sinne As David in the one and fiftieth Psalme saith Against thee against thee onely have I sinned repeating it twice in that place he composed that Psalme to set forth his sin but that which wounded his conscience that made him see the hainousnesse of his sinne was this Against thee I have sinned So the Prodigall sonne this is the circumstance by which he aggravates his sin Against heaven and against thee I have offended So learne to know that your sinnes are against god and therefore to presse this Truth a little more Consider well with your selves what is the reason that God hath required such a vast punishment against sinne that is eternall death thinke what eternity is it is that which swallowes up your thoughts it is a punishment the length and depth and breadth whereof you cannto comprehend Thinke why God hath appointed such a vast punishment and you shall find it is because you sinne against an Immense a great and Almighty God the length and breadth and depth of whose greatnesse you cannot comprehend Againe what is the reason God should appoint such a Mediatour to take away the sins of the world that the Son of God must needs take flesh which the Angels themselves wonder at it is such a wonderfull action that they cannot but admire and in heaven we shall stand amazed at it which evidences the greatnesse of sinne Learne to know this put al these foure together and see how these doe hold correspondencie one with another and you shall finde out the nature of your sinne First consider the greatnesse of God his infinitenesse the greatnesse of his Authority the wonderfull vast Soveraignty he hath over all creatures from this greatnesse of God comes the second the greatnesse of sinne I have made knowne this Truth but thou hast with-holden it thence it comes that sinne is so great that the least sinne which thou makest nothing of is a thing of so great moment That is the second which followes on the greatnesse of God Thirdly upon the greatnesse of sinne you see the greatnesse of the punishment if such an one as Aristotle or a stranger from the Truth should heare of this punishment the greatnesse whereof appeares herein that the worme dieth not and the fire is not quenched how would he wonder at it but knitting these together it will not seeme strange Last of all the greatnesse of the punishment causeth the greatnesse of such a Mediatour to take away this punishment and sin So there is a correspondencie in them come from God to sin from sinne to the punishment from punishment to the Mediation or redemption by which this sinne is taken away Learne therefore to know what sin is I know not a truth of greater moment And to all adde that 1 Cor. 15.56 The sting of death is sinne If you look on death it is the most terrible thing in the world You know what the Philosopher said of it of all terrible things it is the most terrible the most fearfull but sin is the sting of death As if he had said Death is a small thing in comparison of sin let a man want sin and death is nothing it is but sleepe it is nothing to have the body and soule separated Againe suppose there were no death but let body and soule remaine together yet sin is a terrible thing it is above all the Terrours in the world as in Iudas see his Terrours though there was no death on him see Adam when he was not in Hell but in Paradise yet how was he Tormented with his sin Therefore weigh not sin in a wrong ballance looke not on it with a wrong light take heed of being deceived for in this of all other things men are most apt to be deceived That is the corruption of Nature that strange darknesse is brought on men by Adam that in the thing that most concerneth him which is sin in that he is most ignorant most apt to be deceived Therefore when the Apostle speaks of sin he comes in still with this caution Be not deceived 1 Cor. 6.9 Be not deceived neither Fornicatour nor Idolaters nor adulterers c. shall inherit the kingdome of God as if men in that were most apt to be deceived So Ephes. 5.6 Be not deceived for for such things the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience And observe when Christ goeth about to show to any man or to any Church what their sins are or what their danger is he addes this Let him that hath an eare heare what the Spirit saith to the Churches his end being to tell them of their sin still that comes in He that hath an eare to heare let him heare As if he had said when I come to speake of matter of sin there be many here that can tell what I say that can understand me well but few have eares to understand indeed As when the Prophet came to Ieroboam he heard the Prophet so as it anger'd him he knew what his sin was but he heard it not to purpose So when Christ pronounceth a woe to the Scribes and Pharisees they heard it well enough but they had not an eare to heare it to purpose Men may heare what flesh and common reason and common men say of sin but not what the Spirit saith of it there is another kinde of sinfulnesse in sin which is the spirituall evill of sin and what the Spirit saith of this they doe not heare Therefore you must even be brought to Christ as the deafe man was who being both deafe and dumbe was brought to Christ that he might lay his hands on him now Christ put his finger into his eares and saith Ephata be thou opened and then the man heard and spake so of all men that heare this Word there is not a man but he is deafe according to this inward kinde of hearing therefore you must be brought to Christ and beseech him to give you eares to heare for few hath eares to heare what the Spirit saith unto the Churches when it discovers their sin and misery Therefore let not this Doctrine be in vain to you but learne from hence to humble your selves to come to God and say to him Lord I am now amazed and confounded I thought before losses and crosses were great matters but now I see they are but flea-bitings to sin I was heretofore troubled at a small crosse but little or nothing at sin Lord I confesse this was my case but I see now sinne is another thing Thus we should learne to humble our selves before God But if any object This is the way to discourage men to make them desperate to make them fly from Religion by telling them sin is so terrible I answer it is not the way to discourage men from comming to Christ but to encourage them and drive them to him This is the way to Salvation Indeed if there were no remedy for sin it were a desperate case but
of his sins and that he in recompence of this kindnesse should serve his lusts Therefore he reasons as Ioseph did with his Mistresse Shall I doe this and so sinne against God and my Master he hath committed all to me hee hath done thus much for me and shall I thus requite him And as Nathan taught David to reason Hath the Lord made thee King over Israel and done thus and thus for thee and wilt thou serve him thus So that I say there is an holy Ingenuity bred in us whereby out of thankfulnesse wee will shun whatsoever may offend him Besides this we are taught that we sustaine another person and every man desires to maintaine the dignity of the person hee sustaines When a man is once in Christ he thinkes not the courses he lived in before to be sutable to the condition he is now in Therefore the Apostle reasons 1 Pet. 1.14 Fashion your selves no longer after the lusts of your former Ignorance but be holy as he is holy that is if you take your selves to be in Christ and that you be come unto God admit not any more those lusts which though they suted with your former yet not with this condition he reasons as Nehemiah did Shall such a man as I doe this Lastly which is the chiefest reason of all As soone as a man hath taken Christ and is justified there is a strong impression made upon his Soule by which he is caused to cleave unto him and to long after him as the Iron doth after the Load-stone that cannot bee at rest untill it hath attained it A man shall set himselfe in the wayes of God though it were but to give satisfaction to the desires of his Soule And indeed were it not for this wee should not serve the Lord this makes us New Creatures I say there is a strong inclination in every man that is justified that he can doe no lesse than serve the LORD even to satisfie that For example when Eliah had called Elishah hee could not choose but follow him all the reasons in the world could not keep him back At the time when he cast his mantle on him there was an impression made on him as when Christ said to Levi and Peter and Andrew and the rest follow me their profits and nets and fathers were nothing they needed no more perswasion for there was a secret impression made upon their hearts together with Christs Word and to satisfie that they must needs follow him Such an impression as this was made on the heart of Ruth to follow Naomi you know how she put her to it but Ruth would not goe backe for she loved her and therefore nothing but death should separate them And the same was in Iacob to Rachel seven yeeres and seven yeeres service the length of time and hardnesse of labour could not keep him from his Vncles house nor drive him off such a strong desire was planted in his heart towards her and such a desire is planted in the heart of every Christian that is justified a strong Instinct as I may call it a strong affection after Iesus Christ and he must needs goe on in the wayes of Sanctification seeing there is no other way to satisfie himselfe So that putting all this together when a man shall see such reason for holinesse when he shall have affections of delight therein of love thereto when he shall see it best for him and that it is impossible hee should have the Lord Iesus Christ whom he so much desires if he serve him not in the duties of Sanctification he must needs come to a fixed resolution I will be another man and runne another course I will change my life altogether I will serve him in holinesse and in the duties of new obedience And after this manner doth Sanctification arise from Iustification first from a worke of the Spirit and then by all these passages that goe thorow the minde of a man which though they be not marked distinctly yet are truely in the heart And so much for the first point Now we will come to the second which is That Iustification and Sanctification are inseparable they cannot bee disjoyned But you will say this is a point that needs no proving I would my Brethren it did not I would that men were perswaded of the truth of it but we may see by the lives of men that they are not perswaded of it for their lives be loose and they thinke that if they can call on Christ in the day of death and cry for pardon it will be enough and that without such strictnesse a man may be saved Therefore to make it cleare to you you must remember this as a ground No man can be saved by the second Adam except hee bee borne of the second Adam As no man could be condemned by the first Adam that was not borne of the first Adam for the reason why all mens natures are corrupted is because all are borne of him If a man were created and did not descend by generation from him he should be free from Sinne and so could not be condemned but comming out of his loynes puts us into a condition of condemnation And so on the other side except you be borne of the second Adam you shall not be saved What is that You must be made New Creatures Ioh. 1.12 As many as received him he made the sonnes of God What is that a meere title No verse the thirteenth They are borne not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of the will of God that is they are borne of the second Adam and Ioh. 3.5 Whosoever is not borne of the Spirit shall not enter into the Kingdome of God Now as our nature was corrupted in the first Adam there being a compact and covenant betweene God and him that if Adam stood all his seed should stand with him but if he fell then that all that were borne of him should by vertue of that covenant compact or agreement have his sinne imputed to them and so should be corrupted as hee was and die the death So there was a second covenant betweene us and the second Adam which is the new Testament spoken of in Ier 31 and in Heb. 8. I will make a new Covenant saith God And what is that I will put may Law in your minde and write it in your inward parts that is by vertue of the compact and agreement which is the new Testament following upon the former all that shall be saved by Christ shall be borne of him they must be new men whosoever shall be justified by him must be a new Creature Secondly because it is the will of God It is true God might have saved us without it if it had beene his pleasure it had beene no more but calling men at the houre of death but is otherwise 1 Thess. 4.3 This is the will of God even
have said Blessed is a rich man a man in honour and dignity in credit and that hath health he is a blessed man No saith David but hee is a blessed man whose sinnes are forgiven whose iniquities are covered because such a man GOD sets himselfe to make blessed for blessednesse is the heape of all good things Now who can give that but God who hath the command of all things Can any but he cause all things worke together for thy good And if any thing be wanting thou art not blessed Againe when thy sinnes be forgiven thee God is made thine he is reconciled to thee for thy sinne is taken away and when GOD is thine thou art a blessed man for he brings all good things and hee is the Buckler that keepes off all evill he is the Master of the Creatures Now you know the Master is he who can rate the dogge when he fals on a Guest or a stranger and it is onely the Master that can doe it It is he that can rate any evill and suppresse it thou hast him therefore thou art a blessed man and thou hast him by having thy sinnes forgiven thee that is the great promise that he should save his People from their sinnes he needs say no more when he saith Hee shall save his People from their sinnes for then he saves them from all trouble and misery in the world Therefore this may be a great motive it was CHRISTS owne motive when hee would invite men to come to him he saith Come unto mee all yee that are weary and heavie laden and I will ease you That is thy sinnes that are as an heavie burthen shall be taken off of thee But you will say I feele no burthen of it No but thou shalt finde it a burthen when GOD shall set every man to beare his burthen when GOD shall charge it on thy conscience and it is thy wisdome to have it taken off though thou finde it not a burthen I say guilt is a great burthen which will binde thee over to damnation It is a great burthen when conscience is awaked Againe Corruption is a great burthen for it wearies a man Sicknesse is a wearinesse to the bodie and Sinne is the same to the Soule that Sicknesse is to the body A sicke man is weary of every thing weary of his bed of his chamber of his dyet he is weary of sitting of standing for hee is sicke So it is with every man that hath not his sinnes forgiven him hee is weary not only of the guilt but hee is weary of every thing Put him in the best condition he findes no rest and in that hee is weary of every thing That which they say of Folly it may bee more truely said of every wicked man that every condition is miserable to him he is weary of himselfe he is weary of every thing he hath no rest Further when thou art in CHRIST he will give rest to thy soule that is he will take away the power as well as the guilt of sinne hee will heale thy sicknesse and then the worst condition will bee pleasant to thee thou wilt finde rest in a Prison thou wilt finde rest in sicknesse thou wilt finde rest in death every condition yea the worst will bee sweet unto thee before in the best thou foundest none for there was a restlesnesse within but when thy sinnes bee forgiven thee thou shalt finde rest to thy soule The end of the Seventh Sermon THE EIGHTH SERMON VPON THE NEW CREATVRE 2 COR. 5.17 Therefore if any man be in Christ let him be a new Creature GOD hath planted in every man selfe-love every man seekes his owne happinesse Two things every man would have they would be freed from all evill and enjoy all good things if they could finde these in Christ men would be perswaded to come in Now we can assure you that both these you shall finde in Christ you shall by him be freed from all evil and be compassed about with mercy on every side First I say you shall be freed from all evill for what Christ saith to all his Disciples Luke 10. You shall tread on Serpents and Scorpions and all the power of the Enemie and nothing shall hurt you may be applied to all the Saints though there be many hurtfull things in the world yet nothing shall hurt them It is true indeed they may have to doe with Serpents and Scorpions that is evill things may fall upon them as well as upon others you see the same condition fals to all yet it shall not hurt them according to that in Luke 1.74 That we being delivered from our enemies is that we may serve him without feare Mark that you shall be delivered from all your enemies if you will come in that is there shall not an enemie in the world be able to doe you hurt and you shall live without feare that is the great advantage you shall have as if he should say other men feare a thousand things they feare death they feare sicknesse they feare losse of friends and good name but when a man is one in Christ he shal be delivered from all his Enemies he shall serve the Lord without feare because nothing is able to hurt him for what could hurt him Either it must be the Devill or men or some other Creature but none of these can hurt him Is not God the Governour of the house Is he not the Master Is not he able to rate the Mastives from flying in the face of any of his friends that come to him yea he is able to doe it and none but the Master of the house is able to do it None can keep the Creatures from hurting of you but he that hath the command of all the Creatures therefore if you will come in nothing shall hurt you he is a Buckler and a Shield to compasse you round about He will be your strong fortresse into which no Creature shall be able to shoot an arrow But besides this you shall have all things else that you can desire The Lord himselfe shall bee your habitation from generation to generation Psal. 90.1 That is you shall dwell in the Lord and you shall not dwell in him for a fit as we doe in our houses of clay but for ever and looke what an house doth that doth he he will keepe you safe and defend you from evill he is an house that it shall not raine thorow and such an house he is as will goe with you whithersoever you goe he is our habitation from generation to generation yea an house as will not onely defend you but refresh you with all manner of comforts for houses are made for delight as well as for defence Whatsoever you want he will helpe you to If you be sicke he is able to heale you if you be weake he is able to strengthen you if hungry to satisfie you whatsoever condition you
finde in us abundance of idle Thoughts and wicked thoughts which like a shower of raine you cannot number for multitude If a man should write down all the Thoughts that passe thorow his minde in one day and observe their little dependence one up another so vaine are they and so foolish when he comes to reade them at night he will thinke he was half out of his wits and be amazed at himselfe And thinke not this a small matter for Thoughts are the first contrivers the first plotters of good and evill and therefore are of more moment than that which immediately acts it Againe are not they things which we should entertaine God with Hee comes and dwels with us he sups with us we are Temples where God inhabits Now if we are to entertaine a great Prince if we never speak to him but spend our time with idle Companions will not hee thinke himselfe much injuried And will not God thinke so when we bestow the Thoughts in vaine things which should be occupied about him Againe consider Thoughts are other things than men reckon them for it may be said of every Christian he is a Garden wherein God walks wherein he eats his honey with his milk God would have fruit of the Trees which he hath planted in us now our Thoughts are the fruit of the best Tree even of the Vnderstanding You know Christ was angry with the Tree that bare no fruit And when he comes to the understanding of a man that should be full of good thoughts and finding nothing bâ— loose nothing but empty and frothie thoughts what will he thinke of it Wee doe not give a due esteeme to Thoughts and that 's the reason we give such liberty to them that we are not more humbled for them for Thoughts are the water wherwith is driven the wheele of businesses and why doe we let so much water run beside the Mill that is they are the things we should occupy in every thing we doe they are precious And as Esay saith of a cluster of Grapes Destroy it not for there is a blessing in it So your Thoughts which you so little account of have a blessing in them then why doe you make such waste of them as if they were of little worth Consider it is no small thing to anger God with your Thoughts they being the same to God that words and actions the interpreters of Thoughts are to men God sees them without any Interpreter as men heare and see words and actions Therefore it was said to Simon Magus Pray to God if perhaps the Thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee If thou seest a Christian in poverty and despisest him for it God sees it and it is a sinne in Thought The second actuall sinne is our words And here likewise you shall finde the Truth of this that our natures are full of impiety and wickednesse and exceeding proane to evill The tongue of man is very slippery nothing being so cheape as breath it is ready at hand to doe any evill If a thing be to be acted there is time required to prepare for it but a word is quickly out So the frequencie of offending with our tongue should humble us And againe as our offences herein are frequent so it is a matter of much moment which we haue cause to marke because we do esteeme not so of them Iam. chap. 2 3. vers 4. you shall finde three Similitudes by which the Tongue is expressed and there you shall finde what it is to offend in words It is compared to a Bit which will keep in the wildest horse and to a Rudder which though it be exceeding great will turne the Ship And thirdly to a fire what a great matter will a little fire kindle Men thinke it a small thing to offend in speeches but God will have them know it is another kinde of matter Therefore consider this you that suffer your tongues to walke up and downe at randome from morning till night and thinke it a small thing I will aske you these questions out of these Similitudes Is it a small matter to neglect the Rudder of the Ship will it not quickely runne to the Sands Suppose a man ride on an unruly horse Is it a small thing not to keepe the hand on the bridle to neglect it To have a tongue without a bridle is as an unruly horse in a dangerous place or on a narrow bridge the neglect is not small Therefore consider it and if you have not yet learned the meaning of that place learne now to understand it Secondly you shall give account for every idle word It will be thought that to speake a few words is not so much but a few sparks will set a great City on fire you see what the tongue did in Arrius for evill and in Luther for good There is no Element so active as fire and nothing so efficacious as your tongue which you so lightly esteeme of Againe fire flies about so doth the tongue it hath wings Fire likewise assimulates turning things quickly into its own nature so the tongue assimulates the hearts of men to whom we speake it changes them and now consider if it be a light thing to neglect it You are wont to say Take heed to the fire for you know not what a sparke may doe and is it a small matter to neglect your tongues specially where there be thatched-houses and combustible matter neare And are not the hearts of men to whom we speake as Tinder ready to take fire at the least sparke if you heed it not And is it then so small a matter to neglect words Gather this out of all these Similitudes to humble you If the tongue be as a Bridle as the Rudder and as Fire then it is of much efficacie that cannot be denied for to prove that it is the only end of these Similitudes And if it be so then learne hence to know what the illnesse of your speech is for the more efficacious any thing is if it lye idle the greater is the sin looke what good you have done with your tongues the more that is the more is on your reckoning Againe if you have imployed them amisse a little rudder turnes the whole ship the meaning is it is very effectuall and therefore I say if there be such efficacie in them consider of how great moment they are when you use your tongues amisse to corrupt speaking to lying dissembling slandering back-biting thinke it not a matter of small moment it is a fire and if the State provides death for them that set barnes and houses on fire what punishment shall they be worthy of that set the soules of men on fire the Temples where God dwels And this the tongues of men doe Ignem in ore gestamus we carry fire in our mouthes Take heed lest we kindle such a fire in the brests of others as we shall never live to quench
men see it not that keepes them in their old condition if we could hit on it And it is either Inconsideration men consider not what they have to doe they look not about them according to that in Deut. 29. You have seene all what the Lord did to Pharaoh but the Lord hath not given you hearts to consider it to this day Now if you aske what Consideration is I answer Consideration is nothing else but an Act superadded to Knowledge when a man not only knowes but returnes and reflects on what he knowes when he stayes and abides on it when he lookes round about a businesse not on a corner of it but fully and weighes every circumstance Therefore we are said to ponder our wayes when wee doe not onely looke to that which is present but to the time past and to come when all things are taken in Now when a man shall lay all together when he shall consider that is thinke seriously and remember that he hath but a little time to live here and that there is another place where he shall live for all eternity that he hath an immortall soule and that his state is dangerous that his sins are great and the wrath of God is as a consuming fire when these are laid together when he considers them and stayes on them by these means he comes to see with his eyes and understand with his heart and to be converted and healed but because men doe consider thence it is that they grow on their roote still and are not brought to this inexcusablenesse nor have all Arguments taken away Or another reason is some Lust there is world credit riches pleasures or something which they are loath to part with the rich man will not part with his possessions they in the twelfth of Iohn will not part with their credit with the Pharisees Ieroboam will not part with his Kingdome till these Arguments shall be answered and God shall cut off those snares for so they are termed 2 Tim. 2.25 Waiting if God will give them repentance to know the truth and to come out of the snare of the Devill who taketh them at his will The meaning is every man before he be regenerate is holden by some snare the snare is some lust the root of it is some false reasoning now when men come to know the truth and to be delivered out of the snare of the Devill when God convinceth a man and opens that truth undoes that false reasoning on which that lust is founded he cuts the snare asunder and then they are set at liberty Every man saith I cannot live without credit without my state without my kingdome as every man hath a kingdom of his owne when God teacheth that this is vanity and if we will be happy the best way is to serve God with a perfect heart when God teacheth the contrary Truth then he is out of the snare of the Devill when he hath awaked his conscience that he is sicke of sin that he feeles his rebellions then the thing he magnified before is nothing now As when a man is sicke the houses and orchards he magnified before are now not regarded his dainty fare and gorgeous apparell he hath no pleasure in them for he is sicke So it is with the Soule when God chargeth sin on the Conscience Againe when God shewes better things than these as Heb. 10.34 They had in heaven a better and an enduring substance and therefore cared for nothing They cared not for parting with their goods when they had another righteousnesse to trust to So when God opened the heavens and shewed himselfe to Paul He reckons all as dung and drosse he doth not magnifie what he did before And thus are men freed from the snare of the Devill Therefore when a man shall deferre and thinke I am ready to come but I will not yet I say these must be taken away for they are false reasonings by which we are built on our root Now when a man shall be perswaded of the danger of putting the evill day farre from him when the Holy Ghost shall give him wisdome to number his dayes then he will take to himselfe new thoughts Every man naturally feares death but because it is farre off no man regards it and so because we put the evill day farre from us we turne not to God now when God shall convince a man of the Truth and teach him to number his dayes Wel thou art now in healtâ— and strength but when thou commest to numâ—ber the dayes that remain they are very small Put case a man had an hundred dishes of meat before him if one come and sayes Take heed what you doe for one of these dishes is poison he will not taste of any of them except he have taken an Antidote before So when the Holy Ghost teacheth it is true In one of these dayes is death thou shalt finde poison that shall take away thy life whether first or last it is uncertaine if thou were wise to consider thy latter end that is if thou hadst the wisdome which God must teach thou wouldst see little reason why to venture thy soule on one of these daies if thou hast not made thy Election sure for this is as to eat of one of those dishes when there is poison in it Therefore consider beloved what uncertainty of life there is what it is to venture the soule and what eternity is When God shall each this and stirre up present affections of feare and apprehension of wrath it will teach a man not to deferre but to come home speedily Againe when this place of Scripture and the like shall be seriously considered That if the Good-man of the house knew at what time the Theefe would come he would have an eye to him That Christ hath threatned all before hand that doe not watch And I will come at a time thou thinkest not of me If thou didst consider this when thou art most secure and furthest off from God in the midst of thy jollity and fast asleepe I will come at a time when thou lookest not for me And didst thou thinke this threatning in vaine Didst thou beleeve this Scripture and lay it to heart thou wouldest not deferre thy Turning to God Againe consider put case thou hast liberty if sicknesse come and give thee warning alas how farre art thou from being able to repent Are the times in thine hand Must not the Holy Ghost change thine heart If thou dost now take resolution to amend hast not thou cause to suspect that it proceeds from selfe-love For if it had beene not of love to God wouldest thou not have turned sooner And if it be out of selfe-love God accepts it not All this while wee have spent in shewing the Disease and now wee must shew the Remedy FINIS A SERMON PREACHED AT A GENERALL FAST BEFORE THE COMmons-House of Parliament the second of Iuly 1625. In the time of
is none shines into the house so when men thinke they understand most yet they want this light to shine into the house Luke 24.45 Then opened he their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures They had heard Christ before but they understood not his Word like those which sowed seed on ill ground and therefore received not the fruit of it but when the Holy Ghost comes into thy heart that will convince thee of evill it will expell darknesse and set right thy Iudgement otherwise though you heard Paul preach yea Christ himselfe were your Iudgements never so good yet it would not be done till the Holy Ghost teacheth you you will never know him never see him aright in his glory never see him so as to delight and long after him so as to desire nothing in the world so much as communion with him Thus it is when his Image is renewed in Knowledge and Truth and where this Knowledge and Truth is Holinesse instantly followes There are many that know and practice not and there are many which neither know nor practice but where this Image is what ever they know they practice Well let us apply this unto our selves briefly If to bee a New Creature there is required of us this Faith and Love Truth and Holinesse Knowledge and Righteousnesse then let us learne not to bee deceived to regard nothing else in comparison of this Doe as the Apostle Gal. 6.15 For in CHRIST IESVS neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but a New Creature that is it is no matter for any thing in a man Circumcision is no better than Vncircumcision Goe thorow all the duties of Religion you shall finde them nothing till you bee made a New Creature I know many doe many things they come to Church and give almes well saith the Apostle Circumcision and Vncircumcision is all one so say I Prayer and no Prayer is all one doing justly and unjustly it is all one untill a man bee a New Creature Therefore saith Paul 1 Cor. 13.3 Though I give all my goods to the poore which is a glorious action nay though I could be content to bee a Martyr though I give my body to bee burned and have not love it profiteth nothing So except you be New Creatures your labour is lost for Nature may doe much with the knowledge of the Gospel As the Earth brings forth grasse of it selfe and some flowers of the lowest sort but to bring forth a crop and flowers of the finest sort it must be tilled and there must bee seed put in Nature I say may doe much but this New Creature must come from an Immortall seed sowen in the heart by God himselfe Therefore looke whether thou hast that wrought in thee or no. For this is all the comfort we have when the body is decayed and waxen old yet let us not be discouraged though this outward man decay and perish there is a new youth springing up This is all the comfort we have that when the old house is going downe we have a new house setting up in stead of it Every man is glad to see an old house pulled downe and a new set up in stead of it but to see an old house going downe and no new one to bee set up the ruine of it is a most miserable Spectacle Take an Husband-man who hath taken great pains in plowing and sowing his ground when he sees his corne is rotten he is glad of it because he knowes new will come up in stead of it so when we see the body decaying and our day drawing towards evening when the Sunne of life is ready to bee set upon us when we shall grow no more this presents nothing but confusion yet here is hope for us There is light Sowen unto the righteous All the consolation and all the comfort wee have in these dayes of our vanity is that we have a New Creature that is not subject to vanitie The end of the Third Sermon THE FOVRTH SERMON VPON THE NEW CREATVRE 2 COR. 5.17 Therefore if any man be in Christ let him be a new Creature NOw we come to the last thing to be observed in the New Creature which is that there is not only an infusion of a new Quality but a weakning of the old Therefore we put that into the description A man is a New Creature when his heart is cast into another mould by the infusion of a new quality of grace and by a destroying of the old And this is specially to be observed because there bee two parts of the New Creature a mortification of sinne as well as a vivification For Common Nature is like a Bowle between two byasses Corruption is the wrong byas carrying us out of the way and Grace the good byas carrying us into the way So you must knocke off the old byas as well as put on a new one that is Common Nature lyes as an indifferent thing betweene Grace and Sin the Flesh and the Spirit Corruption and Holinesse so that as the body is betweene health and sicknesse so is Common Nature between originall sinne which is as the sicknesse or death of the Soule and Holinesse which is the health of it Now it is not only required that there be an infusion of the new Quality but likewise a weakning of this old both cannot stand together so farre as you strengthen one the other is weakned it is alwayes so where is contrariety where there is no contrariety two may stand together but when things be opposite the comming in of the one is the weakning of the other the comming of heat is a weakning of cold this is of speciall use And this use we are to make of it that hence then you see this will follow that if you finde much newnesse in your selves according to your owne opinion you finde you can doe many things you could never doe before you are able to doe these and these duties of new obedience well suppose it yet except there be a mortification of the old lusts if thou find that there be any lusts continue in thee in strength that in that regard thou art the same man still whatsoever addition there be it is no matter it is certaine thou art not yet a New Creature for a New Creature consists not in superinduction of the new Quality the old remaining but in a weakning of the old too It is not only a superaddition of the new but the death of the old also Therefore if thou findest any corruptions continuing in the fulnesse of their first strength not weakned at all though thou hast all signes of grace all parts of a New Creature to thy seeming yet thou art deceived because if thou wert new there would be a mortification of the old lusts So againe it is true on the other side Put case thou finde a great change in thy selfe such lusts as have been vigorous and lively thou findest to be
remission of sinnes or you shall have adoption but he saith Take this is my body By body is meant whole Christ by a Synecdoche we have Christ and all things else What use are we to make of this Surely it is of great use many wayes First we must make this use of it which is the maine end of the Sacrament to confirme our faith in the assurance of the forgivenesse of our sinnes as likewise to renew our Covenant and the Condition required on our part when God hath said he is willing to pardon our sinnes if he had but barely said it it had beene enough God cannot lye But lest it should not be enough he hath not only said it but he hath sworne it Hebr. 6. He hath sworne by himselfe that by two immutable things we might have strong consolation Being willing saith the Apostle to shew to the heires of Promise the stablenesse of his Councell he bound himselfe with an oath but yet lest that should not be enough he hath added seales to it he hath given the inward seale of the Spirit and the outward seale of the Sacrament as if he should say I have promised to forgive you your sinnes let the Sacrament witnesse against me if I performe it not Here by the way observe how difficult a thing it is for us to beleeve you may thinke it an easie thing when you are in health when you are well but when death comes when temptation comes when trouble of conscience comes I say you shall finde it a difficult thing you shall finde a need of all these helpes for certainly God sweares not in vaine he would not have bound himselfe with an oath to be ready to forgive sinnes if there were not exceeding need of such helpes to confirme us and therefore you have need to set your selves more diligently about it make this use of the Sacrament labour to confirme your selves in this assurance So that as the Apostle saith You may have strong consolation that is when the temptations of Satan shall assault you with objections to the contrary you may be strong and not shaken And why should you be doubtfull if we should a little reason with you that you may receive the fruit of this for why should you feare it For first the Lord professeth I would not the death of a sinner as I live And why will you die oh you house of Israel What is the meaning of this but to shew that the Lord hath an exceeding great desire earnestly longs to save the soules of men Indeed he saith not that he will give every one grace to come in but if he doe As I live saith the Lord I will not his death that is I am ready to forgive him Besides this consider what a man is ready to doe consider how tender-hearted fathers and mothers are to their children if we finde so much mercy there consider how much there is in God that mercy that is in us is but a drop to the Ocean it is but a beame to the fulnesse that is in him If you that are evill can give good things to your children how much more shall your heavenly Father doe it Againe consider if the Lord were not ready to shew mercy to you that Christ should not be of none effect that is the bloud of Christ should be shed in vaine And doe you thinke the Lord would send his Sonne to suffer death and to suffer it in vaine and that should be in vaine if he should not be ready to receive men to mercie when they come to seeke it at his hands besides if the Lord should not doe this no flesh should be saved Psal. 130.1 saith the Psalmist there If thou Lord shouldest marke all that is done amisse who could stand The meaning is this if the Lord should not be ready to doe this which he hath given to the Sacrament to confirme namely to forgive sinnes if he should not be ready to doe it if he should mark straitly what is done amisse who could stand that is who should be saved Now certainly the Lord hath made man for that purpose many shall be saved none were made for damnation Besides there is another argument There is mercy with thee that thou mightest be feared Feare is taken for the worship of God that is if the Lord should not receive men none would worship him none would serve him when there is no hope take away all hope take away all endeavour If this will not perswade you consider what the Lord hath done for others how many thousands of others have had their sinnes forgiven and then thinke had he mercy for such and such and hath he not mercy enough for me Hath not Christ taken thy nature as well as theirs If all this will not perswade you consider how mercifull Christ was in the dayes of his flesh he was exceeding gentle easie to be entreated you shall never finde that there was any that asked at his hands but he granted it And thinke you that he is lesse pitifull now to mens soules than he was to their bodies Doe you thinke that now he is in heaven he hath laid aside his mercifull disposition No Hebr. 4. We have a mercifull high Priest that is touched with our infirmities that is ready to forgive Oh but my sinnes are exceeding great what though they be is not the Lords mercy exceeding is it not like the mighty Sea that drownes mountaines aswell as mole-hils My sins are of divers sorts what if they be in the Lord there is multitudes of mercies as many as thou hast sinnes I but they have oft beene repeated I have oft fallen into them againe and againe What if thou hast Is not his mercies renewed every morning And Zachary 15.1 There is a fountaine opened for the house of Iudah and Ierusalem to wash in Not a cisterne but a fountaine that is as there is a spring of sinne in us so there is a spring of mercy in God there is no end of his mercy therefore doubt not in regard of that But againe I am unfit if I were fit and ready for this I might receive fruit from the Sacrament but I am unfit Why If thou thought's thy selfe fit thou shouldest not have it even therefore because thou feelest thy selfe unfit the rather thou shalt be received to mercy the Lord lookes for this aâ— thy hands that we find and feele such â—â—fiâ—resse in our selves the more we are humbled the lesse we find in our selves the more ready the Lord is to receive us to mercy Besides this very unfitnesse I would aske thee but what iâ— is Is it not sinne If all sinnes be forgiven if the pardon be generall then it is contained among the rest and shall not be any impediment And therefore make this use when you come to the Sacrament thinke not that God is backward to forgive that he will not be as good as his word certainly he will and know this
because that moves not so much being generall you will aske wherein this wrath of GOD is seene and wherein more particularly is this misery in being out of Christ I will name but these three particulars First you shall be subject to Death subject to Him that hath the power of Death You will say this is no such misery for are not holy men subject to death as well as evil men I but there is great difference the evill shall be subject to death as an enemie the last enemie that shall be destroyed is Death which shewes that Death is an enemie I say they are subject to Death as an enemie Death may come to two men and be a friend to the one and an enemie to the other that which he saith Death is the rich mans enemie and the poore mans friend we may better apply it to the godly man and to the evill man And surely it is true Death is the Godly mans friend and the wicked mans enemy the same Death as you know the same messenger comes to call Pharaohs Butler and his Baker he came as an enemie to the one and as a friend to the other he came to call the one to promotion and the other to execution so doth Death Now Death when that comes as an enemie is terrible when that comes with a sting Death indeed without a sting is nothing but Death when it comes with a sting and the sting of Death is sinne this we consider not that Death hath a sting it is a Serpent that often stings without hissing without warning it comes suddenly it comes certainly we see continually how men fall from the tree of life as leaves in Autumne we consider not this but this is among the miseries that we are subject to death and this is a great misery Those that can looke upon other miseries and dangers and out-face them without being daunted when Death comes that appales them that looses the joints that makes them tremble that makes their knees knocke together You know it is said of Saul David professeth that he was valiant as a Lion in his Songs of him when the newes of Death comes he fals to the ground there was no strength in him All are petty miseries to this this is the great Giant that makes the stoutest heart to tremble at his approach But is this all that we are subject to death when we are out of Christ No we are subject to the feare of death likewise which is an hundred times worse that death it selfe Heb. 2.14 He hath delivered us from him that had the power of death he hath delivered us that for feare of death were all our lives subject to bondage I say the feare of death is worse than death it selfe because death continues but a moment it is soone gone but the feare of death continues alwayes a long time like the hand-writing which kept Belshazzer in feare so this feare of death keepes us in a continuall trembling this is that that imbitters all our comforts that sowres all our joy this feare of death they were all their life-time subject to bondage through the feare of death Therefore it is not said that death is bitter to him that lives in pleasure but the remembrance of death all the joyes and comforts that we have in this life what are they when they are accompanied with this I say ther is nothing terrible but so farre as it is mingled with this feare All evill and dangers are so farre terrible as they are harbengers of death as they are crackes to give warning of the fall of the whole house that shall never be repaired againe Whatsoever pleasure we enjoy this is the gall that takes away the sweetnesse of all though the pottage were otherwise good when the Colloquintida was in them there is death in the pot so I may say when death is joyned what sweetnesse is in them That is the condition of every man living out of Christ he is not only subject to death but to the feare of death continually But is this all No there is yet more there is Hell Death hath a Page that comes behinde him that is ten times worse than himselfe Rev. 6.7 8. I looked saw a pale horse and the name of him that rode on him was Death and behinde him followed Hell That is Hell is the hooke that is hid in Death when we are once taken with that hooke we are kept there for ever If Death should come without Hell it were another matter Death is but the lightning it is Hell that is the crack of thunder and shall we like children be afraid of the lightning and not be afraid of the bolt It is hell that is the gate that keeps us for ever Death is but the arrest that carries us thither Therefore consider what it is to be subject to Hell as our Saviour saith What will that availe a man to win the whole world and lose his soule Consider well of that speech What will that availe you to save all things else if you lose your soules as if a man should save the paring of his nailes and lose his finger as if he should save his shooe and lose his foot as if he should save the ship and lose the fraught as if he should save the house and destroy the man that dwels in it so it is to save other things and to lose the soule No it is the terrible thing Hell that followes Death In all other miseries yet this is our comfort that Death will come in the end and put a full point and period to them but this second death Hell is such a death as hath no other death to end it Therefore as wee say But for hope the heart would breake surely there is no hope and therefore there is a breaking of the soule aswell as torment of the body Therefore consider what Hell is what eternity is this is the misery we are in out of Christ you are subject to the feare of death you are subject to Death and to Hell too Death is but the Stalking-horse it is Hell that is the Fowler that hath the peece and the shot to destroy us utterly And therefore consider what case you are in out of Christ what misery you are in out of him that when Hell and Death come as she said Vp Sampson for the Philistims are on thee so when we shall say Hell and Death is on you and your haires are cut off that is Christ is gone from you for the cutting off his lockes was but an embleme that God was departed from him I say when they are on us If Christ be away what a case are we in Shall they not take us and carry us to that prison there to lye for ever Therefore consider this it is certaine the destroying Angell will come and commonly he comes in the night Death commeth when thou least lookest for him as a theefe I say the destroying Angell
shall live for ever it is water that shall keep life in him for all eternity when she heard this she harkens to heare of water that could keepe life for ever When you reade the story in Genesis that the Angell was set with a sword shaken to keepe man from comming to taste of the tree of life you should thinke with your selves if the Angels were removed now or there were a man so happy that the Angell would give way to him that he might come and eat of the tree and when hee had eaten to live for ever you thinke that man in an happy condition Now the Lord doth say Revel 2. He that overcomes I will give to eat of the tree in the middest of the Paradice of God That is he shall eat of me and live for ever this is the great happinesse we have When Christ would use a compelling argument to move Revel 2.11 Hee that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death Why is it so great a matter Oh that is all not to be hurt of the second death The first death is nothing the first death is but the doore it is but the gate that leads to the passing thorow the first death is but a going over the threshold the breadth of it is but a step and the length of it is but a moment of time or two But the second death there are the chambers of death as Solomon speakes where you shall be led from one misery to another and where you shall dwell for ever And therefore consider this if you take Christ you shall not be hurt of the second death I beseech you consider seriosuly reckon nothing so sweet if this life be sweet that is but a spanne long is not abundance of life much sweeter It is naturall to every man to desire immortility if you could but have this life continued let every man aske his owne brest what he would give that his life might be continued that he might be immortall If there were such a thing as the Alchymists speake of I could draw out the threed of this life to keepe it firme and even as they dreame of what would you give to obtaine And will you not regard this that will doe that indeed Will you not take Christ which is life indeed which will give you another life of immortality for you must know that it is not immortality simply that man desires The Naturalists were deceived in that for a man had rather not to be than to be in misery And the soule in hell are immortall and therefore it is not immortalitie that we desire simply for death is not the extinguishing of life but the misery of life And therefore where the Scripture speakes of the losse of the soule it is to be meant thus a mans finger or his joynt is lost when it is seized on by any incurable sore So when eternal misery is on the soule then the soule is lost and yet you have the joynt still you have the soule stil you have life still and therefore it is not immortality simply that we desire if we consider what it is but it is happinesse it is such a life as is not only immortall but happy withall this life Christ hath promise we shall live and an happy life such as S. Paul expresseth 2 Cor. 5. saith he We desire not to be unclothed but to be clothed upon that immortality might be swallowed up of life As if he should say consider with your selves you that love this life so well that you neglect that which is to come saith he we love our lives as well as you we are not weary of them no more than you are we desire not to be unclothed no but we desire that immortality may be swallowed up of life how swallowed up as we see a rude draught in a picture swallowed up with the picture when it is perfected as child-hood is swallowed up of manhood as the glimmering light is swallowed up of the perfect light so their immortality is swallowed up of life that is if there be a small poore glimpse of comfort here saith Paul we would not be rid of these we would be content to have these as well as you onely wee would have them swallowed up of perfect life we would have imperfection swallowed up of perfection And therefore Iob saith I will wait till my change shall come he saith not till my destruction come till my perishing come or till my death come but I will wait till my change come and he that changeth doth it for the better If you will take Christ you shall have this immortality and life perhaps you will say but I could be content to have this temporall life continued And haply my brethren if the Lord would make that promise that he would proclaime to men that they should have immortall life here it may be he shall have more followes than now he hath when hee promiseth immortall life in heaven but to take away that in a word I say it is a foolish choice if you might have it For what have you heere Here the body is tormented with diseases the spirit is wearied with vexation and the state is assualted with losses and crosses evill things wound us with sorrow and the good things we here doe but infect our affections and weary us still and yet they whet our tired appetites with a new edge In a word every condition here is pestred and troubled with businesse one invites and drawes on another we are hampred with succeeding fetters and makes this short life more short than it would be with carefull griefe with bitter feares and with corrupt joyes and at last all cut off and end as many men many times spread their branches and flourish their estate over-swallowes their wishes their suceesse excceds their desires now on a sudden this pompe is no where to bee found their desires vanish the floud of their wealth is dried up the owners and their goods perish together they will not see this by experience What is it in this life you would have if there were immortality But I say it cannot be so that is not so you cannot have immortality in this life but as evidently as you see the heavens roll about evey day so plainly we may see if wee will take it into consideration mankinde hurried along with an unwearied motion to the West of his dayes their posterity posting after them by an unrepealeable law of succession our fathers you know are gone before and we are passing and our children shall follow us at our heeles that as you see the billowes of the Sea one tumbe on the neck of another and in the end all are dashed upon the shoare so all generations and ages in the end are split on bankes of death and this is the condition of every man Is it not our wisdome then to provide for another life Certainly if there bee any wisdome in the world it
with us for the present yet we know not what may befall us Things present therefore and things to come saith he all this is yours and if all this will not content you I will adde one thing more the Lord himselfe is yours so that take God and looke on him in his greatnesse in his mighty power God that is Lord of Heaven and Earth I say he is yours all that he hath is yours all that hee can doe is yours And therefore when hee speakes to Abraham Abraham saith he I will bee thine if thou wilt be mine I will be to thee an exceeding great reward you shall have God himselfe for your portion You will say how can God be your portion Yes he himselfe is yours for you must know that finding Mee are the best riches Loving favour Prov. 22. is better than life he that is rich in friends is better than he that is rich in money and among friends who is like to God It was the speech of the heathen when he was asked where his treasure was saith hee Where Cyrus my friend is that is I reckon my friend my chiefe treasure I say God is your friend as hee was the friend of Abraham so hee is the friend of all the Saints you have him and all that he can doe for that we may truly say there is no end of a Christians riches Paul when hee considered this Eph. 3. saith This is a glorious priviledge that I should preach among the Gentiles The unsercheable riches of Christ the unsercheable riches of Christ hee could finde no bottome hee knew not the measure the length the breadth the height of these riches and unsercheable riches of Christ. Wee give you but a little glimpse if God open a crevise of light to you to see these riches you will be content to doe as the Merchant to fell all for the pearle for it is worth all that you can sell for it I say if you could see what it were if you could discerne and judge of it with righteous judgement you would regard nothing in thâ— world besides but you would then say I will goe and take Christ for there is riches indeed and hee is a happy man of whom God saith as he saith of that Church I know thy poverty but thou art rich So you see you shall have a kingdome by Christ and you shall have riches But is this all No for I tell you the Scriptures present them to us under sensible things things that wee can feele because that we are lead with senses in this life he saith if you will come into Christ he will make you a feast Esay saith 25.16 In the Mount of the Lord he will provide a Feast of fined Wines of fat Wines fined and purified of fatlings full of marrow and frequently it is repeated in Scripture that Christ wil make you a feast They were sent to come unto the feast of the King Mat. 22 His Wine was drawne his Fatlings was prepared that is any thing you shall have by Christ you shall have a Feast What is this Looke what meat doth meat is called a feast because it maintaines life and so doth this it breeds and maintaines life yea immortall life as the food is of an immortall nature it is the bread of life Againe meat breeds strength so this strengthens you in the inward man to doe holy and spirituall duties as the corporal meat strengthens the outward man to labour and exercise Againe a Feast breeds joy and cheerefulnesse So doth this As the corporall feast cheeres the heart and refreshes the spirit so if you would know what this feast is it is that which breeds and maintaines spirituall life and strength and cheerfulnesse You will say what is that By induction of particulars what it is not you shall finde what it is First it is not that which continues you in a being for that stones have and yet are farre from having this life Againe it is not that which gives you vegetation and motion and sense for that Beasts have and that have not this life Againe it is not the exercise of reason and understanding for that reprobates and divels may have yet dye the second death What is it then It is that which breeds and maintaines that holy and regenerate men live heare and with the Angels live in Heaven for all eternity that which breeds that life for you must know that the soule that is within us hath its food to feed on as well as the body The soule hath its food that is whersoever there is the hidden man where there is the new man the hidden man of the heart as Peter cals it it must be fed as well as the outward man it must have dinners and suppers and break-fasts if there be life there it must have all this otherwise what is Christs saying when he said Ioh. 4. I have other meat that you know not of and what is Davids meaning when he saith Thy word is sweeter to mee than the honey or the honey combe If it bee not that the soule the regenerate man within is fed with a kinde of foode And what is Iobs meaning when he said Hee found it better than his appointed meales that is he would let his body starve it should want at least rather than his soule should be deprived of the ordinary meat it should have In this sense Manna is said to bee the food of Angels why could Manna bee the food of Angels If these materiall and substantiall soules and the Angels had not somewhat else to feed on Manna was Angels foode Angels have not mouthes to eate Manna therefore it is not the corporall Manna that is said to be Angels foode What then It was Christ that was typified by Manna as he saith Iohn 6. I am the true Manna the true bread that came downe from heaven The Fatheâ—s eate the same spirituall meate so it was then the spirituatll Manna that was Angels foode and if Angels foode then the foode of our soules for our soules and Angels feede alike You will say yet cleare unto us further what this is If wee come to eate Angels foode you shall finde in Iohn 6. Seek not for the meat that perisheth but for the meat that endures for ever saith Christ which the sonne of man shall give you for him hath God the Father sealed Marke Seeke the meat that endures for ever so then there is another feast another meate and if you would know what it is this is one property it is meat that endures for ever That is other men when they eate the sweetnesse is gone as soone as they have eaten but the sweetnesse of this continues that is what profit you have had from hearinâ— the word what comfort you have had from praying to God from serving God with a perfect heart these comforts continue for ever As twenty yeares after a man may feele the
will come What will their condition be then when there is no sprinkling of the bloud on the doore-posts of thy soule It is the case of every man out of Christ What are we out of him when the avengers of bloud when the pursuers shall set on us and pursue us from whom we cannot flie And when we shall be shut out from the hornes of the Altar when we cannot come to Christ the Citie of Refuge it is a terrible thing if we consider it seriously It is said that Aaron when he caused the people to commit that sinne or was an instrument rather it is said that he left the people naked why because he deprived them of the presence of the Lord Now when Christ shall be taken from us when we are without him when we are deprived of him are we not naked is not the hedge broken downe there is nothing left to shelter us what are we without him but as the Conneyes out of the rockes that have nothing to shelter us from the devouring Lion Now Moses was but a type it is Christ that holds the hands of God that he cannot destroy us it is he that stands in the breach and keepes out the inundation of evils that we be not over-whelmed with them he is the Arke of God that causeth the house of Obed-Edom to be blessed and we have more cause to take to heart the want of him a thousand times than they had to lament the losse of the Arke when it was among the Philistims for the Arke was but a type of Christ This is the case of every man living out of Christ. I but you will say Christ is mercifull he is very ready to forgive I hope I am not out of him but he is ready to receive me It is very true he is mercifull but to whom surely not to the wicked he holds not the wicked innocent so speake plainly to you Whosoever continues in any knowne sinne be it never so small to such a man Christ will not be mercifull No sinne shall have dominion over you Rom. 6. for you are not under the Law but under Grace As if he should say there are none whom Christ takes to himselfe and puts into the condition of Grace but he frees them from the dominion of every sinne there is not one ruling lust there You know there are many paths that lead to hell the way that leads the right way is but one errour is manifold there are a thousand paths that lead the wrong way and will not one path lead to hell as well as a thousand He that is in Christ hath crucified the flesh and all the affections there is not one raigning lust there so that as Antichrist had his marke and they received the marke of the Beast So Christ hath his marke too as you have it Ezek. 9. The Writer marked all that mourned God set a marke upon them and he sets a marke upon all those that he is mercifull to You will say what is this mark of the Lord You shall finde 2 Cor. 5.17 Whosoever is in Christ he is a New Creature that is the marke of the LORD IESUS And therefore if thou wouldest know whether Christ will be mercifull to thee consider if thou finde that marke there Art thou a New Creature that is art thou made all New as if thou haddest another soule dwelling in thy body for thou must not be new by halfes thy whole spirit must be New Againe if you will come more properly to this marke you shall finde Ephes. 1. 2 Cor. 1. what it is The Seale and marke that Christ sets is his Spirit Whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his You know Merchants set seales upon their goods to know them that when they meet with their seale they may say This is my parcell of goods So it is in the multitudes of men All that Christ will be mercifull unto he sets his seale on them and where he finds his seale and his mark those he knowes to be his That Seale is his sanctifying Spirit that he hath given us it is as a Seale or earnest 2 Cor. 1. and Ephes. 1. He hath sealed us with the Spirit of Promise that is with the Spirit that he hath promised to us So consider if thou have that Spirit then to sanctifie and to change thy heart to make thee another man than thou art by nature to enable thee to do more than thou canst doe by nature If thou have not this seale of God thou art yet none of his But you will say I have the Seale I hope I have the Spirit Well it is well if thou hast but know this that Christ never gives that privie Seale and Signet of his that inward Seale that none knowes save those that have it but there is a Broad-seale likewise that followes that Seale spoken of 2 Tim. 2. This foundation of the Lord remaineth sure and hath this Seale The Lord knoweth who are his and let them depart from iniquity that call upon the name of the Lord hee addes to that other a parting from iniquitie from all kinde of iniquity there must be none exempt place in thine heart nor in thy life wherein thou wilt have a priviledge thou continuest not in the least sinne but departest from all iniquity then thou hast this Seale aswell as the other If thou want these two Seales if thou be not a New Creature if any sinne have dominion over thee if there be one living lust in thee that is not mortified that is not healed I assure thee thou never haddest yet any part in Christ and if thou be out of Christ thou seest what thou art subject to to the wrath of God and you see the particulars you are subject to death you are subject to the feare of death and to hell and this is the case of every man out of Christ and me thinkes this should somewhat move us to come in and to take him But this is not all that which we have by Christ may invite us a great deale more forcibly If we could but open the Casket and shew you the Iewels or if we could but unlocke the treasures that are hid in Christ it would bring a man in love with him it would make men doe as Paul Account all drosse and dung that they might have him Well though we cannot doe it fully yet we will endevour to doe it a little You will say What shall we have by Christ First you shall have life by him Iohn 6. the place spoken of in the beginning He that beleeves in me shall have eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day When he comes to speake of water to the woman of Samaria Iohn 4. when hee would commend to us a motive to stir us up to come and take him and to drinke c. he saith Hee that drinkes this water shall thirst no more That is he