sense of his integrity and the evidence he had of his own uprightness his own righteousness Job 27.5 Till I die I will not remove my integrity from me Ver. 6. My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live Job was under great afflictions sore temptations and deep desertions now that which was his cordial his bulwark in those sad times was the sense and feeling of his own uprightness his own righteousness the sense and feeling of the grace of God in him kept him from fainting and sinking under all his troubles So 1 Joh. 2.3 Hereby we know that we know him if we keep his commandments c. In these words two things are observable First that where there is a true knowledge of Christ there is an observation of his commandements Secondly that by this observation of his royal Law we may know that our knowledge is sound and sincere He speaks not of a legal but of an evangelical keeping of his commandements A conscionable and serious endeavour to walk in a holy course of life according to God's will revealed in his Word is a most certain mark or evidence that we have a saving knowledge of God and that we are his children and heirs of glory Such who sincerely desire and unfeignedly purpose and firmly resolve and faithfully endeavour to keep the commandements of God these do keep the commandements of God evangelically and acceptably in the eye of God the account of God So ver 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked Here you may observe two things First that by faith we are implanted into Christ Secondly that we discover our implantation into Christ by our imitation of Christ Such as plead for sanctification a an evidence of justification don't make their graces causes of their implantation into Christ or of their justification before the throne of Christ but they make them testimonies and witnesses to declare the truth of their real implantation into Christ and of their being justified before the throne of Christ So 1 Joh. 3.14 We know we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren The Apostle makes this a great sign of godliness to love another godly man for godliness sake and the more godly he is the more to love him and to delight in him Now mark this love of our brethren is not a cause of our translation from death to life for the very word translated supposeth such a grace such a favour of God as is without us but a sign of our translation from death to life But of this I have said enough already as you may see if you will but read from page 189. to page 200. of this Book But The most ordinary and safe way of coming to assurance is the discoursive way in which a believer from the fruits and effects of grace infers he hath the habit and from the habit concludes his jâ—stification adoption and as this is a way least subject to delusion so it is also most suited to a rational creature whose way of acting is by discourse and argumentation The sixth Proposition is this There are many scores of precious promises made over to them that believe to them that trust in the Lord to them that set him up as the great object of their fear to them that love him to them that delight in him to them that obey him to them that walk with him to them that thirst after him to them that suffer for him to them that follow after him c. Now all these scores of promises are made for the support comfort and encouragement of all such Christians whose souls are bespangled with grace But now if we may not lawfully come to the knowledge of our faith love fear delight obedience c. in a discoursive way arguing from the effect to the cause What support what comfort what advantage shall a sincere Christian have by all those scores of promissory places of Scripture Doubtless all those scores of promises would be as so many Suns without light as so many springs without water as so many breasts without milk and as so many bodies without souls to all gracious Christians were it not lawful for them to form up such a practical syllogism as this is viz. The Scripture doth plainly and fully declare that he that believeth feareth loveth obeyeth c. is blessed and shall be happy for ever But I am such a one that doth believe fear love obey c. therefore I am blessed and shall be happy for ever Now although it must be granted that the major of this Proposition is Scripture yet the assumption is from experience and therefore a godly man being assisted therein by the holy Ghost may safely draw the conclusion as undeniable O that you would seriously consider how little would be the difference should you shut out this discoursive way betwixt a man and a beast if a man should assent to a thing unknown through an instinct and impression and should to one who asks him a reason of his perswasion be able to return no other answer but this I am perswaded because I am perswaded But The seventh Proposition is this That the Scripture giveth many signs and symptoms of grace so that if a man cannot find all yet if he discover some yea but one he may safely conclude that all the rest are there he who hath but one in truth of the forementioned characters in this book hath seminally all he who hath one link of the golden chain hath the whole chain Look as he who hath one grace in truth hath every grace in truth though he doth not see every grace shining in his soul so he that hath in truth any one evidence of grace in his soul he hath virtually all And O that all weak dark doubting Christians would seriously and frequently ponder upon this Proposition for it may be a staff to uphold them and a cordial to comfort them under all their fears and faintings But The eighth Proposition is this Without the light of the holy Ghost our graces shine not our graces are only the means by which our condition is known to us Rom. 9.2 the efficient cause of this knowledge is the Spirit illustrating our graces and making them visible and so helping us to conclude from them 1 Cor. 2.12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God Our graces our sanctification as well as our election vocation justification and glorification are freely given to us of God and the Spirit of God is given as well to discover the one as the other to us Mark the things freely given us may be received by us and yet the receit of them not known to us therefore the Spirit for our further
and repentance is a conversion to God Page 284 285 286 W Of walking There is no condemnation to such who walk after the Spirit Page 47 48 Of the witness of the Spirit Their mistake pointed at who have made the witness of the Spirit the only marks or evidence of our interest in Christ Page 1 2 3 4. There is at the end of this Book a Catalogue of all Mr. Brooks's Books ERRATA PAge 4. line 14. fleshly for flashy p. 16. in the Margent r. dance p. 17. Margent pat for part p. 18. l. 32. for gradually r. perfectly p. 19. l. 2. r. it l. 25. for Marcol r. Murcot p. 30. l. 2. hat for that p. 35. l. 8. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 39. l. 31. r. Asa's p. 63. l. 17. for wateâ— r. children p. 106. l. 15. r. gerandum p. 110. l. 28. r. Antiperistasis p. 142. l. 30. add only p. 239. l. 2. for heels r. feels p. 258. l. 19. outging for outing p. 292. Margent r. vitiums for vitium p. 117. l. 16. for were r. where p. 311. Margent r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 326. l. 22. r. word for world p. 333. l. ult add the p. 347. l. ult add as p. 356. l. 21. for five r. three l. 26. for five r. three l. 34. for five r. three p. 357. l. 8. springs for spring in the Margent r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 368. l. 13. r. patent p. 376. l. 14. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 383. l. 16. to for in in the fourth leaf of the Epistle in l. 9. blot out one in the same leaf l. 32. conclusions for confusions CHAP. I. Containing eighteen special Maxims Considerations Rules and Directions that are seriously to be minded and observed in order to the clearing up of a mans interest in Christ the saving work of God upon his own soul and his title to all the glory of another world The first Maxim or Consideration FIrst Some have made the witness of the Spirit to be the only mark or evidence of our interest in Christ But this opinion being well laid asleep in these dayes I shall not put my self to the trouble of awakening of it afresh but leave it to sleep with the Authors who are now in their graves and deny all signs from the fruit of the Spirit but this is to deny the fruit growing upon the Tree to be a sign that the Tree is alive whereas our Saviour expresly tells us That the Tree is known by his fruit Mat. 12.33 Certainly 't is one thing to judge by our graces and another thing to rest on our graces or to put our trust in our graces or to make a Saviour of our graces there is a great deal of difference between declaring and deserving Doubtless Christians may look to their graces as evidences of their interest in Christ justification and salvation though not as causes of their interest in Christ justification and salvation O Sirs we must alwayes carefully distinguish 'twixt the root and ground of our comfort and between the testimonies or evidences of our interest in the root of our comfort Now it must be readily granted that Jesus Christ is the only root and ground of a Christians comfort and triumph and therefore saith Paul Gal. 6 14. God forbid that I should rejoyce in any thing but in the Cross of Christ And so in that 2 Cor. 2.14 New thanks be unto God which alwayes causes us to triumph in Christ So that if at any time we behold this or that saving grace or this or that part of holiness shining in our hearts or lives we take comfort in it not as the cause or root or ground of our comfort or triumph but as in a testimony or evidence because it doth manifest our interest in him who is our comfort Luke 2 25. Col. 3 11. Gen. 9 13 14 16. v. our peace our joy our salvation our all in all Look as the Rain-bow is not a cause why God will not drown the world but a sign that God will not drown the world and as it is a sign that God will not drown the world we may and ought to rejoyce in it and to take comfort from it So here c. 'T is agreed on all hands that sanctification is a precious benefit of the Covenant of grace Jer. 33.8 9. Ezek. 36.25 26. Heb. 8.10 12. c. as well as justification and what crime can it then be to evidence one benefit of the Covenant of grace by another benefit of the same Covenant That he that is justified is also sanctified and that he that is sanctified is also justified is so clear so bright so sparkling and so full a truth contained in the Covenant of grace that no man or devil can deny Now what evil or error can it be for a man to assert That he that is certainly sanctified is certainly justified it being the very language of the Covenant of grace and that therefore he that knows himself to be sanctified may also know thereby that he is justified Certainly those persons that shall deny sanctification to be a most sure sweet and comfortable evidence of a mans justification they must not only blot out and abolish the Epistles of James and John but must also race out and abolish all those Evangelical promises of grace and mercy of happiness and blessedness that are made to such persons as are invested enriched and bespangled with the several graces of the holy Spirit this might be made evident by many hundred Scriptures but take that one for all Mat. 5. where our Saviour himself who was the most Evangelical Preacher that ever was in the world makes eight or nine promises of mercy and blessedness to those very persons that had the graces of the Spirit inherent in them as poverty of spirit mourning meekness hungering and thirsting after righteousness c. O Sirs why should we be so frequently and earnestly call'd â—pon to try and examine our selves 2 Cor. 12.5 ver whether we be in the faith or no if we were not to come to the knowledge of our faith in a discoursive way arguing from the effect to the cause Have not the Saints of old come to assurance and the knowledge of the goodness of their estates this way Ponder seriously on that 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world Mark their joy was founded on the testimony of their conscience and their conscience gave in this testimony from the sincerity of their conversation in this world So Paul in that 2 Tim. 4.7 8. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certamen illud praeclarum certavi Beza I have fought that excellent fight By wrestling the Apostle useth the same Metaphor also in that 1 Cor. 9.25 v. I have kept the faith henceforth
my Soul be thou much in adoring and admiring of free and infinite Grace that hath wrought all these thâ—ngs in thee and for thee But now dear hearts that this eleventh particular concerning probabilities of Grace may the better stick upon you and be the more seriously minded and weighed by you I beseech you often to ponder upon these six following things First That you have deserved Hell and therefore for you to have but a probability of going to Heaven is infinite grace and mercy you have deserved to be shut up in chains of darkness with Devils and damned Spirits to all eternity Jude 6. and therefore for you to have a probability of enjoying for ever the presence of God Heb. 12.22 23 24. Isa 33.14 Christ the glorious Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect in Heaven is a mercy more worth than ten thousand worlds you have deserved to dwell with a devouring fire and to lye for ever under those flames and torments that are easless endless and remediless Psal 16. ult and therefore for you to have a probability of satiating and delighting your souls in that fulness of joy and in those everlasting pleasures that be at Gods right hand is Grace yea glorious Grace upon the Throne c. But Secondly Consider that if you cast up a true and faithful account you will certainly find that the comfort the peace the joy the quiet the rest the satisfaction the content that the generality of Saints do enjoy is more from probabilities of Grace than t is from any certainty or assurance that they have of Grace being in their Souls t is more from probabilities of an interest in Christ than from any assurance of an interest in Christ t is more from probabilities of being saved than t is from any special perswasions that they shall be saved t is more from probabilities of going to Heaven than t is from any raised fixed confidence that they shall go to Heaven and therefore the people of God have very great cause to bow before the Lord and to adore his Grace and for ever to speak well of his name for the very probabilities of Grace and of an interest in Christ and of being saved and glorified Thirdly Consider that there have been very many under such dreadful horrors and terrors of Conscience and under such wrath and displeasure of an angry God and that have lain trembling upon their dying beds and that have been even ready to be swallowed up in the gulf of despair who would have given all the world had it been in their power for the very probabilities of Grace He dyed desperately who dyed with this desperate saying in his month Spes fortuna valete Farewell life and hope together Despair is Satans master-piece it carries men headlong to Hell as the Devils did the herd of Swine into the deep Spira being in a deep despair for renouncing of those Doctrines of the Gospel which he had once stoutly profest said That he would willingly suffer the most exquisite tortures of Hell fire for the space of ten thousand years upon condition he might be well assured to be released afterward He further added in that hellish and horrible fit that his dear wife and children for whose sake principally he turned away from the Gospel to embrace this present world appeared now to him as Hangmen Hags and torturers A despairing Soul is Magor Missabib a terror to himself his heart a Hell of horrour his Conscience an Aceldama a Field of black Bloud So that as Augustin describes such a one flying from the Field to the City from the City to his house from his house to his Chamber from his Chamber to his bed c. So that he can rest no where but is as if infernal Devils in fearful shapes were still following of him and still terrifying and tormenting his distressed and perplexed Soul Now doubtless such poor souls would have given ten thousand worlds had they so many in their hands to give and that for the very probabilities of Grace and how many tempted deserted clouded wounded and benighted Souls are there who would think it a Heaven on this side Heaven if they could but see probabilities of Grace in their Souls O therefore let not the probabilities of Grace be a small thing in your eyes but bow the knee and let the High Praises of God be found in your mouths even for probabilities of Grace But Fourthly Consider that Saâ—an is a very deadly enemy to the least probabilities of grace and will do all he can to cloud darken and obscure probabilities of Grace since divine vengeance has cut him off from the least hopes from the least probability of ever obtaining the least dram of Grace or mercy Let not any think saith Luther the Devil is â—ow dead no nor yet asleep for as he that keepeth Israel so he thaâ— hateth Israel never slumbreth or sleepeth O how does he storm and take on against every probability of Grace and mercy that God vouchsafes to his people for their comfort and encouragement Satan is an old experienced enemy almost of six thousand years standing and he very well knowes that probabilities of grace will certainly arm a Christian against many temptations and sweetly support him under many afflictions and exceedingly heighten and raise his resolutions he knows that probabilities of grace will turn crosses into Crowns storms into calms and Winter nights into Summer dayes Satan knows that probabilities of grace will make every bitter sweet and every sweet seven times more sweet and therefore his spirit rises and swells against every probability of grace Now the greater Satans rage is against the probabilities of grace the more thankful we should be for the probabilities grace t is good to move and act cross to him who in all his actings loves to act cross to the glory of God and the good of our Souls But Fifthly Consider that from probabilities in outward things men commonly gather a great deal of comfort support quietness and satisfaction when the Physitian tells the Patient that t is probable yea very probable that he will recover live and do well O what a support comfort and refreshing is this to the languishing Patient when there is but a probability of a good Market how does the Market-man smile when there is but a probability of good Trading how does the Tradesman cheer up when there is but a probability of a good Voyage how does the Merchants and the Marriners spirits rise when there is but a probability of a good Harvest how does the Husbandman sing when there is but some hopes some probability of a Pardon for a Condemned man how does his spirits revive and how does his heart even leap and dance for joy and so when a Christian has but some hopes some probabilities of grace of an interest in Christ and of being saved he may well cheer up and maintain his ground against
A graceless heart is more abundantly willing to be freed from punishment the effect of sin than 't is willing to be freed from sin the cause of punishment A gracious heart sees more filthiness in sin than in Frogs and had rather be rid of his sins than of all the Frogs or Toads that be in the World See what a sad spirit was upon the children of Israel in that Numb 21.6 7. Heb. Burning Serpents thus they are called from the effect of their biting which caused a mortal burning and consequently such an excessive thirst as killed them And the Lord sent Fiery Serpents among the people and they bite the people and much people of Israel dyed Therefore the people came to Moses and said We have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee pray unto the Lord that he take away the Serpents from us Now mark in the fifth verse you have them murmuring against God and Moses and divine dispensations and nauseating of the Wheat of Heaven as light meat because they came lightly by it they distrust the Providence of God they let fly at God their spirit swels against the holy one of Israel and they scorn deride revile and contumeliously and despitefully speak against Moses and though they had often smarted for these sins yet they are at them again upon this God sends an Army of Fiery Serpents among them and they bite and devour many of them And now they run to Moses who but a little before they had despised and are very importunate with him to pray to the Lord to take away the Serpents from them They do not desire Moses to improve his interest in Heaven that God would take away their proud hearts their distrustful hearts their murmuring hearts c. but that God would take away the Serpents they were much more desirous to be rid of their Serpents than they were to be rid of their sins So those in Jer. 30.15 Why cryest thou for thine affliction thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity because thy sins were encreased I have done these things unto thee They do not cry out of their sins but they cry out of their afflictions Why cryest thou for thine affliction unsound hearts are more ready and willing to be rid of their afflictions than they are willing to have their Souls bettered or their lives mended or their lusts subdued by them Pilate was unwilling to condemn Jesus witness his seeking to release him and his washing his hands and his pleading his innocency c. Matth. 27.17 18 22 23 24. but yet the prevailing part of his will carryed him forth to deliver up Jesus to be scourged and Crucified v. 26. So Herod was unwilling to behead John Baptist witness that word The King was exceeding sorry Mark 6.26 But yet the prevailing part of his will carried him forth to cut off John's head v. 27. whose head was more worth than Herods Kingdom So Darius was very unwilling to cast Daniel into the Lyons Den witness his being sore displeased with himself and witness his setting his heart on Daniel to deliver him and witness his great unquietness of spirit for he could neither eat nor drink nor sleep the night after he was cast into the Lyons Den and witness his great joy at Daniels safety Dan. 6.14 18 19 20. All which did clearly argue a very great unwillingness that Daniel should suffer and yet the prevailing part of Darius his will carried him forth to sacrifice Daniel to the Lyons yea to that which was worse viz. the lusts of his enemies v. 16 17. By all these instances 't is most evident that the prevalent part of a wicked mans will stands most strongly byafs'd towards sin But now the prevalent part of a Christians will is to be rid of sin If the Lord should say to a gracious Christian Ask what thou wilt O Christian and it shall be granted to thee the Answer would be Lord rid me of my sins Lord take away mine iniquities Lord mortify my corruptions Lord whoever lives let these lust dye Lord drown these Egyptians in the Sea of thy Sons blood who have so violently and unweariedly pursued after the Blood of my precious Soul Lord kill and crucify all these sinful evils that have killed and Crucified the Lord of life and glory Psal 5.2 7. Lord wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Lord purge me with Hysop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow Lord carnal reason and flesh and bloud would fain have such and such pleasurable sins and such and such profitable sins indulged and spared but Lord the earnest the ardent desires of my soul are that I may be rid of them and that Justice to the heighth may be done upon them Lord be but the death of my sins and my soul shall say My lot is fallen in a pleasant place and verily I have a goodly heritage Lord cleanse me but from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit and I shall cry Hâ—sanna to thee Matth. 21.9 Psal 16.6 2 Cor. 7.1 Lord let me but out live my lusts and follow them to the Grave before others follow me to my Grave and I shall say it is enough And thus every gracious Soul is more willing to be rid of his sins than he is to keep his sins A Porter cannot be more willing to be rid of his burden nor a sick man to be rid of his disease nor a Beggar of his nasty louzy rags nor a Prisoner of his chains than a gracious Soul is willing to be rid of his lusts c. Fourthly That Soul that does not nor through Grace assisting will not allow himself or indulge himself in a course of sin or in the common practise of any known sin that Soul is certainly a gracious soul The evil that I do Rom. 7.15 I allow not So Psal 119.1 3. Blessed are the undefiled in the way that walk in the Law of the Lord they also do no iniquity that is they allow not themselves in the practice of any iniquity Blessed souls live not in the service of sin they live not in an ordinary practice of any iniquity 1 John 3.9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God He that has the seed of God the seed of Grace and Regeneration in him he cannot allow himself in away of sin he cannot give himself over to a voluntary serving of sin he cannot make a Trade of sin So Prov. 16.17 The highway of the upripht is to depart from evil that is it is the ordinary usual constant course of an upright man to depart from evâ—l An honest Traveller may step out of the Kings Highway into a house a Wood a Close but his work his business is to go on in the Kings Highway So the business the work
pick and chuse what commands to obey and what to reject as Hypocrites do he hath an eye to see an ear to hear and a heart to obey the first Table as well as the second and the second as well as the first He doth not adhere to the first and neglect the second as Hypocrites do neither doth he adhere to the second and contemn the first as prophane men do All Sauls Jebues Judas's Demas's Scribes Pharises and temporaries Matth. 23.23 they are still partial in their obedience for while they yield obedience to some commands they live in the habitual breach of other Commands Jehu boastingly calls out 2 Kings 10.29 30. Come see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts But if Jehosaphat had gone a little further he might have seen his Calves too contrary to Gods Commands Herod heard John Baptist gladly and did many things but if John will be close and plain with him Mark 6. he shall then first lose his liberty and then his head for his labour A sincere Christian loves all the known Commands of God and prises all the Commands of God and sees a Divine Image Majesty and Authority stampt upon all the Commands of God And therefore the main bent and disposition of his Soul â—s to obey all and to be subject to all the Commands of God Let me in a few particulars open this great truth a little more fully to you And therefore take me thus First A sincere Christian will endeavour to obey God in suffering Commands as well as in doing Commands in losing as well as gaining Commands an unsound Christian he loves cheap obedience he is willing to fall in with those Commands that are not chargable or costly he loves a cheap Gospel and a cheap Ministry and a cheap Membership and a cheap Communion of Saints c. But when his obedience comes to be chargable when his obedience to Divine Commands may cost him his health his strength his Liberty his Riches his Estate his Friends his Credit his Name c. then he retires John 6.60 then he cries out Durus sermo it is a hard saying who can bear it this is a hard Commandment who can obey it When Religion is attended with freedom honour and safety when Religion is attended with Riches Pleasures and Applause then unsound hearts will put forwards but when these part then they bid Religion farewel As you see in the young man in the Gospel Matth. 19.20 to 25. who was willing to follow Christ so long as he might be no loser in following of him but when it came to this that he must part with his Riches or with Christ then he falls off and went away sorrowful because he had great possessions But now a sincere Christian will obey even the most chargable and costly Commands of God as you may see in that little book of Martyrs tenth and eleventh Chapters of the Hebrews and as you may see in the three Children in Daniel in the Disciples Matth. 19 27. in the Primitive Christians and in the Martyrs in the Marian dayes But Secondly If your obedience springs from Faith then you will endeavour to obey God in relative Commands as well as in absolute Commands you will not only hear and pray and read and meditate and fast and mourn but you will labour to be good in your Relations both as a Husband a Father a Master a Magistrate a Minister Remember this for ever every one is that really that he is relatively Many make a great Profession and are under a great Name and have great parts and gifts and can discourse rarely well on any subject whose houses are not Bethels but Bethavens not little Temples but little Hells One writing of the Italian women saith that they were Angels in the streets Saints in the Church and Devils in their houses this is very applicable to many high Professors this day who are very forward in the general Duties of Religion and yet make little Conscience of relative duties but he whose obedience springs from Faith he will make Conscience of relative commands as well as of absolute commands Whatever Command hath the stamp of God the Authority of Heaven upon it though it seem never so small he dares not disobey it if he sees a beam of divine Majesty sitting upon the face of any Command he will submit to it you know men will not refuse a penny if the Kings stamp be upon it so if the Authority of God be stampt upon the least Command a sound Christian will yield subjection to it as well as the greatest Mark if a man make no Conscience of relative Commands though his general conversation as a Christian be never so admirable yet he hath great cause to suspect himself and his estate and that his heart is not right in the sight of God Acts 8.21 O that you would seriously consider that relative and domestical Graces and duties do more demonstrate true piety and godliness than publick duties than general duties do for Pride Vain-glory Self-ends and a hundred other outward carnal considerations may put a man upon the general duties of Religion as you may see by the Scriptures in the Margent Isa 58.1 2 3 4 5. Hos 5.14 Zech. 7.4 5 6 7. and as you may see in the Scribes and Pharises throughout the New Testament but it argues both truth and strength of Grace to be diligent and conscientious in the discharge of relative duties and this is the true reason why the Apostles in their Epistles do so frequently so earnestly and so strongly by variety of motives press Christians to the performance of those relative duties that lye upon their hands But Thirdly If your obedience springs from Faith then you will endeavour to obey God in affirmative Commands as well as in negative Commands You will not only loâ—k upon what God would not have you to do but you will also look to see what God would have you to do Luke 16 19-29 Matt. 25 24-31 Dives was noâ— cast into Hell for oppressing Lazarus but for not shewing mercy to Lazarus He was not damn'd because he took any thing from him but because he gave nothing to him The evil servant did not riot out his Talent but omitted the improvement of it for which he was cast into outer darkness Nor those Reprobates in the same Chapter did not rob the poor Saints but omitted the relieving of them which was their ruine Deut. 23.3 4. Moab and Ammon were banished the Sanctuary to the tenth Generation for a meer omission because they met not Gods Israel in the Wilderness with bread and water Look as the omission of good diet breeds diseases so the omission of Religious duties will either make work for Repentance Luke 18.11 or for Hell or for the Physician of Souls Mark there is many a mans Religion lyes meerly in negatives he is no Swearer no Drunkard no Adulterer no
than he is not contenting himself with any degree or measure of goodness And another Heathen observes that the earnest desire of what men would have maketh them forgetful of what they have I forget what 's past saith the Apostle and press on to what is before Their eye is more upon what they want than upon what they have It is with good Christians in this case as it is with rich worldlings that like men in a race have their eye on those that be before them not on those that come after them they are ever eying those that seem to out-strip and out-go them in wealth and think they have nothing and that they are but poor men so long as they come short of such and such who are rich and great in the world And so it is with many precious Christians they have still their eye fixt upon those whose examples they either read of or whose courses and graces they are eye-witnesses of and hereupon they think that they have no grace or else that they make no progress in grace at least worth speaking of so long as they come behind and fall short of such and such who are very eminent or most eminent in grace and holiness and upon this account it is that they make such sore complaints of their spiritual wants and of their slow progress in grace and holiness and that they can hardly perceive but that they stand still at a stay Now mark these sad complaints of theirs and their serious desires to grow in grace is a sure and infallible evidence of the truth of grace in them yea it is a sure argument that they love grace as it is grace that they love grace for grace sake which none can do but such as have grace 'T is a sure sign that he was never truly good that desireth not to be better ille non est bonus qui non vult esse melior yea he has very great cause to fear that his heart is naught very naught if not stark naught that desireth not to be as good as the best to be as gracious as he that is most gracious and to be as holy as he that is most holy Well Sirs this will be found an everlasting truth viz. That no man can sincerely desire and habitually endeavour after the highest pitches of grace but he that hath true grace Eleventhly No man can alwayes desire grace but he that has true grace constant desires after grace argues the reality of grace Isa 26.7 8 9. Cant. 2.1 2 3 4. Psal 106.3 constant desires after grace speaks out a state of grace Psal 119.20 My soul breaketh for the longeth that it hath unto thy judgments at all times Pliny speaks of a golden vine which never withereth All gracious desires are such golden desires as never wither Take a Christian when you will and where you will and among whom you will and in what condition you will and still you shall find his heart full of gracious desires Num. 23.10 O that I had grace O that I had much grace c. Balaam in a fit in a good mood desires to die the death of the righteous but his desires were fleeting and flashy they were transient not permanent Some poor sinners Dan. 5.6 when they are in a good mood or under some distress of conscience or under some grievous trials or when they see the hand-writing upon the wall and when death which is the King of terrors and the terror of Kings knocks at their doors O! then they cry out O that we had grace O what shall we do for grace O send to such a Minister and to such a Christian whom we have hated scorned reproached and opposed and desire them to be earnest with God Hos 6.4 Psal 78.37 Psal 5.9 that he would give us grace for now we see that without grace there is no escaping of hell nor no coming to heaven But all these desires of theirs are but like the morning cloud or the early dew that quickly passeth away But now if you look upon the weak Christian as you shall commonly find a tear in his eye a sigh in his breast and a complaint in his mouth so you shall alwayes find desires in his heart after grace O that I had grace O that I had much grace O that I did but excel in grace O that I had as much grace as such a Christian O that I had a greater exercise of grace Psal 42.1 2 3. Psal 63.1 2 3 8. Whatever outward or inward changes may attend a Christian in this world yet you shall still find him full of holy desires and breathings and hankerings and longings after God and Christ and grace and holiness O that I had more of these O when shall I have more of these O that God would cut me short in any thing yea in every thing rather than cut me short in these things that the desires of my soul are so much running after These desires of theirs may further be set forth by a spring between a couple of hills the spring will alwayes run through those lets that stop it or else it will run over those lets for it cannot cease running if it be a living spring so the desires of a gracious soul will still be running after God and Christ and grace c. The good desires of bad men after God and Christ and grace and holiness are like water in a Cistern that quickly runs out but the desires of a godly man after God Christ grace holiness are like water in a fountain that is still a running An unsound Christian is never good at all times he is only good by fits and starts and turns sometimes when he is Sermon-sick or under a smarting rod or a gauled conscience or when he is under some heavy cross or sad loss O then he will be good O then he will have God and he will have Christ and he will have grace and he will have heaven but this good frame this good temper of his is not lasting 't is not abiding 't is like a vapour that quickly vanishes or like a wind-mill that goes as long as the wind fills the sails but no longer These are like Sigismund the Emperor who when he was sick would be very godly but when he was well none more wicked But Twelfthly No man can sincerely desire to abound and excel most in those particular graces which are most opposite and contrary to those particular sins which his natural temper constitution complexion calling or condition does most expose him and incline him to but he that has true grace but he whose heart is sincere with God Psal 18.23 I was upright before him and I kept my self from mine iniquity If passion be a sincere Christians head-lust then his desires run most out for meekness if pride then his desires are most for humility if earthliness then his desires are most for heavenly-mindedness if unbelief
subject as in the Prince in the buyer as in the seller c. Look as all our delight must be in the Saints so our delight must be in all the Saints 'T is sad sinful to contemn our poor brethren and yet this was the very case of the Corinthians 1 Cor. 11.21 22. for they in their love-feasts carried it so unequally that one was hungry to wit the poor and another was drunken to wit the rich And this made the Apostle put that question to them What have ye not houses to eat and drink in or despise ye the Church of God and shame them that have not or put them to shame that have nothing And the Apostle Iames doth very roundly reprove and condemn that partial love that was generally among the Jews in his dayes Iam 2.1 2 3 4. My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons for if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring in goodly apparel and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay cloathing and say unto him sit thou here in a good place and say to the poor stand thou there or sit here under my footstool are ye not then partial in your selves and are become judges of evil thoughts Not that the Apostle doth simply or absolutely prohibit a civil differencing of men in place from others for it cannot be denied but that there is a holy and warrantable respect of persons in respect of their age callings gifts graces and greatness in the world but when the rich mans wealth is more regarded than the poor mans godliness and when men carry it so to the rich as to cast scorn contempt disgrace and discouragement upon the godly poor They that respect a rich man that has but a little grace before a poor man that is rich in grace are worthy of blame All true born sons love to see the image and picture of their father though hung in never so poor a frame and in never so mean a cottage So the true born sons of God they love to see the image of God the picture of God upon the poorest Saints 'T is sad to prefer a worldly lustre before heavenly grace a gold ring before a rich faith a chain of gold before a chain of grace Non ex personis fidem sed ex fide personas Tertul. Ver. 5. Hearken my beloved brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom It is a vile thing saith one of the Ancients to have the faith of Christ in respect of persons We do not judge of faith by persons but of persons by faith 'T is the great wisdom of a Christian not to judge of men by their outwards but by their inwards not by their externals but by their internals not by what they are worth for this world but by what they are worth for that other world The poorest Saints are God's portion Deut. 32.9 They are his pleasant portion Jer. 12.10 They are his peculiar treasure Exod. 19.5 They are his jewels Mal. 3.17 They are the apple of his eye Zech. 2.8 They are his glory Isa 4.5 They are the crown of his glory and royal diadem Isa 62.3 and therefore 't is a dangerous thing to flight them to disown them to look frowningly upon them or to carry it unworthily towards them Pompey told his Cornelia It is no praise to thee to have loved Pompeium Magnum Pompey the Great but if thou lovest Pompeium miserum Pompey the miserable thou shalt be a pattern for imitation to all posterity So I say it is no great matter to love those that are rich and pious great and gracious high and holy but to love the poor Saints of God in their lowest and most miserable condition when they have not a rag to cover them nor a crust to refresh them nor a fire to warm them nor a friend to stand by them nor a penny to help them this is praise-worthy this speaks our much of God of Christ of grace within Romanus the Martyr who was born of noble Parentage intreated his persecutors that they would not favour him for his Nobility For it is not said he the bloud of my Ancecestors but my Christian faith that makes me Noble 'T is not race nor place but grace that makes a man truly noble without a peradventure he that loves one Saint for the image of God that is upon him he cannot but fall in love with every Saint that bears the lovely image of the Father upon him he cannot but love a Saint in rags as well as a Saint in robes a Saint upon the dunghil as well as a Saint upon the throne usually those Christians that have least of the world have most of Christ commonly those Christians that have least of the world have most of heaven in their hearts houses and lives But Fourthly True love to the Saints will extend to those that are most remote in respect of place Rom. 5.26 as well as to those that are near They of Macedonia and Achaia made a contribution for the poor Saints at Jerusalem 3 John 5. The Saints of Macedonia and Achaia did freely and cheerfully contribute to the poor Saints at Jerusalem whose faces probably they had never seen And Gaius is commended for his love to strangers A gracious man that has an estate a treasury an inheritance he is like a common fountain that freely gives out to strangers as well as to near neighbors A great fire will warm those that sit far from it as wel as those that sit neer unto it So sincere love will extend and stretch out it self to those Saints that are most remote gracious souls do dearly love and highly value those Saints whose faces they have never seen nor are like to see in this world and from whose hands they have not received the least civility and all upon the serious reports that they have had of the grace of God that has been sparkling and shining in them Rom. 12.9 1 Pet. 1.22 1 John 3.18 whose habitations are at a great distance from them A sincere love an unfeigned love a hearty love will be running out towards those that live most remote from us if we do but understand that God is in them and with them of truth But Fifthly Our love to the Saints is right when we love them best and most in whom the spiritual and supernatural causes of love are most sparkling and shining where grace draws the affections there the more grace we see the more we shall love Psal 16.3 My goodness extendeth not to thee but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight Psal 45.19 There are Saints and there are excellent Saints The Hebrew word that is here rendred excellent signifies
God a lyar if we say we have not sinned he that says he has no sin he does no sin he does by consequence charge God with falshood who hath frequently told us in that word of grace that can't deceive us that all men are sinners and that they have all gone astray and that they all need pardoning and purging grace and that upon these very accounts he sent his beloved Son to lay down his dearest life Isa 53.3 Rom. 10.23 5.12 c. and to make himself an offering for sin Now from these Scriptures these two things are most evident First that sinful qualities do remain in the most sanctified persons Secondly that these sinful qualities are sometimes very prevalent over the most sanctified persons and therefore I shall answer the objection thus Ans viz. That a true penitential turning from all sin consists in these six things First In the alienation and inward aversation and drawing off of the soul from the love and liking of all sin and from all free and voluntary subjection unto sin the heart being filled with a loathing and detestation of all sin Psal 119.104 128. as that which is most contrary to all goodness and happiness Secondly In the wills detestation and hatred of all sin When the very bent and inclination of the will is set against all sin and opposes and crosses all sin and is set upon the ruin and destruction of all sin then the penitent is turned from all sin Rom. 7.15 19 21 23. Isa 30.20 Thou shalt cast them away as a menstrous cloth thou shalt say unto it get thee hence Hosea 14.8 Ephraim shall say what have I to do any more with Idols When the will stands upon such terms of defiance with all sin as that it will never enter into a league of friendship with any sin then is the soul turned from every sin When the will is set upon avenging it self upon all sin and upon daily endeavours to mortifie and crucifie all sin then is the penitent turned from all his sins when those sins that were once to the will as Dalilah to Sampson are now to the will as Tamar to Amnon then is the soul turned from sin with a witness Thirdly In the judgments turning away from all sin by disapproving disallowing and condemning of it Rom. 7.15 For that which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I. O saith the judgment of a Christian sin is the greatest evil in all the world 't is the only thing that God abhors and that brought Jesus Christ to the Cross that damns souls that shuts heaven and that has laid the foundations of hell O it is the pricking thorn in my eye the deadly arrow in my side the two-edged sword that hath wounded my conscience and slain my comforts and separated between God and my soul O it is that which hath hindred my prayers and imbittered my mercies and put a sting into all my crosses and therefore I can't but disapprove of it and disallow of it and condemn it to death yea to hell fâ—om whence it came I thus preach and thus think saith Chrysostom that it is more bitter to sin against Christ than to suffer the torments of hell Plutarch reports of Marcus Cato that he never declared his opinion in any matter in the Senate but he would close it with this passage Methinks still Carthage should be destroyed So when ever a penitent looks upon his sins in his judgment he is still saying Methinks these sins should be destroyed methinks this pride this unbelief this earthly-mindedness this hypocrisie this vain glory c. should be destroyed Fourthly In the purpose and resolution of the soul the soul sincerely purposing and resolving never willingly wilfully or wickedly to transgress any more The true penitent holds up his purposes and resolutions to keep off from sin and to keep closs with God though he be not able in every thing and at all times to make good his purposes and resolutions c. Psal 17.3 I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress The general purpose and resolution of my heart is not to transgress though particular failings may attend me yet my resolutions and purposes are firmly fixt against evil Psal 39.1 I said I will take heed to my wayes that I sin not with my tongue I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked are before me David highly resolves so to bridle and muzzle up his mouth that he would not break out into any impatient or unbeseeming speeches that might give the wicked any advantage to reproach Religion or to blaspheme the holy One of Israel c. Anselme was a man of a holy resolution I had rather saith he go to hell pure from sin than to heaven polluted with that filth And saith another I will rather leap into a bonfire than wilfully to sin against God When Valens the Emperor threatned Basil with imprisonment banishment death Threaten sayes he your Boyes with such fray-bugs and your purple Gallants that give themselves to their pleasures I am resolved neither menaces nor flatteries shall silence me or draw me to betray a good cause or a good conscience c. Fifthly In the earnest and unfeigned desires and careful endeavours of the soul to abandon all sin to forsake all sin to be rid of all sin Rom. 7.22 23. Now where God sees this frame of spirit there he will certainly pardon the failings and pass by the imperfections of his people and he will spare them as a man spareth his son that serveth him Mal. 3.17 Now you know when a prudent tender indulgent father sees his child to fail and come short in that which he enjoyns him to do yet knowing that his desires and endeavours is to please him and serve him he will not be harsh rigid sowre or severe towards him but will spare him and exercise much tenderness and indulgence towards him and will God will God whose mercies reach above the heavens and whose compassions are infinite and whose love is like himself carry it worse towards his children than men do carry it towards theirs surely no. God's fatherly indulgence accepts of the will for the work Heb. 13.18 2 Cor. 8.12 As a father will accept in his child the desire for the deed and if there be a blemish in his child he will pity it and cast a mantle of love over it A sick man is not more desirous to be rid of all his diseases nor a prisoner to be freed from all his bolts and chains than the true penitent is desirous to be rid of all his sins c. Sixthly and lastly In the ordinary declining shunning and avoiding of all known occasions temptations provocations inducements and inticements to sin c. That royal Law 1 Thes 5.22 Abstain from all appearance of evil is a Law that is very precious in a penitent man's eye See Jude 23.
why others don 't much mind them or take any great notice of them But The fourth Proposition is this If this way of trying our spiritual estates by holy and gracious qualifications were not both lawful and useful then certainly the holy Spirit would never have prescribed it nor never have prest men so earnestly upon it as we find he has done in the blessed Scripture Take a taste 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith Psal 4.4 Vide Chrysostom on the words Gal. 6.3 4. 1 Tim. 6.17 18 19. prove your own selves The precept is doubled to teach us to redouble our diligence in this most needful but much neglected duty of self-examination The final tryal of our eternal estates doth immediately and solely belong to the Court of heaven but the disquisitive part belongs to us Here are two emphatical words in the Greek First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 examine your selves The word in the general signifies to take an experimental knowledge of any thing that is either uncertain unknown or hidden most men are great strangers to God to Christ to Scripture and to themselves and therefore saith the Apostle Examine your selves Now if there were not sure marks and infallible signs whereby men may certainly know what their present estate is and how 't is like to go with them in another world the redoubled commnad of the Apostle would be in vain The second Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prove your selves The original word signifies a severe and diligent inquisition into our selves so as to have a full experience of what is in us Doubtless the Apostle would never call again and again upon us to try and examine our selves whether we be in the faith if it were not lawful to come to the knowledge of our faith or of our being in the state of faithful Christians in a discursive way arguing from the effect to the cause So in that 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather brethren give all diligence to make your calling and election sure The Greek word translated give diligence is very emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies to do a thing not in an overly lazy careless way but to do a thing with industry vigilancy and unweariedness of spirit Now it is granted on all hands that election cannot be made more sure in respect of God or it self but only in respect of us that we may be more perswaded of it Election cannot be made more sure than it is already for those whom God hath elected shall be certainly glorified but we must make it sure on our parts Rom. 8.29.30 that is we must labour to have a real bottom and grounded assurance that we are elected by God in his eternal decree to obtain life and glory by Jesus Christ There is a double certainty 1. There is certitudo objecti a certainty of the object so our election is sure with God for with him both it and all things are unchangable 2. There is certitudo subjecti the certainty of the subject and so we must make our election sure to our selves in our own hearts and consciences Now the means whereby we are to come to this assurance is by adding grace to grace and by causing those several graces to abound in us This is the way of wayes to make all sure to us Now by these Scriptures 't is most evident that we stand engaged to make our election sure by holy signs and marks But The fifth Proposition is this That other precious Saints that are now triumphing in glory have pleaded their interest in God's love and their hopes of a better life from graces inherent Grace in the working of it is often compared to life Now look as natural life is discerned by the actions thereof as by so many signs so also is supernatural life I 'le only point at some of those Scriptures among many others that clearly speak out this truth the first Epistle of John James 2.17 ult Job 23.10 11 12. and the whole 31. Chapter of Job Psal 119.6 Isa 38.2 3. Neh. 1. ult 13.14 c. Now all these Scriptures do evidently prove that the precious servants of the Lord did take their graces for precious signs and testimonies of God's love of their interest in Christ and thereby received much comfort peace and satisfaction And truly to deny the fruit growing upon the Tree to be an evidence that the Tree is alive is to me as unreasonable as it is absurd Certainly 't is one thing to judge by our graces and another thing to trust in our graces to make a Saviour of our graces There is a great deal of difference betwixt declaring and deserving Christians they may doubtless look to their graces as evidences of their part in Christ and salvation and the clearer and stronger they are the greater will be their comfort and assurance but not as causes No man advanced free grace like Paul no man debased his own righteousness like Paul he counted it but dung and dross and no man exalted the righteousness of Christ like Paul Phil. 3.6 7 8 9 and yet by this way of signs he gathered much comfort and assurance 2 Tim 4.7 8. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness How plainly how fully doth he here conclude his right to the crown of life from his fighting a good fight his finishing his course in a way of grace and holiness and his keeping the faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is boasting they boasted in the testimony of their consciences O the quiet and tranquility that arises from the testimony of a mans sincerity both in heart and life By this great instance you may clearly see that a Christian may greatly exalt Christ lift up free grace tread upon his own righteousness as to justification and at the very same time take comfort in his graces and in his gracious actings So in that 2 Cor. 1.12 Our rejoycing is this the testimony of a good conscience that in godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world His joy was founded on the testimony of his conscience but from what did his conscience testifie from his sincere conversation Again take that memorable instance of Job God hid his face from him the arrows of the Almighty stuck fast in him Satan was let loose upon him the wife of his bosom proved a tempter to him a tormenter of him his most inward acquaintance deserted him reproached him and condemned him as an hypocrite God writ bitter things against him and made him to possess the iniquities of his youth all was clouded above him and he stript of all the outward comforts that did once surround him so that he had nothing left to stay him to refresh him to support him and to be a comfort and joy to him Job 1.8 2.3 but the