or embrace the call of Jesus Christ unto grace and glory And in answer to this I shal lay down onely four suggestions of the Devil wherewith he entangles a man that he should not yeild to the cal of Jesus Christ And as I lay them down I shal labour to take them a way As 1. The first temptation the Devil wil suggest is to you that are young men and to you he wil suggest that you are yet too young to embrace the call of Jesus Christ 't wil be time enough hereafter and you may do it soon enough hereafter you are two young now to be abridg'd of your pleasure and to mortifie your lusts and to betake your selves unto so serious a course as Christ cals you to and by this temptation the Devil prevails with young men more especially And I remember Austine saith that this temptation of the Devil made him keep off for seven years together from embracing the cal of Jesus Christ the Devil would stil tel him in his heart thou art too young to leave thy Drunkennesse and too young to leave thy Harlots til at last he cryed out How long shal I say it is too soon Why may I not repent to day This temptation I say it hath fastened upon many before you that they were too young to come in to Jesus Christ and to this end the Devil wil suggest to you that old and false Proverb A young Saint and an old Devil Whereas indeed if you are young Devils you wil be old Beelzebubs And therefore this being a suggestion prevailing witâ— many hearts I shal lay down six considerations to take off this temptation that it may not prevail with you First If the Devil tempt you that you are too young to hearken to Christs cal consider That the Devil cannot give you a Lease of your lives if the Devil could give you a Lease of your lives and tell you you should live til old age you might then with more safety harken to his temptation but your lives are not at the Devils disposal God is the Author of your life the issues of life and death are in his hands you may die in youth uncalled you may be damned as wel as dead You may be as these men Job 36.14 that shall die in their youth and their lives shall be among the unclean And therefore though the Devil tempt you that you are too young seeing he cannoâ— assure you of your lives you have no reason to hearken to his temptation Secondly Suppose the Devil could assure you you should live til old age yet take this consideration that in putting off your calling and the work of conversion from your youth this may so provoke God that he may harden your hearts in your old daies that you shal have no heart to think of and embrace the call and invitation of Jesus Christ Jer. 22.21 I spake to thee in thy prosperity but thou wouldst not hear and this hath been thy manner frâ—m thy youth Thou wouldst not obey my voyce God spake but they would not hear and it was from their youth that they did thus therefore God would never speak more God hardened their hearts that they should never receive or embrace the cal of Jesus Christ So Isa 6.9 10. Seeing the Jewes from their youth were obstinate against the word of God Go saith God make their ears heavy and their hearts fat and their eyes blind that they should not be called and converted and I should save them Let this therefore be a second consideration that the putting off your cal til your old age may so provoke God as never to give you hearts to embrace his cal Thirdly Suppose al this that you could have a Lease of your lives and you could be assured that when you come to old age your hearts should not be hardened yet consider this that the more sinful and evil the daies of your youth have been the more disquietnesse of minde and horror of conscience will this breed in you when you are old though you shal be called and converted by Jesus Christ Job 13.24.25 26. Thou â—idest thy face thou holdest me as thy Enemy Thou dost drive me as a leaf to and fro and thou dost pursue me like dry stubbâ—e Now why doth Job complain thus Mark the next words For thâ—u writest bitter things against me and makest me to possesse the iniquities of my youth Job when he was a young man it seemâ— he was a wicked man and had many sins in his youth and this in his old age made him cry out and say that God took him for his Enemy and that God brake him like a leafe driven with the wind O beloved the sins of your youth though you should be Jobs converted yet they wil bring great disquietnesse and great horroâ— when you come to age the lusts of youth and the vanities of youth and the sensual pleasures of your youthful daies they wil lay a foundation of sorrow when you come to gray hairs to be neare your graves so Job 20.11 And therefore put the case you should repent and should be called when you are old you have no cause to put off the cal of Jesus Christ seeing sins of youth wil fill you with horror and disquietnesse of minde Hence it is that David after he was call'd by the power of the word cries out Psal 25. Lord remember not the sins of my youth that gravelled and gall'd his conscience the sins of his youth before his cal It is the speech of an Author that to look on the pleasurable vanities and contents of youth this wil become an heavy burden and bitter vexation to old age Beloved the more evil you run out into in your youthful daies the greater and deeper foundation of disquietnesse and sorrow you lay in your souls in your latter daies though you should be called by Jesus Christ 4. If the Devil suggest that you are too young to embrace the invitation of Christ consider That Jesus Christ wll take it most kindly at your hands if while you are young you wil give entertainment to his cal Jer. 2.2 I remember thee saith the Lord and the kindnesse of thy youth that thou wouldst follow me in the Wildernesse in a land that was not sown Mark how the Lord speaks and how kindly he takes it that they would in their youth follow God the Lord wil remember it and take it acceptable from you if while you are young while the Marrow is in your bones and strength in your joynts you wil embrace the waies of Jesus Christ It is an observation that some have concerning the Beloved Disciple John John 20. He is called the Disciple whom Christ loved and that leaned upon his brest of al the other eleven Disciples Christ did love John above the rest and Divines give this reason of it John was the youngest of al the Disciples he was converted and called by Christ when he was a young
say it doth not extend to children who die in their infancy but onely to men come to years of discretion if they live and die without having these six effects they may conclude they cannot be elected Secondly that the want of these six particulars for a time is no Argument of a mans non-election for before conversion which is Gods first dealing with a sinner an elect man may be as vile and as bad as any wicked man alive As the Apostle Paul tells us Titus 3.3 In times past we were also disobedient and served divers lusts and lived in pleasure and excess c. So 1 Tim. 1.12 So that the want of this for a time is no argument of a mans non-election for then it would follow a man unconverted is no elect man which would crosse the whole tenour of Scripture But a man living and dying without these doth not belong to the election of grace Thirdly I do not presse the having of these effects actually if you have them habitually My meaning is this A man may be elected and yet may not act any thing answerable to effectual calling nor act with any delight and love to the word nor act any thing in a way of sanctification yet if you have these habitually in the habit of them these may be testimonies or evidences of election Fourthly I do not presse the having of these effects sensibly to be an evidence of election if so be you have them really There are many men have these really when they have them not in their own apprehension Fifthly I do not presse the having of these effects gradually so you have them sincerely My meaning is this that a man may be elected yea and he may not onely be chosen in Gods eternal decree but the execution of that decree may be passed upon him that he may be effectually called and yet he may not have all these six effects in a great measure in the highest degree yet he may have them sincerely and so be a pledge to his own heart of his eternal election And thus having finished this third Quere I come now to enter upon another depending upon the former which indeed is a very dreadful subject and a point to be trembled at while it is handling and that is this what probable guesse may be given of a man that he is not within the compasse of Gods election This is a very high point and must be handled with a great deal of seariousnesse and sadnesse it being a point concerning the salvation or damnation of all the men upon earth And therefore I would intreat you to look about you Gods decrees they are in Heaven and it is onely a reall work of grace upon your hearts on earth that can give you evidence that those decrees are for good to you As good wrought is an evidence of Gods purpose to save you so the contrary work may be an evidence of Gods purpose never to save you but of leaving you without the compasse of his eternal election There can be nothing laid down absolutely and certainly yet there may be many probable guesses given of the men that are not within the compasse of Gods election Of which I shal name but six or seven sorts And I wish to God that none of you that are before the Lord this day have your names written in this black book lest you have just cause to fear your names are no written in the book of life First That man that falls back from a course of profession to a course of profanenesse without timely returning the Scripture gives a shrewd guesse of such a man that he is not within the compasse of Gods purpose to save I do not say every backsliding and every decaying affection but a total and final relapse when a man falls and riseth not again wâ—eâ— a mans runs from God and â—eturns not again the Scripture gives a guesse at him that he is not within the compasse of Gods election Heb. 10.38 39. If any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him Interpreters observe that in these words there is a figure wherein there is lesse expressed then is intended My soul shall have no pleasure in him It is as much as if God should have said My soule shall hate or I will exceedingly hate him But we are not of them that draw back to perdition but of them that believe to the saving of their souls which words clearly import that men that draw back without returning they draw back to perdition to damnation but we are not of them saith the Apostle And here then beloved doth this word fall upon any man before God this day Hast thou left a course of strictnesse and fallen into a course of prophanesse and loosnesse Hast thou fallen from thy God and never thinkest of a returning I shall not censure thee now but if thou livest and diest in this estate it is an undoubted argument thou art not within the compasse of Gods decree to save Secondly Men that do make the mercies and goodness of God as arguments to embolden them the more in sin such men are not likely to be the persons whom God hath elected to life and glory In the Epistle of Jude v. 4. It is spoken there of men that turned the grace of God into wantonness And what saith the Apostle of them they are men ordained of old to damnation The Scripture there makes it the badge of a man ordained of old to damnation when he shall persist in this sinful temper to turn Gods grace into laciviousnesse that is to take arguments from the grace and mercy and goodnesse of God to walk in waies of sin And therefore look to it and with your hearts bewaile it all you that are apt to abuse doctrins of grace and because God is good you will be evil because God is merciful therefore you will be sinful if you die in this temper the Scripture declares that you are the men ordained of old to condemnation Thirdly a man that doth walk in a course of sin wilfully with malice and knowingly against conscience and obstinately without reluctancy and persist in this and live and die thus that man is not within the compasse of Gods election There is a phrase Psal 59.5 Be not merciful O Lord unto wicked transgressors It is in some translations be not merciful to them that sin of wicked malice or of malicious wickedness Now there is this rule which Divines give that those prayers which were made by David they are rather Prophesies of what should be then meere prayers that this might be As David prayed against the Jewes Psal 69 2â— that their table might be a snare to them and that they should alway bow down under their prayes which was a prophecie and they did so And so he burden here that God would not be merciful to men that sâ—n of wicked malice which is as much as a prophecie that God will not be
So that though God gives us not heaven for our growth in grace yet ordinarily God intails a greater measure and increase of gifts upon the well using of them while we are in this world Open your mouthes wide and God will fill them The more wide we are in our desires and expectations the more we shall be filled 2. For Reprehension Is it so that in all matters of soul concernment we should put forth a great deal of diligence then this should be a great scourge to that sluggishnesse of spirit that most men in the world are guilty of What benummednesse and what sluggishnesse of spirit do most men lie under Many men are as David was 1 King 1.1 who when he grew old he was so cold no clothes could warm him There are many men that haply have been hot and zealous in profession yet in processe of time they grow so cold that all Ordinances cannot warm them And though ordinarily the words of the wise saith Solomon are as nails and goads they are as nails to fasten us in a course of profession they are as goads to put us on every Ordinance is as a goad in our side still putting us on in a course of holinesse yet O that sluggishnesse and O that deadnesse of spirit that lies upon mens hearts they go but a snails pace in the way to heaven whereas they can run as fast as a Dromedarie in the waies of sin It is the Observation of a Rabbi That the Snail above all other creatures was by God pronounced unclean because of its slow and easie pace God looks upon thee as an unclean man and an unclean woman that hast a sluggish and a slow spirit in matters of Christianity There are many men that like no life like an idle life they are never weary so much as they are weary of doing good and weary of duties an hour at a Sermon a day at a Fast a little time at a prayer quite tires them whereas waies of vanitie and waies of pleasure they are never weary of It was the speech of that Epicure Marcus Lepidus who lying under a shady tree upon a Sunshine day stretching himself cries out O would to God this were to take pains to live at ease There are many men as sottish as he they could wish I would to God to sit in a Tavern were the way to go to heaven I would to God to walk in the fields to sit at the door on the Sabbath day that this were the way to heaven many men would be saved more easily Why how should this condemn that great sluggishnesse and idlenesse of mens spirits that they do so little in the matters of soul concernments Beloved you have cause to labour because you finde many that have taken pains for heaven that never came to heaven Many shall strive to enter but shal not be able Luke 13 Had not you therefore need to take heed Nay Beloved suppose it is a supposition Aegydius hath though not true yet I say suppose it that all the world should be saved but one man yet saith he you have cause to take pains to be happy lest you should be that one man should perish If all the world should be saved but one man only if one man should be damned I have cause to labour with all my might that I be not that one man Here then great cause you have not to lye under sluggishnesse in all matters pertaining to the soul You have a great deal of do and haply but a little time if you knew the greatnesse of your work and sâ—ortnesse of your time haply you would now set about the businesse of your salvation It was the speech of young King Charles of Sicily lying upon his death bed I have scarce yet begun to live and now woe is me I am compelled to dye Beloved Many of you may have cause to say thus you have scarce yet done one good action that may give you any evidence to be happy with Christ another day Happily you have not yet begun to be Christians and you may be soon called to dye and what an affliction would this be to you that you have hardly begun to live a life of grace and yet you must dye the life of nature This Diligence is conversant about many things 1. In getting grace Here you have a great work to do to get grace Above all gettings get understanding And the difficulty of getting grace doth shew the goodnesse of grace As we say in nature the most vile things are most obvious to the eye and most common to be found you have stones and dirt every where but things of a more excellent nature are more hard to come by if you would have Gold you must dig into the earth if you would have Pearle you must dive into the â—ea things that are excellent nature hath made them hard to come by This shewes the goodnesse of those matters which concern the soul that they are very hard to be got Prov. 2.2 4. Seek fâ—r wisdome as for silver and dig for it as for hidden Treasure And then 2. Diligence is required not onely to get grace but to keep it and it is no lesse skill to keep grace then to get it there are so many temptations lie in your way And then 3. To watch the heart that doth conspire against your grace and against your soul Prov. 4.23 Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life 4. In examining the heart Psal 64.6 The heart is deep and Psal 77.6 All these considered you have cause to take pains in all the matters of the soul Thus having finish'd this Doctrine I now pass to the Particulars to which this diligence is applied Give diligence to what Why To make your Calling and Election sure From whence the second Observation I shal draw is this That Christians that profess the Gospel ought to put forth a great deal of industry and diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually called and eternally elected Give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure Now I cannot handle this Doctrine in the bulk of it but must of necessity take it into parts and handle it piece by piece that so I may give you the strength of the whole Observation in the Application of it And seeing Calling lies in the front I shal in a few Sermons treat of that And the Point from thence wil be this That That Christians ought to put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually Called Beloved This is a very material Point I am now upon especially in this deceitful age wherein men plunge themselves into a gulfe of presumption wherein many times men take faith upon trust and Christ upon trust It is meet that you that live under the Gospel should trie your Calling by the Gospel whether
love the Word of Christ that was an instrument of his calling and the Minister that preach'd that word which was the meanes by which he was called and try your selves by these Many of you haply have some good wrought as you think upon you and some change in you but truly let me tell you this if you are persons that are out of love with the word if you are out of love with those Ministers God made instrumental to convert you you have just cause to suspect your calling for you see throughout the whole course of Scripture their hearts did cleave with love to them that called them And therefore they that can slight and contemn those Ministers by whose Ministry they were brought home to Jesus Christ they have just cause of jealousie to suspect their Call Again 3. If God hath effectually called you he will by his Spirit bring you out of a state of ignorance and darkness and give you some measure of knowledge to be acquainted both with the mysteries of God and Christ and the sinfulnesse of your selves more then ever you were before This the Apostle Peter intimates 1 Pet. 2. ver 9. You are a chosen generation a royall Priesthood a peculiar people that you may shew forth the praise of him who hath called you out of darknesse into his marvellous light i.e. out of ignorance into a great measure of knowledge And it is called a marvellous light 1. Because it is marvellous if you compare that knowledge you shal have under the Gospel with what men had under the Law 2. It is marvellous because men are astonish'd that they should after so long a night of ignorance come to so great a measure of knowledge 3. It is called marvellous because it is so contrary to that condition they were formerly in As if a man that hath lain long in a dark dungeon should be suddenly called into a glorious Palace the Palace would seem more glorious because it is so contrary to the dark Prison So this work of God when he calls you it is marvellous light because it is so contrary to the condition you were in before your calling Isa 30.26 Acts 26.18 He hath sent his word to call you from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan to God 4. It is a marvellous light because such as none but the Mediator could procure it Isa 42.6 7. I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles 5. It is a marvellous light because a light that shines out of darknesse 2 Cor. 4.6 God that commanded the light to shine out of darknesse 6. It is a marvellous light because it hath more force then any other light 't is called the light of life John 8.12 Now this call from darkness to light hath two branches 1. A man shal have more Light to have more acquaintance with and more clearness in the mysteries of Jesus Christ And 2. more Light to know the sinfulness of himself First He shal have more Light to know the mysteries of Jesus Christ And hence it is that Paul tels us Gal. 1.16 It pleased God to call me by his grace and to reveal his Son in me implying that where God by his grace doth call a sinner he doth reveal his Son unto him Wherefore Beloved if Jesus Christ be not made known to your soules if you have no competent measure of the knowledge of Christ you may be under this conviction that you are not yet called by Jesus Christ Nay further he doth not only call you unto this Light to manifest Jesus Christ to you in some dim way but you shal have a clear light 2 Cor. 4.6 For Gâ—d who commanded light to shine out of darknesse hath shined in our hearts not in a dim but shining light to give us the light of the knowledg of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that is you have a cleer light to know God in the face of Christ you cannot know God in himself but in the person of Christ you shall have light to know him This therefore is the first Branch That God will put a light into thy soul whereby thou shalt have a clear knowledge of the things appertaining to Jesus Christ Again Secondly This shall not only reveal Christ to thee but this light shal also reveal thy Selfe to thee the sinfulness of thy self It is observable of Paul that before his calling he was after the law blameless he thought himself to be a faultless man but when the word called him then he cries out I see sin to be exceeding sinfull then he saw sin to be sin and himâ—elfe to be a vile and wretched man And therefore Beloved any of you that have not this marvellous light in your souls neither to know God nor to know Jesus Christ nor the matters appertaining to him nor to know the sinfulnesse of your own hearts take it from God you are not effectually called either these passages in Scripture must be rased out or else your callâ—ng must not be sound and therefore take heed I would fain mâ—ke my Ministry searching that hypocrites may not lie lurking under it You would be better Christians if you were better acquainted with all that unsoundness and that wretchedness of heart that is in you and therefore I intreat you look about you Though I would have no godly man discouraged by this that is spoken but that you that are not yet called might have your hearts a little staggered by what is and wil be said 3. A man effectually called is cast out of himself and cleaves to and closeth with Jesus Christ with more complacencie and contentment then ever he could do in all his life before John 6.45 He that hath heard and learned of the father shal come unto mâ— he doth not say all they that hear of the father many men doe hear the word but never close in with Christ but all they that have heard and by hearing have learnt and are called come unto me and close in with me and cleave to me and take content and delight in me Beloved there are many that hear the word yet never goe out of themselves and never close in with Christ yea but all they that hear and learn that hear and are called by hearing they all come in to Jesus Christ Wherefore all you that in hearing cannot finde your hearts in love with Christ cannot finde your hearts to close in with Christ and believe in Christ you have just cause to suspect your call that your calling is not effectual 1 Cor. 1.24 The Apostle tels you there were other men counted Christ foolishness but to you that are called Christ is the power and wisdome of God that is you do acknowlâ—dge and you do conceive of Jesus Christ that he hath as much power as God hath in him and as much wisdome as God hath in him and you close in with Chrrst for that end when other men think Christ to be
foolish and Christ weak men uncall'd they have low thoughts of Christ but to you that are called Christ is the power and wisdome of God You will have high thoughts of Jesus Christ if you are effectually called 4. That man that is effectually called he shall be inabled by the spirit of Christ to call upon God 1 Cor. 1.2 To all in Corinth called to be Saints with all that call upon the name of the Lord. There the Apostle joynes called to be Saints with this phrase to call upon God to shew that whoever is effectually called to be a Saint that man shall be inabled by the Spirit of Jesus to call upon God Psal 27.8 When thou saidest Seek my face my heart said unto thee thy face Lord will I seek Hence ye read Acts 9.11 when Ananias doubted whether Paul was truly call'd or no and Jesus Christ would convince Ananias that he was truly call'd what means doth he use verse 11. do not suspect him but arise saith Christ and go to him into the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one Saul of Tarsus for behold he prayeth If he were not called he would never go to God in such a cordial way and humble his soul before God for his by past failings and beg strength for time to come and labour to have his peace made with me Go to him for behold he prayeth and therefore all you that have not a spirit in any measure to call upon God and to pour forth your requests in a solemn prayer you have just cause of jealousie to suspect your Call 5. If you are effectually called God hath wrought in your souls an utter detestation and loathing of all the evils that in the former part of your lives before your calling you have committed and were guilty of Hos 14.8 Ephraim shall say what have I any more to do with Idols The interogation imports a vehement detestation of them and indignation against them 2 Cor. 7.11 the Apostle speaks there of repentance the same with calling when men come to have the work of grace in their hearts and this is a branch of it that godly sorrow causeth care and causeth feare and causeth indignation that is if any man be a repenting man and a converted man this conversion will cause indignation that is he will be even mad with himselfe and angry with himselfe that he should be so vile a wretch before conversion as he hath been Thus was Paul he speakes with indignation against the sins he was guilty of before his calling I have been a persecutor I have hal'd the Saints into prison Nay saith he I was even mad against the Church Beloved you will count your sins to be madnesse and count them to be greatly aggravated that were committed before God call'd you Anselm said to his body I 'le tame thee O unruly beasâ— with fasting and prayâ—r We read of one that bit off his tongue in indignation that therewith he had denied Jesus Christ Another Martyr put that hand first into the fire with which he had subscribed a recantation saying Burn thou O hand that didst subscribe to that which might have made me burn both body and soul in hell And therefore you that have no loathing thoughts against past deceit and past drunkennesse and past swearing and past evils suspect your calling You that do not abhor the thoughts of your formeâ— evils your wonted pride and wonted covetousnesse if you cannot look with indignation against these you have great cause to suspect your call For if God have called you he will make you even angry with your selves that ever you have been so vile as you have been Hence it is when God speaks of Israels conversion Isa 2.20 't is said they shall cast away their Idols from them they shall cast away their sins as with indignation against themselves because they have sinned And hence in the Prophesie of Ezek. 20.43 the Prophet tels them that for the evils they had done they should loath themselves in their own eyes their indignation should be so great against themselves that ever they should be so vile against God before their call So David with indignation saith after he had recovered himselfe and brought his heart into a repentant frame so foolish was I and Ignorant Psal 73.22 Now Beloved I would hear appeale unto you I will judge no man let your own consciences passe sentence upon you But let me appeale to your selves Have not many of you before these times been opposers of Religion men walking in ungodly lewd and profane courses of living haply now you are moulded into a form of Profession now you hear the Word speak wel of Ministers now you cry up Government many your plausible wayâ—s and actions you can carry on but what is in your hearts Have you indignation against your past persecution and evils If not belieâ—e it though you go far I fear you may comâ— short of heaven your calling is not real if you have not indignation â—nâ— wrath against your former sins commitâ—ed And therefore O what a sad word is this to all â—nsensible sinners that are men that never had their hearts touch'd with remorse for any evil What a sad word is this to you that have been drunk week aâ—â—er week and sworn day after day and dâ—câ—ived hour after hour and been unclean time after time and yet all these evils never touch'd the heart Truly you have grâ—at cause to fear that God hath not yet â—ffâ—ctually called you by Jesus Christ 6. The man that is effâ—ctually callâ—d his spirit is brought into an obediâ—ntial frame to yield obedience to the commands of Jesus Christ if God call you by his Spirit he will not leave you to the exorbitancies of your own wayes and will but he will bring you to a yeeldingnesse of heart to all his commands Rom. 15.6 We have received grace and Apostleship for obedience to the faith among all Nations among whom you are also the called of Jesus Christ The Apostle did not alone receive grace for obedience but the same was among them also You receive grace for the obedience of faith So that now if you are the called of Jesus Christ the Lord hath this work upon you he doth bring you to the obedience of faith that is he doth work in your souls a yeelding frame to obey all the commands of Jesus Christ and therefore any of you that stand out with stoutnesse of heart against Jesus Christ let Christ say what he will you will do what you list let him command what he will you will do what you please you that stand out thus with gainsaying of spirit against Jesus Christ you have great cause to suspect your Call Again 7. A man effectually called by Jesus Christ he will be mis-called and reproach'd by the men of the world John 15.19 If you were of the world the world would love his own but because you are not of
man and Christ seeing a young man follow him took this very kindly at his hands and cals him his beloved Disciple As you that are Parents you let your little Children sit in your lap when your great ones shall not so Iohn he being a young man Christ would let him lean upon his brest and lie in his bosome expressing his kindnesse to him Now O how should this beat off this temptation that you are too young to follow Christ because Christ takes it so kindly at your hands if you imbrace this call in time nay Christ doth take it so kindly that he doth love bare Morality and Civility in young men and therefore it is said in Matthew when Christ saw the young man and he told him I have observed these things from my youth Christ look'd upon him and loved him Christ shewed a general love to the young man that was but a Moral man from his youth and if Christ love Morality he wil much more love Piety and true Syncerity It is observed of Timothy that of one particular man Paul expressed more love to Timothy then to any other Read over al the book of God you shal never finde Paul expresse so much love to any as to Timothy he cals him Timothy my son Timothy who serveth me as a childe and Timothy my dearly beloved and why was all this Why the reason is because Timothy from a child was converted and knew the Scriptures 2. Tim. 3.6 He was from a child converted and called by the Ministry of the word in Paulâ— mâ—uth and â—his did indear the heart of Paul unto him You read in the book of Lâ—viticus that when God did require a Sacrifice he would not have an old Sheep but a â—oung Lamb a Lamb of a year old and a Kid of the youngest of the Flock And it was significative in this not only to shew that Christ our Sacrificâ— shâ—uld die and suffer for our sins 〈◊〉 flower of his age but also to shew that Jesus Christ looâ—s upon that as an abominable Sacrifice when you wil not be of his Fold while yâ—u are as young lambâ— O Beloved Christ takes it wonderful kindly if in your youth you do embrace his call Fifthly Yield not to the Devils temptation considering this that though you should be converted in your old age yet Christ cannot but take this very unkindly at your hands that you should put him off until your last end that you reserve if any part yet the worst part for his service You know when Christ stood all the night for his Spouse till his head was full of dew and his locks were wet with the drops of the night he got him gone because she came not and would stay no longer O how unkindly think you wil Christ take this when he shal wait year after year and yet you wil not embrace his calâ— It is said in Isaiah All the day long have I stretched out my hand to a rebellious people yet tâ—ey wâ—uld not hear and Mal. 1. Offer the lame and the blind to the Governour will he accept of it Christ must needs take this unkindly that you should give the Devil the flower of your age and give to Christ but the decrepit and infirm parts of your lives that the Devil should suck out the Marrow of your youth and onely give God the dry bones a palsie head a dim eye a weak body and so all your services must needs be weak also and think but how unkindly Christ wil take your services thus performed Sixthly consider this That from your Birth-day to your dying day you have time little enough to carry on the businesse of your salvation should you live never so long and therefore you have no cause to put off the cal of Iesus Christ And thus much be spoken by way of satisfaction to take off the first temptation that you are too young to give entertainment to the cal of Iesus Christ and this I doe for the sake of young men that they may take heed of being insnar'd by this dâ—lusion of thâ— Devil 2. Sug. 2. Here it may be the Devil cannot insnare you in this Gin Old men wil say this concerns not â—e I am not taken with this temptation therefore now the Devil comes upon them with this suggestion Saith the Devil to them You cannot now give entertainment to the cal of Jesus Christ for you have callings in the world to follow you have a particular calling and you must provide for Wife and Children and Familie and lay up for future times against old age and sicknesse and therefore you cannot be at leasure now to give entertainment to the cal of Jesus Christ when I am more at leasure I may look after my effectual calling And this also sticks very close to a great many And to take off this suggestion of the Devil I shal lay down six particulars also by way of Answer As First God never intended that our outward calling should any way hinder us in the work of our conversion God never intended that our imployments upon earth should justle out the necessarie provision for heaven But God hath so given out our callings here in the world that he hath made and ordained them to be subordinate to our general and effectual calling to the great business of Gods glorie and our own salvation It is said of Noah that he walked with God and was perfect in his generation And yet Noah was imployed by God for some time to wit for 120 years in a Handicraft-calling to build an Hrk to shew that God did never intend that Noah's making an Ark should any way hinder his walking with God or carrying on the work of his soul Though you have callings to follow and families to provide for yet God did never intend your outward calling should justle out your inward and effectual calling Secondly Consider you that make this plea whether you doe not imbezel away much time from your outward calling which you do not imploy in the concernments of your souls but in the works of sin and Satan There is many a man that can plead he hath no leasure to pray nor no leasure to hear a Sermon he must follow his calling yet this man can follow a Whore and follow a Tavern and these men can spend a whole day upon recreation and yet can spare no time finde no leasure to hearken to Jesus Christ This now should be a great conviction to you that pretend you must follow your calling that you can neglect your calling to follow your sensual and vain courses and yet can spare no time to make your souls happie Thirdly You that plead your outward calling in the world to be an excuse why you cannot hearken to your effectual calling by Jesus Christ consider this that this plea hath damned many a soul before you and wil damn you also if you look not to it This hath been an ancient plea Luk. 14.18 19
to be poor in faith and to be such a beggar as not to be endowed with one dram of grace and then you are beggars indeed As we say he is a poore man that God hates He that hath not Christ and hath not the treasures of heaven in him he is exposed to worse poverty a thousand times then he can be for imbracing the cal of Jesus Christ Rev. 3.17 Yea and he is exposed to worse persecution also that for fear of persecution neglects Jesus Christ Psal 83.5 The Lord will persecute them saith David with fury and wrath speaking of wicked men All persecution from man reaches but to the body but this from God reaches to the soul 7. And then lastly This should not hinder you from following Jesus Christ considering that though you should be poor and should be persecuted yet heaven wil make you amends for all Heb. 11.35 Heaven wil make amends for povertie when you are endowed with all the riches of Christ and Heaven wil make amends for persecution when there the weary shal be at rest and there the troubled shal be at ease And thus much be spoken of the third suggestion of the Devil that if you entertain the cal of Jesus Christ you shal be exposed to much povertie and persecution here in the world SERMON VI. 2. Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure THE Doctrine I am yet upon is this That Christians ought to put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually called by Jesus Christ In the prosecution of which I have resolved one case of conscience and am yet upon the second case namely what suggestions the Devil doth use to keep men off from imbracing the cal of Jesus Christ I have laid down and answered three already 4. Now there is one suggestion more When the Devil sees either of these wil take place then he comes in with a fourth to disswade men from imbracing the call of Christ and that is this Why saith the Devil if you wil entertain the call of Christ you wil abridge your selves of all the joy and comfort of your lives you wil never have merry daies while you live upon earth You see men that pretend to be converted and doe hear Sermons what lumpish and melancholy men they are not so jocund and jolly as others are that walk not so precisely if you follow Christ and his Gospel this wil casheer all your merry daies and this wil put you into a sad temper all your jovial daies are gone Therefore to take off this aspersion that the waies of Christ are sad and melancholy waies which hath been an aspersion that from age to age and generation to generation hath been as a Gin the Devil hath used to keep men from Christianity And I remember it is one of the greatest Engines Antichrist useth to support and uphold his Kingdom The Papists to deter men from Christianity and the Protestant Religion they would hold their Disciples in hand with this that the spirit of a Calvinist is a sad and lumpish spirit and therefore they would disswade all Nations from turning to their Religion and this the Priests were to tel in all the Churches of Rome how sad and melancholy they were that turned to the Calvinists religion and this did mightily stay the people from imbracing the truth And this aspeâ—sion hath passed from hand to hand and is many times prevalent upon the spirits of men that are of the true Religion that they must not be too forward in the practice of Religion fearing lest this should work melancholy and sad thoughts in them Now to take off this I shal onely urge four or five heads briefly First Whereas you say they are melancholy sad that are called by Christ to a profession of his waies I would answer thus That they of all people in the world have most cause of mirth gladness and they are the most truly joyful people in the world That they have most cause of rejoycing is apparent When the Disciples came triumphing that they could cast out Devils heal the diseased and work Miracles O but saith Christ Rejoyce not in this but rejoyce that your names are written in the book of life Luke 10.20 As much as if Christ should say All the endowments and extraordinary gifts of the spirit they are no such grounds of joy if you had them all but here is your joy and cause of rejoycing that your names are written in the book of Life that you are in Christ and your souls shal be saved And so Paul tels us Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes again I say rejoyce The Apostle would not speak it to them with a single command but doubtless his expression to shew that they that are people that have their sins pardoned that have their souls reconciled that have a title to glory whose names are written in the book of Life these of all men in the world have most cause of joy and gladness And they have not onely most cause but they doe most truly rejoyce and have more real joy in their hearts in one day then the wicked can have all their lives 1 Pet. 1.8 They rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory What joy you have in the world the tongue is able to speak of it but the tongue is not able to speak of that inward joy that godly men have in their hearts upon the apprehension of the interest they have in Jesus Christ Psal 4.6 Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance And Thou shalt put more gladness in mine heart c. Prov. 14.13 A good conscience is a continual feast Men are never more merry then when they are at a feast godly men they carry clear consciences about them and that makes them as joyous and pleasant as if they were alwayes at a great and sumptuous feast Indeed this is true they do not rejoyce with such exorbitancies of joy as wicked men do Wicked men rejoyce in sin that they cannot do wicked men rejoyce in their lusts in their drunkenesse and their adulteries and wayes of sin that godly men dare not do Such a rejoycing as this is the foundation of sorrow This rejoycing like the Prodigal in a riotous course of living is the foundation of sorrow and will meet with you when you are to die Secondly Grant this should be true yet consider that this sorrow that godly people have it is such a sorrow that they shal have no cause to repent thereof but it is a foundation of future joy to them 2 Cor. 7.9 10. I rejoyce saith the Apostle in that I have made you sorrowful What rejoyce to see them a sad people Yes for the sorrow I made you sorrowful with was a sorrow never to be repented of you wil never repent of that sorrow and therefore Paul would do it because it was a
but Christ that liveth in me who loved me and gave himselfe for me There he had a particular assurance that Christ loved him and gave himself for him So 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded also that what I have committed to him he will keep till the last day So 2 Tim. 4.8 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is a Crown laid up for me Nay not onely Paul but Job also Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and I shall stand up before him at the last day he knew Jesus Christ was his Redeemer And so David also saith Thou art my God and I will praise thee Psal 118.28 and Psal 23.6 Surely the goodnesse and mercy of God shall follow me all the daâ—es of my life So that put these together God commands it it is the Spirits office to work assurance in the heart and particular servants of God have had this assurance therefore why may it not be obtained But if you say these were not ordinary servants of God these were servants of a higher rank and form but may ordinary weak Christians know this also Yes Therefore Fourthly Not onely particular Saints have had this but the people of God in General they have declared in Scripture that they have enjoyed this particular assurance of their effectual calling and safety of their condition by Christ Instance in a few Isa 63.16 Doubtlesse thou art our Father They made no doubt of it they were so perswaded they feared it not Isa 45.24 Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousnesse and strength Surely a word of confidence they were assured they had righteousnesse for their justification in Christ Jesus So 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God eternal in the heavens They knew that when they died they should see God in Heaven not only Paul but other godly Christians with him So Heb. 10.34 You know in your selves that God hath provided for you a better and more enduring substance They were assured within themselves that when they should die or lose their Estates here God had provided for them a more enduring substance So 1 John 3.19 Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before God So ver 14. We know we are translated from death to life c. So that what can be more clearly proved then this that this assurance is to be attained in this life because God commands it it is the Spirits office to work it particular Christians have had it and the people of God in General they have enjoyed and profest this Temper Is it so then that Assurance is attainable in this life Then how much too blame are our Adversaries the Papists who hold their followers in suspense that they must live without the assurance of their own estate that their soules must hang in fears and doubts all their dayes that the most they can have is only a conjecture Oh into what a gulph of discomfoâ—ts do they plunge them Beloved the Lord in the Book of Deuteronomy chap. 29. did pronounce it as a curse that their lives should hang in suspense it 's a greater curse that mens souls should hang in suspense that men shall not know whether they shall be saveâ— or damned it 's a hell on this side hell and therefore they are much to be blamed that hold their followers in hand with a peradventure thâ—y shall be saved peradventure not when the Scripture is so clear in this thing Secondly Let not the thoughts either of the impossibility or the difficulty of attaining this assurance discourage you from looking after it It is not impossible though it is difficult indeed and the difficulty should be so far from discouraging you that it should quicken your endeavours to make your calling and election sure Thirdly Seeing assurance is attainable in this life enquire into the cause why you who are effectually called have not attained this assurance before now And this puts me upon handling of the second case of conscience seeing this assurance is attainable Therefore Secondly what is the reason that many Christians who are called effectually by Jesus Christ do live in many doubts and fears about their effectual calling In Answer to this I shall lay down these three particulars that the doubts that do arise in Christians about their calling they flow from this threefold fountain Either first from some seeming defect they apprehend in the manner of their calling Or Secondly some seeming defect they apprehend to be in the means of their calling Or eâ—se Thirdly some seeming defects they apprehend in the effâ—cts of their calling and these three grounds are the rise from whence many Christians effectually called do doubt of their call and are not assured of it First it doth arise from some seeming defect they apprehend to be in the manner of their calling They say I am not called in such a manner aâ— I see others are As thus Think they I see other men when they are converted that their humiliations are great I see that they have horrour of conscience that they are wrought upon by the terrors of the Law that they are exceedingly humbled before God Now for my part I never found this manner of Gods working in my soul I never found that I could see my sins clearly or could bâ— humbled for them greatly I never found those humiliations and legal terrors which I hear many men talk of and this makes me doubt whether I am effâ—ctually called or no. Now to take off this I shall onely speak three things by way of Answer First That it is true God doth proceed after this manner with some yet God is not tiâ—d and confinâ—d to one and the same way of working with all What if he come to you in a calm when he comes to others in a Tempest if God come to me to you in a more peaceable and peaceable and quiet way What if God do not pierce your heart as he did those 3000 in the Acts if he kindly open thy heart like Lidia's without noise God is not to be tied to one and the same way in converting all As 't is said John 3.8 The wind bloweth where it listeth so how it listeth also Secondly You have no cause to doubt for this because it 's Gods usual manner to proceed after this way only with such men who have been loose in their lives who have been obstinaâ—e in their wils who have been very scandalous in conversation before their conversion and call But it is not Gods usual way to work thus upon Christians who have been religiously brought up from their youth it is not Gods way to dowse them into such a pit of horror and plunge them into such a depth of fears that have been of a fair and ingenuous and moral life before their