which can never be overthrown Jo. 3.16 For God so loved the World that he gave his only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life In this was manifested the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only Begotten Son into the World that we might live through him 1 Jo. 4.9 Here 's also a clear Discovery what little Reason the poorest and weakest Believer hath to question or doubt of Christ's Love to him or her What! step in between thee and Hell and not love thee To take all thy Guilt and filth of sin upon himself And for the same to be made a Curse that thou poor undone sinner mightest be made the Righteousness of God in him and not love thee When the incensed Justice of God was up in Arms against thee and just ready to fall on thee for Christ his own Son to step in between thee and that fatal Stroak which had it fallen on thee would have compleated thy Misery and have put thee beyond the reach of all Possibility of ever being saved I say for Christ to step in between thee and that fatal Stroak and to suffer the Sword that would have killed thee to be lodg'd in his own Bowels was as strong and convincing an Argument that he lov'd thee as any can be made use of by God himself Never was there greater and more end aring Love in one Party towards another than the Love wherewith God the Father and Christ his Son lov'd the Elect Neither can God Angels or Men lay down stronger and more convincing Arguments to prove or confirm it so to be than God the Fathers Readiness and Willingness to Sacrifice his own and only Son whom he lov'd equally with himself and the Sons Willingness to lay down his Life and not only so but consenting to be made a Curse for the Elect. Oh! matchless and astonishing Love who ever knew or heard of the like except it self I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd giveth his Life for the Sheep Jo. 10.11 Greater Love hath no Man than this that a Man lay down his Life for hiâ— Friend Jo. 15.13 But God commendeth his Love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Hereby perceive we the Love of God because he laid down his Life for us c. 1 Jo. 3.16 And as the Just and Righteous Law of God did not spare the sinless Son of God when Arraign'd at his Bar as a Surety for sinners So neither did the Son of God flinch or shrink in the Contest till he had vanquisht and overcome the Condemning Power of the Law leaving it and all the other Enemies of his Elect Nail'd to the Cross having by his Death on the Cross put to death the Damnatory Sentence of God's Righteous Law against God's Elect and spoil'd all Principalities and Infernal Powers of that accusing Power they had by sin obtain'd against God's chosen Yea having rifled Hell it self with Death and the Grave those destroying and devouring Enemies of Mankind so as that nothing was left in the way to obstruct or hinder the Elects safe Arrival in Heavenly Glory And all this by the Virtue and Merit of that Satisfaction he gave to the Justice of his Father by obeying the Law both Actively and Passively in the Assumed Nature On this Account it is that there remains now no Condemnation in force against that Man or Woman which believes in the Son of God The Moral Law is indeed a Law or Rule of Holy Living to all Believers and as a Looking-glass to discover to Believers the Spoâ—s and Defects which abounds in their Hearts and Lives while in a state of Imperfection and to shew them the continual need they stand in of the Blood and Righteousness of Christ the Mediator till they come to the end of their Race But to condemn or sentence any true Believer in Jesus to Damnation or Eternal Death the Moral Law hath no Power There is therefore now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus c. Rom. 8.1 Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 And can this be any other than sweet to true Believers especially to such as have lain so long in the Laws Prison till the Irons thereof have reached even to the very Soul Secondly The Death of Christ is most sweet and delightful to the true Believer in that in Christ's Death all the Sins and Iniquities of the Believer were Arraign'd and put to death so as the Believer shall never never be Arraign'd or Condemn'd for them either here or hereafter There were two things in sin by which the Elect of God were held captives First the Guilt of sin which lays them open to Condemnation and the Wrath to come From this the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ set them for ever free as hath been already observ'd Secondly The defiling Power of Indwelling sin this also is slain and put to death in the Death of Christ and by Virtue hereof it is that every Believer in Jesus is made to die to sin in Heart and Life through the powerful Efficiency of the Holy Ghost inwardly applying to the Soul of the Believer the Efficacy of the Mediator's Death For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the Likeness of sinful Flesh and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh Rom. 8.3 For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 Who his own self bare our sins in his own Body on the Tree 1 Pet. 2.24 Let this Caution be observ'd and improv'd by every true Believer viz. that not the Being of indwelling sin but its condemning and reigning Power are condem'd and put to death in the Death of Christ So as that that indwelling sin which yet remains in a justified Believer shall never either lay him open to Condemnation or to keep the Believer under its captivating Power as before Regeneration it did He will subdue our Iniquities and thou wilt cast all our sins into the depth of the Sea c. Mic. 7.18 For sin shall not have Dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. 6.14 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Jo. 3.8 He that is born of God doth not commit sin ver 9. Thirdly The Death of Christ is most sweet to a true Believer in that the Curse which sin put into bodily Death it is by Christ's Death taken away to every Believer the Curse due to sin was the very Sting of Death so witnesseth the Holy Ghost The Sting of death is sin c. 1 Cor. 15.56 This Christ the Surety of the Believer bore that the Curse in Death might be turn'd into a
Blessing to all the Members of Christ viz. All who savingly believe in him There are some whose Names I am unwilling to mention who tell Men that bodily Death is a Part of the Curse due to sin and that the Believer as well as the Unbeliever must undergo and bear it as such namely the Curse which is due to the Believer for sin From whom I do and shall for ever dissent and that for the two Reasons here following First Because Death puts an end to all a Believers sinning and sorrowings which occasioned holy Master Dod's Saying that Death was the greatest Friend to a true Believers Grace that is in the World For saith he that which Praying and Hearing and Sacraments c. do but help to weaken viz. sin in the Heart and Life of the Believer Death comes and with one stroak cuts it off And at the same time and with the same Blow puts an end to all the Believers Sorrows and Afflictions And if this be a Curse to a Believer for my part I do not understand what it is to be Blest Though Death in it self be a Curse to the first Adam and his Children as it is the Wages of sin Rom. 6.23 yet to them who are in Christ that Curse is turned into a Blessing so saith the Holy Ghost whose Testimony goes beyond all other Testimonies in Matters of Faith See Rev. 14.13 And I heard a voice from Heaven saying write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord From henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them And of such it is also said And God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying nither shall there be any more paâ—n for the former things are passed away Rev. 21.4 Secondly Because Death not only perfects the Grace of a true Believer but it is also an Inlet to the Kingdom of Glory On these two Accounts it is I doubt not that the day of Death is preferrable before the day of ones Birth Eccles 7.1 A good Name is better than precious Oyntment and the day of death than the day of ones Birth On the same Accounts I do not question Paul did prefer to die rather than to continue in the Body as he himself tells us Phil. 1.21 For to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain Herewith also concurs 1 Cor. 3.22 Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or things present or things to come all are yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods In this Enumeration of Particulars of second causes wherein the Members of Christ are said to be interrested I understand the same thing to be intended which is held forth in that general Assertion And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose Rom. 8.28 And is not this a sweet Fruit to a Believers spiritual Taste Fourthly The Powerful and Glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the Dead is most sweet and delightful to the true Believer That Christ was raised up from Death is beyond controversie Acts 2.24 Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of Death because it was not p ssible he should be holden of it Acts 17.31 Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given Assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the dead Rom. 1.4 And declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection f om the dead This Resurrection of Christ from the dead can be no other than sweet to all true Believers and that on a threefold Account First As it is God the Fathers Actual Discharge to Christ the Publick Head and Representative of Gods Elect and to them in him from that sin of theirs which he as their Surety stood charg'd with and from the whole of that Debt which he undertook to pay for them As Christs Active and Passive Obedience was the full Payment of Believers Debts to God so Gods raising him from Death was Gods Actual Discharge to his Son and in him to all Elect Believers to assure them that the Debt which Christ his Son undertook to pay for them is now fully paid and satisfied witness his Actual Release and Discharge from the Prison of the Grave where Christ as Undertaker and Surety for Gods Elect was detain'd until the Justice of his Father said it is enough I am now satisfied to the full every Iota and Tittle of the Law is by him perfectly obey'd both Actively and Passively I have no more to lay to his or the Elects Charge for whom he became a Surety Discharge him let him be set at Liberty as Christ the Son prov'd faithful to the Father in performing to the utmost what he had undertaken for securing the Fathers Glory and the Salvation of the Elect committed and given in charge to him by the Father So God the Father proves Just and Righteous to Christ in giving him under the Hand of his Unerring Spirit of Truth a full Release and General Discharge not only for himself but for his Redeemed ones also Of this Christ had not the least doubt when he struck Hands with his Father he knew his Father to be the God of Truth who could not lie or deal unjustly with any much less with his own only Son who he could not but know would stick at nothing though it were to empty himself and to become nothing And which was worse to be made a Curse to finish the Work his Father had given him to do For the Lord God will help me therefore I shall not be confounded therefore have I set my Face like a Flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed He is near that justifieth me who will contend with me Let us stand together who is mine Adversary let him come near to me Isa 50 7 8. What was of old predicted by this Evangelical Prophet concerning God the Fathers justifying his Son upon his finishing the Work he had undertaken to go through it is now declared and made known by the Gospel to be Actually accomplished and made good according to those and other the like Predictions of him I have glorified thee on the Earth I have finished the Work which thou gavest me to do Jo. 17.4 5. And now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was All Power is given me in Heaven and in Earth Mat. 28.18 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins Acts 5.31 And without Controversie great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifested in the flesh
not hinder thy Comfort in feeding on this best and sweetest of Fruits For thy Faith though it be never so weak proves it self to be a Divine Faith by its Operation in thee First In that it empties thy Heart of all conceited Rigteousness of thine own whereby Satan and corrupt Nature would have thee to look for Life and Salvation Secondly In that it carries thee out to rest under the shadow of Christ's Mediatorial Satisfaction hoping and expecting Life and Salvation by his Merits alone Though all Mens Stomachs be not equally sharp at Table yet he that hath the least Stomach might eat to as great Satisfaction and Content as he that eats most Let thy Faith be never so weak thou wilt find by Experience that the oftener thou doest taste of this Fruit of Christ's Death and Resurrection with Application thereof to thy self crying out Believingly My dear Lord Jesus Christ who died to discharge the Debt of my sins and who rose again for my Justification the sweeter and the more delightful will it be and not only so but thy poor weak Faith will by this means gather strength day by day Thirdly And as touching those fearful Doubtings and Questionings whether thou in particular be one of those Elect for whom Christ dyed and rose again I need say no more than to assure thee that this hath been the Case of the most eminent Saints now Triumphing in Glory when in a Militant State as thou now art that Soul that was never troubled with Doubtings and Questionings about his State was never yet blest with a right saving Faith Not that these Doubtings are of the Essence of true Faith or as if thou wer 't not bound to be humbled for them before God and oblig'd to strive against them But an Argument they are that thou art acted by a twofold Principle and that the Devil is now discover'd to be thine Enemy Both which effectually proves thee to be one of those Elect for whom Christ both died and rose again Secondly The Resurrection of Christ is sweet to a a true Believer As the same is a sure and certain Pledge of his own and all other Believers being raised not only from a State of Mortality but also from a State of Imperfect Grace The Resurrection of Christ the Believers Surety is the Ground and Foundation of a Believers both rising more and more to Newness of Life And of his being raised again out of the Dust of Death to partake in the Glory of the last Resurrection Rom. 6.4 5 6. 1 Cor. 15.49.54 Phil. 3.21 Jo. 6.40 Thirdly The Resurrection of Christ is sweet to the Believer as it is an invincible Argument to prove that Christ his Surety having once dy'd and by his Glorious Resurrection overcome Death he is never more to dye so witnesseth the Holy Ghost Rom. 6.9 Knowing that Christ being raised up from the Dead dyeth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore c. The Ground hereof is the infinite Satisfaction given to his Fathers Justice for the sins of the Elect by that one Death which he underwent If it were possible for Christ to dye a thousand times over and over his dying so many Deaths could not be more Satisfactory to the Justice of God for the sins of the Elect than was that one most shameful bitter and cursed Death of the Cross which he suffer'd and underwent once for all Rom. 6.10 For in that he dyed he dyed unto sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God God the Father hath now no more sin to charge on him than what he stood charg'd with on the Cross when he said on his giving up the Ghost it is finished Jo. 19.30 Heb. 10.14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are Sanctified It is not in this Case as it hath been with but too many of Adam's Children and is in this very day who have been forced to pay over and over the self same Debt Such is the Baseness and Knavery of the Oppressours of the Age we live in God the Father of Christ is not such a Creditor he is a Just and a Righteous God And being so there is no Ground to fear that ever he will Twit in the Teeth either Christ his Son the Elects Surety or any poor Believer with those Sins which Christ once satisfied for This Fruit is passing sweet to that Soul who frequently feeds on it Fifthly The Glorious Ascension of Christ from Earth to Heaven is most sweet to the true Believer and it is so on a twofold Account First As it proves the compleat Conquest and Victory of Christ the Believers Head and Surety over all the Enemies of God's Elect of whom it was spoken by way of Prediction Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led Captivity captive c. Psal 68.18 These things are Prophetically spoken of Christ by way of Allusion or Comparison and which are by the Apostle Paul apply'd to Christ's Glorious Ascension Ephes 4.8 The Metaphor is taken from earthly Kings and mighty Potentates who when they had got the Victory over their Enemies us'd to bind to their Chariot Wheels the Chief of the Enemies dragging them along in Triumph Thus did the Lord Jesus the Surety of Gods Elect when he Ascended to Heaven he led Devil Sin Curse of the Law World Death Grave and Hell Captives so that they can never more slave or insult over any of God's Elect this is intended by Christ in Jo. 16.33 In me ye shall have Peace in the World ye shall have Tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the World And the same is intended by Paul in Colos 2.15 And having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly Triumphing over them in it This also is intended in Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I live for evermore and have the Keys of hell and of death The term Keys denotes the universal Power which Christ by dying Atchieved over all the Enemies of his Redeemed ones Christ's Ascension from Earth to Heaven is every true Believers Triumph over all the Powers of Darkness of this World so witnesseth the Spirit of God Nay in all these things we are more than Conquerours through him that loved us Rom. 8.37 Secondly Christ's Ascension to Heaven is sweet to the true Believer on the Account of the personal Appearance he makes there for all the Members of his Mystical Body That Christ is enter'd Heaven as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Fore-runner of his Members is expresly set down and affirm'd for the Comfort and Encouragement of all true Believers Whether the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus made an high Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedech Heb. 6.20 For Christ is not entred into the Holy Places made with hands which are the figures of the true
Providence of God is to be seen and acknowledg'd in preserving the Bodies of Men from perishing by the former So his special Care and saving Providence is to be seen and thankfully acknowledg'd in preserving the Souls of the Elect from perishing by the latter And as the storms at Sea are occasion'd by the four Winds East West North and South Winds so the spiritual Storms which threaten and endanger the Soul they proceed from and are occasioned by a fourfold Party First The Devil who ever since his Apostacy is become an implacable and an irreconcileable Enemy as to the Majesty of God so also to the Souls of Men who hath on this very Account the names given him both in Hebrew and in Greek which signifie and import the same thing with his Nature viz. Destroyer So the Names of Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek signifie as the Learned know Rev. 9.11 Secondly the World I mean the wicked of the World which is not only at Enmity with God but a real Hater and Persecutor of all that love God and bear his Blessed Image These the Devil makes use of in his service The Devil makes use of these in his Service as they are his Children and Servants Jo. 8.44 Ye are of your Father the Devil and the Lusts of your Father ye will do Gal. 4.29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now Thirdly Corrupt Nature which i◠the worst Enemy a Man hath and which is that which gives the Devil the greatest Advantage against a Man's self of any thing in the World This Corruption of Nature lies in two things First The sad and wretched Aversion of the Heart to God and all things spiritually good Secondly The Devil◠like Propensity of the Heart and Soul to what is hateful to God and really Destructive to the Man 's own self Were it not for this Corruption o◠Nature the Devil and his other Auxiliary Forces could do nothing which would prove of any Avail to Ruin or undo a Soul but herein lies his great Advantage that he hath within a Man's self a Party or a Principle which i◠the Spirit and Grace of God prevent not he can by his serpentine Craft and Lyon-like Fury stir up and draw forth to such a degree as will cause the Man to cry out and say that his worst and most destructive Enemy is within himself and that were it not for that he need not value or fear all the Storms and overwhelming Hurricanes which all the Legions of Apostate Angels in Hell and all the Pollitick and Mallicious Persecutors in the World could possibly devise or raise against him Were it not for the Tinder of Heart Corruption the Devil would soon grow weary of throwing into the Soul the poysonous Sparks of his Infernal Temptations The Prince of this world cometh saith Christ and hath nothing in me Jo. 14.30 No Immorality in Practise whereof to accuse him neither any Pollution or Corruption in the assumed Nature on which his Temptations could possibly catch hold and herein lay Christ's and the Elects Advantage For had the Tempter found the least matter in Christ on which his Temptations could fasten the Elect for whom Christ undertook as Vademony and Surety would have been over and over miserable and wretched to endless Eternity The fourth Party who hath a Hand in those Storms wherewith Elect sinners do meet in this Life is God himself who by the Methods his wise Providence takes with the Elect seems t◠outward appearance to design thei◠utter Ruin this the Devil frequently 〈◊〉 suggests to the Soul and this the poo◠bewildred sinner is easily perswade◠to credit And when matters come t◠this pass that when the Poor sinner i◠surrounded with perplexing Trials o◠all hands the Billows and Waves o◠all kind of Temptations being read◠even to cover his Head and swallow him up He concludes that God himself is his Enemy it must needs be very dismal with the poor sinner in such 〈◊〉 Condition There are four things especially i◠respect whereof the poor sinner may be said to be in a Storm in each of which the four Parties above mention'd may have a hand First Extream Poverty and outward Streights which is a very sore Trial◠and a Burden so heavy especially to those who have sometimes enjoy'd Plenty and Fulness that many have sunk under its Weight some hanging themselves some drowning themselves and others cutting their own Throats not able to bear the Reproach of outward Poverty Secondly Black Reproach upon the Name and Reputation this is a Storm harder to go through than most Men think till they come to be try'd thereby Oh! how doth the Spirit that is in Adam's Children lust to Envy and Revenge when they meet with Affronts in their good Name and Reputation To be miscall'd and misrepresented among Men to be accounted not fit or worthy to live among Men Proud Nature cries out Flesh and Blood cannot bear it What! to be so and so abused to have my good Name taken away I 'll die before I 'll pocket or put up such an Affront such an Abuse Either Arrest the Person in an Action of Slander or Peg him to the Wall And in case any peaceable Friend disswade from such revengeful Practices What 's the Reply What! unman my self be accounted a Coward to be laugh'd at by every body this is the Language of the first Adams Nature Ja. 4.1.5 But where the work of Renovation hath past on a sinner his Note is changed His unman my self is turned into undog my self undevil my self Let but the Experience of the most mortified Believer be call'd in to speak to the Point and it will be readily acknowledged that Reproach and Slanders on the Name and Reputation are not easily gone through it is a sharp and a trying Storm Reproach and Contempt from Men especially from Inferiours was a part of Jobs Trials Job 30.1 And had he not been Blest with such an extraordinary stock of Patience he could never have born it as he did Reproach hath broken mine heart said Holy David Psal 69.20 And others had Trials of cruel Mockings c. Heb. 11.36 Thirdly To be smitten in the Body with Sickness and wasting Distempers when the sad Symptoms of Death and Mortality invade languishing Nature This goes close to the very Root it being a stroke at the very Being of Nature threatning its Dissolution this is a storm which will cause the Face of the strongest and stoutest of Adam's Children to gather Paleness and will put the Sons of Men into sorer Frights than any of the former Storms which were so uneasie when Death that all-conquering King of Terrours looks the dying Man full in the Face it is a difficult thing to go through the Pangs and Agonies of a dying Hour Fourthly Soul Desertion When the Clouds from above interpose between the sensible Manifestations of God's
Love and Favour and the benighted deserted Soul When the Waves and Billows from God are commissioned to pass over the poor Soul as if its utter Ruin were design'd by God This is a Storm indeed and the hardest to be wrestled with by the Man who hath been frequently visited with the sweet and Soul-ravishing Embraces of God's Love Either of these four Particulars if it be sharp on a poor Man it may be compar'd to a sharp Storm at Sea occasion'd by either of the four Winds which may set a Man hard to it But when all four come on a Man at once then the Soul is made to understand what a spiritual Hurricane means A Man may loose his All in this World his Substance may be lost his Trade may fail he may come to be as poor as Job and yet being in Esteem for his Goodness and Honesty he may have Trust and Credit among his Neighbours and so may in time recover his Losses If a Man may be clouded as to his Name and Credit among Men and yet having of his own wherewith to subsist in the sight and midst of his Traducers and Reproachers he may make a pretty good shift to weather the point A Man may be extream poor he may be blacken'd with Reproach he may be visited with bodily sickness yet having sensible Communion with God none of these single storms can overset him because the discerned Smiles of God's reconciled Face supplies all the other wants But for the same Person to be stript of all visible Substance and to become a Proverb of reproach among all sorts as well Friends as Enemies to be smitten in his Health and to feel himself under the actual Arrest of Death 〈◊〉 And at the same time for God to seem to write bitter things against him and to carry it towards the Poor Soul as if he were become the Man's Enemy if there be a spiritual Hurricane this side Hell this is one All these bitter Ingredients met together in that sad Hurricane which the Devil was permitted to raise against Job His Substance swept all away and he left as empty handed as when he came into the World He was cast out of the kind and charitable Thoughts of all as well his Friends and nearest Relations as Enemies and Strangers and the God of his Life and Comfort too did set himself in Battel Array against him Oh! what a Hurricane was this Holy Upright hearted Man in it must needs be very sore and sharp when such a Mirrour of Patience le ts fly such Expressions as to Curse the very day of his own Birth Job 3.1 2 3. and to wish himself to be ameer Non-Entity ver 16. with other Expressions full of unbecoming Reflections on that Just Holy and Tremendous God whom he lov'd and fear'd above all things It were worth while if those deluded and graceless Perfectionists who talk so boastingly and ignorantly of a sinless Perfection had power to consider without prejudice how far Job was from that sinless Perfection they teach and affirm is attainable in this Life and for Proof whereof they bring in Job for one Instance Asserting that he was perfect in their Sense let Job's great Impatience in the time of his sore and sinking Trials together with his own Acknowledgment of his Imperfection in Sanctification be weigh'd in the Ballance of an unbyassed and unprejudicate Consideration and then will it convincingly appear how vain and altogether contrary to God's Truth and the Experience of all true Believers that silly Opinion of theirs is If I justifie my self mine own Mouth shall condemn me If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse Job 9.20 If I wash my self with Snow water and make my hands never so clean yet shalt thou plunge me in the Ditch and mine own Cloaths shall abhor me ver 30 31. Holy David was somewhat near to Job in point of Troubles and Afflictions as appears by Psal 42.7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts all thy Waves and thy Billows have gone over me And in Psal 142.4 I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my Soul Other Instances might be here brought in to shew what Hurricanes the Saints of God have gone through and yet it hath not been in the power of those Hurricanes to overset or overcome those Servants of the Living God The higher and sharper the storms were the closer Faith did cling to its Object witness Job's fixed Resolution Though he slay me yet will I trust in him Job 13.15 That of David also is to the purpose Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet will I fear no evil Psal 23.4 These and all the most Eminent Saints of God Recorded in Scripture whenever they felt any thing of a storm approach them their way they took for self Preservation was to run by Faith and Prayer to the shadow of Christ And as they so every true and uprighted-hearted Believer when he finds himself stript of all outward Accommodations forsaken of all Relations and familiar Friends made an Obloquy of the blackest Reproach compast about with the shadow of Death and the Face of God himself seeming to Frown on the dying Believer yet in the very height of his Extremity his Faith will catch hold of the Appletree and there will hold come Life come Death Oh! the Excellency and Power of a Divine Faith To apply what hath been discover'd concerning Christ's Suitableness and Commodiousness to answer the necessitous Condition of poor sinners from this Metaphor of the Appletree let the first Use be of Information I will Branch it forth into six particular Branches Branch the first Learn hence how sacrilegious and wicked the Doctrin of Popery is which allows and teaches that there are more Mediators between God and Sinners besides Jesus Christ the continual use Papists make of the Virgin Mary and other Saints in their Praying to God is an evident proof hereof They that doubt hereof let them for their own Satisfaction look into the Rosary or Ladies Psalter which is the poor besotted Papists Vade mecum The which whoever reads comparing the same with the Word of God will soon be convinc'd of the Idolatry of the Church of Rome The Spirit and Word of God assures us that there is but one onely Mediator between God and sinful Men and that the Man Christ Jesus is that Mediator For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 But now hath he obtained a more excellent Ministry by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which was Established upon better Promises Heb. 8.6 And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant Heb. 12 24. To convince you of this sacrilegious and damning Doctrin I offer three things to serious Cosideration First The Word of God no where
made actual Partakers of her Plagues when the time of her Visitation comes Rev. 18.4 and shall be made to drink of that Cup of God's Wrath which is prepared for her and all who live and die in her Communion Rev. 16.19 When this comes to fall on that Synagogue it will then appear to the Experience of the Worshippers of that Monstrous Beast whether the sweet and intoxicating Wine of her Fornications which with so much delight she and her Lovers so often drank out of her golden Cup will be able to quench or allay the Anguish and unconceiveable Pain occasion'd in their Souls and Consciences by that Cup of God's Wrath which they will be made to drink off even the very dregs according to that in Psal 75.8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red as red as the Martyrs Blood slain by the Horns and Teeth of the Romish Beast it is full of mixture and he poureth out of the same but the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them * Mark this Reader Shall wring them out and drink them It shall not be Arbitrary in them or left to their choice whether they will drink it or not drink it they must and shall will they nill they for the Cup is in the Hand of Omnipotency not in the Hand of the wicked Motive 4th Consider with Seriousness and Tremble to think how suddenly the Storms now impending and threatning England may break out and fall upon the Nations Storms all know arise and come suddenly and unexpectedly and by so much the more startling and uneasie are they by how much they come unlook'd for and unthought of It was doubtless a great Aggravrtion of the Israelites Misery to look for and expect Peace and Comfort when nothing came but Trouble and Disappointment Jer. 8.15 And it will most certainly be one of the most aggravating Circumstances which will attend the fatal and dismal Destruction which will befal the unbelieving secure Generation which will be on the Earth when the Son of God shall come to Judgment that it will come upon them suddenly and unlookt for For when they shall say Peace and Safety then sudden Destruction shall come upon them as travail upon a woman with Child and they shall not escape 1 Thes 5.3 Oh Reader Think and consider with thy self as I have often done and is it so that I even I must die and is it certain that my dying Hour is uncertain O my Soul what is the matter that I am so unconcern'd to enquire what the true State of my Soul is not knowing but that Death may seize me while I am reading this Book how suddenly may I be Deaths Prisoner And in case I be snatch't away from off the Stage before I have gotten under the shadow of the Apple-tree I am an undone Man my time is ended my Wit and Parts wherein I prided will take wing and the Choice I have made in the bewitching World I lived in will convincingly prove me a Fool. Some Men who want Faith to believe the Word of God cannot believe that there are any such things as Witches in the World But when Death comes if it find them from under the shadow of the Appletree they will find by sad and woful Experience that the World it self whose Vanities and painted Nothings they have courted and preferr'd before the Appletree is the greatest and worst Witch of all As the Partridge sittteh on Eggs and hatcheth them not so he that getteth Riches and not by Right shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a fool Jer. 17.11 For what shall it profit a Man if he shall gain the whole World and loose his own Soul Mar. 8.36 Thou fool this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee and then whose shall all those things be which thou hast provided Luke 12.20 Motive 5th Consider how long the Patience and Forbearance of God hath waited upon thee calling on thee and inviting thee to come under the shadow of this Appletree and yet perhaps thou never yet hast had a serious Thought about it Thou art it may be 20 it may be 30 perhaps 40 yea 50. or 60 years old and canst not tell whether thou shalt be damn'd or saved Oh! wonder at God's matchless Forbearance and Patience towards thee that thou art not in Hell among the damned Despisers and wilful Rejecters of the Son of God of whose Recovery and Salvation there is now no Hope or Possibility And besides all this betwixt us and you there is a great gulph fixed so that they that would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence Luke 16.26 Motive 6th Let the last Motive be the Consideration that for ought Men or Angels can tell God may never give thee another Call in case thou slight this He may forbear thee not a day not an hour nay not a moment longer His Sword is drawn and his Bow ready bent to execute his Vengeance upon thee for the Abuse thou hast put on all his Goodness towards thee Bâ—â— especially for the Slight and Contemâ—â— thou continuest to put upon his Soâ—â— Jesus Christ Psal 7.11 12 13. Therefore Sinner whoever thou art whâ—â— readest or hearest the present Caâ—â— and Caution look narrowly to thâ—â— Hits one denial more to God's Caâ—â— and Invitation may perhaps do thâ—â— Business and if God strikes thee oâ—â—â— le ts fly his Arrow at thee the nexâ— Word thou utterest or Thought thoâ— thinkest may be in Hell Torments â—â— where thou shalt neither behold nor heaâ—â— tidings of the Appletree to shade oâ—â—â— hide thy forsaken Soul from the worst oâ—â—â— Storms that ever thou wer 't in Oh â—â— pity pity thy immortal never-dying Soul while thou art out of Hell if thoâ— once get into that bottomless Pit 〈◊〉 Pity will ever be shewn thee by either God Angels or Saints Sermon II. Cant. 2.3 And his Fruit was sweet to my Taste A Third thing in the Appletree which Allegorically sets forth the Excellency of Christ is its Fruitfulness from which I observe the following Doctrin viz That as the Shadow of Christ's Protection secures the real Believer from all kind of Storms wherewith he meets So the Fruit of Christ is Sweet and most delightful to his Taste while he is in a Militant Condition this side Glory By the Fruit of Christ in the Text is to be understood the unspeakable and Soul-saving Benefit which flows to all true Believers from his Mediatorial undertaking and are all briefly couched up in that one passage of the Apostle Who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption â— Cor. 1.30 Under this General four things are comprehended of each of which notice shall be taken and due Improvement made for the Comfort and Encouragement of Poor Tempted Believers First By the Fruits of Christ
Yea so far are Afflictions and Tribulations from being a Token of God's being a Mans Enemy that indeed to be exempt and free from them is an Argument that the Person is none of Gods But if ye be without chastening then are ye Bastards and not Sons Heb. 12.8 * God 's Afflictive Dispensations are to his own Children the purging Pills whereby God the Great and only Wise Physitian will purge out of the Heart and Affections of his Children those Remains of Sin yet abiding in them And as in Nature those Pills or that Potion which are Bitterest and which makes the Patient sickest are the best for curing though they are hardly gotten down So in Christianity those Corrections and Chastenings from God's own Hand which are the sorest and sharpest to corrupt Nature they are Attended with the greatest Efficacy to kill Indwelling Corruption in the Believer Before I was Afflicted said Holy David I went astray but now have I kept thy Word Psal 119.67 And in another place I know O Lord that thy Judgments are right and that thou in Faithfulness hast Afflicted me Psal 119.75 When the darkest and most dismal Cloud of Affliction and Trouble seems to overcast the true Believer and not only to overcast him but to compass him about so as there appears no likelihood of his Escape yet even then there is a Bright side in that Cloud which shines on the Believers Inside to comfort and encourage him in Trusting in and Relying on God in the way of Believing and Dependance And not only so but we Glory in Tribulation also knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us Rom. 5.3 Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort Who comforteth us in all our Tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any Trouble by the Comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1.3 4. Nevertheless God that comforteth those that are cast down c. 2 Cor. 7.6 Seventhly and lastly The Lord Jesus Christ the Head and King of all true Believers being Pilot to sit at the Helm of all Affairs wherein the Glory of his Father and the Salvation of his Elect are concern'd he will so Steer the Course of all second Causes in this World as not one of his Believing Members shall ever come short of a Safe and Happy Arrival at Glory but shall most infallibly be securely conducted through all Storms and Hurricanes which can possibly arise to overwhelm and sink the true Believer Let what Times soever God pleases come let what Calamities soever fall out in the Land Plague Famine Civil War Forreign Invasion Penal Laws Bishops Court Devil World indwelling Sin Let all come upon thee at once and display the Banner of their Force Policy and Malice against thee to ruine and destroy thee yet thou who art a real Believer art safe being secur'd under the shâ—dow of the Appletree and not only safe from any Harm which can come to thee by such Storms or Enemies But thou shalt be infallibly assur'd of safe Landing in Heaven and that by Virtue of that Universal Conquest and Victory Atchiev'd by thy Head and King over all his and thy Enemies And his having gone through all those kind of Storms which thou fearest thou shalt meet with and that as thy Representative and hath shot the Gulph of Death and is now Actually Possest of thy Crown and Mansion in the highest Heavens whereto the Efficacious Virtue and Power of thy Redeemers Ascension will in a very short space of time bring thee to behold and enjoy the great and unspeakable things which he hath purchas'd for thee and for all that truly Love and long for his Appearing God is our Refuâ—e and Strength a very present Help in Trouble therefore will not we fear though the Earth be removed and though the Mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea Though the Waters thereof rear and be troubled though the Mountains shake with the swelling thereof Psal 46.1 2 3. Whither the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus made an high Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedech Heb. 6.20 What hath been observ'd from the latter part of the Text concerning the Fruits of the Appletree which are so sweet to the Taste of a true Believer many things might have been spoken by way of Application both to the Comfort and Joy of all true hearted Believers and also to the Terror and Amazement of all Papists Quakers Arminians c. who are destitute of the Fruit of this Appletree When spiritual Famine from God comes on these graceless because Christless Souls when they come to be Hunger-bitten and their starv'd Souls languish away in them for want of the Fruit they now ridicule and scorn Then will that dreadful and killing Word take hold of and be Actually fulfilled in them Esa 65.13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God behold my Servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry behold my Servants shall drink but ye shall be thirsty behold my Servants shall rejoyce but ye shall be ashamed Behold my Servants shall sing for Joy of heart but ye shall cry for Sorrow of heart and shall howl for vexation of Spirit This is and will be the Doom of all those who sit not under the Protecting Shadow of this Appletree The Fruit of this Tree is sweet to none but to those to whom its Shadow is Delightful The Shadow and the Fruit belongs to none but to God's Elect even Christs Redeemed ones Well therefore may the Believer cry out and say with the Prophet Although the Figtree shall not Blossom neither shall Fruit be in the Vine the Labour of the Olive shall fail and the Field shall yield no Meat The Flock shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls Yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Hab 3.17.18 The Mediatorial Righteousness of God Man is upon me and his protecting Care and Providence is over me for my Covering to shelter me from the Laws Curse From the Agonies of a fearful Conscience from the dreadful Temptations of Satan and from the deserved Wrath of God Here 's my hiding place in time of Storm and Tempest of whom should I be afraid Psal 27.5 Whenever a Storm arises whether rais'd by Satan or the World or by my own corrupt Nature or by Gods deserting or hiding his Face for a time I presently by Faith and Prayer run to the Appletree and take up my place under its Shadow crying out with Holy David Keep me as the Apple of the Eye hide me under the Shadow of thy Wings from the wicked that oppress me from my deadly Enemies who compass me about Psal 17.8 9.