with him those his Blood cleanses from all sin 1 Jo. 1.7 and in him have they redemption through his Blood even the for giveness of sin Eph. 1.7 As for others he tells them plainly they shall die in their sins Jo. 8.24 O how sad a condition is this Soul thou art guilty of multitudes of sins the least of which has evil enough in it to damn thee eternally Thou hast thousands 10 thousands of Scarlet Crimson sins sins cloathed with black and crying aggravations lying upon thee and to have all these in the full weight of the guilt and punishment of them charged upon thee by the great God for ever how miserable does this speak thy condition to be 6. Being estranged from Christ you are under a necessity of sinning and so of great'ning your own damnation daily A man out of Christ does do can do nothing but sin for he is not subject to the Law of God nor can he be Rom. 8.8 And as he is ever sinning so he is ever treasuring up wrath unto himself Ro. 2.5 O how sad a condition is this This is Dura necessitas as Austin calls it and speaks a mans condition to be very doleful To be always sinning against God and alwayes treasuring up wrath to a man 's own Soul this is next to Hell in some sort worse To give you thee Sum of all Being estranged from Christ you have nothing to satisfie Divine justice which is ready to seize upon you nothing to pacifie Divine wrath which is ready to break forth against you nothing to stand between Divin revenges and your sinful souls What shall I say you have many accusers and by them many heavy charges brought in against you and being without Christ you have no Advocate to plead your cause none to speak a good word in Heaven for you and is not that sad you are deeply in debt you owe your 10 thousand tallents to Divine justice and being without Christ you have nothing to pay but are in danger of being cast into the Prison of eternal darkness whence there is no redemption And is not that sad you are under an obligation to much Duty and being without Christ you are under an utter impossibility of performing any of it acceptably You are under a judgment of condemnation and being without Christ you have nothing that can secure you one day one hour one moment more on this side everlasting Burnings and O how sad and miserable is this Thus you see both your estrangment from Christ and also your misery in part by reason of that estrangment Now as ever you would get Union and Communion with him labour to be deeply sensible of both these 2. Would'st thou indeed be Espoused to Christ Then labour to be soundly convinced and deeply sensible of the greatness and Hainousness of the sin of refusing Christ and the offers of his Love poor Soul thou standest it out against Christ he wooes and calls and invites thee to himself but thou slightest and refusest all and this thou thinkest a small matter but let me tell thee this is a most hainous and crying sin To Swear to Murder to Steal to be Drunk to be Unclean and the like these thou look'st upon as black and horred things Indeed well thou mai'st for they are sins of a more then ordinary hainous and abominable nature But yet know that thy sin in rejecting Christ and the offers of his Love is greater and more provoking then all these This indeed is the great sin and the sin thou must in a especial manner be sensible of if ever thou art United to Christ so much Christ himself tells us in that known place Joh. 16.8 9. he sayes he speaking of the Spirit whom he promised to send shall convince the World of sin because they believe not in me unbelief then is the great sin that the Spirit convinces souls of And what 's unbelief but the neglect and refusal of Christ and the offers of his Love made to us in the Cospel He shall convince the World of sin because they believe not in me i.e. de illo magno grandi incredulitatis peccato He shall convince them of that grand sin of unbelief as a learned man expounds it as if Christ should say he shall make men see the black and hainous nature of the sin of rejecting me and my Love He shall humble them for it and set them a bleeding over it This sin of rejecting Christ some of the Shcool-men have called Maximum peccatum the greatest sin of all And indeed next to the unpardonable sin what greater This is a sin most directly and immediately against Christ and the Gospel O for a vile wretched sinner to shut the door of his soul against Christ the King of Glory and deny him entertainment to refuse and reject the free and frequent offers of him and his Love how great a sin must this be And soul to convince thee the better of it and make thee the more afraid of it I shall suggest a few considerations to thee holding forth a little of its black and horred evil 1 Consider that the neglect and refusal of Christ his Love is a sin against a special eminent command and therefore a great crying sin The greater and more eminent the command is which we transgress and sin against the greater our sin and guilt is in transgressing that command Now God does not onely command us to receive and embrace Christ and his Love but this command of his is a great signal and eminent command So St John tells us 1 Joh. 3.23 This is his commandment that we believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ whom he hath sent What is it to believe on the name of Jesus Christ but to receive and embrace Christ offering himself in the Gospel to us and to live upon him having so received and embraced him Now sayes he this is his commandment his great his special commandment his commandment in a most signal eminent manner and Christ himself asserts the same thing Joh. 6.28 29. In the 28 v. They ask him what shall we do that we may works the Work of God His answer in the 29. v. is This is the Work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent i. e. That ye receive and embrace me and live upon me by believing This is the Work of God the great work which he commands you and expects from you Believing as Calvin observes upon this place is not called the Work of God Non quia efficit deus in nobissed quid requirit Christus docet Calv. in Loc. because 't is of Gods operation as you have it else where or that which God works in us but because 't is the great thing which he commands and requires of us To reject and refuse Christ then is a sin against a signal and emenient command indeed against the great command of the Gospel and therefore
Christ is to come too Are there Tryals to come Christ is to come too Are there Difficulties and Temptations to come Christ is to come too Are there Storms and Tempests to come Christ is to come too And while Christ is to come fear not only close with him in a Marriage-Covenant and make him thine then come what will come come what can come all will be well Thus Christ is every way acceptable and infinitely acceptable and as ever Soul thou wouldst be indeed espoused to him dwell much in the study and contemplation of his acceptableness Labour to be possest with a deep and daily renewed sense of it which will sweetly draw and allure thy Soul to him VI. Wouldst thou indeed be espoused to Christ then be sure that thou pitchest thy Faith aright upon him and closest in effectually with him in a way of believing 'T is Faith that is both the great uniting and the great interesting Grace it unites us to Christ and interests us in Christ 'T is that as has been formerly declared and evinced that puts Christ and the Soul into the bosom and embraces of each others love and by which the Marriage-Knot is tyed between them If ever therefore thou wouldst be indeed espoused unto him look well to thy Faith see that thou dost pitch that aright upon him closing with him and embracing of him not by halves but throughly not feignedly but intimately and cordially But here some may say How may we do to pitch our Faith aright upon Christ so as to get conjugal Union and Communion with him Three things must be done in order hereunto which I desire you to look well to I. See that you wholly quit and renounce your selves II. Labour to get a right notion and apprehension of Christ III. Be sure to make a right choice of him being so apprehended I. Would you pitch your Faith aright upon Christ and be indeed espoused to him Then see that you wholly quit and renounce your selves Self and believing are at the utmost distance from and enmity with each other that is imaginable they are irreconcilably opposit each to other and where Faith takes place there Self vanishes and dies away and that in all its notions and with all its accomplishments Hence sayes Christ If any man will come after me believe on me be espoused to me let him deny himself Mat. 16.24 Let him deny himself renounce himself go out of himself let Self become nothing with him And indeed the Soul that believes in Christ does go quite out of himself he sees and feels himself to be a poor empty Nothing in all respects he sees and finds his Strength to be Weakness his Wisdom Folly his Beauty Blackness his Righteousness Sin his All Nothing And thus must we if ever we indeed believe and get Union with Christ O my Beloved one of the great things which stands between Faith and us Christ and us is Self This indeed is the Souls Darling the first Born as one calls it of his Love and Delights and he is loth to part with it but part with it he must and renounce it he must or he can never believe aright nor is he ever like to have any part or lot in Christ Every step out of Self is a step towards Christ and Faith in Christ and we must be divorced from the one if ever we be married to the other particularly you must quit and renounce Self especially in this three-fold Notion Self-Will Self-Worth Self-Interest 1. You must quit and renounce Self-Will He that indeed believes must in a sort have no Will of his own but his Will must be wholly melted and resigned up into the Will of Christ Hence the Church is said to be subject unto Christ Ephes 5.24 We are apt to live in our own Wills and are exceeding fond of and set upon having our Wills and that how cross and contrary soever they be to the Will of Christ But if ever we believe so as to get union with Christ our stubborn Wills must bow our proud Wills must down and must in all things as much as is possible be refer'd and resign'd into Christ's Will and good reason for his Will is the rule of goodness as well as the first cause of all things We must not think to say we are Lords but we must bow to Christ as the great and only Lord. 2. You must quit and renounce Self-Worth Self-Rightcousness you must renounce all Worth and Righteousness of your own in point of justification and acceptation with God 'T is a great word which I shall speak Mens duties living under the Gospel keep almost as many from Christ and believing as their sins do My meaning is as the love of sin keeps some so confidence in Duties a confidence in Self-Worth Self-Righteousness keeps multitudes of others from Christ and believing And the truth is my Beloved this piece of Self is the great Idol of the Soul and that which men are marvellously loth to quit and renounce and indeed 't is oftentimes so painted and as it were spiritualliz'd acted with so much state and set out with so many ornaments that it would make any one in love with it but yet this Idol so dear as 't is to the Soul must be denyed and renounced this Darling must be cast off and that with loathing and abomination in respect of Soul-saving if ever you believe and are united to Christ And the Soul that indeed does believe looks upon himself to be the poorest despicablest and undonest Creature in the World notwithstanding all he throws away not only his Rags but his Robes too all his Priviledges all his Performances all his moral Excellencies and Attainments as to a dependance upon them for Life and Salvation as you know Paul did Phil. 3.8 9. of which more hereafter The Soul's language in the Work of believing is such as this I am a poor vile empty nothing in my self I am nothing I can do nothing and I deserve nothing I am nothing but sin I can do nothing but offend and provoke God and I deserve nothing but frowns and death from him If ever I be saved 't is Free Grace must save me if ever I find favour in Gods sight it must be purely from Grace in Christ Alas I have walked contrary to God all my dayes my heart and life both have been full of eumity and provocation against him and my very Duties are damning my best Righteousness being as filthy Rags Isa 64.6 And indeed till it comes to this with us we are like to remain strangers to Christ and Faith in Christ I shall only say this further as to this particular That no men in the World are further off from Christ and union with him through believing then such as trust in their own Worth their own Righteousness Christ himself tells us That Publicans and Harlots do enter the Kingdom of Heaven before such Mat. 21.31 3. You must quit and renounce
they are too strong for thee yet they are not too strong for Christ to grapple with and make thee a conquerer over When the Prophets Servant saw what a great and formidable Host compassed the City he cryed out Alas my Master what shall we do And what did his Master answer him Fear not said he for they that be with us be more than they that be with them 2 King 6.15 16. So poor Soul when thou considerest what great and formidable Enemies do compass thee about thou cryest out to one and another Alas Sir what shall I do But I would say to thee as the Prophet to his Servant Fear not there is more with thee than with them thou hast Christ with thee to sight and overcome all for thee therefore chear up give up thy self unto him and the victory over Sin Self World Death Devil and all is thine for ever Oh who would not have such an Husband VII He minds and manages all their Concerns for them 'T is the part of an Husband to mind and manage the Concerns of his Wife and to have a natural care both of her and them And thus 't is with Christ He manages all his Peoples Concerns and that in Heaven on Earth and in their own Souls 1. He minds and manages all their Concerns in Heaven for them Their Affairs lie much in Heaven their Business there is great and Christ their Husband minds all and transacts all for them and that faithfully Indeed he went thither on purpose to transact their Affairs for them Hence he is said to have entered not into the holy place made with hands but into Heaven it-self there to appear in the presence of God for them Heb. 9.24 Hence also he is said to be an Advocate with the Father for them 1 Joh. 2.1 He pleads with the Father for them Have they a Petition to present to the Father for this or the other Mercy He presents and prefers it for them He takes all their Prayers and sprinkles them with his own Blood persumes them with the odours of his own incense and then tenders them to the Father with his own hand Rev. 8. beg We pray very brokenly but he mends our Prayers yea oftentimes when we can't pray when we can't speak for our selves he speaks for us and prefers our Petitions for us Are there Charges and Accusations brought in against them either by Satan the Accuser of the Brethren on the one hand or by the Law and Justice of God which are daily wronged and violated on the other hand Why Christ interposes for them he answers all and invalidates all he rebukes Satan Zach. 3.2 In the first verse we find Joshua standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist or accuse him and in the second verse we have Christ sharply rebuking Satan for his accusation The Lord said unto Satan the Lord rebuke thee O Satan even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee And as he rebukes Satan so he satisfies the Law and Justice of the Father Hence he is said to make intercession for them and that to the overthrowing of all those counterpleas which Law or Justice can put in against them Rom. 8.33 34. Have they sinned and do they need a new pardon need to have things set right and even between God and them afresh This also Christ does for them If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Christ Jesus the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 2.1 2. While they through weakness and temptation are sinning on Earth he out of his Grace and Love is pleading with the Father for them in Heaven Thus he minds all their Concerns in Heaven for them 2. He minds and manages all their Concerns on Earth for them The Saints have their Assairs and Concerns on Earth among men as well as in Heaven with the Father and Christ their Husband minds and transacts all these likewise for them Indeed he is ever mindful of them and at work for them viz. to do them good and to promote their interest Hence sayes he the Father worketh hitherto and I work Joh. 5.17 I am alwayes at work for your good Are they wronged and oppressed by Enemies He avenges all their wrongs Hence he is said to reprove Kings for their sakes Psal 105.14 and elsewhere to plead their cause against their Enemies and the like Do they need deliverance and salvation out of troubles and distresses He brings salvation to them Isa 63.9 Do they need conduct and guidance through their dissiculties and temptations in the Wilderness of the World He leads and guides them He leads Joseph like a flock Psal 80.1 and elsewhere I will guide thee with mine eye He carries them through all their straits and all their difficulties and even when he seems most to forget them even then he is ever mindful of them and of their concerns For he hath graven thâ—â— upon the palms of his hands and their walls are continually before him and though they often say The Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me yet he never forsakes or forgets them nor can he No a Woman may sooner forget her sucking Child and not have compassion upon the Son of her Womb then he can forget his people Isa 49.14 15 16. 3. He minds and manages all their concerns for them in their own Souls The Saints have many and great Concerns to be minded within them concerns of great moment and importance and were they to be minded and managed onely by themselves they would make but poor work O! but Christ their Husband minds and manages all these likewise for them and to be sure they can't miscarry in his hand He gives them his Spirit to work all their works in them and for them He observes what Grace what Strength what Counsel what Comfort they stand in need of and by his Spirit Ministers all to them Hence he is said to give them Grace and Mercy to help in a time of need seasonable supplies Heb. 4.16 and to be both the Author and Finisher of their Faith Heb. 12.2 He minds and observes how the great Work goes on in their Souls and he takes care for the prospering and persecting of it O how should this draw us to Christ and encourage us to accept of the offers of hs love VIII He injoynters them in eternal Life and Glory Husbands use to make Joynters to their Wives they entitle them to such or such Lands and Inheritances So Christ injoynters all his Spouses in no less than eternal Life and Blessedness He makes over a great Joynter to them Glory a weight of Glory an exceeding and an eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 An Inheritance in Light Col. 1.12 An Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 1.4 A Kingdom an everlasting Kingdom an everlasting Kingdom prepared for them before the foundation of the World