done him no good unless he had been interested in Christ himself Psal 116. 16. 6. No religious or godly Education that you have had It may be you have been brought up in the Families where there hath been much of God and Goodness set up yea perhaps you have spent all your days in the company and communion of the Saints and yet at last you must have your eternal abode and portion with Sinners if you have not a part in this Freedom Ishmael was brought up in a good Family in the Family of Abraham of whom God said I know him that he will command his children and his houshold after him Gen. 18. 19. And yet for want of this Freedom he was rejected and so was Esau 7. No moral Virtues that you have lived in It may be thou hast been a civil Person an honest Person a chast Person a sober Person perhaps never wronged any Body by unjust Dealing never told a Lie never swore an Oath never disguisedst thy self by Drunkenness never defiledst thy Body with Uncleanness it won't do thee a jot of good for the saving of thee from Hell if thou hast no part in this Freedom Matth. 5. 20. Thou must have a righteousness that exceeds this even the righteousness of Christ by Faith or else Heavens door will be shut against thee 8. No profession that you have made of the Gospel of Christ tho to a very high degree Tho thou hast outwardly seemed to be a very zealous and forward Disciple of his hast worn his Livery and hast been baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost tho thou hast often in the Sacrament eaten of that Bread that signifies his Body and drank of that Wine that signifies his Blood yet if thou hast not this Freedom 't is nothing 1 Joh. 5. 12. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life let him profess what he will of him 9. No good thoughts that the People of God have had of you It may be thou hast been taken for a true Child of God no body suspects thee of Hypocrisie thou art current Gold by their Weights yea but if thou hast not a part in this Freedom when thou comest to be weighed in Gods Ballance thou wilt be found wanting 10. No sufferings that you have met with for Conscience-sake Tho thou hast thus suffered yet thou must suffer again and that for ever if thy Conscience be not purged from dead works by the Blood of Christ as Paul saith 1 Cor. 13. 1. that tho he gave his body to be burned if he had not charity it profited him nothing No more would it thee if thou hast not Christ 11. Again No bitter cries or earnest intreaties that you shall at last make to God for the escaping of his wrath Oh! when Christ is just ready to pronounce the Sentence against thee what a lamentable ado wilt thou make that it might not be past but if thou hast not a part in this Freedom all thy wringing of hands and falling upon thy knees will be in vain 12. Once again Not all the mercy that is in God Tho God hath an infinite Ocean of mercy yet it won't be for thee if thou dost not look after this Freedom Luk. 19. 27. As there is no misery to the Saints so there is no mercy to the wicked beyond this life Vse 1. This then sharply reproves the great slothfulness of the World in the matters of their Souls 'T is every ones duty to look after a share in this Freedom and yet almost every body is idle the whole earth is quiet and at rest Oh how little stirring is there for an Interest in Christ What Pharaoh said of the Israelites in their Bondage I am sure may be said of Sinners in this Bondage Exod. 4. 17. Ye are idle ye are idle Oh! what cause is there now that I should preach with tears to bewail the lamentable carelessness of people about their everlasting Concernments The good Lord of his infinite mercy be in the midst of us at this time by the power of his Spirit to convince you that are out of Christ of this great sin and to humble you for it I offer my self now in Gods Name to plead with you about your woful negligence in not looking after this Freedom which you have heard is every ones duty to look after and therefore 't is yours There is Freedom to be had by Christ but pray now you that are in your sins what have you done to get it Oh! what would many of you do to get the World How would you ride and run and rise early and go late to bed for a gainful Bargain or great Estate You are so forward and eager some of you for the things of this World that you are like a high-metall'd Horse you can hardly be held in Christ is fain as it were to call from Heaven to bid you stop Isa 55. 2. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not You 'll try all ways and turn every stone to see what may be done for a part in these uncertain Riches though it may be you shall never get them when you have done your utmost and if you do you may leave them as soon as you have them Why but Sirs is there not another life and are there not better things and have you not precious Souls to look after and is it not high time for some of you by course of nature to think of removing to Eternity and of being in a fitness for Death and Judgment And yet ah Lord you live as to spiritual things as if you had nothing to do Upon these accounts the Scripture sets you forth as persons that are standing still Why stand you here all the day idle Matth. 20. 6. and as persons that have their hands in their bosoms Prov. 19. 24. and as persons that are asleep upon their beds Prov. 6. 9. The children of God if there be any of them that live about you or among you they are as 't were all of a trembling for fear they should fall short of Heaven and fail of the Grace of GOD tho they are not like you to let all run at random Phil. 2. 12. But you tho your Sins be unpardoned and your Souls unconverted and nothing is set at rights between God and you yet you set neither your Hand nor your Heart to any good thing Why now is this the way to do well Dare you think that you are going to happiness under all this remissness Do you believe that strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it What have you no talent to trade with for the glory of God and the good of your own Souls If you have not five nay if you have not two have you not one Sure thou hast one Talent
mankind to perish and if he would have saved any he might have bid his Son go take the nature of Angels and redeem the Devils but that it would not consist with his everlasting purpose and have left Adam and all his posterity under the curse but that he should pitch upon us to be the subjects that should be capable of this Freedom how is free Grace to be admired that God should overlook those that stood nearer to him by their creation then we did to look upon us The spirits of darkness are left in dispair while we are under hope they and we were all miserable creatures by the fall first of one and then of the other but their misery was irrecoverable ours is a recoverable misery 2 Tim. 2. 26. God hath an Election amongst us but he hath none among the Devils and therefore the door of mercy is shut against them never to be opened 2 Pet. 2. 4. Jude vers 6. Oh how are we beholding to God that he would reserve Mercy for us when he reserves Wrath for the fallen Angels there he made quick work they fell into Condemnation and God sealed up their Condemnation there is not so much as a possibility that God will ever be reconciled to them but with us he was willing to renew a better Covenant than that was which we brake there is pity and pardon and peace for us in Christ Now have not we cause to admire this and to say as Heb. 2. 6. What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him 2. That not only men but some of the worst of men should have the benefit of this Freedom I mean not only a temporal benefit for so all have but the saving everlasting benefit of it You read in the Scripture of some of the very worst of men that have been made free by Christ When this Freedom came to them at first it found some of them amongst the Thieves and others amongst the Drunkards and others amongst the Whoremongers and others amongst the Idolaters as it did the Corinthians and others amongst the Persecutors and the Blasphemers as it did Paul and others amongst the Crucifiers of Christ as it did the Jews and have you not heard sometimes of some notorious sinner or other that became a new man and through grace was afterwards as much for God as before he was the for Devil that to ones thinking was come even to the height of wickedness and yet brought home Beloved God will have this Freedom by Christ and the exceeding riches of it glorified even in this World and therefore he gives it sometimes to the very dregs of sinners And who indeed is there of those that have obtained a fellowship in this great Salvation but hath cause to admire that ever it should be given to him And to say Oh! God had mercy upon a grievous sinner when he had mercy upon me It is certain that the loving-kindness of God in Jesus Christ will be admired by every Soul upon whom it lights and such a one is ready to think That never was there any sinner that did more need mercy or less deserve it and the Reason of this is because where this Freedom comes it works such a sense of ones vileness upon the heart that tho indeed there may in some respects be greater sinners than ones self yet one cannot but look upon ones self as one of the greatest Wonders of Mercy that ever was as Paul did 1 Tim. 1. 15 16. And when God shall have gathered all his Children to glory Oh beloved what a wonderful company there will be I don't mean so much for multitude tho that will be innumerable as to think what sinners these were and especially some of them Oh! the stories that might be told of them in Heaven to raise matter of everlasting Admiration that one who had been formerly such a grievous sinner on Earth should prove notwithstanding a glorious Saint in Heaven Oh wonderful Vse 3. Is this Freedom by Christ such an excellent Freedom then here is something for Lamentation and Mourning Beloved we have often through Gods Mercy met together Oh! that we could now mourn together And you that cannot weep with your eyes oh that you would mourn in your hearts Why but you may say What is there here to mouth for This excellent Freedom is cause of rejoycing Yea indeed so 't is â—is glad tidings of great joy if all things about it were well with us but alas the Lord knows they are not I pray therefore consider four things for the piercing of your hearts in this Use of Lamentation 1. That ever we should be the cause of putting the Lord Jesus Christ who purchased this Freedom for us to so much pain and grief as he underwent in the doing of it Oh! what bitter mourning should we make for our sins that laid such a load upon Christ that we could never have had this excellent Freedom if he had not suffered beyond expression We may say those of us that are made free by Christ he hath put us into a good condition but oh into what a bad condition did our sins put him he hath brought us joy but we brought him sorrow he hath brought us rest but we brought him travel of Soul he hath brought us life but we brought him death he hath brought us blessing but we brought him a curse he helped us to a great deal of Mercy but we helped him to a great deal of misery in respect of his sufferings he was the miserablest man that ever lived Now friends this was your sins and my sins that brought him to this that made Jesus Christ to have a very Hell upon Earth and shall we not mourn for this Oh! that the Lord would perform that promise to us this day Zech. 12. 10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born 2. That God hath no more Glory from us for all this grace that he hath bestowed upon us This Freedom is actually given to some of us and those Scriptures through the tender Mercy of God may be applied I doubt not to some of you Col. 1. 21. Gal. 4. 13. Eph. 2. 13 19. But will you not say your selves I know you will that you do fall exceeding short of such a walking as this excellent Freedom engages you to Beloved I am glad to see any of you that are in Christ so good but truly the best of us have cause to mourn that we are no better Oh what a people should we be for whom the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his precious Life and shed his precious Blood You do God some
it were rend his sacred Image all to pieces As for the effects of it it separates God and man from one another it robs him of likeness to him and communion with him it hardens his heart against all that is good and inclines him to all manner of disobedience 't is that which fills the World with sorrow and is the cause of all miseries in this life and that which is to come Oh that I could tell how to bring you out of love with sin Why Sirs if God should deal with you according to the desert of one sin you would never live a comfortable day I cannot part with this Vse but I must endeavour a little to leave an everlasting brand of reproach upon a sinful life and therefore consider Four things of which it is made up viz. 1. Innumerable Wickednesses 2. Abominable Filthiness 3. Lamentable Deceitfulness 4. Vnspeakable Wretchedness 1. Innumerable Wickednesses A sinful life is a Sea of sin As abundance of waters do meet in the Sea so abundance of wickedness doth meet in a sinful life 'T is a life to which all manner of sins flow Adultery Blasphemy Covetousness Drunkenness Envy False dealing Gluttony Hypocrisie Idleness Lying Murder Pride Quarrelling Railing Swearing Theft Uncleanness Witchcraft c. Amos 5. 12. I know saith God your manifold transgressions 'T is not to be reckoned up what Volumes of wickedness one unsanctified heart is full of Oh what hath every Christless Soul to give account for when as all the Faculties of the Soul and all the Members of the Body are sinning and sinning and sinning against God continually And yet as many as they are God keeps an account of them every one I know them saith he They are forgotten by them that commit them but they are remembred by him that forbids them Hos 7. 2. They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness Mark he remembers all and without repentance he will make you to remember them again tho now you have forgotten them Psal 50. 21. he will set them in order before your eyes 2. A sinful life hath in it Abominable Filthiness Psal 14. 3. The Psalmist speaking of the children of men with respect to their sinfulness says of them that they are altogether become filthy They that live in their sins are a polluted people Hence the Scripture says they are defiled that the wicked is loathsome It compares them to Ethiopians or Blackmores They are so filthy that God charges all his people to come out from among them and be separate and touch none of their unclean things Their sins make them deformed creatures in the sight of God and good men A sinner is so filthy that till he be washed he is fit for no Company but his own and the Devil 's God won't let him come near him Psal 119. 119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross Gods people don't care to be familiar with them v. 115. Depart from me ye evil doers And yet this is not Pride in them but 't is their duty to keep at a distance from the wicked in their sins Eph. 5. 11. to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness 3. There is in it Lamentable Deceitfulness Says the Apostle We our selves were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived c. Tit. 3. 3. The lusts to which they give up themselves are called deceitful Lusts Eph. 4. 22. and Heb. 3. 13. there is express mention made of the deceitfulness of sin Exhort one another daily says the Apostle lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin There are many that are wise to sin but yet they are not wise enough to avoid the deceits and snares that are in sin While they nibble at the Bait they don't see the Hook When the Devil comes to tempt us to sin he comes with his wiles and devices he plays the Serpent and the old Serpent he will tell a man that that which is a sin is no sin and so make him believe he is serving God when he is sinning against him Our Saviour foretells his Disciples that the time comes that whoso kills them shall think that he doth God good service Joh. 16. 2. Accordingly the Apostle Paul professeth Acts 26. 9. That he verily thought with himself that he ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth He will tell a man that he may do such and such a thing for none sees him and the poor deluded sinner thinks that he is hid because he sins in secret or in the dark whereas the eyes of the Lord are upon the ways of man and he pondereth all his goings Prov. 5. 21. He will tell a sinner that there 's time enough to repent when he may die the next hour He will tell a sinner that God is merciful of purpose that he may miss of mercy He will promise pleasure when 't will end in pain and peace when 't will end in trouble and profit when 't will end in the loss of the Soul He will tell us that we are justified when we are not sanctified and that we are real Saints because others count us so that our Gifts are Graces and that we have communion with God in Duties because we have good Expressions in our mouths Oh Sirs take heed to your Souls watch against all the delusions of your spiritual Enemies There are Four great Deceivers that you are in great danger by 1. a deceitful Devil 2. Deceitful Sin 3. A deceitful World 4. Your own deceitful Hearts 4. There is also in a sinful life Vnspeakable Wretchedness Rom. 3. 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways Sin makes one more wretched than any affliction or any suffering in the World can do Look into that Eph. 2. 12. and tell me if a sinner is not a wretched creature Ye were without Christ being aliens from the Common wealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world Mark without Christ. There 's enough if there were no more To be out of Christ why 't is to be amongst them that are lost among them that are unpardoned among them that are unsanctified Aliens from the common-wealth of Israel to wit from them that God owns Strangers from the covenants of promise Is not that a woful thing to have none of the promises and all of the threatnings of the Word belonging to one Having no hope Is not that a sad condition to have no hope Object But wicked men are full of hopes Ans But alas what hope is it No true hope upon no good ground They call it hope but God calls it no hope without God in the world what a wretched condition is that that whatever they have they have not God in it God out of any thing is a misery God out of the Creature God out of Affliction God out of Ordinances And after all this wretchedness to
be wretched for ever to suffer the torments of Hell World without end without a change of our condition Psal 9. 17. All this consider'd is not sin and all the ways and all the works of sin worthy of everlasting contempt and hatred Vse 2. But more particularly to you that are in this bondage I must tell you That this bondage of yours is an unexcusable bondage Perhaps you may think now that this will lessen your guilt Why how can I be good or how can I serve God or how can I leave my sins why I am a person in bondage and what freedom hath one that is in a Prison Ans I answer This were something if it were against your wills but you are willingly in this bondage You are like that servant Exod. 21. 5. I love my Master I will not go out free Do you remember what Christ says John 5. 40. you will not come unto me that you might have life Now consider but Three things and you must needs say this is a willing bondage and therefore inexcusable For 1. You have sold your selves into this condition as those a Kings 17. 17. sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger Pray how came you into this bondage Is it not your own doing You were not made thus by God He may say as 't is in Jer. 2. 21. I had planted thee a noble vine wholly a right seed how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine Our corruption is from our selves and our destruction is from our selves By nature we yield up our Members as instruments of unrighteousness That 's the Scripture Expression 'T is our own voluntary act 'T was not possible that Mankind could ever have come into such thraldom had they not given up their consent and joyned with Satan against God 2. 'T is a willing bondage if we consider the cheap and low terms upon which all this is done Sinners did not stand out to have any great rewards in consideration of their woful slavery but the Devil gets them to be his Servants at an easie rate I don't mean in respect of themselves for 't will be a dear bondage to them without mercy from the Lord but in respect of what Satan does for them In lieu of all that they do for him alas he feeds them with a few painted pleasures that carry more stings than sweetness in them for the present and that will be turned all into bitterness in the latter end Job 20. 12 13 14. 'T is a brand that is laid upon prophane Esau that for one morsel of meat he sold his birth-right Heb. 12. 16. So what have sinners for their Souls What have they for all their wearying themselves with the fulfilling of their lusts but a wickedlife and a wretched death See Isa 52. 3. Ye have sold your selves for nought 3. 'T is a willing bondage because you do not groan under it You are contented with your Chains and you are contented with your Prison Where be your prayers and where be your tears and where be your cries to God that you may be delivered If it were thus with you you would shew that you were unwillingly where you are and this would be the way to be delivered as it was with the children of Israel in their bondage in Egypt Exod. 2. 23 24 25. But you sit still Vse 3. Something to you that God hath brought out of this bondage and then I have done with this Branch Three things I leave with you as your duty 1. Pity poor sinners that are in this bondage Can you look upon them or think of their condition without compassion Here be Objects of pity if there be any in the World Here 's matter of prayer for you to speak to God on the behalf of these poor wretched creatures Here 's matter for your larger hope to work upon Oh Friends if you saw one of the saddest creatures that ever your eyes beheld for worldly distress you would bestow some pity and some help there But oh the pity and the help and the bowels that these do need whose souls are in the bondage of sin I beseech you don't see men and women live without the fear of God and such multitudes of sinners flocking and posting to everlasting perdition as there be and yet not be affected with their case What Paul says in another sense to the Colossians cap. 4. 18. Remember my bonds I say to you Remember sinners bonds Prayer may do that in this case which is like to Acts 12. 5 6 7. 2. Be thankful for your own deliverance Oh what cause have you to praise God for his great mercy to your souls Time was that you were in bondage as they are were the Servants of sin as they are and yet you have been graciously visited and by a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm God hath brought you out of this house of bondage he hath taken off the yoke of your spiritual captivity that now you can say as in Gal. 4. 31. We are not children of the bond-woman but of the free Well now what high admiring thoughts should you have of this Grace that is bestowed upon you through Jesus Christ Let me commend that Scripture to you it fits your case exceedingly Psal 106. 1 2. then verse 10. to 17. 3. Love and live to your Redeemer Abide stedfast with Christ in your Liberty Gal. 5. 1. Stand fact in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage You know when God had delivered his people out of Egypt Pharoah and all his Host went after them if it were possible to bring them back again So the Devil he follows redeemed souls to have them again if he could Oh how he tempts them to get them back And if that won't do as it shall not with Gods Elect yet he does what he can to make them live as if they were not delivered as if they were not purged from their old sins Oh take heed of this I tell you Christ expects now that you should do his service as before you did the service of sin And as the serving of sin is an Evidence of being in that bondage So 't is only the serving of Christ that will be an Evidence that you are come to this Freedom I conclude with that 1 Cor. 6. last words of ver 19. and the 20th verse Ye are not your own For ye are bought with a price Therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods and shew by your walking that you dont forget this mercy and that you dont make light of it Deut. 15. 15. Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt and the Lord thy God redeemed thee therefore I command this thing to day All God's commands to you are grounded upon his redeeming-kindness Because you are redeemed be obedient
thing that ever was Never did any creature so stoop to another as God stoops to sinners He comes and knocks at their door before ever they knock at his 2 Cor. 5. 12. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself Mark the World was not reconciling it self to God nor God to it self but God reconciling the World to himself God's love is always the first love 'T is the Fountain and the Cause of our love to him 1 John 4. 19. We loved him because he first loved us 'T is true that the Lord is sought unto for mercy by them to whom he intends to shew it but 't is the Lord that stirs up their hearts to do it He sets them a crying and then they cry They come to Christ but 't is the Father that draws them There could be no desires or breathings in us after God if they were not begotten of his Spirit Alas our corrupt nature wont afford one good desire till God give it It will go further from God but it wont come nearer to him of it self And therefore the mercy of God towards poor souls is a very wonderful thing not only in that it is so large but in that it is so early It is up before the soul is up Isa 65. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said Behold me behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name Oh how much are we beholding to Christ for coming to us first 4. If the Son shall make you free If he shall Observe this next That 't is much to be feared whether some that have the Offers of Grace will ever close with them Here you see they had an Offer of Freedom but Christ puts a doubtful word upon it as to their acceptance If he shall c. As if he should say It may be some of you will hear of this and yet never partake in it but live and die in the bondage that you are in In this very Chapter where Christ is offering this Freedom he tells some of them in ver 21. that they would die in their sins Now beloved oh what a joyful thing would it be if you would all accept of this Freedom and close with this Grace that is offered to you Why truly it would be such a joyful thing if but one amongst you should accept of it that it would be enough to set all Heaven a rejoycing Luke 15. 7. 10. And why should I not hope but that it may be thus with some or other of you yea perhaps with many of you The Lord grant that there may not be one amongst you that shall turn his back upon Christ Whoever that man or woman shall be wo be to them And yet now 't is much to be feared that Christ will be rejected by some to whom he hath been offered The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that he was with them in weakness and in fear and in much trembling 1 Cor. 2. 3. Why what made Paul fear and tremble so that while he was a preaching he was as 't were all of a trembling What was it because he was afraid to preach No but he was afraid what his preaching would come to in respect of some of them whether ever it would profit them whether ever it would prevail with them Now give me leave to acquaint you a little what things as to some persons may be grounds of fear whether ever they will close with Christ's gracious offer of Freedom 1. In that there be so few in comparison in all Ages of the World that have done it Beloved Christ's flock will be but little when he hath gathered all his sheep Heaven would hold a thousand times more than ever will come there No doubt but there be some that seem now as if they had closed with Christ and yet will be found at last not to have done it They have mistaken their whole work and their hearts have deceived them from the beginning to the end A right closing with Christ is a very exact thing 'T is not every one can hit on it Mat. 7. 14. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it And therefore may it not be feared that this present Generation yea and this present Assembly may have some amongst them that will never close with Gospel Offers 2. The little good news that there is up and down where the Gospel comes of the conversion of souls People flock to Meetings but who believes our report or to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed Sinners abiding in an unconverted condition is a great ground of fear what will become of their souls If you have not yet closed with Christ as unregenerate persons have not we cannot but fear you may lose him If a man be in a very dangerous sickness is there not cause to fear he will die So if a man be still out of Christ why certainly this is something to question whether ever he will be in him Acts 8. 22. Peter puts it as a doubtful case whether ever Simon Magus would be pardoned his sins because he was still in an unrepenting condition 3. When men do set light by Christ and the Offers of Grace There 's great hopes of those souls that tho they have not closed with Christ yet they begin to have good thoughts of him and his mercy and love and salvation is somewhat commended if they acknowledg yea truly this is the rich goodness of God that ever such Offers should be made to me I confess I do look upon Christ and the Freedom that he holds forth to poor sinners as an excellent thing God forbid that I should say to the contrary I know the pardon of sin and the love of God are great Priviledges happy is that soul that hath them and I would I might be one of them Ay why this is something Methinks 't is a kind of Language that would give one some hope concerning such a soul as the young man in the Gospel when he did approve and commend of what Christ said in Mark 12. 32 33. Well master thou hast said the truth c. is answered by Christ v. 34. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God But now when a man shall look upon all that Christ offers to him as nothing and set himself to despise and disgrace his invitations as if Christ had done him no kindness in sending all his messages of love to him and let Christ go where he will and his salvation go where it will for his part he does not care for them This is a great ground of fear that such a person will never close with the Offers of Grace See Mat. 22. 3. Those who in the Parable were called to the Marriage-Supper it 's said first they would not come then ver 4. being invited again ver 5. they fell a slighting of
already from so great a death as the death of the Soul and now also he is delivering more he is upon this Work of giving Freedom to poor sinners and we are confident that he will yet deliver Christ won't lose the power of doing Souls good fear not he won't be put out of his Office There be three things through which men continue not in their Office but neither of them will happen to Christ 1. Vnfitness that tho they were put into it yet they are found not to be fit for it they have not Abilities sufficient to manage such a Place But Christ is such an able Redeemer that he will never be put out for unfitness tho the business of Souls be very weighty yet he wants no Ability All power is given him in heaven and in earth Matth. 28. 18. 2. Vnfaithfulness that they are not true to their Trust but it is not so with Christ Heb. 3. 2. He was faithful to him that appointed him So in chap. 2. 17. he is said to be a merciful and faithful high Priest c. 3. Death You know when a man in Office dies then another must take his place but as for Christ see Heb. 7. 23 24 25. He continueth ever and he ever liveth c. When God the Father put him into this Office he said to him Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec Now to end this Fourth Branch with a little Application Vse 1. Doth our Freedom come by Christ Then this shews us what an undone condition we are all in by nature no man can deliver himself out of the misery which he is in by sin we cannot get out of that Prison in which we are bound we cannot knock off our own Chains till Christ comes and sets us free we remain in our house of bondage we are blind and cannot see till he opens our eys we are dead and cannot live till he quicken us we are lost and cannot be found till he comes to seek and to save that which was lost I warn you from hence to take heed of that Doctrine of Pride that tells men in the state of nature that they may be saved if they will that takes the Power out of this Redeemers hands and puts it into the hands of fallen sinful Creatures If ever God intends mercy to us we shall know that our help is in him and not in our selves and that we must be born again not of our own will but of the will of God and that we have no such will of our own till he doth make us willing Joh. 1. 13. Phil. 2. 13. The Devil is a great Enemy to the Free Grace of God and therefore he doth what he can to exalt Free-will in man as if he had that within him that is sufficient to bring him to Heaven Oh Beloved man hath that in his corrupt Nature that is sufficient to bring him to Hell but nothing that is sufficient to bring him to Heaven Why did not the man that was wounded by the Thieves and left half dead bind up his own Wounds Why was he not his own Physician if he could What need the good Samaritan come and shew so much compassion to him and take so much care of him if he could have helped himself So certainly Christ did more than need was if man of himself hath such a power to restore himself If this be true what great hurt had we by the Fall or what great good do we receive by Christ When he came from the Bosom of his Father to undertake the great Work of our Redemption might he not even have told the World Why I see you are not in such a bad condition but that you can help your selves you can get out if you will and so he might have returned back to Heaven again and have let all alone and then what would have become of all the World Labour therefore to be sensible of your wretchedness and helplessness in your selves and do not think that you can do any thing without Christ that is truly spiritual The way to be rich is to see that you are poor and the way to be saved is to see that you are lost You know that as long as one that is diseased thinks that he hath something at home that will do him good he won't send for the Physician but he will be tampering with his own Medicines And 't is certainly a sign that a Soul is not awakned to purpose nor wounded deep enough with its own sinful condition when it thinks it can heal it self Oh! if thou wert but sick to the very heart thou wouldst see thou can'st not be thine own Physician A mans Destruction is of himself but his Salvation is not Hos 13. 9. Eph. 2. 8. For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God Vse 2. Doth Freedom come by Christ Then Oh what a Friend is Christ to poor sinners A man you know is counted a Friend according to the Kindness that he shews us and if he hath shewed us great kindness then we count him a great Friend Now the Kindness of the Lord Jesus hath been very great towards us in purchasing Freedom for us and therefore we must own him as our great Friend Christ once said to the Disciples Ye are my Friends but Oh! what cause had the Disciples to say to Christ Thou art our Friend Oh Sirs you that are redeemed by Christ mourn for this that you can no more look upon Christ as your Friend how hard are some of you yet to be perswaded of this tho he hath done such great things for you How apt are you still by Unbelief to question whether Christ be your Friend You would wonder if you should see a man that was in great distress owing a vast Debt and looking every hour when the Serjeant should come and arrest him and hale him away to Prison or kept as a Slave by some merciless Enemy and utterly unable to redeem himself and some tender-hearted rich Person comes and pays all this Debt for him and without any desert of his gives in his Ransom and so releases him out of Prison and Captivity Why now to see this man notwithstanding all this to be still fearing and questioning whether he that did this for him be his Friend surely you would wonder at him and be ready to say You are the strangest man that ever was your Friend why do you make any doubt of that hath he not sufficiently shewn it Wherein could he have manifested it more than in what he hath done for you Have not son cause to say when you think of Christ's redeeming you as the Spouse saith of him when she was thinking of the Excellencies that were in him Cant. 5. ult This is my Beloved and this is my Friend O daughters of Jerusalem Well now if Christ be your Friend be you his Friends Prov. 18. 24. He that
presently they are proud of it and if no body will commend them they 'l commend themselves I beseech you watch much against this sin Jesus Christ hath made it the great mark of an Hypocrite Matth. 6. 5. A true Christian sees so many defects in his best works that he desires rather to be ashamed of them than to glory in them 7. We may consider the Excellency of his Person in Relation to this Freedom in his doing of what he did in it with so much desire Beloved this work did not at all look desirably in it self never was there such a black and dreadful face upon any work that ever was undertaken and yet upon some accounts Christ desired it and desired it so much that I doubt not to say he did rejoyce in his Spirit to think that he was the Person that was to do it You know that when there is a motion made for the carrying on of some great design that will be of publick and unspeakable benefit tho indeed it will cost a deal to bring it to pass and the Person that is engaged in it whoever he be must be at a vast charge before he can finish it why the very motioning of such a thing raises our desire and we are full of good wishes towards it and all people generally will long Oh that it might be carryed on and they 'l say 't is a World of pitties that such a noble design should not be put forward but suppose that the carrying on of it should be cast by Authority upon any of our particular persons that the King should single out such a man whom he sees to be much taken with the motion and should say Well I pitch upon you to be engaged in this business truly then our desire towards the thing would be much damped if it be our selves that must do it and now we it may be can rather desire that the business should be quite laid aside than that it should be carried on by us that 't is we that must bear the burthen of it and we that must be at the charge how chill and cold will our affections grow to a work then tho it be never so useful but Jesus Christ desired that this great and costly work of our Redemption should go on tho the lot fell upon himself to do it You have divers expressions in Scripture that signifie thus much I will quote Four amongst many One is in Isa 53. 11. where what he did in this work is called the Travel of his Soul which as I think I have formerly hinted I look upon as not only setting out the greatness of his Sufferings in it but also the great desire that he had to go through with it A second is Luk. 12. 50. But I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitned till it be accomplished A third is Joh. 18. 11. speaking of the bitter Cup of his Sufferings shall I not drink it A fourth is that in Heb. 10. 9. Lo I come to do thy will O God The very words sound as if Christs desire were upon the work and if you compare it with Psal 40. 7 8. from whence this is quoted you shall see that there is no less a word put in there than delight which must needs carry desire along with it I delight to do thy will O my God Now what an excellent person must this needs be that could come to such a hard painful costly work under the weight of which all the Angels in Heaven would have sunk into nothing with so much desire 8. Which will yet further appear if we consider that he should do it with so much exactness as he did there are some things that when they are done we use to say they are done after a fashion meaning that they are sorrily done if another had had it in hand it would have been another kind of thing But beloved this same Freedom of ours that Christ hath been a performing oh 't is excellently done most admirably done 't is the exactest curiousest piece that ever was wrought 't is done to the life Christ hath shewn himself in it a workman that needeth not to be ashamed I remember 't is said in Exod. 39. 43. That when they into whose hearts God had put wisdom to devise curious works for the Tabernacle brought all to Moses when they had finished it Moses looked upon all their work and beheld that they had done it as the Lord commanded Even so had they done it i. e. with that exactness and Moses blessed them so we have great cause to bless Christ when we look upon this exact work of his and to say he hath done all things well very well there is not the least thing missing in it every way perfect his work is like himself Christ is a none-such and so is his work View it from the beginning to the end 't is all over compleat let the Saints look upon it they 'l say the like was never seen let Angels look upon it and they 'l say so too let God himself look upon it and he will say so too and therefore his work is called the pleasure of the Lord Isa 53. 10. i. e. 't is so done as that he is well pleased with it From hence we should learn of Christ to be no bunglers in our work Two things there be that Christians should much aim at 1. To do what they should that God may not set us about such and such work and we be doing that is contrary when God bids you serve him take heed don't go and instead of that sin against him don't be about the Devils work when you should be about the Lords remember you owe him Service but you owe the Devil none 't is a good question to be often asking your selves Whose work am I a doing 2. To do it as they should here the Lord knows we come miserably short sometimes we can see through grace that what we are about is good for the matter but oh then for the manner of doing it how we fail in that Sirs where is your exactness in duty You pray but where is your exactness in prayer You sing but where is your exactness in singing You hear but where is your exactness in hearing How much better might every thing be done than we do it Eph. 5. 15. See then that you walk circumspectly It may be rendred thus out of the Greek Look how exactly you walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how you come up to the height and fulness of duty A man may be about that which he should and yet may be doing of it by halves here may be a fault and there may be a fault tho you cannot work so fast as you should yet be careful to do what you do well If you cannot write a fast hand yet labour to write a fair hand 9. Christs excellency will appear further in this That he did it for so many