like sense of sin and sight of a lost estate So that there is mercy even in being under the Spirits Yoke And therefore Secondly Do not be unsensible of the mercy of being under the bondage of the Spirit though it is not a Case that hath comfort in it yet it is a Case that hath mercy in it And no present misery of any condition should make us to overlook the mercy of that condition You see sin in its filthy nature and damning guilt and thereupon are filled with dread and fear and is not this a mercy Though to do sin is the most unprofitable work yet to see sin is the most profitable sight For so long as sin is unseen Christ will be unsought The remedy is never desired till our misery be discerned and felt Your conscience is full of trouble and you are weary and cry out under the burthen of your soul-troubles and is not this a mercy How shall the burthen of sin be removed if conscience be not troubled under it The more the Sinners conscience is at peace the more sin is in power The strong man armed keeps that house Luke 11.12 Besides it is the design of God that sin shall be the trouble of every Sinners conscience sooner or later here or in Hell Hell is full of troubled consciences there is not one soul there but lyes under terrour of conscience for sin for that is the worm that never dies Mark 9.44 And is it not a mercy to be troubled for sin here rather than in Hell Here the trouble is but for a season there it will be for ever Here the end of your trouble for sin is peace and comfort Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning Psal 30.5 But in Hell your trouble will end in desperation and everlasting horrour Whatever therefore your troubles are yet reckon it for a mercy that God hath brought you to a real sense of your sin and misery for that this is the only way to drive you out of your selves to Christ You had been undone but for this undoing Thirdly Do not be weary of the Spirits operation in his carrying on the work of conviction lest by growing weary of his work you make him weary of working There are two things Sinners express a great weariness under viz. the Word and the Rod. To sit long under the Word or to lye long under the Rod O what a weariness is it Now to be weary of these is to be weary of the Spirits work for by these he calls and knocks and strives to make his voice to be heard and therefore they often go together and hence you read of chastising and teaching Psal 94.12 The Rod prepares us for hearkening to the Word and the Word teaches us to understand the Rod and therefore the Spirit sometimes uses them together He binds them in Fetters and holds them in Cords of affliction and then shews their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded Job 36.8.9 10. and so opens their ear to discipline and commands that they return from iniquity Why then should any be weary of the Spirits work And yet that it is so is most evident For why do Sinners so many ways stifle the motions of the Spirit in the soul sometimes looking on spiritual troubles as mere melancholy sancies and as such shake them off Sometimes they are stifled by shame lest others should think them mad and distracted Sometimes they are stifled by declining that Ministry that deals most with the conscience and will not let them alone in sin Sometimes by running into idle debauched company that scoff away the troubles of a convinced conscience Sometimes by over business in worldly matters The cares of this World choke the Seed and it becomes unfruitful Matth. 13.22 And is not this a great sin it is murder to destroy a Child in the womb I charge you young ones with this sin this day before the Lord. And I will prove you guilty of it For what is the reason that the Word preached hath so little success that so few of you are converted from your sins and lusts to Christ I tell you this is the reason You have stifled the motions of the Spirit of God in your souls you have resisted and quenched him you have broken his Yoke from off your neck and do ye understand what ye do Do ye know the mischief of this sin It drives the Holy Spirit out of the heart You say to him depart Job 21.14 you are weary of his striving to make you weary of sinning It greatly gratifies Satan For his design is to harden the heart against the impressions of the Spirit and so lead Sinners to a Hell through a Fools Paradise It provokes the Lord to give you up to your own hearts lusts and vile affections Rom. 2.24 26. And I am perswaded that it is the Judgment that many of the young Generation of this day lye under It provokes him to take away the Gospel And I am afraid that this Judgment is at the door for why should God continue it to a Generation that slight and reject it And wo to such as shall be found to have had a hand in sinning away the Gospel It is this sin that makes Hell hot indeed It will be one of the saddest reflections in that state for a damned Sinner to recal the many sweet motions of the Spirit which in his day of Grace he had In such a Sermon how was my heart touched and my conscience awakened But all came to nothing In such a sickness how did the Spirit of God deal with me and set sin home and made it a burthen What promises and resolutions did I then make to shake off sins to leave my former wicked courses but it came to nothing Had I then yielded to the strivings of the Spirit and hearkened to his calls and counsels I had never felt these flames But my slighting God breaking the Spirits Yoke by resisting and quenching his motions this is that which hath brought this endless misery upon me O what a dreadful thing is it to be weary of the Spirits work when he comes to convince of sin Quest But when may a man be said to be weary of the Spirits work Answ First When he cannot endure an awakening convincing Ministry nor searching truths but declines those Doctrines that interrupt him in the way of his lusts and disturb the quiet of his conscience as Felix did Paul's Sermon of righteousness and judgment to come because it made him tremble the Doctrine came too close to his conscience and therefore he dismisses the Preacher to a fitter season Acts 24.25 Secondly When he is over-hasty for peace and comfort then he is weary of the Spirits Yoke This is the Case of most they are no sooner under the sense of sin but they must have comfort The Arrows of the Almighty are sharp and when they go deep do cause an unspeakable
for it is a communion with him in his own nature which is holiness Now thus every good man walks with God and hath a daily communion with him so far as holiness is in exercise How often may we hear the Children of God complaining of the want of communion with God! this arises from a mistake of the thing They judge of fellowship by sensible fruitions and of communion by comfort So much as God gives out of the comfort of his presence and the light of his face so much communion they partake of And where this is not injoyed there all communion is denied Whereas communion with God may be maintained and yet present comfort may be left out Though they cannot walk by the light of his countenance yet they may walk by the light of his counsels So did Job Chap. 23.8 9 10 11 12. Behold I go forward but he is not there backward but I cannot perceive him on the left hand where he doth work but I can't behold him he hides himself on the right hand that I cannot see him But he knows the way that I take my foot hath held his steps his way have I kept and not declined Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips Here you may see Job walking with God when at the same time he cannot find him He walketh by the light of his will revealed when he can't walk by the light of his face discovered and so hath a communion with him in his counsels though not in the light of his countenance And this makes the Yoke of obedience pleasant it is a walking with God you have hereby communion with him in his Holiness when you want the comforts of his presence and this makes your way sweet though God doth not shine upon your path This I take to be the meaning of that of David Psal 112.4 Vnto the upright there ariseth light in darkness Holiness yields a sweetness and comfort when it may be the light of Gods face yields none 2. Godliness is attended with the pleasure of a witnessing Conscience He that follows its guidance shall never want its witness God leads man by a twofold guide the Word and Conscience the Word without and Conscience within the Word is a light to us and Conscience is a light in us the Word directs the Conscience and Conscience directs the conversation And he that follows the guidance of Conscience as it is guided by the Word shall never want a witness to the goodness of his state and heart He that opposes and violences Conscience shall find it witnessing against him but he that is guided by it shall have it a witness for him As the Spirit of God is first a Counseller and then a Comforter so Conscience is first a guide and then a witness And what greater pleasure than the witness of a mans Conscience to the goodness of his conversation As a condemning Conscience is the greatest torment as being a degree of Hell so a witnessing Conscience is the greatest comfort as being a first-fruits of the joy of Heaven Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our conversation in the world 2 Cor. 1.12 A witnessing Conscience brings with it an unspeakable sweetness and comfort As for instance First What is it that satisfies a man when nothing else can it is the witness of his Conscience A good man is satisfied from himself Prov. 14.14 Secondly What is it that gives confidence and boldness towards God it is a witnessing Conscience 1 John 3.21 If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we have boldness so the word is rendred in Heb. 10.19 Having brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus A good man hath a threefold boldness and confidence from a witnessing Conscience 1. A boldness in Prayer Let us come boldly to the throne of grace Heb. 4.16 There are three things which together cause this boldness First The Throne God is upon to whom we make our requests viz. a Throne of Grace and Mercy Let us come boldly to the throne of grace Heb. 4.16 Secondly The advantage we have by Jesus Christ at the right hand of God Who ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.15 Thirdly The help of the Spirit whereby we are inabled to call him Father and who makes intercession in us Rom. 8.15 26. 2. Boldness and confidence in the midst of all dangers He shall not be afraid of evil tidings Psal 112.7 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet will I fear no evil Psal 23.4 The righteous is bold as a lion Prov. 28.1 3. Boldness and confidence in the day of Judgment 1 John 4.17 That we may have boldness in the day of judgment And how sweet must this be to dye and go to the Bar of God confidently assured of the goodness of our case Thirdly What is that which comforts and supports a man when all else it may be witness against him It is a witnessing Conscience Sometimes men may witness against him and falsly charge him as in Jobs case yet then Conscience supports him in the testimony whereof he can appeal to God as in Chap. 10.7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked Sometimes God seems to witness against him Thou writest bitter things against me Job 10.17 Job 13.26 Yet then to the upright there arises light in darkness Psal 112.4 Sometimes Satan witnesseth against a man accuses him of hypocrisie and unsoundness of heart in the ways of God as he did Job of serving God for by-ends Job 1.9 10. yet then Conscience supports him as it did good Hezekiah in the testimony whereof he appeals to God Remember Lord Isai 38.3 how I have walked before thee with an upright heart Fourthly What is that which fills the Soul with peace and joy when troubles and distresses are upon us it is the witness of Conscience This made Paul and Silas sing in the Stocks This made the Martyrs triumph in the midst of the flames As sorrowful yet always rejoycing 2 Cor. 6.10 O what a sweet thing is a witnessing Conscience it fills a man with the richest and the most lasting peace 1. With the richest peace and therefore it is called the Peace of God Phil. 4.7 The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus That this is the peace of Conscience is evident in that it is said to keep the heart and mind And it is called the Peace of God First Because of the greatness and excellency of it according to that Hebraism whereby things great and excellent are intitled to God Psal 36.6 As the mountains of God the Cedars of God Psal 80.10 the increase of God Col. 2.19 c. Secondly Because he gives it When
conversion resting in them and so perishing in the place of the breaking forth of children Hos 13.13 Now that others should eternally miscarry under those means that have been blessed to thy conversion that they should perish under the same convictions which have been to thee the pangs of the new birth O what mercy is this While some despair and others presume thou art brought by a sight of sin to close with Christ upon Gospel terms And hast thou not cause to be thankful 3. This Yoke of the Spirit being once taken off shall never be put on again thou shalt never come under it more Doth not the Scripture say as much Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear In whomsoever the spirit of bondage once becomes a spirit of adoption he is never a spirit of bondage more in that soul If after he hath once sealed our adoption to us he should again impress fears of eternal wrath upon us he would herein be contrary to himself Object But are not many of the Children of God after Grace wrought full of fears and apprehensions of Hell and wrath Answ We must distinguish between bondage by desertion and bondage by the Spirit in conviction A Believer under desertion may be in bondage by his own spirit but not by the spirit of God When God doth suspend the wonted influences of Grace and comfort a mans own conscience may fill him with fears of Hell and dread of wrath but this is not from the suggestions of Gods spirit but from the mistake of his own He can never be a spirit of bondage more And is not this cause of thankfulness 4. How great the advantage is that comes by complying with and yielding to the spirit in convincing work For where he is complyed with in the beginning he carries it on to perfection If he convinces of sin and the soul fall under it by humiliation and repentance he will convince of righteousness too and so raise it up again by faith and dependance Nay by an early compliance with the strivings of the spirit when he first comes to discover to thee thy lost estate thou hast secured his presence for ever and he shall carry on this work of conviction so long as there is any one lust remaining A Believer hath need of the convictions of the spirit so long as he lives It is a mistake to think the convincing work of the Spirit is over when it hath discovered to a man his lost estate and so brought him to a close with Christ there is a great deal of convincing work yet to be done as there is a sinful estate so there is a sinful frame of heart Now though the Believer can no more need the convictions of the Spirit as to the former for his estate is changed yet he always needs them as to the latter Though he was convinced of the filthy nature and damning consequences of sin to prepare him for Christ and conversion yet there are convictions of necessary use to the carrying on and compleating the work of sanctification There is a great deceitfulness in sin more than the Believer ever yet saw and therefore he wants conviction of that There is a great power in remaining lusts to draw the heart from Christ he wants further conviction of that There is a gradual secret hardening of heart which in-dwelling sin works to even in the regenerate he wants further conviction of that Nay how many secret spiritual lusts hidden and close corruptions are there in the heart which at first entrance into a state of Grace the Believer never saw they lye in the heart undiscerned till the Spirit comes in with further light So that a Believer always needs the convincing work of the Spirit it is essentially necessary to the perfecting of Grace and holiness Now he that yields to the convictions of the Spirit at first doth thereby secure them to the last He shall never cease enlightening striving counselling so long as there is any one lust remaining His influences shall abide till he hath got the mastery of every sin and judgment be sent forth to victory over every corruption He dwelleth with you Matth. 12.20 and shall be in you John 14.17 O what cause of thankfulness have such as have born the Spirits Yoke with success Secondly Your Duty is to be humble Remember your Bonds so doth the Church Lam. 3.19 20. Remembring mine affliction and my misery the Wormwood and the Gall my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me One excellent means to cure spiritual pride is to look often back to the days of your soul distresses therefore God when his people were settled in the promised Land often remembers them of their wilderness state that they might not pride themselves in their present possessions Deut. 8.2 Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee in the Wilderness to humble thee And ver 3. He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger And ver 14 15. Beware lest thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery Serpents and Scorpions and drought where there was no water that he might humble thee No man will be lifted up under his present mercies that doth but seriously and frequently reflect upon his lost estate and the means and manner of his deliverance O think often of the sighs and sorrows the tears and terrours the griefs and groans of thy sinking Spirit in the Day when the Arrows of God stuck there How long thou hast formerly lain at God's foot begging for one Drop of the bloud of Christ to pardon sin one Dram of Grace to secure thy Estate one glympse of comfort to refresh thy wearied and heavy laden spirit and then be proud if thou canst Thirdly Labour to be fruitful This is the great end of the Spirit in all his convictions He convinceth of sin to break off the Sinner from it he convinceth of righteousness that the Sinner may seek after it and he convinces of the necessity of holiness that he may get it and grow up in it so that ye sin against and frustrate the whole design of the Holy Ghost in his work in the heart without this For ye are therefore made free from sin and become servants to God that ye might have your fruit unto holiness Rom. 6.22 And the same Apostle tells you cap. 7.4 Ye are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that ye should bring forth fruit to God Labour therefore to be fruitful for this is that which secures the Spirits influences to your great advantage Every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit John 15.2 Secondly This Doctrine affords matter of counsel to such as never were under the
It is true that a hearty resignation to God and a serious imbracing Religion by an unfeigned subjection to Christ always finds acceptance with the Lord Joh. 6.37 Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out There is a double Negative in the Greek which serves to make the promise strong and to incourage faith against all doubts and fears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will not not cast him out The promise doth not only import the safety of the estate of such as are in Christ but the welcome reception of all that come to Christ As he will not cast them out that are once united to him so nor will he keep them out who desire truly to close with him whenever it be sooner or later when ever the heart is willing God is ready A sincere obedience shall find acceptance at any time but the earlier we come the kinder shall be our reception and the greater our welcome and it must needs be so First Because we resist the fewer calls and invitations of God which are the expressions of his love and good will to sinners and as nothing provokes God more than when his love is slighted so there is nothing he is more pleased with than when the Soul is won by it to a readiness of obedience and that which pleases God heightens our acceptation Secondly We save God the labour to speak after the manner of men of using other means in which he less delights there are methods which God doth not love to be found in the use of which yet he is constrained to use for our benefit he hath his thorn hedges to stop our course reduce our wandrings and bring us to himself hence we read of his strange works and his strange acts Hos 2.6 7. Isa 28.21 Things which God delights not in but is forced to by the stubbornness of the Creature that he that will not hear the word and who hath ordained it may be made to hear the rod and who hath appointed it Mic. 6.9 Now by early imbracing the ways of Christ we happily prevent God in that work which is so contrary to his disposition as being more inclined to mercy than wrath Thirdly We gratifie him in the thing he loves and that is an early obedience Under the Law all Sacrifices were required to be young Deut. 15.19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctifie unto the Lord thy God And Exod. 22.29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors Mark It must be the firstling of the herd and the firstling of the flock and the first ripe fruits and the first liquors And why but to teach us by these Types how pleasing to God a timely conversion is and that if we would present our selves an acceptable Sacrifice to him it must be by an early subjection to the Yoke of Christ He loves a young Abijah a young Josiah a young Timothy a young Saint for a Sacrifice Joh. 20.2 Chap. 21.20 John is called the Disciple whom Jesus loved Joh. 13.23 And why did Jesus love none other of the Disciples but him Yes he loved them all and that both living and dying Joh. 13.1 Having loved his own which were in the world he loved them to the end But yet he loved John above all the rest and the reason that is given of it by some is because John was brought to Christ betimes of all the Disciples he was youngest when he took up the Yoke of Christ he loved Christ first and therefore Christ loved him best and as he had the highest affection for him so he made the greatest revelations to him All which shews the gracious acceptance of his early obedience It addeth greatly to the value of a gift when it is given readily and at first asking So when we give up our selves to the Call of God without shifting and hucking without demurrs and delays it puts a great value upon our obedience and makes it the more accepted with God Long standing off greatly provokes God and grieves the Spirit though we yield at last Many do by their lusts as Pharaoh did by the Israelites Exod. 5.2 he refuses to let them go Though God commands him till Judgment terrifies him into some kind of compliance and then he will let them go Exod. 8.28 but not far away that he may fetch them back again and when another Plague comes then he will let some go but not all Exod. 10.11 some must stay behind to be Hostages for the rest He never consents they shall all go till he is forced to it so that it was not thank-worthy when he did consent Many love their lusts more than Christ and will not part with them though at the Call of God till by judgment upon judgment he makes them weary of their communion and plagues them out of them the smart of Gods rod the coming of the evil day the wastes of nature the decay of strength the growth of diseases the prospect of another world the sense of a polluted nature a corrupt heart and a mispent life the fore-tastes of the wrath of God these set home by the Spirit may create such terrors in the conscience as may weary a sinner out of his lusts and bring him to Christ at last but he shall not have that welcome as the early Convert hath He shall be received and entertained but not made so much of as if he had come sooner He shall not have those comforts that an earlier Convert feels who took up the Yoke of Christ betimes and so hath walked in the fear of the Lord all his days His own conscience shall upbraid him and fill him with shame for the sollies of a mispent life if his bones are full of the sins of his youth Job 20.11 though they are pardoned in Heaven yet he may carry the pain of them to the grave with him and then he must needs lye down in sorrow Or if he meets with comfort in this life it may be long first and cost him many prayers and many tears much wooing and much waiting Though Christ when he stands at the door and knocks promises that if any man opens he shall sup with him Revel 3.20 Yet if Christ wait long for entrance the Soul may be made to wait long for its entertainment If his own Spouse deny him entrance he 'l deny her his presence if she suffers him to knock and call without admittance he will suffer her to seek and sue for a time without success Cant. 5.2 3 6. Delay God and God will delay you the longer you make him wait in the tenders of his Grace the longer he will make you wait in the expectation of peace and comfort Reas 5. It is the greatest business we have to attend to in the world and therefore is to be most minded and first entred upon It is the
he tastes in it So it is with a regenerate man sweetness becomes a motive to obedience and duty is drawn forth by delight I delight to do thy will O my God And mark whence this delight springs Thy Law is within my heart Psal 40.8 The Law was not only his Command but his nature God writes his Law in the Word and so it becomes our rule but when he writes it in our hearts then it becomes our nature And this is it that makes obedience sweet and pleasant because it is now natural There is an inward Principle suited to the outward Precept Thirdly Consider the pleasures with which this service is attended It is not more natural for sin to bring forth sorrow and trouble than for Religion to afford pleasure and sweetness It denies no lawful pleasure which others injoy It affords pleasures which others cannot injoy First It denies no lawful pleasures which others injoy doth the sinner take pleasure in the creature So doth the good man more truly for Religion moderates the affections and teaches the right use of the creature and thereby heightens the pleasure of the injoyment it curbs and restrains our excesses and moderated affections make our fruition the more sweet because hereby sin is excluded which imbitters the injoyment There is no pleasure which a wicked man sins in injoying but a good man may injoy without sin and where there is least sin there is most sweetness Nay farther Religion spiritualizeth the injoyment and thereby a good man hath more sweetness in the creature than any other can have as the Bee hath more delight in the flower than other creatures can because they have only the sweetness of the scent but the Bee hath the sweetness of the honey with the scent Natural man hath only a natural sweetness but the spiritual man hath a spiritual sweetness with the natural and so injoys a higher pleasure in the creature than any natural man can Secondly Religion hath its peculiar pleasures which none but good men can partake of It gives pleasure and delight in God when the creature affords none The sensual man is beholden to the Fig-tree and the Vine and the Olive to the Field the Fold and the Stall if these fail his comfort fails But the good man hath a never-sailing Spring of delight when all these streams are cut off Although the fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vines the labour of the olive shall sail and the fields shall yield no meat the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls Here are all his streams cut off now where is his never-failing Spring why it is in God Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Habak 3.17 18. No delight so sweet as delight in God The dim light of Moon and Stars are a comfortable ministry in a dark night and we are glad to walk by the light of them but when once the light of the Sun breaks out who regards the Moon or Stars then creature-Creature-comforts are pleasant things to a sensual Spirit that knows no better injoyment but when once God discovers himself to the Soul and sheds abroad his love in the heart Rom. 5.5 what poor things are these then The pleasure of walking with God and the pleasure of a witnessing Conscience without naming any more outvie all the pleasures in the World for sweetness and delight And these are peculiar to Religion and a life of godliness Prov. 14.10 no stranger intermeddles with this joy 1. In Religion and the practice of Godliness a good man walks with God There is a twofold walking with God and both exceeding sweet In Holiness and Obedience In Comfort and Experience First There is a walking with God in Comfort and Experience and this consists in sensible communion and fellowship with God This is that our Lord Christ injoyed much of John 16.32 I am not alone because the Father is with me He had much of it in that Voice from Heaven Mat. 3.17 This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased He had much of it in the Transfiguration Mat. 17.2 He was transfigured before them this imports a wonderful letting forth of the glory of God upon him and so speaks an high degree of communion Exod. 34.29 Moses had a great measure of this transfiguring communion in the Mount when his face shone and Paul when he says he cannot tell whether he was in the body or out of the body 2 Cor. 12.3 4. but speaks as though he had been really in Heaven These are extraordinary manifestations of God which are fitted only to special seasons and though they are exceeding sweet and fill the Soul with great transports of joy yet they are not designed for continuance nor alotted to many But there is a more ordinary communion with God which every good man may lay claim to The Apostle John speaks of it as the undoubted priviledge of every Believer 1 Joh. 1.3 Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ And Christ promises it to all that obey his Commands John 14.21 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him And v. 23. We will come unto him and make our abode with him These expressions import a special presence of God and peculiar emanations of his love filling the Soul with such a sweetness and delight as none else can experience Hence that of Judas not Iscariot to Christ in v. 22. Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thy self to us and not to the world This is a comfort the world knows nothing of Indeed a Believer himself hath no security of injoying it always As one Believer injoys it more than another and the same Believer injoys it more at one time than another so sometimes he injoys it not God never promised to any man such a vouchsafement of his comsorting presence as should know no interruption for if so then God would leave himself without a liberty to shew his dislike of sin That promise Heb. 13.5 I will never leave thee nor forsake thee secures to a Believer the duration of his union but not of his communion it intitles him to the certainty of his presence and care of his Providence but not to the light of his countenance It makes over to him the constant supports of his Power and Grace but not always the actual possession of joy and comfort Secondly There is a walking with God in Holiness and Obedience Thus it is said Enoch walked with God three hundred years Gen. 5.22 that is by an holy conformity to his will * To live to the will of God loving what God loves hating what God hates doing what God commands this is the highest kind of walking and communion with God
Job 7.20 21. I am a burden to my self why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity And there must needs be a sweetness in that which easeth the Soul of such a burden as sin is Thirdly It is that which renders all sin remissible Repentance and forgiveness always go together true repentance shall ever find forgiveness and this makes repentance very sweet and pleasant in that it renders all sin remissible Where-ever the Lord gives a heart to repent there he hath a heart to pardon So that a Soul that doth unfeignedly repent of all sin may be assured of the forgiveness of all sin Some call repentance a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bitter-sweet It is a stormy voyage but hath a rich return At the entrance it is like our Saviours draught of vinegar and gall but the conclusion is like the end of Jonathans rod dipt in a honey-comb 2. Another duty is Mortification of Sin and this seems a very difficult duty And indeed to flesh and blood it is so What to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye This is a hard saying But yet to a regenerate Soul it hath real pleasure and sweetness in it And needs it must if you consider First The enmity that is between the new heart and fleshly lusts There is not a greater enmity and contrariety between any things in the world than between these two Light and darkness Heaven and Hell are not more contrary And from this contrariety of the Spirit to the flesh there is a constant lusting against it Gal. 5.17 The spirit that is the new nature lusts against the flesh And what is this lusting but a desire and endeavour to subdue and destroy lust and corruption within Enmity delights in opposition What greater pleasure than to conquer and get the better of an enemy The reason why the mortification of sin is grievous is because of the friendship that is between the heart and lust Did we look on it as an enemy as it is the greatest in the world the subduing of it would be a pleasure Secondly If you consider the mischievous design that is carried on by sin And what is that but to destroy the Soul Nothing less can satisfie lust than the life of the Soul What is said of the Harlot Prov. 6.26 that she hunts for the precious life is true of every lust which is therefore said to war against the soul 1 Pet. 2.11 against the grace of the Soul against the comfort of the Soul and against the life of the Soul Therefore he that loves his Soul cannot but take pleasure in mortifying of lust which hunts for the life of it Thirdly It is pleasant as it establishes a firm peace in the Conscience That is the truest pleasure which ministers most peace and quiet to Conscience He that gratifies lust offends against the quiet of Conscience but he that mortifies sin consults its peace and comfort Fourthly It is pleasant as a means to the end Our eternal life depends upon the mortifying our lusts Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the spirit mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live No mortification no Salvation If there be no cutting off right hand lusts there can be no standing at the right hand of Christ Now we say Finis dat amabilitatem mediis The goodness of the end puts a loveliness into the means How delightful then must the mortifying of sin be whenas the life of the Soul is secured by it 3. Another difficulty is bearing the Cross Many can follow Christ till they come within sight of the Cross but can go no farther Like the stony ground Professor who endures for a while but when persecution arises because of the word by and by he is offended Mat. 13.21 But where the kingdom of God is come with power into the heart the Soul takes pleasure in the very Cross of Christ I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake 2 Cor. 12.10 And it is said of the Apostles Acts 5.41 They rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name And thus I have made it out to you that obedience to Christ is matter of real pleasure and that three ways 1 positively 2 comparatively 3 by a collation of instances I have instanced in the most difficult duties of Religion and have made it out that there is a real pleasure in them and if in them then in all So that Religions worst is better than sins best the worst of Christs Yoke is easier than the easiest of sins bonds As the Apostle says 1 Cor. 1.25 The foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men so the most unpleasant of Christs ways are more sweet and delightful than the most pleasant of sins ways can be and therefore it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth CHAP. VIII Some Objections against early Obedience answered NOW in the next place I shall endeavour to remove the stumbling blocks which Satan and a corrupt mind are wont to lay in the way of young ones to hinder their complying with this duty of taking up the Yoke of Christ betimes by answering such objections as are usually made against it Object 1. The first stumbling block I shall name and endeavour to remove is about the unchangeable Decrees of God Hath not God say some immutably fixed the eternal condition of every man Hath he not chosen such as shall be saved and passed by the rest And who can resist his Will or alter his Counsels which have been from everlasting If God hath elected me to eternal life his purposes shall stand they can never be disannulled My sin can never frustrate Gods Election and therefore my Salvation is sure And on the other hand if God hath shut me out of Heaven by the fatal Decree of his Preterition all my duties and indeavours can never reach to reverse the Decree And therefore these arguments for taking up the Yoke of Christ betimes are of little force and to little purpose Now in answer to this Objection I would say these five things Answ 1. We are not to look to the Decree of God for a rule of life but to the Word of God It is not what his secret purpose is so much as what his revealed Will is Secret things belong to the Lord but revealed things to us and to our children for ever that we may do all the words of this Law Deut. 29.29 The Decree can neither be a rule of life nor a ground of hope but the Precept and the Promise So far as the Precept is our guide the Promise will be our incouragement He that sins against the Gospel and rejects the Yoke of Christ no Decree can save him and he that gives up himself to conform in heart and life to the will
smart no wounds to the wounds of God in the conscience A wounded Spirit who can bear Prov. 18.14 In this Case it is very natural to cry out for comfort But to seek the cure for a wound before it is searched and cleansed is to make the remedy worse than the disease Vnseasonable comfort is ever unsound comfort And when it comes before the Sinner is fit for it it is then unseasonable and such comfort is from Satan not from the Comforter for he first makes the soul fit to receive comfort and then applies it Quest When is the soul prepared and fit to receive comfort Answ Five things must concur to make up this meetness for comfort First The heart must be truly broken and humbled under a sense of sin Comfort is proper for Mourners and therefore the promise is made to such I will restore comfort to his Mourners Isai 57.18 Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Humiliation fits for consolation Secondly When weariness of the burthen of sin drives the Sinner to Christ Many run to Christ under their convictions that yet are not fit for comfort for it is smart that drives them and not guilt sorrow and not sin and therefore they seek more for peace and ease than for pardon and righteousness Though such may desire comfort yet they are not fit for it Matth. 11.28 for rest is for the weary and heavy laden Thirdly When it is made freely willing not only to come to Christ but to close with and receive him upon his own terms that is as a Prince to rule as well as a Priest to redeem and save when it is as willing to submit to the Duties of his Yoke as to reap the benefits of his Cross as desirous to be sanctified as saved to be freed from sins reigning power as well as from its damning guilt Then is it fit for comfort Fourthly When the Work of conversion is actually wrought in the soul then it is fit for comfort A state of sin cannot be a state of comfort There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Isai 57.21 The Spirit of God cannot be a comforting Spirit where he is not a converting Spirit Could he be supposed to work peace without Grace he would harden the Sinner in sin instead of turning him from it and so contradict his own design which is first to work Grace and then peace first he converts and then he comforts Fifthly When a man makes conscience of Duties and uses all means for the obtaining comfort as if it were to be obtained by doing and yet at the same time depends upon the Spirit for comfort as if he had done nothing Some look to their Duties for comfort and so slight the Spirit whose work is to give comfort and others look that the Spirit should do all and so sinfully neglect those means by which comfort comes in Means without the Spirit cannot comfort and the Spirit in the neglect of means will not but when a man depends upon the Spirit in the use of means then he is fit for comfort But if the heart be not broken if sin be not a burthen if the will be not bowed to Christ by converting Grace it is not prepared nor fit for comfort the season of comfort is not yet And therefore to desire it without labouring for a meetness for it is to be weary of the Spirits Yoke Thirdly Then a man is weary of the Spirits Yoke when he uses improper remedies skins over the wounds the Spirit makes in the soul with wrong Plaisters turning from a loose conversation to a profession of Religion and so by an empty form of godliness bringing in a delusive peace to the undoing of his soul Know this That nothing can administer true quiet to a wounded conscience but the bloud of Jesus Rom. 5.1 It is the cunning of Satan to hurry a troubled Sinner to an empty profession of Religion that so he may take upshort of Christ and conversion He is for any work but a saving work Take heed therefore of using improper remedies for the cure of soul-wounds and which is a necessary caution in this place take heed of imprudent Guides and unskilful Conductors of thy soul in this Case There needs one of a thousand to be an Interpreter in this matter Job 33.23 All that take upon them to be Preachers are not fit for this work they do not skill how to deal with a wounded conscience some make the wound too wide some bind it up too soon some use improper remedies for healing There are many spiritual Mountebanks as well as natural that poyson sick souls as others do sick Patients Of all things therefore take heed what spiritual Physicians you go to when you are under a wounded conscience and sick of sin for he that shall bind where God looseth or loose where God binds is unskilful in the word of righteousness Heb. 5.13 and knows not how or when to apply either the terrours of the Law or the comforts of the Gospel Fourthly Then a man is weary of the Spirits work when he breaks off his Yoke Such were they in Jer. 5.5 They have altogether broke the Yoke and burst the bonds This is done by stifling the Spirits motions refusing his counsels blotting out the impressions he makes Indeed a state of conviction is not a state to continue in therefore we ought to labour in the use of God's appointed means to get out of it Though it is a mercy to be brought under the Spirits bonds and bondage yet the mercy is not with reference to the state it self but to what follows therefore it is good to pass through it but not to continue in it Convictions are like travailing pangs which are a mercy as being greatly helpful to the forwarding the birth but if they continue ever long they spend natural strength and destroy the Mother and the Infant too Hence that of God to Ephraim Hos 13.13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him he is an unwise Son for he should not stay long in the place of breaking forth of Children To stay long in the birth destroys both the birth and the Bearer too The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed and that he should not dye in the pit Isai 51.14 But yet take heed of making more haste than good speed Though it is a Duty to labour to get from under the state of bondage yet it is a sin to break the Yoke of the Spirit of bondage therefore take heed of this The present Duty is to wait the Spirits season Eccles 3.1 To every thing there is a season there is a time to kill and a time to heal ver 3. a time to break down and a time to build up this is the Spirits season And then it follows ver 4. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance