Life will make Hell in the Conscience it seemeth a sweet draught while we are taking it down but there is rank poison at the bottom A wounded Spirit findeth it now Prov. 18.14 A wounded spirit who can bear Horrour and anguish of Conscience is insupportable ask any Man whose Heart is well awakened and he will tell you that the sense of the guilt of Sin is more bitter to the Soul than the gall of Asps no terrour comparable to the terror and sting of an accusing Conscience Gods terrors are compared to a Fire that drinketh up the Blood and Spirits Iob 6.4 The arrows of the almighty are within me the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me No poison more burning than Sin in an awakened Conscience it may lie asleep till you come to dye in Sin stupid and benummed Creatures But then the sting of death is sin 1 Cor. 15.56 Death is made terrible by those sad horrors and apprehensions which Sin raiseth in us 2. This Sting is deadly As the biting of the Fiery Serpents could not be cured but was present Death till God found out a Remedy so this sting of Sin is deadly Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Gen. 2.17 In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye dying thou die Rom. 6.23 The wages of sin is death Death Temporal Eternal Thou art a dead Man lost for ever if thou art not cured Those who were not solicitous about their Cure are a figure of the impenitent who obstinately continue in their Sins though they bring destruction upon them Not only Death Temporal which consists in the separation of the Soul from the Body but Death Spiritual which consists in an estrangement from God as Author of the Life of Grace yea Death Eternal which consists in a separation both of Body and Soul from the presence of God for evermore and is a perpetual living to deadly pain and torment This Second Death is set forth by two solemn Notions the worm that never dyeth and the fire that shall never be quenched Mark 9.44 By which is meant the Sting of Conscience and the Wrath of God Prov. 8.36 All they that hate me love death 2. Christ is set forth by the Brazen Serpent Here I shall shew you 1. The Resemblances 2. The Superexcellency of Christ above this and all the Shadows and Types of him 1. The Resemblance between Christ and the Brazen Serpent 1. The Brazen Serpent was a Remedy of Gods own prescribing out of his great Mercy So is this Remedy for lost Sinners the meer Fruit of Gods Love Iohn 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son the causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Occasion or outward moving Cause was our Misery the causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inward impulsive Cause was his own love and pity to lapsed Mankind God found out the Remedy we neither plotted it nor asked it he saw the world of Mankind was perishing and involved in Eternal Ruine and because there was no Intercessor therefore his own Arm wrought out Salvation Herein the Antitype differeth from the Type The stung Israelites having Death in their bosoms go to Moses Moses goeth to God for he saw there could be no help elsewhere then God said Make thee a brazen serpent The motion came from them first but here it is quite otherwise God is the offended Party yet he maketh the first motion 1 Iohn 4.19 We love him because he loved us first There God found out the Remedy but here his meer love began the whole business and did set at work all the Causes that did concur to our Salvation we neither minded our Danger nor asked our Remedy 2. The conveniency of this Type to set out the low Estate and Humiliation of Christ. The form of a Serpent was chosen to shew
deceived that embraced the Christian Religion that took such Pains in subduing the Flesh so freely hazarded their Interests and Life it self on the Promises of Christ and the Hopes of another World Are the wisest Men the World ever saw Fools and the Ordinances of Christ a customary Superstition and these Rejoicings and Foretastes of the Children of God a meer Deceit and Imposture Surely it cannot be Therefore this is true that the Soul dieth not with the Body but is in that Estate into which God disposeth it II. By the Light of Reason First I shall urge such Arguments as the Scripture directeth us to 1. From the Nature of the Soul it is a Spirit and such a Principle of Life as hath Light in it John 1.4 In him was Life and the Life was the Light of Men. The Soul of Man differeth from the Soul of a Beast for that hath only Life and Sense in it but this hath Light and therefore was designed to more noble and glorious Ends than merely to quicken and enliven the Body The Soul of the Beasts is mortal because it is created only to serve the Body and knoweth nothing desireth nothing delighteth in nothing but what belongeth to the Pleasure and Welfare of the Body But now the Soul of Man apprehendeth things past present and to come is capable of Tongues Arts and Sciences and things abstract from bodily Sense it can discourse about God Angels and all kind of spiritual Beings about Eternity and Immortality and propound and debate Questions and Doubts concerning the World to come The Beasts look only to their Food and the Propagation of their Kind they know nothing and can conceive nothing of Man's Affairs But now Man's Soul is not only capable of being enobled and improved by Moral Vertues and such things as fit us for Humane Society but is capable also of Conformity to God by being made holy and upright and of Communion with him in holy Duties and Acts of Grace 1 John 1.3 And truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. The Beasts desire not the Company of Men as we do of God and of the blessed Spirits In short there is a greater Affinity between the Souls of Men and Angels than between the Souls of Beasts and Men Psal. 8.9 Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels Well then can it be imagined the Souls of Men furnished with such Capacities of Understanding are nothing but a little Puff of Air that is dissipated in dying or a little vital Heat that is extinguished with the Corporeal Matter or only the Vigour of the Blood That Soul that can so much soar aloft above the Interests and Concernments of the Body and take such a marvellous Delight and Contentment in spiritual things as the view of all manner of Truths must that follow the State of the Body Shall that Creature that cometh so near the Angels die like the Beasts or rather become like the Angels of God that always behold his Face Yea that Creature that draweth so near to God in the Majesty of his Person and the Abilities of his Mind that was created after God's own Image and for the Worship and Service and Enjoyment of God shall he die as the Beasts that perish It cannot be imagined 2. The Scripture mentions Words that imply its Independance upon the Body or that it doth not so wholly depend on the Body that it cannot subsist and act without it they go several ways as in the Text. 3 John â— 2. I wish above all things that thou maist prosper and be in Health as thy Soul prospeâ—eth 2 Cor. 4.16 For which cause we faint not but though our outward Man perish yet the inward Man is renewed Day by Day And Experience teacheth the Truth of these things that the Body and Soul seem sometimes to have no Communion with one another so different are their Functions and Offices You shall often see Men decrepit in all the Members of the Body who yet have the Motions of their Minds as strong and as nimble as when in perfect Health and when they are upon the Borders of Death without Vigour and Pulse their Understandings are more sublime than before and their Thoughts more refined It is true the Indispositions of the Body clog the Soul in things that are to be acted by the Body but in what the Soul acteth apart in the midst of Aches and Pains their Strength of Mind is entire and their Comforts never more raised than in bodily Weakness Therefore it lives and acts apart from the Body 3. The Scripture directs us to this Argument that this is the general Perswasion of all Mankind that there is a Life after Death and it instanceth in that that is most sensible and of every Day 's Experience our Desires and Fears 1. Desires The Soul hath a natural desire of Immortality which if it should not enjoy that Desire were in vain but God doth nothing in vain The Apostle intimateth this how Men feel about for something eternal and infinite Acts 17.27 That they should seek the Lord if haply they might feel after him Every Man would be happy and eternally happy for otherwise he would be tormented with a fear of losing that which he counteth his Happiness See Psal. 4.6 Who will shew us any Good Lord lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us Mat. 13.45 â—6 The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Merchant-man seeking goodly Pearls who when he had found one Pearl of great price he went and sold all that he had and bought it John 6.34 Lord evermore give us this Bread Numb 23.10 Let me die the Death of the Righteous Other Creatures besides Man are satisfied with what they have here but the Soul of Man is satisfied with nothing but the eternal Injoyment of what is good an immortal Estate an infinite Good Every one that loveth himself would be happy and if he could everlastingly happy The Saints and those that are taught of God pitch upon the right Way Psal. 17.15 As for me I will behold thy Face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy Likeness But this is the universal Inclination of all Mankind Whence cometh this Desire to be so universal if there be nothing to satisfy it Every natural Appetite was given us for some Purpose and have things designed for their Satisfaction and therefore there is that Immortality we all seek after not in our Bodies they must return to their Earth not in Fancy that is a Sâ—adow this is like the Pleasure which those take that want Children in playing with little Dogs it lieth in the Soul in the eternal Injoyment of God 2. Fears which presage and foretel such an Estate to our great Disquiet Conscience fears a Judgment after this Life Rom. 1.32 Who knowing the Iudgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of Death And a State of Misery to come
Desires till he come again in person to convey us into his Father's Bosom It is a mysterious Instrument and Means God hath found out to convey Comfort and Grace to the Soul to work out a Union between him and the Creature We do not only draw nigh to God but are united to him It is the Beginning and Antipast of Glory so much Christ intimates Mat. 26.29 I will not henceforth drink of the fruit of the Vine until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom It is a Taste of the new Wine we shall drink with Christ those spiritual Consolations we shall receive from him in his Kingdom 7. Keeping the Sabbath-day holy It is a sure mark of an ungodly Person to be a Sabbath-breaker as a conscionableness to celebrate it to God's Glory is both a mark and a work of Godliness It is the description of the godly Eunuch Isa. 56.4 Thus saith the Lord to the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant Mark it is one of the chiefest things that is taken notice of there the observation of God's own Day If you would exercise your selves to Godliness this is a great means Prophaning the Lord's Day is the cause of Prophaneness all the week after and so a careless keeping the Lord's Day is the cause of the Carelesness and Formality you are guilty of in the business of Religion God hath appointed this Day for a repose for the Soul that by a long uninterrupted continuance in Worship it might be more seasoned and fit to converse with God all the week after Dost thou love Christ then observe his Day Ignatius calls it the Queen of Days The primitive Christians were very careful of the Sabbath they would run all hazards rather than not keep the Sabbath-day When they were accused as guilty of Sabbath-violation they would answer I am a Christian how can I choose but love the Lord's Day This is the Day wherein we do most solemnly and publickly profess the Worship of God therefore it is to be celebrated with all care Thus much for the Description of Godliness from the Disposition of the Heart and the Duties about which it is conversant II. I am to speak of the Exercise of Godliness 1 Tim. 4.7 Exercise thy self to Godliness It must be exercised both in Worship and Conversation 2 Pet. 3.11 What manner of Persons ought ye to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness First In Worship What is the part and office of Godliness in Worship 1. There must be a care that it be right God will not be at the Creature 's carving his Honour is best kept up by his own Institutions and therefore he will accept nothing but what he requires The Woman of Samaria as soon as she was converted enquired after the right Worship Christ had convinced her of Lewdness and living in Adultery Iohn 4.18 The Man thou now hast is not thy Husband The great thing that troubled her was her present standing and the Superstition she was nuzled and brought up in ver 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this Mountain and ye say that in Jerusalem is the Place where Men ought to worship Assoon as Men are awakened that is the question they can no longer be content with their ignorant sensless careless ceremonial worshipping of God and say Thus our Fathers did this will not serve the Conscience when it is a little stirred It is said of the People of God Ier. 50.5 They shall ask the way to Sion with their Faces thitherward Sion was the place of God's Residence and solemn Worship and it is the disposition of his People still to be inquisitive after the way to Sion how God is worshipped I speak not this to unsettle Men and to draw them to Scepticism and Irresolution but partly that they might settle upon better grounds than Tradition publick Consent and the Example of Men. Cyprian observes that this is the reason Men are so fickle so inconstant so soon off and on they do not practise those things upon good grounds None so unconstant as they that practise things right and good but not upon Principles And partly that Men may not content themselves with a cheap Worship such as costs them nothing as when they do not enquire about the grounds and reasons of what they do or when they do but even as others do We should be still searching and proving what is acceptable unto the Lord Eph. 5.10 and seek for Knowledg as for Silver and search for her as for hid Treasures Prov. 3.4 It is a thing of great care and exactness to be a Christian to be right in God's Worship Usually Men serve God at random and at peradventure and if they be right it is but a happy Mistake they do not enquire and search and so miss of a great deal of Comfort Settlement and Experience in the Way of God 2. There is required Constancy and Zeal in the Profession of God's Worship This is Religion to be zealous for God's Institutions to contend for the Faith of the Saints and hate what is contrary to right Worship and sound Doctrine Psal. 119.104 Through thy Precepts I get Vnderstanding therefore I hate every false Way And ver 128. Therefore I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false Way This is the effect of the knowledg of the Truth to hate all Falshood Idolatry and Superstition as much as they love God's Institutions that they may not be entangled and so either deceive others or be deceived themselves by the Craft of them that lie in wait for such an Enterprize Whenever they hear or read any such Doctrines the Heart nauseateth them there is a rising of Heart not only against Corruptions of Manners but Falshood of Doctrine But if Men be indifferent come what may come Christ or Antichrist they care not greatly their Religion is worth nothing If you do not hate Heresy and corruption in Worship there is no true Religion or Godliness in you Hereticks and Men in a false way seldom hate one another tho they differ in Principles Why because they have not a love to Truth but those that love the Truth prize the Institutions of God there 's a keen displeasure in their Hearts against any false Way 3. There must be frequency in the practice of it God and their Souls must not grow strangers Things that are not used contract Rust as a Key seldom turned in the Lock turns with difficulty so it will not stand with your spiritual Welfare to omit Duty long Much spiritual Exercise keeps the Soul in Health and sweet as the oftner they drain the Well the sweeter the Water is By running and breathing your selves every day you are the fitter to run in a Race so the oftner you come into God's Presence the greater Confidence and Freedom and Enlargement it will bring The way to be fervent
this as a Reason why Abraham was a Stranger in the promised Land there where he had most right yet he dwelt in Tents Heb. 11.9 10. For he looked for a City which hath Foundations Abraham had other Expectations he did not look upon the walled Cities of the Amorites but upon Heaven that was founded by God himself he had other Thoughts They that live to the World and to the Flesh never tasted what eternal Life means Look as the Israelites longed for the Flesh-Pots of Egypt before they had tasted the Clusters of Canaan so here the Heart is carried out after better things the Soul must have some Oblectation and Delight for Love cannot be idle it is carried out to present things if we know no better See how fitly they are joined together in the Text denying worldly Lusts and looking for the blessed Hope thereby do we come to deny worldly Lusts by looking for the blessed Hope We should soon return to worldly Lusts if we do not often look up and consider what God hath provided for us in Heaven A Man whose Heart is much in Heaven his Affections are preingaged and therefore the World doth him little hurt Birds are seldom taken in their Flight but when they pitch and rest O if we had more of these heavenly Flights if the Soul did mount upward more it would better escape the Snares of worldly things 3. It urgeth to Care Diligence and Constancy in Obedience Hope is the great Spring that sets the Wheels a-going Phil. 3.13 14. Forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward towards those things that are before I press towards the Mark for the Prize of the High-calling of God in Christ. What is the Reason Paul was so earnest that a little Grace would not content him but he was striving for more so earnestly and zealously he was called to injoy a high Prize a glorious Reward There is an excellent Glory set before us this Race is not for Trifles Christians are the more cold and careless in the spiritual Life because they do not oftner think of Heaven The End quickens to the Use of Means as it is the measure of the Means so it sweetens the Means notwithstanding all Difficulty Why because it will bring us to such an End 1 Cor. 15.58 Be ye stedfast unmovable always abounding in the Work of the Lord forasmuch as you know your Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. You can never do enough for the Lord Why Your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. This will make you to be instant and earnest and to hold out to the End in the midst of Difficulties Heaven will pay for all You have no cause to begrudg God any Service though it put the Body to Pains and Labours do not spare it Christ will honour it sufficiently The Apostle hath an Expression 2 Thess. 1.10 That Christ will be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe The Soul will remember the Body as Pharaoh's Butler did Ioseph How in Prayer and Fasting and holy Exercises And when Christ comes to raise the Body he will put so much Glory and Clarity upon it that the Angels shall stand wondring what Christ is about to do with a poor Creature that is but newly crept out of Dust and Rottenness Before a Feast we use to take a Walk There is a World of Glory provided for us in Heaven though the Work of God be painful yet it is very fruitful God will reward you as much as you can desire and this makes you to be earnest and zealous and to labour in the spiritual Life We compare the Pains of Duty with the Pleasure of Sin but the Comparison is not rightly made you should compare the Pleasure of Sin with the Reward I confess you may compare Christ's Worst with the World 's Best the Pains of Duty with the Pleasure of Sin the former is more sweet to a gracious Heart but the Comparison should rather be made thus Compare the base dreggy Pleasures of Sin with those pure Pleasures that are at God's right Hand and with the Happiness that is to come which we expect in Christ. 4. It maketh us upright and sincere in what we do That 's Hypocrisy and Guile of Spirit to look a-squint upon secular Rewards You know the Hypocrites that Christ taxeth when they Pray Fast and do other Duties to be seen of Men they have their Reward Matth. 6.2 They have given God a Discharge they look for no more than they have already As hired Servants must have present Wages and Pay in Hand they wait not for the Inheritance as Children do so carnal Affections they look to the Rewards here below If they may have the World and live in Honour and Pleasure here they give God an Acquittance for any thing else But now this is Sincerity to make God our Pay-master to do all we do upon the Incouragement of the blessed Hope Col. 3.24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the Reward of the Inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ. You have a Master good enough you need not look else-where for your Wages And nothing on this side Heaven will satisfy the Soul nothing but these glorious Hopes 5. This blessed Hope it supports the Soul under Afflictions and Difficulties that do befal us in a Course of Godliness We counter-ballance what we feel with what we expect We feel nothing but Trouble yet it is not in vain to serve God I confess we are apt to think so saith David Psal. 73.13 14. Verily I have cleansed my Heart in vain and washed my Hands in Innocency For all the Day long have I been plagued and chastned every Morning My Innocency is to no purpose Mal. 3.14 Ye have said it is in vain to serve God and what Profit is it that we have kept his Ordinance It is a usual Temptation for we measure all things by Sense and Feeling and Sense makes Lies of God Ah but consider that which you feel is not worthy to be named the same Day with that which you hope for Rom. 8.18 I reckon that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in us Glory is revealed to our Ears in the Gospel but it will be revealed in us hereafter 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light Affliction which is but for a Moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Alas this light Affliction is but the Scratch of a Pin compared with the weighty massy Crown of Glory For saith the Apostle we look not at the things which are seen but at the things that are not seen Christians what do you make your Scope for that is the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Is it to preserve your Interests to live delicately then the blessed Hope is not for your turn but when you have fixed your Hopes upon these things you will see this is
Intercession for us By his Merit our Right to Heaven is purchased and by his Intercession it is maintained for us SERMON XIV TITUS II. 13 That Blessed Hope c. Doct. II. THE Hope of Christians is a blessed Hope Hope is here put for the thing hoped for as Col. 1.5 For the Hope that is laid up for you in Heaven Where Hope is put for the Object of Hope Now this Matter or Object of our Hope is sometimes called Life sometimes Glory sometimes Joy and Pleasure It is a Life that never shall be quenched or put out Iude 21. Looking for the Mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ unto eternal Life It is a Glory that is Eternal for Duration 2 Cor. 4.17 it is called a far more exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory for the measure of it it is above our Conceit and Expression as much as a Creature can bear It is Joy and Pleasure without Mixture and without End Psal. 16.11 In thy Presence is Fulness of Ioy at thy right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore Now this Hope is said to be blessed because it puts us into the Fruition of absolute Blessedness We cannot conceive of it now to the full when we come to injoy it we shall find it above all that ever we could conceive or hear of it As much as we see and know of it sheweth it is a blessed thing but we shall understand it best when we hear the great Voice calling us Come up and see But a little to set it before you In Blessedness there must be a Removal of all Evil and a Coacervation and compleat Presence of all that is Good As long as the least Evil continueth a Man is not blessed only he is less miserable If a Man had all things that Heart could wish for what would it avail him as Haman when he wanted Mordecai's Knee Esther 5.13 All this availeth me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Iew sitting at the King's Gate Ahab had the Kingdom of Israel but yet he fell sick for want of Naboth's Vineyard If a Man were never so well fitted for a Journey a little Gravel in his Shoe would founder him As in Carriages of War though there be a great Train yet if one Peg be missing or out of Order all stoppeth Or in the Body if one Humour be out of Order or one Joint broken it is enough to make us sick or ill at Ease though all the rest be sound and whole so if there be the least Evil a Man cannot be a compleat happy Man Complaining will not suit with Blessedness Now First In the Hope that we look for there is a Removal of all Evil. Evil is twofold either of Sin or of Punishment and in Heaven there is neither Sin nor Misery 1. To begin with Sin that is the worst Evil. Affliction is Evil but it is not Evil in it self but only in our Sense and Feeling if a Man had a Dedolency it is no Pain to a benummed Joint to be scourged But Sin is evil whether we feel it or no but it is worst when we feel it not Certainly that is Evil which separateth from the chiefest Good Affliction doth not separate from God it is a means and an Occasion to make us draw nigh to him many had never been acquainted with God but for their Afflictions but Sin separateth us from God Isa. 59.2 Your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear Let a Man be never so loathsome yet if he be in a State of Grace he is dear to God the Lord taketh Pleasure in him though rough-cast with Ulcers and Sores and thrown into a Prison yet God will kiss him with the Kisses of his Mouth There is nothing so loathsome and odious to God as Sin This grieveth the Saints most Rom. 7.24 O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death If any Man had Cause to complain of Afflictions Paul had he was often in Perils whipped imprisoned stoned but he doth not cry out When shall I be delivered from these Afflictions O but this Body of Death was worst of all Lusts troubled him more than Scourges and his Captivity to the Law of Sin more than Chains and Prisons This is the Disposition of the Saints they are weary of the World because they are sinning here whilst others are glorifying God not only that they are suffering here whilst others are injoying God A Beast will forsake the Place where he hath neither Meat nor Rest. Carnal Men when they are beaten out of the World have a Fancy to Heaven as a Place of Retreat but that which troubles Godly Men is their Sin Well but in Heaven there is no Sin Eph. 5.27 That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without Blemish There is neither Spot nor Wrinkle upon the Face of the glorified Saints Their Faces were once as black as yours but now Christ presenteth them to God as a Proof of the cleansing Virtue of his Blood And how pure and clean they are without Spot or Wrinkle the Apostle's Words that he might present it imply as if Christ did glory and rejoice in their Purity as the Fruits of his Purchase There you are freed from all Sins With much ado we mortify one Lust but Nature recoileth as Ivy in the Wall if you cut it down it breaketh out again It is much here if the Dominion of Sin be taken away there the being of it is abolished in Heaven it is not at all you will displease God no more and are freed from all the immediate and inseparable Consequences of Original Sin detraction in Duty and the like Here is no perfect Love and therefore the Soul cannot be fixed in the Contemplation of God that 's the Reason of wandring Thoughts but there the Heart cleaves to God without stragling In Heaven we shall be freed from Pride which lasts as long as Life therefore called Pride of Life 1 John 2.16 We cannot have a Revelation now but we grow proud of it 2 Cor. 12.7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the Revelations there was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure Nor can there be an Influence of Grace but we are apt to be proud of it There is a Worm in Manna but then we are most high and most humble because most holy O Christians is not this a blessed Hope that telleth you of a sinless State of being like Christ in Purity and Holiness 1 Iohn 3.2 Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is What is it
begrudg the pains of his Service 1 Cor. 15.58 Be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord for asmuch as ye know that your Labour will not be in vain in the Lord. The Children of God are wont to think they can never do enough for God that hath found out such a Reward for them in Christ. A thousand Years Service will not deserve one hour's Enjoyment of this blessed Hope much less eternal Happiness When we come to see what shall be bestowed upon us we shall be ashamed that we have done no more Work for God having so much Wages and such excellent Encouragement Mat. 25.37 the Saints are brought in there saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee Drink being ashamed Ah Lord this is nothing What have we done At the Day of Judgment there will be the highest Exaltation of the Saints and yet the lowest Self-abasement they will wonder even to admiration of Angels There will be Christ's owning them and they disclaiming their own Services and all their Works and Christ rewarding them And therefore grudg not if you have the strictest Precepts of any Religion remember you have the noblest and highest Reward 6. It informs us what cause we have to contemn all earthly things tho they be never so great and glorious because of this blessed Hope There are two Considerations that will make us contemn the World and they are suted to the two essential Parts of Man and we should ever think of them We carry about us a mortal Body and an immortal Soul the Body lasts but for a while and the Soul survives and out-lives the Body's Happiness Now we toil our selves in gathering Sticks to our Nest when to morrow we must be gone Alas here we dwell in Houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the Dust which are crushed before the Moth Job 4.19 Our Estate in this World is represented by a Tabernacle which is a moveable Habitation but our Estate in Heaven is represented by a Temple Here it is but a Tabernacle and that of Clay that will be crumbled into Dust nay we are said to be crush'd before the Moth and a Moth is but a little enlivened Dust and so is Man The World is but a House of Potters Vessels that will be soon broken And shall we for the Conveniences of a Temporal Life prejudice and run the hazard and loss of our Eternal Hopes Shall we injure the Soul to gratify the Body that is the way to destroy both for ever Our great care should be for that Place where we live longest in the other World we have the longest Life and the most glorious Possession therefore our great Care should be for that 7. It informs us what little cause we have to envy carnal Men the Hope of your Profession is a blessed Hope This was David's Preservative he was daily in danger of his Life and his Enemies were fat and shining in the Pomp of the World and how doth he comfort himself Psal. 17.15 When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy Likeness as if he had said Alas their Felicity is but a sorry thing they are filled and I shall be filled too David sums up their Happiness under two Heads Whatever here we have it is either for personal Use or for our Posterity A worldly State is only valuable upon these two Grounds what we may use for the present and what we may transmit to our Children Now what a sorry Happiness is this to what I expect 1. For personal Use ver 14. Their Bellies are filled with thy hid Treasure that is with the rarest Dishes and best Meats which God's Store-house doth afford By hidden Treasures is meant Food and other worldly Comforts therefore called hidden Treasures because it doth not lie within every one's grasp and reach they are not vulgar and common Delights The meaner sort their Hand will not attain to it Lo here is all that which God allows them for their Portion the filling of the Belly and alas this is but the Happiness of Beasts who eat with less remorse yet all their Happiness is to fill their Belly with better Food than the poorer sort which indeed is a Misery rather than a Happiness for what doth this but nourish sensual Lusts and strengthen and hearten our Enemy And gorgeous Apparel is but a Supply from Creatures beneath us it is but Stercus in volutum Dung neatly wrapp'd up here 's the Sum of all a Carnal Man's Happiness that which God allows him for his Portion But a Christian hath better Fare if he goes into the Sanctuary there 's enough but if he goes into Heaven there 's a great deal more David defeats the Temptation by this Psal. 73.16 17. When I sought to know this it was too hard for me until I went into the Sanctuary of God to enjoy God in his Ordinances and the present Glimpses of God's Face Present Communion with God is far to be preferred above all the Dainties in the World But that is not all we shall be satisfied for ever We may go into Heaven as well as into the Sanctuary and behold God's Righteousness When I awake that is out of the Dust I shall be satisfied with thy Likeness A Child of God hath his Content and Happiness to the full when he comes to die A carnal Man his Back hath been richly clothed and Belly filled but when he comes to die he hath a sad Doom Son remember thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus his evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luke 16.25 was said to Dives who fared deliciously every day and was clothed in Purple and fine Linen Well you have your Portion and must look for no more you give God a discharge for ought else But for God's Children then their Happiness begins they are going down to sleep in the Grave and when they awake they shall be filled they have not only God's Favour here but Eternal Felicity hereafter They that are called to a Feast will not fill themselves at home with courser Fare The rich Glutton who had his Belly full of hid Treasure here was shut out but Lazarus is carried into Abraham's Bosom and feasted there for this was their Table-gesture to lie in one another's Bosoms Christians reserve your Appetite a little you will be satisfied it is but staying a little longer for a better Meal We expect to be like Angels let others be like Beasts whose Happiness lieth in feeding 2. Then for the other part the transmission of Honour and ample Revenues to Posterity It is true Man is much carried out this way he would fain advance his House and live gloriously in his Posterity Posterity is a shadow of Eternity Children are but the Father multiplied when the Father's Thread is spun out then the Knot is knit his Name and Memory is continued in the World by his Children
and neglected It is very sad when God is provoked to swear to the Damnation of any Creature Who are the Persons that may stand in dread of this Oath why they that believe not Heb. 3.18 To whom swear he that they should not enter into his Rest but to them that believe not It is the Sin of Unbelief after many tenders and offers of Mercy which provokes God to this Indignation Here is Oath against Oath the one to drive us the other to draw us and pull in the Heart to God If you continue in this course you shall have neither Part nor Portioâ— in Christ nor in the Land of Promise It is better to be satisfied with God's Oath in Mercy than to run the hazard of his Oath in Judgment Therefore speak to Conscience Do I come up to this Certainty and Confidence Is the Controversy ended between God and me Are all Suspicions laid aside Obj. But you will say I do not doubt of the Truth of the Gospel but of my own â—nterest I doubt that I am the Person to whom God hath sworn The Truth of God is sure but my Interest is not clear Sol. In Answer to this consider 1. It doth but seem so that all Doubts are about our own Interestâ— but it is not so indeed If once you were heartily perswaded of God's good Affection in Christ Doubts and Scruples about our own Estate would soon vanish Look as the Fire when it is well kindled bursts out of its own accord into a Flame so if Faith were once well laid in the Soul if Men could rest upon these two immutable things Consolation would not be so far from them if there were a firm Assent to the Doctrine of the Gospel there would not be so many Buts if you did firmly believe his Mercy in Christ it would soon end in a stedfast Confidence This appeareth from the nature of the thing All Uncertainty ariseth either from a Neglect of the great Salvation or else from Trouble of Conscience Now carnal Men neglect it because they are not perswaded of the Worth and Excellency of it and Men under Horrors of Conscience distrust it they are such Sinners they dare not apply it and are so full of Doubts and Scruples because they are not perswaded of the Truth of the Gospel See how the Apostle proposeth the Gospel 1 Tim. 1. â—5 This is a faithful Saying and worthy of all Acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief If negligent and carnal Men would but look upon it as worthy of all Acceptation and troubled Conscience look upon it as a faithful Saying there would be more regular Actings and Effects found in their Hearts and Lives the Negligent would give more Diligence and the Contrite would rise up into a greater Hope and Confidence If Men did believe the Worth of Salvation they would not run after lying Vanities If they did believe the Truth of Salvation for Sinners there would not be so many Scruples and Fears It is notable that the Scriptures very seldom do press Assurance of the Subject but Assurance of the Object in very many places to believe the Doctrine it self for there is the greatest Difficulty and in the Word of God we have no Precedent of any that were troubled about their own Interest If an Earthly King should proclaim a general Pardon and an Act of Grace to all Persons in Rebellion only on terms of Submission and laying down their Hostility and returning to their Duty and Allegiance the Doubt would not be of their own Interest but of the truth of his Intention to shew them such Grace and Mercy So it is with God he hath proclaimed Terms of Grace in the Gospel provided we will lay down the Weapons of our Defiance and return to the Duty of our Allegiance now that which we suspect is the Heart of God and the Gospel in the general whether there be Mercy for such kind of Sinners as we are 2. Because we cannot perswade Men to a Certainty against their Consciences what should hinder but that now you should establish your Interest and that you now make your Plea and Claim according to God's Word and Oath for Joy must arise from a Sense of it Your complaining is not the way to ease your Conscience but Obedience It is an Advantage to find our selves in an ill Condition not a Discouragement As the Woman in the Gospel made an Argument of that that she was a Dog Mat. 15.27 Truth Lord yet the Dogs eat of the Crumbs that fall from their Masters Table As when the Man-slayer saw the Avenger of Blood at his Heels this made him mend his pace and fly for Refuge so when we see we are under the Wrath of God this should make us more earnest to look after Christ and Salvation in and by him The Cities of Refuge under the Law stood open for every Comer and there was free Admission till their Cause was heard So Christ is the Sanctuary of a pursued Soul and whosoever comes shall be received Iohn 6.37 Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out God excludeth none but those that exclude themselves No Sin is excepted but the Sin against the Holy Ghost Therefore make your Claim till your Cause be heard The great Affront we put upon God's Oath is not so much doubting of our Condition but not running to Christ for Refuge If we still stand complaining of our lost Estate and do not attempt the Work of Faith we put an Affront upon God's Oath If the Lord had bid thee do some great thing I allude to the Speech of Naaman's Servants wouldst thou not have done it to be freed from Death and Hell How much rather when he saith unto thee Only come fly as for thy Life and see if I will cast thee out Take up a Resolution to try God and see if he will not be as good as his Word and Oath Say Lord thou hast given two immutable Grounds of Hope here I come I will wait to see what thou wilt do for me in Christ. 3. I answer Do but see whether thy Interest in Christ be not established or no Here is the lowest Qualification of an Heir of Promise and yet the highest and most solemn way of Assurance Here are two immutable Grounds and yet what 's the Description we who have fled for Refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before 〈◊〉 Here is a driving Work that belongs to the Law implied in these words We fly 〈◊〉 Refuge then a drawing Work which belongs to the Gospel in these words To lay hold on the Hope set before us The Law begins and works preparatively as Moses brought the Children of Israel to the Borders then Ioshua led them into the Land of Canaan The Law shews us our Bondage and makes us fly for Refuge but then the Gospel pulls in the Heart to God There is a necessity of the preparing
1 Cor. 7.30 And they that weep as tho they wept not and they that rejoice as tho they rejoiced not and they that buy as tho they possessed not 2 Cor. 6.7 By the Word of Truth by the Power of God by the Armour of Righteousness on the right-hand and on the left by Honour and Dishonour by evil Report and good Report Phil. 4.12 I know how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need A Man must learn both Lessons or he learneth neither The Prevalency of any Earthly Love will always expose us to Disquiets and we should have more in God if we looked for less in the Creature but whilst we dote upon these things we are more sollicitous about getting or keeping and troubled at the want or loss of them 3. The great care is in the Text about the exercise of Faith on God and Christ Ye believe in God believe also in me Sense is the cause of Trouble Faith of Comfort Christ who is the true Physician of Souls knoweth what Cure is proper to the Disease Mountebanks would prescribe another Cure spare the Flesh or feed Men with carnal Hopes No ye believe in God believe also in me Tho God should not prevent the Evil feared or remove the Affliction yet if we can believe we are well enough Faith represents more Grounds of Comfort than Sense can of Trouble whilst it carrieth off the Heart from things seen to things unseen from things present to things future from the Creature to God who can give better things than the World can give or take from us Here are two Objects of Faith God and Christ 1 Cor. 8.6 To us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him One supream God from whom we derive all our Graces and to whom we direct all our Services and one Mediator by whom as a golden Pipe all our Mercies are conveyed to us and by whom also we have access to God for all that we stand in need of 4. Let us labour to keep our Consciences pure if we would not have our Hearts troubled Sin will bring on Trouble both inward and outward for it is the cause of Sufferings and it maketh them more grievous as we shall always walk in Pain till the Thorn be pulled out of our Foot Righteousness bringeth Peace and the Oil of Grace maketh way for the Oil of Gladness the Apostle bringeth this out of Melchisedec's Name and Title Heb. 7.2 First being by Interpretation King of Righteousness and after that also King of Salem which is King of Peace Elsewhere the Scripture doth attest it Gal. 6.16 As many as walk according to this Rule Peace be on them and Mercy and upon the Israel of God And 2 Cor. 1.12 Our rejoicing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in Simplicity and godly Sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World David interposeth a Caution Psal. 85.8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak Peace unto his People and to his Saints but let them not turn again to Folly 5. There are certain Ordinances appointed to fortify us against Soul-trouble The Word Psal. 119.50 This is my Comfort in mine Affliction for thy Word hath quickened me There are the fixed Grounds of that Hope and Comfort which will support and enliven us in the greatest Pressures God's Covenant and promised Mercies are Portion enough what Distresses soever he sendeth So Prayer if it be ingenuous thankful Prayer Phil. 4.6 Be careful for nothing but in every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your Requests be made known unto God The Lord's-Supper it is our Viaticum non morientium not when we come to die Papists think so and therefore thrust the Sacrament into the Mouths of those that die if this be neglected they almost despair of their Salvation But it is Viaticum viventium of those that live Death is not a Journey but the end of a Journey a Passage in a Moment a Cessation from our Journey in this World which needeth no Viaticum a going out of the World like the putting out of a Lamp in a moment as the Lamp needeth no more Oil when it is to be extinguished We need this for our Journey in the World not our departure out of the World Acts 8.39 He went on his way rejoicing As it is our Antidote against the Corruption that is in the World through Lust so it is our Cordial against the Troubles of the World to give us more Joy of Faith more sense of God's Love It is the Feast provided for the refreshing of the weary and cherishing of the mournful Soul SERMON II. JOHN XIV 1 Let not your Heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me Doct. II. ONE great Means of easing our Hearts from Trouble is believing in God and Christ. To evidence this I shall consider I. The Act. II. The Object which is double 1. One part taken for granted Ye believe in God 2. The other part of the Object they were now invited and recommended unto Believe also in me I. For the Act. Faith in the general hath a comforting Property and a Power to allay Trouble As here the Disciples being in Trouble are exhorted by Christ to believe that is to renew their Faith David felt a blustering in his Spirit and how doth he allay the Storms Psal. 42.5 Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God There is no such ready way to still unquiet Thoughts as to set Faith on work and to cast Anchor within the Vail hoping for and expecting Relief from God So the Primitive Christians when they were under great Heaviness in divers Trials how did they get any Comfort to keep themselves alive 1 Pet. 1.8 In whom tho now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoice with Ioy unspeakable and full of Glory A lively Exercise of Faith will bring in much Joy to the Soul in hard Times and under sore Trials and not only keep it alive as Habak 2.4 The Iust shall live by Faith or make a Believer not barely to subsist but he fareth high and liveth at a wonderful rate of Comfort such as is for nature and kind tho not degree somewhat like the Joy of the Blessed Look into the Book of God and you shall find that all our Fears and Troubles are for want of Faith As for Instance Peter when he walked to Christ upon the Waters his Feet never sunk till his Faith failed Mat. 14.31 O thou of little Faith wherefore didst thou doubt The Wind was boisterous but there was Christ at hand He looketh at the Wind too much
lay hold of the second Covenant we must be dead to the Law Men are slight and careless untill the Curse of the Law puts them so hard to it that they are made to despair of getting Heaven and Salvation by Obedience to it O then they think of a New Life and a New Claim The Curse of the Law follows them close makes them utterly despair in themselves then they are fit to live unto God The Apostle tells us this is the great Use for which the Law now serveth Rom. 5.20 The Law entred that the Offence might abound Gal. 3.19 Wherefore then serveth the Law it was added because of trangression that is to convince Sinners of their lost Estate that men might be sensible of their Sins and so forcibly constrained to make after another Righteousness None pass from one Covenant to another but they have a taste of the first I. VSE To inform us how the two Covenants agree and are subservient to one another For these two are not contrary being both Truths revealed by God they have a mutual respect the Law serveth to make Sin known Rom. 3.20 For by the Law is the knowledge of Sin and the Gospel holdeth forth the Remedy of Sin Iohn 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sin of the World The Law paints out our need oâ— Christ who is the end of the Law for Righteousness Rom. 10.4 The Gospel maketh an offer of Christ that in him we may have what we could not attain by the Law 1 Cor. 1.30 For of him are ye in Christ Iesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption The Law discovers those Duties wherein a Man made Righteous ought to walk and testifie his Thankfulness Eph. 4.1 2. I beseech you that you walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness c. The Gospel furnisheth him with Spiritual Strength to walk in those Duties which the Law prescribeth 2 Cor. 3.6 The Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life Lex jubet Gratia juvat The Law commands but Grace helps us Thus they fairly agree and are mutually useful II. VSE To awaken our Consciences to consider upon what Terms we stand with God and by what Covenant we can plead with him by the Covenant of Works or by the Covenant of Grace If we be yet under the Covenant of Works and have not got the Sentence of the Law repealed O miserable Creatures there is no hope Psal. 130.34 If thou Lord shouldest mark Iniquity O Lord who shall stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared If God should deal with us in a way of strict Justice according to the tenor of the Law and the Covenant of Works no Man can escape Condemnation and the Curse There is another Covenant but how will you decline Judgment according to the first Covenant 1. There is no hope of your pleading another Covenant till you own the first Covenant to be just and with Brokenness of Heart you look upon your selves as shut up under the Curse and you acknowâ—edge your selves lost and undone Sinners The great thing that this Young man wanted was Brokenness of Heart and therefore Christ would have him see himself in the Law The Heirs of Promise are described to be those that have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before them Heb. 6.18 It is all Allusion to those that fled for their Life If one had kill'd a Man by chance and not out of Malice prepense there was a City of Refuge appointed and if he fled there before the Avenger of Blood the next of kin seized upon him the Man was safe None are brought in to Christ but they come as those that have the Avenger of Blood following them they are driven and must away from the first Covenant by a deep sense of their Misery Men that are Heart-whole and have only Doctrinal Notions about the two Covenants without feeling the force of either and being driven out of themselves to ly at God's Feet for Mercy they as yet remain under the Old Covenant and need be prepared by this breaking Work Indeed Degrees are different but all feel some Trouble some with great Horror and Despair but others with Anxiousness and Solicitude the Curse is at their heels therefore they desire to be found in Christ Now have you felt any thing of the Spirit of Bondage The deepness of the Wound is not to be looked after but the soundness of the Cure but yet some Wound there will be And therefore till there be some Grief and Shame and Sorrow and bitter Remorse because of Sin a smiting upon the Thigh because of the Indignation of the Lord and humbling our selves before God we are not fit for Mercy We are not Heirs of the Promise if we do not hasten to the Hope set before us 2. They that do as yet trust to their good Meanings and Endeavours and seek Salvation by their own Doing must yield perfect Obedience to the Law of God or else they cannot obtain Eternal Life we make this to be our Covenant by sticking to any one Work of ours Gal. 5.2 3. Behold I Paul say unto you that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing For I testifie again to every one that is circumcised that he is a Debtor to do the whole Law If another Man had spoken this possibly you would have judged him rash and uncircumspect But I Paul say unto you I that have an Apostolical Authority I that know the mind of Christ I testifie this again and again that observing any one Ceremony as part of a Mans Righteousness necessary to Salvation cuts off the Observer from all Benefit by Christ he is a Debtor to the Duty of the whole Law he obligeth himself to perfect Obedience without which the Law cannot justifie any he saith it again and again that Man might take heed This trust in his own Righteousness in effect is a renouncing the Gospel Covenant Christ must be our whole Righteousness and a compleat Saviour or not at all If we rely upon any thing besides him or joyntly with him as a meritorious Cause of Salvation we lose all Hope and Comfort by Christ. This is the great Concernment of the Soul therefore to be inculcated with such Seriousness and Earnestness 3. By living in any known allowed reigning Sin shews we have no Claim to the second Covenant Saith David Psal. 19.13 Keep back thy Servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have Dominion over me so shall I be upright and shall be innocent from the great transgression Our Qualification under the second Covenant is not a Soul exactly perfect but a Soul sincere Now if any Sin hath Dominion over us our Sincerity is gone Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not havâ— dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace There were no cogency in the Argument
before us Partly as it assureth us of his sympathizing with us in our hard Service he knoweth the weaknesses of Humane Nature and its reluctancies to the Law of God Christ learned Obedience by the things that he suffered Heb. 5.8 and having experienced the hardships of suffering his Heart is intendred towards those that are in the like Case Heb. 2.18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Partly because of the Perfection of his Obedience to cover our Infirmities God hath had full Obedience from Christ and therefore where a poor Soul doth its utmost it can rely on God for acceptance which is a great encouragement in our work Rom. 5.19 By the Obedience of one shall many be made righteous VSE To perswade us to follow Christ. 1. Our general Profession of being Christians doth oblige us to be like him Head and Members should be all of a piece If we take the Name of Christ upon us we had need express him to the Life 1 Pet. 2.9 Ye are a chosen generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that ye should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light If a Man should put your Name to the Picture of a Swine you would account it a disgrace Oh what an affront is it to Christ to put his Name to the Picture and Image of the Devil we do but express him in scorn and contempt When we are wrathful unclean covetous unchaste sensual proud unholy and say we are Christians what a dishonour scorn and contempt do we put upon Christ What did the Heathens say heretofore Estimari a cultoribus potest ipse qui colitur You may know what one he is whom they worship by them that worship him We profess to bear the Image of Christ yet are vain turbulent carnal unthankful unholy Oh what is this but to carry the Name of Christ in disgrace up and down the World 2. We shall never be like him in Glory unless we be like him in Grace also Rom. 8.29 For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son Here the Foundation is laid If you would appear before God with confidence and not be ashamed at the great day be like to him then you shall have boldness 1 Ioh. 4.17 Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the Day of Iudgment because as he is so are we in the World Otherwise how can we look him in the face Therefore let us follow him Assequi nunquam possumus sequi tamen nunquam desinamus though we cannot follow him as Asahel did Abner close at the heels yet let us follow him however thô it be but as Peter followed Christ afar off to the High Priest's Hall But wherein should we follow Christ I Answer 1. In his Self-denyal This is the first Lesson in Christianity and one of the hardest Christ came from Heaven to teach us this Lesson and his Birth Life and Death was a continual Lecture of Self-denyal His Birth it was a great step from God's Bosom to the Virgin 's Lap. None can deny themselves as Christ who when he was rich viz. in all the Fulness and Glory of the Godhead yet for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8.9 None was so rich as Christ and therefore none can deny themselves as Christ did We may talk of Flocks and Herds and Lands and Lordships and the Ornaments of the present Life but he had the possession of a perfect and unbounded Happiness and Glory and yet he was born of a Woman he had a poor Mother in a poor place and was wrapt up in cheap swadling Cloaths He that was God's Fellow the Heir of all things the Lord of Angels was thrust among the Beasts of the Stable Certainly Christ came into the World with such a slender Provision that we might not stand upon Greatness and Bravery His whole Life after he was born was exercised with Labours and Sorrows Rom. 15.3 Even as Christ pleased not himself that is he did not Study the Interest of that Life which he assumed Certainly if any had cause to love Life Christ had his Soul dwelt with God in a Personal Union in such a near Fellowship as we are not capable of and yet he pleased not himself but gave up himself for our sins It is ridiculous to profess him to be our Master and not to follow his Example We have no Reason to stand upon our Points as we do to be delicate and tender of our Interests when Jesus Christ pleased not himself We murmur if we have but a little bad Entertainment in the World for his sake and yet we cannot be worse used than Christ was Mat. 10.24 25. The Disciple is not above his Master nor the Servant above his Lord It is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and the Servant as his Lord. We have no Cause to complain if we be reduced to course Apparel when we remember the Swadling cloaths of Christ or to complain of a hard Bed and Prison when Christ was laid in a Manger Christ would teach us hereby that an innocent Poverty is better than all the Pomp of the World and for his Sufferings from the Cratch to the Cross still he was a Pattern of Self-denyal therefore they that indulge themselves in all the delights of the Flesh seem not to believe in Christ who was a Man of Sorrows We are in a base condition but two or three degrees distant from Dust or Nothing yet how are we for pleasing and satisfying our selves even to the dishonour of God and wrong of Conscience 2. In his Humility Christ did not this out of Necessity but Choice Matth. 20.28 The Son of Man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a Ransom 〈◊〉 many He came not in the Pomp and Equipage of Princes but in the Form of a Servant How should this check aspiring after and affecting Domination especially in the Church They that love Preheminence and would be great and hig◠〈◊〉 to affect another Jesus They that rend and tear all to pieces eiâ—her 〈…〉 their Greatness or grow greater have not the same Mind that was in Jesus You should be humble and lowly and condescending to the meanest Offices It is worth your Observation that in the Gospel we are so often told that after the Lord Jesus had performed some eminent Miracle he withdrew himself and retired from the Multitude that so he might not be mixed with their Praises Thus when he received that Glorious Testimony from Heaven declaring him to be the Son of God Matth. 3.17 And lo a voice from Heaven saying This is my belovâ—â— Son in whom I am well pleased he retired into the Wilderness So when he had raised his Fame by curing
the midst of Difficulties such a fickle and such a changeable Creature as Man is how can that be 1 Pet. 1. Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation The Power of God is engaged for our Defence So for Temporal Difficulties when we see no means no likelihood to escape yet we are not thoughtful of this matter for 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 In Death when we go to the Grave to moulder into dust and rottenness then to look upon the Morsels of Worms as parcels of the Resurrection what shall uphold and support our Hearts in waiting upon God for this Phil. 3.21 Who shall change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able to subà ne all things unto himself The Scripture still referrs us to the mighty Power of God whereby he can subdue and cause all to fall under him The Destruction of Antichrist and Enemies of the Church who are supported by great and strongly combined Interests how can that ever be hoped for Rev. 18.8 Her plagues shall come in one day death and mourning and famine and she shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her and that is the greatest Cordial of the Soul The Life of Faith lyes in the Belief of God's Power and All-sufficiency He can raise up the Church from her low Condition and all without any means when all is dry Bones then God can put Life into his People 2. To encourage us in Obedience it is good to believe and improve the Power of God 1. That we may carry it more humbly and more dutifully 1 Pet. 5.6 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God This is that which begets a deep awe and reverence of his Majesty Shall we not submit to that God that is able to crush us O therefore let us Study to please him in all things When you sin you bid deâ—iance to the Almighty and enter into the Lists with God and provoke him to jealousie 1 Cor. 10.22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousie are we stronger than he Do you know what it is to dash against God and Contest with God He that is Almighty is the most desirable Friend or the most dreadful Adversary and therefore humble your selves and carry it dutifully towards him Every one would be in with the Almighty Be sure to keep in with the Lord Deut. 10.17 For the Lord our God is a God of Gods and Lord of Lords a great God a mighty and a terrible which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward Will you provoke him and dare him to his Face 2. To keep us upright in Obedience without Warping and using any Carnal shifts Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect God alone is enough to you The Reason why we so often step out of the way is because we do not believe God to be Almighty that he is more able to defend than Man to hurt Even God's own Children may warp for want of a sound belief of this Abraham saved himself by a Lye because he would not trust God with his Preservation Gen. 20.11 Moses was backward to do the Lord's Message Exod. 4.13 as if God could not bear him out before Pharaoh and before the Egyptians There was a Promise Iacob should have the Blessing but Rebecka puts him upon using indirect means to obtain it because she could not trust God's Alâ— sufficiency to bring it about He that will not trust God and rest upon his Power cannot be long faithful to him because they think there is not enough in God they will seek elsewhere All sincerity ariseth from these two things and until you get your Hearts into this Frame you never will be sincere submitting all things to God's Will and resting upon God's Power How desperate soever the Case be this will relieve you and keep you sincere and comfortable the Lord is a powerful God and knows how to provide for his Glory and for your sustentation Now to quicken you thus to believe and improve the Power of God I will offer these Considerations 1. Consider the Amplitude of God's Power which is not to be measured by our scantling and model we can do something but God can do all things we must have Matter prepar'd but God works out of nothing we do things difficultly and must have time but God can do all things in a moment he needs no Instruments or Tools no Pattern or Copy but worketh all things according to the Counsel of his Will We rust with Age and our strength is dryed up but the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save Isa. 59.1 His strength is never wasted or dryed up When any thing is to be done or expected from God is it greater than making the World and God is where he was at first Our knowledge of things is by Effects but God never had an Effect adequate to his Power he hath done great things but he hath Power to do greater Mal. 2.15 And did not he make one yet had he the residue of the Spirit When he Created the World he had the residue of the Spirit he could have made more Worlds All Created Effects are finite and therefore not fully answerable to the force of the Cause Let us be still enlarging in our Thoughts of God's Power This is a Power that needeth not the Concurrence of visible means but can work without them yea opposite Power is no hinderance to God Rubbs are plain Ground to him Isa. 27.4 Who would set the bryars and thorns against me in battle I would go through them I would burn them together What can Bryers and Thorns do against a devouring Flame they are fit Fuel to encrease the Fire but cannot hinder the burning God works through all Opposition Isa. 43.13 I will work and who shall lett it 2. Consider this Power is ready to be employed for our Use so far as it shall make for God's glory and our good God is ours if we be in Covenant with him and if so all that is in God is ours also Quantus quantus est as great as he is God makes over himself in Covenant I am yours therefore Almightiness is yours to be set a work for you And as Aristotle said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things are common between Friends and Confederates 1 Kings 22.4 Iehoshaphat said unto the King of Israel I am as thou art my People as thy People my Horses as thy Horses Surely being in Covenant with God it is a Relation of Friendship and whatever is God's is ours and that is the reason of this Expression Eph. 6.10 Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might In all our Faintings and Fears we should look upon God's Almighty Power as a
former Prophets There are so many Degrees mentioned first they grow slight and careless and do not care to hear what you say then they refuse to obey what they have heard then they grow Sermon-Proof they can hear and have no Benefit by it As long as the Word doth any way affect a Sinner there is some Hope but within a while Conscience smiteth not and Men have gotten the Victory over their Fears and Scruples And thus they go on from natural to voluntary and from voluntary to judicial Hardness of Heart and so are a ready Prey for the Devil 8. Dilatory Excuses are the last Refuge of an hard Heart When they can no longer withstand a Conviction they adjourn and put off the Compliance with God's Will and so elude the Importunity of the present Conviction Felix his Heart boggled Acts 24.25 And as he reasoned of Righteousness Temperance and Iudgment to come Felix trembled and said Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient Season I will call for thee Mind the present Season when God is affording Opportunities of getting Grace Heb. 3.7 8. To Day if ye will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts Psal. 119.60 I made haste and delayed not to keep thy Commandments Zacheus Luke 19.6 he made haste and came down and received him joyfully Peter and Andrew Mark 4.20 They straitway left their Nets and followed him Paul Gal. 1.16 Immediately I conferred not with Flesh and Blood If God hath given you any Will and Inclination for the present it is an Advantage Sin the longer it continueth the stronger it groweth He that doth not go over at the Fountain-head will not be able to go over when the Stream groweth broader and the farther he goes downward the broader still he findeth it Every Day 's Impenitency bringeth on a new Degree of Hardness Would a Man that is to drink that which to his knowledg is poisoned put the more into his Cup and then take it off out of a Presumption that at length he shall find an Antidote Alas thou may'st be poisoned and dead before the Antidote comes SERMON III. MARK III. 5 And Iesus looked round about on them with Anger being grieved for the Hardness of their Hearts Vse 1. OF Trial. Is this our State Take the two Properties to judg by Insensibleness and Inflexibleness First A hard Heart is insensible insensible of Providences of the Word and of the State of the Soul 1 st Insensible of Providences 1. Of Mercies Either of the Author of Mercies they never look up to the God of their Mercies Hosea 2.8 She did not know that I gave her Corn and Wine and Oil and multiplied her Silver and Gold As Swine that feed upon the Acorns but never look up to the Tree from whence they fall Cant. 4.1 Behold thou arâ— fair my Love behold thou art fair thou hast Doves Eyes As Doves peck and look uâ—ward It is a sign of a tender Heart to see God in every Mercy A drowsy and unattentive Soul never heedeth it is wholly swallowed up in present Enjoyments and looketh no farther It is our Privilege above the Beasts to know the fâ—rst Cause other Creatures live upon God but they are not capable of knowing God they glorify God in their Kind but we may know him Idolatry and Sottishness had never crept into the World if Men had owned the first Cause Or of the End of Mercies which is to draw in our Hearts to God therefore they are called Cords of a Man Hosea 11.4 I drew them with Cords of a Man with Bâ—â—ds of Love Esther 6.3 What Honour and Dignity hath been done to Mordecaâ— for 〈◊〉 2 Sam. 7.2 Thâ—â— the King said unto Nathan the Prophet See now I dwell in an House of Cedar but the Ark of God dwelleth within Curtains When the Heart is urging to Duty upon this score God hath been good to me he hath given me Food and Raimâ—â—â— What have I done for God Now the Heart is hard when we are not sensible of his daily Providence and gracious Supplies in this kind 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel I anointed thee King over Israel and delivered thee out of the Hand of Saul And I gave thee thy Master's House and thy Master's Wives into thy Bosom and gave thee the House of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight David had lost his Awe of God because he had not a thankful sense of the Mercies of God 2. Of corrective Providences The Body is a tender Part with wicked Men when they are straitned for bodily Conveniences they will complain yet the hard Heart is still insensible of Judgments They are insensible of the Author or discerning Cause they do not look upward nor inward and though doctrinally right in these things yet they do not seriously consider it and recal it to mind Opinion is one thing and Consideration is another wicked Men may take up good Opinions but they do not consider the Force and Consequence of them 1. They do not see the Hand of God in them Isa. 26.11 Lord when thy Hand is lifted up they will not see They look on these things but as a Chance 1 Sam. 6.9 And see if it goeth up by the way of his own Coast to Bethshemesh then he hath done us this great Evil but if not then we shall know that it was not his Hand that smote us it was a Chance that happened to us If Men own God's Hand they should take up the Matter with him but they own it doctrinally though not practically A Godly Man hath explicite Thoughts of God Iob doth not say the Sabeans and the Chaldeâ—â—s but the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Job 1.21 They do not complain when they are crossed of Chance but the Lord is angry and when they are stricken they consult with him and humble themselves before him Wicked Men are sensible of the smart of the Rod but not of the Hand that holds it 2. They do not see the deserving Cause of them which is Sin Lam. 3.39 40. Wherefore doth a living Man complain a Man for the punishment of his Sins Let us search and try our Ways and turn again to the Lord. If Sickness cometh if a Relation be taken away if an Estate be blasted a waking Conscience looks to the Cause they would see the Mind of God in the Rod. When Israel fell before the Men of Ai Ioshua looketh out for the Troubler so do God's Children 2 dly Insensible of the Power of the Word they have no taste no feeling of the Powers of the World to come Jer. 23.29 Is not my Word like a Fire saith the Lord and like a Hammer that breaketh the Rock in pieces There is a breaking and a melting Power in the Word
at Dothan they were in Samaria Ignorance because it is not always accompanied with gross Acts is little thought of but it is a bloody Sin If Men did know God and themselves more they could not be satisfied with their Condition Ignorance is the greatest cause of hardning 2 dly Love I do not consider it as a Grace but as an Argument to melt the Soul It is a forcible Argument and a kindly Argument 1. It is a forcible Argument Saul relented when David had an advantage against him and spared him in the Cave 1 Sam. 24.16 17. Saul lift up his Voice and wept and he said to David Thou art more righteous than I for thou hast rewarded me Good whereas I have rewarded thee Evil. To make the Heart relent it is good to study God's Kindness not only how he hath spared us but how he hath blessed us 1. For temporal Mercies Creation and Providence For the Mercies of Creation We all condemn the Rebellion of Absolom for rising against his Father God made us out of nothing none so much a Father as God and yet we rebel against him If we had lost a Limb an Eye a Tooth or an Arm would we injure him that could restore us these things God gave them to us at first how should the Thoughts of this soften our Hearts Then for the Mercies of Providence Nathan mentions God's Mercies to David to humble him 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9. I anointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul And I gave thee thy Master's House and thy Master's Wives into thy Bosom and gave thee the House of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do Evil in his Sight It is God that feedeth and maintaineth you and preserveth you Men stand upon their Honour in the World to be true to their Interest not to be unthankful to their Preservers Now God giveth us Life and Breath and all things You value these things when they are given you by Men much more should you when they are given you by God Is Water the worse because it cometh from the Fountain and not from the Cistern Water is purer in the Fountain We have more Reason to value Mercies when they come from God that so great a Majesty should look after you Psal. 113.6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the Earth That God that standeth not in need of you as Man doth of the meanest that God whom you have offended whose Favour you are so much concerned about In a small Gift from a King the Favour is valued we are continually fed and maintained at the Expence and Care of his Providence 2. For spiritual Mercies they melt the Heart What great Love Christ shewed in the Business of our Salvation what he left what he suffered what he purchased 1. What he left That Love that is accompanied with Self-denial is accounted the highest how many Degrees did the Sun of Righteousness go back 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2.8 He humbled or emptied himself There was a Vail upon his Godhead when he was rich for our sakes he became poor 2 Cor. 8.9 In the Fulness of the Godhead he abstained from the Use of it Did Christ leave Heaven and wilt not thou leave thy Lusts Was he made the Son of Man and wilt not thou be made the Son of God It was his Abasement but it is our Advancement 2. What he suffered We are more affected with what Men suffer for us than with what they do for us Cubitum sin◠manu To shew the Stump of the Arm where the Hand was lost was an effectual Plea Zech. 12.10 They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and be in Bitterness for him as one that is in Bitterness for his First-born Sin doth most affect the Heart when we consider the Wrong done to Christ by it Amor doloris causa the more a Man loveth another or apprehends that he is loved of him the more he is grieved that he hath any way injured him Your Sins strike at Christ and have pierced him shall not your Hearts be pierced when his Head was pierced with Thorns his Hands and Feet with Nails his Heart with Sorrows Can you look upon Golgotha with dry Eyes and a careless stupid Heart Think that you heard Christ say Behold is any Sorrow like to my Sorrow Will you still go on in your Rebellion against me Is all nothing all that I have done and suffered for you 3. What he purchased for us He gave himself a Ransom and Price a Ransom to free us from Death and Hell We would love a Man that should get a Pardon for our Lives when we are condemned to die 1 Thess. 1.10 Even Iesus who delivered us from the Wrath to come There was never any such Wrath past or present it is a thing to come when he shall stir up all his Wrath And a Price to purchase for us the Favour of God and our eternal Abode with him in Heaven Heaven is called the purchased Possession Ephes. 1.14 If we were to be annihilated or to spend our time in some obscure Place it were Mercy but to be for ever with the Lord and to be filled up with God who can express the Greatness of this Mercy And all this is freely offered to you in the Gospel Things that concern us affect us and therefore surely this should melt the Heart Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore Brethren by the Mercies of God What! shall not Mercy prevail Ioel 2.13 And rent your Heart and not your Garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to Anger and of great Kindness and repenteth him of the Evil. Surely God's Graciousness and Readiness to receive returning Sinners should work upon us An Hammer will easily break an hard Stone against a soft Bed but if it be laid on an hard solid Body that will not give way underneath strike as hard as you will it is kept from breaking so smite thy Soul on the Gospel Hell and Damnation may be the Hammer but then lay thy Soul upon the Gospel and Gospel-Considerations then it breaketh all to shatters Strike thy Soul with the Blows of God's Wrath against the Law and it resists still all doth but make us desperate but now remember the Mercies of the Lord how freely he inviteth returning Sinners and this breaks the Heart to pieces 2. It is a kindly Argument the Heart is not till then kindly humbled for Sin as Sin An apprehension of Wrath is one thing godly Sorrow is another thing the former is necessary but not enough 2 Kings 22.19 Because thine Heart was tender and thou hast humbled thy self before the Lord when thou heardest
he that forbeareth let him forbear for they are a rebellious House As if God should say Let them now do what they will I am at a point Now sometimes their Condition is irreversible which is clear because when God hath given them over how shall they repent and break off their Sin God's Oath is past Psal. 95.11 Vnto whom I sware in my Wrath that they should not enter into my Rest. God standeth sworn to condemn and destroy them If they should have any Anguish of Conscience and Remorse stirred up in them God will have no regard to it Prov. 1.26 27. I also will laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your Fear cometh when your Fear cometh as Desolation and your Destruction cometh as a Whirlwind when Distress and Anguish cometh upon you Hosea 5.6 They shall go with their Flocks and with their Herds to seek the Lord but they shall not find him he hath withdrawn himself from them When Men have neglected God's Seasons and begin to be surprized with Death then they would fain have Comfort and Pardon but instead thereof the Lord puts them off No you would have none of me Psal. 81.11 12. But my People would not hearken to my Voice and Israel would none of me So I gave them up unto their own Hearts Lust and they walked in their own Counsels Instead of Compassion they are mocked and turned over to their evil Courses and carnal Company Joh. 8.21 I go my way and ye shall seek me and shall die in your Sins That this may be before Death appeareth because Grace is confined to a Season Isa. 55.6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near And that Season is not always as long as Life Luke 19.42 If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy Day the things which belong to thy Peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes The Day of Grace is bright but short We may mourn over many thus when the Measure of their Iniquities is filled up God giveth over calling and expecting and waiting for their Repentance It is true the time is not to be known by any Man of himself nor by others concerning him we cannot state the number of Calls because Circumstances are diverse and Light breaketh in with Warnings in a different degree There is a great deal of variety in the Lord's Dispensations therefore all must use the Means and warn we must to the last We can only say in the general that after God hath done with them and expects no Good from them he may let them live for the Glory of his Justice as after God had hardned Pharaoh's Heart yet he continued his Life that he might shew his Power in him Exod. 9.16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to shew in thee my Power and that my Name may be declared throughout all the Earth You may survive your final Hardness as a Monument of God's Justice in the World 2. It is a just Dispensation It is just with God to take the Refusal and be gone and to cease to deal with your Hearts any more when after all the melting Intreaties of his Grace you cast him off he commands and you will not obey he is willing and you are not willing he intreats and you will not hearken He wishes Deut. 5.29 O that there were such an Heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always that it might be well with them and with their Children for ever He laments Psal. 81.13 O that my People had hearkned unto me and Israel had walked in my Ways And you will not join with him He is grieved that his Offer of Grace is not received and you will not lament It is but just that a Man should be left to his own Choice that a Man should miss of that Salvation which he cared not for that if after Warnings Convictions and Intreaties he will be filthy he should be filthy still In Hell Conscience will acquit God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have been the cause of all this to my self 3. It is a merciful Dispensation to the rest of the World We are told of these things before-hand not that we may despair that is an ill Consequence but that as we love our Souls we should take heed of resisting Grace and turning our Backs upon our own Mercies It is a merciful and fatherly Warning to strike in betimes and own the God of our Mercies Delay is that that undoeth all the World Now this is the best Cure of Delay 2 dly The Causes of it 1. Sinning away the Light of Nature By Nature Men have some knowledg of Good and Evil. There are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some common Principles as that God is and must be worshipped that we must do wrong to none nor pollute our selves with promiscuous Lusts. The Heart of a Pagan would rise against it Rom. 2.14 15 For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the Work of the Law written in their Hearts Now when Men hold the Light of Nature in Vnrighteousness Rom. 1.18 when they hold poor Truth fettered and bound that it cannot break out into an holy Conversation this provoketh God to give them up to Hardness There are many Sins which Nature discovereth and may be avoided upon such Reasons and Considerations as Nature suggesteth Now when Men put the Finger into Nature's Eye or will not suffer Reason to exercise any Dominion but let loose the Reins to Lust God leaveth them to a carnal and sottish Heart Tho by the Light of Nature Men cannot convert to God yet by the Light of Nature Men may practise many Duties and avoid many Sins The Gentiles were left to an unsound injudicious Mind When Men fall into foul Sins against the Light of Nature Conscience loseth its Feeling and Tenderness Eph. 4.19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto Lasciviousness to work all Vncleanness with greediness Hearts prejudiced against the things of God may grow to very Stones 2. Refusing God's many Calls Prov. 29.1 He that being often reproved hardneth his Neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without Remedy God may bear with us a while after one or two or more Reproofs but when we are often reproved and often convinced and yet will not be reclaimed God may give us over The exact Date of Christ's Patience or the Number of his Calls e're the fatal Period of final Induration cometh we know not but when it is often you are in danger Take heed of forfeiting your own Mercies by refusing the most earnest Motions of the Word and Spirit When God importuneth to be heard and obeyed his Spirit being thus resisted and refused God will be at length wearied and will not give as much Grace as before Isa.
63.10 But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit therefore he was turned to be their Enemy and he fought against them Sâ—vit infelix Amor. Gen. 6.3 My Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh. The Heathens did acknowledg that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Gods of Cities and Nations did for the Provocation of the Inhabitants forsake their Altars and Temples The more Calls and Convictions we resist in this kind the more difficult and improbable is the reducing a Sinner to God every day he groweth more wicked and profane To resist the Clamours of Conscience is sad but to weary and grieve the Spirit is dreadful Ezek. 24.13 In thy Wickedness is Lewdness because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy Filthiness any more till I have caused my Fury to rest upon thee God sets them over the Fire till their Hearts begin to be warmed and then lets the Sun remain on them 3. Gross Hypocrisy This is a constant Lie a Contempt of God an habitual and customary stifling and smothering of Checks of Conscience For their Form and Profession sheweth what they should be and if they were what they seem to be all would be well Men have Light enough to take on the Form of Religion and Sin enough to resist the Power of it And therefore their Judgment is the greater for their whole Life being a constant rebelling against the Light they are left to perish by their own Deceivings 2 Thess. 2.10 11. Because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved For this cause God shall send them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lie The carnal Christian being not brought to true Faith and sincere Repentance God giveth them up that they may be deceived by every vain Pretence 4. Apostacy from Grace received Men are not only warmed but begin to have a Taste They that take up with some Profession of the Things of God but afterwards fall away again to Looseness and Vanity and Worldliness they are more left by God than others Heb. 6.4 5 6. For it is impossible for them who were once enlightned and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift and were made Partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come if they shall fall away to renew them again to Repentance For they dishonour him more and bring an evil Report upon God The Devil hath more Power over them as a Prisoner that hath made his Escape if he be taken afterwards hath more Chains put upon him 2 Pet. 2.21 22. For it had been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them For it is happened unto them according to the true Proverb The Dog is turned to his own Vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire They themselves are made more uncapable of ever owning the Ways of God again it is impossible they should renew themselves it groweth up into a wilful Malice Heb. 10.26 For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins Grace will not pardon them the Mediator will not intercede for them Apostatae sunt maximi osores sui ordinis Apostates hate the Ways they have professed Hosea 5.2 The Revolters are profound to make Slaughter None so cross and malicious and perverse in their Cause 5. Sottish Despair there is a raging Despair and a sottish Despair the one is when Conscience is terrified the other when it is stupified when to Custom in sinning there is added a passionate Will Jer. 2.25 Thou saist There is no hope no for I have loved Strangers and after them will I go Jer. 18.11 And they said There is no hope but we will walk after our own Devices and we will every one do the Imagination of his evil Heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men do not use to consult about things that are impossible It is said of the Israelites Exod. 6.9 They hearkned not unto Moses for Anguish of Spirit and for cruel Bondage Lust is so deeply rooted that they cannot help it the Case is desperate they are at a point as we use to say Past Cure past Care they grow out of Heart and so lie down under the Power of their Lusts they resolve to persist in their Sins to live as they lift and it is to no purpose to speak to them Thirdly Of â—â—d's hardning as a Father in a way of the highest fatherly Anger and Displeasure This may be 〈◊〉 Isa. 63.17 O Lord why hast thou made us to err from thy Ways â—nd hardned our Heart from thy Fear This is a partial Hardness There may be Desertion in point of Grace tho some Tenderness left in the Understanding that discerneth Good and Evil in the Conscience that is dissatisfied in its 〈◊〉 State in the Will that owneth the Ways of God so that there is a general Purpose to please him in all things Yet the Heart groweth dead and stupid there is an unaptness for holy Things they are less sensible of the Evil of Sin they have not such Delight in the Word nor Rejoicing in Hope nor Freedom for Prayer nor Patience under Afflictions nor Complacency in Communion with God And it is sad when it is so when to Sense there is little difference between them and the Wicked there is Hardness in a Stone and Hardness in a piece of Wax I will shew the Causes of this and the Means to cure it 1 st The Causes of this are 1. Sinning against Conscience There are Sins of daily Incursion and sudden Surreption and there are Sins of Presumption into which God's Children may in some rare Cases fall but then they make great Waste and Havock in their Souls as David's great Sin by which he lost that free Spirit and was forced to beg a new Creation as if all were to begin again Psal. 51.10 11 12. Create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Restore unto me the Ioy of thy Salvation and uphold me by thy free Spirit Many are the Mischiefs which come by such Sins Partly God's Love is obstructed that he is not so ready to do them good Isa. 59. Your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear That is the good Will and Favour of God is as it were bound up and hindred from shewing it self in all those gracious Effects which otherwise it would put forth for our Comfort and Peace he doth not actually pardon their Sins nor make them Partakers of spiritual Benefits in so ample and full a Measure as otherwise he would but
without some Remark and Observation Isaac goeth to meet with God and he meeteth with God and Rebekah too Godliness hath the promises of this Life and that which is to come there is nothing lost by Duty and Acts of Piety and Worship Seneca said The Iews were an unhappy People because they lost the Seventh part of their Lives meaning the time spent in the Sabbath This is the Sense of Nature to think all lost that is bestowed on God Flesh and Blood snuffeth and cryeth What a weariness is it And what need all this waste Oh let me tell you by serving God you drive on two cares at once Worldly Interests many times are cast into the way of Religion and besides the main design these things are added to us Wonderful are the Providences of God in and about Duties of Worship some have gone aside to pray and escaped such as lay in wait to destroy them and Luther tells a story of one that balked a Duty and fell into a danger passed by a Sermon and was presently surprized by Thieves Others there are that thought of nothing but meeting God in his Worship and God hath made their Duties an occasion of advancing their outward Comforts Certainly it is good to obey all impulses of the Spirit there may be somewhat of Providence as well as Grace in it Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even-tide and he lift up his eyes and saw and behold the camels were coming In the Words you have several Circumstances The Person Isaac his Work he went out to meditate the Place in the Field the Time at even-tide 1. For the Person Isaac I need not say much because I would not digress He was Abraham's Son and God said of Abraham Gen. 18.19 I know him that he will command his children and his houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him Good Education leaveth a Savour and Tincture upon the Spirit at least an Awe and a Care of Duties and Exercises of Religion and therefore it is no wonder to hear of Abrahams Son that had been trained up in the way of the Lord to go out to meditate it is a Seal of the Blessing of Education Again Isaac was now in his Youth certainly he could not be very old Sarah was Ninety years old when the Promise was first made to her of a Son Gen. 17.17 Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old And shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear Now Sarah was but One Hundred Twenty Seven old years when she dyed Gen. 23.1 And this Match was immediately after her Death for just as he received Rebekah he left off his Mourning for Sarah Gen. 24.67 And Isaac brought her into his Mother Sarahs tent and took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her And Isaac was comforted after his mothers death Probably Isaac now was a little above Thirty Isaac a Young Man that was now entring into the World goeth out to meditate Usually we make Religious Exercises the Work of Gray Hairs and after we have spent the heat and flower of our Spirits in the vanities of the World we hope to make amends for all by a Severe and Devout Retirement Young and Green Heads look upon Meditation as a dull melancholly work fit only for the phlegme and decay of Old Age vigorous and eager Spirits are more for Action than Thoughts and their Work lyeth so much with others that they have no time to descend into themselves But the Elder World was more Innocent the Exercises of Isaacs Youth were pious he went out into the Fields to meditate 2. To open his Work to you to meditate or as it is in the Margin to pray 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word used in the Original is indifferent to both Senses it properly signifies muttering or an imperfect and suppressed sound the Septuagint sometimes renders it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to sing but here they render it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to exercise himself and most properly a Sportive Exercise as if his going abroad had been only to sport and recreate himself after the toyl of the day But that is not so probable the Holy Ghost would not put such a Mark upon such a Circumstance Therefore I suppose the Septuagints word must be taken more largely to comprise also a Religious Exercise But how is it To Pray or Meditate I would not recede from our own Translation without weighty Cause most other Translations look that way Symachus renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speak Aquila 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to discourse as with others that is with God and his own Soul and so it suiteth with the force of the Original Word which properly signifies to mutter or such a speaking as is between Thoughts and Words So that the meaning is he went aside privately to discourse of God and the Promises and of Heavenly Things 3. The Place in the field Partly for Privacy deep Thoughts require a Retirement Many of Davids Psalms were penned in the Wilderness He that would have the Company of God and his own Thoughts had need go aside from other Company and be alone that he may not be alone that the Mind being sequestred from all Distractions may solace it self the more freely in these Heavenly Thoughts Exod. 3.1 Moses led the flock to the back-side of the desert and came to the mountain of God even to Horeb. He goeth aside from the other Shepherds that he might converse with the Great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls and there he seeth the Vision of the burning Bush. When God would communicate his Loves to the Church he inviteth her into the Wilderness Hosea 2.14 Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her The most familiar and intimate Converses between God and the Church are in private So the Spouse inviteth the Bridegroom Cant. 7.11 Come my beloved let us go forth into the field let us lodge in the villages In these Solitary and Heavenly Retirements to which no Eyes are conscious and privy we have most Experience of God and of our selves Duties done in Company are more easie by ends and Mans Eye and Observance may have an influence upon our Worship and therefore Meditation is difficult and tedious because it is a work of Retirement that hath approbation from none but our Father that seeth in Secret Partly because the Field is an help to Meditation fancy and invention being elevated and raised by the sweetness variety and pleasure of it there being on every side so many Objects and lively Memorials of God However in this sense the Circumstance is not binding some do better in a Closet than in a
before mine eyes I have walked in thy truth This constraineth and enforceth to Holyness and gives encouragement to it others only attempt this Work but do not consider the fruit of it 3. More orderly and prudent Others do good Duties by chance Phil. 4.8 Finally brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise think of these things III. That which I am now to do is to give you the Rules to guide you in this weighty Affair of the Christian Life There are Rules to be observed to fit the Soul but those I shall handle under the terme of helps I handle such now as must guide the Soul 1. Whatever you meditate upon must be drawn down to Application Iob 5.27 Lo this we have searched it so it is hear it and know thou it for thy good In Meditation our aim and design is to promote the good of our Souls The Heathen Emperour Antoninus had Observations which he called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things for my seâ—f that is the proper end of this Exercise things for our selves In Conference we aim at the good of others but the end of Meditation is to fall directly upon our own Souls All the while we stay in generals we do but bend the Bow when we come to Application we let fly the Arrow and we hit the Mark when we come to return upon our own Souls Now this Application must be partly by way of Tryal partly by way of Charge 1. The first Reflection upon our selves must be by way of Tryal This should alwaies be the close of all how is it with thee Oh my Soul Or is not this my State When the Apostle had taken a view of the Doctrine of Justification he shutteth up all with a Practical return upon his own Heart Rom. 8.31 What shall we then say to these things How am I concerned in this Truth So Nazianzen in his Forty-First Oration saith his Custom was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to go aside to converse with God but alwaies in the course of the Duty he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 search himself 2. By way of Charge and Command You should charge your selves to serve God with greater care Meditation is as it were the heat of the Cause and after the Debate you should give Sentence and issue forth a Practical Decree as David now I see it is good for me to draw nigh to God Psalm 73.28 When he had been meditating of the Providence of God in punishing the wicked now oh my Soul thou seest what is best for thee even to keep close to God So in two Psalms when he had been meditating of the Mercy and Power of God he layeth a Charge upon his Soul to bless God of his Mercy Psalm 103.22 Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion bless the Lord oh my soul of his Power Psalm 104.35 Let the Sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more Bless thou the Lord O my Soul praise ye the Lord. 2. Do not pry further than God hath revealed Your thoughts must be still bounded by the word There is no Duty that a Fanatick Brain is more apt to abuse then Meditation when Men are once able to raise their thoughts they soar too high and being puffed up with their fleshly mind intrude themselves into things that they have not seen Col. 2.18 They are dazeled with ungrounded subtilties and so like a Lark that have flown high of a sudden fall down again David saith Psalm 131.1 Lord my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty neither do I exercise my self in great matters or in things too high for me In Spiritual Exercises you must stint your thoughts with what is revealed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12.3 Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every Man the measure of faith that is as God hath revealed and dispensed the measure of Faith to you To pry into the Mysteries of the Divine Decrees were to disturb Affection not to raise it Nice Disputes feed Curiosity not Religion Again regard must be had not only to the Word but to your own Abilities those that soar too high fall low enough e're they have done consider what is fit for your pitch and size Again do not leave Bread and Wine and gnaw upon a Stone or leave Practical Matters for intricacy of Dispute 3. When you meditate of God you must do it with great Care and Reverence his Perfections are matter rather of Admiration than inquiry Some dispute whether it be best to meditate of Gods Essence or no Certainly as it is discovered to us in his Attributes it is very comfortable and useful Psal. 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. And though you should get as large thoughts as possibly you can of His Majesty and Power yet you must not pry too curiously into his Nature left you be oppressed by his Glory The Mysteries of the Trinity are matters of Belief rather than Debate we may well cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh the Depth It is enough to know that it is so we cannot search how It is said 1 Tim. 6.16 Who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see And Psalm 18.11 He hath made darkness his secret place his pavillion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies God is said to dwell in Light to shew his Majesty and to dwell in darkness to shew his incomprehensibleness Do not intangle your selves while you go about to raise your Zeal the full knowledge of these things is our Portion in Heaven 4. In meditating on common things keep in mind a Spiritual purpose God hath endowed Man with a faculty to discourse and employ his mind on Earthly Objects to Spiritual purposes Eccles. 3.11 He hath set the world in their heart Mundum tradidit disputationi eorum the meaning is he hath endowed him with Natural Light to contemplate on his handy-work The Mind is soon apt to grow common and vain and therefore here you have need of more care and watchfulness Psalm 8.34 When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained what is man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man that thou visitest him Basil calleth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a School to teach us not Knowledge but Religion Psalm 19.1 The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy-work Philosophers study the Creatures to find out their Natural Causes we to find out Arguments of Worship and Religion 5. Take heed of creating a Snare
Observation we may discerne a little for the present as David Psalm 139.17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God How great is the samm of them When he looked back how God had carryed him through many difficulties and brought him to rule his People and watched over him with a careful eye of Providence and ordered every event for his comfort Some general view and knowledge we may have for the present Now to direct your Meditations upon the Providence of God 1. I will shew what it is 2. That it is 3. I will give you some Observations 4. I will press you to treat with your own hearts about the Use and Comfort of it 1. To open the Nature of it what it is Consider 1. The Grounds of Providence 2. The Acts of Providence 1. The Grounds of Providence it is founded in Gods Nature and Attributes three especially Omniscience Wisdom and Power 1. Gods Omniscience or Knowledge of all Affairs in the World God like the Sun is all Light and all Eye Prov. 15.3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good in the Congregation in the Closet in the Shop the Eyes of the Lord are every where and do not only behold the evil and the good Person but the evil and the good Action But chiefly Gods eyes are upon his Children they fall under his special care 2 Chron. 16.9 The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him God minds their whole condition takes notice of their wants and dangers and troubles and will shew himself strong in their supply and deliverance He doth not only know their Persons but their way Psal. 1.6 The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous God takes notice of every particular step he takes and every case he is in by one intuition all things are present to God Therefore when Christ would comfort his Disciples and fence them against worldly care he saith Matth. 6.32 Your heavenly Father knoweth that have need of all these things God takes an exact and particular account of all your vvants and necessities So the Psalmist Psal. 56.8 Thou tellest my wandrings put thou my tears into thy bottle are they not in thy book There is not a tear you shed but it is treasured up in Gods Bottle not a vveary step you take for his Names sake but it is recorded in Gods Book he speaks of those vveary steps he took through the tvvo Forests of Ziph and Hateph But if this be not full enough to commend the particularity of Gods Care he goes higher Isa. 49.16 Behold I have graven thee on the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me When vve are apt to forget vve fix a memorial on our hands and if vve forget a thing recorded in our Book vve shall not forget vvhat is imprinted on our hands 2. Gods Wisdom He knovveth their vvants and ordereth their deliverance There is something of Counsel in all that the Lord doth Ephes. 1.11 Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will Therefore his Will is called his Counsel Act 4.28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done there is not only a Mighty Hand seen in all the Dispensations of God but a wise Counsel So these two Attributes are coupled Iob 9.21 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength We are rash and precipitate carryed on with more Resolution than Reason our desires beget an heat that oversetteth us but whatever God doth it is vvith exact Judgment If vve have eyes to see it vve should see that all the Circumstances of Providence are disposed vvith much Art 3. Gods Povver to execute and administer that vvhich his Wisdom hath devised Gods Councils and Purposes are alwaies follovved vvith a shall be or shall not be he hath Infinite Povver to accomplish them His Povver is as it vvere the Mid-vvife to his blessed decrees he conceiveth all things in the vvomb of his vvill and then he enduceth and bringeth them forth by his mighty Povver Psal. 33.9 He spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast Let it be vvas sufficient to make the World and I will is enough to preserve it God pleaseth this as the Priviledge of the God-head Isa. 44.7 Who as I shall call and shall declare it and set it in order for me That is that can by calling ordain or create Therefore Christ when he would discover the Power of his God-head cured by a word of Omnipotency Matth. 8.3 I will be thou clean Now this Power of God is discovered in Providence three wayes By his Ability and Sufficiency to work without means by unlikely means or by contrary means 1. By working without means God is not bound to the Road of Nature or tyed to the course of Second Causes he can create where he doth not find therefore when God is represented as an Object of Trust to his People this expression is used 1 Pet. 4.19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator as one that is able create where nothing is found So God promiseth Hosea 1.7 I will have mercy on the house of Iudah and will save them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow nor by sword nor by battle by horses nor by horse-men These were the only means they could pitch upon to re-establish themselves but saith the Lord I have a purpose to save them but it shall not be by these God would do it by an invisible sway and turn of things that they should enjoy the Mercy but not see the Means So Isa. 48.7 They are created now and not from the beginning even before the day when thou heardest them not lest thou shouldst say Behold I know them Sometimes God by an immediate Soveraignty will help us Matth. 4.4 Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Sometimes God will not reach out a supply by the ordinary means but by the powerful Word of his Providence or commanded Blessing 2. By working with unlikely Means There is nothing so evil or so inconsiderable but God can work by it in the Story of Ioseph which is one of the fairest draughts of Providence a Lye cast him into Prison and a Dream fetched him out so evil a thing as a Lye and so inconsiderable a thing as a Dream So the Lord makes use of the neglect and Errors of Men Possidonius hath two remarkable Stories in the Life of Austin one was that in Travel he lost his way and found his Life for he escaped an Ambush of the Donatists At another time being to preach he forgot both his Text and Matter and fell upon that which through the Blessing of
Bond in suit but spareth upon our intercession Now this should be taken notice of and notably improved A Man is sick afraid to be damned but he recovers again Now though it be not a total pardon we cannot say it is none at all For God took such a one out of the Jaws of Hell for that time So Mat. 18.32 The Debt was forgiven yet required afterwards the meaning is he was spared for the present He did not obtain that full pardon which amounteth to justification yet he was recovered out of sickness misery and apparent danger and that upon his cry to God 7. If you are continued till you have some experience of the Grace of Christ then much more have you cause to bless God for his long-suffering How ill would it have been for your Souls if you had died in your sins God may say to you as he did to his People Isa 43.24 25. Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thine iniquitiâ—s I even I am he that blotteth out your transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins If God had been quick with us where should we have been We are of an hot and eager nature cannot bear affronts or despightful usage Luk. 9.54 Lord wilt thou that we call for Fire from Heaven to consuâ—e them as did Elias This was Iames and Iohn beloved Disciples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The fury of rash zeal appeared in the best even in the Disciple of love but God does not deal so with us Vse 3. To exhort to Repentance If a Malefactor arraigned at the Bar of Justice should perceive by any speech or word or gesture sign or token any inclination in the Judge to Mercy how would he work upon that advantage to get a Reprieve and the Execution put off So should we improve God's forbearance and long-suffering to sue out a Pardon A Sermon on Rom. X. 5 6 7 8 9. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the Law that the Man which doth those things shall live by them But the righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thine heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above Or who shall descend into the Deep that is to bring up Christ again from the Dead But what saith it The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of Faith which we Preach That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath Raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved THese words which I have now Read need both Vindication and Explication My first work shall be First Vindication or reconciling Paul with Moses That seemeth difficult because in the Allegation some things are changed some things added some things omitted as appeareth by the Collation of the Places the Text and Deut. 30.12 13 14. It is not in Heaven that thou shouldest say Who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldest say Who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it But the word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it To avoid the difficulty some say these words are alledged sensu transumptivo onely by way of Allusion and Accommodation not as Interpreting Moses but as fitting them to his own purpose But this I cannot yield to for these Reasons 1. From the scope of the Apostle which is to draw off the Iews and Iudaizing Brethren from sticking to the Law of Moses as necessary to Justification To do it thoroughly he bringeth an Argument from Moses himself who doth in his Writings give a clear distinction between the Righteousness of the Law and the Righteousness of Faith and so by consequence between the Tenour of the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace Now if it were an Allusion only the Apostle would produce a bare Illustration not a Cogent Argument and so would rather Explain than Convince 2. The Exposition it self is so clear that we need not make it an Allusion if we consider the place whence these passages are taken Deut. 30. The whole Chapter is a Sermon of Evangelical Repentance see the 1 2. Verses And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee and thou shalt call them to mind among all Naâ—ions whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee And shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day thou and thy children with all thy heart and with all thy soul. This was spoken of a time which the Iews themselves confess to belong to the Kingdom of the Messiah And reason sheweth it For the words were spoken by Moses as referring to such a time when the Israelites were dispersed among all Nations which happened not till after Christ's Ascention and the Preaching of the Gospel and doth yet remain and will remain until the Conversion of the Iews of which the Apostle will speak in the next Chapter So that Moses words are applicable to them when the Gospel-dispensation was set on foot That was the word which was nigh them The great prejudice of the Iews against Christ's being the Messiah was because he came not in a way agreeable to their Carnal Conceits or with such Pomp and Visible Demonstration of Authority as to satisfie all his own Countrymen Therefore they were prejudiced and would not own him nor receive the Grace tendered by him but looked for that as afar off which was nigh them and among them And therefore the Apostle doth apply the words of Moses to them to bring them to embrace the New Covenant 3. From the Nature of the thing First Certain it is to us Christians that Moses Wrote of Christ for our Lord saith John 5.46 Had you believed Moses you would have believed me for he Wrote of me Secondly If he Wrote more obscurely we must consider he was a Prophet not an Apostle 3. That he Wrote of Christ in this place the Apostle's Authority is sufficient for he was a good Interpreter If he being infallibly assisted saw more in it than we do we are not to Cavil at his Authority but with reverence to receive this light not vex the Citation by nice Disputes but humbly receive the Interpretation he giveth of it You will say the words are altered But the Apostles usually in Quoting Minded the Sense rather than the Words And Moses his drift was to perswade them to take notice of the Divine Revelation made to them at that time when these things befel them the destroying of the Temple and City and these Dispersions among the Nations Secondly
the Summer and gathereth her food in the Harvest 'T is uncertain we shall live to Old-Age or see another Winter but 't is certain we shall live for ever in Heaven or Hell Reason and Conscience and Scripture assureth us of that Atheists think the People of God are a sort of credulous Fools as Celsus objected that Faith and Credulity brought in Errour None so Credulous as the Atheists who hearken to every foolish Fancy and Cavil against the light of the Universal Tradition of Mankind and the Evidence of Scripture which God hath so often owned and confirmed 2. The Inconsiderate and bruitish part of Mankind who come into the World they know not why and then go out of the World they know not whither These live in the World as in an House of Smoak as they see nothing out of it so scarce see the things they converse with in it These mistake their Banishment for their Countrey the Sea for their Haven and themselves for Beasts instead of Men Oh let these consider 1. Why they came into the World Not to Eat and Drink and Sleep and Sport We were made for Eternal Things not for Temporal Not for the World nor for our selves nor for any thing less than God to glorifie him and injoy him and all other things to serve as helps to Heaven Surely we were not made in vain nor by chance brought forth into light The least things have their appointed ends and surely man that hath an immortal Spirit was never made for a mortal Happiness Oâ— then that men should be so senseless as never to regard whether there be an Eternity yea or no That they should suffer the Beast to ride the man should live meerly to live Use their Bodies only as a Strainer or a Channel for Meat and Drink to pass through That they should only imploy their Souls about trifles and carnal Satisfactions Ioh. 18. â—7 To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the World that I should bear witness unto the Truth All is for some end 2. The next thing to be considered is What will be their State when they go out of the World We daily draw near to our long home but we little think of it till we come to our Journeys end Fear not the Pit till we are plunged into it Prize not our time till it be lost and gone Eccl. 9.12 Man knoweth not his Time as the Fishes that are taken in an evil Net and as the Birds that are caught in the snare so are the Sons of Men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them Death and Calamity befalleth a man when He little dreameth of it as the Fish and the Bird go with much Hope and Promise of good to themselves to the bait and the snare Hence the Beasts are more excusable than we They cannot foresee the end but are guided by Instinct and Appetite to present things that are good for them Oh! That men are entring upon Eternity and yet never think of it Oh excite your selves consider what will become of you when you die You die but once and there is no mending of your Errours when you awake in Flames A Merchant may lose in one Ship but the next venture may repair him and make him amends again An Oratour may lose Fame and Reputation in one Speech and Action and the next may restore it and recover it again with advantage but if a man die ill the loss is Irrevocable but if well the gain is Immortal Therefore surely we should prepare more for an entrance upon our Eternal Estate 3. To negligent and sensual Worldings who wholly busie themselves about the matters of this Life and are hurried hither and thither Psal. 39.6 Surely every man walketh in a vain show they are disquieted in vain Our Life is but a Picture Image Shadow or Dream of Life it vanisheth in a Trice All must be suddenly parted with here all the Riches and Honours and yet we cark and labour and turmoil to get these transitory things as if they would continue with us to all Eternity and had some durable satisfaction in them Present Pleasures and Profits Cloud our Minds and till we can get this Vail drawn aside this Cloud scattered we do not discern our mistake Oh! consider who would redeem the short pleasure of a Dream with the torment of many days Our days upon Earth are as a Shadow and yet this Shadow do we cleave to instead of the Substance and though earthly things be short in their continuance and uncomfortable in their end yet these take up our Life and Love and Care and Thoughts Just as those that want Children take Pleasure in keeping little Dogs and Cats So do they embrace the Shadow for the Substance Vain Glory for Eternal Glory a little Pelf for the true Riches a little paltry Business for the great Work and End of our Lives And when all is done 't is but a Spiders Web Iob 8.14 The trust of the Carnal Man shall be but as the Spiders Web. As the Spider out of his own Bowels weaveth a Web to catch flies and frameth it with a great deal of Art but 't is gone with the turn of the Besom so is the fruit of all their Plots and Cares and Labours and running up and down when in the mean time we are unmindful of Eternity Oh when will these distracted Worldlings find a time for God and Everlasting Happiness Childhood is not serious enough Youth must take their Pleasure Manly Age is too full of Business and Old-Age is too feeble 4. It reproveth Gods Children who are too lazy and have not that Life and seriousness in a spiritual Business which they have in an Earthly If Eternity be your aim why are you so dead and dull in a course of Holiness The Apostle biddeth Timothy to follow after Holiness To fight the good fight to lay hold on Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6.12 Implying if the one were his aim He would do the other If we press towards the mark why are we so frozen and cold in our Zeal for God so inclinable to every motion of Sin so easily overcome by Temptations Alas making Eternal things our scope is but a notion unless we provide forthwith with greater care exactness and diligence There should be a suitableness and Proportion between the exactness of our Conversation and the greatness of our Hopes 1 Thess. 2.12 Walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his Kingdom and Glory That worthiness is the worthiness of Condignity Congruity and Condecency But alas do we labour as for Eternity so follow after Righteousness so fight the good fight of Faith so despise the World deny our selves run through all streights Triumph over all Difficulties mortifie and subdue our own carnal Inclinations Alas we are so bold in sinning so cold in Holy things and do so little exercise our selves unto Godliness as if we had no such great
toward thee for all that thou hast done Our Faith a thankful acceptance of Christ and all his Benefits our Obedience a thankful Obedience not out of fear of Hell but Gratitude all our Duties but the thankful Returns of Christ's Redeemed ones for the great Love he hath shewed to us So for all works of Charity our giving anâ— imitation of Christ who loved us and gave himself for us 2 Cor. 8.9 Tho' he was rich yet for your sakes became poor that ye through his power might become rich Forgiving so it is said Eph. 4.32 Forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Our works of Piety Worshipping God Love should bring us into his Presence and his Mercies to us in Christ should be continual matter of Praise and Thanksgiving Our Preaching Love to God should sweeten the labours of it Oh had we a deeper sense of this great Love that provided such a remedy for us we would feel the constraining influence of it in every thing that our hand findeth to do for God! 2. The next thing is the outward occasion or procuring Cause which is our Misery by reason of Sin He came to propitiate God offended by Man's Sin Sin was the cause of Enmity between God and Man and did set us at such an infinite distance from him that our peace could be made no other way but by Christ's making his Soul an offering for Sin Isai. 53.10 and becoming a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Therefore when we remember the Agonies and Death of Christ we should remember the odiousness of Sin To make light of Sin is to make light of the sufferings of Christ. The Scripture often shews the greatness of Sin by the greatness of the price that was given to redeem us from it 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ. And this both in order to Caution and Humiliation Caution ver 17. pass the time of your sojourning here in fear And Humiliation Zach. 12.10 I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of Grace and Supplication and they shall look on Him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born Before God would be propitious to Sinners the Son of God must be made Man and suffer and dye to expiate our offences Well then Is Sin nothing that sowed the Seeds of that woful Discord between God and us that he will have no communion with us till the Blood of Christ be shed to purge us from our Sins Generally we have slight and superficial apprehensions of Sin therefore we are not much troubled for what is past nor careful to avoid it for the time to come Ye are not deeply affected with what our Mediator hath done to deliver us from it Oh Christians Without these bitter Herbs due thoughts of Sin Christ our Passover will not relish with us Do but consider what you conceive of wrongs done to you how they provoke and stir your passions so that there is much ado to get you pacified What hainousness must there be in your offences against God both as to the quality of their nature and their multiplicity both as to number and kind It is true God is free from passion and is not troubled as your Spirits are But such is the provoking nature of Sin that it cryeth for Vengeance and bringeth you under the dreadful Sentence of Divine wrath which would fall upon you with all its weight if Christ had not interposed and catched the Blow In short the Sinner is in a dreadful and damnable condition by reason of Sin but Christ bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree which should increase our Thankfulness for woe be to us if we bear our own Sin and heighten our Repentance that we may not provoke God for the future For you see satisfaction cannot be easily made for the injury of Sin The ignorance of God's Majesty and Holiness hath tempted the World to fancy some lesser expiations of Sin and satisfaction to God by sacrifices of Beasts or Penances or such a number of Prayers or costly Alms But the Gospel teacheth us there is no purgation of Sin but only by the death of Jesus Christ. 3. The effects and fruits are Pardon and Life I. Pardon For God's Justice being satisfied by Christ he hath granted a new Covenant wherein Pardon is assured to the penitent Believer We are told in what way and method Sin is pardoned upon the account of Christ's death If we in a broken-hearted manner confess it before God 1 Ioh 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness So Luke 24.47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations Now this is no small mercy to have sin pardon'd II. The other benefit is Life begun in us by the Spirit and perfected in Heaven Consider it as begun in us by the Spirit in Regeneration We have have it by virtue of Christ's death Tit. 3.5 6. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost whicsh he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Lord. Or as perfected in Heaven it is still the fruit of Christ's death Heb. 5.9 Being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Now these benefits should be considered by us because they are the matter of our Faith and Trust. As God's Love calleth for Thankfulness and the hainousness of Sin for Repentance so the benefits of Christ's death for Faith and Affiance God solemnly reacheth out to us the benefits contained in the promises of the Gospel as by a Deed and Instrument and we by Faith accept them and by Affiance depend on God for the performance of them In short that Christ may give us the Favour and Image of God and all the consequent priviledges free access to God for the present and the full fruition of him in Bliss and Glory for the future Thus for the Object Secondly The Act is Annunciation or Shewing forth This may be considered with respect to the parties to whom we annunciate it Or with respect to the Properties or manner how it is to be annunciated 1. With respect to the Parties We annunciate and shew forth Christ's death with respect to our selves that we may anew believe and exercise our Faith With respect to others that we may solemnly profess this Faith in the Crucified Saviour with a kind of Glorying and rejoycing With respect to God that we may plead the merit of his Sacrifice with Humility and Affiance I. With
his Love mentioned in the former Verse God's Children incourage themselves with his hidden Favour though to appearance God covereth himself with wrath and frowns His present severity cannot perswade them that all his Mercy is lost and clean gone and forgotten They can see it in God's Heart though they see it not in his Hand and it be not visible to their own Sense Though they feel him as an Enemy yet they will trust him as a Friend They know he will spare them even then when he pursueth them with the strokes of his wrath For Articles of Faith are not to be laid aside because of the contradiction of Sense 2. There is some sparing even in his striking for if he bring one Evil to prevent a greater Evil to save us from Eternal Misery that is Mercy He striketh for a while that he may spare for ever 1 Cor. 11.32 For when we are judged we are Chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the World A Man would be pulled out of the deep Waters though it be by the Hair of his Head and his Arm broken in the Rescue If he take away any good thing from us to bestow some greater good we have no cause to complain for surely the greater should be preferred before the lesser and the felicity of the Soul in Grace and Glory should be preferred before the good of the Body God had neither spared nor saved any if he had not blasted their Worldly happiness Surely God doth not envy to us our Worldly Comforts but taketh them from us when they are likely to do us hurt 2. Use. To shew us the privilege of them that fear God or have a Son-like and Child-like affection to him He speaketh not here of the first Grace infused into the Penitent but of those that are already admitted into his Family Surely their Privilege is exceeding great 1. They need not be discouraged in their Duties though they be imperfect God will not call them to a strict account Christ when he Feasts with his Spouse he will eat the Honey with the Honey-comb Cant. 5.1 he accepts all heartily He that forgave all their Sins at first will excuse their infirmities They shall be tenderly dealt with all and their failings passed over as a Parent passeth over an Escape in an Obedient Son Alas if God did not spare us for our best Works and choicest Services who could stand Our Duties need a Pardon as well as those actions which are down right Sins for they are mixed with Sin 2. That he will spare us as to Afflictions and Judgments 1. Sometimes God may spare others for their sakes as he offereth to spare Sodom if there were Fifty Righteous Persons found in it Gen. 18.26 If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the City I will spare all the place for their sakes Afterwards the number was brought down to Ten vers 32. So God gave to Paul the lives of all that sailed with him in the Ship Acts 27.24 though in that Eminent danger for his sake 2. When he cometh to reckon with the Nation or the Community in which they live he many times spared them and they are not swept away in the common Judgment Isa. 3.10 Say ye to the righteous it shall be well with him God will put a difference between them and others not always but when he pleaseth God may protect them in calamitous Times The Lord knows how to do it how to make Distinctions 2 Pet. 2.9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of Temptation 3. If they are involved in the common Judgment as two dry Sticks may set a green on Fire they may see some Moderation and Glimpses of favour Habb 3.2 That in the midst of Wrath God remembers Mercy Either it is sanctified or they are supported under it or the Evil is mitigated 4. If the worst fall out yet they are spared because they are not cast into Hell If they are not exempted from Temporal Judgments yet they are delivered from Wrath to come and that should satisfy Christians Heb. 10.39 We believe to the saving of the Soul 1. Pet. 1.9 Receiving the end of your Faith even the Salvation of your Souls Though the Body and its Interests be endamaged yet the Soul is saved which is our great hope 3. Use is to Instruct us in our Duty with respect to this choice Privilege 1. Let us be affected with the Love of God that he will spare us as a Man spareth his own Son If God should deal with us according to the merit of our Sins and be strict upon us what would become of the best of us Surely God seeth all our Failings Heb. 4.12 All things are naked and open unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do And doth disallow them and is displeased with them 2 Sam. 11.27 But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. If you deny the first you deny his being if you deny the second you debase his Holiness and Righteousness And his Law Condemneth them as worthy of punishnishment Gall. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them Whence then cometh our safety From the New Covenant founded in Christ's Blood by which the Sentence of Condemnation is vacated Rom. 8.1 There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ. This Sentence is repealed by a new act of God's great Mercy and Favour in the New Covenant 2. Let us believe the certainty of it on the Grounds before-mentioned viz. the merciful Nature of God the design of the Gospel is to represent him Amiable to Man 1 Iohn 4.8 God is love The satisfaction of Christ 1 Iohn 4.10 God sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins His gracious Covenant Psal. 25.10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant His Fatherly Goodness Ier. 3.4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me My father thou art the guide of my youth 3. Keep your Qualification clear Besides the Ransom our Uprightness must be interpreted Iob 33.23 24. If there be a messenger with him an interpreter one among a thousand to shew unto man his uprightness then he is gracious unto him and saith Deliver him from going down into the pit for I have found a ransom If we do not continue to fear God or abate our Reverence towards him we lose our Comfort Therefore if you would stand right in God's favour our Love and Fear must be increased towards this good God And if he will stand upon the exactness of his Law we must not stand upon our own Interests and the Gratifications of the Flesh. We should not spare any beloved Lust or Interest so we may please and glorifie God A Sermon on 2 TIM ii 19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And Let every
solid cause of Rejoycing Yes certainly his great Care is over his Wounds are healed he hath got rid of the great Sore that burdened and made his Soul sit uneasie before Matth. 9.2 Son be of good cheer thy sins be forgiven thee His great Trouble is gone and the Root of all Misery is taken away Rom. 5.11 We joy in God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement A condemned Malefactor can never be heartily comforted with a Feast his Friends give him before Execution but with a Pardon which his Prince gives to reverse the Sentence of Death passed upon him Or thus It is little comfort to give a Man going to Execution a Posie of Flowers and bid him smell to that and chear his Heart with that But you chear him indeed if you bring him not only a Reprieve but a Pardon So when God is reconciled and all your Sins are forgiven you this is solid Comfort and Peace 2. Again Wisdom inviteth us and calleth us to the Love of God for Faith worketh by love Gal. 5.6 Though before we stood in dread of a Condemning God now we should be deeply possessed with the Goodness of a Pardoning God Well then those that love God may assure themselves that he will love them and manifest himsâ—lf to them Iohn 14.21 23. Do we believe this certainly It is true Now if all the World loveth and God hateth you can have no solid Peace for you must at length fall into his hands If you had all the World at will you may have it with God's hatred who can make you miserable when ever he pleaseth He can blast you with Diseases fill you with Disquiets of Soul imbitter all your Comforts But suppose you had the Love of God then what wanteth to your solid Satisfaction and Peace That is the sweetest thing that ever was felt Psal. 4.6 7. There be many that say who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time when their corn and wine increased Psal. 63.3 Because thy loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee This is Marrow and Fatness one drop of it sweeteneth all our Crosses and it is the Life of all our Comforts 3. Wisdom inviteth to an holy and heavenly Life or to all those Ways and Means whereby we may come to enjoy God at last And this breedeth the lively foresight of that fulness of Joy and Glory which ravisheth the Soul Is it nothing to you to live for ever with God and to see his Glory and to be perfected in Holiness and Happiness This is the end of the Ways you walk in Alas others can never have solid Comfort they know where they are but they know not where they shall be When they dye they must go into an unknown World yea which is worse to an unknown God of whose Love they never had any taste or experience and therefore cannot deal with him when they come in to his Presence But those that have lived always in the sight of a World to come and kept themselves in the way that leadeth thither they have solid Rejoycing Rom. 5.2 We rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God What though they be ill treated for the present things will be otherwise in Heaven Matth. 5.12 Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven Well then from the whoâ—e the only satisfying Delights of Man can be no where but in the Pardon of Sins Love of God and the foresight of endless Glory which is alone had in the Paths of Wisdom 2. From the manner how it is obtained Her ways are ways of pleasantness and her paths are paths of peace It is by walking not by speculation It is a ravishing thing to understand heavenly Doctrine and to see the apt proportion and due connexion between Ends and Means especially when we have it not only upon Tradition but our own Search and Study Prov. 24.13 14. My son eat thou honey because it is good and the honey-comb which is sweet to thy taste so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to thy soul when thou hast found it then there shall be a reward and thy expectation shall not be cut off There is a comparison between the Delights of the Body and the Delights of the Soul what Honey is to the Body that is Wisdom to the Soul There is a ravishing Sweetness in the Study and Contemplation of Truth when by searching reading hearing meditating we have found it out there is an incredible Delectation Alas Wisdom and Knowledge to the ignorant and foolish World seemeth as Wormwood but to the diligent painful Student it is as the Honey and Honey-comb A Man in his Study hath truer Pleasure than the greatest Epicure in the most exquisite Enjoyments of Sense especially when this Contemplation is employed about Divine Truths as Salvation by Christ Reconciliation with God and Eternal Life But the Pleasure of Contemplation is nothing to the Pleasure of Practice Why 1. Because Practice giveth a more Experimental Knowledge of these Things for there they are confirmed and verified in our selves We have not only a Sight but a Taste We have a Sight by Contemplation but we have a Taste by Practice and are more deeply and intimately acquainted and affected with these Things 1 Pet. 2.3 If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious 2. The taste of these Things is kept upon our Hearts by serious Obedience and Practice If there be any taste by Speculation it is very vanishing it leaveth the Heart little the warmer but here it abideth and remaineth with us Iohn 15.11 These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and your joy might be full They were cheared when they heard Christ's comfortable Promise but when they were in the pursuit and practice it filled their Minds with more durable Pleasure it abode in them in a more full and constant manner It is a flash of Joy that is stirred up by Contemplation but this of Practice and fruitful Obedience is a constant solid and uninterrupted Joy it doth not dye away so soon as the other 3. Every holy Action is rewarded by Peace of Conscience 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world Not every act of Contemplation for that is an imperfect Operation till the Effect succeed and so far as to be our common Practice 4. Our Title to the Heavenly Inheritance is more clearly made out by Practice By Knowledge we know what to seek after but by Practice our Right is confirmed Knowledge directeth us in our Duty but serious Practice assureth our Interest and so our Contentment is doubled Iohn 13.17 If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them Knowledge and
Heart be well furnished the Tongue will not be barren and empty 2. Having your Furniture get those Graces which may quicken you to imploy it as Zeal for the Glory of God and love to Souls Fire turns all about it into Fire Mules and all Creatures of a Mungrel Race do not procreate 1 Iohn 1.2 3. For the Life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iâ—sus Christ. And David's Maschill Psal. 32. Title is A Psalm giving Instruction True Good is diffusive of its self When Philip was called he inviteth Nathanael to come to Christ Iohn 1.45 and Andrew Simon Vers. 41. True Zeal sheweth its self by a Zeal to promote the Kingdom of Christ and the good of Souls And the new Nature seeketh to multiply the kinds and they who are really brought to Christ will be careful to invite others 3. We have need to pray to God that he will touch our Tongues with a Coal from the Altar that is by his Spirit purifie our Speech Isai. 6.6 7. Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me having a live Coal in his Hand which he had taken with the Tongs from off the Altar And he laid it upon my Mouth and said Lo this hath touched thy Lips and thine Iniquity is taken away and thy Sin is purged That we may shew forth nothing of pride and passion and carnal affection but speak upon all Occasions with a pure Zeal for him And again that he would open our Lips Psal. 51.15 O Lord open thou my Lips and my Mouth shall shew forth thy Praise That he would cast out the dumb Devil The habit of Grace without continual influence to act it effectually will not do its work the habit is a Gift and the bringing forth of the habit to exercise is another Gift 4. Watchfulness and heed is necessary otherwise Corruption will break out There is a quick intercourse between the Heart and the Tongue Pride will shew its self in a vain Ostentation of Parts Passion in some heat of Words Worldliness and Sensuality will bewray themselves and divert us from holy Conference to that which is Carnal and Worldly Discontent in some unseemly Expressions of God's dealings with us Indiscretion and Folly in a multitude of impertinent talk Psal. 141.3 Set a Watch O Lord before my Mouth Keep the Door of my Lips The Tongue must be watched as well as the Heart all watching will be to little purpose unless God bridle and curb our Tongues that nothing break out to his dishonour but this constant Guard is necessary Second Sermon I Come to the second Branch But the Heart of the Wicked is little worth Doct. That an Vnsanctified Heart is a Drossie Heart of no value and use as to Heavenly Things 1. Let me explain this Aphorism 2. Confirm it by Reason 3. Apply it 1. To open it 1. What is meant by the Wicked Man 2. What by his Heart 3. In what sense it is little worth 1. What is meant by the Wicked Man Answ. One that is not regenerate or renewed by the Holy Spirit They are of several sorts some are more gross in the out-breakings of sin others please the Flesh in a more plausible and cleanly manner the one are usually called wicked and prophane Persons but others are comprized also Psal. 14.3 They are all gone aside they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one They are all in the state of Nature and their corrupt Hearts are vile and loathsom in God's sight 1. Some have great Natural Abilities and Gifts as Achitophel 2 Sam. 16.23 And the Counsel of Achitophel which he counselled in those days was as if a Man had enquired at the Oracle of God yet his Heart was nothing worth as to God's acceptance and his own Salvation as the issue declared 2. Some have plausible shews of Piety and external Worship yet while the Heart is unrenewed that will not help the matter Matth. 23.27 28. Our Lord compareth them to whited Sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead Mens Bones and of all Vncleanness Even so ye also appear outwardly righteous to Men but within are full of Hypocrisie and Iniquity 3. Not only the gross Dissemblers but those that are brought so far as to a partial Obedience yet this availeth not if the Heart be not cleansed and renewed as it is said of Amaziah 2 Chron. 25.2 He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect Heart It was right in the matter and he did many things right but his Heart was nothing worth 4. Though Men act like themselves and have no condemning disallowing thoughts within themselves as conscious to any partiality and defect in their Obedience yet God still looketh to the Heart to see whether it be drossie or pure Gold Prov. 16.2 All the ways of a Man are clean in his own Eyes but God weigheth the Spirits He puts the Heart into the Balance of the Sanctuary Men blinded with self-love are partial in their own cause and when the action is fair over-look an unsanctified Heart but the Lord considereth it exactly quo animo with what spirit every thing is done 2. What is meant by the Heart Not that fleshy part which is in the midst of the Breast but the Soul with all its Faculties Understanding Will and Affections And this considered not as to its Natural Capacities and Properties but as corrupted by Sin Now great is the Pravity and deep is the Corruption of Man's Heart by Nature and that not only as to the Disorder and Disobedience of the Inferiour Faculties but as to the leading part of the Soul First In order to God Secondly As to Inferiour Things First In order to God 1. In the Understanding there is not only Ignorance but Indisposedness to know the Truth set forth by the Notions of Darkness and Blindness Ephes. 5.8 Ye were sometimes darkness 2 Pet. 1.9 He that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off He hath no Spiritual discerning This is worse than bodily blindness because Men are not sensible of it Revel 3.18 And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and because they seek not fit Guides to lead them Acts 13.11 And now behold the Hand of the Lord is upon thee and thou shalt be blind not seeing the Sun for many days And immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand But these cannot indure them 2. Vanity and Slightness and Folly Matth. 22.5 They made light of it Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so
Persons that is his Judgment is not sway'd by any thing that is extrinsical and belongeth not to the cause in hand and will not approve or disapprove any Man for his Persons sake or External Prerogatives if he be not otherwise worthy of approbation or reproof As to instance in the foregoing distinctions 1. The Gifts of the Body Strength and Beauty It is not the Strong and Beautiful that are accepted with God but the Good and the Holy He is strong in a Spiritual sense not that overcometh another man but tameth his own flesh Prov. 16.32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his Spirit than he that taketh a City The true strength is seen also in vanquishing the temptations of the Devil 1 Iohn 2.14 Ye are strong and the word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one So not outward Beauty but Grace doth make us amiable in the sight of God Alas that is a fading thing in its Prime it is but Skin-deep The adorning of the hidden man of the Heart is that which is of great price in the sight of God 1 Pet. 3.3 4. This Beauty is never shrivell'd nor doth it wax Old and is in high esteem with God 2. For the Gifts of the Mind Learning Secular Prudence these things may make us more Serviceable in the World but surely in themselves they do not commend us to God It is pity Men should prostitute their great abilities to so vile an use as only to Cater for the Body or to turn and wind in the World or else to put a Varnish on the Devils cause As Satan chose the form of the Serpent to deceive our first Parents because he was the subtilest of all the Beasts of the Field Gen. 3.1 So he delighteth to employ the sharpest subtilest Wits but at last with all their Wit and Learning they are thrust down into Hell unless they lay aside their Worldly Wisdom and cleave to Christ and walk in his ways whatever it costs them 1 Cor. 3.18 If any among you seemeth to be wise in this World let him become a Fool that he may be Wise. In the Eye of the World it seemeth foolish to stand on terms of Conscience but that that will be found the best Wisdom at last 3. Of Estate Rank and Quality Some are Noble some Ignoble But the Blood that runneth in the Veins of the Poor is of the same Colour with yours that are Nobly Descended By Nature you are equal for he has made all Nations of one Blood Acts 17.26 And this distinction will not out-live time but ceaseth at the Graves Mouth Certainly it beareth no weight before Gods Tribunal 1 Cor. 1.26 Not many Mighty not many Noble are called So some are Rich and Mighty others are Poor and in a low Condition but none are accepted the more for their greatness dignity or Worldly preheminence Iob. 34. â—9 He accepteth not the person of Princes and regardeth not the rich more than the pâ—or for they are all the work of his hands Alas it is a vain plea with God to say I am Rich I am Noble I am a Prince I hope he will not deal severely with me The Rich or Poor Prince or Beggar do all stand upon the same level before God The dignity power and wealth of Princes doth not move him to spare them neither Lordship nor Ladiship nor Principality nor Kingdom can stead you if you be a Transgressor your Sensuality is as odious to God as the Drunkenness of the Rascality When we stand before the Lord we are stript of all our personal qualities and regarded only according to our Works Rev. 20.12 I saw small and great stand before God So for Bond and Free Though Christian Religion abolish not those civil distinctions which are between Masters and Servants Governors and Governed yet it layeth no weight upon any of these as to our acceptance with God The Bond may be Christ's Freeman 1 Cor. 7.22 and the Free are but Christ's Servants Therefore the Apostle biddeth Masters to carry themselves well to their Servants because God is no respecter of persons Eph. 6.9 Col 3.25 4. In respect of Nation or Country Some lye nearer others more remote from the Sun but they are all alike near to the Sun of Righteousness Gal. 3.28 Iew and Greek are all one in Christ Iesus or else miserable without him Especially since the coming of Christ in the Flesh the door of Grace is much more inlarged and the inclosure broken down 5. For Externals in Religion for Profession and outward Priviledges Cornelius was an holy and good Man but wanted Circumcision yet was accpted of God when many a Carnal Jew that had it was rejected by him This is attested by the Apostle Rom. 2.9 10 11. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul that doth evil of the Iew first and also of the Gentile but glory honour peace to every man that worketh good to the Iew first and also to the Gentile for there is no respect of persons with God God is not partial to Jews above Gentiles nor to Carnal literal Christians above Pagans If by outward profession there be a people nearer to God than others they have the priviledge to be first rewarded if they do good But then they must expect to have punishment and destruction first if they do evil for the greater their Priviledges the greater also their Provocation and Guilt will be For God's rewards and punishments are not conferred by an uncertain rule of arbitrary favour and displeasure neither do they depend on outward priviledges of being or not being Circumcised but are exactly proportioned to mens Qualifications and Actions Well then Baptism or the external Profession of the Faith is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Christian as Circumcision or the Profession of the Law is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Jew Now if either be without holiness of Heart and Life it is nothing to their acceptance with God either for the submission to the Rituals of Moses or the external observances of the Gospel if there be not that Constitution of Heart or that course of Life which this Profession calleth for for God looketh not to shews and appearances but the reality of Mens Godliness and Obedience It is no Plea to say I am of the true Religion 6. I shall add Where Men are under one common Profession but differ in lesser things As there were different Parties at Corinth but one common Christ 1 Cor. 1.2 All that call on the Lord Iesus Christ both theirs and ours with 12 and 13 Verses Is Christ divided It is the nature of man to confine all Religion to their own Party and inclose the common Salvation As here in England our Divisions have tempted us to Unchurch Unminister Unchristianize one another we make no scruple to cast one another out of Gods favour but God's approbation doth not go by our Vote and Suffrage
are his Members and belong to him Rom. 8.9 If ye have not the spirit of Christ ye are none of his 3. He blesseth his Word and Sacraments to this end and purpose Iohn 17.19 For their sakes I sanctifie my self that they also might be sanctified through the truth We hear of Christ by the Spirit and of the Spirit in the Ordinances and Duties of Religion Eph. 5.26 By the washing of water through the word Two are here mentioned the Word and washing of Water The one containeth our Charter or Grant of Christ and all his Benefits to every one that believes in him Iohn 3.16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life The other is the Seal of it to assure us and be a pledge to us that Christ will be as good as his word Rom. 4.11 He received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of faith 1. The Word is a powerful Instrument Iohn 17.19 I sanctifie my self that they also might be sanctified through the truth John 15.3 Ye are clean through the word That warneth us of our Duty sheweth our Danger encourageth us by Promises to run to Christ for this Benefit holds forth his Blood as the meritorious Cause 2. Sacraments assure God will be as good as his word The doubting Soul saith â—how shall I know 2 Kings 20.8 What shall be the sign By these visible Things God assures us of the Truth of his Covenant Use. It sheweth us how and where we should look for this benefit of Sanctification From Christ by the Spirit in the Ordinances Look not to these singly but all together Holy Things do not sanctify us but we pollute them when we look to them singly Hag. 2.13 14. If one that is unclean touch any of these shall it be unclean The Priests answered It shall be unclean So is this people that which they offer is unclean Fowl Bodies the more you nourish them the more you hurt them 2. Go not to the Spirit alone without having accepted Christ and received him into your Hearts so upward Christ tendeth to the Spirit the Spirit to Ordinances Christ undertaketh to be a Sanctifier that you may have recourse to him A Sermon on Hebr. xiii 5 For he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee IN the former part of the Verse the Apostle dissuadeth from Covetousness and perswadeth to Contentment The Motive to inforce the one and the other is God's Promise Many of our Distempers would have no more place if we did oftener study the Promises He saith that is God that He whose Voice should only be heard in the Church The Pythagoreans would use to say in their School 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He hath said It should much more be reason enough with Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For he said But where doth the force of the Inference lye Apply it to the first part Let your conversation be without covetousness for he hath said I answer Covetousness is rooted in a Diffidence and fear of Want Now that Fear is irrational if we regard what he hath said God will maintain us as long as he hath Work for us to do He that is perswaded that God will not leave him will not be much troubled Apply it now to the second Branch Be content with such things as you have for he hath said I will never leave thee And how is that inferred I answer The comfort of our Condition doth not depend on outward Provisions so much as in God's Promises therefore though you have little be content If God denieth the Creature he will vouchsafe his own Presence and what need we care for the want of a Candle when we have the Sun Once more The Connexion between the Dissuasive and Exhortation and the Promise is to be observed Be not covetous be content for he hath said I will never leave thee And Men would have less trouble if they could learn to cast themselves upon God's allowance If we could depend more we should crave less The Promise well applied would not only allay our Fears but moderate our Desires Lust is ravenous and therefore suspicious If we believe his Word we shall have enough to glorifie God enough for that condition wherein God will make use of us Fixing upon Carnal Hopes doth but make trouble for your selves Carnal Affections prescribe God a Task which he will never perform Psal. 78.18 They asked meat for the lusts Not Meat for their Necessities but Meat for their Lusts. God never undertook to maintain us at such a rate to give us so much by the Year such Portions for our Children The Sheep must be left to the Shepherd to choose their Pastures bare or better grown Be content and then Faith will be more easie We may pray for a Competency and are bound to submit to an Extremity He hath said Where hath he said it Every where in the Word more especially to Ioshua in particular Iosh. 1.5 As I was with Moses so I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee To all his People in general Deut. 31.6 8. Be strong and of a good courage fear not nor be afraid of them for the Lord thy God he it is that doth go with thee he will not fail thee nor forsake thee David bids Salomon be confident of it 1 Chron. 28.20 David said to Salomon his son be strong and of good courage and do it fear not nor be dismayed for the Lord God even my God will be with thee he will not fail thee nor forsake thee So Iacob Gen. 28.15 I will not leave thee till I have done all that I have spoken to thee of It is pleaded by Salomon 1 King 8.57 The Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers let him not leave us nor forsake us You see it is a known Truth and to be made use of upon all occasions of Tryal It was spoken to Ioshua when he was to fight the Lord's Battels To Israel when they had not as yet a foot of Land to possess To Iacob when to pass through many Services To Salomon when to go about a costly Work And God having said it so often delights to be challenged upon his Word and to have this Promise put in suit Before I come to shew you the full purport and drift of this Promise let me observe 1. Though the Promises were made upon a particular occasion to some of God's People yet they are of a general Use. Well then Promises made to one Saint concern another also Why 1. Because God is alike affected to all his Children he beareth them the same love His Saints now are as dear to him as ever Therefore as he would not leave Ioshua or Iacob or Salomon so he will not leave others that trust in him This honour have all his Saints Psal. 149.9 2. They have
Good As to our selves we must subordinate all things to our true Happiness and be more careful for the Soul than for the Body All this Righteousness or the Evidence of natural Light calleth for at our Hands that we love our Creator and live to him and depend upon him for if he be God he is our first Cause highest Lord chiefest Good and last End That Love to others is shewed in doing to them as we would should be done to us We would have others helpful to us so must we to our Power be helpful to them he that will be for none but himself cannot justly expect that any should be for him And for our selves Man consists of a Body and of a Soul now all our Senses and bodily Powers and the Appetites must be subordinated to the Good of the Soul for the Soul is the chiefest Part. Well then if we live in the Neglect of God and be only Self-Lovers and Self-Pleasers and wrong our selves by gratifying our Flesh do we do well If we prefer every paltry Vanity before the Favour of God slander and wrong our Neighbour please Appetite before Reason and let the Beast ride the Man surely we obey Unrighteousness we do not do well 2. We must obey the Truth that is act agreeably to the revealed Will of God in Scripture that is to do well It is the Scripture which helpeth us to distinguish Good from Evil and will be a sure Direction in well-doing Psal. 119.105 Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet and a Light unto my Path. Prov. 6.23 For the Commandment is a Lamp and the Law is Light Isa. 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no Light in them We are not to be ruled by our own Thoughts but by God's Word which amply sets forth our Duty to us The Light of Nature is very dim and it would be a matter of great Difficulty to find out our Duty if we had no supernatural Light to help us Therefore God hath given his Word and that not only to instruct us in moral Duties most of which are evident by the Light of Nature but also in supernatural Verities which tend to our Relief and Deliverance by Christ. Well then well-doing is not one Work only but all our intire Obedience which is necessary to â—alvation that we may not only love God do Good to others govern our Appetites and Desires but believe in Christ and live according to his holy Institutes and perform all the Duties which belong to his new remedying Law This is Well-doing 2. There must be Continuance in Well-doing As we must indeavour universally to do all that God hath commanded us so we must continue this Care unto the End Luke 1.75 In Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our Life In a Journey it is not enough to go a Mile or two but we must continue till we come to our Journey 's End so must we never give over whilst we are in this World There may be Interruptions Diversions and Straglings but a Christian gets into the way again Sometimes we slip and stumble and sometimes step aside but we must not go back again Some are good for a Pang or Fit Deut. 5.29 O that there were such an Heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always I might heap up many Considerations here but the thing is evident The Law bindeth continually and Grace planted in the Heart should influence all our Actions God's Eye is always upon us and every Hour and Moment we are a-new obliged to him for his Benefits how reasonable is it our Duty should last and the Use of Means be continued till we attain our End Therefore do not lose your Crown and the Benefit of all you have done already The Promise runneth to Perseverance Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful to the Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life 3. Here is patient Continuance That is necessary also The good Ground is described to be that which bringeth forth Fruit with Patience Luke 8.15 The other Grounds brought forth Fruit but they did not bring forth Fruit with Patience the stony Ground was impatient of Contradiction and Afflictions The thorny Ground was impatient of the Delay of the Reward and therefore took up with present things Riches and Honours and voluptuous Living but they that have a deep Sense of the other World and can tarry God's Leisure enduring the Hardships of Obedience and look for their Happiness in the World to come that is the good Ground So Heb. 6.12 Be ye Followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises We shall meet with Opposition within and without till we can deny our selves our Hearts are not sound with God We need the working Patience because of the Labour and Pains which belongeth to well-doing and the waiting Patience because our Reward is to come and the bearing Patience because of the Troubles and Dangers which we must indure if we would be faithful with God Loss of Estate Slanders of the Wicked and sometimes Danger of Life The working Patience should not be grievous to us because the Pains of Godliness will be recompensed with the Fruit of it the Peace and Comfort that followeth it and because there is more Labour in committing Sin than doing Good The waiting Patience should not be grievous because there must be a time for the Trial of our Faith They are Hypocrites which must have their Reward at present Matth. 6.2 Verily I say unto you they have their Reward The Believer he can wait for it he looketh for Glory and Honour too but not now The bearing Patience should not be irksom because Faithfulness in our Trials is most comfortable to us and most acceptable to God Comfortable to us we have not ordinarily so clear a Proof of the Reality of Grace as when we are under sore Trials 1 Pet. 1.7 That the Trial of your Faith being much more precious than of Gold though it be tried with Fire may be found unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of Iesus Christ. Faith is then Faith indeed and Obedience Obedience indeed The greater the Work and the more Impediments we meet with self-denying Obedience doth most evidence it self to the Conscience Whilst we do any thing for God while we do it without Shame Opposition and Loss it is more hard to interpret our Sincerity It is more acceptable to God 't is tried Friendship and Obedience which is most valuable The Obedience of a Souldier is pleasing to a General in a time of Peace when he saith to one Go and he goeth and to another Come and he cometh but especially in the most desperate Hazards when he doth not dispute Commands when he is bidden to go upon the Cannons Mouth From the whole Mortification Self-denial Contempt of the World Patience under manifold Sufferings
our Sins in his own Blood And for God the Spirit we also find our Hearts raised to give him Glory partly by the Motions of his Grace which we feel in our Hearts Psal. 143.10 Teach me to do thy Will for thou art my God thy Spirit is good lead me into the Land of Vprightness Nehem. 9.20 Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them The Sanctifier Guide and Comforter of Believers is God's Spirit he is the only Author and Fountain of all Goodness and Holiness And partly by the comfortable Sense he begets in us of our Adoption Gal. 4.6 And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father And of our Hopes of Glory 2 Cor. 5.5 Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God who hath also given unto us the Earnest of the Spirit And partly by the Support and Comfort we have from him in all our Conflicts and Distresses 1 Pet. 4.14 If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you on their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified 3. That we may with more Confidence wait for the Beginning Progress and Consummation of our own Salvation There is the eternal Love of God the alsufficient Merit of Christ and the omnipotent Operation of the Holy Ghost What cannot Eternal Love Infinite Merit and Almighty Power do As Christ is necessary to keep all right between us and God so the Spirit is necessary to keep all right between us and Christ. As we need a Person of the Godhead to satisfy the Justice of God so also to overcome our Obstinacy and Unbelief and to vanquish Temptations and Doubts and Fears and to settle us in the Comfort and Hope of the Gospel It is God's Prerogative to settle the Conscience Isa. 57.19 I create the Fruit of the Lips Peace Peace to him that is afar off and to him that is nigh saith the Lord. God is the supream Judg and the wronged Party He commands his Loving-kindness in the Day-time Psal. 42.8 By a powerful Imperial Act of the Spirit he stilleth our Doubts and Fears 4. That the whole Glory of our Salvation may redound to God alone Therefore the Divine Persons carry it on among themselves Love Grace and Communication do all To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved Eph. 1.6 Grace is the fountain-Fountain-Cause of our Election Grace bringeth it about for who could ransom a Soul except Christ had taken the Work in hand There would have been a stop there Psal. 49.7 8. None of them can by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a Ransom for him for the Redemption of their Soul is precious and ceaseth for ever There would have been a stop there Grace applies all What are we before the Grace of the Spirit How unworthy till Grace made us lovely How unable to lay hold on it before the Spirit of God enable us Rom. 5.6 For when we were yet without Strength in due time Christ died for the Vngodly And how unable are we to make good use of it afterward For 1. What was our Behaviour before Calling Disobedient serving divers Lusts and Pleasures Titus 3.3 2. In Calling it was slight and â—efractory Iob 33.14 For God speaketh once yea twice but Man perceiveth it not He often inviteth but Men take no notice of what so much concerneth their Souls good but slight all Warnings and Instructions lay not their Condition to heart and many an Opportunity is lost but God overcometh Mens Evil by his own Goodness and will not lose his Elect therefore ver 16. He openeth the Ears of Men and sealeth their Instruction that is breaketh in upon them in such a powerful way that they cannot withstand it 3. Since Calling there are frequent Interruptions of Obedience Iames 3.2 For in many things we offend all Our best Performances are weak and full of Blemishes Isa. 64.6 We are all as an unclean thing and all our Righteousnesses are as filthy Rags So that from first to last all floweth from God and all floweth from Love and Grace and Communication of the Spirit that our Persons and Actions are accepted Now it is our Duty to acknowledg this Love and highly esteem this glorious Grace and to testify our Esteem by Word and Work By Word â—n Praises by Deed expressing our Thankfulness in our Lives that they may be a constant Hymn to God and a Praise of his Grace that we are made Partakers of Vse 1. To encourage us to seek after the Effects of this Love of God Grace of Jesus Christ and Communion of the Spirit 1. I will plead your Want What will you do if you have not Father Son and Holy Ghost for your God You have your Beings from him for a while but the Day of his Patience will not always last You must die and give an Account and woful yea dreadful will their Account be who are not only involved in the common Apostacy but have heard of the Transactions of Father Son and Holy Ghost about their Recovery and never minded the Benefit or made light of it Surely it is woful Dulness and Stupidity not to value it and to feel no need of it 2 Cor. 6.1 We then as VVorkers together with him beseech you also that ye receive not the Grace of God in vain What Grace was that God was in Christ reconciling the VVorld to himself chap. 5.19 That Grace which the Father hath contrived for your Salvation that Grace for which Christ laid down his Life that Grace which is so affectionately tendred in the Gospel that Grace and that free undeserving Mercy which is so sutable to your Necessities Will you despise this It was an Act of infinite Love of God to design it and reveal it to you of Christ to purchase it for you of the Holy Ghost to offer it to you yea to strive with you to make you capable of it Shall the Gospel be cast away upon you and all those gracious Methods of God frustrated Or have you no need of it How will you maintain Peace in your Consciences now without Grace How will you stand before God's Tribunal at the last Day 2. Let me plead the Worth of it He that hath this Love of God this Grace of Christ this Communion of the Spirit wanteth nothing to his solid Happiness He hath all necessary things in their Cause and Fountain for he hath God Christ and the Spirit For all things come from the Love of God and the Grace of Christ and the Communion of the Holy Ghost And he doth possess all things in that measure that God sees fit for him Psal. 84.11 The Lord will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly It bringeth other Mercies with it and nothing is
to your Souls Some Sins are catching like Fire in Straw and we cannot think of them without Infection and Temptation the very thoughts may beget a sudden delight and tickling which may pass through us like Lightning and set us all on fire Ezek. 23.19 She multiplyed her whoredoms in calling to remembrance the dayes of her youth wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt though the Prophet speaketh of Spiritual Fornication yet there is a plain allusion to outward it is an allusion to an Unchast Woman who feeleth a New Fire by remembring her Vile Lusts. Some Temptations cannot be supposed without sin it is less dangerous to suppose the Temptation of Peter than the Temptation of Ioseph of Peter that was tempted to deny his Master than of Ioseph who was tempted to folly with his Mistress This Direction is not unnecessary you know not how apt a Carnal Heart and Busie Devil may be to taint the best Duties and how soon an Innocent Thought may degenerate into an unclean glance The Apostle would have some Sins not named among the Saints Ephes. 5.3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints 6. Meditate of those things especially which you have most need of There is the greatest Obligation upon the Heart the Matter is not Arbitrary there you will find most help and there the benefit will be most sensible Seasonable thoughts have the greatest influence The Servants of God have sometimes meditated on his Power sometimes on his Mercy sometimes on his Providence according as their Affairs and Temptations call for it Psalm 56.3 What time I am afraid I will trust in thee In a time of fear he would think of Arguments of Trust. 7. Whatever you meditate upon take heed of slightness Transient Thoughts leave no Impression See that you meditate but of one thing at once Hoc age mind the Work you are about is a good Rule in Meditation as well as Prayer the Thoughts should be under a Restraint and wise Confinement A skipping Mind that wandreth from one Meditation to another seldom profiteth In Meditation be not like the Dogs of Nile that snatch here and there or like the Bee that passeth from Flower to Flower A constant fixed Light worketh most The Apostle speaketh of Apostates that they have flashy tasts Heb. 6.4 5. They were once inlightned and tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come They had vanishing and fleeting motions Iames 1.25 He that looketh into the law of liberty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that boweth down to take a deliberate view it is a Metaphor taken from them that stoop down and bend their Bodies toward a thing that they may narrowly pry into it The same word is used to imply that narrow search which the Angels use to find out the Mysteries of Salvation by 1 Pet. 1.12 Which things the Angels desire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to look into An allusion to the Cherubims whose faces bowed down towards the Ark as desirous to see the Mysteries therein contained There must be a deep sight and serious inculcation Luke 2.19 But Mary kept all these sayings and pondered them in her heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she examined compared them traversed them too and fro in her mind which is afterwards expressed verse 51. She kept all these sayings in her heart There is a folly in Man when once we apprehend a thing Curiosity being satisfied we begin to loath it the first apprehension having as it were deflowred it but at last they loose their Power and Vertue When Digestion is precipitated there is no nourishment and when the Meditation is not deep and ponderous we have no comfort no lively perception and feeling of it in our hearts A glance doth not discover the worth of any thing he that doth but cast his eye upon a piece of Embroidery doth not discover the Art of it 8. Come not off from Holy Thoughts till you find profit by them either sweet tasts and relishes of the Love of God or high Affections kindled towards God or strong Resolutions begotten in your selves Usually God droppeth in sweetness into the Hearts of his People as all those Extasies of Love in the Canticles were occasioned by Meditation But we cannot alwaies expect Raptures and high Elevations it is some fruit if it maketh you fall to Prayer and Holy Complaints 9. Be thankful to God when he blesseth you in Meditation or else you will find difficulty in the next Christians often forget to return God the Glory Cant. 1.4 Draw me we will run after thee the king hath brought me into his chambers we will be glad and rejoyce in thee we will remember thy loves more than â—ine the upright love thee That which goeth up in Vapours cometh down in Showers So the Psalmist Psal. 67.5 6. Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee Then shall the earth yield her increase and God even our own God shall bless us There is a Mutual access and recess between the Rivers and the Sea so there is between Blessings and Praises In this Duty God is jealous lest we should give the Honour to our selves because there is so much work of our own Thoughts Psal. 63.4 5. Because thy loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee Thus will I bless thee while I live I will lift up my hands in thy name Not only in my necessity but for ever for such sweet Experiences 10. Do not bridle up the free Spirit by the Rules of Method That which God calleth for is Religion not Logick when Christians confine themselves to such Rules and Prescriptions they streighten themselves and Thoughts come from them like Water out of a Still not like Water out of a Fountain Voluntary and free Meditations are most smart and pregnant In all Arbitrary Directions that make only for the conveniency of the Duty you must remember we come to you like Paul to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 7.12 To the rest speak I not the Lord we do not prescribe but advise 11. Your success in the Duty is not to be measured by the multitude and subtilty of the Thoughts but the sincerity of them Christians puzzle and disquiet themselves because they look too much at gifts you should covet the best gifts but not inordinately Psalm 51.6 Thou desirest truth in the inward parts In Prayer God looketh more to the Impulses of Zeal than the Flowers of Rhetorick So in Meditation if we are less Subtle it is no matter so we be more Devout 12. You must begin and end all with Prayer Duties are subservient one to another In the beginning you must pray for a Blessing on the Duty and in the end commend your Souls and Resolutions to God There is no hope in your own Promises