Soul but they all agree in this both the Muck-worm and the Epicure that they trust in Riches 2. He instanceth in this Trust rather than Love of Riches not how hard is it for them that love Riches but how hard is it for them that trust in Riches because this is more and doth more express the disposition of Worldly Men. We Love many things in which we do not put our Trust but we put our Trust in nothing but what we Love A Glutton loves his Belly-chear but he doth not trust in it as thinking to be protected by it as the Covetous doth by his Estate and therefore tho' he make his Belly his God or his chief good and last end yet he doth not make it the first Cause and Fountain of his Happiness But now this gives all the Titles and Priviledges of God to Wealth Trust makes Wealth to be the first Cause the chief Good and the last End Well then for these two Reasons doth Christ instance in this one sin as being a common Disease and cause of all the rest or implying them at least This young Man who went away sorrowful from Christ thought he should be despised and grow necessitous if he should forsake all upon the Command of Christ he made his Riches to be the Fountain of his Hope and Confidence and therefore doth Christ say How hard is it for them that trust in Riches to enter into the Kingdom of God! Doct. That rich Men are very prone and apt to put their Confidence in Riches and so thereby render themselves uncapable of the Kingdom of God In the handling this Point I shall 1. Shew there is such a Sin as Trusting in Riches 2. The Heinousness and evil of it 3. The Signs and Discoveries of it 4. The Remedies I. That there is such a Sin and that a very common sin The Scripture shews it plentifully Iob when he protested his Innocency among other sins he reckoned up he disclaims this Chap. 31.24 25. If I have made Gold my hope or said to the fine Gold thou art my Confidence If I rejoyced because my Wealth was great and because my hand had gotten much Iob to Vindicate himself from Hypocrisie reckons up the usual Sins of Hypocrites and among the rest this for one making Riches our Hope and Confidence He had immediately before waved the Crime of Extortion and Oppression but he thinks not that sufficient to clear himself and therefore he further denyeth also the Crime of Carnal Confidence It is not enough that our Wealth be not gotten by Fraud Cousenage and Extortion but we must not trust to it Symachus renders it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã my Safety and Security the Cause why I am not afraid The World looketh upon Wealth as that which will help us to all we want defend us from all we fear and procure to us all we do desire as if by that we were out of the reach of all Danger and in a Capacity to live longer and happier under the Patronage and Provisions which our Money shall procure to us Another place is Prov. 18.10 11. The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the righteous runneth into it and is safe The rich man's wealth is his strong City and an high Wall in his own conceit Mark what the Name of the Lord is to the Believer that is Wealth to the Carnal rich Man in his own Conceit A godly Man never thinks himself safe 'till he can get into the Name of the Lord and be within the compass and Verge of the Covenant But a Carnal rich Man if he be walled and intrencht within his Wealth thinks himself secure against all Changes and Chances and so God is laid aside and little cared for That there is such a Sin you see but I shall prove that it is a common sin very incident to all Men and that it is a very secret sin but yet of a Pestilential Influence 1. It is very Natural to all Men yea impossible almost to be free from it Consider Man as degenerate and in that corrupted Estate in which he is as fallen from God as his chief Good and last End and so he is an Idolater and makes the Creature his God or sticketh too much to it more especially to Wealth Wealth is the great Instrument of Commerce it cannot be denyed to have a Power and Influence upon Humane Affairs Eccl. 10.19 Money answereth all things It can do much in this lower World and saveth us out of many Dangers Prov. 13.8 The ransom of a man's Life are his Riches It hath its use in this World as a Means in God's hands to sustain and preserve Life But what more common than for a Man to look to the subordinate Means and neglect altogether the first Cause as Children will thank the Taylor and think they owe their new Cloaths to his Provision rather than to their Parents Bounty So we look to the next hand and set up that instead of God Rich and Poor cannot be exempted from âhis Sin 1. The Poor and those that have not Wealth they Idolize it in Fancy and Conceit that if they had Estates this would make them happy and glorious and because they have not they trust in those which have which is Idolatry upon Idolatry see Psal. 62.9 Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lye To appearance men of low Degree are nothing and can do nothing towards our Relief and so are Vanity but Men of high Degree they are aâ Lye because they disappoint those that trust in them to the wrong of God Alas they have neither Power to help nor hurt if the Lord will not 2 Kings 6.27 If the Lord do not help thee whence shall I help thee And therefore we need not fear the hazard of their Frowns nor of their Displeasure we need not with such restlesness court their Favour and trust in them that have Wealth 2. But chiefly this is incident to worldly Great Men to trust in what they have Their Minds are secretly enchanted by their Estates when they are encreased to them Still the Distemper grows with the encrease of worldly Accommodations Psal. 62.10 Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery If Riches increase set not your heart upon them As soon as we begin to have any thing about us from thence forward we date our Happiness and Security Many that in Want despise Wealth and live in an actual dependance upon God's Providence as soon as they have somewhat in the Creature they begin to value themselves at a higher rate as if they could live alone without God and their Hearts are altogether for encreasing their Store or keeping and retaining what they have already gotten 2. It is a very Secret Sin and found in those that are least sensible of it We seldom or never mistrust our selves of this Confidence which is so Natural and so Common and why Because we have too
thee pray to God for us that he take away the fiery serpents In Adversity Men will own the faithful Servants of God against whom they have murmured when all is well Moses forgetteth the injury and prayeth to God for them and God though he doth not take away the Serpents yet he provideth a Remedy unlikely in appearance a Brazen Serpent to cure the bites of Living Serpents but Divine Institution conveyeth a Blessing The word of Command is that they should look upon the brazen serpent and the word of Promise is that they should be healed Numb 21.8 Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole and it shall come to pass that every one when he is bitten that looketh upon it shall live This is in short the History Secondly The Mistery or Typical use of the Brazen Serpent The chief things represented in it are Sin Christ and Faith the deadliness of Sin the manner of our deliverance by Christ and the Nature of Faith 1. Israelites deadly Sin and Misery occasioned the setting up of the Brazen Serpent so the occasion of Christs sending into the World was Mans Sin and Misery we being all bitten by the old Serpent and so liable to the Curse The Devil is called the old serpent Rev. 12.9 And in the appearance of a Serpent he deceived our first Parents Therefore we read that the serpent beguiled Eve 2 Cor. 11.3 Humane Nature was then stung to Death by Sathan and the Venome dispersed its self throughout the whole Race of Mankind Among the Israelites there were but a few stung here all there their Bodies here the Soul there Temporal Death followed here Eternal In the Sting of these fiery Serpents two things representeth our Misery by Sin 1. It is painful 2. Deadly 1. This Sting is painful The bitings did presently cause pains and an intolerable thirst and burning which was very grievous to them so the sting of Sin is painful not alwaies felt but soon awakened In Spiritual things we are more stupid and are not so sensible of the Maladies of the Soul as they were of the pains of the Body We are subject to bondage Heb. 2.14 Though we do not alwaies feel actual horrour There is a fire smothering in our Bosoms though it be not blown up into a Flame One of our Spiritual Diseases is a Lethargy and it is a great part of our Misery not to know our Misery If Conscience were not lulled asleep we would be more sensible Surely Sathans bites are more painful than those of these Serpents his Darts are called fiery darts Eph. 6.16 His Darts are dipt in the gall of Asps and Vipers Boiling Lusts will in time awaken raging Fears and Despair O what horrour and torment will Sin procure to us if it be not speedily cured Sin is an Evil and a Mischief whether we feel it yea or no but we shall soon feel it an Evil as the stung Israelites felt the biting of the Serpents Sin in the Life will make Hell in the Conscience it seemeth a sweet draught while we are taking it down but there is rank poison at the bottom A wounded Spirit findeth it now Prov. 18.14 A wounded spirit who can bear Horrour and anguish of Conscience is insupportable ask any Man whose Heart is well awakened and he will tell you that the sense of the guilt of Sin is more bitter to the Soul than the gall of Asps no terrour comparable to the terror and sting of an accusing Conscience Gods terrors are compared to a Fire that drinketh up the Blood and Spirits Iob 6.4 The arrows of the almighty are within me the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me No poison more burning than Sin in an awakened Conscience it may lie asleep till you come to dye in Sin stupid and benummed Creatures But then the sting of death is sin 1 Cor. 15.56 Death is made terrible by those sad horrors and apprehensions which Sin raiseth in us 2. This Sting is deadly As the biting of the Fiery Serpents could not be cured but was present Death till God found out a Remedy so this sting of Sin is deadly Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Gen. 2.17 In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye dying thou die Rom. 6.23 The wages of sin is death Death Temporal Eternal Thou art a dead Man lost for ever if thou art not cured Those who were not solicitous about their Cure are a figure of the impenitent who obstinately continue in their Sins though they bring destruction upon them Not only Death Temporal which consists in the separation of the Soul from the Body but Death Spiritual which consists in an estrangement from God as Author of the Life of Grace yea Death Eternal which consists in a separation both of Body and Soul from the presence of God for evermore and is a perpetual living to deadly pain and torment This Second Death is set forth by two solemn Notions the worm that never dyeth and the fire that shall never be quenched Mark 9.44 By which is meant the Sting of Conscience and the Wrath of God Prov. 8.36 All they that hate me love death 2. Christ is set forth by the Brazen Serpent Here I shall shew you 1. The Resemblances 2. The Superexcellency of Christ above this and all the Shadows and Types of him 1. The Resemblance between Christ and the Brazen Serpent 1. The Brazen Serpent was a Remedy of Gods own prescribing out of his great Mercy So is this Remedy for lost Sinners the meer Fruit of Gods Love Iohn 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son the causa ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Occasion or outward moving Cause was our Misery the causa ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the inward impulsive Cause was his own love and pity to lapsed Mankind God found out the Remedy we neither plotted it nor asked it he saw the world of Mankind was perishing and involved in Eternal Ruine and because there was no Intercessor therefore his own Arm wrought out Salvation Herein the Antitype differeth from the Type The stung Israelites having Death in their bosoms go to Moses Moses goeth to God for he saw there could be no help elsewhere then God said Make thee a brazen serpent The motion came from them first but here it is quite otherwise God is the offended Party yet he maketh the first motion 1 Iohn 4.19 We love him because he loved us first There God found out the Remedy but here his meer love began the whole business and did set at work all the Causes that did concur to our Salvation we neither minded our Danger nor asked our Remedy 2. The conveniency of this Type to set out the low Estate and Humiliation of Christ. The form of a Serpent was chosen to shew
ingage our Thankfullness and increase our Hatred of Sin In short two affections are most proper and seasonable Mourning for Sin and Rejoycing in Christ. 1. Mourning for Sin When we call to remembrance the Death of Christ the anguish of his Soul the bruises of his Body the effusion of his Blood these are all occasions of Godly sorrow For he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows and he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the Chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed Isai. 53.4 5. Therefore godly sorrow is seasonable so far as it is a means part of Repentance The Iews on the Solemn day of attonement used to afflict their Souls on that Day as you may read Levit. 23.27 28 29. On the Tenth day of the seventh Month it shall be a day of Attonement it shall be an holy Convocation unto you and ye shall afflict your Souls and offer an offering made by Fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work on that day for it is a day of Attonement to make an Attonement for you before the Lord your God For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day he shall be cut off from among his people Mark when this should be at the day of Expiation or Attonement and Solemn Reconciliation with God that they might have forgiveness of all their Sins Affliction of Soul or Humiliation is inward by Godly sorrow for Sin which worketh repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 It is done by judging and loathing our selves for the Evils we have committed outwardly by Fasting and Abstinence from all fleshly Delights which the Iews observed with great rigour I press it only as it was a sign of Repentance Then we best remember Christ Crucified when we are Crucified with him Gal. 2.20 I am Crucified with Christ. When the Sensual Inclination is mortified and the Heart deadned to the pleasures of Sin which are but for a Season 2. Rejoycing in Christ Jesus The other tendeth to this as a preparation to the Solemn effect And to Repentance there must be joyned Faith which is an acceptance and acknowledgment of the benefits procured and offered to us by Christ. Therefore we cannot receive them so sealed confirmed and applied as they are in the Lord's Supper without joy We are invited to the Lord's Table as to a Feast and joy doth best become an Holy Feast This Ordinance was instituted for our Consolation as being one of those Solemn assutances given to the Heirs of Promise And their nature and use is to beget Strong Consolation Heb. 6.18 It is true we come to it with remorse but that by way of preparation and for the quickening of our appetite But the proper act wherein consisteth our Communion with Christ and his Body and Blood is the joy and contentment that the Soul received in that Christ dyed for us Christ is not only propounded as dead but as dead for us that his Death may be our Life and a fountain of everlasting comfort to us When we come to God's Table we Eat and Drink in his presence as those that are agreed with him and reconciled to him by Jesus Christ. And then Rom. 5.11 We joy in God through our Lord Iesus Christ as those that have received the attonement So Psal. 22.26 The meek shall Eat and be satisfied they shall praise the Lord that seek him your Heart shall live for ever That is the poor humble Christian is revived and comforted by the Eucharistical Spiritual Food and the vital effects thereof of which by Faith they are made partakers He speaketh there of paying his vows and alludeth to the Peace-offerings when they feasted with their Friends Which is fulfilled in the Eucharist or Commemorative Feast which we observe in the remembrance of Christ's Death These are the Spiritual Affections we come with brokenness of Heart and go away with Joy Act. 8.39 And when they were come up out of the Water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip and the Eunuch saw him no more and be went on his way rejoycing 3. The Commemoration of Christ's Death as a Mystery of Godliness is done by a due consideration or reflection on the cause occasion and benefits of it 1. The first inward moving cause of all is the great love and mercy of God to us Iohn 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life And 1 Iohn 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our Sins This must not be overlooked partly because this is commended to us Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love to us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us Some things may be told us but this is commended that we may be sure not to forget it This was the great thing propounded to our thoughts this gracious act and expression of God's mercy and bounty carried on in the most astonishing way far beyond what we could conceive or imagine And partly because this calleth for thankfulness the great principle of Gospel-Obedience 2 Cor. 5.14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead And that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again Yea the Life and Soul of every Duty the very design and tenor of the Gospel and the way of Salvation by a Redeemer is so ordered by God as to raise the highest Thankfulness in Man and that we might be deeply possessed with his Love Thankfulness is the great Duty of the Gospel and which containeth and animateth all the rest For the Gospel from first to last is a benefit 1 Tim. 6.2 Partakers of the Benefit And therefore to be received with Thankfulness for what obedience is to a meer Law that is Thankfulness to a Benefit This Duty is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or an Eucharist The Lord Jesus hath gone before us as a pattern 1 Cor. 11.24 When he had given Thanks he brake it and Verse 25. After the same manner he took the cup that is giving Thanks as Matth. 26.27 He took the cup and gave thanks And all because of that Grace and Bounty of God which he came to discover to Mankind and would Seal with his Blood Well then this Grace Love and Goodâess of God in giving his Son to dye for our Sins should never be over-looked by us That all our Acts may be Acts of Thankfulness our Repentance may be a thankful Repentance our Love may most affect the Heart with Sin Ezek. 16.63 Thou mayst remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified
Son of God Rom. 1.4 Declared to be the Son of God with Power by the Resurrection from the dead The true Messiah and Judg of the World Acts 17.31 Because he hath appointed a Day in the which he will judg the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the dead If he had been an Impostor neither could he have raised up himself being a mere Man nor would God have raised him up for we cannot imagine that Divine Providence would cooperate to countenance a Lie or Cheat. As then you would not be found Enemies to Christ in his Imperial Day give him Glory and Dominion If you slight him you despise one that is evidently declared to be the Son of God and there is no Medium either he must be your loving Saviour or your terrible Judg. If you neglect him he will not be the first-born from the dead to you nor the first-Fruits to you The first-Fruits did not bless the Tares or the Cockle or Darnel or filthy Weeds but only the good Corn though raised again you shall be by his Judicial Power Again he is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth and therefore highly to be respected Respect to great Ones and fawning upon great Ones is the practice of all the World all will seek the Ruler's Face As all Rivers run to the Sea so do all the Respects of the World to the Great and the Mighty And is not the Son of God worthy of our Respects that is sat down at the right Hand of Majesty above all If we did live by Faith as much as by Sense we would see it is our Interest as well as our Duty to honour Christ we would not fear a mortal Man that can threaten us with a Prison but Christ who can threaten us with Hell nor be dismayed at the Frowns of Men when Christ smiles Who would not fear thee O Lord and glorify thy Name Rev. 15.4 We would yield up our selves to be his willing Subjects and obey his Laws who can reward us not with Temporal Dignities but Eternal Life The Authority and Power that all others have is but derived from Christ and subordinate to him therefore if he smiles whose Frowns need we fear He is the one Law-giver that hath Potestatem Vitae Necis Power of Life and Death he is able to destroy absolutely and you may be safe in his Protection Well then if we consider what he is he deserveth everlastingly to be honoured II. What he hath done for us He loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood And there we begin First With the Fountain and bosom-Bosom-cause of all and that is Christ's Love To him that loved us 1. Christ's Love is the Ground of Man's Redemption that stirred all the Causes and set them a-work that concurred to this End Other Attributes were manifested in the Redemption of Mankind as God's Wisdom Power Justice Holiness but they are all subservient to Love but Love is at the upper end of all Causes subservient to nothing but it self If you ask a reason of other things it may be assigned but if you ask a reason of his Love that cannot be given but from it self If the question be Wherefore did God discover such Riches of Wisdom Goodness and Power for the saving poor worthless Creatures He loved us Iohn 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Wherefore did Jesus Christ submit to such bitter Agonies such an accursed Death He loved us Ephes. 5.2 Walk in Love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Savour Ephes. 5.25 Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it And Gal. 2.20 Christ liveth in me and the Life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me But now put the question Wherefore did he love us Love only is the reason of it self He loved us because he loved us Deut. 7.7 8. The Lord did not set his Love on you nor choose you because ye were more in number than any People c. but because the Lord loved you 2. As it is the fountain-Fountain-Cause so it was that Property that shined forth most conspicuously in the Work of Redemption Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his Love toward us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us And therefore this is that which we should most admire and be ravished with in our Thoughts Here next to the Description of the Excellency of Christ's Person the first thing mentioned in the Doxology it self is this To him that loved us This is a comfortable Word as if Jesus would be described and known by nothing so much as by his Love What was the Son of God but Love incarnate Love born of a Virgin Love conversing in the World and preaching Salvation to poor Sinners Love going about and doing Good Love relieving the Diseased and the Possessed curing the Deaf and the Dumb and the Blind and the Lame and finally Love dying and hanging on the Cross God is Love 1 John 4.8 The Angels in Heaven adore this Love tho Spectators not Parties interested he came not for their sakes but ours only We have a little notional knowledg of it but could we once find the saving Effects of God's Love in Christ impressed upon our Hearts by the Spirit how would you be melted and ravished and ever be thinking what Glory and Honour you might bring to him that thus loved you You and I may discourse of it it is not a few cold Thoughts of the Love of Christ will work on us but the shedding of this Love abroad in your Hearts by the Holy Ghost Rom. 5.5 There is no Knowledg like the experimental Knowledg which ariseth from the felt and known Effects of this Love this would awaken your Hopes fill you with solid Comfort excite you to your Duty 2 Cor. 5.14 For the Love of Christ constraineth us However till you have this the Means you must use are sound Belief and serious Consideration 1 st Imbracing by Faith the Love of God in Christ and the good things prepared by it as they are revealed and offered in the Gospel That is the way to get this fuller Insight and experimental Knowledg and Feeling of this Love for so the Apostle prayeth Ephes. 3.17 18 19. That Christ may dwell in your Hearts by Faith that ye being rooted and grounded in Love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the Breadth and Length and Depth and Height and to know the Love of Christ which passeth knowledg 1 John 4.16 We have known and believed the Love which God hath to us God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him 2 dly The serious Contemplation and
Iesus Christ. Where the three Persons are again mentioned and their Concurrence to our Salvation 2. That Words proper to their personal Operation are used for there is Love ascribed to the Father Grace to the Son and Communion to the Holy Ghost The Father is represented as the Fountain of Love and all Goodness and as expressing and exerting his Love by the Son and Spirit By the Grace of Christ is meant all that gracious Provision which he hath made for Man's Salvation both in the reconciling God to us and procuring the Mission of the Spirit Communion is ascribed to the Spirit because all is applied or communicated to us by him Or thus our Salvation is ascribed in Election to the Love of the Father in Redemption to the Grace of the Son in Sanctification to the Communion or Participation of the Holy Ghost 1st The Love of God Love is ascribed to the Father for the Love of God is the Cause of all consider his giving Christ for us or giving Christ to us and us to him 1. In giving Christ for us Iohn 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting Life Christ did not merit electing Love but Love rather moved God to give Christ for Sinners Love appointed the Son to be our Redeemer there was the Bosom and bottom-Bottom-Cause 2. In giving Christ to us Iohn 6.37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out John 17.6 I have manifested thy Name unto the Men which thou gavest me out of the World thine they were and thou gavest them me and they have kept thy Word And in time he doth execute and accomplish this out of his meer Love Ier. 31.3 The Lord hath appeared to me of old saying Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting Love therefore with Loving-kindness have I drawn thee As by Elective Love the Heirs of Salvation were distinguished from others in God himself or in his Intention and Purpose so by Regeneration and converting Love they are distinguished from others in themselves and set apart from the rest of the World to be the Objects of his special Love and Instruments of his Glory Besides there is a Love of God whereby he loveth us when we are in Christ Jesus which is the Ground of our Safety and Preservation Rom. 8.38 39. For I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. 2dly The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ. What is intended us by the Father is brought about by the Grace of the Redeemer and therefore all the Provision Christ had made for our Salvation is called Grace 2 Cor. 8.9 For ye know the Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his Poverty might be rich That is ye know his gracious Condescension in submitting to such a mean Condition for our sakes So 1 Cor. 16.23 The Grace of Lord Iesus Christ be with you all Grace is God's Favour and Love which was first purchased by Christ by his Obedience and bloody Sufferings Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Iesus Christ. Secondly applied by his Intercession which is also another Act of his Grace and therefore we come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help us in time of need Heb. 4.16 Namely having a great High Priest that is passed into the Heavens Iesus the Son of God ver 14. who knoweth our Infirmities Thirdly As it is bestowed by him as Lord of the New Creation upon such Terms as every way keep up the Honour and Interest of Grace in our Salvation Ephes. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God All the saving Benefits we have by Christ are from Grace such as Reconciliation with God the Renovation of our Natures and everlasting Glory and Happiness they are all dispensed in a gracious way from first to last 3dly The Communion of the Holy Ghost Communion is ascribed to the Holy Ghost It may be rendred Communion or Communication The Spirit reneweth and changeth our Nature and worketh Faith and Holiness in us Light Life and Love are the special Benefits which he communicates to us He doth enlighten our Minds to understand and believe the great things prepared for us by God through Jesus Christ. It is said 1 Cor. 2.10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God So Ephes. 1.17 18. That the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledg of him the Eyes of your Vnderstanding being enlightned that ye may know what is the Hope of his Calling and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints Life for we live in the Spirit and are born of the Spirit that is have a new Life begotten in us therefore called a Spirit of Life before we lived as Men now as Christians And Love the Heart is bent and inclined to God It began in Love and endeth in Love Love of God endeth in Love to God This threefold Effect is expressed 2 Tim. 1.7 For God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear but of Power of Love and a sound Mind Life in Power as Light in a sound Mind And it is all together called the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature For it answereth to the Wisdom Power and Goodness of God 3. That all these Words imply Riches of Goodness Bounty and Liberality Love noteth a ready Inclination to do Good to others without the Excitement of external Motives it openeth and inlargeth the Heart to another and then the Hand cannot be shut 2 Cor. 6.11 O ye Corinthians our Mouth is open unto you our Heart is enlarged Grace is some good thing freely given So ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Communion noteth a liberal Effusion or Distribution of the Graces of God's sanctifying Spirit and so it suteth with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Love of God and the Grace of Christ Elsewhere ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Communion of the Spirit is joined with Bowels and Mercies Phil. 2.1 If any Fellowship of the Spirit if any Bowels and Mercies that is if you have received any Good from Christ by the Spirit So Rom. 15.26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain Contribution for
Diseases he ascended up into a Mountain or retired into a Ship and leaves the Multitude and when they would have crowned him King he refused it all these were Arguments and Instances of his Humility Hear and wonder at what you read Iohn 13.3 Iesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God A magnificent Preface Now one would have thought that some rare act of Empire Soveraignty and Domination should have followed No Verse 4.5 He riseth from Supper and laid aside his Garments and took a towel and girded himself After that he poureth water into a bason and began to wash his Disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded The Disciples did not wash the feet of their Lord but the Lord washed the Disciples feet and what was the meaning of this see Verse 15. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you 3. In Love to the Saints Iohn 13.34 A new Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another And Iohn 15.12 This is my Commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you Oh how express are these Injunctions There is nothing in which Christ was more Eminent than in his Love no rancour of Spirit no boyling up of Envy but all Love The Apostle propounds it to Husbands Eph. 2.25 Husbands love your Wives even as Christ loved the Church Now how did Christ love his Church with a great Love so as to dye for his Church The Love of Christ was sincere not for By ends he loved Saints as Saints because of his Interest in them So should we love those in whom we see most of the Image of God It was not a blaze but a constant abiding Love whom he loves he loves unto the end so must we love the Saints It is true Jesus loved some above others Iohn was the beloved Disciple John 21.20 There was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Flower of the Disciples whom he loved most but he loved them all We should Love not in Word but in Deed and in Truth Oh be filled with Love to God and Love to the Saints who have his Image stamped upon them You that are Believers have cause to love one another have we not all the same Father Are we not Children begotten of the same Holy Seed the Word Do we not all suck at the same Breasts of the Promises Do we not all sit at the same Table at the Lords Supper Are we not all cloathed with the same Robe of Christ's Righteousness and do we not all expect the same Glory 4. In his Vsefulness and Profitableness And of this the whole Gospel is a Narrative and History Therefore when the Apostle would summ up the Life of Christ he tells us this Acts 10.38 He went about doing good giving Eyes to the Blind Feet to the Lame Speech to the Dumb healing every sickness and every Disease among the people Matth. 9.35 full of Compassion to the Souls of Men. Jesus Christ was nothing else but Charity covered over with Flesh and Blood he was always either giving of Blessings or forgiving of Sins All his Miracles were not actions of Pomp but of Relief and Succour unless it were blasting the Fig. tree and sending the Herd of Swine into the Sea and the Figg-tree was Barren and the Swine was of little use in the Jewish Countries All the Miracles of Christ were salutary and healing We never read he destroyed one Man by Miracle but saved many Eph. 5.1 2. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us Oh that we could learn this none is born for himself but for the Community and it is better to give than to receive 5. In his Piety towards God If you consider the History of Christ you will find him much in Acts of Devotion he was Frequent and Fervent and Reverent in Prayer Frequent Mark 1.35 And in the morning rising up a great while before day he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed And Luke 6.12 He went out into a Mountain to pray and continued all night in Prayer to God Alas we are weary in our ordinary stinted Offices of the day how soon do we grow weary of calling upon God! but Christ spends whole Nights in Prayer He was Fervent Luke 22.44 And being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly And he was Reverent when he was in the Garden he kneeled down and prayed Luke 22.41 And he fell on his face and prayed Mat. 26.39 He was a most diligent Observer of the Sabbath Luke 4.16 As his custom was he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day he was diligent in frequenting the Publick Assemblies Oh how doth this confute those that out of height of Spirit and a proud Conceit of themselves are above Ordinances and say they were appointed only for Christians of the lower form He praised God for mean and course fare when he had but five Barley Loaves and two Fishes He took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed to the Disciples John 6.11 Alas when our Tables are full furnished we have scarce any serious Thoughts of God that giveth us richly all things to enjoy 6. In his Spirituality and Heavenly-mindedness Christ came from Heaven and he lived in Heaven all the while he was upon the Earth When he was at the Well of Samaria conferring with the Woman there he discourseth of the Well that springs up to Everlasting Life Iohn 4.14 Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life He drew her from a Discourse of ordinary water to a Discourse of the Water of Life When he was at Supper at the Pharisee's House he discourseth of eating Bread in God's Kingdom Luke 14.15 Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God When he had wrought the Miracle of the Loaves he discourseth of the Bread of Life and the Mannah that came down from Heaven Iohn 6.27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for the meat which endureth to everlasting Life which the Son of Man shall give unto you When he was at the Feast of Tabernacles where they were wont to pour out water and so to make a Pool near the Temple he discourseth of Rivers of water and of the flowings of the Spirit Iohn 7.38.39 He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive A rare Pattern for us to follow We should labour as to see all things in God so to see God in all things and to be heavenly minded
he that forbeareth let him forbear for they are a rebellious House As if God should say Let them now do what they will I am at a point Now sometimes their Condition is irreversible which is clear because when God hath given them over how shall they repent and break off their Sin God's Oath is past Psal. 95.11 Vnto whom I sware in my Wrath that they should not enter into my Rest. God standeth sworn to condemn and destroy them If they should have any Anguish of Conscience and Remorse stirred up in them God will have no regard to it Prov. 1.26 27. I also will laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your Fear cometh when your Fear cometh as Desolation and your Destruction cometh as a Whirlwind when Distress and Anguish cometh upon you Hosea 5.6 They shall go with their Flocks and with their Herds to seek the Lord but they shall not find him he hath withdrawn himself from them When Men have neglected God's Seasons and begin to be surprized with Death then they would fain have Comfort and Pardon but instead thereof the Lord puts them off No you would have none of me Psal. 81.11 12. But my People would not hearken to my Voice and Israel would none of me So I gave them up unto their own Hearts Lust and they walked in their own Counsels Instead of Compassion they are mocked and turned over to their evil Courses and carnal Company Joh. 8.21 I go my way and ye shall seek me and shall die in your Sins That this may be before Death appeareth because Grace is confined to a Season Isa. 55.6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near And that Season is not always as long as Life Luke 19.42 If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy Day the things which belong to thy Peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes The Day of Grace is bright but short We may mourn over many thus when the Measure of their Iniquities is filled up God giveth over calling and expecting and waiting for their Repentance It is true the time is not to be known by any Man of himself nor by others concerning him we cannot state the number of Calls because Circumstances are diverse and Light breaketh in with Warnings in a different degree There is a great deal of variety in the Lord's Dispensations therefore all must use the Means and warn we must to the last We can only say in the general that after God hath done with them and expects no Good from them he may let them live for the Glory of his Justice as after God had hardned Pharaoh's Heart yet he continued his Life that he might shew his Power in him Exod. 9.16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to shew in thee my Power and that my Name may be declared throughout all the Earth You may survive your final Hardness as a Monument of God's Justice in the World 2. It is a just Dispensation It is just with God to take the Refusal and be gone and to cease to deal with your Hearts any more when after all the melting Intreaties of his Grace you cast him off he commands and you will not obey he is willing and you are not willing he intreats and you will not hearken He wishes Deut. 5.29 O that there were such an Heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my Commandments always that it might be well with them and with their Children for ever He laments Psal. 81.13 O that my People had hearkned unto me and Israel had walked in my Ways And you will not join with him He is grieved that his Offer of Grace is not received and you will not lament It is but just that a Man should be left to his own Choice that a Man should miss of that Salvation which he cared not for that if after Warnings Convictions and Intreaties he will be filthy he should be filthy still In Hell Conscience will acquit God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I have been the cause of all this to my self 3. It is a merciful Dispensation to the rest of the World We are told of these things before-hand not that we may despair that is an ill Consequence but that as we love our Souls we should take heed of resisting Grace and turning our Backs upon our own Mercies It is a merciful and fatherly Warning to strike in betimes and own the God of our Mercies Delay is that that undoeth all the World Now this is the best Cure of Delay 2 dly The Causes of it 1. Sinning away the Light of Nature By Nature Men have some knowledg of Good and Evil. There are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã some common Principles as that God is and must be worshipped that we must do wrong to none nor pollute our selves with promiscuous Lusts. The Heart of a Pagan would rise against it Rom. 2.14 15 For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the Work of the Law written in their Hearts Now when Men hold the Light of Nature in Vnrighteousness Rom. 1.18 when they hold poor Truth fettered and bound that it cannot break out into an holy Conversation this provoketh God to give them up to Hardness There are many Sins which Nature discovereth and may be avoided upon such Reasons and Considerations as Nature suggesteth Now when Men put the Finger into Nature's Eye or will not suffer Reason to exercise any Dominion but let loose the Reins to Lust God leaveth them to a carnal and sottish Heart Tho by the Light of Nature Men cannot convert to God yet by the Light of Nature Men may practise many Duties and avoid many Sins The Gentiles were left to an unsound injudicious Mind When Men fall into foul Sins against the Light of Nature Conscience loseth its Feeling and Tenderness Eph. 4.19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto Lasciviousness to work all Vncleanness with greediness Hearts prejudiced against the things of God may grow to very Stones 2. Refusing God's many Calls Prov. 29.1 He that being often reproved hardneth his Neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without Remedy God may bear with us a while after one or two or more Reproofs but when we are often reproved and often convinced and yet will not be reclaimed God may give us over The exact Date of Christ's Patience or the Number of his Calls e're the fatal Period of final Induration cometh we know not but when it is often you are in danger Take heed of forfeiting your own Mercies by refusing the most earnest Motions of the Word and Spirit When God importuneth to be heard and obeyed his Spirit being thus resisted and refused God will be at length wearied and will not give as much Grace as before Isa.
swallowed up of this Joy shall we be no more affected with it now We that shall so shortly be so full of joy shall we be empty now Shall not we rejoyce who have now a Title to Heaven and shall in a little time be in the full and perpetual possession of it III. The many Reasons which shew we should have a greater inclination to this Blessed Work than usually we have and be oftner in it 1. Because God hath done so much to raise it in us All the Persons of the God-head concur and contribute their Influence in that way of operation which is proper to each to give us grounds of joy 1. The Father giveth himself to us and his favour as our felicity and portion Gods Love is the bosom and bottom cause of all our Happiness which sets all other causes at work and when we have the sure effects of it can any thing so bitter befal us that will not be sweetned by the Love of God Or so evil that this shall not be ground of Comfort to us Psalm 4.6 7. There are many that say who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased Carnal Men must have something good to sense but Godly Men take their full delight in God This doth them good to the Heart it is not like a little Dew that wets the Surface but like a soaking Showre that goeth to the Root And more enough to draw us off from the World enough to swallow up all our infelicities yea to encounter the Thoughts of Death Hell and Judgment to come 2. The Son is also matter of rejoycing to us as our Redeemer and Saviour You are to consider what the Lord Jesus hath done to deliver you from Sin and the bitter Curse of the Law and the Fears of Death and the Flames of Hell The Eternal Son of God came to heal our wounds Isa. 53.5 By his stripes we are healed To make our peace with the Father by the Blood of his Cross Col. 1.20 To vanquish our Spiritual Enemies and triumph over them Col. 2.14 15. to be the ransom of our Souls 1 Tim. 2.6 The Captain of our Salvation Heb. 2.10 the Head of his Church Eph. 1.22 The Treasury and Storeâouâe of all our Comforts Iohn 1.16 and in short he hath recovered us to God and hath given us an Interest in the Comforts of his Gospel and the Promises thereof which are in him Yea and in him Amen and is not this matter of joy and rich comfort The whole Covenant breed strong consolation in the hearts of Gods People Heb. 6.18 And David saith Psalm 119.111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever for they are the rejoycing of my heart It doth our hearts good when we take these things for our Happiness Abraham rejoyced in the fore-thought or fore-sight of Christs day Iohn 8.56 Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad And should not we rejoyce that live under the clearest dispensation of it The benefits of our Redemption by Christ should be so esteemed that no Affliction should be grievous The Kingdom of Christ is every where represented as a Kingdom of Joy and Comfort Rom. 14.17 The kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost And if we be real Members of it we should see more cause of rejoycing in Christ Jesus 3. The Holy Ghost concurreth in his way of Operation as a Sanctifier Guide and Comforter As a Sanctifier he layeth the foundation for Comfort for it is the spirit of Delusion that comforts us in our sins that by imaginary Comforts he may keep you from those that are real solid and everlasting But the true Spirit is a Sanctifier and therefore a Comforter he first poureth in the Oyl of Grace and then the Oil of gladness Comfort and Joy follow Holiness as Heat doth the Fire And then as a Guide either in his restraining Notions as he mortifieth Sin or in his inviting motions as he exciteth and quickneth to Holiness These are helps to our Comfort cannot a Man live merrily without Sin And do you think a Life of Holiness irreconcileable with a life of rejoycing no such matter it is the ready way to joy especially to joy Spiritual But chiefly as a Comforter he is purposely given us to keep in this Holy Fire and maintain a constant delight in God in our Souls And therefore it is called Joy in the Holy Ghost where God himself taketh upon him the Office of a Comforter surely there will be comfort Life will quicken light will illuminate and the comforting Spirit will comfort in that season and degree God seeth fit and we are capable to receive Now he comforteth partly as sealing partly as giving earnest 2 Cor. 1.22 Who hath also sealed us and given us the earnest of the spirit in our hearts As sealing us by stamping the impress and image of God upon us which is the mark of his Children the sure Evidence of his Love and the Pledge of our Happiness And as giving us the earnest of a Blessed Estate to come that Life is begun which there shall be perfected Now consider all this when God himself will be our Portion our Saviour our Comforter should not all this cause us to rejoyce in God what-ever our Condition be in the World 2. All the Graces tend to this Faith Hope and Love 1. Faith That is a dependance upon God for something future that lyeth out of sight Now these invisible and future Objects are so great and glorious that they support and comfort the heart how afflicted soever our present Condition be 1 Pet. 1.8 In whom believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Rom. 15.13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost In both these places Faith implyeth a firm belief of and dependance upon Christ as an All-sufficient Saviour by whom alone God will give us Eternal Life This Faith will breed a perpetual rejoycing in the Soul if it be firm strong and operative 2. Hope breedeth this Joy also Rom. 12.12 Rejoycing in hope and Rom. 5.2 We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God Though we be pressed with Miseries for the present yet there is a better Estate to come the excellency and certainty of which causeth us to rejoyce and giveth us a foretast of it Joy is chiefly for Injoyment but there is a partial Injoyment by hope which is not only a desirous expectation but delightful for tast or praeoccupation of the thing hoped for 3. Love to God also causeth us to rejoyce in him For it sheweth it self in a complacency and well-pleasedness of Mind in God as our chief good Psalm 16.5
for he doth it with good Advice 1. Though using our knowledge with Charity to our Neighbour be the matter in question yet loving our Neighbour is the fruit of our Love to God and both these go together 1 John 4.20 If a man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a Lyar for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen And they prove one the other 1 John 5.1 2. Every one that loveth him that begat loveth also him that is begotten of him by this we know that we love the Children of God when we love God and keep his commandments So that it must be expounded thus If any man love God and consequently his neighbour for Gods sake Therefore the master of the Sentences well defined Charity thus Charitas est dilectio qua diligitur deus propter se proximus propter Deum vel in Deo It is such a love by which we love God for himself and our Neighbour for Gods sake We love them either for Gods command or because of Gods Image in them or with respect to his Glory that we may not offend them but gain them to God And so the Apostle diverteth not from his scope only puts the cause for the effect love to God as productive of love to our Neighbour 2. Neither is the Apostle besides his purpose in the latter clause For Gods knowledge of us is the cause of our knowledge of him John 10.14 I know my sheep and am known of mine First he knoweth us and then we know him For Divine Illumination or saving Knowledge is the Fruit of his Love to the Elect they are chosen by God therefore taught of God and he giveth us Grace to know acknowledge and love him Doct. They that know God so as to love him in Sincerity are known of God 1. What is this sincere love to God 2. How God is said to know such 3. The Reasons I. What is this Sincere Love to God Here is 1. An Object 2. An Act. 3. The Qualification of the Act. First The Object is God Who is considered 1. As Amiable 2. As Beneficial 1. God is Amiable for the Excellency of his Nature and Glorious Attributes as Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Power Surely God is to be loved not only for the goodness that floweth from him but for the goodness that is in himself as he is a lovely being I prove it by these Arguments 1. Love is founded in Estimation Now the excellencies of God are the ground of our esteem We value nothing but what we account excellent and glorious Therefore the essential goodness of his Being and his moral goodness or his Holiness have an influence on our Love as well as his Benefits These things are worthy of esteem in the Creature and attract our Love as in the Saints Psal. 16.3 But to the Saints that are in the Earth and to the Excellent in whom is all my Delight Psal. 15.4 In whose eyes a vile Person is contemned but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. Why not in God and His Law Psal. 119.140 Thy Word is very pure therefore thy Servant loveth it 2. We are not only to bless God but to praise him Psal. 145.10 All thy Works shall praise thee O Lord and thy Saints shall bless thee Blessing relateth to his Benefits Praise to his Excellencies We bless him for what he is to us we praise him for what he is in himself Now whether we bless him or praise him it is still to increase our love to him and delight in him for God is not affected with the flattery of empty Praises yet this is an especial Duty which is of use to you as all other Duties are It doth you good to consider him as an Infinite and Eternal Being and of glorious and incomprehensible Majesty It is pleasant and profitable to us Psal. 135.3 Praise ye the Lord for the Lord is good sing Praises unto his Name for it is pleasant 3. A great Effect of Love is Imitation We imitate what we love and delight in as good we take delight to transcribe it into our own manners because we are affected with it Eph. 5.1 Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children in whatever he hath made amiable and lovely by his Example Love doth imply such a value and esteem of God that we count it our happiness to be like him to be Merciful as he is Merciful and Holy as he is Holy We value it as a Perfection in God and desire the Impression of it upon our own Hearts It is the greatest demonstration of Gods love to us to make us like himself 1 Iohn 3 2. Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but this we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is It is the greatest Demonstration of our Love to God to desire and to endeavour after it Psal. 17.15 As for me I will behold thy face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness Now like him we must be not only in Benignity but in Holiness and Purity 2. God is Beneficial as he hath been good or may be good to us 1. In Creation He made us out of nothing after his own Image Eccl. 12.1 Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth We must remember him so as to love him please him serve him Verba notitiae connotant affectus Words of Knowledge import Affection And in Youth whilst the Prints of his Creating Bounty are fresh upon us In age we carry about the Fruits and Monuments of our unthankfulness that we have no more improved our Time and Strength for God It is charged on Israel Deut. 32.15 He forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation Many never think who made them nor why whose Creatures are we who gave us all that we have How can we look upon our Bodies without Thoughts of God whose Workmanship it is Or think of the Soul without thinking of God whose Image and Superscription it beareth Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods Matth. 22.21 2. In Redemption there is the truest Representation of the Goodness and Benignity of God 1 Iohn 4.10 Herein is Love not that we loved God but that be loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us God commendeth his love to us by these wonders of his Grace and set it before our Eyes that we must either Question the Truth or else we cannot resist the force of this Love 1 Iohn 4.19 We Love him because he first loved us God loveth first best and most 3. The Mercies of daily Providence in sustaining our Being Deut. 30.20
Edify others it availeth not 2. The Nature and Properties of it in the Text where the Properties of this excellent Grace of Charity are reckoned up Charity suffereth long and is kind and envyeth not vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly c. In all these Predications there is a Metonymy either of the Subject or of the Effect Of the Subject Charity doth thus that is the Man endowed with this Heavenly Gift or Grace If of the Effect then the meaning is that where this Habit is impressed and rooted it is the cause that these Effects ensue That a Man is long suffering kind c. It is all one in which sense we expound the Apostle for all cometh to the same issue This premised let us explain the several Clauses 1. Charity suffereth long ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is maketh a Man long suffering This being the first and principal Act of Charity it concerneth us to state it aright and so it meaneth that where Christian Love prevaileth in the Heart of any he doth not presently break out into Anger when he is Injured by another but patiently expecteth his Repentance and his own Deliverance by the Lord. This ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Long-suffering signifyeth a slowness to Anger Jam. 1.19 Be slow to wrath This agreeth with the Pattern Rom. 9.22 What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long-suffering the Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction And it agreeth with the nature of Love for we are not easily offended with those whom we love Love and Anger are contrary Love would profit Anger would hurt and offend others Therefore Love will not easily give place to its contrary Charity doth pass by and wink at Causes of Offence and therefore a quick resentment of Injuries is quite opposite to Christian Love Paul requireth of the Servant of the Lord that he be Patient ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2 Tim. 2.24 The Servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men apt to teach patient To which he adds v. 25. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves And in the Context here he speaketh of useing Gifts in an Edifying manner but to all Christians he saith Charity suffereth long It is meant that they should be long suffering not easily drawn to a Fury or Revenge of Injuries So that this first property of Charity is That it restraineth Wrath and a desire of Revenge notwithstanding Reproaches and Injuries Rom. 13.19 Dearly Beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto wrath That is bear with it leave it to God who will in time convince the Party of his Wrong or recompense it unto him which is according to the Example of the Lord Jesus 1 Pet. 2.23 Who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously When fowl Crimes were laid to his Charge he did not give the least ill word for the worst usage but only resigned himself to his righteous Father to deal with him and his Persecutors as he saw fitting Now therefore we should be patient and long patient Alas how many Injuries doth God put up at our hands Whence is it that he hath not long since dissolved the World and put an end to the Wickedness of Man We can only render the reason of the Text Love suffereth long If we cannot suffer long we are like that naughty Servant that when his Lord had forgiven ten thousand Talents and his Fellow-servant to whom he owed an hundred Pence said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Matth. 18.29 Have patience with me That is setting aside thy present Anger bear a little and see what I can do to pacifie thee An Instance of this rash Anger which is contrary to this suffering long we have in David 1 Sam. 25.22 God do so to me and more also if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall But he behaved himself better towards Saul whom he spared when he had him in his power which was not the manner of Men in those times as Saul confesseth 1 Sam. 24.18 For if a man find his Enemy will he let him go well away 2. And is kind ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That is tender and compassionate ready to do good We have a Pattern of both in God not only of Forbearance but of Goodness Therefore it is said Rom. 2.4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance Now Charity that is of Divine Original infuseth into Man's Nature a Benignity which moveth a Man to consider others as well as himself that he may do good to them It is a God-like Quality 1 Pet. 2.3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that he is kind This is a quality by which they are inclin'd and ready to do good to every one even to Enemies Well then it is not enough ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to bear long and not to hurt but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it disposeth us to do good This is fitly coupled to the former The perfection and strength of Christianity lieth in these two things Mala pati bona agere To suffer Evil and do Good for it To return Good for Good and Evil for Evil the Heathens knew this and Publicans will do this To render Evil for Good is the property of the Devils and Men inspired by them But to do Good for Evil and to overcome Evil with Good this is proper to Christians And therefore by these two Properties doth Heavenly Charity bewray it self by Long-suffering and Kindness Therefore if you would know whether the Love of God doth dwell in your Hearts are you made ready to suffer and to do any thing for the Glory of God and the Salvation of your Neighbour If so then you are sincere with God He that loveth suffereth long he that loveth is kind and doth all the good he can to others delights in doing good and that not only to Friends in which there is nothing eximious They do nothing but what the Carnal World would do Matth. 5.46 47. For if you love them that love you what reward have ye Do not even the Publicans the same And if you salute your Brethren only what do ye more than others Do not the Publicans so But to those that deal frowardly with us as Ioseph to his Brethren Gen. 45. 3. Charity envyeth not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nothing is more adverse to the Goodness commended to us than Envy which cannot bear the Good of another and therefore is very far from procuring it and promoting it Such was the Envy of Cain who taking notice that his Brother's Offerings pleased God more than his own he could not bear it and at length slew him 1
Psal. 17.14 15. From men which are thy hand O Lord from men of the world which have their portion in this life and whose Belly is fill'd with the hid treasure they are full of Children and leave the rest of their substance to their Babes But as for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness Men are dazled with the splendour of Worldly Happiness and think it a fine thing to be well fed and well clad and well attended but this is all for them and theirs and shall we Envy them for this That they have more for Back and Belly than we have a little pomp of living especially when such great things be provided for us in Christ. Alass what is a more plentiful Table to the Everlasting fruition of God The Pomp of the World to the Honour Christ will put on us at the day of Judgment when he shall be admired in his Saints The favour of Princes to seeing God face to face Vain Glory to Everlasting Glory Their momentary Pleasures which pass away suddenly as a Dream to that Everlasting pleasure at God's Right hand A little Decking and Adorning of the Body to be satisfied with his likeness and to walk with God in White 2. Present Enjoyments Here I take in the notion of the Text his secret is with the righteous There is some difference what should be meant by the secret of the Lord. Sometimes it noteth 1 Spiritual Illumination or the knowledge of God's Will Psal. 25 14. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him he will teach them his Covenant They know more of God's mind than others do and they know it not only Literally but Spiritually That is by the lively light of the Spirit not Disciplinarily Now this is a great favour that God doth so love them that he doth admit them to his Arcana Iohn 15.15 I have called you Friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you 'T is a greater Evidence of God's Friendship to understand his Counsel in the Word and to be acquainted with the Mysteries of Godliness than all the Success Power and greatness of the World Christ gave his Spirit to the rest of the Apostles but his Purse to the Son of Perdition Some have Knowledge and Eminent Gifts others Wealth and Honour yea though they which increase Knowledge increase Sorrow yet the knowledge of a despised hated truth though it expose us to sufferings is better than to flourish in opposition against the ways of God through our ignorance obstinacy and blind prejudice And will you that are directed in the way of Salvation advanced to know God and the tenour of his Will far more than the Blind Carnal Careless World Envy them that are only acquainted with Christianity as a Report or Tradition calculated and formed to to a Worldly Interest 2. The secret of the Lord may intend not only direction in our Duty but Satisfaction about God's Dispensations for our Consolation in all Afflictions God helpeth them to interpret his Providence better than others called the secrets of Wisdom Iob. 11.6 And should the Saints whose Graces make them so sharp and Engaged that know more of God's mind than others in these very dealings which are so troublesome and offensive to them should they envy the Oppresâor and be so discontented to suffer a little that have more skill than others to look into God's ways and consider the course of his proceedings 3. Secret may imply the visible Blessings of God's Providence so 't is said Iob. 29.34 The secret of the Lord was upon my Tabernacle The singular Love God bore to him did preserve him and did guide him and his Family and made all his Affairs prosper Psal. 31.20 God shall hide them in the secret of his presence When they seem to be left open as a prey to the oppressions and injuries of their potent Adversaries yet there is a secret guard upon them and they are kept the World knoweth not how Now should such that are hedged round about with the guard of a secret Blessing leave their refuge for the defence of a little Interest in the World which God hateth and can soon blow upon Psal. 91.1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty 4. Secret may note the intimate familiarity that is between God and them and that inward Consolation which they have with God in a course of Holiness which is hidden from the World 1 Iohn 1.7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another John 14.21 He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him Many secret Refreshings visits of Love expressions of Grace are bestowed upon them Now have such any cause to envy others They that walk with God meet him at every turn are so often comforted and quickned by the manifestations of God and the influences of his Grace Psal. 17.15 As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness The Psalmist preferreth his present condition before the greatest happiness of carnal men because he had opportunities of beholding the Face of God or enjoying the Comforts of his Presence This is as if a Child fed with Manchet should envy a Slave for being fed with the Bread of Sorrows 3 The Nature and mischievous effects of this envy For 't is not so tame an evil as the world doth imagine 1. It disposeth to fretting or murmuring against God's Holy Providence Psal. 37.1 Fret not thy self because of evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity Prov. 24.19 Fret not thy self because of evil men neither be thou envious at the wicked It notes a certain taxing of God's Providence as if he did not rightly Govern the World 1. It tempteth to Apostacy from God's ways to the ways of the wicked That 's in the Text clearly Envy not the oppressor and chuse none of his ways implying that this emulation of their Happiness will draw you to cry up a Confederacy with them and to enter into their Lot and Net Prov. 24.1 Be not thou envious against evil men neither desire to be with them When we admire their Happiness it secretly inticeth our Hearts to take share and lott with them A Man is perverted by this Envy it weakneth our fear of God our value of Spiritual Blessings expectation of things to come and diligence in God's Service 3. It implieth and includeth many ill Principles which tend directly to the weakning of Faith Hope and Piety 1. It implyeth or includeth this Principle or Opinion That the felicity of a Man consisteth in these external good things which the wicked enjoy which is an error destructive to Godliness For change a Man's
or Iustice what it is 81 Vid. Justice Why we are to be just and righteous 87 Working Righteousness what it is 1071 Why this is required of us as the Principle of our Actions ibid. Righteousness of Faith what it is 928 956 What is the Hope built on this Righteousness of Faith 930 What is the Work of the Spirit in this Business ibid. S SAcraments relate to Christ's Death 1009 Preparation to the Sacrament necessary 621 What Thoughts are preparative to it ibid. Vid. Meditation Sacrifice What Sacrifices did import 830 Christ's Death had the true Notion and Virtue of a Sacrifice 829 The New Covenant is confirmed by virtue of this Sacrifice 830 Salvation what it is 17 That it is free to all that will accept of it 23 Who are they that contemn Salvation 20 That it is a difficult thing to be saved 397 Vid. Difficult In Christ there is not only Refuge but Salvation 231 What we should do to attain Salvation 21 Vid. Saviour Sanctification meritorious applicative and practical what 1090 How Christ sanctifies 1092 Who are the Sanctified 1089 Why the Relation of Children is reckoned only to the Sanctified 1090 Sanctification hath Influence on our Comfort and Peace 1072 Sanctifying God what it is 267 Satisfaction What Satisfaction a good Man hath 1114 Why he shall have it ibid. Satisfaction of Christ the Compleatness of it proved 1151 The Comfort of this to poor Sinners 1152 Saviour Christ is a Saviour 153 How many ways Christ is a Saviour 887 Why Christ is a Saviour both by Merit and by Power ibid. Christ's great End and Business is to be a Saviour 888 How we shall do to have Christ our Saviour 154 Directions to receive Christ as our Saviour 892 Motives to accept Christ as a Saviour 891 Thankfulness to Christ as a Saviour a Christian Duty 893 Scriptures proved to be the Word of God 721 Sensible Confirmations of the Divine Authority of Scriptures 674 Secret of the Lord with the Righteous what it signifies 1049 Seed Christ the Seed of the Woman 534 Vid. Incarnation Seeking What Christ's seeking those that are lost implies 885 The Necessity of this seeking 886 Seeking Glory and Honour and Immortality what it is 1226 Sell all thou hast explained vindicated and applied 332 333 Vid. Forsake all Self-denial included in the Nature of Faith 441 Sensuality what it is 57 Arguments against it 58 The Evil and Danger of it 373 Shewing forth the Lord's Death what it signifies 1013 The Properties of shewing forth Christ's Death 1014 Why we should shew forth Christ's Death 1015 Motives to shew forth Christ's Death 1016 Sight of Christ past present and to come opened 477 Sight of Faith The objects the Sight of Faith are exercised about 478 Sin the Nature of it 646 Sin a Wrong to Father Son and Holy Ghost 163 The Deceitfulness of Sin 505 The Effects of Sin 650 The Aggravations of Sin 652 The Sins of God's People most provoking to him and the Reasons of it 271 The Sinfulness of Sin opened 646 682 General Observations about the Sinfulness of Sin 643 The Sinfulness of Sin to be meditated on ibid. Sins against Conscience the Mischief that comes by them 530 The Power of Sin how Christ takes it away 541 The Guilt of Sin how Christ takes it away 542 The Being of Sin how and when Christ takes it away ibid. Sin to be avoided and why 168 Not one Sin but all must be renounced Vid. Renouncing Why God corrects his People for their Sins in this World 272 Sleep Sobriety to be used in it 66 Sloth spiritual Directions how to shake it off 616 Sobriety what it is 65 The particular Branches of it Vid. Sleep Recreations Meat and Drink Apparel Care of the World The Necessity of Sobriety 63 Objections against preaching Sobriety answered 64 Solisidians condemned 729 Sorrow vanquished by Faith 242 Soul The Nature of the Soul 1166 The Soul immediately created by God 1163 The Immortality of the Soul proved 1162 1164 1173 The Evil of not believing the Immortality of the Soul 1172 Sparing God's sparing his People what it signifies 1017 This is a choice Privilege ibid. The Reasons why God spares his Children 1019 Who they are whom God spares 1021 How God's sparing is consistent with afflicting his People 1022 1023 Staggering at the Promise opened 487 Strength It is the Privilege and Duty of God's Servants to go from Strength to Strength 1003 Why God's Servants should go from Strength to Strength ibid. Motives to go from Strength to Strength 1006 They that go from Strength to Strength shall at last appear before God in Sion 1008 Sufferings of Christ. Prophecies and Types of Christ were fulfilled in his Sufferings 1149 1150 Sufferings of Christ a Copy and Pattern to us 1150 T TAking away Sin How Christ takes away the Sin of the World 1126 1127 Taking away Sin the great End of Christ's coming into the World and why 1128 What we should do to have Sin taken away Vid. Sin 1129 Temporal good things why God gives them to carnal Men 987 Vid. Good Things Temptations how to be prepared against them Vid. Devil 710 Thanksgiving for Benefits a Debt we owe to God 421 Graces acted and promoted in Thanksgiving 422 Sins prevented by Thanksgiving ibid. Reasons for Thanksgiving 423 In Thanksgiving spiritual Blessings are especially to be owned 424 We are to give Thanks for spiritual Blessings not only for our selves but others 426 We are not thankful for Mercies when the Heart is lifted up 700 Time the Preciousness of it 69 Tongue of the Just what is meant by it 1053 1058 In what Sense the Tongue of the Just is as choice Silver 1055 Sins of the Tongue 1053 Our Tongues to be used for edifying and why 1056 Directions hereunto 1058 Trembling at God's Word what it is 1033 Difference between it and holy Fear ibid. How it doth or may come to nothing 1036 Trinity How much Believers are ingaged to all the Persons of the Trinity 125 How all the Persons in the Trinity concur to the Salvation of Believers 1233 Love ascribed to the Father Grace to the Son and Communion to the Holy Ghost 1233 1234 How Love Grace and Communion concur to our Salvation 1235 Trouble of Heart what it is and wherein it consists 235 237 The Causes of this Trouble of Heart 236 Why Christians should not let their Hearts be troubled 238 Directions to prevent this Trouble of Heart 239 Faith a Means of easing our Hearts from Trouble 241 Trust. Considerations to quicken us to improve our Trust 255 Encouragements to be faithful to our Trust 256 Trust in God a Duty in dark Times 814 The Profit of trusting in God then 815 There is much in the Name of God to incourage Trust ibid. They that fear God and obey him are most incouraged to trust in him 816 Trusting in Riches that there is such a Sin proved 377 The Evil of it 378 The Signs and Discoveries of it 383 The Evil
not only shew them what they must do but how they may come to do their Duty in this kind for saith he The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation c. In the Words you may observe the Teacher the Lesson the Encouragement and Inducements to learn First The Teacher is the Grace of God described ver 11. Secondly The Lesson is the whole Duty of our Heavenly Calling set forth ver 12. and there 1 st Negatively in departing from Evil denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts. 2 dly Positively in cleaving to that which is good We should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Where you may observe that the Duty of the Creature is distributed into three Ranks and Parts according to the several Objects to which it is refââred soberly we must walk as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly that the Lord himself may not be defrauded of his Portion There are in a moral Consideration but three things in the World thy Self thy Neighbour and God and suitably doth the Apostle distribute and parcel out Christian Offices and Duties soberly as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly as to God Thirdly The Encouragements to learn and they are two If we look forward there is Hope if we look backward there is Gratitude or an Obligation arising from the Death of Christ. In short the two great Motives and Inducements are the Hope of eternal Life and the End of Christ's Death Hope of eternal Life ver 13. Looking for the blessed Hope c. the End of Christ's Death ver 14. who gave himself for us c. The Text being long I shall forbear Exposition till I come to handle the several Branches I shall first begin with the Teacher described ver 11. The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men. The Grace of God is described by its Property it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Grace bringing Salvation or tending to Salvation as the Word signifies and by a special Adjunct its present Manifestation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it hath appeared suddainly broken out like the Light of the Morning after a dark Night and then there is the Extent of that Manifestation it hath appeared to all Men. Some indeed refer this Extent not to the Word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it hath appeared but to the Word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã bringing Salvation and they read it as we do in the Margent The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation to all Men hath appeared there is not much Difference To supersede all Doubt and Dispute about the matter all Men here signifies all sorts of Men for the Apostle had spoken of Servants and Bond-men that they in their Relations should glorify God and he proves it by this Argument The Grace of God hath appeared to all Men that is to the Bond-man as well as to the Lord and Master therefore they in their places are to discharge their Duties as well as others for the Gospel as I said hath appeared to all Men and presseth all sorts of Duties I. I begin with the thing described The Grace of God It is a term that admits of divers Acceptations sometimes it is put for God's eternal Favour and Good-Will sometimes for the Effects of this Favour as Grace infused and bestowed upon the Creature Ephes. 4.7 To every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ. Sometimes it is put for the Gospel which is the Charter by which we hold this Grace and so it is said Rom. 6.15 You are not under the Law but under Grace i. e. under the State of the Gospel Here I take it in the first sense viz. for the gracious Will and good Pleasure of God to do Good to Men or to shew Mercy to the Creature for God's Kindness and Bounty to Men is expressed by several terms the most usual are two Grace and Mercy I will shew how they agree and how they differ They both agree in this that they are Attributes which merely respect the Creature The Love and Knowledg of God first falleth upon himself God knows himself and loves himself and then the Creature But now the Mercy and Grace of God are merely transient and pass out to and respect the Creature only God cannot be gracious to himself and merciful to himself as he loves himself and knows himself and therefore herein they agree But now in some respects they differ Grace properly signifies the Freeness of God's Love Mercy relates to the Misery of the Creature God's external Motive is our Misery and his internal Motive is his own Grace Mercy respects us as we are in our selves worthy of Condemnation Grace respects us as we are compared with others that are not elected As for Instance if the Question be Why any are chosen to Life it is out of Mercy because they are lost and undone Creatures But then if the Question be Why these are chosen above others then the ultimate Reason is God's Grace Once more the Angels that never sinned are saved meerly out of Grace and not out of Mercy it is not proper to say they are saved out of Mercy for they were never miserable but Men that were once miserable are saved not only out of Grace but also out of Mercy In short Mercy signifies that Love of God which helps the Miserable and Grace signifies a Property in God to give forth things freely and without desert Grace doth all gratis freely and without any Merit or Precedent Obligation or Debt Note then Doct. 1. That the original and first moving Cause of all the Blessings we have from God is Grace Survey all the Blessings of the Covenant and from first to last you will see Grace doth all Election Vocation Justification Sanctification Glorification all is from Grace There 's a clue of Scriptures which will lead us through all these steps and direct us to Grace 1. For Election Rom. 11.5 6. There is a Remnant according to the Election of Grace And then he adds presently for Paul cannot mention Grace but he must run out into the Praise or Vindication of it And if by Grace then it is no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace But if it be of Works then it is more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work Mark the Context The Apostle's drift in that place is to prove that all Israel are not cast away that thô the Nation of Israel were past by yet there were a Remnant chosen according to the Election of Grace Grace is spoken of by the by but he takes every little Occasion to digress into the Commendation of Grace and what doth he say The Foundation and Ground of Salvation is God's Election and the impulsive Cause of Election is God's Grace Why is there a Remnant there 's an Election and why is there Election it is according to Grace 2. Our Calling when Election breaketh out in time and becometh
1 Pet. 2.3 If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious A Man hath at first a Taste that he may have trial how sweet the Ways of God are Now if after trial you are not satisfied but make choice of the World again it is a mighty Wrong and Contempt you put upon Grace for you do as it were declare and pronounce that you have made trial and upon Experience have found the Pleasures and Profits of the World are better than all the Comforts that flowed from the Grace of God The whole Aim of the Word is to perswade Men to make trial of the sweetness of Grace Psal. 34.8 O taste and see that the Lord is good and that his Grace is good but now your Experience is a flat Negative and Contradiction to the Word and you do as it were say I have made trial and I find no such Sweetness in it None wrong Grace so much as they that have tasted of Grace and yet have turned aside to the Profits and Pleasures of the World again and grow weary after some Strictness of Profession Vse 2. To press you to glorify Grace This is the Glory God expects from you Ephes. 1.6 To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made you accepted in the Beloved If an Artificer shew you a curious Piece of Workmanship he expects to be praised for his Skill A Wrestler that hath foiled his Adversary expects to be praised for his Strength not for his Beauty that is not a proper Praise A King in his Royal Gifts expects to be praised for his Magnificence So sutably the Lord who doth all things freely and according to the motion of his own Will expects to be praised for his Grace therefore you should be always ecchoing out Grace Grace Zech. 4.7 and admiring the Dispensations of God's Love It is a sure sign a Man hath received no Benefit by Grace if his Heart be not stirred up to praise Grace certaialy he that is a Partaker of it must needs be most affected with it Let us see a little what cause we have to praise God above the Angels and above other Men. 1. Above the Angels I do not mean the bad Angels with whom God entered not into Treaty he dealeth with them in Justice not in Grace but even the good Angels In some respects we have more cause to bless God than even the good Angels Thankfulness and Gratitude looks to the freeness and graciousness of the Gift rather than the greatness of it it looks not to the benefit so much as the good-will of the Giver It is true God hath been exceeding good and bountiful to the Angels in creating them out of nothing that they are the Courtiers of Heaven but mark how good and gracious he is to us above them The Angels never offended him but he is bountiful and gracious to us notwithstanding the Demerits of our Sin his wronged Justice interposed and put in a Bar yet Grace breaks out and is manifested to us unworthy Creatures There was nothing that hindred God from doing good to the Angels A holy God hath a blessed righteous holy Creature but Justice must be satisfied as to us we are a Generation of sinful Men the wretched Children of Apostatizing Adam we had forsaken God and cast him off which the Angels never did that had a long Experience of God's Goodness and Bounty The very Angels wonder at the Grace shewed to us especially at that by which Justice is satisfied 1 Pet. 1.12 Which things the Angels desire to look into 2. Above other Men. There 's a common and inferior sort of Grace which is made known to all the World The whole Earth is full of his Goodness but this Grace that bringeth Salvation that 's peculiar to the Elect to a few poor base Creatures in themselves a little handful whom God hath chosen out of the World Joh. 14.22 How is it that thou wouldst manifest thy self unto us and not unto the World Free Grace doth pick and choose and how it chooseth out things that are in themselves of no account Look as when God chose a Sacrifice for himself the Lion was not offered but the Lamb and the Dove so God hath chosen not those that are accounted Gods but a few despicable Creatures Free Grace many times chuseth the worst that all the Glory might be of God If a Man might chuse Trees for Building he would not chuse crooked ones but those that are straight and fittest for his use and purpose But when God comes to look among the Sons of Men many times he chuseth the most crabbed Pieces and calls them with a holy Calling according to the purpose of his Grace It is a wonder sometimes to see how Grace makes the difference between two Persons involved in the same Guilt Justice can make no Separation when Men are in a like Case they must look for the same Judgment but Grace makes a great Separation Many of God's Elect are as deep in Sin as those now in Hell yet God makes a difference Both the good and bad Thief were involved in the same Condemnation yet one is taken into Paradise and the other went unto his own place Thus praise and glorify Grace Hath appeared unto all Men. The word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã appeared signifies it is broken out of a sudden like a Star or like a Light that was not seen before and so it refers to the late Manifestation of the Gospel in the Apostles days Now on a sudden it broke out So Luke 1.78 79. Through the tender Mercy of our God whereby the Day-spring from on high hath visited us to give Light to them that sit in Darkness and in the shadow of Death It is meant of the breaking out of the Gospel as the Day doth after a dark Night so here the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã implieth the same Doct. 2. That Grace in the discoveries of the Gospel hath shined out in a greater Brightness than ever it did before This Grace appeareth in the Gospel there and there only is it clearly manifested In the Prosecution of this Point I shall shew I. What Darkness there was as to the knowledg of Grace before II. How much of Grace is now discovered I. What a Darkness there was before the eternal Gospel was brought out of the Bosom of God There was a Darkness both among Jews and Gentiles In the greatest part of the World there was utter Darkness as to the knowledg of Grace and in the Church nothing but Shadows and Figures 1. This Grace was not known in the World only a little of it was Psal. 33.5 The Earth is full of the Goodness of the Lord some inferiour Grace was made known to them in the Creation and in the course of Providence by showers of Rain and fruitful Seasons Grace on this side Heaven but nothing of the Secrets of God's Bosom of the Incarnation of God of the Expiation of Sin
Principle is That God is none of those things which are seen but something more excellent And in the second Commandment we have God's invisible Nature for Images are forbidden upon that ground because God cannot be seen Deut. 4.12 You saw no Similitude only you heard a Voice The third Principle is That God hath a care of Human Affairs and judgeth with Equity And in the third Commandment you have the Knowledg of Human Affairs even of a Man's Thoughts ascribed to God for that is the Foundation of an Oath Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain The chief intent of that Commandment is to forbid Perjury it also forbids rash Swearing and mentioning the Name of God without Reverence for in an Oath God is invoked as a Witness as one that hath Knowledg even of the Heart there his Omniscience is acknowledged And in an Oath God is appealed to as a Judg and Avenger there his Justice and Power is acknowledged For the fourth Principle That this God is the Creator and Governour of all things that are without himself that is established in the fourth Commandment by the Law of the Sabbath For the Sabbath at first was instituted for this very purpose to meditate upon God as a Creator a Day on purpose is instituted to keep up the Memorial of the Creation of the World Well then you see what is the Foundation of Godliness Now out of these speculative Notions practically flow of their own accord to wit That God alone is to be worshipped obeyed honoured trusted And as far as we set up other Confidences or are ignorant of the Excellency of the true God or so far as we deny God his Worship and Service or serve him after an unworthy manner by superstitious or idolatrous Worship or carelesly and hypocritically or so far as we have gross Opinions of his Essence or exclude the Dominion of his Providence or cease to call upon his Name so far we are guilty of Ungodliness as will appear more fully hereafter The second Question What it is to deny Vngodliness Denying is a word that properly belongs to Propositions We are said to deny when we contradict what is affirmed but by a Metaphor it may be applied to Things which the Will refuseth as some are said to deny the Power of Godliness 2 Tim. 3.5 when they check and resist it and will not suffer Godliness to work tho they take up a Form of it Now there 's a great deal of reason for that Phrase whether we look to the inward Workings of the Heart or to the outward Profession which they made in those days 1. If you look to the inward Workings of the Heart all things are managed in the Heart of Man by rational Debates and Suggestions and we deny when we refuse to give Assent to ungodly Thoughts Suggestions and Counsels Before Sin be fastned upon the Soul there is some ungodly Thought some Counsel which when we suppress and will not hearken to those Thoughts which Sin stirs up we are properly said to deny it Every Corruption hath a Voice If Envy bids Cain Go kill thy Brother he hearkens to it Ambition speaks to Absalom thus Go rise up against thy Father and Covetousness speaks to Iudas Go betray thy Lord So Ungodliness hath a Voice Carnal Affection urged by Satan bids us neglect God or serve him in a slight manner mind thy own business favour thy self Corruption awakened by Satan will sollicite to Evil. Now suppressing and smothering such Thoughts and Suggestions with Hatred and Detestation is fitly exprest by refusing to hearken to Sin 's Voice or denying Vngodliness 2. Some ground there is for the Expression if we look to the Custom of those Times In making an outward Profession probably here is some Allusion to the ancient manner of Stipulation When any came to be admitted into the Church there were Questions propounded to him Abrenuncias Dost thou renounce Credis Dost thou believe Spondes Dost thou promise to walk before God in all holy Obedience And the Person answered Abrenuncio I do renounce Credo I do believe and Spondeo I do undertake This was that which Peter calls The Answer of a good Conscience towards God 2 Pet. 3.21 when in the presence of God they can answer to all these Demands SERMON IV. TITUS II. 12 That denying Vngodliness c. Secondly NOW let me open the thing it self In Ungodliness there is something Negative and that is denying God his due Honour and something Positive and that is putting actual Contempt upon him I. For the Negative Part when God is denied his Honour Now to find out how this is done let us a little enquire what is the special and peculiar Honour which God challengeth to himself It stands in four things To be the First Cause the Chiefest Good the Supream Authority and Truth and the last End And therefore when we do not acknowledg him to be the First Cause the Chiefest Good the Supream Authority and Truth and the last End we rob him of the Glory of his Godhead and are guilty of this which the Apostle calls Vngodliness I shall go over these Branches First God must be honoured as the First Cause which giveth Being to all things and hath his Being from none and so we are bound to know him to depend upon him to observe his Providence and to acknowledg his Dominion over all Events or Things which happen in the World And so far as any of these are neglected so far are we guilty of Vngodliness Well then under this Head 1. Ignorance is a Branch of Ungodliness and I name it in the first place because it is the Cause of all our Disorder in Worship and Conversation This is the first cause of all Wickedness to be ignorant of God The Apostle seconds the Observation 3 Epist. Iohn 11. He that doth Evil hath not seen God Certainly he that makes a Trade of Sin hath not a right sight and sense of God he knows not God A true sight and sense of God keepeth the Soul from Sin There is nothing that keeps in the Fire of Religion nor maintains Respect between Man and Man nothing that preserves Honesty and Piety so much as right Thoughts and Apprehensions of God But now generally People are ignorant of God they know him as blind Men do Fire A Man that is born blind can tell there is such a thing as Fire because he feels it warm but what a kind ãâã thing it is he that never saw it cannot tell So the whole World and Conscience proclaim there is a God the blindest Man may see that but little do they know of his Nature and Essence what God is according as he hath revealed himself in the Word Look as the Athenians built an Altar and the Inscription was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to the unknown God Acts 17.23 so do most Christians worship an unknown God And as Christ taxed the Samaritans John 4.22
Ye worship ye know not what so generally do People worship they know not what Ask them what God is and whom they worship they cannot tell they are carried on by Custom and dark and blind Superstition and they mutter over their Prayers to an unknown Power such blind and wild Conceits have they of the Nature of God till they see him by the Light of his own Spirit This Ignorance is sad because it is a sign of no Grace and it is a pledg of future Judgment In these days of Gospel-Light it is a sign of no Grace Jer. 31.34 They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them saith the Lord. God hath no Child so little but he knows his Father In the days of the Gospel now it is so clearly preached it is required of the meanest sort as well as those that have the advantages of better Education And it is a Pledg of future Judgment 2 Thess. 1.8 Christ will come in flaming Fire to render Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel We have low Thoughts of the Guilt of Ignorance and think God will not be severe against such many ignorant Creatures are harmless and do no wrong but to live and die in Ignorance is a matter of sad Consequence There is Vengeance for Pagans that know not God by showers of Rain and fruitful Seasons and indeed they principally are intended Divide Men into two sorts those that have only the Light of Nature Sense and Reason to guide them and those that have the Light of the Gospel there is Vengeance for Pagans that have no other Apostles sent to them but those natural Apostles of Sun Moon and Stars They had Light shining to them in God's Works and they had Sense and Reason Eyes to see the Light and so they were bound to know the first Cause and might see God working and guiding all things in the World but there is much more Vengeance for Christians for those that have God's Word the Light of Faith and yet shut their Eyes against the Light Usually come and talk with Men they will acknowledg they are poor ignorant Creatures and God that made them will save them tho the Scripture speaks quite contrary Isa. 27.11 This is a People of no Vnderstanding therefore he that made them will not have Mercy upon them and he that formed them will shew them no Favour God is exceeding angry when all Advantages of Light are lost A Pagan is ignorant of God but you are worse being unteachable He that hath only Sun and Moon to teach him shall be damned for his Ignorance of God but if you do not profit by the Light of the Gospel to conceive more worthily of the Nature and Glory of God your Judgment will be greater 2. We do not honour God as the First Cause when we do not depend upon him that is Ungodliness Trust and Dependance is the ground of all Commerce between us and God and it is the greatest Homage and Respect which we yield to the Creator and First Cause Now when Men can trust any visible Creature rather than God their Estates rather than God they rob him of his peculiar Honour That there is such a Sin as trusting in the Creature excluding God is clear from Job 31.24 If I have made Gold my Hope or have said to the fine Gold Thou art my Confidence Iob to vindicate himself from Hypocrisy reckons up the usual Sins of a Hypocrite among the rest this is one to make Gold his Confidence Men are apt to think it the Staff of their Lives and Stay of their Posterity and Ground of their Welfare and Happiness and so their Hearts are diverted from God and their Trust is intercepted It is a usual Sin tho little thought of for Men to intrench themselves within a great Estate and then think they are safe and secure against all the Changes and Chances of the present Life and so God is laid aside Let God offer to intrench us within the Promises and leave his Name in pawn with us yet we are full of Fears and Doubts Prov. 18.10 The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth into it and is safe But ver 11. The rich Man's Wealth is his strong City and as an high Wall in his own Conceit Such as think themselves safe in a great Estate do not acknowledg God as the First Cause which gives Being and sustains all things and therefore Covetousness is called Idolatry Col. 3.5 and a covetous Man is called an Idolater Ephes. 5.5 not so much because of his Love of Money as because of his Trust in it The Glutton counteth his Belly his God Phil. 3.19 Whose God is their Belly he mindeth the Gratifications of his Appetite yet he doth not trust in his Belly-Chear he thinks not to be protected by it therefore he is not called an Idolater as the covetous who robbeth God of his Trust. We are all apt to make an Idol of the Creature and poor Men think if they had Wealth this were enough to make them happy they trust in those that have it which is Idolatry upon Idolatry Therefore it is said Psal. 62.9 Surely Men of low degree are Vanity and Men of high degree are a Lie To appearance Men of low degree are nothing and Men of high degree are a Lie because we are apt to trust in them But chiefly it is incident to the Rich they that have Riches are apt to trust in Riches Mark 10.23 How hardly shall they that have Riches enter into the Kingdom of God! compared with ver 24. Children how hard is it for them that trust in Riches to enter into the Kingdom of God Now this is a secret Sin A Man doth not think that he makes Money his Idol if he he doth not pray or offer Sacrifices to it or give it some perceivable Worship and tho he use it as familiarly as any thing in a House But this Idolatry lies within tho a Man doth not entertain his Gold with Ceremony yet there is his Trust and Confidence that he shall be safe and do well because he hath such an Estate which he depends upon and not upon God We smile at the Vanity of the Heathens that worshipped Stocks and Stones and Idols of Gold and Silver and we do worse but more Spiritually when our Trust is terminated in the Creature Though we do not say to Gold Thou art my Confidence or you shall deliver me or I will put my Trust in you or use any such gross Language yet this is the Interpretation of our Carriage A covetous Man may speak as basely of Wealth as another he may say I know Gold is but refined Earth but his Heart resteth on it as his only refuge and stay and he thinks he and his Children cannot be happy without it which is a great Sin it sets up another God chains the Heart to the World and
keeps it from good Works 3. We do not honour God as the first Cause when we do not observe his Providence either in Good or Evil either in our Crosses or Blessings The blind World sets up an Idol called Chance and Fortune and do not acknowledg God at the other End of Causes as swaying all things by his Wisdom and Power If Evil come to them they think it is by Chance and Ill-luck as the Philistines said 1 Sam. 6.9 It is not his Hand that smote us it was a Chance that happened to us So prophanely do most Men judg of Providence and of the Evil of the present Life that it is a Chance Isa. 26.11 Lord when thy Hand is lifted up they will not see Men look to Instruments and second Causes and do not regard God If things go ill they snarl at the Stone but do not look at the Hand of him that throws it as if all this while God were but an idle Spectator and looker on and had no hand in all that befals us Iob doth better Chap. 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Chrysostom hath a sweet gloss upon it he doth not say ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Thief the Caldean the Sabean hath taken away but the Lord. In all Afflictions we should look beyond the Creature and not complain of ill Fortune or Chance or Stars or Constellations or altogether of Men or Instruments or any thing on this side God he is the first Cause in any Evil that befals you therefore see God's Hand in it So also in Mercies and Blessings it is Ungodliness when we do not see God in them Wicked Men receive Blessings and never look up They live upon God every moment they have Life Breath Motion Health and hourly Maintenance from him yet God is not in all their Thoughts As Swine raven upon the Acorns and never look to the Oak from whence they fall and so they may enjoy the Comfort of the Creature they are content but never look higher than the next Hand The Spouses Eyes are compared to Doves Eyes Cant. 4.1 And some make this gloss upon it which is pious though it doth not interpret the Place Doves peck and look upward When we sip and peck upon every Grain of Mercy we should look up and acknowledg God The Lord complains of this Ungodliness in his People Hos. 2.8 For she did not know that I gave her Corn and Wine and Oil and multiplied her Silver and Gold There cannot be a greater sign of an ungodly Spirit than this unthankful Prophaneness We all live upon the meer Alms of God have all our Comforts and Blessings from him and all that God expects is but Acknowledgment that we should take notice of him as the Author of all the Good we enjoy Other Creatures live upon God but they are not capable of knowing the first Cause but he hath given us a Mind to know him and Capacities and Abilities therefore this is the Rational Worship which he expects from us God hath Leased out the World to the Sons of Men Psal. 115.16 The Heaven even the Heavens are the Lord's but the Earth hath he given to the Children of Men But what is the Rent God hath reserved to himself Glory Praise and Acknowledgment But too usual is that Observation true Qui majores Terras possident minores Census solvunt those that hold the greatest Lands usually pay the least Rent so those that enjoy most Mercies seldomest acknowledg God their Hearts are full and at ease and they forget God Men are most led by outward Enjoyments they love their Bodies best and the Comforts of the Body most Now that we may not want Arguments to love and praise God God tries us by these worldly Enjoyments which concern the Body to see if we will acknowledg him but usually we raven upon the sweet of Comfort but look not from whence it comes This was the Trial God used to the Gentiles showers of Rain and fruitful Seasons filling their Hearts with Food and Gladness Acts 14.17 Nevertheless he left not himself without a Witness in that he did Good and gave us Rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons filling our Hearts with Food and Gladness Every time thou eatest and drinkest thou shouldst think of God But alas seldom do we give God the Honour of his Providence we forget God when he remembers us None more unworthy of any Good and more unthankful to God for it than Man 4. Another piece of Ungodliness is when we do not acknowledg his Dominion over all Events If he be the first Cause he will have his Government to be acknowledged How so By using and undertaking nothing in the course of our Affairs till we have asked his Leave and Blessing The Apostle saith 1 Tim. 4.4 5. Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving For it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer that is by the Word we know our Liberty and in Prayer we ask God's Leave and Blessing in all things that we use To use another Man's Goods without his Leave is Robbery and so it is to use Food Physick or any Creature till we have asked God's Leave all should be sanctified by the Word and Prayer When we go about any Business or undertake a Journey or fix our aboad in the World we ought to be enquiring of God for things that seem to be most trivial and casual God hath the greatest Hand in them therefore we must still enquire at the Oracle It is a piece of religious Manners first to enquire of God and therefore they are taxed Iames 4.13 Go to now ye that say To Day or to Morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a Year and buy and sell and get Gain For that ye ought to say If the Lord will we shall live and do this or that vers 15. You forget to bid your selves Good-morrow or Good-day or Good-speed when you forget to consult and advise with God in Prayer The Heathens would begin nothing weighty but they would still consult with their Gods for their Principle was The Gods regarded greater Matters but took no notice of those of a smaller Consequence Now by this means would the Lord preserve a constant remembrance of himself in the Heart of the Creature It keeps up the Memory of God in the World to acknowledg him as one that hath an over-ruling Hand in all the Businesses and Affairs of this World Prov. 3.6 In all thy Ways acknowledg him and he shall direct thy Paths The Children of God dare not resolve upon any Course till they have asked Counsel of God Thus God will be acknowledged as the first Cause and so Men are guilty of Ungodliness if they do not know him depend upon him observe his Providence and acknowledg his Dominion over all Events in the World Secondly God will be
dangerous and it would be a safe Place were it not for Lust 2 Pet. 1.4 The Corruption that is in the World through Lust. The fault is not in the Object in Gold in Wine but in the Heart of Man not in the Creature whom we abuse to this excess but in our own Lusts. God made them to be Creatures for our help and Lust turns them into Snares for our ruin As when a Vessel is filled with filthy Liquor and it runs dreggy the fault is not in the Piercer that broacheth it and giveth it vent but in the Liquor it self Lust is the cause of all the Hurt that is done us in the World the Creature doth only broach the Barrel gives vent to our Desires and we run dreggy and filthy Were it not for Lust nothing in the World could harm us All other things are conquered with ease if a Man could subdue his own Affections and all Temptations are so far under us as we are above our selves Again it is Lust that doth hinder our Peace How quietly and happily would Men live if they were more mortified Men desire more than they have and so are made poor not by Want but by Desire He that expects little is soon satisfied and certainly he will never storm at Injuries that hath overcome his own Passion whereas a froward Man is at the command of others because he hath not the command of himself he doth not storm at Disgrace that hath not set too high a price upon himself If a Man be vile and little in his own eyes when others contemn and slight him they do but ratify his private opinion of himself and who is angry with another because he is of the same judgment with himself But usually this is the cause of Discontent and Trouble we set too high a price upon our selves and when others will not come up to it we are troubled Take away the Lust and Trouble ceaseth No Man is hurt but by himself It is a Man 's own Affection and Feeling that makes the Misery Always the fuller of Lust the fuller of Discontent What need Haman be troubled that Mordecai would not bow the Knee but that he looked for it and set a value and esteem upon it The Inordinateness of Affection causeth the Greatness of the Affliction and because Lust is not mortified the Life is full of Trouble We would have more than God allows us and so our Trouble doth increase Again as Lusts deny them for Lusts will end in gross Sins and gross Sins in publick Shame and therefore as Elisha cast Salt into the Spring to cure the Brackishness of the Water so look to Lusts they are the Spring and Rise of evil Actions Let any Lust alone either Pride or Envy or Worldliness if you do not destroy it it will prove a bitter Root to some gross Sin and it may be of final Apostacy and Desperation A Man that is given to worldly Lust one time or other is put upon the trial if we find the Sin Providence will find the Occasion and then he comes off with visible Shame and Dishonour There is the Root within and to what an excess doth Sin grow in those that deny themselves nothing and will not be denied in any thing Lusts grow licentious and unruly and because they usurp God's place in the Heart therefore God suffers it always it ends ill in Shame and Judgment Iudas at first was but a little worldly he allowed his Covetousness and it brought him to betray his Master and that brought him to the Halter Gehazi was first blasted with Covetousness and then with Leprosy Ananias and Saphira were taken off with sudden Judgment Nay God sometimes arms their own Hands and Thoughts against themselves Covetousness begins with inordinate Desire and ends in Injustice and then that Injustice must be professed and vailed with Hypocrisy as in Iudas and that Hypocrisy breeds hardness of Heart and then God bringeth them to Shame and that Shame leads on to Despair and Ruin And so I may instance in other Lusts Sensuality begins with Daintiness and ends in Adultery or some shameful Act or else with Beggary or some shameful Punishment and both end with Despair as Sodom began with fulness of Bread then went on to foulness of Lust and that brought Hell out of Heaven The Lust of the Flesh can also boast of its Trophies and Spoils it drowned the old World burned Sodom slew three thousand of God's own People in one day Numb 23. compared with 1 Cor. 10. Pride is not behind-hand proud Men have their Falls and usually they are the more shameful because God's Honour is most sensibly usurped by Pride The great Work of Providence for these 6000 Years hath been to pour Shame and Contempt upon Pride The first Act of God's Judicial Providences was the casting the Angels out of Heaven then Adam out of Paradise What shall I tell you of Nebuchadnezzar turned a grazing and Herod eaten up with Lice Thus you see we had need to beware Sin is an ill Guest that always sets its Lodging on fire Once more why we are to deny these Lusts it is Lust that blasts all your Duties and Services it either hinders or poisons them it either draws away the Heart from Duty or in Duty Gal. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these two are contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would And Rom. 7.19 For the Good that I would I do not and the Evil that I would not that I do Lust will not suffer God to have his due The love of Pleasures cannot brook constant exercise in Religion and the World is a great Encroacher and Pride is all for the Publick where it may be seen in private Duties it is slight or nothing As a Mill stands still when the Wind blows not so when the Wind of Popular Applause ceaseth a proud Man cannot spread his Sails or do any thing for God and Conscience Thus it draweth away the Heart from Duty Then it draws away the Heart in Duty Observe it and you will find it by constant Experience the main Lust will surely be discovered by the working of the Thoughts when you come to pray or in your solemn Duties that which your Thought is most taken up with discovers the main Lust Ezek. 33.31 They come unto thee as the People cometh and they sit before thee as my People and they hear thy Words but they will not do them for with their Mouth they shew much Love but their Heart goeth after their Covetousness The Devil loveth to affront Christ to his Face and therefore takes advantage of the chief Lust which occupies and possesses the Heart to cast up Mire and Dirt even in God's presence Therefore Lust hinders poisons or perverts Duty All that Men do in Religion if Lusts remain in force is either to promote Lusts or to conceal a Lust to hide
begrudg the pains of his Service 1 Cor. 15.58 Be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord for asmuch as ye know that your Labour will not be in vain in the Lord. The Children of God are wont to think they can never do enough for God that hath found out such a Reward for them in Christ. A thousand Years Service will not deserve one hour's Enjoyment of this blessed Hope much less eternal Happiness When we come to see what shall be bestowed upon us we shall be ashamed that we have done no more Work for God having so much Wages and such excellent Encouragement Mat. 25.37 the Saints are brought in there saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee Drink being ashamed Ah Lord this is nothing What have we done At the Day of Judgment there will be the highest Exaltation of the Saints and yet the lowest Self-abasement they will wonder even to admiration of Angels There will be Christ's owning them and they disclaiming their own Services and all their Works and Christ rewarding them And therefore grudg not if you have the strictest Precepts of any Religion remember you have the noblest and highest Reward 6. It informs us what cause we have to contemn all earthly things tho they be never so great and glorious because of this blessed Hope There are two Considerations that will make us contemn the World and they are suted to the two essential Parts of Man and we should ever think of them We carry about us a mortal Body and an immortal Soul the Body lasts but for a while and the Soul survives and out-lives the Body's Happiness Now we toil our selves in gathering Sticks to our Nest when to morrow we must be gone Alas here we dwell in Houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the Dust which are crushed before the Moth Job 4.19 Our Estate in this World is represented by a Tabernacle which is a moveable Habitation but our Estate in Heaven is represented by a Temple Here it is but a Tabernacle and that of Clay that will be crumbled into Dust nay we are said to be crush'd before the Moth and a Moth is but a little enlivened Dust and so is Man The World is but a House of Potters Vessels that will be soon broken And shall we for the Conveniences of a Temporal Life prejudice and run the hazard and loss of our Eternal Hopes Shall we injure the Soul to gratify the Body that is the way to destroy both for ever Our great care should be for that Place where we live longest in the other World we have the longest Life and the most glorious Possession therefore our great Care should be for that 7. It informs us what little cause we have to envy carnal Men the Hope of your Profession is a blessed Hope This was David's Preservative he was daily in danger of his Life and his Enemies were fat and shining in the Pomp of the World and how doth he comfort himself Psal. 17.15 When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy Likeness as if he had said Alas their Felicity is but a sorry thing they are filled and I shall be filled too David sums up their Happiness under two Heads Whatever here we have it is either for personal Use or for our Posterity A worldly State is only valuable upon these two Grounds what we may use for the present and what we may transmit to our Children Now what a sorry Happiness is this to what I expect 1. For personal Use ver 14. Their Bellies are filled with thy hid Treasure that is with the rarest Dishes and best Meats which God's Store-house doth afford By hidden Treasures is meant Food and other worldly Comforts therefore called hidden Treasures because it doth not lie within every one's grasp and reach they are not vulgar and common Delights The meaner sort their Hand will not attain to it Lo here is all that which God allows them for their Portion the filling of the Belly and alas this is but the Happiness of Beasts who eat with less remorse yet all their Happiness is to fill their Belly with better Food than the poorer sort which indeed is a Misery rather than a Happiness for what doth this but nourish sensual Lusts and strengthen and hearten our Enemy And gorgeous Apparel is but a Supply from Creatures beneath us it is but Stercus in volutum Dung neatly wrapp'd up here 's the Sum of all a Carnal Man's Happiness that which God allows him for his Portion But a Christian hath better Fare if he goes into the Sanctuary there 's enough but if he goes into Heaven there 's a great deal more David defeats the Temptation by this Psal. 73.16 17. When I sought to know this it was too hard for me until I went into the Sanctuary of God to enjoy God in his Ordinances and the present Glimpses of God's Face Present Communion with God is far to be preferred above all the Dainties in the World But that is not all we shall be satisfied for ever We may go into Heaven as well as into the Sanctuary and behold God's Righteousness When I awake that is out of the Dust I shall be satisfied with thy Likeness A Child of God hath his Content and Happiness to the full when he comes to die A carnal Man his Back hath been richly clothed and Belly filled but when he comes to die he hath a sad Doom Son remember thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus his evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luke 16.25 was said to Dives who fared deliciously every day and was clothed in Purple and fine Linen Well you have your Portion and must look for no more you give God a discharge for ought else But for God's Children then their Happiness begins they are going down to sleep in the Grave and when they awake they shall be filled they have not only God's Favour here but Eternal Felicity hereafter They that are called to a Feast will not fill themselves at home with courser Fare The rich Glutton who had his Belly full of hid Treasure here was shut out but Lazarus is carried into Abraham's Bosom and feasted there for this was their Table-gesture to lie in one another's Bosoms Christians reserve your Appetite a little you will be satisfied it is but staying a little longer for a better Meal We expect to be like Angels let others be like Beasts whose Happiness lieth in feeding 2. Then for the other part the transmission of Honour and ample Revenues to Posterity It is true Man is much carried out this way he would fain advance his House and live gloriously in his Posterity Posterity is a shadow of Eternity Children are but the Father multiplied when the Father's Thread is spun out then the Knot is knit his Name and Memory is continued in the World by his Children
glorify us his Coming is sutable to his Work that is visible in Power and great Glory therefore it is said Col. 3.3 When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in Glory Christ is to have all first and we at second-hand when he comes in Grace Iohn 17.19 For their sakes I sanctify my self that they also may be sanctified through the Truth So we must be glorified at second-hand first Christ and then we 4. Christ comes not simply to glorify us but to bring the Saints to Heaven with the more State O Christians remember Christ thinks he can never do you Honour enough Christ doth not send for us but he will come in Person Iohn 14.3 I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Look as the Bridegroom comes with the Youth and Flower of the City to bring in his Bride in State so Christ brings the Flower of Heaven all his holy Angels to conduct us in State to our everlasting Mansions 5. He comes in Glory that all Creatures might see his Glory to the full Men and Angels were made for this Spectacle that they might behold the Glory of Christ. It was evidenced in part at the Resurrection Rom. 1.4 And declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead But that was but a private and more covert Declaration to the Jews and when it was published to the World in the Gospel many believed not We have the spiritual Evidences of it to Faith but not to Sense and Sight But now the Personal Union shall fully and undeniably appear which before appeared but in part he is now declared to be the Great God 6. His Appearing shall be glorious because then Christ shall have the full Conquest over all his Enemies Some of his Enemies are still let alone for our Exercise Satan is not destroyed The infernal Spirits are held with the Chains of an irresistible Providence and shall then be brought trembling into the Presence of Christ Jude v. 16. The Angels which kept not their first Estate but left their own Habitation he hath reserved in everlasting Chains under Darkness to the Iudgment of the Great Day They are now in expectation of greater Doom and Terror Mat. 8.29 Art thou come hither to torment us before the time The good Angels come forth as Christ's Companions the evil Angels as his Prisoners The Saints shall judg Angels as well as Men 1 Cor. 6.3 Know ye not that we shall judg Angels Christ will have his People come and set their Feet upon the Necks of their Enemies for the present God hath a Ministry for them But tho the Devils now tempt trouble and molest the Saints for their Exercise yet then the Saints shall triumph over them when they shall be brought like Captives into Christ's Presence Vse 1. For Information in two things 1. That Humility is the way to Glory This Lesson we learn from the two Comings of Christ first in an humble manner and then in a glorious manner The Devils aspired after Greatness they would be great and not good The fallen Angels set us an ill Copy but Christ came to set us a better He came not from Heaven to teach us to make Worlds and work Miracles but to teach us to be humble and lowly Mat. 11.29 Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in Heart The way to spiritual Preferment is to be low and vile in our own Eyes as the Ball that is beaten down riseth the higher 2. We learn what cause we have to be patient under present Abasement Jesus Christ is contented for a while to lie hid and not to shew himself in all his Glory till the End of the World In the Days of his Flesh he was trampled upon by wicked Men and now he is in Heaven he is despised in his Gospel in his Cause and in his Servants tho his Person be above Abuse but he is content to tarry till the Day of Manifestation when he will appear in all his Glory so should we Vse 2. 1. Here is Comfort to the Godly To you Christ's Appearance is glorious but not terrible it is as Light but not as Fire the Trumpet sounds but it summons you to be crowned The Sign of the Son of Man shews your Lord is come it is as the Shadow of the Husband before his Person appeareth this is your Jesus Certainly they that have an Interest in him will not be afraid of him foâ his Angels are your Guardians his Saints your Companions his Appearance is to pronounce your Pardon a Crown shall be set upon your Heads in the face of all the World That which is so formidable and dreadful to our Thoughts in it self is all comfortable to a Child of God Christ came as God but still in the Humane Nature as your Brother if he be glorious it is for your sakes that you might be like him he comes as a Pattern of your Glory 2. Here is Terror to them that lie in their Sins How can they hear of these things without Astonishment You that despise the still-Voice when God speaks to you by the Angel of the Church what will you do when you hear the Great Trump which will be an Alarm to Death and Execution Your Avenger is come Christ's Sign is not Light but Terror to you If you tremble not you are worse than Felix an Heathen for Felix's Heart trembled when he heard of Judgment to come Acts 24.25 he had a more tender Conscience Nay such as do not they are worse than Satan for the Devils fear and tremble Iames 2.19 Loose and carnal Persons scoff at that at which Devils tremble It is storied of a King that wept when his Brother came to him being asked the Reason O saith he I that judg others must be judged my self Shall not I tremble at the great Trumpet that shall awaken the Dead O take Sanctuary in Grace 3. Here is Advice to All. It is a good check to Sin it stays the boiling of the Pot. Remember when thou art in the carreer and heat of thy Lusts for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment Eccles. 11.9 Whenever thou sinnest thou art entring into the Lists with Christ as if thou wert stronger than he But Man canst thou grapple with him then it is an Engagement to Repentance When Iacob heard Esau was coming with a great Power and Force against him he sends to make Peace with him You have heard that Christ comes in a glorious manner and will be terrible to his Enemies Let us compromise all Difference between us and God O go and make Peace with him it is Christ's own Advice Luke 14.32 Or else while the other is yet a great way off he sendeth an Ambassador and desireth Conditions of Peace And repent saith the Apostle that your
and the Sorrows of his Cross they all shew that it is no easy matter to bring a Soul to Heaven and therefore shall not we be zealous Carnal and careless Christians do lessen Christ's Sufferings interpretatively as if they were not so great they trifle and dally and complement in Religion and so do not make it so weighty a matter to save their Souls Luke 24.26 Ought not Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his Glory And ver 46. Thus it behoved Christ to suffer As matters were laid in God's Decree nothing else would serve the turn Christ ought to suffer it was fore-ordained But you will say How do you force this Zealousness and Earnestness for good Works out of what Christ hath done for if he hath done so much what need we do any more I answer He is gone to Heaven as the Captain of our Salvation and we must follow him in the same way he is gone to seize upon Heaven in our Right but we must force our way thither Canaan was given to Israel but they were to take Possession by the Sword or as Caleb was to drive out the Giants out of Hebron tho it was given him So tho Heaven be given and Christ hath seized upon it in our Right yet we have our Conflicts Indeed the Power of Satan is broken his Head bruised yet there are some Relicks of the Battel left for our Exercise and therefore be earnest be zealous 5. Consider to quicken you to this Zeal the Enemies of Religion are violent and earnest The Devil is busy always compassing the Earth to and fro therefore we had need stand upon our Guard 1 Pet. 5.8 Be sober be vigilant because your Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour In your Duties in your Shops in your Closets in the Congregation the Devil is still at hand O how should we bestir our selves The Enemy watcheth and dost thou sleep The Devil makes an Advantage of our Carelesness and Security While Men slept the Enemy came and sowed Tares Mat. 13.25 While we are cold and careless the Devil doth prevail over us he doth but watch to make an Advantage of our Carelesness and Security Birds are seldom taken in their flight but when they rest and pitch So Satan hath no Advantage against us when we are upon our Course and Wing when we make speed to Heaven and are zealous and earnest in our Flight Satan hath busy Agents in the World that are watchful and zealous Factors for Hell they ever shame the Church Luke 16.8 The Children of this World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light They do more against God than we do for God Satan's Cause is most befriended in the World and it is sure to be followed diligently and earnestly as a Stone runs down-hill of its own accord The Children of this World in their Imployments in their Sports are wise active and diligent and follow it earnestly While the Disciples were asleep Iudas and his Company were watchful and plotting Usually Satan's Instruments get the start of us we are cold and frigid in the Cause of Christ therefore shall we not be earnest and zealous for God 6. Consider a small measure of Grace will not become you that profess Christ and Christianity because you are to exceed others there must be something more than ordinary in your Conversation Mat. 5.20 Except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and ver 47. What do you more than others A peculiar People must live in a peculiar manner There must be something over and above in you of what is found in others The Pharisees were very strict the Apostle calleth them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the most straitest Sect Acts 26.5 they did excel all others Luke 18.11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself God I thank thee I am not as other Men. There were Washings Tithings Fastings Alms-giving and corporal Mortifications O how did the Pharisees profess ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to encrease the Law and supererrogate they exceeded all others Now saith Christ you must exceed their Exceedings It were wondrous to tell you what a painful and costly Profession of Holiness they made insomuch that the Iews thought that if but two Men were to be saved one should be a Scribe and the other a Pharisee Such were their long Devotions their sad Looks their hard Penances their bountiful Alms they did excel in all these things Therefore do not tell me merely of hearing much and praying much except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees Christ will shut you out of the Kingdom of Heaven Christians it would make a Man's Heart to tremble to consider how far a natural Man may go by the strength of an unrenewed Will how just and patient and temperate and meek some of the Heathens were how much they could overcome their Passions and deny their Worldly Concernments to tell you how far a Hypocrite a temporary Believer or a convinced Man may go and yet there must ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã be something over and above in you something more than a Heathen can do or a Hypocrite can do or a temporary Believer or a convinced Hypocrite can do you need to carry Piety to greater Heights and endeavour after a greater degree of Sanctification for there must be something excellent and exceeding both in your Hearts and Lives 7. Consider that all things in the Christian Religion are transcending and high and call for somewhat more than ordinary There are great Obligations holy Precepts rich Advantages glorious Hopes Great Obligations God was devising what he should give us and in the Covenant he hath given us Himself and could give us no greater thing he gave us his Son to die for us and his Spirit and with Christ he hath given us all things It should constrain and urge us more than it doth 2 Cor. 5.14 15. For the Love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judg that if one died for all then were all dead And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again What a poor Requital is the best that we can do We have too many Mercies as too much Wood puts out the Fire God's Love is gone to the uttermost therefore we should not be cold and careless but double our Diligence in the Work of God Then we have rich Advantages the Supplies of the Spirit A poor Heathen may torture and rack his Brain how to find out a Remedy for Sin some of them because they could not mortify a Lust hang'd themselves and some put out their Eyes and offered Violence to Nature O but we have a mighty Spirit mark there is not only a Person of the Godhead to merit our Salvation but a
us the more dreggy Delights oppress Reason wound Conscience and so make way for Sorrow 2. Or else it is called strong Consolation in comparison with it self with respect to less or more imperfect degrees of Comfort There is a Latitude in Comfort some have more and some less some have only weak Glimmerings and Drops others have strong Consolation Ioy unspeakable and full of Glory 1 Pet. 1.8 Now a Christian should aim at the highest Degree the stronger your Consolation the better is Christ pleased with it John 15.11 These things have I spoken unto you that my Ioy may remain in you and that your Ioy might be full This makes the Heart of Christ glad when our Counsels are more able to swallow up our Sorrow and revive the Soul in the midst of Trouble In some this Confidence is accompanied with more sensible Doubts Staggerings and Weaknesses though Comfort gets the upper hand in others it is more strong clear and lively and they act in the Ways of God with greater Encouragement 3. It may likewise be called Strong in regard of its Effects 1. It marreth Carnal Joy it puts the Soul quite out of taste with other things Men used Acorns till they found out the use of Bread We content our selves with Husks till we taste of the fatted Calf in our Father's House The Soul must have some Oblectation Love cannot lie idle we are taken with Garlick and Onions till we taste Manna When once we have tasted of the Love of God other things will not be so sweet Cant. 1.4 We will be glad and rejoice in thee we will remember thy Love more than Wine 2. It is stronger than the Evil which it opposeth it swalloweth up all our Sorrows whatever they be Look as we say of Wine or of any Spirits it is very strong when a few Drops can change a great deal of Water into its own Nature So because it overcometh the greatest Evils Terrors of Conscience worldly Miseries and the greatest Anguish and Distress which may befal us therefore it is called strong Comfort A mighty Joy a sense of God's Love in Christ swalloweth up all our Sorrow whatever The Wrath of God is a dreadful thing we can hardly think of it without amazement The fear of Hell Death and Judgment to come these are wont to raise a great Storm in the Conscience but spiritual Joy can only allay it As a wounded Conscience can say there is no Sorrow like unto my Sorrow so a peaceable Conscience can say there is no Joy like unto my Joy Phil. 4.7 The Peace of God which passeth all Vnderstanding shall keep your Hearts and Minds through Iesus Christ. The strength of this Joy is seen by Experience rather than Expression In outward Troubles they can take pleasure in Infirmities 2 Cor. 12.10 Glory in Tribulation Rom. 5.3 The more the Devil seeks to trouble the Saints they have the more Joy and are more than Conquerors Rom. 8.37 and all by the Power of this Joy as the more we seek to wrest a Staff out of a Man's Hands he holds it the faster Tribulations Anguish Distress Fears Torments Difficulties they are all overpowred by this Joy II. How this strong Consolation ariseth from Assurance and Certainty To establish Joy and Comfort two things are necessary Excellency and Propriety The thing in which I rejoice it must be Good and it must be Mine Sutably here in the Text there is an assurance of excellent Privileges and then there is a Qualification annexed that we may understand our own Interest God by his Oath assures us of excellent Privileges in Christ and that 's a ground of strong Consolation Then he requireth a Duty of us that we fly for refuge to take hold of the Hope set before us 1. For the Excellency of our Privileges You know that which will minister solid Comfort to the Soul it had need be Excellent A small Matter though never so sure will not occasion a strong Consolation the Joy is according to the Object Now whether a Christian look backward or forward there is Matter of Rejoicing to the Heirs of Promise Backward there is the Immutability of his Counsel Forward there is a Hope set before us From one Eternity to another may a Believer walk and still find cause of rejoicing in God If he looks Backward there God reveals to him the unchangeable Purposes of Grace before the World was If he looks Forward there is an eternal Possession of Glory when the World shall be no more It is sweet to know what 's past and what 's to come there 's naturally a Curiosity in us which would be satisfied We know what God was doing before the World was and what he will do when the World shall be no more We may know for our comfort God was treating and dealing with Christ about our Salvation putting it into an unchangeable course and he hath for ever provided for the Comfort and Welfare of our Souls that we may enjoy him love him and delight in him for evermore Man out of a natural Curiosity hath a great delight both in History and Prophecy to read what is past and to fore-know what is to come especially what concerns his own Destiny Now God in condescension tells us under the assurance of an Oath what he has done for us what Thoughts of Love he had towards us from Eternity what he will do and how happy our Estate shall be for ever God doth not only satisfy the Curiosity of our Nature that desireth Knowledg but the bent of it that poiseth us to our own Happiness It is sweet to read our Names written in the Book of God's everlasting Decree Luke 10.20 Rejoice because your Names are written in Heaven That God hath set us down as Heirs of all that Grace and Mercy he hath dispensed in his Covenant It is sweet and pleasant to reflect upon his antient Purposes of Grace and by the Eye of Faith to read our Names written and recorded in the Rolls of Heaven When you hear any Offer in the Gospel to say this was God's Purpose and eternal Counsel to bestow this upon me before all Worlds he thought of me then And then there is an Hope set before us thy Lot is fallen to thee in a fair Ground O what Joy is this to Believers that their Souls are fully provided for for ever and ever and they shall have what infinite Mercy can bestow and what infinite Merit hath purchased 2. Another Cause of strong Comfort is Interest and Propriety Besides the Excellency of the Privilege there must be the Clearness of our Interest The Object of Joy is not only good in common but our Good ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That which is a Man 's own is sweet to him It doth not enrich a Man to hear there are Pearls and Diamonds in the World and Mines of Gold in the Indies unless he had them in his own possession So it doth not fill us with
expectation of Blessedness to come Sure those think themselves wiser than God that deny us the use of the Spirit 's Motives why else doth God set these things before us It requireth some Faith to aim at things not seen The World is drowned in Sense and present Satisfaction it is a great help to us to look upward Christ made use of it Heb. 12.2 For the Ioy that was set before him he endured the Cross and despised the Shame As Man he was supported with humane Encouragements Our Flesh is weak and our Task is difficult and therefore we need all Helps But yet we are not so to covet the Reward as to fever it from Duty and neglect our Work SERMONS UPON St. IOHN XIV 1 SERMON I. JOHN XIV 1 Let not your Heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me THE Disciples had heard our Lord Jesus discoursing of his Death and Departure and the great Trials which they were to undergo and that one Disciple should betray him another eminent among them deny him and all take offence and leave him therefore Fear and Trouble seized upon them Our Lord perceiving this Distemper growing upon them seeketh to relieve and ease them He had Sorrow and Agonies of his own to think upon but he is so taken up with comforting his Disciples that he seemeth to forget himself and his own approaching Death and wholly applieth himself to them Let not your Heart be troubled c. In these Words we have 1. An Evil dissuaded Let not your Heart be troubled 2. A Cure prescribed and that is the Exercise of Faith set forth by its double Object God and Christ Ye believe in God believe also in me In God as the supream Fountain of all Blessing in Christ as Mediator or the only Way to come to God In God as the Creator and Preserver of all things in Christ as the Redeemer to whom the Care and Conservation of the Church belongeth They did believe in God they were trained up in that as Jews but they had not hitherto so clear so distinct so strong a Faith in Christ as they should have their Faith was but dark and weak as to the Dignity of his Person Therefore he presseth them to believe not only in God as Iews but in himself as Christians that was the Point the Faith of which would be now assaulted by his ignominious Death and Sufferings There are two Points First That Christians should carefully guard themselves against Heart-trouble Secondly The proper Cure of Heart-trouble is Faith Doct. 1. That Christians should carefully guard themselves against Heart-trouble 1. What is this Trouble of Heart that is here spoken of There is a twofold Evil Natural Evil which is Misery and Moral Evil and that is Sin The one we act of our own accord the other we suffer against our Wills The one ariseth from something within the other from something without This Text speaketh not of Troubles for Sin but of Troubles in the Flesh which being many and grievous to be born it cannot be supposed but that the Heart will be touched with them 2 Cor. 4.8 We are troubled on every side Yet let not your Heart be troubled A âense of them ãâã not only laâful but necessary The two Extreams must be both aâââded Slighting and Faiâting Heb. 12.5 My Son despiâe not thâu the chasteââng of the Lord nor faint âhen thou art rebuked of âim Without ãâã sense of them they cannot be improved neither do we shew that Reverence that is due to our Father's Anger as not to be afflicted and humbled under his mighty Hand Numb 12.14 If her Father had spiâ in her Face should she not be ashamed seven days Some kind of Spirits are stupid and sensless neither affected with Sin nor Misery Not with Sin tho they provoâe God to his very Face with their continual brutish Practices yet they never lay their Condition to heart Conscience is feared or at least benummed they are past feeling Eph. 4.19 Shall we say to these Let not your Hearts be troubled No these usurp a Peace and Exemption from Trouble as if Joy and Comfort were their Portion The only way for such is to be troubled that their Trouble may prepare them for Comfort Christ came to save Sinners but they are penitent and broken-hearted Sinners that are weary and heavy-laden under the Burden of Sin Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you Rest. Not the Heart that is whole but the Heart that is wounded These he calleth and calleth to Repentance Mat. 9.13 I came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Not with Misery neither with their Fathers Anger nor their Brethrens Misery Jer. 5.3 O Lord are not thine Eyes upon the Truth Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive Correction they have made their Faces harder than a Rock they have refused to return Amos 6.3 Ye that put far away the evil Day and cause the Seat of Violence to come near Fall out what will they set their Hearts for Ease and Pleasure and carnal Delights and are given altogether to Mirth and âollity Riot and Revelling and all manner of Vanity Should we say to these Let not your Hearts be troubled and lull them more asleep in carnal Security by tincturing their Sensuality with Religion and adding a Dram of spiritual Comfort to make their carnal Potion more effectual No Christ speaketh not to such kind of Persons as mind neither his Presence nor Absence and regard not whether he do Good or Evil. No to such we must rather say Be afflicted and weep and mourn let your Laughter be turned to Mourning and your Ioy to Heaviness James 4.9 We call not upon them to rejoice but to howl for the Misery that is coming upon them A Sense there must be Q. What is then dissuaded Answ. A perplexing oppressing Trouble about sensible and worldly things Here I shall shew you First The Causes of this Trouble Secondly The Nature of it First The Causes of this Trouble which are 1. Carnal Self-love which is all for bodily Ease and Welfare or the Pleasures and Honours or Profits of the World They that are under the power of it seek great things here and the disappointment of their carnal Expectations breedeth Trouble Solomon telleth us what was the result of his accurate and deep search into all worldly and humane Affairs Eccles. 1.14 I have seen all the Works that are done under the Sun and behold all is Vanity and vexation of Spirit He found all worldly things not only vain and ineffectual to confer Happiness but which is worse apt to bring much Trouble and Affliction upon the Hearts of those who are too earnestly conversant about them Therefore the best way to be free from Trouble is to look for no great Matters here in the World 2. The Life of Sense which
that they should do more good in their places This is the most precious Gift yet given in order to some other thing it is made for God that we should glorify him and be capable of injoying him to all Eternity 2. This is the End of the Distribution Wherefore hath God given these Talents in any eminent degree or in such variety to Men but that they should trade with them and be more fitted for his Service 1 Cor. 12.7 The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal There is indeed a three-fold End of all our Trading The glorifying of God the saving of our own Souls and the good of others For in a moral Consideration there are but three Beings God Neighbour Self The Glory of God must be regarded in the first place and with it is connected the Advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. For all the Gifts that we have are for the Master's Use And therefore if we do not principally mind the Glory of God and the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom we pervert the Gifts we have received Yet this is rare in a self-loving World Phil. 2.21 All seek their own not the things which are Iesus Christ's The saving of our Souls must be regarded next to the Glory of God For next to God Man is to love himself and in himself first his better part The Graces of Sanctification though profitable for others yet are chiefly intended for the good of him that hath them And the Graces of Edification though profitable for the Owner yet are principally intended for the good of Others A Man that hath sanctifying Grace doth good to others with it that is utilitas emergens not finis proprius It is not the direct End for which these Graces are given but other subservient Gifts are for the good of the Body Lastly The Good of others their Edification and Benefit For God hath scattered his Gifts that every part may supply somewhat for the good of the whole as every Member of the Body hath its several use by which the whole Body receiveth benefit Rom. 12.4 5. For as we have many Members in one Body and all Members have not the same Office so we being many are one Body in Christ and every one Members one of another Well then let us look to the End of the Distribution A Man hath not Wealth for himself nor Parts for himself nor Gifts for himself to promote his own Ends but to bring in Souls to God not for Pomp but Use. All have their proper and distinct Offices some to Serve others to Rule some to Counsel others to Execute Every one have their proper but distinct Use for God maketh nothing in vain nor was the World appointed to be a Hive for Drones and idle Ones Wherefore hath God given some great Wealth and Power but as the great Veins supply the lesser with Blood that they might be more publickly useful Wherefore hath he given Ordinances but that we may get Grace by them and save our own Souls They are represented sometimes as Duties they being not a matter Arbitrary but a part of the Homage we owe to God sometimes as Privileges that we may not look upon them as a burdensome Task sometimes as means of our Growth and âmprovement that we may not wrest in the Work wrought sometimes as Talents for which we must give an Account to quicken our earnest Diligence Wherefore hath God given Gifts but that we may shew forth his Praise and edify others Yea wherefore hath he given Grace it self but that we might be both obliged and fitted to glorify him in the World Ephes. 1.12 That we should be to the Praise of his Glory who first trusted in Christ. They are set up as Lights in the World to shine to others 3. There is a Charge expresly given with the distribution of the Talents Luke 19.13 And he called his ten Servants and delivered them ten Pounds and said to them Occupy till I come They were to imploy their Industry to improve it to the greatest Advantage of bringing in an Increase to God This Charge is given by our proper and rightful Lord and it is committed to Servants not to Strangers and Freemen who are at their own dispose but to Servants who are at the Command of their Lord who hath made us and bought us And this Trust is accepted by Covenant of all that profess themselves to be his Servants not implicite as there may be between the Devil and his Agents but explicite and formal That we will be wholly his and for him And we are accountable for the Possession if we do not mind the Use. For a Man that hath an Estate made over to him in Trust and for certain Uses expressed in the Conveyance hath indeed no Estate therein at all but with respect to those Uses Certain it is that we have the Comfort more in the Use than the Possession The solid Comfort of Wealth Power and Honour is never seen till we imploy it for God It is not tasted so much when you are gorgeously attired and your Tables are plentifully furnished and when you glut your selves with all manner of fleshly Delights as in feeding the Hungry clothing the Naked relieving the Oppressed So for Ordinances the worth of them is known by Use and Improvement not when we resort to them for Custom and Fashion's sake but when we taste that the Lord is gracious 1 Pet. 2.3 So the Graces of the Spirit are most sweet when they do not lie idle then we feel the comfort them Iohn 15.11 These things have I spoken to you that my Ioy might remain in you and that your Ioy might be full Vse Let us improve our Trust and rouse up our selves and say What Honour hath God by my Wealth Power Honour Greatness What Protection to his Cause What Relief to his People To this end consider 1. What is your Business in the World Our Lord Jesus said Iohn 18.37 To this end I was born and for this cause came I into the World that I should bear witness unto the Truth Every one is sent into the World for some End for God would not make a Creature in vain For what End did you come into the World but to glorify God in your Place and Calling What part in the World would God have me to act Most Men are ready to go out of the World before they ask for what purpose they came hither 2. Every one is trading for some Body either for God or for the Devil and the Flesh either regarding his Master's Glory or his own Carnal Satisfaction Rom. 8.5 They that are after the Flesh do mind the things of the Flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit 3. Consider how much you are intrusted with Look within you without you round about you and see how much you have to account for For natural Advantages Time Wealth Honour Estate Nehem. 1.11
Fathers were Idols and not Gods But how can it stand with the Providence of the true God to permit it and forsake Mankind so long Those Times of Ignorance God over-looked sent them no Means nor Messengers then but now he doth And so he teacheth them and us that it is not sufficient to follow the Religion of our Fore-fathers unless they had followed the Will of God If God over-looked them and vouchsafeth you more Grace you must not be prejudiced by the Tradition but improve the present Advantage 2. He as much as in him lieth taketh off the Prejudice of the Practice of former Times by a prudent and self-censure As also elsewhere 1 Cor. 2.8 Which none of the Princes of this World knew for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory 3. He insinuateth that Ignorance doth not wholly excuse those that err but rather commendeth the Lord's Patience Secondly The Duty of the present Time 1. The Duty pressed is Repentance The word is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Repentance is a returning to our Wits again We were sometimes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã foolish Tit. 3.3 When the Conversion of the Nations is spoken of it is said Psal. 22.27 All the ends of World shall remember and turn unto the Lord as if they were asleep distracted or out of their Wits before the Light of Christ's Gospel shined into their Hearts not making use of common Reason We never act wisely nor with a Condecency to our reasonable Nature till we return to the Love and Obedience of God 2. This is here represented not as an indifferent and arbitrary thing but as expresly and absolutely commanded God's Authority is absolute if he hath commanded any thing Contradiction must be silent Hesitation satisfied all Cavils laid aside and we must address our selves to the Work speedily and seriously without delaying or disputing or murmuring God doth not advise or intreat only but commandeth or interposeth his Authority Now to break a known Command especially of such weight and moment is very dangerous Luke 12.47 That Servant which knew his Lord's Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his Will shall be beaten with many Stripes James 4.17 To him that knoweth to do Good and doth it not to him it is Sin A Man in the dark may easily err and go astray but while we know better and what is the express Will of God concerning us we must set our selves to do it 3. As universally required all Men every where not only Iews but Gentiles and not some sort of Gentiles but all you Athenians and all the World this universally bindeth Some must turn from their Idols but all from their sinful Ways Whosoever will not repent when God calleth for Repentance they smart the more for it Impenitency under the Means is the worst sort of Impenitency I may say as Christ Luke 13.5 Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish II. The Argument or Motive Which we considered 1. As propounded 2. As confirmed First As propounded Where note 1 st The Time He hath appointed a Day wherein he will judg the World 2 dly The manner in Righteousness 3 dly The Person By that Man whom he hath ordained These Circumstances must be opened and then we must consider how they make an Argument For opening the Circumstances 1 st The Time appointed but not revealed He hath appointed a Day The word Day is not taken strictly for such a space of Time as is usually signified by that Notion but it is put for a certain fixed space of Time The Work cannot well be dispatched in twenty four hours There is Iudicium discussionis Iudicium retributionis a Judgment of Search or Trial and a Judgment of Retribution Tho by the absolute Power of God they may be commanded into their everlasting Estate in an instant yet the Causes of the whole World cannot be discussed in an instant especially when God designeth the full Revelation of his Justice in all his Proceedings with Men. Therefore the Apostle calleth that Day the Day of the Revelation of the righteous Iudgment of God Rom. 2.5 When this time will be we cannot tell for God hath not revealed it Mat. 24.36 But of that day and hour knoweth no Man no not the Angels in Heaven but my Father only And therefore it is Curiosity to enquire and Rashness to determine Acts 1.7 It is not for you to know the Times or the Seasons which the Father hath put in his own Power It is enough for us to believe the thing which is not strange to Reason that God should call his Creatures to an account Natural Conscience is terrified with the hearing of it Acts 24.25 As Paul reasoned of Righteousness Temperance and Iudgment to come Felix trembled And the same guilty Fears are incident to all Mankind Rom. 1.32 Knowing the Iudgment of God they know also that they who have done such things as they have done are worthy of Death That we are God's Subjects is evident to Reason because we depend upon him for Life Being and all things that we have failed in our Subjection to God in denying the Obedience due to him is evident by the universal daily and sad Experience of the whole World that Error and Sin will not take place to all Eternity but that there must be some time when the Disorders of the World shall be rectified is a Truth that easily maketh its own way into the Consciences of Men but is fully determined by the Gospel 2 dly For the manner He will judg the World in Righteousness that is then the whole World shall receive the fruit of their Doings whether they be good or evil But doth God ever judg the World otherwise than in Righteousness I cannot say that for far be it from the Iudg of all the Earth not to do right Gen. 18.25 He never doth any thing unjustly or unrighteously now but then he will fully manifest his Righteousness He now judgeth the World in Patience but then in Righteousness There is a difference between a defect of Justice and a Transgression of the Rules of Justice There is no Injustice in God's Dispensations of present Providence but yet there is a Defect or not a full measure or manifest Demonstration of his Justice shewed now on the godly or the wicked Therefore it is said Eccles. 8.14 There be just Men to whom it happeneth according to the Work of the Wicked and again there be wicked Men to whom it happeneth according to the Work of the Righteous He doth not pass this Censure upon the wise and righteous Providence of God but either speaketh according to the Judgment of Flesh and Blood which is apt to judg hardly of so strange a Distribution or according to the visible Appearance of things when evil things happen to good Men or good things to evil Men. For outward things being not absolutely good and evil are dispensed promiscuously and in the day
of Faith There were Moralities among the Heathens far more exact than are to be found among many Christians As Dogs excell Man in acuteness of smell and sense it is their Perfection so do many Heathens excell abundance that go for Christians in Temperance Justice Meekness and a command of their Passions they that were never acquainted with Christ and the Spirit were civil and harmless therefore to be a meer Moral Man certainly is not enough Paul saith of himself before he was acquainted with Christ that he was as touching the Righteousness which is of the Law blameless Phil. 3.6 And the Apostle hath taught us to live Godly as well as Soberly and Righteously in this present World Titus 2.12 There is a living in Communion with God as well as being fair to Men and therefore a Man may be civil and harmless but such as are not Vicious rather than Vertuous and Gracious the meer Rational Life is one thing and the Spiritual Life another thing Then take the Comparative part they live better than others so did the Pharisee Luk. 18.11 God I thank thee I am not as other men are yet Christ saith Mat. 5.20 Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Among Blind men the Purblind is a kind of King and guide of them all A man may not be as bad as others and yet not so good as God requires Gal. 6.4 Let every man prove his own work and then he shall have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another It is a miserable thing when a Man hath no other Ground of Confidence but the Sins of others he is good because others are worse he hath no rejoycing in himself but only from the sinfulness of others Or suppose that a Man be better than himself was heretofore there is a Moral Change as well as a Supernatural a Reformation as well as a Regeneration As a wanton Young Man that came in to Zenocrates his Lecture half drunk with his head crown'd with Rose-buds and when he heard a Discourse of Temperance he was converted by his Lecture and betook himself to a sober Course So a Man may cast off his Youthful vanities and may be changed from being Riotous to be more sober and yet be far from Grace A Sow washed is a Sow still What is short of Regeneration is short of Salvation Therefore do not think because of a civil orderly Life you do enough this is a sottish Principle and keeps us from the Righteousness of God 2. Here is another of their Errors They are born and bred up in the bosom of the Church and true Religion and because they are Baptized and profess the Faith of Christ therefore they think they ever had Faith and a good Heart towards God and do not see why or from what they should be Converted It was a wonderful thing to Nicodemus to hear that a Man should be Born again as strange as if a Man should enter again into his Mothers womb John 3.4 They are wholly Ignorant of any Change of Soul or State and mind it not So the Jews when Christ told them of being made free from the Bondage of Sin Iohn 8.33 We be Abrahams Seed and were never in Bondage to any man how sayest thou Ye shall be made free Alas Men neglect their inward Spiritual Estate and are not sensible of setting their Souls free from the Fetters of Lusts and Carnal Affections that they may pursue their chiefest Good Nothing so hard and heavy as Spiritual Bondage and yet is little known and little discerned in the World They live in the Bondage of Sin with as much delight as Fishes in their own Element and all this while they are pufft up with Carnal Dreams of their own Priviledges and Worth These are the Men that are said to need no Repentance Luk. 15.7 that is in their own Conceit those that do not see why or from what they should be Converted 3. They own no difference between a State of Nature and a State of Grace they know no such thing as passing from Death to Life and therefore are never troubled about it All the Lord's People are holy Numb 16.3 and it is factious to make such Distinctions they have put no difference between the holy and prophane neither have they shewed difference between the clean and unclean Ezek. 22.26 As if all were of one Lump and all should fare alike and therefore think themselves as good as the best 4. That those that are blameless before Men and well spoken of in the World need not doubt of their acceptance with God O No God's Tryal is one thing and Mens another Men see no further then the Outside but God regards the frame of the Heart 1 Sam. 16.7 Man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart Therefore thô a Man cannot be justly taxed before men yet this is nothing before the All-seeing God Psal. 143.2 Enter not into judgment with thy Servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Non dicit cum hostibus tuis sed cum servo tuo David doth not say Lord enter not into Judgment with thine Enemies but with thy Servant 5. Another sottish Maxim is That petty Sins are not to be stood upon They shall do well enough if they never Sin more nor worse as the Omission of good Duties in their Closets or Families lesser Oaths vain Speeches idle Sport whereas Christ saith By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Mat. 12.37 Light things may weigh heavy in God's Ballance Well then until the Soul be dispossessed of these sottish Conceits it cannot be but they must overween their own Righteousness and think too well of themselves and of their Estate before God Thirdly self-Self-love is the Reason of it Prov. 16.2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the Spirits A Man is very Blind and partial in his own Cause and will not own any Opinion and Conceit against himself There is an Emphasis in that his own Eyes surely Man would favour himself and be friendly to himself we have a double Instance of this in Scripture Iudah was severe against Tamar when he thought her to be with Child by another Man Gen. 38.24 Bring her forth and let her be burnt But when she shewed him the Tokens the Ring the Staff and Bracelets and that he was the Man then he becomes gentle enough So David when his own Story was represented to him in the case of a third Person that took away the Ewe-Lamb from the poor Man he says in a heat As the Lord liveth the man that hath done this thing shall surely dye 2 Sam. 12.5 but when the Prophet closeth with him and told him Thou art the man all this is spoken to thee he was more calm All this is spoken to
shew how favourable a Judgment it must needs be that we pass upon our selves Psal. 36.2 He flatters himself in his own eyes until his Iniquity be found to be hateful a Man is well pleased with his own Doings That self-Self-Love is a Cause appears by this a man will not see Sin no not when any man that looks upon his Way may see it till it break forth in Shame and makes him to be hateful the mistake vanisheth not till all the Town cryeth Shame upon him While a Man cryeth out against Sensuality Drunkenness Gluttony he is so full of Self Love that he is loth to pass a Sentence against his own Soul Fourthly Negligence and want of Searchings and taking the Course whereby we may be undeceived He that thinks better of himself than there is Ground and Reason for the only way to bring him to himself is to put him upon often Tryal So saith the Apostle Gal. 6.3 If a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself But alas this is a common Case and what more ordinary than for a Man to conceit too highly of himself and flatter himself with those Excellencies he hath not and cry Peace Peace when the wrath of God and sudden destruction is upon him But how shall a Man do to come out of this Fool 's Paradice that he may undeceive himself see the next Verse 4. But let every man prove his own work try their Work and Carriage by the Rule of God's Word what he doth and upon what Motives and for what Ends let him prove so as to approve himself to God 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether you be in the Faith prove your selves know ye not your own selves how that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates O search and see what is the frame of your Hearts what true Grounds of Confidence you have towards God Now when Men will not so much as put it to the Question whether it be well or ill no wonder they slightly return an Omnia bene All these have I kept from my Youth A Natural man is under this Dilemma If I should not search I should not know my self if I should search I should not like my self and therefore out of Laziness and Self Love he chooseth the latter Plutarch saith Evil Men turn from their own Lives as the worst Spectacle that can be presented to them We could not be so grosly deceived by Sathan as we are if we did not turn our Eyes away from our own Hearts and Ways but did oftner call our selves to an Account Fifthly Security As they will not search so they will not know themselves when they are searched and cannot endure throughly to be discovered to themselves There is a voluntary Examination of Conscience and an involuntary Impression by which Conscience is awakened against our Wills either by the Preaching of the Word or by Afflictions sent from God In both these Cases men discover this Self-conceit in that they do defeat those methods which God useth when they are searched by God 1. They cannot endure to be searched by the Word Iohn 3.20 Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved Men will stand out as long as they can in defence of their own Righteousness and are loth to be convinced and discovered to themselves and to be seen what indeed they are and that is the Reason they cannot endure a reproving Light a searching Ministry But the Word doth seize upon them by chance as sometimes it will Thus Foelix when Paul rubs his Privy Sore discoursing of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come it sets him all in an Agony Foelix trembled Acts 24.25 What then he puts it off to a more convenient Season When God ransacks the Conscience by his Word they are not pleased with this but seek diversions Lusts quench and drown their Convictions The Apostle Iames compares a careless Hearer Chap. 1.23 24. to a man beholding his natural Face in a Glass for he beholdeth himself and goeth away and straightway forgetteth what manner of person he was Men content themselves with a slight transient glance and are troubled for the present they have but a weak Impression wrought upon them which is soon worn out Or 2. When God searcheth them by Affliction when they do not judge themselves they are judged by the Lord. As Iosephs Brethren their Consciences had slept many years securely in their Sins but God casts them down and revives their Thoughts they have many tremblings and workings of Soul Gen. 42.21 They said one to another we are verily guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his Soul when he besought us and we would not hear him therefore is this evil come upon us Now how few are there that will hear the Rod or if they be a little affected when the smart is upon them they go away as Heart-whole as ever and when they are well are as vain as ever and do not profit by their Troubles Therefore since there is so much Ignorance of the Legal and Gospel Covenant so many sottish Errors wherewith men are prepossessed so much Self-Love Negligence and lothness to search so much Security and not improving Convictions when God searcheth no wonder a Man is so conceited of himself VSE Let us take heed of Self-conceit and Self-Righteousness Especially this concerns you that have a Civil and sober Education and are as to Externals blameless as you love your own Souls take heed of a Self-Righteousness Thô you do not run into the same Excess of Riot which others do and are free from outward Vice yet God hath enough against you to condemn you for ever Therefore study the Covenants lay aside gross Conceits of God and Holiness take heed of being blinded with Self-Love search often and see what claim you have to Heaven observe Ordinances and Providences and improve your Convictions that you may turn to the Lord Else you may have a flattering Hope but can have no solid Peace in your Consciences till with Brokenness of Heart you quit your own Righteousness and fly to Christ alone And that you may not be besotted with a Dream of your own Righteousness consider 1. How Light every one of us shall be found when we are put in the Ballance of the Sanctuary All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the Spirits Prov. 16.2 Mark what is weighed not Opus the Matter of the Action but our Work with the Motives the Principles the Ends of it and the State of your Hearts and it is weighed it is put into the Ballance God knows all things by number and weight 2. Consider how different the Judgment of God and Men will be Luke 16.15 Ye are they which justifie your selves before men but God knows the Heart For that which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination
for Impiety all went to ruine 2. There will be some Serenity of Mind resulting from the Rectitude of your Actions Look as the Heathens when they did by Nature the things contained in the Law they had the approbation of their Consciences Thoughts excusing Rom. 2.15 3. It is some advantage to Grace it is like the Priming the Post that maketh it receptive of better Colours At least they do not aggravate their Condemnation nor encrease their Weakness nor draw upon themselves Penal Blindness and Hardness of Heart and utter Despair However it is like the Embalming a Carkass though it do not restore Life yet it keeps the Body from stinking As long as they are at work they are not given over to a Reprobate Sense They are not far from the Kingdom of God Mark 12.34 An humble Man that hath some Thoughts of God and of Eternal Life certainly is sooner Converted than an Outragious Wretch that doth swagger and out brave the Ordinances of God whereas Men that are strangers to all Goodness and of an inveterate Wickedness and Falshood that are estranged from the Womb and go astray so soon as they be born speaking lyes as the Propet expresseth it Psal. 58.3 are more hardly Cured 4. As to their Eternal Estate it will be more tolerable for such than for others Though they fall short of Heaven yet mitius punientur at least they have a cooler Hell their Account is more easie as the Scripture speaks of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of a greater Damnation Mat. 11.22 It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sydon at the day of Iudgment than for you Cato suffers less than Catiline Socrates than Nero and certainly it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for those that despised the Gospel therefore a Heathen could say No such Feast as to do our Duty which God requires SERMON VI. ON MARK X. v. 21. One thing thou lackest go thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the Poor and thou shalt have Treasure in Heaven NOW we come to Christ's Answer and there take Notice First Of the Admonition of his Defect Iesus said unto him One thing thou lackest By the Evangelist Matthew it appears that this part of the Answer was given to a Question proposed Mat. 19.20 All these things have I kept from my Youth up what lack I yet He saith confidently All these things have I kept and Christ saith one thing thou lackest Indeed take the Commandments in their full Latitude and Breadth of Interpretation he wanted all things how is it then that our Saviour saith only One thing thou lackest 1. Because it would have been tedious to convince him of all his Defects and therefore Christ would take the more Compendious way and insist but upon one thing which was enough to shew that he was not perfect as he vainly dreamt If a Man bragg that he is able to pay a hundred Pound you convince him of his Penury when you press him to pay one Penny and he cannot 2. This one thing was sure and would strike home for our Lord knew his Heart and therefore was resolved to touch his Privy-Sore and doth propose such a Precept as would cross his Darling Sin and therefore he would only come with one thing which would try him to the purpose Men that esteem too highly of themselves and yet have a secret Idol in their Hearts they shall be put upon some special Tryal that will discover their Weakness to the full 3. That one thing which he lacked was the main thing the principal thing of the Law which was Loving God above all things the summe of the Law is To Love God above all and our Neighbours as our selves Now our Lord who had Power to try his Love by any way he thought fit by this particular Injunction tryeth him in his Love to God and his Neighbour Chiefly he would convince him of want of Love to God or spiritual Idolatry making Wealth his summum bonum his chiefest good this was the main thing in which he failed and the Cause of his other Failings and yet Christ doth it in such a way as to take in the other part of the Precept the Love of our Neighbour Go thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the Poor 4. Because the young Man Erred out of Ignorance Christ would not deal roughly with him or by way of sharp Reproof he doth not rate him and call him Proud Hypocrite for saying All these have I kept but he gently minds him of his Defect One thing thou lackest words of a mild Condescention to one that was tractable And while Men are facile and reachable we should not use roughness but convince them of their Errors by using all Mildness and all Condescention as we our selves would be dealt withall if we lay under the Power of Prejudice and a dark Understanding Let this suffice from that Clause only Learn from Christ's Practice here when we have to deal with such kind of Men two or three things 1. That Proud Sinners must not be soothed up in their Self-Conceit but Convinced of their Defects One thing thou lackest To flatter Men in their Presumption is very dangerous Luk. 16.15 Ye are they which justifie your selves before Men but God knoweth your Hearts for that which is highly esteemed among Men is abomination in the sight of God 2. That the way to Convince them is by representing their principal and chief Faults some one sin so Christ dealt with this young Man and so he deals with the Woman of Samaria Convincing her of her Sin that though she had spent her time in Marriage with five Husbands yet after all this Commits Adultery Ioh. 4.18 Thou hast had five Husbands and he whom thou now hast is not thy Husband We are not to shoot at Rovers but Convince those we have to do with of those Sins they are most guilty of 3. The more our Failings strike deep upon the main Articles of our Obedience to God the greater our Conviction and the more sense we should have of our Condition before God To Love God above all is a Fundamental Article of the Covenant Now when we are convinced that we fail in this and want Love Trust and Faith in God we are nothing therefore such kind of Defects should make us look after our Estate better Secondly We come to Christ's Precept Command and Injunction and there First Something of particular Concernment Go thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have Treasure in Heaven Where observe 1. The Duty 2. The Motive 1. The Duty Go thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the Poor The Precept you see is very strict and falls upon the Heart of this Young Man who was addicted to the World Go without delay sell not a part but all whatsoever thou hast and give not to thy Friends that may relieve thee when thou art in straits not
before us Partly as it assureth us of his sympathizing with us in our hard Service he knoweth the weaknesses of Humane Nature and its reluctancies to the Law of God Christ learned Obedience by the things that he suffered Heb. 5.8 and having experienced the hardships of suffering his Heart is intendred towards those that are in the like Case Heb. 2.18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Partly because of the Perfection of his Obedience to cover our Infirmities God hath had full Obedience from Christ and therefore where a poor Soul doth its utmost it can rely on God for acceptance which is a great encouragement in our work Rom. 5.19 By the Obedience of one shall many be made righteous VSE To perswade us to follow Christ. 1. Our general Profession of being Christians doth oblige us to be like him Head and Members should be all of a piece If we take the Name of Christ upon us we had need express him to the Life 1 Pet. 2.9 Ye are a chosen generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that ye should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light If a Man should put your Name to the Picture of a Swine you would account it a disgrace Oh what an affront is it to Christ to put his Name to the Picture and Image of the Devil we do but express him in scorn and contempt When we are wrathful unclean covetous unchaste sensual proud unholy and say we are Christians what a dishonour scorn and contempt do we put upon Christ What did the Heathens say heretofore Estimari a cultoribus potest ipse qui colitur You may know what one he is whom they worship by them that worship him We profess to bear the Image of Christ yet are vain turbulent carnal unthankful unholy Oh what is this but to carry the Name of Christ in disgrace up and down the World 2. We shall never be like him in Glory unless we be like him in Grace also Rom. 8.29 For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son Here the Foundation is laid If you would appear before God with confidence and not be ashamed at the great day be like to him then you shall have boldness 1 Ioh. 4.17 Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the Day of Iudgment because as he is so are we in the World Otherwise how can we look him in the face Therefore let us follow him Assequi nunquam possumus sequi tamen nunquam desinamus though we cannot follow him as Asahel did Abner close at the heels yet let us follow him however thô it be but as Peter followed Christ afar off to the High Priest's Hall But wherein should we follow Christ I Answer 1. In his Self-denyal This is the first Lesson in Christianity and one of the hardest Christ came from Heaven to teach us this Lesson and his Birth Life and Death was a continual Lecture of Self-denyal His Birth it was a great step from God's Bosom to the Virgin 's Lap. None can deny themselves as Christ who when he was rich viz. in all the Fulness and Glory of the Godhead yet for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8.9 None was so rich as Christ and therefore none can deny themselves as Christ did We may talk of Flocks and Herds and Lands and Lordships and the Ornaments of the present Life but he had the possession of a perfect and unbounded Happiness and Glory and yet he was born of a Woman he had a poor Mother in a poor place and was wrapt up in cheap swadling Cloaths He that was God's Fellow the Heir of all things the Lord of Angels was thrust among the Beasts of the Stable Certainly Christ came into the World with such a slender Provision that we might not stand upon Greatness and Bravery His whole Life after he was born was exercised with Labours and Sorrows Rom. 15.3 Even as Christ pleased not himself that is he did not Study the Interest of that Life which he assumed Certainly if any had cause to love Life Christ had his Soul dwelt with God in a Personal Union in such a near Fellowship as we are not capable of and yet he pleased not himself but gave up himself for our sins It is ridiculous to profess him to be our Master and not to follow his Example We have no Reason to stand upon our Points as we do to be delicate and tender of our Interests when Jesus Christ pleased not himself We murmur if we have but a little bad Entertainment in the World for his sake and yet we cannot be worse used than Christ was Mat. 10.24 25. The Disciple is not above his Master nor the Servant above his Lord It is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and the Servant as his Lord. We have no Cause to complain if we be reduced to course Apparel when we remember the Swadling cloaths of Christ or to complain of a hard Bed and Prison when Christ was laid in a Manger Christ would teach us hereby that an innocent Poverty is better than all the Pomp of the World and for his Sufferings from the Cratch to the Cross still he was a Pattern of Self-denyal therefore they that indulge themselves in all the delights of the Flesh seem not to believe in Christ who was a Man of Sorrows We are in a base condition but two or three degrees distant from Dust or Nothing yet how are we for pleasing and satisfying our selves even to the dishonour of God and wrong of Conscience 2. In his Humility Christ did not this out of Necessity but Choice Matth. 20.28 The Son of Man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a Ransom ãâã many He came not in the Pomp and Equipage of Princes but in the Form of a Servant How should this check aspiring after and affecting Domination especially in the Church They that love Preheminence and would be great and higâ ãâã to affect another Jesus They that rend and tear all to pieces eiâher ãâ¦ã their Greatness or grow greater have not the same Mind that was in Jesus You should be humble and lowly and condescending to the meanest Offices It is worth your Observation that in the Gospel we are so often told that after the Lord Jesus had performed some eminent Miracle he withdrew himself and retired from the Multitude that so he might not be mixed with their Praises Thus when he received that Glorious Testimony from Heaven declaring him to be the Son of God Matth. 3.17 And lo a voice from Heaven saying This is my belovââ Son in whom I am well pleased he retired into the Wilderness So when he had raised his Fame by curing
Treasure in Heaven the Purchase whereof is certain the Possession firm and the Price incomprehensible The Lord will keep you aloof from Temptations he knows that if you were rich you would grow sensual insolent and negligent of spiritual things God knoweth what Condition is best for you you should have a greater account to make he expecteth from others Charity from you Patience Besides says Iob Chap. 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Some think it is the greatest Misery to have been sometimes happy but that is through Corruption when former Enjoyments make Men more nice delicate and tender and so less able to bear the present Cross. But if we consider rightly the less we have been afflicted the less are our Afflions on that behalf is it nothing that God hath given us to pass over some of our dayes with Peace and Comfort should we be so unthankful as to account that no benefit because it is past Iob 2.10 What! shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil is not what you have received a Pledge of what he can do for the future 3 VSE To the Rich to shew them what need they have of special Grace to manage that Condition aright It would seem an hard Censure upon this sort and order of Men yet it is a Truth and spoken by him who is Truth it self It concerneth you to look after special Grace more than others your danger is great and your difficulties in order to Eternal Life not a few You need peculiar Grace 1. To prevent the Evils and to heal those Diseases that are incident to Riches As Contempt of God We are apt to neglect and despise him when our Necessities do not drive us to him such is the Pravity of our Natures Hosea 5.15 In their Affliction they will seek me early Make God your refuge and he will be your habitation Psal. 91.9 Because thou hast made the Lord thy refuge even the most high thy habitation Neglect of Christ and Salvation by him they that have an Happiness in their hands already see no want in their Condition The whole need not a Physitian take heed of being heart-whole then you will have no relish for the Gospel It disposeth to Apostacy you have something of Value which you must esteem as nothing for Christ. It maketh us neglect Heaven Psal. 4.6 7. There be many that say who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their Corn and their Wine encreased An Estate without God is not good Lord let me not have my All here for these things must be left It maketh you proud and scornful Remember there are the true Riches without which a Person is but Vile He is most honourable before God that hath most Grace The Value of Men is otherwise in the World to come than in the present World Your Humility is your Crown It makes you to be more Sensual Wealth is the Pander of Pleasure the Purveyor for the Flesh but it should not be thus There is more cause of Fear than Rejoycing Gal. 6.8 He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption It makes us Worldly as Chains to detain us under the Power of Satan and enslave us to the World It doth but betray you into mischief Do you desire your way to Heaven should be made more hard that is hard enough already 2. That you might devote your Riches to the Lord and be holy and heavenly in the midst of so great Temptations that you may not by momentary and temporal things forfeit eternal but rather further them Luk. 12.21 So is he that layeth up treasures for himself and is not rich towards God 1 Tim. 6.18 19. That they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold of eternal life Wealth rightly imployed makes us capable of a greater Reward hereafter as it makes us more useful here SERMON XI ON MARK X. v. 24. And the Disciples were astonished at his words But Iesus answered again and said unto them Children how hard is it for them that trust in Riches to enter into the Kingdom of God IN these Words you have two things 1. The Entertainment which the Disciples gave to his former speech They were astonished at his words 2. Christ's further Explication of himself But Iesus answered again and said unto them Children how hard is it for them that trust in Riches to enter into the Kingdom of God Wherein Observe 1. The Manner of our Saviour's speaking in that kind Compellation Children 2. The Matter of the Explication How hard is it for them that trust in Riches to enter into the Kingdom of God 1. For the Entertainment which the Disciples gave to his former speech They were astonished at his words This Astonishment was caused either by the legal Dispensation under which Obedience was rewarded with visible and temporal Blessings and therefore they marvelled that rich men should find such difficulty of entering into Heaven Or else it was occasioned by the Jewish Expectation of a pompous Messiah wherewith the Disciples themselves were levened expecting to share of the Honours and Riches of that Kingdom which Christ would set up Now Christ's Answer was quite blank contrary to these Carnal Hopes therefore they marvelled Or it may be upon the common reason that the Gates of Heaven should be shut to them to whom the gates of the World do always ly open Thus hardly are good Men brought to disesteem worldly things and rightly to ponder and weigh the Doctrine of the Cross which Christ had so frequently taught them 2. For Christ's Explication And there 1. The Compellation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Children so he bespeaks them who were sincere for the main thô a little leavened with Carnal Conceits and to sweeten the Doctrine which seemed so contrary to their humour 1 Thes. 2.11 As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a Father doth his Children Novices and weak ones are to be used with all Indulgence for they had not received the Spirit in that plentiful measure as afterward 2. The Matter of his Explication How hard is it for them that trust in Riches c He had said before How hardly do they that have Riches now he explains himself they that trust in Riches He instanceth in this 1. As one common Disease of Rich Men as soon as they have any thing in the World they are apt to trust in it Some abuse Riches one way some another some to encrease their Worldly Cares and desire of having others to feed their Pride and Sensuality this way or that way according to their different Temper and Constitution of Body and
to serve God and labour to please him and to study the Promises of God that they may grow in Grace And yet when they abandon themselves to sensuality and live from one Weeks end to another and can scarce tell what to do with their time and yet cannot afford it to God how culpable are they 3. They have greater Advantages of furthering the Duties of Piety and Mercy and of honouring God with their substance Prov. 3.9 and of relieving others of making themselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness Luk. 16.9 I say they have greater Opportunities of being rich in good works 1 Tim. 6.18 Others that have Hearts have not Estates and cannot be so publickly useful God expects from every Man according to his Ability and therefore they should abound in all Acts of Mercy and Piety for the promoting the Honour and Service of God and relief and comfort of others But alas usually it is here as in Nature those mountains in the Bowels of which there are most Mines of Gold and Silver are most barren So rich men for the most part live most unprofitably as to the fruits of Grace Piety and Charity They that have great Estates have least Heart to do any thing for God and Men of a middle condition do exceedingly outstrip those that are vastly and excessively rich in being liberal and open-handed for honouring of God and the relief of others 4. More is required of them because of the Influence of their Example They are as the first sheets others are printed off by them The more any are exalted and lifted up above others the more conspicuous are their Actions The Example of an Eminent Person is never single for when such a one doth evil he carries others with him as the stream doth that which floats upon it If they do good their Countenance and Example doth exceedingly provoke many to follow after that which is good therefore they should specially take care to fear God and be diligent in the Exercise of Godliness and serious in the business of Eternal Life But alas who authorize sin and propagate it in the poor more than they that have a plentiful Fortune and Estate to bear them out in it Who are more dissolute and lascivious and Prophaners of God's holy Name and Day and Deriders of God's Word and holy Services and Servants and so wherever they go they leave their dreggs behind them and leaven others and draw them into sin which makes the difficulty of their Salvation so much the greater II. The other Proposition that is contained in this Observation is that this ought to be much press'd seriously thought of for Christ inculcates it again and again 1. To keep up a remembrance of God and Heavenly things in the Hearts of rich Men. Security and Forgetfulness of God is the Cause of all the mischief rich Men are liable to Men that have so much in the World never think of God and Salvation The Heart is so full of the World that it leaves no place for the thoughts and remembrance of God When God would offer to come in upon them it doth fare with him as it did with Christ when he was born at Bethlehem there was no room for him in the Inn Luk. 2.7 When God would lodge in the Understanding the upper Chamber of the Soul that 's full of worldly or sensual Projects If he would enter into the Memory that 's the World's Ware-house and it is pester'd with Cares about present things If he would enter into their Hearts and Affections they are prepossess'd already that is the World's Storehouse there their Treasure lyes and so what with this and that it comes to pass that God is not in all their thoughts Psal. 10.4 The awful remembrance of God is a strange uncouth thing to those that are full and live plentifully in the World this appears by the whole current of Scripture God forewarns his People of it Deut. 11.12 When thou shalt have eaten and be full beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God When Men are full and abound with so much accommodation God is banished out of their thoughts He Complains of this as the Cause of his People's forgetting him Hosea 13.6 According to their Pasture so were they filled they were filled and their heart was exalted therefore have they forgotten me God is forgotten in Prosperity when we have not such a sensible need of him and of his help Men can live alone and apart from God and therefore cast off all thoughts of him 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this World that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy Plenty easily breeds forgetfulness of God therefore it needs often to be inculcated and enforced upon and thought of by them 2. This ought to be much press'd and seriously thought of to awaken suspition there may be a Snare in our Estate To suspect danger is a good means to prevent it and therefore that we may draw Men to Self-suspition being compassed about by the Snares of the Devil we must again and again tell you how hard it is for rich Men to be saved Agur was afraid of Riches and the evil Influence of them and therefore prays for a competency Prov. 30.8 9. Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord Whereas Men that never think of danger are surprized with it before they are aware therefore it is good to be suspitious of a prosperous Estate to be afraid of the World more when it smiles than when it frowns Most men are afraid of Poverty but few are afraid of Wealth and yet there the Snares and Temptations lye and the reason is because they prize their Temporal Interest more than their Eternal Salvation Poverty is against their Temporal Interests but Wealth Fulness and Plenty is a hinderance to their Eternal Salvation and Men will venture their Souls rather than their Bodies It is fat and rank Soil that feedeth Weeds therefore think of it often here lyes the difficulty to have the World at will and not to be insnared by it to learn to abound is the harder Lesson Paul had learned both so must we Phil. 4.12 I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need We say of a Proud Man or Woman such an one would do well to be a Lord or Lady but it is harder than you imagine how few are there that have any lively thoughts of Eternity or make any serious Preparation for Death and Judgment when they have Health and Wealth and all the Accommodations which the Carnal Nature desires and therefore be suspitious when you find Delight and what is pleasing to the Flesh it
to the thankful Soul but to the unthankful they prove Occasions to the Flesh so their Table is made a snare to them and their Welfare a Trap Psal. 69.22 But when we sip and look upward and acknowledge God on all occasions the Creature is sanctified to us 1 Tim. 4.4 Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving Where there is a due Acknowledgment of the Donor we have it with a Blessing So 2. It suppresseth murmuring or that quarrelling fretting impatient Humour which venteth it self against God even in our Prayers and Complaints and sowreth all our Comforts Murmuring is an Anti-providence the scum of Discontent by which we entertain Crosses with Anger and Blessings with Disdain Man is a tachy Creature always querulous especially when God retrencheth him in some Worldly Conveniencies which he fancyeth Now a Thankful Spirit counterballanceth Crosses with Comforts Iob 2.10 What shall we receive good at the Hand of the Lord and shall we not receive evil It taketh Notice how gracious God hath been notwithstanding his seeming Severity therefore it can Bless God in every Condition Iob 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. This fretting Humour is Cured as long as we see Occasion of giving Thanks it causeth us to submit to his Disposing Will. 3. It prevents Distrust and carking Cares This Remedy is prescribed by the Apostle Phil. 4.6 Be careful for nothing but in every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God When we acknowledge what God hath done for us it prevents Distrust Psal. 77.10 11. I said this is my infirmity but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High I will remember the Works of the Lord surely I will remember thy wonders of old There are great Convulsions in an Earthquake but when it findeth a Vent all is quiet When we can Bless God for Favours already received we will not doubt of his Goodness for the future but quietly compose our selves to wait for the good end of the Lord. 4. It Cureth spiritual Pride to consider who must be Praised and Owned for all the good which is in us 1 Cor. 4.7 Who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it The more we have we are more indebted to Grace We have all from God and for God not for our selves our own Glory and Ostentation God will be Angry if we rob Him of it as Herod was smitten because he gave not God the glory Acts 12.23 The Receiver is as bad as the Stealer we Consent to this Robbery and Usurpation VSE Oh then let us be more abundant in Thanksgiving and Praise It is God's Will concerning us in Christ 1 Thes. 5.18 In every thing give thanks for this is the Will of God in Christ Iesus concerning you But there are other Reasons to perswade us as 1. Our Profit both Spiritual and Temporal It argueth a good Spirit great Faith and Love when we look to God in every thing and a submissive Spirit when we take any thing kindly at his hands The Nations had never fallen to Idolatry if they had kept up Thankfulness and considered God in all their Mercies Acts 14.16 17. Who in times past suffered all Nations to walk in their own wayes nevertheless he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness Setting up the Idol Chance was the great Cause of perverting Mankind Besides this is noble and delightful Work the Work of Angels our Work in Heaven Well then Observe what matter of Praise God vouchsafeth to you continually if you did want many of the Comforts you now enjoy how miserable would your Lives be A thing too near the Ball of the Eye is not seen well Our Comforts must be set at a distance to make us value them 2. Our continual Dependance It is with us as it was with the Raven and the Dove which Noah sent forth out of the Ark Gen. 8.7 8. the Raven feeding on the floating Carrion returned no more but the Dove finding not whereon to rest the sole of her Foot returned with an Olive-branch Carnal Men if they can get any thing from God to support them and they have their Stock in their own hands they care no more for Him but live apart from God Ier. 2.31 Wherefore say my People We are Lords we will come no more unto thee 3. Consider how Thankful others are for less than what we enjoy There are many that would be glad of our leavings but usually those that enjoy the greatest Possessions pay the least Rent and God receiveth more Praise from a poor Cottage than from a rich Pallace But I proceed to the second Point 2 Doct. That in Thanksgiving to God we should especially own his Spiritual Benefits These are usually overlooked but yet these deserve the chiefest Acknowledgments First Because these are discriminating and come from God's Special Love which floweth forth to his own People Corn and Wine and Oyl are bestowed upon the World but Faith and Love upon his Saints David prayeth Psal. 106.4 Remember me O Lord with the favour which thou bearest unto thy people To have the Favourites Mercy is more than to have a common Mercy Protection is the Benefit of every common Subject but intimate Love and near Admission are the Priviledges of Special Favourites Now by the common Effects of his Providence Love or Hatred cannot be known Eccl. 9.1.2 No man knoweth either Love or Hatred by all that is before them all things come alike to all c. The things without us and the things before us and the things promiscuously dispersed will not discover his Special Love to us Christ gave his Purse to Iudas the worst of the Disciples but his Spirit to the rest as the choicest Gift Secondly Because these concern the better part the Inward Man 2 Cor. 4.16 For which cause we faint not but thô our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by âay He doth us more Favour that healeth a wound in the Body than he that soweth up a Rent in the Garment Is not the Body more than Rayment So is not the Soul more than the Body Yea farther and the Soul furnished with Grace than the Soul furnished only with Natural Gifts and Endowments 1 Cor. 13.1 2 3. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels and have not Charity I am become as sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal And though I have the gift of prophesie and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all Faith so that I could remove Mountains and have no Charity I am nothing And though I bestow all my
accomplished either for the multitude of Objects or degree of Grace As when Cornelius was gained to the Faith as the First-fruits of the Gentiles Acts 11.18 When they heard these things they held their peace and glorified God saying then hath God also unto the Gentiles granted Repentance unto life And Verse 21. The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord And Verse 23. Barnabas was glad when he had seen the Grace of God and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 2. When there are special Circumstances as if we have been instrumental to do them good and God hath blessed our Word or Converse or Example 1 Thes. 2.19 20. For what is our Hope or Ioy or Crown of rejoycing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Iesus Christ at his coming for ye are our glory and joy Or if we have prayed for any thing for others whatever we have prayed for must be thankfully acknowledged when brought to pass 2 Cor. 1.11 You also helping together by prayer for us that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf And 3d. Epist. Ioh. 4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth 4 Doct. That in Thanksgiving for Spiritual Benefits whether to our Selves or Others the Encrease of Grace must be acknowledged as well as the Beginnings of it The Degree is from God He that beginneth perfecteth Phil. 1.6 He that hath begun a good work will perfect it to the day of Christ. The whole Progress of the Work from the first step to the last is all from God not from the Power of our own Free-will or the Srength of our Resolutions or the Stability of our Gracious Habits For the First That it is not from the Power of our own Free-will is plain from Ioh. 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him And then for the Second That it is not from the Strength of our Resolutions Psal. 73.2 As for me my feet were almost gone my steps had well-nigh slipt And for the Third That it is not from the Stability of Gracious Habits see Rev. 3.2 Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain and are ready to die for I have not found thy works perfect before God And 1 Pet. 5.10 The God of all Grace who hath called us unto his Eternal Glory by Iesus Christ after that you have suffered a while make you perfect establish strengthen settle you He that beginneth the Work of Grace in us doth still carry it on to perfection he doth establish what is attained and increase our spiritual strength for all Difficulties and Duties so Luk. 17.5 The Apostles said unto the Lord Increase our Faith VSE Take Notice of God's Favour in the addition of every new degree of Grace because the change is more remarkable we may ascribe our first Conversion to God but we must also our after-growth We are still under the Love and Care of Christ Though we are passed from Death to Life yet not from Earth to Heaven You are in continual need of Christ for Direction Intercession Pardon farther Sanctification Support Comfort and Peace therefore take Notice of every degree if there be greater Fervour if more delightful Exercise if more Ability and Strength to overcome Opposition let God have the Glory of all He many times Chastiseth our Pride and Unthankfulness with Lapses or Decayes if we do not acknowledge him as Peter and David what grievous Lapses had they SERMON II ON 2 THESS I. v. 3. We are bound to thank God always for you Brethren as it is meet because that your Faith groweth exceedingly and the Charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth IN these Words we have Observed 1. An Affectionate Form of Thanksgiving 2. The Matter of it For the first It is a blessed thing when Complaints are turned into Thanksgivings both for our selves and others For our selves We should not be always Craving and always Complaining Gratulation should find a place in our Addresses to God as well as Acknowledgments of Sin and Supplications for Grace Col. 4.2 Continue in Prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving So for others we should rather take Notice of their Excellencies than of their Blemishes We give occasion to others to suspect us to have a rough imperious spirit to be always finding fault never acknowledging the Grace they have received or the good they have done This was far from Paul's Temper who was ever ready to acknowledge any thing of Christ wherever he found it especially where Grace was discovered with eminency as in these Thessalonians therefore he saith We are bound to thank God always for you Brethren as it is meet Whence we Observed four Doctrines I am now to speak of the Matter of this Thanksgiving Because that your Faith groweth exceedingly and the Charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth Where Observe these six things 1. That it is a Comfort that our Inward Man is in a good State however it be with us as to our outward Condition before the World These Thessalonians were poor and afflicted we read in the first Epistle They received the Gospel in much affliction 1 Thes. 1.6 And in the Verse next the Text he speaketh of their Patience and Faith in all their Persecutions and Tribulations and the following words tend wholly to Comfort them under their sore Troubles Yet their Condition before God was thriving and prosperous and matter of Thanksgiving rather than Lamentation So 2 Cor. 4.16 For this Cause we faint not saith the Apostle but though our outward Man perish yet the inward Man is renewed day by day We should count this World's Goods well exchanged if the want or loss of them be recompensed to us by the increase of spiritual Graces and be glad if it go well with our Souls though our Bodily Interests be infringed If God by an a king Head will give us a better Heart by a sickly Body an healthy Soul as he did to Gaius 3 Epist. Ioh. 2. Ver. by lessening us in the World or reducing us to streights make us Rich in Faith James 2.5 By Troubles and Oppositions excite us to a more lively exercise of Grace We should not barely submit to such a Dispensation but give Thanks The Children of God are always set forth to be of this Temper Psal. 119.71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy Statutes 2 Cor. 12.9 10. I will rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me therefore I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecution in distresses for Christ's sake for when I am weak then am I strong If the Afflictions and Troubles of the World may do us good and
like Men be strong let all things be done with Charity And therefore that qualification which entituleth us to the Priviledges of the New Covenant is made to be Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 The one Grace without the other is not saâing and sincere Faith without Love is dead Iam. 2.17 and Love without Faith is but a little good Nature or facile Inclination to others not derived from the Spirit of God nor built on our Belief of his Grace in Christ they depend upon one another as the Effect upon the Cause Faith produceth Love as it sheweth the true grounds of Union and from a sense and apprehension of God's Love to us causeth us to love others In short both Graces are recommended by the same Authority 1 Ioh. 3.23 And this is his Commandement that we should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ and love one another as he gave us Commandement He that maketh Conscience of the one will make Conscience of the other also Again the one referreth to God the other to Men Faith for God Charity for our Brethren The one keepeth us from defection from God the other preventeth a Schism and a Breach with our Fellow Christians Well then here was the Commendation of those Thessalonians their Adherence to the Faith was very Constant and they lived in Unity and Amity with one another There is no surer Argument of Sincerity and Proficiency in Christianity than this growth of Faith and Love they are the Fountain of all other Duties and if you would be accounted thorough and growing Christians you must excel in both these Graces for true solid Godliness is rooted in Faith and acted by Love towards God and Men which is the All of Christianity 5. This Growth and Proficiency was found in all Not only some among them were Eminent for Faith and Love but all If the Apostle had only said The Charity of you all aboundeth it might seem to refer to the Church that there was no Schism there but he saith of every one of you all towards each other In other Epistles the Believers to whom the Apostle wrote have all the Style of Churches or men sanctified c. but afterwards notorious and particular miscarriages are reproved which sheweth that the Denomination was a potior parte from the better part but here he mentions all and every one they were a choice sort of Christians where shall we find their Fellows It is our Duty to be such and it should be our Care for here we see what the Grace of God can do if we be serious and what an Advantage it is to be in good Company and to have good Examples about us and how much living Coals do inkindle one another when they lye together 6. He saith Faith groweth but Love aboundeth Love must not only increase but abound to each other A thing may be increased Intensivè or Extensivè Intensively when it is more rooted when there is a greater Fervour and Vigour of Faith and Love Extensively either as to Effects or Objects as to Effects in doing more good as when we abound in Works of Mercy or as to Objects by doing good to more Persons not confining our Love to one only or a few but extending it to all This was the Case of those Thessalonians their Love was not a lank or lean Love but an abounding Love full of all good Fruits and this not to some but to all even the meanest Christians among them If we would give others occasion to Bless God for us let us imitate their Example Occasions are many Objects are many to whom we may be beneficial therefore our Charity must not be streightned but abounding 1. The Internal Affection must increase Phil. 1.9 This I pray that your Love may abound yet more and more that is both their Love to God and their Neighbours especially to those who are God's There are so many things to extinguish it or make it grow cold that we should always seek to increase this Grace that it may be more fervent and strong and not grow cold and dead 2. The external Expressions should abound both as to Acts and Objects 1. As to Acts In Duties of Charity we should not be weary Now we may be weary upon a double Occasion either because we meet not presently with our Reward to that the Apostle speaketh Gal. 6.9 Be not weary of well-doing for in due time we shall reap if we faint not Duties of Charity have their Promises annexed which are not presently accomplished but in their season they will be either in this Life or in the next Or because of continual Occasions when there is no end Heb. 6.10 11. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which you have shewed towards his Name in that ye have ministred to the Saints and do minister and we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of Hope unto the end Meaning that formerly they had a Courage to own Christ and his despised wayes and to be Charitable to poor Christians now he desireth them to be so still as long as the Occasion continueth so long should the Charity continue that at length they might reap the Reward Ye have ministred and do Minister This is tedious to Nature and to a Niggardly and base Heart but Love will be working and labouring still and ever bringing forth more Fruit. Where this Heavenly Fire is kindled in the Soul it will warm all those that are about them but Love is cold in most it will neither take Pains nor be at Charge to do any thing for the Brethren But Christian Love is an Immortal Fire it will still burn and never dye therefore we should continue the same Diligence Zeal and Affection that formerly we had 2. As to Objects Christ telleth us The poor ye have always with you Matth. 26.11 As long as God findeth Objects we should find Charity and the Apostle saith Gal. 6.10 As we have opportunity let us do good to all Men. Expensive Duties are distastful to a Carnal Heart it may be they would part with something which the Flesh can spare and will snatch at any thing to excuse their neglect they have done it to these and these but as long as God bringeth Objects to our View and Notice and our Ability and Affection doth continue we must give still If our Ability continueth not Providence puts a barr and excuseth but if our Affection doth not continue the Fault is our own Now I come more particularly to speak of the Growth of Faith Your Faith groweth exceedingly Doct. That 't is well with Christians when their Faith groweth and doth considerably increase The Scripture speaketh of a weak Faith and a strong Faith therefore it concerneth us to consider whether our Faith be weak or strong in the wane or in the increase Now we shall best Judge of the growth of Faith 1. By
have sealed it and made it sure So the Jaylor Acts 16.34 He rejoyced believing in God with all his house He was but newly Converted and recovered out of the Suburbs of Hell ready to kill himself just before so that a Man would have thought you might as easily fetch Water out of a Flint or a spark of Fire out of the bottom of the Sea yet he rejoyced when he was acquainted with Christ so that you see none reflect seriously on the Gospel but they find cause of Joy We cannot consider and believe the great things which Christ hath done and purchased for us with some hope of the enjoyment of them without Joy Secondly The Reasons of this Joy These must be considered with respect to the Object the Subject the Causes 1. The Excellency of the Object which is Jesus Christ and the incomparable Treasure of his Grace 1. He is excellent in Himself as being the Eternal Son of God Now when he will come down not only to visit but redeem a sinful World this should be matter of Joy to us He came down was not thrust down he came as the Pledge and Instance of the Father's Love Iohn 3.16 God so loved the VVorld that he gave his only begotten Son To make Divine Nature more Amiable that we might not fly from him as a condemning God but return to him as a pardoning God and willing to be reconciled to sinful Man 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their trespasses to them And in our Nature dyed for us Revel 1.5 Who hath loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own blood Christ would shew us a Love that passeth Knowledge and would surprize Men and Angels with an heap of Wonders in the whole business of our Deliverance from Sin and Misery And surely we bring down the price of these Wonders of Love if we entertain them with cold Thoughts and without some considerable Acts of Joy and Thankfulness 2. He is also Necessary for us Rom. 3.19 And all the World may become guilty before God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã subject to the Judgment of God or obnoxious to his Wrath and Vengeance What could we have done without his Passion and Intercession If he had not dyed for Sinners what had we to answer to the Terrors of the Law or Accusations of Conscience or to appease the fears of Hell and approaching Damnation How could you look God in the Face or think a comfortable Thought of him or call upon his Name or pray to him in your Necessities In good sadness what could you do Would you bewail Sins past but what Recompence or Ransom for your Souls was there If you had wept your Eyes out it would not have been accepted without a Redeemer or some Satisfaction to Divine Justice Micah 6.6 7. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God shall I come before him with Calves of a year old will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousand of rivers of Oyl shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my Body for the sin of my Soul Would you commit Sin no more or serve God for the future exactly If that had been possible with a sinning Nature yet payment of new Debts doth not quit old Scores or paying what we owe doth not make amends for what is stolen you might have lain in your Blood We could not find out a Ransom which God would accept Psal. 49.7 8. None of them can by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a ransom for him for the redemption of their Soul is precious and it ceaseth for ever No it is the Lord's Mercy to find out a ransom for us Iob 33.24 Then he is gracious unto him and saith deliver him from going down to the Pit I have found a ransom 3. He is so beneficial to us We have cause to rejoyce if we consider the many Benefits we have by him 1 Cor. 1.30 31. But of him are ye in Christ Iesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption That according as it is written he that gloryeth let him glory in the Lord. Ignorance alienates from God Depraved Nature brings Doubts and Fears which always haunts us about Eternity and the way thither Now when God hath provided such a suitable and alsufficient Remedy should we not rejoyce and esteem him and delight in him and count all things but Dung and Dross in comparison of him that we may gain him and his Grace 2. The Subject 1. They are affected with their Misery for according as our sense of our Misery is so is our Entertainment of the Remedy Those that heal their Wounds slightly little care for the Physician A Doctrinal sight of Sin maketh way for a dead Opinion about Christ. It is they that are often in tears and groans thrô the feeling of Sin and fears of the Wrath of God who do most esteem Christ and rejoyce in him Matth. 9.13 I am not come to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Acts 2.37 And when they heard this they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall we do A Saviour is welcome to them for he is to them a comfortable and suitable Remedy 2. They mind their End which is to return to God as their proper Happiness When the Soul seeth nothing better than God then nothing is sweeter than Christ Intention of the End maketh the Means acceptable Iohn 14.6 Iesus saith unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Heb. 7.25 VVherefore he is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Christ is of no use but where God is our chiefest Good for if we be indifferent as to the Favour of God why should we prize Christ 3. Their Heart is suited to Spiritual things To excite Delight and Complacency there are two things necessary The attractiveness of the Object and the Inclination of the Faculty Delight and Pleasure is Applicatio convenientis convenienti If the Object be never so lovely yet if the Faculty be not suited there is no delight We use to say One Man's Food is another Man's Poyson Rom. 8.5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Every Man's taste is according to his Constitution some are so lost and sunk in the dregs of Pleasures Honours and Profits that they have no relish for better things Tho' Christ be so excellent and so suitable and so Alsufficient to Soul-necessities yet Carnal Men cannot âavour him This Excellency is only valued by a Spiritual Mind Scarlet maketh no more shew in the dark than a
former Prophets There are so many Degrees mentioned first they grow slight and careless and do not care to hear what you say then they refuse to obey what they have heard then they grow Sermon-Proof they can hear and have no Benefit by it As long as the Word doth any way affect a Sinner there is some Hope but within a while Conscience smiteth not and Men have gotten the Victory over their Fears and Scruples And thus they go on from natural to voluntary and from voluntary to judicial Hardness of Heart and so are a ready Prey for the Devil 8. Dilatory Excuses are the last Refuge of an hard Heart When they can no longer withstand a Conviction they adjourn and put off the Compliance with God's Will and so elude the Importunity of the present Conviction Felix his Heart boggled Acts 24.25 And as he reasoned of Righteousness Temperance and Iudgment to come Felix trembled and said Go thy way for this time when I have a convenient Season I will call for thee Mind the present Season when God is affording Opportunities of getting Grace Heb. 3.7 8. To Day if ye will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts Psal. 119.60 I made haste and delayed not to keep thy Commandments Zacheus Luke 19.6 he made haste and came down and received him joyfully Peter and Andrew Mark 4.20 They straitway left their Nets and followed him Paul Gal. 1.16 Immediately I conferred not with Flesh and Blood If God hath given you any Will and Inclination for the present it is an Advantage Sin the longer it continueth the stronger it groweth He that doth not go over at the Fountain-head will not be able to go over when the Stream groweth broader and the farther he goes downward the broader still he findeth it Every Day 's Impenitency bringeth on a new Degree of Hardness Would a Man that is to drink that which to his knowledg is poisoned put the more into his Cup and then take it off out of a Presumption that at length he shall find an Antidote Alas thou may'st be poisoned and dead before the Antidote comes SERMON III. MARK III. 5 And Iesus looked round about on them with Anger being grieved for the Hardness of their Hearts Vse 1. OF Trial. Is this our State Take the two Properties to judg by Insensibleness and Inflexibleness First A hard Heart is insensible insensible of Providences of the Word and of the State of the Soul 1 st Insensible of Providences 1. Of Mercies Either of the Author of Mercies they never look up to the God of their Mercies Hosea 2.8 She did not know that I gave her Corn and Wine and Oil and multiplied her Silver and Gold As Swine that feed upon the Acorns but never look up to the Tree from whence they fall Cant. 4.1 Behold thou arâ fair my Love behold thou art fair thou hast Doves Eyes As Doves peck and look uâward It is a sign of a tender Heart to see God in every Mercy A drowsy and unattentive Soul never heedeth it is wholly swallowed up in present Enjoyments and looketh no farther It is our Privilege above the Beasts to know the fârst Cause other Creatures live upon God but they are not capable of knowing God they glorify God in their Kind but we may know him Idolatry and Sottishness had never crept into the World if Men had owned the first Cause Or of the End of Mercies which is to draw in our Hearts to God therefore they are called Cords of a Man Hosea 11.4 I drew them with Cords of a Man with Bââds of Love Esther 6.3 What Honour and Dignity hath been done to Mordecaâ for ãâã 2 Sam. 7.2 Thââ the King said unto Nathan the Prophet See now I dwell in an House of Cedar but the Ark of God dwelleth within Curtains When the Heart is urging to Duty upon this score God hath been good to me he hath given me Food and Raimâââ What have I done for God Now the Heart is hard when we are not sensible of his daily Providence and gracious Supplies in this kind 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel I anointed thee King over Israel and delivered thee out of the Hand of Saul And I gave thee thy Master's House and thy Master's Wives into thy Bosom and gave thee the House of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight David had lost his Awe of God because he had not a thankful sense of the Mercies of God 2. Of corrective Providences The Body is a tender Part with wicked Men when they are straitned for bodily Conveniences they will complain yet the hard Heart is still insensible of Judgments They are insensible of the Author or discerning Cause they do not look upward nor inward and though doctrinally right in these things yet they do not seriously consider it and recal it to mind Opinion is one thing and Consideration is another wicked Men may take up good Opinions but they do not consider the Force and Consequence of them 1. They do not see the Hand of God in them Isa. 26.11 Lord when thy Hand is lifted up they will not see They look on these things but as a Chance 1 Sam. 6.9 And see if it goeth up by the way of his own Coast to Bethshemesh then he hath done us this great Evil but if not then we shall know that it was not his Hand that smote us it was a Chance that happened to us If Men own God's Hand they should take up the Matter with him but they own it doctrinally though not practically A Godly Man hath explicite Thoughts of God Iob doth not say the Sabeans and the Chaldeââs but the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Job 1.21 They do not complain when they are crossed of Chance but the Lord is angry and when they are stricken they consult with him and humble themselves before him Wicked Men are sensible of the smart of the Rod but not of the Hand that holds it 2. They do not see the deserving Cause of them which is Sin Lam. 3.39 40. Wherefore doth a living Man complain a Man for the punishment of his Sins Let us search and try our Ways and turn again to the Lord. If Sickness cometh if a Relation be taken away if an Estate be blasted a waking Conscience looks to the Cause they would see the Mind of God in the Rod. When Israel fell before the Men of Ai Ioshua looketh out for the Troubler so do God's Children 2 dly Insensible of the Power of the Word they have no taste no feeling of the Powers of the World to come Jer. 23.29 Is not my Word like a Fire saith the Lord and like a Hammer that breaketh the Rock in pieces There is a breaking and a melting Power in the Word
Thou shalt perswade him and prevail also go forth and do so There is a permissive Intention not an effective Satan is the Efficient and Instrument God is the Judg he permitteth Satan to excite and stir up their evil Natures they grieve his Spirit and then God withdraweth and leaveth them to an evil Spirit as in Saul 1 Sam. 16.14 But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil Spirit from the Lord troubled him The Light of the Spirit of the Lord is gone and then Satan filled him with Rage and Fury and Cruelty It is said an evil Spirit from the Lord because he was sent from God to punish him for his Sins 3. There is an active Providence which disposeth and propoundeth such Objects as meeting with a wicked Heart maketh it more hard God maketh the best things the Wicked enjoy to turn to the Fall and Destruction of those that have them Sometimes natural Comforts Ier. 6.21 Therefore thus saith the Lord Behold I will lay Stumbling-blocks before this People and the Fathers and the Sons together shall fall upon them the Neighbour and his Friend shall perish Their Table is made a Snare and an Occasion and Preparation and Means to ruine them They harden themselves by despising the Goodness and Patience of God Rom. 2.4 Or despisest thou the Riches of his Goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance Sometimes Corrections and Chastisements these produce nothing but a greater Contumacy as a resty Horse the more he is spurred forward the more he goeth backward or as a fierce Bull or Bear groweth mad with baiting In what a sad case are wicked Men left by God Mercies corrupt them and Corrections inrage them as unsavoury Herbs the more they are pounded the more they stink Sometimes by spiritual Ordinances and Advantages the most spiritual Means do them no good Isa. 6.10 Make the Heart of this People fat and make their Ears heavy and shut their Eyes lest they see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and convert and be healed He that bringeth in the Light blindeth the Owl Water poured on Lime maketh it burn the more so do the Means of Grace hurt wicked Men irritating their Corruptions or they resting in them Sometimes by withdrawing the Word and Means of Grace and Prayers of his People Acts 19.9 When divers were hardned and believed not but spake evil of that Way before the Multitude he departed from them Jer. 7.16 Pray not thou for this People neither lift up Cry nor Prayer for them neither make Intercession to me for I will not hear thee Do not any longer strive between me and them Sometimes by disposing and ordering the Deceits of false Teachers 2 Thess. 2.10 11. They received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And for this cause God gave them up to strong Delusions that they should believe a Lie Job 12.16 The Deceived and the Deceiver are his This doth not fall out without a Providence The Water runneth its own Course but the Miller maketh use of it to drive his Engine As all things work together for good to them that love God so all things work for the worst to the Wicked and Impenitent Providences and Ordinances we read of them that wrest the Scriptures to their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3.16 Some are condemned to worldly Happiness by Ease and abundance of Prosperity they are intangled Prov. 1.32 The Prosperity of Fools shall destroy them As brute Creatures when in good plight grow fierce and Man-keen If we will find the Sin God will find the Occasion I shall instance in Iudas Christ had reproved him for begrudging Mary's Bounty and ye read Mark 26.16 From that time he sought opportunity to betray him He was offended with Christ's Reproof Iudas was hurried on with Wrath and Avarice and when Men are resolved God in his Providence suffereth them to have a fit Opportunity The Priests alarmed with the Miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead by which many were drawn to believe in him were thinking how to seize on him and Iudas comes in the nick and asketh them What will ye give me and I will betray him to you Vse Let us take warning by Pharaoh's Example that this great Judgment light not upon us The Philistines that were otherwise a blind and stupid People yet were affected with it Dagon was broken in pieces and they were smitten with Emrods once and again and they begin to consult what to do their Diviners told them 1 Sam. 6.6 Wherefore do ye harden your Hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardned their Hearts when he had wrought wonderfully among them did they not let the People go and they departed God delighteth not in Judgment and therefore he hath made a Precedent once for all here is Pharaoh set up that all succeeding Ages may stand in fear God would not have us learn to our bitter Cost but take Example by others Qui alieno malo non sapit graviùs punitur He that will not take warning by others shall be more grievously punished In Judgments it is better to take Example than to become Examples If thy Life should be nothing else but Pharaoh's Story acted over again for certainly there is an exact Parallel between this Case and the Course of every obstinate Sinner how great will thy Doom be God was angry with Belshazzar because he was not warned by Nebuchadnezzar's Example Dan. 5.22 And thou his Son O Belshazzar hast not humbled thine Heart though thou knewest all this You have known and heard of the Way of God with Pharaoh God hath a Quarrel with some of you for your Lusts and Vanities Do you think to bear it up against Warnings with Peace and Quiet Your Lusts may not bring you to present Ruine that you may be the more hardned in them but be sure that God will have the best at last and then I leave you to judg what will be your Condition when you fall under the weight of his Displeasure Have you not some Qualms of Conscience sometimes about your eternal Condition Doth not Conscience say Surely I am not so careful to make my Peace with God as I should be Upon every such stirring you are the more estranged from God if you do not improve it Conscience will repeat over these Warnings to you when you lie upon your Death-beds and then you will sadly howl over your Neglects and wish your Magicians and old Companions far from you then you will send for Moses and Aaron and it may be too late When God is shewing Mercy the last Mercies are the best and the further he goeth the sweeter he is and when God is punishing the last Punishments are the sorest and the further he goeth the more bitter I will propound two Considerations 1 st From the Evil of an hard Heart 1. It is a Contest with God not only with his Greatness and
Power but also with his Goodness and Mercy and therefore it must needs succeed ill with us Before God breaketh out with Fury he treateth with us in a mild condescending way he beseecheth his own Creature Jer. 13.15 16. Hear ye and give ear be not proud for the Lord hath spoken give Glory to God before he cause Darkness and before your Feet stumble upon the dark Mountains and while ye look for Light he turn it into the Shadow of Death and make it gross Darkness 2. An hard Heart makes us Rebels to God and Slaves to every thing else for we are wedded to some inferiour thing we are our own Pharaohs and will not let our selves go 2 Tim. 3.4 Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of God 3. It is in it self the sorest of all Judgments 4. It never goes alone but brings other Judgments along with it 5. It is the great hindrance of the Spiritual Life See Sermon on Mark 3.5 pag. 505 506 507. 2 dly From the Parties whom it may befal not only the open Wicked but in some measure God's own Children for God may harden two ways as a Judg and as a Father by way of Punishment and by way of Correction By way of Punishment again two ways totally and finally Some are totally hardned and have nothing of a soft Heart in them and yet not finally the dreadful Sentence of Obduration is not yet past upon them as it may be upon others and that during Life when God leaveth them to their own Hearts Counsels without any Check or Restraint of Providence or Purpose to reclaim them These three Kinds I must then speak of God's hardning the Wicked in general his final hardning and his hardning in part his own Children SERMON II. EXOD. IV. 21 I will harden his Heart that he shall not let my People go First OF God's hardning wicked Men in general as a Judg. The Causes of it are 1. Ignorance for Light and Love make the Heart tender Light is that which we are now to take notice of Light begets Tenderness as it discerneth Sin and maketh us sensible of it especially the lively Light of the Spirit Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came Sin revived and I died Sense of Guilt and Punishment soon flashed in his Face as in a Dungeon the Worms crawl as soon as Light is brought in Jer. 31.19 After I was instructed I smote upon my Thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the Reproach of my Youth Instruction breedeth Remorse and awakneth Men out of their stupid Security but while Men continue in their Ignorance they are stupid and sensless Now thus Men may be for a long time and yet afterwards God may make the Scales fall ãâã from their Eyes and open their Eyes and turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Acts 26.18 However affected and vincible Ignorance when Men are willingly ignorant and err in their Hearts that is when Men have powerful and enlightning Motives and yet remain ignorant this is very dangerous And for the present that Ignorance is one cause of their hardning is evident because the worst usually when they come to die are sensible their Mind is then cleared from the Fogs and Steams of Lust and Conscience being awakned they then feel their Load and a great weight of Sin lying upon them and most wish they had lived in a more strict and ready Obedience to God's Will 2. Unbelief There is an Hardness of the Heart against the Light and Offers of the Gospel when Christ is tendred but not received and the cause of that is Ignorance affected Ignorance and there is an hardning of the Heart against the Truth once received out of love of their temporal Peace Liberty and Safety of Life and Estate this cometh from Unbelief and want of a sufficient sense and sight of the World to come Which Hardness is caused by the Veaglement and Importunities of the Flesh craving its Satisfactions in the present World and denying or disbelieving the Blessedness to come If Men did believe Heaven and Hell they would be more pliable to God's Motions and more deaf to the Importunities of the Flesh but that this is a cause of hardning appeareth by Christ's chiding his Disciples for their Unbelief and hardness of Heart Mark 16.14 Afterward he appeared unto the Eleven as they sat at Meat and upbraided them with their Vnbelief and hardness of Heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen 3. Sinning against Light either by way of Omission or Commission This provoketh God to give us over to more hardness of Heart By way of Commission is easily granted but it is also by way of Omission Iames 4.17 To him that knoweth to do Good and doth it not to him it is Sin They will find it to be Sin in the sad Effects of it See Sermon on Mark 3.5 pag. 508. 4. Custom in Sinning See on Mark 3.5 pag. 504. 5. Small Sins may occasion this Judgment and harden the Heart as well as great Sins It is not easy to say which doth most indeed great Sins get into the Throne presently but small Sins insensibly and by degrees Psal. 19.13 Keep back thy Servant also from presumptuous Sins let them not have Dominion over me A small Sin may get the upper hand of a Sinner and bring him under in time and after that it is habituated by constant Custom so that he cannot easily shake off the Yoke and redeem himself from the Tyranny thereof as if a Man be addicted to any Vanity and foolish Delight These do not exercise Dominion over the inslaved Soul till they have gotten Strength by many and multiplied Acts. But presumptuous Sins by one single Act weaken the Spirit and give a mighty Advantage to the Flesh even almost to a compleat Conquest So that for the present little Sins do not harden the Heart so much as greater See Sermon on Mark 3.5 pag. 508. Now all these Causes concur to the hardning of the Heart and making it as a Stone but yet out of these Stones God can raise up Children to Abraham Secondly Of God's final hardning when God leaveth Men to perish and will no more treat with them Now here I shall shew 1 st That there is such a Dispensation 2 dly The Causes of it 1 st That there is such a Dispensation 1. It is an usual Dispensation for God to leave Men to perish in their Sins and that irreversibly even before Death and will be intreated no more for them It appears by many places of Scripture Rev. 22.11 He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he which is filthy let him be filthy still Those which remain obstinate after many Warnings and Calls it is usual with God to give them over to their Lusts that they may be ripe for Hell Ezek. 3.27 He that heââeth let him hear and
63.10 But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit therefore he was turned to be their Enemy and he fought against them Sâvit infelix Amor. Gen. 6.3 My Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he also is Flesh. The Heathens did acknowledg that the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Gods of Cities and Nations did for the Provocation of the Inhabitants forsake their Altars and Temples The more Calls and Convictions we resist in this kind the more difficult and improbable is the reducing a Sinner to God every day he groweth more wicked and profane To resist the Clamours of Conscience is sad but to weary and grieve the Spirit is dreadful Ezek. 24.13 In thy Wickedness is Lewdness because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy Filthiness any more till I have caused my Fury to rest upon thee God sets them over the Fire till their Hearts begin to be warmed and then lets the Sun remain on them 3. Gross Hypocrisy This is a constant Lie a Contempt of God an habitual and customary stifling and smothering of Checks of Conscience For their Form and Profession sheweth what they should be and if they were what they seem to be all would be well Men have Light enough to take on the Form of Religion and Sin enough to resist the Power of it And therefore their Judgment is the greater for their whole Life being a constant rebelling against the Light they are left to perish by their own Deceivings 2 Thess. 2.10 11. Because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved For this cause God shall send them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lie The carnal Christian being not brought to true Faith and sincere Repentance God giveth them up that they may be deceived by every vain Pretence 4. Apostacy from Grace received Men are not only warmed but begin to have a Taste They that take up with some Profession of the Things of God but afterwards fall away again to Looseness and Vanity and Worldliness they are more left by God than others Heb. 6.4 5 6. For it is impossible for them who were once enlightned and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift and were made Partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come if they shall fall away to renew them again to Repentance For they dishonour him more and bring an evil Report upon God The Devil hath more Power over them as a Prisoner that hath made his Escape if he be taken afterwards hath more Chains put upon him 2 Pet. 2.21 22. For it had been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them For it is happened unto them according to the true Proverb The Dog is turned to his own Vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire They themselves are made more uncapable of ever owning the Ways of God again it is impossible they should renew themselves it groweth up into a wilful Malice Heb. 10.26 For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins Grace will not pardon them the Mediator will not intercede for them Apostatae sunt maximi osores sui ordinis Apostates hate the Ways they have professed Hosea 5.2 The Revolters are profound to make Slaughter None so cross and malicious and perverse in their Cause 5. Sottish Despair there is a raging Despair and a sottish Despair the one is when Conscience is terrified the other when it is stupified when to Custom in sinning there is added a passionate Will Jer. 2.25 Thou saist There is no hope no for I have loved Strangers and after them will I go Jer. 18.11 And they said There is no hope but we will walk after our own Devices and we will every one do the Imagination of his evil Heart ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Men do not use to consult about things that are impossible It is said of the Israelites Exod. 6.9 They hearkned not unto Moses for Anguish of Spirit and for cruel Bondage Lust is so deeply rooted that they cannot help it the Case is desperate they are at a point as we use to say Past Cure past Care they grow out of Heart and so lie down under the Power of their Lusts they resolve to persist in their Sins to live as they lift and it is to no purpose to speak to them Thirdly Of ââd's hardning as a Father in a way of the highest fatherly Anger and Displeasure This may be ãâã Isa. 63.17 O Lord why hast thou made us to err from thy Ways ând hardned our Heart from thy Fear This is a partial Hardness There may be Desertion in point of Grace tho some Tenderness left in the Understanding that discerneth Good and Evil in the Conscience that is dissatisfied in its ãâã State in the Will that owneth the Ways of God so that there is a general Purpose to please him in all things Yet the Heart groweth dead and stupid there is an unaptness for holy Things they are less sensible of the Evil of Sin they have not such Delight in the Word nor Rejoicing in Hope nor Freedom for Prayer nor Patience under Afflictions nor Complacency in Communion with God And it is sad when it is so when to Sense there is little difference between them and the Wicked there is Hardness in a Stone and Hardness in a piece of Wax I will shew the Causes of this and the Means to cure it 1 st The Causes of this are 1. Sinning against Conscience There are Sins of daily Incursion and sudden Surreption and there are Sins of Presumption into which God's Children may in some rare Cases fall but then they make great Waste and Havock in their Souls as David's great Sin by which he lost that free Spirit and was forced to beg a new Creation as if all were to begin again Psal. 51.10 11 12. Create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Restore unto me the Ioy of thy Salvation and uphold me by thy free Spirit Many are the Mischiefs which come by such Sins Partly God's Love is obstructed that he is not so ready to do them good Isa. 59. Your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear That is the good Will and Favour of God is as it were bound up and hindred from shewing it self in all those gracious Effects which otherwise it would put forth for our Comfort and Peace he doth not actually pardon their Sins nor make them Partakers of spiritual Benefits in so ample and full a Measure as otherwise he would but
Field or Garden where the Senses being locked from all other Objects the Mind may fall more directly upon it self which otherwise in a Field or Garden would skip from Object to Object without pitching upon any seriously 4. The last Circumstance in the Text is the Time in the even-tide which is also a matter of an Arbitrary Concernment Time in it self is but an unactive Circumstance all Hours are alike to God he taketh no more pleasure in the Sixth or Ninth Hour than in the First Hour only you should prudently observe when your Spirit is most fresh and smart To some the Morning is quickest the Fancy being fittest to offer Spiritual and Heavenly Thoughts before it hath received any Images and Representations from Carnal Objects abroad Morning Thoughts are as it were the Virgin Thoughts of the Mind before they have been prostituted to these inferiour and baser Objects and so are more pure sublime and defecate and then the Soul like the Hind of the Morning with a swift and nimble readiness climbeth up to the Mountains of Myrrhe and Frankincense Cant. 4.6 Vntil the day break and the shadows flee away I will get me to the mountain of myrrhe and to the hill of frankincense and it tendeth much to season the whole day when we can talk with the Law in the Morning Prov. 6.22 When thou awakest it shall talk with thee To some the Evening seemeth fitter that when the gayishness and vanity of the Spirit hath been spent in business their Thoughts may be more serious and solemn with God and after the weights have been running down all day through their Imployments of the World they may wind them up again at Night in these Recesses and Exercises of Piety and Religion as David saies Psal. 25.1 Vnto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul. To others the silence and stillness of the Night seemeth to be an help and because of the Curtain of Darkness that is drawn between them and the World they can the better entertain serious and solemn Thoughts of God David speaks every where in the Psalms of his Nocturnal Devotions Psal. 63 6. When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches The Expression is taken from the Custom of the Iews who divided the Night into so many Watches whilst others were Reposing their Bodies on their Beds David was Reposing his Soul in the Bosom of God and he gave the less Rest to his Eyes that he might give the more to his Soul So Psal. 119.148 Mine eyes prevent the night-watches that I might meditate in thy word Certainly in the Night when we are taken off from other business we have the greatest Command of our Thoughts and the Covert of Darkness that God hath stretched over the World begetteth a greater Awe and Reverence Therefore Mr. Greenham when he pressed any weighty Point and perceived any careless used to beg of them that if God by his Providence should suffer them to awake in the Night that they would but think of his words Certainly the Mind being by sleep emptied of other Cares like a Mill falleth upon it self and the Natural Awe and Terrour which is the Effect of Darkness helpeth to make the Thoughts more solemn and serious So that you see much may be said for the conveniency of either of these Seasons Evening or Morning or Night It is your Duty to be faithful to your own Souls and sometimes to take the advantage either of the Night or of the Day or of the Morning or of the Evening as best suits us David saith Psal. 119.97 Oh how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day So he describes his Blessed Man Psalm 1.2 His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night That is sometimes in the Day and sometimes in the Night no time can come amiss to a prepared Spirit Isaac's Hour was in the Even-tide in the Evening he went out to meditate in which two things are notable 1. That he made Duty his Refreshment He had wrought all the Day and in the Evening he goeth to Recreate himself with God What a shame is it that what was his solace is our Burden If we had a Spiritual discerning we should soon see that there is no Delight to that of Duty and no Refreshment like that which we enjoy in the Exercises of Religion and in Communion with God The World's Delights are vain and dreggy they may provoke laughter but they cannot yield any pure solid and true Contentment It was Christs meat to do his Fathers Will Iohn 4.34 My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work It was sweeter to Iob then his appointed Food to hear Gods word Iob 23.12 I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food And David saith Psal. 119.54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage All the Comfort he had to drive away the sad and disconsolate Houâs of his Pilgrimage was to exercise himself in the Study and Meditation of Gods Word And it was Isaac's Evening-Comfort to go out and meditate Gracious Hearts must have Spiritual Delights the Word and Obedience and Prayer and Meditation As one said Aut hoc non est Evangelium aât nos non sumus Christiani Either these Histories are not true or our Hearts are much unlike theirs Oh how sweet would it be if we could make Duty a Recreation and our Work our Pleasure that in the close of the Day this might be our Solace after the work of the Day to take a turn with God in the Mount and to walk in the Garden of Love and as David saith Psal. 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. Isaac went out at even-tide 2. That at the Evening his Spirit was still fresh and savoury this was the time not of necessity but choice Many spend their heat and strength in the World toyling all Day and in the Evening come and offer God a drowsie yawning Prayer when all the Vigour of their Spirits is wasted You should bring forth the best Wine at last never so engage in the World as to hinder a Duty It should be the Wisdom of Christians to guide their Affairs with such Judgment that Duties may not become a burden and a weariness Now a Soul incumbred with business cannot act with such delight and freedom as it ought Too often do we suffer the lean kine to devour the fat Mary hath cause to complain of Martha so much time is spent in the World that we have no heart or strength for Communion with God and usually when all are asleep and wearied out with the World then we call to Duty Oh remember in the Evening and Close of the Day your Affections should be quick and free for Spiritual things Isaac went out at evening-tide I shall sum up the intent
and Spirits and yet there is Sin in the Work and Hell in the Wages Oh consider if it seem difficult which is better to labour for a Season or suffer for ever which is the end of them that live in the constant neglect of a known Duty 3. There is nothing so hard in God's Service but he hath manifested Love enough to sweeten it We begrudge a few thoughts of God and God had thoughts of us before all Worlds Psal. 40.5 Many O Lord my God! are the wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in number unto thee if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbred Psalm 109.13 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God How great is the summ of them Who can tell what a condescention it was for Infiniteness to think of poor Worms and that he should before all Worlds plot and design our Salvation And when the Plot came out there was a great deal of Love to sweeten Duty the Lord Jesus Christ thought no Danger too great no Suffering or Extremity too hard no work too difficult for our sakes what a Mercy is this God hath not only required Obedience but discovered a Love that may sweeten the difficulties of it 4. There is no difficulty in Religion wholly insuperable and too hard for an Active and Industrious Spirit Those that follow on after God do at length find him to their Comfort A faint pursuit is the cause of discouragement When a flint doth not strike fire at the first we strike again Prov. 10.4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand but the hand of the diligent maketh rich It is a Rule in Grace as well as Nature Let us therefore follow on till we have overcome the difficulty that is before us 5. A Lazy backward Heart must be urged forward with the greater importunity When David was shy of God's Presence he layes a Command upon himself Psal. 32.5 I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord He maketh Reason to issue out a Decree and positive Conclusion So Psalm 39.1 I said I will take heed to my wayes that I sin not with my tongue So by just Analogy we may gather that the Soul should in this case determine I will go and try and see what may be done I will keep off from God no longer but will go to him 2. Another Lett and Hindrance is Love of Pleasures Men that would pass their time in Mirth are unwilling to be so solemn and serious When Childrens minds are set to play it is irksome to hear of School or of their Books so when the Heart is set for Pleasure it is a hard matter to bring the Soul to Religious Performances How shall we do to wean the Soul from Pleasures 1. Consider to love Pleasure is to gratifie the Beast in us rather than the Angel Man is in part an Angel and in part a Beast he hath a Nature common to both now when Men study altogether to gratifie their sensual part it is to turn Men into Beasts To serve our lowest faculty and to enjoy pleasures without remorse is the happyness of the Beasts to eat and drink and sleep and sport is but to do as the Beasts do A Mans Delight should be in the pure and free Exercises of Reason If Men would exercise themselves herein they would find the greatest delectation would be in the contemplation and view of Truth Psalm 19.8 The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart That Taste which Hypocrites have of the good word of God Heb. 6.5 is meerly such as Scholars have in the height of Speculation and Study because the Gospel is such an excellent Contrivance and a sublime satisfying Truth Nulla major voluptas quam fastidium voluptatis there is no greater pleasure than a disdain of sensual pleasures 2. Consider the sweetness of Religious Exercises is far better than that of Carnal Pleasures as that heat is more Manly that is gotten by exercise than by hovering over the Fire It is hard I confess to abjure accustomed Delights Pleasantness is connatural to us but we should consider that by Communion with God in Spiritual Exercises Delight is not abrogated but preferred and advanced to a more noble becoming Object it is taken out of Egypt that it may grow in Canaan transplanted out of a Fenn into a Paradice that it may thrive in a better Soyl it is less Dreggy but more Masculine and Grave Psalm 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Eph. 5.4 Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks We keep the Affection but change the Object The Comforts of Christianity are expressed by terms proper to the Delights of the Senses to teach us this Excellent Art to keep the Affection and change the Object and by an Holy Sleight and Wile to couzen the Soul into better Joyes Here Delight is most pure and more free no excess is vitious Castae deliciae meae sunt Scripturae tuae thy Scriptures are my chast Delights The Pleasures of the World are but sugard baits a Man may soon loose himself but here by Tryal you will find the same sweetness with less hazard and danger 3. We may make choice of Matter more pleasant to allure the Soul All the Objects of Meditation are not dark and gloomy there are some things pleasing to Nature the variety of Providences the Beauty of the Creation the excellent contrivance of the Gospel All Objects are not mournful and in case of such a Temptation we may allure the Soul and when we are not so fit for the severe Exercises of the Closet we may as Isaac go out into the Fields to meditate and heighten Fancy and Imagination by Objects more pleasant 3. The next general Hindrance is a Guilty Conscience When the Soul is under the burden of Guilt we are loath to be serious and alone lest the Mind should fall on it self of all things we then desire to flee the Company of our selves and therefore Meditation is an unpleasant Duty We cannot think of God but as of a Judge nor of a World to come but as of our own Ruine A guilty Conscience would fain obliterate the thoughts of God as the guilty Heathens Rom. 1.28 They did not like to retain God in their knowledge that is Actual Sound Distinct Thoughts of God It is said Iames 2.19 The Devils believe and tremble Thoughts of God impressed the more horrour on them therefore they cryed out Matth. 8.29 Art thou come hither to torment us before the time So guilty Men are under these horrors They are all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 which though it be not alwaies felt is soon awakened Iob 21.14 Therefore they say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes What shall we
Reverend Thoughts that by a deliberate gaze you may raise your Souls into an Holy Wonder and Amiration 1. I shall lay down some preparative Considerations 2. I shall come to the work it self I. To prepare you To consecrate your thoughts for the entertainment of so great a Mystery consider these things 1. When you have done your utmost your thoughts will still fall short Isa. 40.28 There is no searching of his understanding There is an excess in every Attribute above all Humane Thought and Conceit and though we follow on after God yet we cannot find him out to perfection Now among all his Attributes none is more hidden from us than his Wisdom as Children that are only busied in puppets and bawbles cannot imagin what it is to govern a Common-wealth Power is obvious but our foolish Spirits cannot trace the Wisdom of Providence much more his Wisdom discovered in the Gospel One of the Names of Christ is Wonderful Isa. 9.6 It is a point that we should alwayes be studying and yet we can never come to the bottom of it and therefore what is wanting in Thoughts must be supplyed by wonder When we have done all we must cry out Rom. 11.23 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his wayes past finding out As if he had said I have done as much as I can I have discovered as much as I am able but I must leave off disputing and fall now to wondring The Light of the Scripture doth not discover him fully 1 Cor. 13.9 We know in part and we prophesie in part Full Knowledge is our Portion in Heaven these are but partial Discoveries we have even in the Word of God However this is no excuse for Negligence and Barrenness Not for Negligence for we must follow on to know the Lord Hosea 6.3 It is the fault of Christians that they keep alwayes to their Milk and first childish Thoughts and Apprehensions we should rise higher in our Considerations and Admirations of the Love and Wisdom of God It is notable that Moses his first request to God was What is thy name Exod. 3.13 and then I beseech thee shew me thy glory Exod. 33.18 we must follow on from considering Gods Name to clearer sights of his Glory Not for Barrenness Empty Thoughts void of Argument and Discourse beget a confused Stupor not a Wonder the Thoughts are only stayed not raised 2. Not only Men but Angels themselves are at a loss in this great Mystery they study it as well as we and cannot come to the bottom of it 1 Pet. 1.12 Which things the Angels desire to look into The word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies to bow down and bend the Body it is an allusion to the Cherubims that were pictured over the Ark stooping and as it were bending their Bodies as prying into the Mysteries of the Ark. The Mysteries of the Gospel are so sublime that the Angels which do continually behold the face of God cannot perfectly comprehend them they are learning and improving their knowledge by learning and improving the dispensations of God to the Church Ephes. 3.10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God that they may know the curious contrivances of Gods Wisdom by observing the Revelations that are made and the Dispensations God hath used towards his Church And possibly this may be the meaning of the Apostle in that expression 1 Tim. 3.16 Seen of Angels that is with Reverence Admiration and wonder to see Christ stoop so low to be cloathed with Flesh to condescend to a Nature so much beneath their own This is the work of Angels either they desire to know more of Christ or they delight themselves in beholding of that they know Oh we should never be weary of searching into these Holy Mysteries and acting our thoughts upon them 3. They wonder most at the contrivance of the Gospel that have most Interest in it to others it is but a cold Story or naked Plot. Concernment sharpneth Invention and Affection a Man doth then more seriously consider of it their Eyes are open and they have more of sense and feeling And that is the Reason why the injoyments of the Saints have notes of wonder annexed to the expressions of them as Phil. 4.7 The peace of God which passeth all understanding c. 1 Pet. 1.8 Ioy unspeakable and fall of glory they that have a taste of it know what it is to enjoy a calm and serene Conscience through the application of the Promises of the Gospel They can best wonder at the contrivance of the Gospel who are called out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2.9 They wonder in their thoughts that God and Christ should design their Heaven be plotting and contriving their Salvation before all Worlds how they may be Vessels ââlled up with Glory Oh marvellous Light wonderful unutterable Joy These are the apprehensions of Gods Children others may look upon the Gospel as a probable Truth but they have found it a comfortable Truth therefore their hearts are raised in wonder II. I come to the Work it self You may manage it three wayes 1. By Observations 2. By Arguments 3. By Comparisons 1. By Observations Observe what is Beautiful and Excellent in the Gospel 1. God did not contrive to save the fallen Angels Heb. 2.16 For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham He was not made an Angel for Angels as he was made a Man for Men. Oh Lord Thou sawest Angels sinning but not returning in them thou didst discover the severity of thy Justice but in us the riches of thy Mercy God would not so much as treat with a fallen Man Angel but plotted a way to recover In the Election of Angels Mercy is not so much glorified as in the Election and Calling of Men there was Grace showed in the Election of Angels but not Mercy none of the fallen Angels were saved but fallen Man is called to Grace in Christ. Certainly whatever the causes were there was much of Wisdom and Mercy in it Whether it be for this cause that when Adam sinned the whole Humane Nature fell but the whole Angelical Nature did not fall but only a part of it the kind it self needed not to be repaired but all the Mass of Mankind was poysoned Or whether this be the cause meerly the Will of God certainly there is much of Mercy in it Love after a breach is more glorious it is more to be reconciled than to be confirmed Poenitens the Penitent have more cause to glorifie God then Innocens the Innocent those that are received to Mercy than those that are confirmed by Grace Or else was this the cause Because the Angels sinned out of their own Motion Angels had no other Gemptation but their own
with straits and pinched for maintenance of your Families consider there is a Providence The World is Gods great Common and he doth not over-stock his own Common All things wait upon God how do the Beasts live but upon Providence Psal. 104.27 These all wait upon thee that thou mayest give them their meat in due season Who is it that feeds the Ravens Psal. 147.9 He giveth to the beast his food and to the young ravens which cry And Psal. 145.16 Thou openest thine hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing Compare it with verse 19. He shall fulfil the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them Urge your hearts herewith to Patience under Miseries Not a Sparrow falls to the ground without a Providence therefore certainly your Crosses fall under the wise dispensation of God Psalm 39.6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain Again urge your hearts to thankfulness for Mercies look upon the first cause and acknowledge the Providence of God in all that you enjoy 2. Consider the Providences of God to your selves in particular for thou art a little World Consider how the Providence of God watched over thee in the Womb when he took thee out from thence how he provided two Bottles to sustain thee how he hath borne thee up from the Womb hitherto especially how he took care of thee when thou hast been in distress Oh it is sweet when we can cry as David Psalm 34.6 This poor man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles I have been in these and these distresses yet the Lord hath heard and delivered me especially if he hath blessed thee from small beginnings and increased thy substance urge thy heart to trust in him for the future 1 Pet. 5.7 Casting all thy care upon him for he careth for thee Fifthly The next Object of Meditation is the Excellency and Happyness of our Estate in Heaven See this Subject treated on in a Sermon on Tit. 2.13 Looking for that blessed Hope A Fourth Volume OF SERMONS ON Several Texts of Scripture BY THE Late Reverend and Learned Thomas Manton D.D. PART the Second Containing LXXVI Sermons WITH AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE To the Whole LONDON Printed by I. D. and are to be sold by Ionathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCXCIII Place this Title immediately before Page 671. TO THE Lady BAWDON MADAM IT needs no Apology that I have prefixed your Ladiship 's Name to this Part of the late Reverend Dr. Thomas Manton's Works since the Memory of the Author is so precious with you by whom you and your Children were baptized into the Christian Faith under whose Ministry you were brought up in the Knowledg of the Mysteries of the Gospel and whose Works published both before and since his Death have been so highly valued by you But your Ladiship has a more especial Title to these Sermons because a great part of them being committed to my Care to publish the preparing them for the Press was performed in a great measure under your Ladiship 's Roof when the Providence of God called me there in my Attendance on your Honoured Mother the Lady Wharton in the last Scene of her Life The Duty I owe to the Memory of that Great Person obliges me to testify to the World what I as well as others who had the Honour of knowing her observed in her She was one whom God had indowed with more than common Gifts and Graces one of a piercing Judgment quick Apprehension great Presence of Mind useful in all her Relations But that which adorned all was her eminent Godliness which was visible in the whole Course of her Conversation She had a great understanding of the Mysteries of the Gospel and though she abounded in good Works yet she knew how to account all things Loss and Dung for the Excellency of the Knowledg of Christ Jesus her Lord. She was often in the Admiration of the Riches and Freeness of God's Grace in Jesus Christ and all her Hopes Trust and Confidence were in his Merits and Righteousness She had a very high Valuation and Esteem of the Ordinances of God and when her long Sickness had for some time hindred her from a publick Attendance on the Worship of God she would often complain of it That she was as a Leper shut out from the Sanctuary of God She was of a noble generous and charitable Frame of Spirit and her Charity was dispensed with great Prudence I cannot but mention one Branch of it viz. The relieving of sick Persons especially providing and giving Medicines to the Poor who had no Money to buy them and God did wonderfully own her with great Success herein In her latter Days God was pleased to exercise her with great Trials her Sickness was long and tedious her Pains great and sharp but under all her steady Adherence to God shewed the Strength of her Faith and the Truth of her Patience I have often heard her say this one thing silenced all Complaints It is God who hath done it All the Breaches God made upon her made no Breach between God and her Soul In her languishing Hours when her Strength failed her she expressed the inward Tranquillity and Repose of her Mind it being almost the last Words she said All is well all is well Thus she lived and thus she died and is now joined to that Great Assembly of Glorified Saints who are always praising blessing and adoring God where she is always beholding the Face of her God in Glory and fully understands the meaning of all the dark Providences of God towards her in the latter part of her Life I mention not these things to renew your Ladiship 's Grief for so great a Loss and to make your Wounds bleed afresh but to provoke you to a holy Imitation of so great a Pattern and to be a Follower of her as she was of Christ. Good Examples have a powerful Influence upon us for we are led more by Pattern than by Precept especially the Examples of those we love for such we are prone to imitate but more especially of those who are in nearest Relation to us for there Nature sides with Grace And what an Advantage your Ladiship has had in having such a Precedent before your Eyes appears by the fair Transcript you have been of so fair a Copy Madam God hath been pleased to exercise your Ladiship also with great Trials but you have had your Comforts and Supports God hath taken away some of your nearest Relations but he hath continued others to you What a Blessing hath God bestowed upon you in those excellent Daughters that have sprung from you But alas we are too apt to pore on our Losses and overlook our Enjoyments to make our Afflictions the Grave of our Mercies God hath given your Ladiship a better Frame of Spirit and taught you how
his Sufferings 1. In the value of the Sacrifice Nothing could expiate Sin but the Blood and Shame and Agonies of the Son of God A Man would have thought that a Word of Christs Mouth would have pacified God but so great was the offence that though he cryed with strong cries God would not hear him till he had endured his Wrath. Christ prayed Matth. 26.39 O my Father If it be possible let this cup pass from me But God would not bate him a farthing If you would know Sin go to Golgotha 2. The Extremity of his Sufferings His outward Sufferings were much If you consider the Majesty of his Person he was the Great God that filled Heaven and Earth with his Glory and yet was sold for thirty pence the price of a Slave His back was mangled with Whips his Body nailed to the Cross he was scorned in all his Offices a variety of Sorrow was poured in by the Conduit of every sense seeing smelling tasting hearing and feeling If you consider the Excellency of his Constitution his Body being framed by the Holy Ghost was of a more exact temper his Senses more lively they that enjoy Life in a higher measure than others the more delicate the Sense the higher the Pain the back of a Slave is not so sensible of stroaks as of one that is nicely and tenderly bred His Senses were kept lively and in their full vigour he refused the stupifying Cup that was given to him He kept his strength to the last this appeared by his strong cry when he gave up the Ghost Luke 23.46 And when Iesus had cryed with a loud voice he said Father Into thy hands I commend my spirit and having said thus he gave up the ghost But what is this to what is inward The Agonies of his Soul under the Curse and Wrath of God due for Sin his Desertion of the Father it is more to see the Sun eclipsed than to see a Candle put out he complained that his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death Matth. 26.38 His Soul dwelt with God in a Personal Union Christ knew how to value his Fathers Wrath he had an excellent Judgment and tender Affections When he sweat drops of curdled Blood he needed support from an Angel Now put all these Circumstances together and see if Sin be a light thing Object But many think this lesseneth Sorrow Christ hath endured so much what need they be troubled Answ. 1. These know not what Faith and Love meaneth Can a Man love Christ and not mourn for that which was the cause of his Sufferings Thou art the Man that laid all this upon Christ. 2. Slight thoughts of Sin are a disparagement of Christ's Sufferings you make nothing of that which cost him so dear 3. Christ's Death doth not nullifie our Duty in this kind but ratifie it He died not only to expiate the guilt of Sin but also to shew the heinousness of it God might have taken another course This for Humiliation 2. As to Reformation The Death of Christ furthereth this 1. By way of Obligation Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me The great Argument that quickneth us to the Spiritual Life is that it is a thing pleasing and acceptable to him If we knew any thing pleasing and acceptable to a Man that had redeemed us out of a miserable thraldom we would do it They are unthankful Wretches that dare to deny Christ any thing 2. By way of Purchase Our Liberty from Sin was bought at a dear rate not with Silver and Gold You disparage your Redeemer and seek to put him to shame if you live in Sin for you go about to make void the purchase and to overturn the whole business which Christ hath been establishing with so great a cost He paid dear for that Grace which you slight you tye the Bonds which he came to loosen 3. By way of Conformity to the purity of our Sacrifice He was without spot and blemish A Carnal Christian dishonoureth his Head and puts him to an open shame as if the Church were but a Sanctuary for naughty Men and Christianity a design to make us less Careful and Holy What a spotted Christ do we hold forth to the World We are to look upon Christ crucified so as to be crucified with him 2. The Day of Judgment The serious Consideration of that day is an help to Repentance Acts 17.30 31. He hath commanded all men every where to repent Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness As Hell worketh on Fear so this on Shame It helpeth Humiliation and Reformation 1. Humiliation It is a means to prevent the Shame of that Day if we do not call Sin to mind God will call it to mind Psalm 50.21 I will set thy sins in order before thee The Book of Conscience shall be opened and not only ours but Gods Book too Now it will cost us grief to look upon our Sins then grief with desperation terms of Grace are ended and we can have no hope A Sinner now blots the Book that is in his own keeping but then he cannot We will not own the Convictions of the Word when it sheweth our Face but then Iude 15. He will convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds that they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him Confession now is neglected but then all shall be brought to light out of our own Reins 1 Cor. 4.5 Iudge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darknâss and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God Let us take shame before it be imposed on us Sins repented of will not be mentioned to our confusion but only to the glorifying of the Riches of the Lords Grace They that repent their Sins shall be then blotted out Acts 3.19 Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the days of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 2. Reformation It includeth Faith and Obedience 1. Faith Let us get our discharge before that day cometh then we shall have boldness 1 Iohn 2.28 And now little children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming The Members of Christ's Mystical Body need not to be affraid of Christ's Judgment their Advocate shall be their Judge their Hearts are sprinkled with his Blood as the Door-posts against the destroying Angel They that are not careful to be found in Christ surely they do not believe that God will make inquisition for Sinners Is the day of Judgment a Fable Scripture
awe we cannot imagine that any would provoke these Serpents to sting him that he might be healed So say I as the Apostle 1 Iohn 2.1 These things I write unto you that ye sin not And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous For the present stings of Conscience is one of Gods Rods over us but when we fall there is forgiveness by Jesus Christ. As Peter of Alexandria destroyd the Idols but only left one for a Monument 3. The Nature of Faith which is a looking to Christ. It is usually said that Faith is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the eye of the soul certain it is that the Act of Faith is often expressed by seeing or looking and Faith its self by an Eye as Zach. 12.10 They shall look upon me whom they have pierced So Isa. 17.7 At that day a man shall look to his maker and his eyes shall have respect to the holy one of Israel So Iohn 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And Faith is described to be the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11.1 By Faith Moses saw him that was invisible Heb. 11.27 Heb. 12.2 Looking to Iesus So Faith its self is said to be the Eye of the Soul Eph. 1.18 That the eyes of your understandings being opened Gal. 3.1 Before whose eyes Iesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you The Mistery of Christ crucified was so evidently set forth as if he had been crucified before their Eyes So where the work of Faith is impeded and hindred it is said the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not 2 Cor. 4.4 That is hindred their Faith Therefore I shall here inquire 1. What sights are proper to Faith 2. What kind of looking Faith is 1. The Objects proper to Faith are Matters that lie out of the view of sense ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã things that cannot be seen by any other faculty or discerning power Some things are invisible in regard of their Nature and some things because of their distance from us because either they are past or to come Things invisible because of their Nature are all Spiritual things which are not obvious to the Eye of Sense Sense is only conversant about Bodily things which may be seen heard tasted or felt Reason can only see things in their Causes Things invisible by reason of their distance are either things past as the Creation of the World or the Sufferings of Christ or things to come as the Glory and Happiness of the other World Let us explain this by applying it to the matter in hand the Son of Man lifted up on the Cross. This was sometimes a matter of Sense namely at the time when Christ suffered and therefore then if a Man had seen him or looked upon him it had done him no good as it did not to those that wagged their heads at him and mocked him though it did to the Centurion who cryed out Matth. 27.54 Truly this was the Son of God But in another regard this is alwaies matter of Faith namely if we consider his Deity and Offices As the Son of God dying and healing wounded Consciences this is a thing invisible in its Nature Therefore the Souldiers that turned Subjects to him and Confessors of his Name even then when he is hanging dead on the Cross they that could see his God-head and confess it in its deepest Humiliation were Believers they saw Christ not with the Eye of Sense but of Faith Now go to the other things invisible viz. by reason of their distance because they are either to come or past Christ crucified was sometimes a thing to come The Fathers had need of clear Eyes who could see Salvation at such a distance and represented under such dark Figures and Shadows yet some had such an Eagle-Eye of Faith Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and was glad Iohn 8.56 and Heb. 11.13 All these dyed in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them To us now it is a thing past there needeth faith both to believe the History and the Mistery too When we believe the History so clearly as if we saw it Gal. 3.1 That is Faith And the Mistery 1 Cor. 2.2 For I determined to know nothing among you but Iesus Christ and him crucified and verse 4. My speech and my preaching was not with inticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power This ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this demonstration of the spirit is the ground of Faith when the Object is so represented that it maketh a powerful impression and so affected as if we had seen him with our Eyes Well then it is some Faith to believe the History to see it as a thing now done So Iohn 20.29 Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed But to believe the end and the use that was alwaies matter of Faith whether past present or to come And herein all Believers stand upon the same level Christ is not now lifted up upon the Cross but it is our Duty to lift him up that poor Sinners and wounded Consciences may look on him with an Eye of Faith Isa. 11.10 There shall be a root of Iesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people to it shall the Gentiles seek Isa. 49.22 Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and set up my standard to the people and they shall bring thy sons in their armes and thy daughters shall be carryed upon their shoulders Christ is lifted up in the Ministry of the Word as a sign of Salvation to draw people to him so to see him as to follow him and as to submit to him If David prayed God to open his eyes to see the wonders of his law Psalm 119.18 We may much more pray to God to open our Eyes to see Christ and own him in the Gospel and to see him crucified in the Symbols of Bread and Wine for our comfort 2. We have shewed you what is to be seen by Faith now what kind of sight Faith is Not a bare speculation but such as was the look of the Israelites on the Brazen Serpent serious applicative affectionate ingaging to Thankfulness and Obedience when they went away and were healed 1. Serious not a glance but a fixed Eye A stung Israelite would not cast a careless glance on the Sign of Salvation and Health neither should we upon Christ. Ponderous thoughts take hold of the Heart musing maketh the Fire to burn and a steady sight hath the greatest influence upon us 2. Applicative So Iob 5.27 Hear it and know thou it for thy good The Israelite came for the cure of
new Convert Acts 16.34 That he rejoyced believing in God with all his house he was but even recovered out of the Suburbs of Hell ready to kill himself just before verse 27. so that a Man would think he should easier fetch Water out of a Flint or a spark of Fire out of the bottom of the Sea than to find joy so soon in such an heart yet he rejoyced though he was still in danger of his Life for treating those as Guests whom he should have kept as Prisoners So 2 Cor. 8.2 We read of the abundance of their joy and deep poverty because they were acquainted with the Gospel So Zacheus received Christ joyfully because Salvation was come to his House Luke 19.6 He made haste and came down and received him joyfully And the Man that found the true Treasure for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath Matth. 13.44 He parted with all His Satisfactions Comforts and Contentments This is so sure a Truth that where-ever the Gospel or Christ is received in any degree and proportion though not to a converting degree there is some joy In Converts I have showed you and you may cast in that Text by way of over-plus Acts 2.41 Then they that gladly received the word were baptized and the same day there were added to the church about three thousand souls It is a degree not amounting to Conversion Luke 8.13 The stony ground received the word with joy Herod had some kind of joy in hearing Iohn the Baptist Mark 6.20 He did many things and heard him gladly And his other Hearers rejoyced in his light for a season Iohn 5.35 These had a joy but not in such a predominant degree as to be able to controul their Affections to other things and so this joy could not maintain it self or keep it self alive Therefore it is said That we are his house if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end Heb. 3.6 The first offers of Pardon and Life by Christ do stir up this joy in us as the Gospel sheweth us a way how to come out of the greatest Miseries and get an interest in the greatest Happiness The possible hope of Relief and Deliverance cannot but affect us if we be serious 2. As to our Progress in the Duties and hopes of the Gospel it is still carried on with joy Therefore Believers are described by it as their vital act Phil. 3.3 We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoyce in Christ Iesus and have no confidence in the flesh What is the constant work of a Christian but a rejoycing in Christ Jesus or a thanâful sense of our Redeemers Mercy And therefore the whole Life of a Christian is represented by keeping a Feast 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast Seven dayes the Iews kept their feast of unleavened Bread which figureth the whole time of our pilgrimage till we enter into the Everlasting Sabbath Every day is a Holy-day and a Feast-day with a Christian now Christ his Passeover is sacrificed for him partly through a sense of Gods Love partly through the Testimony of a good Conscience and partly through the hopes of Glory He is alwaies rejoycing in God if he be in a right frame and liveth up to his Gospel-Priviledges Let me chiefly instance in two Duties of Prayer and Praise or Thanksgiving which take up a great part of our Commerce with God And especially because they are connected with the Duty we are upon for we must rejoyce evermore praying without ceasing and in every thing give thanks The Duties that follow serve to act and cherish this joy 1. Rejoyce evermore so as to pray without ceasing They that delight in God will be often with him and can come chearfully and unbosom themselves to him as a Man would to his Friend They are not drag'd into his presence as into the presence of a Judge but they come freely to him as Children to their Father They that love God as their portion and happiness will much converse with him they are out of their Element but when they are praying to God or speaking of God or thinking of God therefore they are still with him But this is denyed of the Hypocrite Iob 27.10 Will he delight himself in the almighty Will he alwayes call upon God They may sometimes cry to him not because they love him and his service but because they love their own ease and to be free from trouble their streights may force a little Service from them Well then without delight we cannot keep a continual course of Communion with God in Prayer 2. For Praise or giving of Thanks in every thing give thanks that is both the fruit of our delight in God and a means to quicken it One that delights in God will have cause enough to give thanks whether the Creature come or goe what-ever is taken from him his joy is not taken from him He can bless God for his Mercies in Christ when retrenched and cut short in the World though he hath lost some Comforts yet others are yet remaining Shall one Cross imbitter all our Comforts As one string broken puts the whole Instrument out of Tune They can bless God for taking as well as giving Iob 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the âord If the Lord gave all why may he not take away a part A thankful heart can praise God for God himself for choicer Mercies yet continued for some outward Mercies remaining If God gave all and take but a part have we any cause to complain 3. Still I prove this joy must be continued throughout the whole course of the Spiritual Life because the beginning progress and ending is carryed on by it the joy of God is our support in our declining time the staff of our Age for then Christians grow more dead to the World and worldly things and are less moved by them whether they keep or loose have or want them and then they are nearer to Eternity and have more of that rejoycing in hope spoken of Rom. 2.12 This joy is a beginning of the joyes in Heaven here we have a Sip there a full Draught Our Delight in God now is of the same Nature with that which the Saints and Angels have in Heaven There is indeed a vast difference in the degrees here a little joy entreth into us but there we enter into our masters joy Math. 25.23 But though they differ in degree yet the Object and Affection is the same It is the same God and the same Glory which delighteth us only now they are seen by Faith then they shall be Objects of direct sight and fruition we shall see him face to face In short rejoycing in God is a beginning of the Imployment we shall then have in Heaven Therefore when we expect in a few days to be
6. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup thou maintainest my lot The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places Certainly they do not love God that do not value and esteem him as better than all worldly things Other things without him cannot give any solid contentment to the Soul but he without other things is enough he is all in all to the heart that loveth him Therefore if we be rooted and grounded in love to God he will be the delight of our Souls and our exceeding Joy whatever we loose in the World Thus you see Faith Hope and Love have a great influence upon this joy 3. All the Ordinances and Duties of Religion were appointed to breed and feed and act and increase this joy in us Reading Hearing Praying Meditating the Lords Supper all these Duties were appointed to quicken the Soul to delight in God and they must all be used to this end Reading wherefore were the Scriptures written but to beget in us a comfortable sense of the Love of God in Christ 1 Iohn 1.4 These things write we unto you that your joy may be full The word doth beget and keep up our delight in God by those discoveries which it maketh of his goodness to us in Doctrines Counsels and Promises that every time we look into Gods blessed Book we might have a fresh delight acted and stirred in us So for hearing its main end is to increase our joy therefore was the Ministry appointed Not for that we have dominion over your faith but as helpers of your joy 2 Cor. 1.24 That is the main end of our Ministry because the Gospel-Dispensation is a Dispensation of Grace We must press repentance but it is to cure you of your vain rejoycings in order to more solid comfort to put you out of your Fools Paradise that you may prize and esteem your Saviour and set more by him than by all the Pleasures Honours and Riches of the World Holy Mourning is in order to Comfort the vain Delight and carnal rejoycing is checked and deadned that we may raise in you the true Joy We are helpers of your joy in Gods way and truely that is the only way we need not over-Gospel the Gospel as Honey needs not to be sweetned with other things So Prayer we put promises in suit that we may have new experiences of the Love and Bounty of God Iohn 16.24 Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full In Prayer you come to solace your selves with God and to unbosome your selves to him as your best Friend Meditation on Gods Excellencies and Benefits it is still to maintain this delight in God Psalm 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will delight in the Lord. The Lords Supper was appointed for the Elevation of our joy to the height it is our Spiritual Feast and Resection that we may go on our way with joy as the Eunuch when baptized he went on his way rejoycing Acts 8.39 Here the whole Gospel is applyed and sealed to us and Bread and Wine doth not so much chear the Body as the Body and Blood of Christ doth the Soul You come not only to remember your priviledges by Christ but it is your solemn investiture here you take possession of Christ and all his benefits The Second SERMON On I. Thessalonians v. 16 Rejoyce evermore VSE TO press you to this Spiritual Rejoycing God never hath our Hearts till he hath our delight To enforce this Exhortation I must First Take off prejudices Secondly Perswade by Arguments Thirdly Direct you in the exercise of this great Duty First To take off Prejudices and Objections which may lye in the Hearts of Men against this Duty 1. Prejudice How can this rejoycing evermore stand with that sense which we should have of Afflictions coming from God Is it not a stupid thing to be merry when God is angry Must we rejoyce in troubles notwithstanding the breaches God hath made upon us I Answer 1. Carnal Rejoycing is a very provoking thing because it is an affront to Gods Providence It is a defiance of the dispensation we are under when we are not affected with our own or our Brethrens Misery or our Fathers anger Isa. 22.12 13 14. In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with sack-cloth And behold joy and gladness slaying oxen and killing sheep eating flesh and drinking wine let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die It was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die So Iames 4.9 Be afflicted and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into heaviness And chap. 5.1 Go to now ye rich men Weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you and verse 5. Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter Now compare this with chap. 1.2 My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations Never any were reproved for rejoycing in God in Calamities but for Carnality and for Reâoycing in sensual satisfactions If you say the answer cometh not home you may rejoyce in unjust dealings and persecutions of Men or in Tryals but in corrective dispensations from the immediate Hand of God how shall we rejoyce I reply we are directed to this rejoycing in God in those Calamities which come from Gods immediate Hand Habak 3.17 18. Although the fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vines the labour of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat the flocks shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no heard in the stalls Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Surely Famine and Desolation come from God and come as a punishment yet I will rejoyce in the Lord. This Spiritual rejoyâing is not an irreverence but an honour to God when we are satisfied in him though all Creature Comforts and Means of subsistence are blasted and we shew that we have Comfort enough in God that is out of the reach of trouble and this can support us when all things beneath God fail Iob 5.22 At destruction and famine shalt thou laugh Stupidity and Carnal Mirth are very unseasonable but to live above the Creature and without the Creature is an high point of Faith and love to God and to rejoyce in him when all outward Causes of rejoycing cease is so far from being a Sin that it is an eminent Duty Our better part and happiness is out of the reach of trouble though it be never so grievous 2. We must distinguish between the sense of Affliction and support under it For we must neither sleight it nor faint under it Heb. 12.5 My Son despise not thou the chastning of the Lord nor
not a few cold heartless words then is Faith solemnly acted 2. Love is acted and increased in this Duty while we desire of God all things in order to God and shew forth our hearty groans after every thing that will bring us nearer to himself praying first for Gods Love then the Grace of the Redeemer and all other subordinate blessings and helps as they relate thereunto Yea this very opening our hearts to God is a solace to us and the fruit and act of our Delight in him The groans of the Spirit are the immediate issues of Love and come from an heart strongly bent to God and Heavenly things As Faith directeth us to God as the first Cause so Love to the chief end the Glory of God and regulateth all our choices and desires by it The Fruit of Prayer increaseth Love Psalm 116.1 2. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications Because he hath inclined his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live 3. Hope is acted and increased by it Because in Prayer this Grace is predominant the certain and earnest expectation of the promised Glory Our thoughts of Heaven at other times are cold and heartless here we enter into the Holiest we beg Heaven and all things in order to Heaven because we expect it from the Mercy of God in Jesus Christ. There is desirous expectation in hopes and Prayer is but the expression of our Desires and a certain expectation in hope so in Prayer we plead Promises and shew the grounds of our trust why we look and wait for it that God will preserve us and bear our Expences to Heaven 2. The three Duties pressed in this place are much promoted by frequent Prayer Rejoyce evermore pray without ceasing in every thing give thanks 1. Rejoyce evermore We cherish our rejoycing or Peace and tranquillity of mind in all Conditions by frequent praying This vent and utterance easeth us of our burden if any thing troubleth us we go to God whââs able and willing to help us Iob 16.20 My friends scorn me but mine eye poureth out tears unto God It is our Comfort that there is a Throne of Grace before which to bring our complaint So Phil. 4.6 7. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Iesus Christ. Be careful for nothing is parallel to rejoyce evermore what help have we to pray let your requests be made known unto God and the Effects of Prayer is the peace of God When the Air is imprisoned in the Bowels and Caverns of the Earth there are shakings and terrible Convulsions till it gets a vent so is the Soul tossed and turmoiled with many tormenting thoughts till we open our hearts to God Hannah when she had prayed went her way and did eat and her countenance was no more sad 1 Sam. 1.18 Now should we not be frequent in this Duty which will keep up our Delight in God and our tranquillity of mind in all Conditions on the Confidence of his All-sufficiency 2. Pray without ceasing The Duty is promoted by the Duty pray without ceasing and you will pray without ceasing The way to be fervent is to be frequent A Key that is seldom turned rusts in the Lock Wells are the sweeter for the draining We lose the habit of Prayer and fitness for Prayer when we are seldom with God and there is such an intermission between Duties The more we walk the fitter we shall be to walk and the more we pray the fitter we shall be to pray They find so much sweetness in it that experiment it by practice that they cannot be without it It is the Strangers to Prayer that need to be perswaded When we intermit this necessary work we loose our fitness He that hath often prayed will pray Psalm 116.2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live 3. For the last Duty in every thing give thanks They that pray often see all things come from God and they return all to God again they take it out of his hands and use it for his Glory Usually what we win by Prayer we ware with Thanksgiving Others do not and cannot observe Providence as much as they do that pray often and upon all occasions they look to God Besides Prayer sweetneth the Mercy For this child I prayed and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him Therefore have I lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth he shalâ be lent to the Lord 1 Sam. 1.27 28. 3. It is useful to preserve in us a Sense of our Duty to God as it obligeth us to be more cautious and watchful Who should be so careful of their Conversations as they that come often into Gods presence They had need to be careful on a double account 1. That they may be in a readiness alwayes to pray Eph. 6.18 Praying alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance 1 Pet. 4.7 Be sober and watch unto prayer If we would be often with God in Prayer we must watch against any thing that would hinder our Communion and intercourse with God that we may look God in the face with Comfort As those that are alwaies to appear in the presence of earthly Princes must be more decently clad than other Men. How shall we pray at Night when we have been offending God all the Day 2. The very praying often inferreth an Obligation of greater strictness that we may be such out of Duty as we profess to be in Duty 1 Pet. 1.17 And if ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every mans work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear 2 Tim. 2.19 Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity What confess Sin and yet commit it What pray so zealously and live so vainly Confute and contradict your Prayers by your Lives Ask Grace so earnestly of God and cast it away so carelesly in your Conversations Leave off one or the other for Hypocrisie is a double provoking thing more than open prophaneness VSE 1. Is to reprove those that never call upon God or very rarely either in their Families or Closets or both This cometh to pass 1. Sometimes through a defect of their Faith they do not believe Gods Being and Providence and the Promises of his Holy Covenant as made with us They do not believe his Being Psalm 14.1 The fool hath said in his heart there is no God And verse 4. They call not upon the Lord. The practical Atheist doth not pray Iob 15.4 Thou castest off fear and restrainest prayer before God As the awe and reverence of God abateth in them they cast
Iehovah so saith Ieroboam Now where the Devil can get such a Party in the Church as shall not only set up but be mad upon Image worship who do more visibly promote his interest than they 3. That which is ascribed to Satan is bloody cruelty or seeking the destruction of Christ's most faithful Servants For he is called a Murderer from the beginning John 8.44 And Cain is said to be of that wicked one and slew his Brother And wherefore slew he him Because his own works were evil and his Brothers righteous Iohn 3.12 Enmity to the power of Godliness came from Satan and where ever it is incouraged and notoriously practised they are a party and confederacy of men governed and influenced by Satan Now where shall we find this Character but in Antichrist's confederacy Rev. 13.15 He caused that as many as would not worship the Image of the beast should be killed And again Rev. 17.5.6 The woman whose name was Mystery was drunken with the blood of the Saints and the blood of the Martyrs of Iesus And it hath been eminently fulfilled in the blood-shed of Germany France England and other Nations and all this to extinguish the Light and suppress the truth of Christ. O how many seeming Christians hath Satan imployed in these works of cruelty When once he had seduced the Church to errours and corrupted the Doctrine and Worship of Christ he presently maketh the erroneous Party Instruments of as cruel and bloody persecutions as were ever commenced by Infidels and Mahometans Witness their Murders upon so many thousands of the Waldenses and Albingenses whom they not only spoiled but slaughtered with all manner of hellish cruelty Some of their own Bishops complained they could not find Lime and Stone enough to build prisons for them nor defray the charges of their food The World was even amazed at their unheard of cruelties smoking and burning thousands of Men Women and Children some in Caves others at the Stakes and many other ways butchering them proclaiming Croisades against them and preaching the merit of Paradise to such bloody Butchers as had a mind to root them out Driving also multitudes to perish in Snowy Mountains What desolations they wrought in Bohemia what horrible Massacres in France What fires they kindled in England What cruelties they executed in Ireland and Piedmont If we should be silent Histories will speak and tell all Generations to come how little this Faction of Christians have of the Lamb-like Spirit of Christ Jesus and how unsatiable their thirst is for the blood of upright righteous men And then consider where the Sathanical Spirit ruleth and whether we have cause to be inamoured of Blood and Fire and Inquisitions 4. That which is ascribed to Satan is that he is the God of this World 2 Cor. 4.4 And again the Prince of this world John 12.31 John 16.11 He playeth the God and Prince here and sensual and worldly Souls are easily seduced by him The riches honours and wealth of this world are the great Instruments of his Kingdom And the men of this World whose portion is in this life are his proper Subjects As Christ is head of the Saints So is Satan of the wicked ungodly ambitious world St. Austin distinguisheth of two Cities of Ierusalem the City of God and Babylon which is the Incorporation which belongeth to Satan And therefore when you find any party of Christians who are of the World speak of the world and the World heareth them 1 Joh. 4.5 They that are to try the Spirits may soon see what to chuse and what to forsake Certainly the case is not doubtful where the head of that State without any warrant from Christ and with the apparent detriment and loss of Christianity exalteth himself above all that is called God and affecteth an ambitious tyranny and domineering over the Christian world both Princes Pastours and People And to uphold this Tyranny careth not what havock he maketh of the Churches of Christ and where the whole frame of their Religion is calculated for secular honour worldly Pomp and greatness 3. That it is God's purpose to set up one Kingdom and demolish the other not only in the hearts of particular men but in Kingdoms and Nations and Publick Societies Jesus Christ was appointed to be not only King of Saints Rev. 15.3 but King of Nations Jer. 10.7 And therefore not onely erect to himself a Throne and a government in the hearts of his People but to have his Religion owned and countenanced and supported by Nations and Kingdoms and publick Societies of men When Christ was promised to Abraham it was said Gen. 18.18 All the Nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him not only Persons but Nations So Isa. 55.5 Nations that knew not thee shall run to thee Isa. 60.12 The Nations and Kingdoms that would not serve thee shall perish Rev. 11.15 The Kingdoms of the world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. When Christ sent abroad the Apostles he said Matth. 28.19 Go teach all Nations They were not only to gain upon single persons but bring Nations to a publick owning of Christ. There is a personal acknowledgement of Christ when we receive him into our hearts Iohn 1.12 To as many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God An Ecclesiastical acknowledgement of Christ when the Church as a Society is in visible covenant with him Ezek. 16.8 I sware unto thee and entred into covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine A National acknowledgement of Christ when his Religion is countenanced and supported by nations and befriended with the Laws and constitutions of Civil Government This is a great advantage Christ pray'd for it Iohn 17.21 23. That they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us That the world may believe that thou hast sent me I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the World may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me By believing there is meant common conviction He had promised it before Iohn 16.8 When he is come he will reprove the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Iudgement It is a great advantage when the Potentates of the Earth set open the doors to Christ and are careful of his interest in the world 4. When true Religion is thus received such an advantage should not be lost or carelessly looked after Partly because it is with much adoe that Christ gets up in the World not only by the labours of his Servants but by their deep sufferings As the Chief Captain said to Paul With a great sum obtained I this freedom Act. 22.28 So this Liberty was not only purchased by the Blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 19. But with the expence of many oâ his Servants lives who counted not their interest dear
the meanest and most abject form of Mankind not in any glorious Estate and Majesty Survey the whole course of his Life He was born of a Poor Virgin and instead of a better place laid in an Inn which probably being taken up by Persons of great Quality he was laid in the basest place of the Inn in a Manger His Birth was revealed to Poor Shepherds not to Emperours and Kings not to Caesar at Rome Presently after his Birth he was banished together with his Mother into Egypt and exposed to the Troubles and Toils of a long Journey into a strange Countrey for refuge Afterward till he appeared in his Ministry we read little of him His supposed Father a Carpenter and he himself called so Mark 6.3 Is not this the Carpenter He made Yoaks and Ploughs saith Iustin Martyr Certainly it is probable that as he submitted to other paâts of the Curse so this In the Sweat of thy Brows shalt thou eat thy Bread In the course of his Ministry he suffered many affronts and reproaches Surely his Life was a Life of Sorrows we find him begging Water when thirsty Iohn 4.9 That a Fish payed Tribute for him Mat. 17.27 He had little Money and had no certain Residence and Place of abode but lived by Contribution Mat. 8.20 The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the Air have Nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his Head At his Death never was Child of God under so much Misery as Christ himself His own Heavens his own Father his own Godhead did hide their Face and Consolation from him Gods wrath pressed the weight of Punishment with the full Power of Justice both upon his Soul and Body Those for whom he died despised him He himself being emptied of all things which make men respected in the World was depressed lower than any Man and was as a Worm to be trod upon He was made a matter of common talk and reproach in all Mens Mouths condemned by the ruling part of the World and set at nought by the basest of the People derided and scorned in his most holy behaviour his bitter sufferings made matter of Sport and Laughter malice feeding it self with pleasure upon his pain and misery and expressing it self with the basest signs of mocking which disdain could devise flouring at his saving doctrine and insulting over him as if he had neither been the Son of God nor an honest Man And all this was counted little enough for satisfaction of Justice exacting of him the due punishment of our sins II. That this was his own voluntary Act. He made himself of no Reputation You may read that Men set him at nought Act. 4.11 This is the Stoââ which was set at nought of you Builders nay we read Heb. 2.7 Thou madest him a little lower than the Angels It was an act of God himself Yet on Christs part it was voluntary undertaken for the Glory of God and the Good of Men. It was not imposed upon him by constraint without his consent or against his Will An act of love and an act of Obedience are truely consistent A punishment is imposed upon us against our Will but here was a voluntary susception of our burden none of this was due to him upon his own account but ours It was no punishment for his self-exalting but an act of gracious condescention This appeareth in Scripâure two ways 1. In that what he was to do and undergo was proposed to him and he willingly accepted of the terms and conditions When no kind of Sacrifices and Offerings were sufficient to take away sin and save sinners then he said Lo I come to do thy will Heb. 10.6 7. It was told him what it would cost him if he would deliver and save Man kind all was written down in God's Book that he must be made under the Law take upon him the form of a Servant make his Soul an offering for sin How did he like these conditions I was not saith he rebellious neither turned away back Isa. 50 5. No he refused not the terms but cheerfully submitted to them I delight to do thy Will O God He delighted in the thoughts of it long ere it came about Prov. 8.31 Rejoicing in the Habitable part of the Earth and my delights were with the Sons of Men. And when it was to be actually done he repented not 2. The Scripture assigneth this work unto the love and condescention of Christ himself as the next and immediate cause of his ingaging in it and performance of it Gal. 2.20 I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Eph. 5.25 26. Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word Rev. 1.5 6. Vnto hiâ that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood The Apostle telleth us 2 Cor. 8.9 Ye know the Grace of our Lord Iesus that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich He condescended to a poor and low condition and suffered therein for our good that we might be partakers of the riches of the Grace of God III. That this was for our sakes Christ hath a double Relation 1. As our Mediator Redeemer and Saviour 2. As the pattern and example of holiness in our Nature Both ways it was for our sakes 1. As our Mediator So he emptied himself that we might be filled with all Grace He was born of a Woman that we might be born of God Gal. 4.4 5. When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made sin for us that knew no sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him He was made a Curse that we might have the blessing Gal. 3.13 14. Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for Us for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Iesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through Faith He was forsaken for a while thât we might be received for ever And to speak to the very case 2 Cor. 8.9 He was made poor for us that we through his poverty might be rich There are some things in the mediation of Christ which belong to Ministry others to Authority Those which belong to Ministry as to be in the form of a Servant and die He must be a Man for that Some things belong to Authority as to bring us back to God to make our peace with God to convey the Spirit to vanquish Satan to raise the dead to deliver us from Hell to make us everlastingly blessed he must be a God for
submit to any condition for his glory Some that profess his name will suffer nothing for him If they may injoy him or his ways in peace and quietness well and good but if trouble arise for the Gospel's sake immediately they fall off The most yea the best have a secret lothness and unwillingness to condescend to a condition of trouble and distress for the Gospel Now to these I will but propound these three considerations 1. If Christ had been unwilling to die for us and suffer for us if the same mind had been in Christ what had been our estate and condition to all Eternity without his sufferings we should have suffered eternal misery If you would not have Christ of another Mind let the same Mind be in you 2. We cannot lose for him as much as he hath done for us 2 Cor. 8.9 Ye know the Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ that though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 3. We are gainers by him if we part with all the World for his sake Mark 10.29 30. There is no Man that hath left House or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my sake and the Gospel but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time Houses and Brethren and Sisters and Mothers and Children and Lands with Persecutions and in the World to come Eternal Life Oh then do not stand upon terms The same Mind or Spirit answerable to Christ was that of David 2 Sam. 6.22 I will be yet more vile than thus Christ became vile for us made himself of no reputation and shall we be flouted out of our Religion If he had disdained to indure grief and sorrows and stood upon befitting terms what had become of us 2. Humility We are far inferiour to Christ and shall we stand so much upon our reputation Mat. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in Heart Learn of me not to make Worlds or work Miracles but to be contented with the lowest place the meanest service to be any thing and do any thing to bring glory to God and that not out of necessity but choice Mat. 20.28 Even as the Son of Man came not to be Ministred unto but to Minister It is brought to check aspiring or affecting domination in the Church They that love the preheminence would be great and high seem to dislike Christs proceeding especially those that rend and tear all to advance themselves or to grow greater in the World See that magnificent preface to the History of Christ's washing his Disciples Feet Iohn 13.3 Iesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God Poor Worms that are but three degrees distant from dust and nothing how do we stand upon our terms Christ when his own thoughts were most filled with his own glory doth the meanest office Surely considering Christ's humility we should no more over-value our selves nor desire high esteem with others nor affect preheminence nor undervalue and despise others 3. More exact obedience Christs condescention was a special act of Grace and Love but it was also a signal act of obedience It is so called in the 8th verse He humbled himself and became obedient to death even the death of the Cross. It was done in pursuance of the Fathers command and elsewhere Heb. 5.8 9. Though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered And being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him By the multiplicity of his sufferings he learned obedience and the impression is according to the Stamp and Seal Christ came to be the Leader of an obeying People 4. Self-denial as well as obedience Preferring a publick Interest the glory of God and the good of Souls before his own glory as God and the Interests of that natural Life that he assumed Rom. 15.3 Christ pleased not himself and Iohn 12.27 28. Now is my Soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour Father glorifie thy name That was enough if God was glorified Every Christian should be thus affected Phil. 1.20 That Christ may be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death 5 The last lesson is contempt of the World and all the glory thereof Christ teacheth us this lesson by making himself of no reputation two ways 1. The example of his own choice The Lord of Heaven and Earth despised and neglected the glory and riches of this World He passed through the World to sanctifie it as a place of service but chose not pomp of living nor the happiness of it lest we should chuse it as our rest and portion They are not of the World as I am not of the World Iohn 17.16 Those that are dearest unto God must look by crosses and trials to be fitted for another World If a Man say never so much for contempt of the World yet live in the love of it his saying is nothing But Christ would be a pattern of his own doctrine Contempt of the World is a lesson of great consequence Salvation lieth upon it 1 Iohn 2.15 16 17. Love not the World neither the things that are in the World if any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the World the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but is of the World And the World passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doth the Will of God abideth for ever Whether we are high or low full or kept bare it concerneth us all to learn it Though we flow in wealth we should be as having nothing and sit loose from the Creature If we are poor we must count grace a preferment Jam. 1.9 10. Let the brother of low degree rejoyce in that he is exalted But the rich in that he is made low because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away There is required of all an hearty preparation for when they are not called to a patient enduring of afflictions for Christs Name Phil. 4.12 I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need This is of an hard digestion to a Natural Man Now Christs example is a great help to us to check our worldly desires let us not affect greater eminency in the World than Christ had And to check the vanity of fulness or our carnal complacency that it may not be a snare to us 1 Tim. 5.6 The Woman that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth Christ was a Man of sorrows do you Profess Christ and yet are
Life It is the fashion of the World to respect great ones If a rich or Noble Man should invite himself to our Houses we take it for a great favour we strain our selves to give him suitable entertainment the more free they are with us the more we give them thanks If they eat heartily of the provisions we have made for them we take our selves to be obliged by a new benefit which boldness if a poor Man should take we look upon it as a saucy intrusion and we rate him away with a frown They are the Rich that are respected the Rich are entertained their Causes and Suits are dispatched when the Poor can hardly get access and audience As all Floods run to the Sea so doth the respect of the World to the Rich and Mighty Where they expect a return there they bestow their courtesies But God respecteth all for he needeth none he is present with all provideth for all supplyeth all protecteth all that flie unto him in their tribulation Psal. 34.6 This Poor Man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles Prayers in Cottages are as acceptable to him as Prayers in Palaces 3. When once you are received and admitted into this Habitation you need not fear any calamity in the World because none can endamage your Spiritual interest nor frustrate your great hopes Whatever become of the Man the Christian is safe So that you may keep up not only patience and constancy of Mind but joy of Heart Rom. 8.38 Neither heighth nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus my Lord. Nothing shall be able to drive you out of your hiding place You lie fairer for temporal safety than others do and are more likely to have it and if any thing fall out otherwise than well it shall be sanctified You have a God that is fully inclined to do you good and he hath alsufficient power and hath ingaged it by his infallible Truth to set it a work for you so far as it shall be for his Glory and your Good Why then should you be afraid take up your Habitation in God And you are safe especially as to your main interest 2. What it is and in what manner this is done 1. There must be a solemn reconciliation with God in Christ. For we enter into God as an habitation to seek our comfort and safety and happiness in him only by Christ. For till sin be pardoned and God reconciled to the Soul what blessing or comfort can we expect from him whose nature ingageth him to loath us and justice to punish us Man by sin is become an odious Creature to the holy God Hab. 1.13 Thou art of purer Eyes than to behold Evil and canst not look on Iniquity And being an unthankful Rebel is liable to the process of his revenging justice and severe punishment Therefore when wrath maketh inquisition for sinners there is no hiding place till found in Christ. Phil. 3.9 And be found in him not having my own Righteousness There must be an Atonement not only made but applied before we can delight in God and have comfortable communion with him or have any right to the blessings of his Providence Rom. 5.11 We joy in God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom also we have received the Atonement It is applied on Gods part by the Spirit And 1 Iohn 4.13 Hereby know we that we are in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit And on our part by broken-hearted penitent believing addresses to him or by breaking off our sins and giving up our selves to him in an everlasting Covenant not to be forgotten This must be renewed as often as there is a breach on our part for all occasions of breach must be removed Or when God is executing judgment on his part for then he seemeth to put the Bond in suit which we must deprecate by flying humbly to the Throne of Grace Psal. 57.1 In the shadow of thy Wings will I make my refuge Psal. 61.4 I will abide in thy Tabernacle for ever I will trust in the covert of thy Wings He joineth the Wings of God with the Tabernacle Psal. 36.7 8. How excellent is thy loving kindness O God! therefore the Children of Men put their trust under the shadow of thy Wings they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy House He speaketh of the goodness of God in his House 2. There must be an actual dependence upon God and trust in him for what he hath provided and we stand in need of or a firm adherence unto him according to his promise It is dependance breedeth observance The Soul that doth not trust in God cannot be true to him Faith and Faithfulness are not so near akin in sound as they are in Nature Nothing is more ingaging than the great bond and tye of our obedience Psal. 123.2 Behold as the Eyes of Servants look unto the Hand of their Masters and as the Eyes of a Maiden unto the Hand of her Mistress so our Eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us Phil. 2 12 13. Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling For it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure Therefore is trust so often called for Psal. 62.8 Trust in him at all times ye people Psal. 86.2 Save thy Servant that trusteth in thee Isa. 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee We are without distraction of Mind and Thoughts when we refer all to the All-sufficient God as being persuaded that he will cast things for the best See the application David maketh of that great truth Psal. 91.1 2. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord He is my Refuge and my Fortress my God in him will I trust You must keep up the thoughts of his Goodness and All-sufficiency 3. There must be supplication and earnest fervent prayer for his powerful and gracious protection This is the acting of our trust and God will have all blessings sought out this way that we may take them immediately out of his Hands Ier. 29.11 Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you Ezek. 36.37 Yet for this will I be enquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them There Faith is exercised Hope is declared desires are expressed in a solemn manner Psal. 62.8 Trust in him at all times ye people pour out your Hearts before him God is a refuge for us Selah It is a means to ease us of our cares and fears and of laying down our burden at Gods Feet and it reviveth the sense of our obligations 4. Holy walking is necessary
because none can make a comfortable claim to this priviledge but those that are sincerely God's people He is their Habitation Others whatever indulgence they have by God's common Providence can have no certain hope or comfortable claim Psal. 84.11 For the Lord God is a Sun and a Shield the Lord will give Grace and Glory no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly those that fear him love him chuse him for their portion Others build Castles in the Air They do not dwell in the secret place of God that live in their sins and yet lean upon the Lord. By sin you run out of your dwelling-place and weaken your trust 1 Iohn 3.21 Beloved if our Heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 5. Constant communion with God Iob 22.21 Acquaint now thy self with him and be at peace thereby good shall come unto thee We must not run to God as we run to a Shelter with a mind to depart thence as soon as the Storm ceaseth Our Habitation is a place of constant residence So we must make use of God not when we are in streights only to serve our turn but abide and dwell in him as our habitation A Sermon on 1 TIMOTHY vi 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition IN these words we may observe 1. The Parties described They that will be rich 2. Their danger represented in two things 1. That they lye open to Temptation 2. Fall into a snare Some think it an Hendiadys ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the snare of Temptation But the considerations are distinct the one being a degree of the other Temptation sheweth how the Devil taketh them captive Snare how he keepeth or holdeth them captive So he that fixeth this as his purpose doth lay himself open to the Devil yea give up himself captive to him Men are first tempted drawn to delight in or admire these things secondly snared cannot get out of the intanglings of the World Now in the Text the general nature of this Snare is represented It is lusts sinful and unlawful affections and dispositions of heart 1. The number or quantity of them many lusts 2. The quality kind and sort of them foolish and hurtful lusts 3. The result and issue of them which drown men in destruction and perdition In the main of which Paul doth not speak of what doth often fall out but what doth constantly and necessarily fall out Doct. That a will to be rich is the occasion of much mischief to those that cherish it and allow it in their own Souls The Point will be best opened by laying forth the circumstances of the Text. 1. What it is to have a will to be rich When we make it our scope and our work our ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mark it is not he that is rich but he that will be rich Riches in themselves are God's gift not the cause of the evils mentioned but our love and lust to them though a man be otherwise poor according to that of Peter Corruption that is in the World through lust 2 Pet. 1.4 Here it is They that will be rich that fix it as their scope that make it their business For the bent of the will is bewrayed by two things Intention and Industrious Prosecution 1. Those that fix it as their scope are wholly intent upon getting wealth that give up their hearts to find out and follow after ways of worldly increase This is to set Wealth in the place of God For that is interpretatively a Man's God which is the last end of his actions and upon which his care and thoughts and endeavours do run most whether it be belly world credit friends or whatever else Phil. 3.18 For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are Enemies of the Cross of Christ Whose end is destruction whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things And then we can never act regularly Christ and Religion will be taken up upon worldly ends and advantages All stoopeth to the chief end Religion and Conscience and all when we fix this as our intention and the designed scope of our lives It is elsewhere expressed Prov. 28.20 He that maketh haste to be rich cannot be innocent A man that fixeth this as his end will not care what means he useth leap over hedge and ditch and cannot be content to travel the long Road of Providence to come to his Journeys end There are many such that will be rich whether God will or no say what he will and almost do what he can to hinder them when their ways are shut up not only by a commandment but the hedge of God's Providence Though disappointed in their projects yet they will through if they can take Faith and a good Conscience along with them they will but if not they will be rich without them 2. Those that make it their ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã their work and business in the World Prov. 23.4 Labour not to be rich cease from thine own Wisdom Make themselves Servants of Mammon Mat. 6.24 We cannot serve God and Mammon Both Masters have work enough and their commands are contrary When two consent to employ one man in the same business and service though two men they are but one Master But to execute the wills of men that are different in their designs and have a several and full interest in our labours and actions this is as impossible as to move two contrary ways at once This is the case here Mammon and Christ have full work for us and their designs are contrary Our main work of right is to please God and serve God but our work by choice is to serve Mammon all our labour and travel is to be rich which cannot be without the prejudice and wrong of Religion which should have the preheminence Matth. 6.33 First seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof and these things shall be added Religion cannot have all because of our bodily necessities but it must have the chiefest But now when the strength of our endeavours runneth out another way our hearts are taken off from God and his service and so Hagar croweth it over Sarah That is a happy Family where Sarah rules and Hagar serves But alas usually it is otherwise the lean Kine devour the fat and Religion goeth to the wall The world ingrosseth mens time and heads and hearts that they are wholly taken off from better things and the edge of their affections is abated their time and heart diverted Prov. 23.4 Labour not to be rich Some translate it Weary not thy self to be rich As they that trouble their minds with it with too great eagerness they have no time nor heart for communion with God and the great
all at the last day In both these things the Angels are concerned in his conquests as Christ doth confound the wisdom of Men and Devils in maintaining and preserving his Church They are a part of Christ's Army and have a great respect to his Church Heb. 1.13 14. But to which of the Angels said he at any time Sit on my right hand until I make thine Enemies thy Footstool Are they not all Ministring Spirits sent forth to Minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation They are some of God's Messengers that help to restore and recover Man from the power of the Devil and disdain not the Service Christ appoints them for lost sinners but have a great respect to his Church and the Assemblies of his People 1 Cor. 11.10 For this cause ought the Woman to have power on her head because of the Angels 1 Tim. 5.21 I charge thee before God and the elect Angels For his Triumph with them Christ will appear at the end of the World when he hath won the Field and cometh in Triumph to confound his conquer'd Enemies 2 Thess. 1.7 The Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his Mighty Angels These things the Angels pry into so should we Secondly How 1. Accurately and Seriously Usually we content our selves with running cursory thoughts never sit and pause with our selves what manner of Saviour and Salvation this is what is required of them that would be partakers of it and so content our selves with a superficial view without an accurate inspection Slight and shallow apprehensions leave no impression on the Soul The Hen thaâ often stragleth from her Nest suffereth her Eggs to chill We should dwell upon these things till they produce a clearer Knowledge a firmer Belief an higher Estimation a greater Admiration for this is to resemble Angels Eph 3.18 That we may comprehend with all Saints the depth and length and breadth and heighâh all which begets solid comforts when the mind is wholly taken up with other things the soundest Knowledge worketh not 2. Spiritually profitably practically Our business is not so much to know new truths about the Gospel as to know them in a more useful manner Let us pry into these things as the Angels do not to satisfie our curiosity with a little notional knowledge or out of pride that we may pertinently discourse of them or hold up an argument about them but that God may be glorified and admired in the Person of the Redeemer and our Souls delighted for our comfort and quickening and weaned from the vanities of the World ver 13. Wherefore gird up the Loins of your Mind be sober and hope to the end for the Grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Iesus Christ. Thirdly Why 1. Because it is an honourable imployment to look into the mysteries of Salvation and to be much conversant about them It will be a great part of our happiness and work in Heaven to behold Christ's Glory Iohn 17.24 Father I will that those whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory All our Faith Hope and Labour tendeth to this The Queen of Sheba took a long journey to behold the Glory of Solomon which did so ravish her that her Spirit even fainted within her and yet that was but an Earthly Temporal Fading Glory But to behold the Majesty and Greatness which Christ our Redeemer hath at the Right Hand of God is the great work which we have to do to all Eternity Therefore now we should busie ourselves about these things that our Mouths may be filled with Praise and Thanksgiving 2. Because it is delightful to Gracious Hearts God findeth a delight in Christ and shall not we There is more in the Gospel than a vulgar Eye taketh notice of or our first apprehensions represent unto us shall Angels wonder at these things joy and delight in these things and shall we slight them Paul counted all things Dung in comparison of the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Phil. 3.8 and 1 Cor. 2.2 I determined to know nothing among you save Iesus Christ and Him Crucified Surely unless our thoughts are lawfully diverted or suspended we should think of no other thing Austin cast away Tully quia nomen Christi non erat ibi because the name of Christ was not in it 3. It is useful 1. That all created glory may wax dim and be more obscured in our Eyes their power is nothing their loveliness is nothing in comparison of Christ this should take up thy Soul and draw off thy observation from deluding vanities such as Riches and Honours and Pleasures As the light of a Candle is scarce seen when the Sun shineth brightly so all the tempting baits of the Flesh are nothing when the glories of Christ are considered by us See ver 13. Wherefore gird up the Loins of your Mind and be sober and hope to the end for the Grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Iesus Christ. So for affrighting terrors what are Potentates and Powers to him All authorities and powers lawful or usurped must be subject to Christ 1 Pet. 3.22 Who is gone into Heaven and is at the right Hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him This promoteth the joy and constancy of Believers under sufferings 2. To draw out our Hearts after him Iohn 4.10 If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee Give me to drink thou wouldest have asked and he would have given thee living Water Looking after these things is in order to choice Mat. 13.45 46. The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a Merchant Man seeking goodly Pearls who when he hath found one Pearl of great Price he went and sold all that he had and bought it What are all things in the World if set against Christ and his Salvation 3. That we should converse with him in holy duties with more reverence Heb. 12.25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him Now shall we scarce vouchsafe these things a serious thought The Angels are concerned in a way of duty not in a way of benefit It is their duty to worship Christ Heb. 1.6 And again when he brought his first begotten into the World he saith And let all the Angels of God Worship him but not by way of recovery and yet they desire to look into this Glorious Mystery A Sermon on GALATIANS V. 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of Righteousness by Faith IN the context the Apostle perswadeth the Galatians to stand fast in
slack who doth not come at the due and appointed time The time is set though unknown to us and accordingly it shall be kept God puts not off his coming not an hour after the time Heb. 10.37 out of Hab. 2.3 Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry How much how much ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He will not stay a moment after the time appointed 2. It is not ignorance as not knowing the fittest time when to put a period to the course of the World or of our Lives That cannot be imagined for his waiting is guided by judgment Isa. 30.18 He waiteth that he may be gracious for he is a God of Iudgment He delayeth till the fit time come of putting an end to the troubles of the Faithful and the sins of the Wicked for he guideth all things with Wisdom and will take hold of the fittest season and occasion of putting his designs in action 3. It is not from forgetfulness of his promise For he is ever mindful of his Holy Covenant Psal. 111.5 He hath promised to come to accomplish the deliverance of his own and the punishment of the wicked and he doth not forget what he hath promised 4. Not from change of Counsel For he is Jehovah that changeth not Men change out of the mutability of their Nature or because they have not a due foresight of all possible difficulties But 1 Sam. 15.29 The Strength of Israel will not Lie nor Repent for he is not a Man that he should repent 5. Not from impotency and weakness as if he could not execute what he hath promised That among Men is the cause of delay Men must do as they can Sometimes they must be patient perforce they want strength to punish when they have a just cause and a good mind to it As when David had a strong mind to punish and put Ioab to death for the murthering of Abner but Ioab was too potent 2 Sam. 3.39 I am this day weak though Anointed King and these Men the Sons of of Zeruiah are too hard for me They had too strong a party in the Army and among the Soldiers But this case is not incident to God who is able to dissolve all things in an instant at the beck and nod of his Will 2. By assignment of the true cause why the World and the present State of things is not dissolved 1. Many that belong to the purposes of Gods Grace are not yet born and come into the World And all things in the World are continued and preserved with a subserviency to Gods Decrees This you shall find in that sometimes Providences are shortned Mat. 24.22 For the Elects sake those days shall be shortened that the Nation might not wholly be wasted and worn out that they might not have too great a trial God had Elect among them whom he would preserve the chosen among the Jews whom God would gather in the appointed time But on the contrary here in the Text time is enlarged for their sakes All particular providences wherein they are concerned are dispensed with this reference Rom. 8.28 And all that act under God are carried on with this encouragement For the Apostle saith 2 Tim. 2.10 Wherefore I indure all things for the Elects sake that they may also obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Iesus with Eternal Glory Surely the Apostle knew what was his Masters business and for what end the Gospel was to be Preached whatever became of the Messengers I endure all things for the Elects sake Providence being continued for their sakes he was to continue his labours in the Gospel whatever entertainment he met with 2. Many of them are not yet converted They are as yet brands lying in the burning hidden in the polluted Mass of Mankind and God will draw them forth for Iohn 6.27 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me And God will draw them forth in a way suitable to his Glory and their temper as men Which requireth time till they come to years of discretion and pains to work upon their Souls by commands threatnings and promises and alluring motives and sometimes disappointments in their worldly concernments and every one of these multiplied one after another And after many refusals of his renewed offers and slighting means they are at length gained and overcome by his powerful love Observe here two things 1. That God gaineth the Elect by the same means which are propounded to the Reprobate He dealeth in common with mankind in the external means shewing no more favour to the one than to the other They both it may be live under the same Ministry yet one is taken and the other is left Observe 2. That it is long ere many of the Elect are gained They may withstand many a call both from Gods Word and Providence But because it is night for the present we cannot say that it will never be day And then when they are gained it requireth some time to bring them to that measure of Grace that God hath intended to work in them that he may fit them for glory and we may grow into that perfect age which we are appointed unto in Christ Eph. 4.13 Till we all come to a perfect Man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. The edification of the body of Christ is a work that is still kept afoot until all that are given to Christ of the Father be effectually called and united with Christ the Head and every one of them attain to their full and perfect measure of Spiritual growth And so long the World indureth 3. The Wicked by this forbearance of God are rendered more inexcusable 1. Because while they are in this life there is place for Repentance It is a great Mercy that they are not presently cut off and destroyed but that God giveth them opportunities of breaking off their sin by Repentance Rev. 2.21 I gave her space to repent and she repented not If God doth not suddenly execute judgment upon them their crime is the greater It was a favour not vouchsafed to the Angels they were executed quickly 2 Pet. 2.4 God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell and delivered them into Chains of Darkness to be reserved unto the judgment The Angels were the most glorious Creatures yet when they sinned against God they were presently in termino in their final estate Man is yet in via in the way to a better estate For God to bâttâr to pieces vessels of Gold as soon as they had the least crack and flaw in them and spare Earthen Vessels this is the wonder of his Mercy Therefore it should be esteemed as a great favour and indulgence that he doth not presently thrust down sinners to Hell as soon they do provoke him much more that he hath provided a remedy and offereth pardon to them and hath not secluded them from all possibility and hopes
the Summer and gathereth her food in the Harvest 'T is uncertain we shall live to Old-Age or see another Winter but 't is certain we shall live for ever in Heaven or Hell Reason and Conscience and Scripture assureth us of that Atheists think the People of God are a sort of credulous Fools as Celsus objected that Faith and Credulity brought in Errour None so Credulous as the Atheists who hearken to every foolish Fancy and Cavil against the light of the Universal Tradition of Mankind and the Evidence of Scripture which God hath so often owned and confirmed 2. The Inconsiderate and bruitish part of Mankind who come into the World they know not why and then go out of the World they know not whither These live in the World as in an House of Smoak as they see nothing out of it so scarce see the things they converse with in it These mistake their Banishment for their Countrey the Sea for their Haven and themselves for Beasts instead of Men Oh let these consider 1. Why they came into the World Not to Eat and Drink and Sleep and Sport We were made for Eternal Things not for Temporal Not for the World nor for our selves nor for any thing less than God to glorifie him and injoy him and all other things to serve as helps to Heaven Surely we were not made in vain nor by chance brought forth into light The least things have their appointed ends and surely man that hath an immortal Spirit was never made for a mortal Happiness Oâ then that men should be so senseless as never to regard whether there be an Eternity yea or no That they should suffer the Beast to ride the man should live meerly to live Use their Bodies only as a Strainer or a Channel for Meat and Drink to pass through That they should only imploy their Souls about trifles and carnal Satisfactions Ioh. 18. â7 To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the World that I should bear witness unto the Truth All is for some end 2. The next thing to be considered is What will be their State when they go out of the World We daily draw near to our long home but we little think of it till we come to our Journeys end Fear not the Pit till we are plunged into it Prize not our time till it be lost and gone Eccl. 9.12 Man knoweth not his Time as the Fishes that are taken in an evil Net and as the Birds that are caught in the snare so are the Sons of Men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them Death and Calamity befalleth a man when He little dreameth of it as the Fish and the Bird go with much Hope and Promise of good to themselves to the bait and the snare Hence the Beasts are more excusable than we They cannot foresee the end but are guided by Instinct and Appetite to present things that are good for them Oh! That men are entring upon Eternity and yet never think of it Oh excite your selves consider what will become of you when you die You die but once and there is no mending of your Errours when you awake in Flames A Merchant may lose in one Ship but the next venture may repair him and make him amends again An Oratour may lose Fame and Reputation in one Speech and Action and the next may restore it and recover it again with advantage but if a man die ill the loss is Irrevocable but if well the gain is Immortal Therefore surely we should prepare more for an entrance upon our Eternal Estate 3. To negligent and sensual Worldings who wholly busie themselves about the matters of this Life and are hurried hither and thither Psal. 39.6 Surely every man walketh in a vain show they are disquieted in vain Our Life is but a Picture Image Shadow or Dream of Life it vanisheth in a Trice All must be suddenly parted with here all the Riches and Honours and yet we cark and labour and turmoil to get these transitory things as if they would continue with us to all Eternity and had some durable satisfaction in them Present Pleasures and Profits Cloud our Minds and till we can get this Vail drawn aside this Cloud scattered we do not discern our mistake Oh! consider who would redeem the short pleasure of a Dream with the torment of many days Our days upon Earth are as a Shadow and yet this Shadow do we cleave to instead of the Substance and though earthly things be short in their continuance and uncomfortable in their end yet these take up our Life and Love and Care and Thoughts Just as those that want Children take Pleasure in keeping little Dogs and Cats So do they embrace the Shadow for the Substance Vain Glory for Eternal Glory a little Pelf for the true Riches a little paltry Business for the great Work and End of our Lives And when all is done 't is but a Spiders Web Iob 8.14 The trust of the Carnal Man shall be but as the Spiders Web. As the Spider out of his own Bowels weaveth a Web to catch flies and frameth it with a great deal of Art but 't is gone with the turn of the Besom so is the fruit of all their Plots and Cares and Labours and running up and down when in the mean time we are unmindful of Eternity Oh when will these distracted Worldlings find a time for God and Everlasting Happiness Childhood is not serious enough Youth must take their Pleasure Manly Age is too full of Business and Old-Age is too feeble 4. It reproveth Gods Children who are too lazy and have not that Life and seriousness in a spiritual Business which they have in an Earthly If Eternity be your aim why are you so dead and dull in a course of Holiness The Apostle biddeth Timothy to follow after Holiness To fight the good fight to lay hold on Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6.12 Implying if the one were his aim He would do the other If we press towards the mark why are we so frozen and cold in our Zeal for God so inclinable to every motion of Sin so easily overcome by Temptations Alas making Eternal things our scope is but a notion unless we provide forthwith with greater care exactness and diligence There should be a suitableness and Proportion between the exactness of our Conversation and the greatness of our Hopes 1 Thess. 2.12 Walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his Kingdom and Glory That worthiness is the worthiness of Condignity Congruity and Condecency But alas do we labour as for Eternity so follow after Righteousness so fight the good fight of Faith so despise the World deny our selves run through all streights Triumph over all Difficulties mortifie and subdue our own carnal Inclinations Alas we are so bold in sinning so cold in Holy things and do so little exercise our selves unto Godliness as if we had no such great
Iohn 3.12 Not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his Brother and wherefore slew he him Because his own Works were evil and his Brothers righteous Emulation and Malignity at those that are better than our selves is the very Poison and Venom which the Devil hath infused into Human Nature The affection which put Cain upon killing his Brother and puts the World upon persecuting serious Christians when at the bottom they have no other Quarrel against them but because they excell in the Simplicity of the Christian Faith and Holiness and Obedience Such were Ioseph's Brethren whose Virtue was an Eye-sore to them and therefore endeavoured his Destruction Gen. 37. Such were the Jews in the time of the Apostles who despising the Gospel could not endure it should be Preached unto the Gentiles Acts 13.45 But when the Iews saw the multitude they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming Therefore well doth the Apostle Iames call this Bitter envying Jam. 3.14 'T is like Gall which corrupts good Food and maketh it unprofitable So doth this bitter Zeal corrupt all their Actions whom it doth possess Well then Charity envyeth not Those whom we love sincerely we will rejoyce in their Gifts and Graces as in our own their Success and Prosperity as in our own and be well pleased with their Happinesses But where Envy prevaileth Charity hath no place their Praises are our Disgrace their Success is our lessening And few there be that can say with Iohn the Baptist He must increase but I must decrease John 3.30 That is in Splendor and Fame Alas as placid and well contented as many seem without Envy burneth within and if it be not checked will soon produce mischievous Effects 4. Charity vaunteth not it self ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That is it doth nothing pragmatically and foolish in Word or Deed where it possesseth the Hearts of Men they do not arrogantly speak of themselves or what they have done or can do Hesychius telleth us the meaning of the word is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã one that is lifted up with Folly as giddy proud Fools are wont to vaunt or strut themselves so that their own Pride rendereth them ridiculous And so it forbids Arrogancy and External Ostentation as Internal Pride and Self-conceit is touched in the next Property Now Charity is contrary to more Vices than one to Pride as it manifests it self by contemptuous and scornful Carriage which Irritateth others rather than Edifyeth them 5. Is not puffed up ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He had told us 1 Cor. 8.1 That Charity edifyeth but Knowledge puffeth up that is with a vain Conceit of our own Worth despising others Now though Knowledge may beget this through the fault of him that receiveth that Gift yet Charity serveth all despiseth none therefore Pride and Insolency shewed in despising others or over-valuing our selves is far from the temper of this Heavenly Grace Poor empty Bubbles are soon blown up contemning those that are beneath them in Honours Favours Riches Knowledge and some External Services which look like Grace Luke 18.11 God I thank thee I am not as other Men are extortioners unjust adulterers or as this Publican This condemneth that Pride whereby we thus conceit of our own good Estate above others Whereas Brotherly Love would perswade us in Honour to prefer one another Rom. 12.10 And in Humility to think others better than our selves Phil. 2.3 Not with our Lips only setting on a shew of Humility but with our Hearts For there is no Man so great that is not in some things beneath those whom he despiseth And we are conscious to our own Infirmities and should have a modest Esteem of our own Graces and Virtues For the true Excellency of a Christian lieth in a mean Esteem of himself For the great Businâss of his Religion is to represent to him his own Sinfulness and the undeserved Goodness of God and therefore he seeketh no other Esteem with others than God fairly alloweth him and dareth not set too high a price upon himself nor is troubled if others come not up to his Price 6. It doth not behave it self unseemly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This followeth well on the former for Men puffed up transgress the Rules of all Decency in setting out themselves not giving others the Respect due to them Therefore it must needs be one of the Properties of Charity to make Men do that which will become Meekness Modesty and Godliness and to abstain from all things that may be an Offence and Scandal to others in Words Deeds Gesture Cloathing generally in all parts of Conversation Whatever may expose us to the Contempt of others or may argue a Contempt of them or may be a just Offence Charity will mind us to forbear it Phil. 4.8 Whatsoever things are lovely think on these things 7. Seeketh not her own ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Self-love prompteth us meerly to seek our own things but Charity seeketh the Profit of others It doth not drive on a self-seeking Trade or mind these things which make for our own advantage but the Welfare of others and is as sensible and zealous for other Mens Good as of its own To take care of their safety ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Phil. 2.4 Look every man to the things of others To maintain our Neighbour's good Estate in his Profit Honour Fame Spiritual Blessings should be aimed at by us by the same Accuracy and Diligence that we use in reference to our selves The Law of Charity here is that we study not our own private Profit so as to neglect others or that any Damage should thereby arise to others Paul often presseth this 1 Cor. 10.24 Let no man mind his own but every man anothers Wealth Not so seek his private Profit as to neglect the publick A Man must mind his own Affairs but not with the neglect and damage of others First In the use of his Christian Liberty Secondly In his Calling Wherein they sin greatly who seek to draw all to themselves 8. It is not easily provoked ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã If Differences arise it handleth them peaceably It doth not draw on things to Fervour and acerbity of Contention A Paroxisme is the sharp Fit of a Feavour and signifyeth when Anger is boiled to an height But Charity is not exasperated or highly provoked to Anger or imbittered into Wrath and Passion This Property is to shew that it tempereth just Anger That Men fall not into immoderate violent Distempers of Passion upon whatever Provocation It is hard to abstain from all Anger when we meet with so many occasions of it in the course of our Lives but the Violence is corrected by Love There was a Hot Fit between Paul and Barnabas Acts 15.39 And the contention was so sharp between them that they parted asunder one from the other Paul's Cause was more just Those that love one another may find a Temptation
ye eat this bread and drink this cup. It is Sacriledge to defraud the People of the communion of the Cup and to separate what God hath joyned 2. The End declared Where what and how long 1. What is the end To annunciate or shew forth the Lord's death It may be read Indicatively or Imperatively ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They come to the same effect Annuntiare debetis Ye ought to shew forth So Vatablus 2. How long this Rite must be observed to this end Till He come that is to judgment Which implieth that this is a standing Ordinance or means to keep his Death in perpetual remembrance till we have no more need of Memorials because Christ is come in Person Doctr. The Lord's Supper is a solemn Commemoration of the Death and Passion of our Lord Iesus Christ. 1. By way of Illustration 2. By way of Confirmation I. By way of Illustration I shall explain both the Object and the Act. The Object is the Lord's death The Act is Annunciation or shewing forth First The Object Which I shall open in three Propositions 1. That the Sacraments do chiefly relate to Christ's death For Baptism Rom. 6.3 Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Iesus Christ were baptized into his death The Lord's Supper in the Text. Both Sacraments represent him dead they do not represent him Glorified but Crucified They were Instituted in favour of Men and for the benefit of Man more directly and immediately than for the honour of Christ exalted In these Duties he representeth himself rather as one that procured the Glory of others than as one that is possessed of Glory himself and would have us consider his Death rather than his present Exaltation His Death is wholly for us but his Glory is for himself and us too Only we must distinguish between what is Primarily represented in the Sacrament and what is Secondarily and Consequentially It is true the consideration of his Humiliation excludeth not that of his Exaltation but leadeth us to it But primarily and properly Christ's Death is here represented and consequentially his Resurrection and Intercession as these Acts of his Mediation receive value from his Death We remember his Death as the Meritorious Cause of our Justification and Sanctification his Resurrection as the Publick Evidence Rom. 4.25 Who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification Namely as his Resurrection sheweth his Satisfaction is perfect God requireth no more for the Atonement of the World His Intercession is nothing else but a representation of the Merit of his Sacrifice and receiveth its value from his Death Heb. 9.12 By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us That is by his own Bloud he entered into Heaven having purchased Redemption for us from the Guilt and Power of Sin Well then it appeareth from the nature of the thing and the Rites here used that Christ's Body is represented to us as dead and broken and so proper Food for our Souls And his Blood as shed or poured out for the expiation of our Sins that we might obtain pardon and peace Eph. 1.7 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood the forgiveness of Sins according to the riches of his grace Luke 22.20 This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you 2. That we do not Commemorate Christ's death as a Tragical Story but as a Mystery of Godliness Many when they come to these Duties look upon Christ as an innocent Person unworthily handled and so make a Tragedy of his passion for the entertainment of their fancies and the lighter part of their affections rather than for their Faith to work upon their desire joy and thankfullness or to stir up any deep Repentance in them This remembrance produceth either Compassion or Indignation against the Jews 1. Compassion Alas the History of Christ's Passion will work no more upon us than the sad preparation of Abraham when he went to Sacrifice his Son Isaac or the Crys of Ioseph in the Pit or the pittiful words of Iacob when they told him that some Beast had devoured him or than the Sacking of Ierusalem by the Babylonians or how they handled that miserable King Zedekiah when they put out his Eyes or the moans of Dido for Aeneas Austin instanced in that living in that Country Quid miserius homine flente Didonis mortem non misâriam suam All these things though they be not of such importance as the sufferings of the Son of God will draw tears from us and passionately affect us for the time Christ seemeth to disprove this fond Compassion as it is acted and exercised towards himself Luke 23.28 to 31. Iesus turning unto them said Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your Children For behold the days are coming in the which they shall say Blessed are the Barren and the Womb that never bare and the Paps which never gave suck Then shall they begin to say to the Mountains fall on us and to the Hills cover us For if they do these things in a green Tree what shall be done in the dry The Gospel doth not propound the death of Christ as a Spectacle of humane Calamity No it is a point of higher consideration and God looketh for more inward and Spiritual motions than this passionate condoling 2. So for indignation against the Iews It is no more pleasing to Christ than the other Many Christians think it a piece of high Devotion to execrate the Memory of Iudas and the other Iews who were accessory to Christ's Death but this or somewhat like it is disproved too Peter was in a rage against Christ's Adversaries and therefore out of bravery draweth his Sword against a whole Troop or Band of Men that came to attacque him in the Garden But Christ saith Iohn 18.11 Put up thy Sword into the Sheath the Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it No question but great Injustice was shewed to Christ the Iews fact was odious Iudas his treason Execrable but as our pity should be turned upon our selves so must our exasperation also The Gospel calleth for deeper consideration of this Mystery than what is Historical Namely such as is Evangelical and may suit with God's ends in it and our Faith in the Mediator and Saviour of the World Namely the horror of our Sins that they may become odious to us the Terror of God's impartial Justice that we may never think a light thought of it more the inestimableness of God's Love that we may have more admiring thoughts of the wonders of this Condescending Grace in giving his Son to die for us and of the unspeakable benefit and the joy of Salvation which is derived thence to us These are the true reflections on the Death of Christ and best serve for the improvement of it Namely to raise our hopes of Mercy
toward thee for all that thou hast done Our Faith a thankful acceptance of Christ and all his Benefits our Obedience a thankful Obedience not out of fear of Hell but Gratitude all our Duties but the thankful Returns of Christ's Redeemed ones for the great Love he hath shewed to us So for all works of Charity our giving anâ imitation of Christ who loved us and gave himself for us 2 Cor. 8.9 Tho' he was rich yet for your sakes became poor that ye through his power might become rich Forgiving so it is said Eph. 4.32 Forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Our works of Piety Worshipping God Love should bring us into his Presence and his Mercies to us in Christ should be continual matter of Praise and Thanksgiving Our Preaching Love to God should sweeten the labours of it Oh had we a deeper sense of this great Love that provided such a remedy for us we would feel the constraining influence of it in every thing that our hand findeth to do for God! 2. The next thing is the outward occasion or procuring Cause which is our Misery by reason of Sin He came to propitiate God offended by Man's Sin Sin was the cause of Enmity between God and Man and did set us at such an infinite distance from him that our peace could be made no other way but by Christ's making his Soul an offering for Sin Isai. 53.10 and becoming a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Therefore when we remember the Agonies and Death of Christ we should remember the odiousness of Sin To make light of Sin is to make light of the sufferings of Christ. The Scripture often shews the greatness of Sin by the greatness of the price that was given to redeem us from it 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ. And this both in order to Caution and Humiliation Caution ver 17. pass the time of your sojourning here in fear And Humiliation Zach. 12.10 I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of Grace and Supplication and they shall look on 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 Before God would be propitious to Sinners the Son of God must be made Man and suffer and dye to expiate our offences Well then Is Sin nothing that sowed the Seeds of that woful Discord between God and us that he will have no communion with us till the Blood of Christ be shed to purge us from our Sins Generally we have slight and superficial apprehensions of Sin therefore we are not much troubled for what is past nor careful to avoid it for the time to come Ye are not deeply affected with what our Mediator hath done to deliver us from it Oh Christians Without these bitter Herbs due thoughts of Sin Christ our Passover will not relish with us Do but consider what you conceive of wrongs done to you how they provoke and stir your passions so that there is much ado to get you pacified What hainousness must there be in your offences against God both as to the quality of their nature and their multiplicity both as to number and kind It is true God is free from passion and is not troubled as your Spirits are But such is the provoking nature of Sin that it cryeth for Vengeance and bringeth you under the dreadful Sentence of Divine wrath which would fall upon you with all its weight if Christ had not interposed and catched the Blow In short the Sinner is in a dreadful and damnable condition by reason of Sin but Christ bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree which should increase our Thankfulness for woe be to us if we bear our own Sin and heighten our Repentance that we may not provoke God for the future For you see satisfaction cannot be easily made for the injury of Sin The ignorance of God's Majesty and Holiness hath tempted the World to fancy some lesser expiations of Sin and satisfaction to God by sacrifices of Beasts or Penances or such a number of Prayers or costly Alms But the Gospel teacheth us there is no purgation of Sin but only by the death of Jesus Christ. 3. The effects and fruits are Pardon and Life I. Pardon For God's Justice being satisfied by Christ he hath granted a new Covenant wherein Pardon is assured to the penitent Believer We are told in what way and method Sin is pardoned upon the account of Christ's death If we in a broken-hearted manner confess it before God 1 Ioh 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness So Luke 24.47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations Now this is no small mercy to have sin pardon'd II. The other benefit is Life begun in us by the Spirit and perfected in Heaven Consider it as begun in us by the Spirit in Regeneration We have have it by virtue of Christ's death Tit. 3.5 6. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost whicsh he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Lord. Or as perfected in Heaven it is still the fruit of Christ's death Heb. 5.9 Being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Now these benefits should be considered by us because they are the matter of our Faith and Trust. As God's Love calleth for Thankfulness and the hainousness of Sin for Repentance so the benefits of Christ's death for Faith and Affiance God solemnly reacheth out to us the benefits contained in the promises of the Gospel as by a Deed and Instrument and we by Faith accept them and by Affiance depend on God for the performance of them In short that Christ may give us the Favour and Image of God and all the consequent priviledges free access to God for the present and the full fruition of him in Bliss and Glory for the future Thus for the Object Secondly The Act is Annunciation or Shewing forth This may be considered with respect to the parties to whom we annunciate it Or with respect to the Properties or manner how it is to be annunciated 1. With respect to the Parties We annunciate and shew forth Christ's death with respect to our selves that we may anew believe and exercise our Faith With respect to others that we may solemnly profess this Faith in the Crucified Saviour with a kind of Glorying and rejoycing With respect to God that we may plead the merit of his Sacrifice with Humility and Affiance I. With
Heart be well furnished the Tongue will not be barren and empty 2. Having your Furniture get those Graces which may quicken you to imploy it as Zeal for the Glory of God and love to Souls Fire turns all about it into Fire Mules and all Creatures of a Mungrel Race do not procreate 1 Iohn 1.2 3. For the Life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iâsus Christ. And David's Maschill Psal. 32. Title is A Psalm giving Instruction True Good is diffusive of its self When Philip was called he inviteth Nathanael to come to Christ Iohn 1.45 and Andrew Simon Vers. 41. True Zeal sheweth its self by a Zeal to promote the Kingdom of Christ and the good of Souls And the new Nature seeketh to multiply the kinds and they who are really brought to Christ will be careful to invite others 3. We have need to pray to God that he will touch our Tongues with a Coal from the Altar that is by his Spirit purifie our Speech Isai. 6.6 7. Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me having a live Coal in his Hand which he had taken with the Tongs from off the Altar And he laid it upon my Mouth and said Lo this hath touched thy Lips and thine Iniquity is taken away and thy Sin is purged That we may shew forth nothing of pride and passion and carnal affection but speak upon all Occasions with a pure Zeal for him And again that he would open our Lips Psal. 51.15 O Lord open thou my Lips and my Mouth shall shew forth thy Praise That he would cast out the dumb Devil The habit of Grace without continual influence to act it effectually will not do its work the habit is a Gift and the bringing forth of the habit to exercise is another Gift 4. Watchfulness and heed is necessary otherwise Corruption will break out There is a quick intercourse between the Heart and the Tongue Pride will shew its self in a vain Ostentation of Parts Passion in some heat of Words Worldliness and Sensuality will bewray themselves and divert us from holy Conference to that which is Carnal and Worldly Discontent in some unseemly Expressions of God's dealings with us Indiscretion and Folly in a multitude of impertinent talk Psal. 141.3 Set a Watch O Lord before my Mouth Keep the Door of my Lips The Tongue must be watched as well as the Heart all watching will be to little purpose unless God bridle and curb our Tongues that nothing break out to his dishonour but this constant Guard is necessary Second Sermon I Come to the second Branch But the Heart of the Wicked is little worth Doct. That an Vnsanctified Heart is a Drossie Heart of no value and use as to Heavenly Things 1. Let me explain this Aphorism 2. Confirm it by Reason 3. Apply it 1. To open it 1. What is meant by the Wicked Man 2. What by his Heart 3. In what sense it is little worth 1. What is meant by the Wicked Man Answ. One that is not regenerate or renewed by the Holy Spirit They are of several sorts some are more gross in the out-breakings of sin others please the Flesh in a more plausible and cleanly manner the one are usually called wicked and prophane Persons but others are comprized also Psal. 14.3 They are all gone aside they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one They are all in the state of Nature and their corrupt Hearts are vile and loathsom in God's sight 1. Some have great Natural Abilities and Gifts as Achitophel 2 Sam. 16.23 And the Counsel of Achitophel which he counselled in those days was as if a Man had enquired at the Oracle of God yet his Heart was nothing worth as to God's acceptance and his own Salvation as the issue declared 2. Some have plausible shews of Piety and external Worship yet while the Heart is unrenewed that will not help the matter Matth. 23.27 28. Our Lord compareth them to whited Sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead Mens Bones and of all Vncleanness Even so ye also appear outwardly righteous to Men but within are full of Hypocrisie and Iniquity 3. Not only the gross Dissemblers but those that are brought so far as to a partial Obedience yet this availeth not if the Heart be not cleansed and renewed as it is said of Amaziah 2 Chron. 25.2 He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect Heart It was right in the matter and he did many things right but his Heart was nothing worth 4. Though Men act like themselves and have no condemning disallowing thoughts within themselves as conscious to any partiality and defect in their Obedience yet God still looketh to the Heart to see whether it be drossie or pure Gold Prov. 16.2 All the ways of a Man are clean in his own Eyes but God weigheth the Spirits He puts the Heart into the Balance of the Sanctuary Men blinded with self-self-love are partial in their own cause and when the action is fair over-look an unsanctified Heart but the Lord considereth it exactly quo animo with what spirit every thing is done 2. What is meant by the Heart Not that fleshy part which is in the midst of the Breast but the Soul with all its Faculties Understanding Will and Affections And this considered not as to its Natural Capacities and Properties but as corrupted by Sin Now great is the Pravity and deep is the Corruption of Man's Heart by Nature and that not only as to the Disorder and Disobedience of the Inferiour Faculties but as to the leading part of the Soul First In order to God Secondly As to Inferiour Things First In order to God 1. In the Understanding there is not only Ignorance but Indisposedness to know the Truth set forth by the Notions of Darkness and Blindness Ephes. 5.8 Ye were sometimes darkness 2 Pet. 1.9 He that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off He hath no Spiritual discerning This is worse than bodily blindness because Men are not sensible of it Revel 3.18 And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and because they seek not fit Guides to lead them Acts 13.11 And now behold the Hand of the Lord is upon thee and thou shalt be blind not seeing the Sun for many days And immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand But these cannot indure them 2. Vanity and Slightness and Folly Matth. 22.5 They made light of it Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so
of Christ. These things are worthy in themselves but when Men count them unworthy we should not be ashamed Not ashamed of sufferings 2 Tim. 1.8 Be not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord nor me his Prisoner but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel through the power of God Mallem ruere cum Christo quam stare cum ãâã I had rather perish with Christ than stand fast with Caesar. And Mârsac cur non me quoque torque donas c. Why dost thou not grace me with a Chain ãâã Nor ashamed of those that suffer for the Name of Christ 2 Tim. 1.16 He was not ashamed of my chain Heb. 11.26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt As any one cometh nearer to Christ so should he be dearer to us This is true Gratitude not to be ashamed of Christ and his Service nor Servants otherwise Christ will be ashamed of us Mark 8.38 Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the Holy Angels Oh to have Christ be ashamed of us to hide his Face in that day How terrible will it be In the changes of the World Men if they did know it would stick to that Party that is sure to be uppermost Christ is sure to be uppermost if you shrink from him when his Cause or Honour lyeth in the Dust it will be matter of Eternal Shame in the world to come 3. Doctrine The kindred is only reckoned to the sanctified All Men are in some sense of the same stock with Christ yet it is said He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one The rest of the world are left out as not capable of the comfort of this Relation 1. Who are the Sanctified 2. Why this appropriation 1. Who are the Sanctified To Sanctifie signifieth Two things to separate and to set apart for an Holy use And to cleanse and Purifie And when this is applied to Persons they are sanctified that are dedicated and set apart for God's use and service and are purified and cleansed from the pollution of Sin And so in all that are Sanctified there is a difference between them and others For they are set apart for God while others live to themselves Psal. 4.3 The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself Yea there is a change and so a difference between them and themselves 1 Cor. 6.11 And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the spirit of our God This closely followed would find out the Parties here intended But yet we must know that in both these Senses some are Sanctified in appearance only others really and indeed 1. In Appearance only And so all the members of the visible Church that are in outward Covenant with God and bound to be Holy are called Saints and said to be Sanctified Exod. 31.13 I am the Lord that doth sanctifie you And thus Apostates are said to trample the Blood of the Covenant under foot wherewith they were Sanctified Heb. 10.29 That is externally in their separation from the World and dedication to God's Service by outward Calling and Covenant In foro externo before Men these are Sanctified yea in his external Dispensation God speaketh to such an one and of him and dealeth with him as one of his own People 2. Really and indeed So Sanctification is threefold 1. Meritorious 2. Applicatory 3. Practical 1. Meritorious Sanctification is Christ's meriting and purchasing for his Church the inward inhabitation of the Spirit and that Grace whereby they may be Sanctified So it is said Heb. 10.10 By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once for all All those for whom Christ did offer himself are Sanctified in due time by virtue of Christ's offering So it is said Heb. 13.12 Iesus that he might sanctifie the people with his own Blood did suffer without the gate This Sanctification cannot be repeated or increased but was done once for all and that by one above even Jesus Christ. There needeth no addition to his Merit 2. Applicatory Sanctification is the inward renovation of the Heart of those whom Christ hath Sanctified by the Spirit of Regeneration whereby a Man is translated from Death to Life from the state of Nature to the state of Grace This is spoken of Tit. 3.5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost This is the daily Sanctifiation which with respect to the merit of Christ is wrought by the Sprit and the ministry of the Word and Sacraments 3. Practical Sanctification is that by which they for whom Christ Sanctified himself and who are renewed by the Holy Ghost and Planted into Christ by Faith do more and more Sanctifie and cleanse themselves from sin in Thought Word and Deed 1 Pet. 1.15 As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation 1 Joh. 3.3 Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure Weakning the relicks of sin and getting more readiness and preparation of Heart for all the acts of the Holy Life In the former we are passive we contribute nothing to the First little to the Second but in this we are operative Besides these two Notions to consecrate and purifie help us to understand the nature of true Sanctification 1. As to Sanctifie signifieth to Consecrate or Dedicate to God so it signifieth both the fixed inclination or the disposition of the Soul towards God as our highest Lord and chief good and accordingly a resignation of our Souls to God to live in the love of his Blessed Majesty and a Thankful Obedience to him More distinctly 1 It implyeth a Bent a tendency or fixed inclination towards God which is habitual Sanctification 2. A Resignation or giving up our selves to God by which actual Holiness is begun A constant using our selves for him by which it is continued and the continual exercise of a fervent love by which it is increased in us more and more till all be perfected in Glory And perfect Love is maintained by a perfect vision of him 2. As it signifieth to Purifie and Cleanse so it signifies the purifying of the Soul from the love of the World Omnis impuritrâ est ex mixtum vitioru A Man is impure because when he was made for God he doth prefer the base trifles of this world before his Maker and everlasting Glory And so he is not Sanctified that doth despise and disobey his Maker He despiseth him because he preferreth the most contemptible Vanity before him and doth chuse the transitory pleasure of sinning
the beasts and they shall teach thee and the fowls of the air and they shall tell thee Or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee 2. Apply this Promise God will not forsake me nor mine Let not Truths be eyed only in the general but particularly applied to thy self thus Lord thou hast ever been my God provided for me hitherto Take these Promises to live upon them and say Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever Psal. 119. V. III. 3. Improve it 1. To moderate your Desires of Earthly Things That your Conversation may be without Covetousness for the more our Desires abound the more our Fears about them abound also Why should we be carried after them with such a greedy Thirst. 1. Man's Happiness lieth not in Worldly Abundance but in the Presence of God with him and his Providence over him Luke 12.15 A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth If you do not think so you set up another God the Creature instead of God Sometimes God giveth abundance to his People sometimes he keepeth them low and bare they do but live from hand to mouth because God will keep the Purse in his own hand and train them to live by Faith and not by Sense and to take all their Comforts immediately from him Now are Christians any whit the worse provided for no God hath ways enough to provide for his People and to satisfie and moderate our desires 2 Cor. 6.10 As sorrowful yet alway rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing all things There is more mischief than you are aware of in this Thought that you are not well enough provided for unless your supplies be ready at hand and visible For it is a sign you depend more upon the Presence of the Creature than the Favour of God and will trust God no further than you can see him And this is the cause of all repinings against Providence heartless Dejections yea Apostacy unlawful means racking and vexing our selves with immoderate Cares and Labours It is next to Atheism and plain Infidelity to ascribe to God only a common Providence that he doth in the general furnish the World and store it with sufficiency leaving us to our own industry to catch what we can catch and make it our own No Faith sees God near at hand and with us placing him not only in the circle of the Heaven only beholding Men scattered on the face of the earth and forraging for themselves No his Providence and Care reacheth to each single person he hath his Eye opened his Ear bowed down his Hand stretched out to every one that seeketh to him We are all at his finding In common plenty he can punish single persons with personal scarcity as he did the Prince of Samaria In general scarcity he can furnish with personal plenty as Elijah did the Widow of Sarepta Many allow God a general Inspection think he upholds the pillars of the earth but perceive not that God taketh care of particulars and so resolve to live by their Wits and shift for themselves But a good Christian seeth him at home believeth God will take care of him and so casts himself into the Arms of his Providence and looketh upon every comfort as reached out from Heaven by God's immediate Hand to him in particular 2. That the Presence of God may be continued with us though we be cast into deep Afflictions As persecuted but not forsaken 2 Cor. 4.9 He is miserable indeed who is forsaken of God but not he who is persecuted by Man Caelestis ira quos premit miseros facit humana nullos God's anger makes those miserable upon whom it lights but not man's They may be miserable that live in pomp jollity and ease and they may be happy that live in straits and pressures Christ was a man of sorrows yet God was with him Iohn 16.32 I am not alone because the Father is with me Had Christ any thing less of the Presence of God for his troubles Sins separate Afflictions do not Psal. 91.13 I will be with him in trouble In the Body of Man if any Member be hurt presently the Blood and the Humors run thither and the Man is wholly taken up about that part which is hurt his Eyes his Hands his Tongue as if he forgot all the rest his Speech is about the hurt part his Eye is directed thither his Hand thither In a Family if one of the Children be sick all the Mother's Care is about that Child to tend him to take care of him to blandish him insomuch that the rest do many times even envy his sickness If Nature do thus will not the God of Nature do more If an Earthly Parent be so careful of a sick Child will not an Heavenly Father whose Love is far more tender take care of the hurt-part of Christ's mystical Body The sick Child is most looked after This is the difference between God and the World The World looketh after the happy the flourishing but leaveth those who are in want and affliction As all Waters run to the Sea where there is enough already So do the respects of the World to the Happy and the Mighty But God goeth another way to work he visits them that are in Tribulation comforts them that are in Zion 3. Those that are rightly qualified are sure to have the Presence of God with them 1. They that fear God and make it their business to please him Psal. 115.5 He hath given meat to them that fear him he will ever be mindful of his Covenant John 8.29 The Father hath not left me alone for I do always the things that please him 2. Those that moderate their desires to Earthly things and do first seek Heavenly Matth. 6.33 Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you By so doing you drive on both Cares at once There needeth not so much adoe about the World you may desire and have in Spirituals yea and other things cast into the bargain 3. Those that depend on his Providence They that do not trust God cannot be long true to him Uprightness is founded in a belief of God's All-sufficiency Gen. 17.1 When Abraham was ninety years old and nine the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect They that will not depend on God's Providence seek by Lyes Violence and neglect of Godliness to make their worldy portion great One great mischief introduced by the Fall was that Man would be his own carver we would have our portion and stock in our own hands would have the care of our selves devolved wholly upon our selves or else we grow distrustful of God Gen. 3.22 is become as one of us knowing good and evil Our business at first was to please our Creator and not
perish for his Impenitency and Unbelief but not meerly for the Greatness of his Sin for what Sin is so great that it is not or cannot be expiated by the Blood of Christ Christ's Satisfaction maketh the Salvation of the worst possible you may have Peace with God if you will 5. It bindeth our Duty the closer upon us No Man shall perish but for want of a willing Heart to accept of the Redeemer who hath paid our Ransom and of the Grace which he hath brought to us by which we may be interested and instated in the Benefits of this Ransom All things are ready if we are ready Luke 14.17 Come for all things are now ready God's Fatlings are killed his Wines are mingled if we will not come to the Feast we perish through our own default We need confer nothing all is but to receive the Benefits propounded and offered Victory over Death Hell Sin Satan is ready yea Heaven is ready and all Spiritual Blessings are ready if we are ready For the Merit and Satisfaction of Christ is the great cause of all that Blessedness which is offered to the Creature God hath opened the way to all if they will not enter into it they perish by their own default He hath sent Preachers into all the World Mark 16.15 16. And he said unto them Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned Tit. 2.11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men Let not us refuse our Cure though we must take a bitter Potion though we must enter in by the strait Gate of Faith and Repentance and walk in the narrow way of Self-denial and all holy Conversation and Godliness yet because it is to Life and the Legal Exclusion is taken off let us enter and walk in it Indeed if the Door were shut against us by the Sentence of thr Law and there was no way to remove the Bars and Bolts our Excuse were more just because then our Condition would be hopeless But now all is finished Salvation rendred possible now God hath taken away the Bars and Bolts by which his Law shut us out from all hope Let us not set up Bars and Bolts by our own Unbelief and by our own Cowardly Fears If Man were not Man but a Beast a Fool or a Mad-man it might more excusably be allowed to them to be led by Sense and Appetite and then it were an intolerable thing to Crucifie the Flesh with the Affections thereof But Man having Reason doth know or may know that this Command of God is equal that God doth not only require but help us to perform it and prevent us by his Grace 6. It doth not only bind our Duty upon us but it doth encourage us to Repent and Believe and Obey for Christ is able to save to the utmost all those that come to God by him Heb. 7.25 And he is the author and finisher of our faith Heb. 12.2 And doth give repentance as well as remission of sins Acts 5.31 For to you it is given on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake Phil. 1.29 The first Grace is his Gift and his resolved Gift to the Elect but all are to take their Lot If it were said to us alone That we should strive to enter in at the streight Gate or that we alone should deny our selves and take up our Cross and follow him it were hard But when the same Terms are propounded to all and when many young and old rich and poor have received them and have tried God's Ways and it hath succeeded well with them upon Trial why should we fear it If no body had done it or could do it then we might stick at God's Terms This Argument Austin used to himself in his Conflicts of Conscience Lib. 8. Confess Cap. 11. When he had long withstood offers of Grace he would then propound to himself the Example of others Cur non poteris quod isti istae Isti istae non in se pouterunt sed in Domino Deo suo Why may not I as well as those holy Men and those good Women They did it not in themselves but in the strength of their God and the power âf his Grace The Yoke of Christ will be more easie than we think of especially when it is lined with Grace 7. When we have once accepted the Condition cleared up our Title then we shall have cause to Glory in the Lord and be sensible indeed that all things are finished which are necessary to our Comfort and Peace and that this was a full Merit As Paul would Glory in the Cross of Christ Gal. 6.14 God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Iesus Christ. Rom. 8.1 There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ. Then we shall make the bold Challenge of Faith Rom. 8.33 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect It is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us If Christ had not made a full Expiation of all our Sins we were under Condemnation still He doth not say there is nothing worthy of Condemnation in Believers for as long as Sin and the Flesh remaineth in us which doth as long as we live in the World there is a Potential Guilt of Damnation an intrinsick Merit in our Actions of Death and Condemnation yet the Actual Guilt or Obligation is taken away because Christ is made a Curse for us Well then our solid Rejoycing to the lasts is in this compleat Satisfaction Rom. 5.11 We rejoyce in God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom we have received the atonement It is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã We Glory in God Vse Let this raise in us 1. An hearty Thankfulness and Admiration of the Love of Christ who would not give over Suffering till he could say It is Finished till he had done enough to Glorifie God and Save the Creature enough for the Destruction of Sin as well as the Abolition of the Curse Christ did not Compound but paid the utmost Farthing Oh! let us raise our Thoughts in the Consideration of this Love His Enemies interrupted him and tempted him to give over Save thy self if thou be the son of God come down from the cross Mat. 27.40 42. If he be the King of Israel let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe him But because he was the Son of God and the King of Israel he would not come down till he was taken down and all was done that was necessary All God's Works are perfect Deut. 32.4 The Father ceased not till upon the Sixth Day he had perfected the Work of
the Soul is said to return to God therefore the whole Man dieth not and is not extinguished with the Body All these Particulars import the Immortality of the Soul Doct. That the Soul of Man is immortal and dieth not when the Body dieth but remaineth in that Estate into which it is disposed by God First There is a threefold Immortality 1. An essential Immortality which importeth an absolute Necessity of Existence so it is said 1 Tim. 6.16 God only hath Immortality 2. There is a natural Immortality which hath a Foundation in the Being of the Creatures so the Angels and Spirits of Men are in their Nature immortal so as they cannot be destroyed by any second Cause and have no Principle of Corruption in themselves though by the Power of God they might be annihilated 3. A gratuitous Immortality or by Gift and Courtesy so the Body of Adam in Innocency non conditione corporis but beneficio conditoris not by the Condition of his Body but the Bounty of his Maker so the Bodies of the Faithful after the Resurrection shall be immortal Secondly Let us prove this that the Soul is immortal and subsisteth after the Separation The Point is necessary to be discussed for till we are established in the Belief of this Truth we shall fear no greater Judgments than what do befal us in this World nor expect greater Mercies than what we injoy here and so never take Care to reconcile our selves to God or to deny the Profits of the World and the Pleasures of Sense that we may attain a better Estate An holy Life will never else be indeavoured or produced to any good Increase For such as Mens Belief is of an immortal or never-dying Condition in Heaven or Hell such will the bent of their Hearts and Course of Life be Therefore the Salvation of our Souls is said to be the End of our Faith 1 Pet. 1.9 Receiving the End of your Faith even the Salvation of your Souls There the End signifieth either the Scope or the Event If you take it for the Scope the great End of Faith is to lead us from all worldly Happiness to an Estate after this Life Heb. 10.39 But we are not of them that draw back unto Perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the Soul Sense faith Spare the Flesh but Faith saith Save the Soul This is the Scope and mark to which it tendeth If you take it for the Event and Issue of things all our believing praying enduring Suffering rejoicing pleasing and glorifying of God endeth in this the saving of our Souls Therefore let us see how it may be proved both by Scripture and by the Light of Reason I. By Scripture which is the proper means to beget Faith Dives desired one to go from the dead to tell his Brethren of an everlasting Estate of Torment and Bliss Luke 16.27 28. I pray thee Father that thou wouldst send him to my Father's House for I have five Brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this Place of Torment Intimating thereby that the Cause of his own Sin and theirs was Unbelief or a not being perswaded of a World to come Alas we have but an obscure Prospect of an Estate after this Life and therefore indulge sensual Delights But what Cure and Remedy Dives thought a Spectre or Apparition would be the best Cure of this Atheism But Abraham or Christ thought otherwise he referreth them to Moses and the Prophets that is the holy Scriptures for all the Books then written and received in the Church are comprized in that Expression Since we are sick of the same Disease this will be our best Remedy We are told 2 Tim. 1.10 That Christ hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel It is the Privilege of the Divine Revelation to represent this Truth with more Clearness and Certainty 1. With more Clearness There is a Mist upon Eternity which is only dispelled by the Light of the Gospel Reasons from Nature may in some measure acquaint us with an everlasting Estate yet what kind of Happiness it is that attendeth the Godly and what Misery shall befal the Wicked it telleth us but little but the Scripture sets down enough to invite our Hopes and awaken our Fears Heathens had some Conceits of Elysian Feilds and Places of Blessedness and some obscure Caverns appointed to be Places of Torment fitted to work Men into a blind Superstition but the Word of God hath given us such clear Discoveries of future Happiness and Misery as that we may know what to hope for and what to fear and if well improved will breed in us a true Spirit of Godliness 2. In Regard of Certainty Nature may give us some dark Guesses and uncertain Conjectures so as the Heathens that had no other Light were ready to say and unsay in a Breath what they had spoken concerning our Estate to come but the Gospel is a sure Word apt to beget Faith not a wavering Opinion Go to Sense which judgeth by the outside of things Eccles. 3.21 Who knoweth the Spirit of a Man that goeth upward and the Spirit of a Beast that goeth downward to the Earth By Sense we see Mankind as the Beasts to be conceived formed in the Belly brought forth nourished to grow in Strength and Stature wax old and die by the Eye we can discern no external sensible Difference so that if we consult with mere Sense all Religion and Hope is gone Go to Reason and that will tell us indeed that there is a Difference between a Man and a Beast that Man knoweth and desireth things which the Beasts do not and cannot And that the reasonable Soul hath Operations independent on Matter and on the Body and therefore it is probable it can subsiât without the Body for the manner of working sheweth the manner of being but there is cold Comfort in a bare may be The Gospel sheweth it shall be As a Glass it doth discover this State to us as a Rule it guideth us to the Injoyment of it as a Motive it perswadeth us to seek after it as a Charter and Grant it doth assure our Title to it it is full fraught and thick sown with this kind of Seed Therefore let us see what the Light of Scripture saith to this Point 1 st It discovereth to us every-where the Doctrine of the eternal Recompences two Places and two Estates wherein Souls abide after Death Heaven and Hell Heaven the Mansion of the Just Iohn 14.2 In my Father's House are many Mansions And Hell the Place of Torments Mark 9.44 They are cast into Hell where their Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched And as soon as the Soul passeth out of the Body it is in one of these Luke 16.22 23. And it came to pass that the Beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham 's Bosom the rich Man died also and was buried And in Hell he
our Sins in his own Blood And for God the Spirit we also find our Hearts raised to give him Glory partly by the Motions of his Grace which we feel in our Hearts Psal. 143.10 Teach me to do thy Will for thou art my God thy Spirit is good lead me into the Land of Vprightness Nehem. 9.20 Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them The Sanctifier Guide and Comforter of Believers is God's Spirit he is the only Author and Fountain of all Goodness and Holiness And partly by the comfortable Sense he begets in us of our Adoption Gal. 4.6 And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father And of our Hopes of Glory 2 Cor. 5.5 Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God who hath also given unto us the Earnest of the Spirit And partly by the Support and Comfort we have from him in all our Conflicts and Distresses 1 Pet. 4.14 If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you on their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified 3. That we may with more Confidence wait for the Beginning Progress and Consummation of our own Salvation There is the eternal Love of God the alsufficient Merit of Christ and the omnipotent Operation of the Holy Ghost What cannot Eternal Love Infinite Merit and Almighty Power do As Christ is necessary to keep all right between us and God so the Spirit is necessary to keep all right between us and Christ. As we need a Person of the Godhead to satisfy the Justice of God so also to overcome our Obstinacy and Unbelief and to vanquish Temptations and Doubts and Fears and to settle us in the Comfort and Hope of the Gospel It is God's Prerogative to settle the Conscience Isa. 57.19 I create the Fruit of the Lips Peace Peace to him that is afar off and to him that is nigh saith the Lord. God is the supream Judg and the wronged Party He commands his Loving-kindness in the Day-time Psal. 42.8 By a powerful Imperial Act of the Spirit he stilleth our Doubts and Fears 4. That the whole Glory of our Salvation may redound to God alone Therefore the Divine Persons carry it on among themselves Love Grace and Communication do all To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved Eph. 1.6 Grace is the fountain-Fountain-Cause of our Election Grace bringeth it about for who could ransom a Soul except Christ had taken the Work in hand There would have been a stop there Psal. 49.7 8. None of them can by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a Ransom for him for the Redemption of their Soul is precious and ceaseth for ever There would have been a stop there Grace applies all What are we before the Grace of the Spirit How unworthy till Grace made us lovely How unable to lay hold on it before the Spirit of God enable us Rom. 5.6 For when we were yet without Strength in due time Christ died for the Vngodly And how unable are we to make good use of it afterward For 1. What was our Behaviour before Calling Disobedient serving divers Lusts and Pleasures Titus 3.3 2. In Calling it was slight and âefractory Iob 33.14 For God speaketh once yea twice but Man perceiveth it not He often inviteth but Men take no notice of what so much concerneth their Souls good but slight all Warnings and Instructions lay not their Condition to heart and many an Opportunity is lost but God overcometh Mens Evil by his own Goodness and will not lose his Elect therefore ver 16. He openeth the Ears of Men and sealeth their Instruction that is breaketh in upon them in such a powerful way that they cannot withstand it 3. Since Calling there are frequent Interruptions of Obedience Iames 3.2 For in many things we offend all Our best Performances are weak and full of Blemishes Isa. 64.6 We are all as an unclean thing and all our Righteousnesses are as filthy Rags So that from first to last all floweth from God and all floweth from Love and Grace and Communication of the Spirit that our Persons and Actions are accepted Now it is our Duty to acknowledg this Love and highly esteem this glorious Grace and to testify our Esteem by Word and Work By Word ân Praises by Deed expressing our Thankfulness in our Lives that they may be a constant Hymn to God and a Praise of his Grace that we are made Partakers of Vse 1. To encourage us to seek after the Effects of this Love of God Grace of Jesus Christ and Communion of the Spirit 1. I will plead your Want What will you do if you have not Father Son and Holy Ghost for your God You have your Beings from him for a while but the Day of his Patience will not always last You must die and give an Account and woful yea dreadful will their Account be who are not only involved in the common Apostacy but have heard of the Transactions of Father Son and Holy Ghost about their Recovery and never minded the Benefit or made light of it Surely it is woful Dulness and Stupidity not to value it and to feel no need of it 2 Cor. 6.1 We then as VVorkers together with him beseech you also that ye receive not the Grace of God in vain What Grace was that God was in Christ reconciling the VVorld to himself chap. 5.19 That Grace which the Father hath contrived for your Salvation that Grace for which Christ laid down his Life that Grace which is so affectionately tendred in the Gospel that Grace and that free undeserving Mercy which is so sutable to your Necessities Will you despise this It was an Act of infinite Love of God to design it and reveal it to you of Christ to purchase it for you of the Holy Ghost to offer it to you yea to strive with you to make you capable of it Shall the Gospel be cast away upon you and all those gracious Methods of God frustrated Or have you no need of it How will you maintain Peace in your Consciences now without Grace How will you stand before God's Tribunal at the last Day 2. Let me plead the Worth of it He that hath this Love of God this Grace of Christ this Communion of the Spirit wanteth nothing to his solid Happiness He hath all necessary things in their Cause and Fountain for he hath God Christ and the Spirit For all things come from the Love of God and the Grace of Christ and the Communion of the Holy Ghost And he doth possess all things in that measure that God sees fit for him Psal. 84.11 The Lord will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly It bringeth other Mercies with it and nothing is
of Scriptures 674 Secret of the Lord with the Righteous what it signifies 1049 Seed Christ the Seed of the Woman 534 Vid. Incarnation Seeking What Christ's seeking those that are lost implies 885 The Necessity of this seeking 886 Seeking Glory and Honour and Immortality what it is 1226 Sell all thou hast explained vindicated and applied 332 333 Vid. Forsake all Self-denial included in the Nature of Faith 441 Sensuality what it is 57 Arguments against it 58 The Evil and Danger of it 373 Shewing forth the Lord's Death what it signifies 1013 The Properties of shewing forth Christ's Death 1014 Why we should shew forth Christ's Death 1015 Motives to shew forth Christ's Death 1016 Sight of Christ past present and to come opened 477 Sight of Faith The objects the Sight of Faith are exercised about 478 Sin the Nature of it 646 Sin a Wrong to Father Son and Holy Ghost 163 The Deceitfulness of Sin 505 The Effects of Sin 650 The Aggravations of Sin 652 The Sins of God's People most provoking to him and the Reasons of it 271 The Sinfulness of Sin opened 646 682 General Observations about the Sinfulness of Sin 643 The Sinfulness of Sin to be meditated on ibid. Sins against Conscience the Mischief that comes by them 530 The Power of Sin how Christ takes it away 541 The Guilt of Sin how Christ takes it away 542 The Being of Sin how and when Christ takes it away ibid. Sin to be avoided and why 168 Not one Sin but all must be renounced Vid. Renouncing Why God corrects his People for their Sins in this World 272 Sleep Sobriety to be used in it 66 Sloth spiritual Directions how to shake it off 616 Sobriety what it is 65 The particular Branches of it Vid. Sleep Recreations Meat and Drink Apparel Care of the World The Necessity of Sobriety 63 Objections against preaching Sobriety answered 64 Solisidians condemned 729 Sorrow vanquished by Faith 242 Soul The Nature of the Soul 1166 The Soul immediately created by God 1163 The Immortality of the Soul proved 1162 1164 1173 The Evil of not believing the Immortality of the Soul 1172 Sparing God's sparing his People what it signifies 1017 This is a choice Privilege ibid. The Reasons why God spares his Children 1019 Who they are whom God spares 1021 How God's sparing is consistent with afflicting his People 1022 1023 Staggering at the Promise opened 487 Strength It is the Privilege and Duty of God's Servants to go from Strength to Strength 1003 Why God's Servants should go from Strength to Strength ibid. Motives to go from Strength to Strength 1006 They that go from Strength to Strength shall at last appear before God in Sion 1008 Sufferings of Christ. Prophecies and Types of Christ were fulfilled in his Sufferings 1149 1150 Sufferings of Christ a Copy and Pattern to us 1150 T TAking away Sin How Christ takes away the Sin of the World 1126 1127 Taking away Sin the great End of Christ's coming into the World and why 1128 What we should do to have Sin taken away Vid. Sin 1129 Temporal good things why God gives them to carnal Men 987 Vid. Good Things Temptations how to be prepared against them Vid. Devil 710 Thanksgiving for Benefits a Debt we owe to God 421 Graces acted and promoted in Thanksgiving 422 Sins prevented by Thanksgiving ibid. Reasons for Thanksgiving 423 In Thanksgiving spiritual Blessings are especially to be owned 424 We are to give Thanks for spiritual Blessings not only for our selves but others 426 We are not thankful for Mercies when the Heart is lifted up 700 Time the Preciousness of it 69 Tongue of the Just what is meant by it 1053 1058 In what Sense the Tongue of the Just is as choice Silver 1055 Sins of the Tongue 1053 Our Tongues to be used for edifying and why 1056 Directions hereunto 1058 Trembling at God's Word what it is 1033 Difference between it and holy Fear ibid. How it doth or may come to nothing 1036 Trinity How much Believers are ingaged to all the Persons of the Trinity 125 How all the Persons in the Trinity concur to the Salvation of Believers 1233 Love ascribed to the Father Grace to the Son and Communion to the Holy Ghost 1233 1234 How Love Grace and Communion concur to our Salvation 1235 Trouble of Heart what it is and wherein it consists 235 237 The Causes of this Trouble of Heart 236 Why Christians should not let their Hearts be troubled 238 Directions to prevent this Trouble of Heart 239 Faith a Means of easing our Hearts from Trouble 241 Trust. Considerations to quicken us to improve our Trust 255 Encouragements to be faithful to our Trust 256 Trust in God a Duty in dark Times 814 The Profit of trusting in God then 815 There is much in the Name of God to incourage Trust ibid. They that fear God and obey him are most incouraged to trust in him 816 Trusting in Riches that there is such a Sin proved 377 The Evil of it 378 The Signs and Discoveries of it 383 The Evil Effects of it 379 The Remedy of it 383 Truth of Speech and Action what 841 Trials Various Sorts of Trials 361 Trials do manifest what Men are ibid. Why God will manifest Men by Trials 361 Types the several Kinds of them 746 Types of the Law why to be considered ibid. V UNgodliness what it is 31 The Negative Part of Ungodliness 33 The Positive Part of it 40 What it is to deny Ungodliness 32 Means to deny Ungodliness 40 Motives to deny Ungodliness ib. Ungodliness and worldly Lusts coupled 42 Victory of Christ over the Devil the Effects of it 540 How far Satan was destroyed hereby 543 Vid. Devil Power of Satan The Nature of Christ's Victory for Believers 546 W WAiting on God an Effect of Faith 457 War against Satan Motives to ingage in it 547 Washing us from our Sins the Fruit and Evidence of Christ's Love 1129 The Value and Worth of this Benefit 1180 Well-doing what it is 1227 Continuance in Well-doing what it is 1228 Patient Continuance in Well-doing what 1229 Wicked Men who are so 1059 When they shall have enough of Sin 1113 Why wicked Men shall have their Fill of Sin 1114 Will of God How God wills that none shall perish but all come to Repentance 937 Willingness of Christ to suffer how demonstrated 155 Objections answered 158 The Grounds and Reasons of this Willingness Vid. Giving 157 Winking How God winked at the times of Heathen Ignorance 276 Word of God threefold of Promise Blessing and Power 463 The Power and Certainty of God's Word 196 On what Grounds the Word of God is more conducible to Repentance than if one came from the Dead 672 949 The Relation of the Word to Faith 444 The Acts of Faith about the Word 446 The Effects of Faith thus exercised 447 How we may discern the Strength of Faith from hence 449 Work of the Devil what it is 538 How Christ destroys the Work of