Death their imagination of things to come and the day of death trouble their thoughts and cause fear of heart said the Son of Sirach Eccl. xl 2. And the Apostle tells us that through fear of death they were all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. ii 15. They saw it was appointed for all men to die they understood that the Sentence of Death was passed upon all Men and none knew how soon or after what manner this Sentence was to be executed upon himself so that they stood in jeopardy every Hour Neither Youth nor Health nor Strength nor Vigour nor any natural or acquired Vertue and Endowment could secure Men from Death and what was to come after it they knew not their hopes of another better Life were faint for it was not yet revealed Therefore as they were daily liable to Death and had cause continually to apprehend it so the fear of it and the uncertain consequence of it as every one's Experience witnesseth damped their Joys and filled them with Melancholy and embittered their Life The terrours of the Mind are more burdensom and grievous than outward weights and pressures upon the Body Now nothing is so terrible to Men as Death it is called the King of terrours Iob xviii 14. And again it is said Chap. xxiv 17. they are in the terrours of the shadow of Death My heart said David is sore pained within me and the terrours of death are fallen upon me Psal. lv 4. Aristotle and other Heathens have declared that it is of all things most terrible and certainlv it is and shall be and must be so to all who believe not in Jesus who are Strangers to him his Doctrine and Promises until Men come to him take his Yoke upon them and learn of him the fear and terrour of Death must make them to labour and be heavy laden Fourthly The great Evil which Men labour under and which is the Cause of all other Evils is Sin As this lyeth upon all Men for there is no Man who hath not sinned except the Man Christ Jesus so this indeed is a heavy burden and most grievous whether we consider it in it self or in its Consequences The load of Sin which is upon us is great enough to press us down to Hell and to crush us in pieces It is Sin which maketh us to travel all our days with pain the guilt of this is uneasie to the Mind and disturbeth its rest and also maketh us liable to the Wrath of Almighty God which is a weighty burden too heavy for the strongest Shoulders This burden of Sin tho' it be of all others the heaviest yet few are sensible of it many do not feel it tho' it be ready to sink them because the weight of it has benummed their Senses and stupified their Spirits But they who are sensible of it complain most heavily O wretched man that I am saith St. Paul who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. vii 28. And David upon this account uttereth this grievous Lamentation Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long Fools make a mock of sin but who have a due sence of it find it is not to be sported with or set light by for certainly it is the greatest and saddest of Evils No Misfortune which befalls us is so great as that of Sin He that is not sensible of this let him take a view of our Saviour in the Garden and repair to a dying Person and consider what inward Agony and Torment such suffer for Sin And if this do not affect him he must be very insensible The guilt of Sin is unsupportable no Man has sufficient strength to bear it Therefore saith Solomon the spirit of a man may sustain his infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear Thus you see that all Mankind is liable to a fourfold Misery Four several Burdens are lying upon every Man that cometh into the World viz. The Burden of Affliction the want of true Satisfaction in things relating to this Life the fear of Death and the guilt of Sin each of which is enough to bear down the Spirit of Man and to crush or break it O then how heavily are they laden when they have the weight of all these upon them how weary may they be how much stand they in need of Rest and Ease how desirous should they be of it And how thankful to him who offers it unto them And thus I come to consider the gracious Promise which our Lord here makes to miserable Men whom he invites to himself come to me and I will give you rest Rest is very desirable but no rest so desirable as this An ease of those Burdens which were presently set before you would exceedingly lighten the Mind and quicken and cheer up the Spirit But none can give this Ease but Jesus who here promiseth it Some Philosophers have proposed some Antidote against Afflictions but for the most part they talked impertinently when they spoke of the other Three But as the greatest and truest Comfort under Afflictions cometh from Jesus Christ so it is he only who can satisfie the large Cravings of the Soul who can take away the Fear of Death and the Guilt of Sin And as he can so he will for he hath promised it here Come and I will give you rest This rest must certainly imply a full and perfect Ease of all Misery which lieth upon Men For if all were not taken away if any part of it did remain the Soul could not be at rest Now because the very News of Rest is Matter of Comfort and it is yet more comfortable to be assured of it I will confirm this gracious and comfortable Promise by other Places of Scripture and also shew the Reasons why we may expect and look for Rest from Jesus with a Respect to that Fourfold Misery which is upon us I will invert the Order which was used in enumerating those Burdens we groan under and will take the last first because it is the greatest and that the Removal of it prepares the way for taking the rest away That the Burden of our Sins shall be taken away by Jesus is evident from his Name and the Reason why he got that Name for he was called Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins therefore also he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the world when one sick of the Palsie was brought unto him he said to him Son be of good chear thy Sins be forgiven thee And he said so that they might know the Son of Man had power to
their Hearts were swelled up with Grief their Souls were inwardly pierced with excessive Sorrow which abundantly appeared by all the ways by which People use to express their sorrowful Thoughts and sad Apprehensions smiting their Breasts and rending their Garments which the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth howling and mourning with the Voice which is the signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now it will be worth the while and very proper for the Day to consider what it was that moved them to all this Indeed the Hearts of Women by Nature are soft and tender and their Passions are sooner and more easily moved than those of Men but if we view the Object of their Grief we will not think it strange that these Women did thus bewail and lament it will be much more strange if we can restrain our Passions and refrain from weeping at the account of it and yet all know that the sight of a thing toucheth more sensibly than the hearing of it doth These Women had seen all which our Lord had hitherto suffered at the hands of wicked and sinful Men and had lively Apprehensions of what he was yet to suffer for the Death he was going to was known and ordinary but known only to be a vile shameful and most painful Death as upon other accounts so upon this that it was not a speedy but a lingering Death If they themselves were not Witnesses yet they well enough understood how he was seiz'd in the Garden as a Thief when he was most serious in Devotion and Prayer and dragged from thence to the High-Priest's Palace which ought to have been a Refuge to Innocence and a Safeguard against Indiscretions and an Unmerciful Threatment But alas even there they saw him unjustly used and most indiscreetly Handled falsely Accused illegally convicted of Blasphemy and other Crimes and all the rules of Discretion Civility and Good Manners broken in treating him He was Spit upon and Buffetted Blindfolded and smitten on the Cheek with a Prophesie who it was that smote thee By the break of Day he was hurried away to Pilate from him to Herod and back again to Pilate every one making their Sport of him After some Mock-Formalities of Law and Justice these Women saw him delivered to the Roman Soldiers a sort of Men who took Pleasure in Blood and Cruelty and then they beheld him dressed like a Fool with a Crown of Thorns a Purple Robe and a Reed instead of a Scepter because he was said to be the King of the Iews They saw him strip'd of these Ornaments of mocked Majesty and unmercifully Whipt and Scourged by the same Soldiers with Cords till Furrows were made in his Back and the Blood ran down his innocent Body And when all this would not satisfie the Malice of his Enemies they saw him given in exchange for a Villain and Notorious Robber and against all Law and Reason meerly upon the importunity of an unreasonable Multitude condemned to a Violent and Cruel Death and contrary to all Equity denied any respite or breathing time but instantly forced away to the place of Execution and made to bear that Cross on which he was to hang and pine away his Life in Pain and Torment Represent all this to your selves and consider if it be not sad and doleful who would not shed Tears at such a Sight May not this force Tears either from Man or Woman Suppose Jesus had been as bad and criminal as his Enemies would have made him yet such cruel and unmerciful Usage called for Compassion Quod non homini detur humanitati Even when it is necessary to satisfie the Law and to execute Justice Pity should be shewn to the Offender But if Pity and Compassion be due to Calamity and Misery even when there is guilt to deserve it what should be shewn when there is no Guilt at all If it should touch our hearts to see any of our Fellow-Creatures suffer though it be no more than the just Punishment of their Sins how should we be affected How should our Passions be stirred when unspotted Innocence and Vertue suffer These good Women knew that Jesus had no Crime they saw his very Enemies could not fix any upon him and that they were baffled when they undertook to prove any against him Nay he was not only innocent but also perfectly righteous he not only was guilty of no Ill but also he was one who went up and down doing good and had done many great and good and wonderful Works The Malice of his Enemies was not occasioned by any Fault of his but only by the Truth and Purity and Powerfulness of his Doctrine and by the Holiness and Integrity of his Life both which reproved their Errors their false Teaching their Hypocrisie and their Covetousness Add to all this his Quality which was the greatest in the World For tho' these Women were not yet instructed fully about his eternal Generation nor yet perhaps believed him to be the true Son of God equal with the Father as the Catholick Church doth teach and hath always taught and which must be believed if the Scriptures be true and genuine yet they believed him a Prophet and knew him to be a good Man mighty in Word and Deed they were perswaded that he was the Messiah and trusted that it was he who should have redeemed Israel Judge I pray you then what cause of Grief was here The greatest Dignity trampled upon and affronted The greatest Innocence condemned The greatest Righteousness punished The greatest Meekness reviled The greatest Charity and Beneficence persecuted The Man who preached the Word of God with Authority who shewed them the true way to Life who comforted them in their Affliction who cured their Diseases who restored their Children and Friends to Life who fed them with Miracles and from whom they expected the Salvation promised by all the Prophets to see this Man mocked scourged and put to Death before their Eyes Lord what matter of Grief was this What Occasion for Weeping Mourning and great Lamentation But though all this was more than sufficient to afflict and grieve the minds of these Women yet there was something more than all this which Jesus suffered which they knew not he suffered in his Soul and Spirit by the immediate Hand of God which none was sensible of save himself Inward Trouble and Disturbance of the Soul is much more sad and weighty than Pains and Torments in the Body The spirit of a man may sustain his Infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear Jesus was at this time drinking the Cup of his Father's Wrath and Displeasure against Sin and the Sin not of one or two but of all Mankind What it was that he suffered in his Soul on this Account we do not know but that he did suffer in that part is certain and that he suffered heavily appears from his sweating Blood in the Garden in a cold Night from his praying three
times Father if it be thy will let this Cup pass from me and from these disconsolate Words which his inward Sorrow and Anguish extorted while he hanged upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The Sufferings of Jesus cannot be reckoned up no Man can describe no Tongue can express all the Particulars of his bitter Agony and bloody Passion and cruel Death The Words of the Prophet are applicable to him and as they were spoken prophetically of him so in him only they were fully accomplished Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger From above he hath sent fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them he hath spread a net for my feet he hath turned my back he hath made me desolate and faint all the day Who then that beheld this could Or who that hears and lays it to heart can refrain from weeping Tears indeed are due to the Memory of Christ's Death and Passion But yet our Lamentation and Weeping must not be as that in Rama spoken of by the Prophet Like Rachel weeping for her children who would not be comforted because they are not We may and should weep at the Remembrance of what Christ suffered but our Sorrow should not run to an Excess meerly on his Account Wherefore you see that our Lord turned about and checked the excessive Sorrowfulness of these Women saying Daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me which was the Second thing I promised to speak to This is not a total Prohibition of weeping for Christ the Negative Particle Not is not always to be taken so peremptorily for frequently it imports only Rather or not so much as when it is said I will have mercy and not sacrifice the Meaning is Mercy rather than Sacrifice or not so much Sacrifice as Mercy So here weep not for me but for your selves is only as much as to say weep for your selves rather than for me or not so much for me as for your selves Thus all Weeping is not forbidden And as I have shewn it to be very just proper and suitable so we find it made both a necessary and an acceptable Duty Zach. xii 10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of Grace and of Supplications and they shall look upon me 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 However we should so bewail his Death as to keep within a certain Measure Not as those good Women in the Text who apprehended that all their Hope and all their Comfort would have perished in his Death The Death of Christ is not to be lamented like the Tragical end of Pompey Caesar and other Heroes of the World whether Ancient or Modern whose Deaths were sad and convincing Instances of the Changeableness of Fortune of the Vanity of the World and of the Uncertainty of humane Affairs When they died their vast Designs and Projects were defeated and the Expectation of their Friends frustrated in that very Day all their Thoughts perished they instantly ceased to be either the Hope of their Friends or the Dread and Terrour of their Enemies and left nothing behind them save a faint Memory and uncertain Conjectures But the Death of Jesus Christ is quite another thing As our Lord still liveth so he reigneth and it was by his Death that he advanced and secured his Kingdom His Death was glorious and the Issue of it was eternal Praise to God and himself and everlasting Advantage to all the World Never any Triumph was so illustrious as the Death of Christ The greatest triumph in the World was only over Beasts and weak Men and set forth with the Spoils of earthly Kingdoms But Jesus at his Death triumphed over Devils he conquered Hell and the Grave made Spoils of Principalities and all the Powers of Darkness By his Death he quenched the Fire of God's Wrath blunted the Edge of the Law weakned the Strength of Sin loosned the Bands of the Grave ransomed Sinners and opened the Kingdom of Heaven to Penitents and Believers His Death gave Life to the World and renewed Nature so that the Face of things is altered ever since Thus as upon one Account there is Reason to lament the Death of Jesus Christ so upon another there is no less Reason to rejoice for by it God is glorified Jesus exalted and Mankind saved But when we leave off to mourn for Christ we should continue to mourn for our selves So you see here that our Lord biddeth the Women moderate their Grief upon his Account but still requireth it for themselves which was the third thing proposed Weep not for me but for your selves And very good Reason alas There is more than sufficient Cause for this Mourning For tho' Jesus Christ has merited Salvation for us yet our natural Wretchedness our Original and Actual Guilt is no less than it was both which are deplorable and neither of them can ever be enough lamented And if we are not sensible of the heinous Nature of these let us look upon the persecuted reviled mocked buffetted scourged and crucified Jesus let us call to mind his bitter Death and Sufferings and these will instruct us For all these things befell him for our sake and upon our Account The Jews who crucified him and put him to so vile and shameful a Death were only the Instruments But otherwise every one of us as well as they were the Cause and Occasion of all that evil which befell him They are to be considered only as the common Executioner who executeth the Law and the Will of the Judge and consequently our Rage and Indignation should not be against them but against the Crimes which caused and required so heavy a Punishment Now they were not his own Crimes for which he suffered for he knew no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth he was a Lamb without Spot and Blemish But he was made Sin for us Surely as the Prophet speaks he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him and he received stripes that we might be healed Let us not go about to clear our selves of all Accession to the Death of this good and righteous Person because we are come to the World so long after it fell out and are not of the Race of those who laid wicked and violent hands on him For though Jesus died but once yet he did bear the Sins of all and was charged with the Sins of all that went before or shall come after From the time that he
was set apart to be the Sacrifice for Sin he bears the Iniquity of Men and that is from the beginning wherefore he is called the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World that is appointed to be slain And therefore our sins come in among the rest and consequently we have all Reason to deplore his Death and to bewail our own Wretchedness and Sin which was in part the Cause of it O ye Children of Men ye of the sinful Race of Adam come and behold the wretched and deplorable State of your Nature look upon the Cross and let thine Eyes see Jesus bleeding and dying on it and then consider that Blood was shed to wash away thy natural Filthiness and his Life taken to redeem thee from Death O how unreasonable How insolent a thing is Pride in Man Art thou Proud who hast an evil Disease cleaving to thee and inherent to all thy race which cannot be cleansed but by the precious Blood of the Eternal Son of God Art thou vain who art born such a slave that nothing could have ransomed thee except the Death and Sufferings of the Lord of Life and Glory Pride Arrogance and Boasting are no wise suitable to Persons of our Condition but Mourning and Weeping are very proper especially considering the guilt we have contracted since our coming to the World the heinousness of which the Cross of Christ will also shew us for that heavy Cross was laid on him to take away the guilt of those Sins which we daily commit The Son of God was humbled and Crowned with Thorns to make atonement for our Pride and Ambition he was stript naked because of our Covetousness he was unmercifully treated that he might bear the Punishment of our Revenge and Cruelty towards our Brethren The inward agony of his Soul was occasioned by our wanton Mirth and Lasciviousness and that he might be a Propitiation for our Excess and Riot there was nothing left him but Vinegar and Gall to drink His Bowels his Hands and Feet were pierced upon the account of our Oaths and Blasphemies In a word he was mocked had no pity shewed him was Scourged and put to Death contrary to Law Justice and Equity because we are false and treacherous and have no respect to the Commands of God Ye Fools who make a mock of Sin and who think it but a Sport to commit Iniquity come hither be instructed and learn to be Wise. Is the Shame and the Pain Is the Agony and Grief Is the Death and are the unspeakable Sufferings of Jesus the Son of God only a Sport Are these things only matter of Laughter Has any the Impudence either to say it or to think it No sure But then if these be bitter Sport what shall we think of our Sins which produce it for the Sufferings of our Lord are only the Effects of our Sins Doth it not trouble every honest and thinking Man when he is so unfortunate as to be the occasion of any Evil and Mischief to another Casual Murther or Manslaughter by an accidental Rencounter the throwing of a Stone the shooting of a Bow or Gun or the like do not infer guilt the Actors are innocent when they have no design of that Nature in their head and yet no Man who hath not lost Humanity but will be affected when any such Misfortune falls in his hands and his Grief will be so much the greater as the Person whose Death is occasioned is worthy and deserving What cause of Grief then have we who not accidentally but wittingly and willingly by our deliberate Sins and Transgressions have drawn Death on the Innocent and Righteous Jesus and that too the worst of Deaths the most shameful the most painful and the most bitter Death of the Cross Have we not reason to weep for our selves Can we ever bewail enough either our misfortune or wretchedness by Nature or our guilt through our actual Transgressions Certainly we should lament our condition on all occasions should set apart times for it and especially at occasions of this Nature when our guilt and the sad Effects of it is represented to us we should mourn and weep This is the only way to clear our selves to lessen our guilt and to keep innocent Blood from being charged upon us Blessed are they that thus mourn for they shall be comforted They who sow in tears shall reap in joy Jesus shall bear the Iniquities of those who regret his Death and their own guilt which caused it and made it necessary his Blood shall wash away their guilt and his Death shall prevent their Eternal Death for he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through him 2 Cor. v. But as the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ procureth Mercy to the humble and Penitent so his Blood calleth for vengeance upon the hardned and impenitent Which leadeth me to the last thing in the Text for upon this account he added and weep for your Children for behold the days are coming c. by this intimating that the Imprecations of the People were ready to light upon them for as they cried out and wished his blood be upon us and our Children so to revenge it sore and heavy Calamities were impending over the City and the whole Nation Jesus spoke not these words from any Spirit of desire of Revenge nor out of any complacency at those sad Evils which were to befall them for the Injuries done to himself It is a fault which too many are guilty of when they think themselves wronged and cannot at present either revenge or remedy it they delight and please themselves with the thoughts of God's revenging their quarrel But Jesus was far from this temper for we find in the 19th of this Gospel That when he beheld the City he wept over it out of Compassion of those Evils which he saw would come upon it And they who have the same Mind in them which was in him will neither desire the destruction of their Enemies nor rejoice at it but will both pray against it and fear and tremble when they see it unavoidable But our Lord uttered these words to testifie his Divinity and Godhead and his Love and good Will even to those sinful Men his Divinity in that he knew what was to come for none knoweth future things but God alone his Love and good Will in that he forewarned them of their Danger that being forewarned they might if possible either prevent it or obtain a delay and suspension of it When he bids them weep for their Children he doth not mean the Children of these Women only or particularly but the whole Generation of the Iews for he speaks to those Women in the Name of the whole Inhabitants of Ierusalem or rather of all the People of Iudaea therefore they are called Daughters of Ierusalem which is as much as to say Israelites for Ierusalem was the Chief or Mother-city and to
be stiled after it did import their relation to and interest in that state The word Behold denotes the certainty of what he foretells by saying the days are coming he lets them know that the Calamity approacheth and is not far off as indeed it fell out within Forty Years The greatness and dreadfulness of that Calamity he holds out by telling that it shall be then said Blessed are the barren and the womb that never bare and the paps which never gave suck For these words are not to be taken absolutely but with a respect unto these Evil days In times of Peace in the days of Prosperity it is a great Blessing and Comfort to have Children and especially it was thought so among the People of the Iews But in times of grievous Trouble and sad Calamity when War or Famine or Pestilence rageth they who have Children are more heavily afflicted than those who want them for besides the Evils which they suffer in their own Person they suffer also in the Persons of their Children and are affected with their Misery Moreover Women who are either with Child or who have young Ones sucking at their Breast cannot so easily escape Calamities or provide against them as others Some also do think that this may have a particular reference to what afterwards fell out at the Destruction of Ierusalem viz. That during the strictness of the Siege some were reduced to that strait that to preserve their own Lives they Eat the flesh of their own Children which could not but be very grievous to Parents However it is to be interpreted not with any relation to Peoples Spiritual or Eternal State for in respect of that there is no difference betwixt the having and wanting Children but it is to be understood wholly as to this Life and that too only in relation to Times of great Trouble and sad Calamity As to what follows that then they shall begin to say to the Mountains fall on us and to the Hills cover us This is a further intimation of the dreadful Calamity of these Days for People shall then be in such Consternation and Fear that they shall wish Death rather than Life and any kind of sudden Death rather than to live to see and feel such unspeakable Misery And as all this was foretold here and Matth. 24. so whoever is pleased to read Iosephus his History will find That all was actually accomplished upon Flavius Vespasian and Titus his Son their Invading Iudaea Besieging and Sacking of Ierusalem For if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in a dry As it is a Proverbial Speech so it is here used by our Lord both for a Proof of the Prediction and also as a Reason why such Evils are inflicted Green Wood is neither proper nor profitable fewel but sure if they be forced to cut it down and make use of it they will not pass by what is dry and withered and good for nothing so seeing God has suffered his own Son to be thus treated who never displeased him they might assure themselves that such gross and notorious Sinners would not escape As St. Peter says If the Righteous scarcely are saved where shall the Wicked and Ungodly appear Our Lord by comparing himself here to a green flourishing and fruitful Tree doth point out the greatness of their Sin who thus treated him and persecuted him to Death with such Malice and Cruelty And he also clearly intimates to them that for this Cause all these Evils would come upon them A little before this time he laid it more plainly home to them by the Parable of the wicked Husband-men who when they saw the Son said This is the Heir come let us kill him and seize on the Inheritance And accordingly they caught him and cast him out of the Vineyard and slew him The Doom of these Husband-men the Iews pronounced with their own Mouth for when our Lord asked when the Lord of the Vineyard cometh what will he do unto these Husband-men They replied He will miserably destroy these wicked men and will let out his Vineyard to other Husbandmen which shall render him the fruits in their season Upon which he instantly added Did ye never read in the Scriptures the stone which the Builders refused the same is become the head of the corner This is the Lord 's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes Therefore I say unto you the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder The Application was so plain and the meaning so obvious that it is said that the Chief-Priests and Pharisees perceived that he spoke of them Matth. xxi 38 39. These Predictions and the Event which in all things answered them declare what a heinous Crime it is to be guilty of shedding the Blood of Jesus and what a Provocation it was to the great God to see his Son crucified by Men. But some may perhaps say what is all this to us This was the Sin of the Iews long since committed and which can never be acted over again seeing Jesus the Son of God has his abode in Heaven and so is out of the reach of Men and therefore it is impertinent to insist now upon it They who say or think so must give me leave to say that they are mistaken and do deceive themselves for Christ may yet be Crucified and with as great Provocation to God nay with greater than was before Doth not St. Paul tell us Heb. vi 6. of some who crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame and both by that Chapter and the 10th we are made to understand who they are that do it viz. They who Sin wilfully after they have received the Knowledge of the Truth They that undervalue the Death of Jesus and are not so affected with it as to hate and forsake Sin which was the cause of it but on the contrary cherish indulge and love it for they who do so by an after Act consent to his Death and are guilty of his Blood Not to speak what Jesus suffers in his Servants and Members by the Persecutions which they meet with for his Sake and for their Observance of his Laws Jesus still suffers immediately in himself when his Doctrine is despised his Authority affronted and his Power resisted They who question the veracity of his Doctrine confirmed by Miracles and Prophecies laugh at the Truth and Mysteries which he hath revealed and quarrel at his Ordinances and Institutions these Persons do violence to his Prophetical Office They who lessen the Merits of his Death and the worth and price of that Sacrifice which he offered they who advance their own Righteousness and put little or no Confidence in his Mediation and make the Mediation of others as necessary they
all his Promises Yea and Amen Why art thou perplext Why art thou cast down O my Soul Wouldst thou be reading thy Destiny in the hidden Books of Fate Wouldst thou fain know what these secret Decrees say of thee O foolish Soul Why so curious to know things too high for thee which are hid from thee and therefore hid because the Knowledge of them is of no Use to thee nor would it give thee any Satisfaction Whatever be the secret Decrees they do not they cannot contradict those Eternal and Immutable Purposes which are revealed viz. That they who repent and believe and obey the Gospel shall be saved this Sentence cannot be reversed Believest thou this if you believe do accordingly and there is no Cause of Fear whatever come of others you are surely predestinated to Eternal Life If thou canst believe all things are possible Blessed are they who believe for there shall be a performance of those things which are told them of the Lord. Some are not contented with this Assurance That God has certainly declared his infallible Purpose of accepting returning Sinners but they would be infallibly assured that they themselves are actually accepted and justified which I confess would be a great Comfort neither do I doubt but some Men have this Infallible Assurance but it is an unreasonable and preposterous thing for any to expect it at their first Approaches to God or in the beginnings of their Conversion This were to ask Fruit before the due time as if one should seek Fruit on the Tree he hath but newly planted This Assurance never goes before our Reconciliation to God though sometimes of his extraordinary Mercy it may follow after and therefore we cannot expect it let us desire it never so much until we have really performed the Conditions here required If thy Assurance be built on another Foundation 't is not to be trusted to and if thou knowest that this Foundation is laid if thou canst say that in all Sincerity thou hast done what was sought of thee what makes thee not to have a rational and comfortable Assurance All Doubts of our Salvation should only arise from our Doubts of performing our part And if upon a strict and impartial Examination of our selves we find that we have performed our part then we ought to have such a comfortable Degree of Assurance as may quiet our Consciences and support us against our natural Fears because God cannot but perform his most gracious Promises But that particular infallible sort of Assurance which some Men cannot be satisfied unless they have is an extraordinary Gift which God is pleased sometimes to give tho' he is not bound to give it He hath sometimes refreshed the Souls of Martyrs and Confessors with it to support them in the midst of their Torments but it is not of ordinary Dispensation and therefore not to be expected because it is a miraculous Gift which is not to be asked but with great Submission to the Will of God who knows when it is fit for the Support and Consolation of a pious Soul But to proceed The Third Qualification here is that we have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience which with what follows is the inseparable Effect of the two former they cannot be first and the other cannot be without them we must have true and believing Hearts before we can be sprinkled from an evil conscience or have our bodies washen but once having this the other will follow for Light and Heat may be as well disjoined from the Sun as Purity of Heart and Holiness of Life from true Faith and a sincere Mind to God Many pretend Faith but the tree is known by its fruit hereby may it be known whether thy Faith be good if so be thy heart be sprinkled from an evil conscience In this Speech the Apostle alludes to the Rites and Ceremonies under the Law 't was the Custom then to sprinkle both the Priests and the People in their Solemn Approaches to the Lord sometimes with Blood sometimes with Water Oyl or Ashes But now these legal Ceremonies are laid aside yet the thing signified by them is still required viz. What the Apostle makes mention of here that our hearts be sprinkled from an evil conscience By the heart is meant the Soul or inner Man by the evil conscience those things which pollute the Soul which keep one from having a good conscience void of offence towards God and Man such as brutish Lusts inordinate desires unworthy Passions evil Thoughts and sinful Inclinations whether born with us or contracted afterwards All these must be mortified and purged out before we can be throughly reconciled to God for as Iehu said to Ioram when he ask'd Is there Peace what peace so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Iezabel and her witchcrafts are so many So I say to those who draw near to God how can they look for Peace from him while their Pride Vain-Glory Malice Wrath Covetousness and other filthy and ungodly Lusts live and reign in them God is willing to be reconciled to our Persons but not to our Sins we must part with them or if our Sins and we cannot be separated we must give up Fellowship with God Truly God is good to Israel but 't is to such only as are clean in heart He cannot love foul polluted Souls he cannot chuse but loath and hate them for he is not a God that hath Pleasure in Wickedness neither shall evil dwell with him As therefore when we entertain great Persons we use to remove all things nasty and unhandsome and whatsoever may readily offend them or shame our selves and are careful to have all things about us decent and fashionable so being to approach the holy Presence of God let us lay aside every thing offensive and unsuitable viz. the Love and Inclination to every Sin for he is of purer eyes than that he can behold iniquity he naturally abhorrs it and let us give all Diligence to adorn our Souls with holy Thoughts and heavenly Dispositions for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright But if this be wanting we can have no Acceptance If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me saith David Psal. lxvi 18. Even David shall be rejected if he regard Iniquity Some will say if the Case be thus none can have Hopes or who can say their Heart is clean 'T is true in our present State our Hearts cannot be so clean as to have no Blemish there will be ever some Remainders of Sin in us and now and then perhaps some sinful Motions will arise in the best but this will not be imputed to us neither hinder our Reconciliation with God unless we regard them with Love and Delight cherish and follow them If we look on these Irruptions of our corrupt Nature with Sorrow and Regret if we take care to prevent and suppress them and are filled with Grief when they
is the bitter Root which shoots out all kind of Misery If Man had not known Sin he would never have felt Punishment We should never have been made to taste the bitter Fruits of Trouble if Sin had not been planted in our Natures and if it did not shoot out and mingle with our Life and Actions It 's to this we must ascribe all the Diseases which infest both particular Persons and publick States and where Sin is cherished and doth abound we may certainly conclude that Trouble and Calamity will follow for the one is the necessary consequence of the other Ephraim's Sickness and Iudah's Wounds proceeded from their Sins as appears both by the Text and Context they first suffered the Malignant Humour of Sin to creep into their Veins and to ferment there and thence it was that they drooped and languished and felt so much Pain and Sorrow Our first Parents no sooner tasted the forbidden Fruit but they were filled with Shame and Confusion which are the inseparable Effects of Sin The Body cannot but be sick and pained which is disordered disjointed and which suffers Convulsive Motions no more can they who are infected with Sin be without Grief and Anguish Therefore Eliphaz said truly That the wicked man travaileth with pain all his days this is but what is agreeable to the very Nature of his Constitution And besides the Misery and Trouble which is naturally interwoven into the very Constitution of Sin it makes one liable to the Wrath and Anger of Almighty God it necessarily draws down his Displeasure And who will not be Sick and Wounded who groans under the pressure of God's Wrath. As the light of his Countenance puts more Gladness into a Man's Heart than when Corn Wine and Oil doth abound So the Abstraction of his Favour is more grievous than the withdrawing Health and all outward Comforts and Conveniences but because Men are a little dull to perceive this therefore God teaches them how miserable it is to be without his Favour by depriving them of outward Comforts and what they apprehend to be the ground and matter of their Happiness His Favour is the foundation of all Felicity and the cause of all the Good we enjoy and his Displeasure is ever attended with outward Punishments No sooner did Adam offend God but he was cast out of Paradise and had the Earth cursed for his sake and as this is the Original of these common Calamities which our life is liable to while in this World so whoever tread the footsteps of these common Parents and imitate them in their disobedience to God shall share of their lot and not go unpunished for the face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth Lo they that are far from thee shall perish thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee We must not indeed conclude them the greatest Sinners who meet with the greatest outward Trouble and Affliction in this World Our Saviour hath taught us the contrary And the History and Example of Iob is a clear proof that it is not so But certainly God is so just as never to inflict Punishment but where there have been previous Faults to call for it And as some of the best of Men have had the greatest share of Troubles and Affliction so the best have been guilty of Sin and the least measure of this guilt is sufficient to justifie the greatest measure of Punishment which can be inflicted upon any in this World and if some of the greatest Sinners have escaped exemplary Punishment here it is because God reserves them to a more sad and heavy Doom hereafter But however it be with particular Persons it is certain in the general that Sin offends God and never goes unpunished and however particular Persons may escape exemplary Punishment in this Life yet Nations Kingdoms and publick Societies are always visibly punished in this World when they are corrupted and defiled with Sin Crosses and Afflictions have been laid upon particular Persons sometimes more for trial than for Punishment But general Judgments and Calamities never came upon a Nation or People till they were first ushered in by Sin and Iniquity nor is it possible to give one instance of the escape of any Nation where Sin and Iniquity abounded God doth sometimes forbear till the Cup of their Iniquities be full as he said of the Amorites but when People have filled up the Cup of their Iniquities then God is ever sure to make them drink of the Cup of his Wrath. Nor did number or multitude or greatness or splendor ever prevail with God for an Act of Indemnity where the continuance and multiplication of Sin cried for Judgment as may be evidenced in the old World in Sodom and Gomorrah in Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar Nineveh and Babylon and several others which may be drawn from Sacred and Prophane History Nay near Alliance and Relation to himself never made any be spared as appears from this instance of the Iews and Israelites Indeed God hath many Favours in Readiness to bestow upon his People but they are such as are worthy of his holy Nature but to grant them an Indulgence in Sin is inconsistent with his essential Holiness and therefore the most honourable Relation of being the peculiar People of God as all truly Catholick Churches are is so far from securing of them against his Displeasure that it gives his People greater Cause to expect Judgments when they are guilty of Sin As we may learn from these Words spoken by the Prophet Amos You have I known of all the Families of the Earth therefore I will punish you for all your Iniquities Judgments and Calamities threatning a Nation and impending over it are certain Declarations that Sin and Iniquity abound in it And the abounding of Sin and Iniquity is a certain Prognostick that the Judgments of God are not far off These things mutually prove one another If therefore we have Reason to fear publick Calamities we have as much Reason to conclude that we are great Sinners if we see the publick Body whereof we are Members sick and wounded we may easily guess the Cause of its Distemper and if we discern a general Corruption and Depravation of Manners throughout the Kingdom and among all Ranks without great Fore-sight we may foretell a Visitation of the Divine Judgments If the general Pulse of the Nation beats Vice and Sin as it is no great wonder we feel inward Pangs and Throws so it needs no great Skill only a little Acquaintance with the Word of God and the general Course of his Providence to declare that the Body will be seized with sore and dangerous Fits that it will be sadly toss'd and shaken Sequitur superbos semper à tergo Deus Secondly we may observe hence how dull generally Men are in taking up the Cause of their Maladies and Distempers They easily perceive the Evils
being heavy laden our Lord pointeth at the present miserable condition of Mankind and designeth to represent not only his own mercifulness in offering them rest so freely but also the great need they stand in of it that they may be the more easily perswaded to accept his offer Rest is very acceptable to them that are weary to them who are lying under any great weight of pressure ease is very comfortable O how desirous then should Men be of ease to their Minds How glad ought they to be of rest to their Souls Seeing they are now by their very Birth put into a state and condition which obligeth them to Labour and be heavy laden that is they are all of them miserable and do either actually groan under their misery or they have abundant reason to do it If any do it not it is not because their state is singular and so much better than others but because their misery has stupified them their Senses are benummed which makes their condition worse and more dangerous because not so easily cured Now because Men use to value things only according to the sence of their own need of them therefore that we may not slight Christ's offer here that we may not contemn his rest but be very desirous of it and be thankful for his Kindness I shall in the next place shew the Misery which as Men we labour under and are laden with and which should make the very News of Rest and Ease most welcom and acceptable First The blessed Jesus addresseth himself to Men and calleth them to him under the title of them that labour because of the Afflictions and Calamities with which they are visited Afflictions and Calamities are call'd Burdens in Scripture and are esteemed such in the Common Judgment of the World The Judgments with which God threatned the Nations are by the Prophets called the burden of those Nations Crosses and Afflictions go under the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 labour 1 Tim. iv 10. and Rev. xiv 13. It is said Blessed are the Dead who die in the Lord for they rest from their labours thereby meaning the Troubles and Difficulties of Life Now as they may be said to labour and be heavy laden who are in a state of Trouble and Affliction so all Men as Men are in such a state none are exempted from it Man saith Eliphaz is born to trouble as the sparks flee upwards And Iob tells us That man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble Job v. 7. xiv 1. The truth of this will be attested by every Man's Experience For as an Ancient hath it dicant omnes loquantur cuncti c. Let all appear and speak let every one come and give in his Verdict let old Father Adam rise up with all his Children ask them all and they will declare that in this Life they have not found Joy without Sorrow Peace without Strife Quietness without Fear Health without Infirmity Light without Darkness Laughter without Mourning Some have more than others but none are without some kind and degrees of Troubles neither the highest nor lowest condition of Life can secure one altogether An uninterrupted Comfort and a perfect Satisfaction of all things relating to this Life never any had nor is it to be expected And therefore because all have some burden of external Trouble and Affliction upon them therefore all do labour and may be said to be heavy laden But Secondly Even abstracting from supervenient Troubles and those accidental Crosses Man is truly miserable in this World because he constantly labours under a burden of Emptiness and Vanity Not only the infliction of positive Evils but the abstraction of any real and positive or necessary Good will render one miserable and make his Life wearisome As Diseases and an external weight and pressure upon the Body will cause pain and force groaning so also will the want of Food and necessary Sustenance They who have felt it say that Hunger Thirst and Famine are of all Troubles the most grievous they render the Spirit very impatient and are ill to be endured How restless then must the Soul of Man be in this World how impatient how discontented when it finds it self deprived of the Good it craveth Its desires are never answered its longing is never satisfied nor is its Appetite ever full but is always tormented with Emptiness and Vanity There is no State or Enjoyment or Work which can give true Contentment or solid Satisfaction but after much Travel and frequent Experiments the Soul still returns unsatisfied she only wearies herself with Lyes as the Prophet speaks Something we meet with which amuses and deludes us a while but nothing to satisfie us to the full In our best state and circumstances it is only as when a hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his Soul is empty Or as when a thirsty man dreameth and behold he drinketh but he awaketh and behold he is faint and his soul hath appetite What Profit hath a Man of all his Labour which he taketh under the Sun All things are full of labour man cannot utter it The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing Therefore saith the Wise Man I hated life because the work that is wrought under the Sun is grievous unto me for all is vanity and vexation of spirit I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive Yea better is he than both they which hath not yet been who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the Sun He tried all States considered every Condition and tasted every Enjoyment but was never satisfied with any for he found Vanity and Vexation intermingled with all The Book of Ecclesiastes contains his Observation drawn from his manifold Experiences which if we read seriously and take pains to compare what is said there with our own Experience we will soon be perswaded of the truth of all which that Wise Man saith viz. That Man all the days of his Life laboureth under Vanity and vexation of Spirit That our Souls live in a Famine of true Satisfaction and where-ever we turn our selves we find a want of that Good and Solid Contentment which we would be at and which is necessary to keep the Mind and Soul from Languishing The wiser Persons are the more they allow themselves to think the more they are perswaded of this Therefore Wife and thinking Persons usually contemn and undervalue all worldly Pleasures and Enjoyments nor do any set a price upon them or are fully satisfied with them but such as are degenerated into a brutish Nature who do not exercise their Reason nor give themselves to thinking but like the Beasts are at rest when their Bellies are full But to go on A Third Misery and Burden which Men laboured and groaned under was the Fear of