nature he might be a merciful and faithful High-priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people and that 's set down in Verse 17. And the ground of this Assertion the Apostle lays down in the words of the Text which I have now read unto you For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted So then the Text contains in it a singular benefit and advantage that believers have by Christs temptations namely a sanctified use of temptations and a gracious support under temptations For the clearing of this you must know all that ever our Lord and Saviour did here upon earth as Mediator was done not for himself alone but was done for us and for our good For example He took our flesh in the womb of a Virgin that he might sanctifie our nature He was born of a woman that he might sanctifie our birth He suffered in the flesh that he might sanctifie our sufferings He was buried in a grave that he might sweeten and perfume the grave that he might make the grave as a bed of spices He rose again from the dead that he might assure us that we shall be raised by his power 1 Cor. 6.14 And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power And he was tempted that he might be able to succour us when we are tempted Let me first open the words to you and then draw out the Doctrine I intend to pitch upon I shall dispatch this Text in one Sermon For in that he himself hath suffered The Lord Jesus Christ suffered indeed He was a great sufferer nay the greatest sufferer that you read of in the whole book of God He suffered in his Circumcision when he was but eight days old he condâ—scended to that painful Ceremony that painful Sacrament He suffered a painful pilgrimage for three and thirty years together and although he was heir of all things all the Kingdoms of the world were his yet he had not a house to hide his head in The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head Mat. 8.20 He suffered by Satan when he was led into the Wilderness to be tempted for forty days together which was a greater abasement to the Son of God than if the greatest Empress in the world should be solicited in her chastity by the basest Scullion that ever was Oh how did Satan hurry the body of our dear Lord and Saviour first to the pinacle of the Temple then he hurried it to a Mountain and carried it from one place to another Oh that the precious body of Jesus Christ should be thus basely used by a Vassal by a cursed Fiend by a cursed creature So he suffered by Satan And he suffered by men he suffered the contradiction of sinners he suffered himself to be reviled scorned reproached blasphemeed when they said Say we not well Thou art a Samaritan and hast a Devil Joh. 8.48 And he is mad and hath a Devil why hear ye him Joh. 10.20 He suffered on the Cross a shameful painful and cursed death He suffered in his body but most of all he suffered in his soul when he said My soul is heavy unto death is girt about with death Joh. 12.27 Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say He speaks as if he had been non-plust My soul is so troubled says he that I know not what to say I know not what to do So you see the Lord Jesus Christ he suffered Further the Text says he suffered being tempted Jesus Christ you know was tempted by Satan for forty days together and he was tempted by his Enemies the Pharises they required a sign of him tempting of him Luk. 11.16 Then he was tempted by the Herodians when they came with that captious question Shall we give tribute to Caesar or shall we not Mat. 22.17 18. Christ answered them Why tempt ye me ye hypocrites He was temptted by one of his Disciples Peter says he to him Master spare thy self and do not go up to Jerusalem insomuch that Christ sharply reproved him and said to him Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not the things that be of God but those that be of men Mat. 16.22 23. And he was tempted even by his own dear Father when his Father hid his face from him when he seemingly did forsake him when he cryed out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Mat. 27.46 So you see that our Saviour suffered and our Saviour was tempted And why was he tempted that he might succour them that are tempted saye the Text. Why may some say did the sufferings and temptations of Jesus Christ add any thing to his ability to succour his tempted Servants which he had not before To this I answer You must know he had an ability of Power which was irresistable he had an ability of Power as he was God but the Apostle speaks here of an ability of Compassion or of an ability of Experience as he was man as he says in the like case Heb. 5.8 He learned obedience by the things which he suffered How did he learn it he learnt it experimentally So here by his suffering and temptations he learnt to succour them that are tempted he learnt compassion by his temptations How did he learn compassion he learnt it experimentally for now he hath learned by experience to know the kinds of temptations to know the wounds that temptations make in the soul of a poor sinner and to know the proper means and medicines for the curing of temptations so that if you ask But why was the Lord Jesus Christ tempted I answer he was tempted for these three ends especially First That he might teach us this Lesson If Satan was so bold with him that was the dear Son of God he will be much more bold in tempting us poor creatures If he was so bold with the Master much more will he be bold with the Servants If he were so bold with the Captain of our salvation much more will he be bold with his Soldiers If he were so bold in tempting him who was the King of glory a pure and spotless Saviour a Lamb without spot and blemish in whose mouth could be found no guile 1 Pet. 2.22 Oh he will be much more bold with us that are poor sinful creatures that have such impure and defiled natures How abominable and filthy is man Job 15.16 When the Devil came to tempt our Lord and Saviour he found nothing in him he found no matter to work upon he found no corruption on which he might fasten his temptation Joh. 14.30 The Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me All the temptations of Satan upon our Saviour were but like the jogging of pure and clean water in a Chrystal glass where
little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but 〈◊〉 everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee 〈…〉 Lord thy redeemer Isa 54.7 8. Application Therefore it serves exceedingly for the encouragement of the godly our afflictions are but for a moment do but set against your present Affliction the glory that it brings after and against light afflictions a weight of glory and against momentary affliction eternal glory and what comparison is there between them none at all but 3. I come quickly It may be taken in a way of Judicature I come to call men to account to return to every man according to their works therefore see that you hold fast what you have received and continue constant to the end and you shall be sure to receive a rich and Royal Reward Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give to every one according as his works shall be Rev. 22.12 Heb. 10.37 Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Be patient therefore brethren stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draws nigh Jam. 5.8 But here it may be objected Our Saviour spake this above sixteen hundred years ago The coming of the Lord draws nigh And yet he is not come to Judgment To this I Answer A thousand years in Gods account is but as one day we count moments long because we are but poor short spirited creatures But God that is of an eternal duration he counts a thousand years but a very small moment all that space of time should be small to them that know the greatness of Eternity Do but think of Eternity and alas a thousand of years are but as a moment But observe here when our Saviour speaks of coming to Judgment he fixeth a Behold before it Behold I come quickly it teacheth us this Doctrine Doct. Christs coming to judgment is a matter of infinite concernment and requires our most serious consideration Behold Consider what I say I am coming to judgment There will therefore be a day of Judgment that is certain this is called the great day in ver 6 of the Epistle of Saint Jude and in 2 Tim. 4.8 That day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of eminency and it is called a day of Judgment because then every one shall receive a final sentence either of absolution or condemnation But why is this a matter of so great concernment I answer because Eternity depends upon it it will be a final determination to every soul to an everlasting and unchangeable condition of endless bliss or wo O this Eternity it swallows up all our thoughts if it were seriously considered it were enough to make the most prophane and profligate sinner to turn the strictest Saint that ever trod upon earth Therefore to make some Use of this Live in a continual expectation of Christs coming But some will say This day of Judgment cannot be so sudden for the Jews are not yet called and Antichrist is not yet come down I answer and O that this Answer might sink into your hearts Though the world should continue a thousand years yet there is a particular Judgment as well as a general every mans deaths-day is every mans dooms-day It is appointed for all men once to die and after that the judgment As soon as the Soul departs out of the body then it is judged the Soul is judged then either to Heaven or Hell therefore thy day of death will be the Judgment-day to thee when ever it falls though it falls this week before the next Oh that you and I could be affected as Jerom was Whether I eat or drink or whatever I do methinks I hear the Trumpet sound in my ears Arise ye dead and come to Judgment Therefore let your whole lives be a continual Preparation for that great day get those graces that may present you without spot or blot before Gods Tribunal Get 1. The precious grace of Faith for that puts on the Royal Robe of Christs righteousness and in that Robe you will stand undaunted 2. Get Repentance from dead works be purifying your selves more and more as he is pure Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the day of refreshing shall come Act. 3.19 3. Get a Christian and constant care and diligence in your general and particular callings Blessed is the man whom his Lord shall find so doing This is the first Motive drawn from the suddenness of our Saviours coming I come quickly Another Motive and of that a few words and I have done That no man take thy Crown The danger of losing the Crown But here it may be demanded What is meant by Crown I answer Either the Crown of Gospel-Ministry or else the Crown of eternal Life First God honoured this Church with a very glorious Ministry so that the very Adversaries the seeming Jews did worship that is did submit themselves to this Church and acknowledg Her to be beloved of God God honoured this Church with a very glorious Ministry Then it may be meant of the Crown of life as Mr Perkins well observes upon the Text Rev. 2.10 I will give thee a Crown of life But here it may be demanded Can the Crown of Life be lost To this I Answer In the visible Church there are Hypocrites as well as sincere Christians Now Hypocrites may lose the Crown because they never had a title to it they never had a title to the Crown of Glory a man must have an interest in grace before he can have a title to the Crown of glory For others that have grace begun in their hearts you must know such cautions as these are are to quicken them 2 John 8 Look well to your selves that we lose not those things which we have wrought but that we receive a full reward Heb. 12.15 Beware lest any of you fall short of the grace of God Or it may be such cautions are put in to let you see that if you are left to your selves you would let go grace and lose glory and all To shut up all If a Gospel-Ministry be a Crown Oh that you and I would learn to prize a Gospel-Ministry more than we have done it may be God will teach you to know the worth of it by the want of it hold it fast remember God can give the Gospel to another Nation that may be will bring forth better fruit than we have done and when the Gospel is gone our glory is gone then we may say The Glory the Glory is departed from England But then 2. If there be a Crown of glory laid up for them that do hold out then receive that Exhortation a Text I opened in many Sermons on Heb. 4.1 Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it Therefore take hold of God by Faith Be much in prayer be much in wrestling
Lesson That such and so great is the indispensable need that we have of the Lord Jesus Christ that without him we are undone for ever In the 53d verse of this exeellent Chapter Verily verily I say unto you except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you He speaks there of eating of his flesh and drinking his blood in a spiritual manner You know there are many desires of the Soul that may be dispenced with but hunger is a desire that must be satisfied unless you have bread for your sustenance the body dies so unless you have Jesus Christ for your spiritual sustenance your Souls die and drop down into Hell for ever for look as the union of the Body with the Soul is the life of the Body so the union of the Soul with Jesus Christ is the life of the Soul O hearken to this thou that art yet in a natural and unregenerate estate uncalled unconverted that never was yet transplanted from off the old rotten stock of Adam and replanted into the true Vine the Lord Jesus Christ if thou livest in this estate and diest in this estate thou art undone for ever the poorest worm that crawls upon the ground is in a better condition than thou art in Acts 26.27 Believest thou the Prophets said St. Paul to King Agrippa I know that thou believest Believest thou this Doctrine say I to thee that art yet uncalled unconverted I know thou believest it not for if thou didst believe it thou couldest not rest contented in a Christless condition for one week no not for one day but wouldest by prayers and tears and supplications cry out Lord Jesus give me thy self whatever thou denyest me give me thy self though I be as poor as Job upon the Dunghil But we cannot perswade men that the danger of a natural estate and condition is so great as indeed it is but the Lord convince you and perswade you of it A second Doctrinal Inference that may be hence deduced is this If Jesus Christ be the living bread then it follows the vanity and emptiness and insufficiency of all Creature-accommodations is exceeding great name what you will of these outward accommodations that the World do so greedily gape after whether Riches or Honours or Pleasures or goodly brave Buildings this and that alas we may say of them they are not bread Isa 55.2 Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not bread Your money that is your precious opportunities your time that is your money to make your Markets for Eternity with for Moments are the Markets for Eternity Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Alas alas these outward things they are neither satisfactory nor permanent they are not satisfactory for Solomon tells us that He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance with encrease Eccles 5.10 As soom may you hope to fill a Chest with Wisdom and Knowledg as to fill a Soul which is a spiritual substance with temporal things And as these outward things are are satisfactory so neither are they permanent or lasting 1 Cor. 6.13 Meats for the belly and the belly for meats but God shall deslroy both it and them Look as the belly devours the meat so the worms at last shall devour the belly and so both meat and belly perish together But if you can but once get this spiritual bread the Lord Christ you shall never perish Alas alas consider your own folly and brutishness in seeking for satisfaction here below where none is to be found your bread without Christ is but gravel in your throats your moral Vertues without Christ are but glittering sins your bodies without Christ are but dust and ashes dust that will drop down into the Grave and ashes that are fitted for the Furnace of Hell-fire your Souls without Christ are but the Devils Palace your lives without Christ is but the service of sin and your deaths without Christ will be nothing else but the wages of sin Oh who would rest then in a Christless condition Who would sit down contented with these poor transitory shadowy comforts A third Lesson we may learn by way of Inference is this If Jesus Christ be the living bread then our main end and errand in coming to the Lords Table is not to feed the Body but to feed the Soul 1 Cor. 11.21 What have you not Houses to eat and to drink in saith the Apostle So that it is not the end of your coming to the Lords Table therefore you eat but a little piece of Bread and drink but a little draught of Wine to put you in mind that it is not the Body that you come to feed but you come to feed the Soul and therefore you should labour to get a preparation suitable to that spiritual bread that you are to taste of But what is that you will say I answer There should be something done before your coming and something done in the Administration of the Elements and something done after the receiving of the Elements First There should be something done before you come Oh beg a blessing upon your spiritual bread Man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Matth. 4.4 I may apply it thus Your Souls will not live by this Sacramental Bread but by the Word of Gods blessing If God will bless this spiritual food to you your Souls shall live On therefore beg the Blessing of God upon this Heavenly Bread Secondly And then there is something to be done while you are eating this Bread you should get your hearts all on fire with love to this blessed Redeemer that was contented to be made bread to be prepared food as I told you even now to be threshed and winnowed and ground and bak'd and scorch'd in the Oven of his Fathers Wrath Oh how should your hearts be all on a flame with Love as the two Disciples were going to Emaus As Jesus Christ brake bread and gave it to them and opened to them the Scriptures their hearts did burn within them Luke 24.32 they were as it were all on a fire So should it be with you when you come to the Lords Table you should have your meditations wholly taken up with that which is the life of the Sacrament even the death of our Saviour let not your hearts be roving and wandering about watch them narrowly you will hardly keep them close to a duty two Minutes without great watching Thirdly There is something to be done after when you have eaten of this living bread that is to be exceeding thankful study to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing That 's the first Use of Information The second Vse is of Exhortation Is Jesus Christ that living bread that gives eternal life to all those that have a
the Gospel may be said to increase a mans curse and condemnation Whereas now the Law in its own nature is said to be a killing Letter because it leaves a man in a state of death and leaves him under a curse and does not shew him the way at all â—ow to avoid that curse as the Gospel does therefore the Apostle says The Law is a killing Letter of it self but the Spirit giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6 because in the preaching of the Gospel the Spirit of God is conveyed into our souls which enables us in some acceptable manner to perform what the Gospel enjoyns and thus you have the Point opened to you That the knowledg of Life and Immortality that Eternal Salvation that is laid up for the Saints in light is discovered and revealed by the Preaching of the Gospel For the Use of the Point now And the first is by way of Information and there are four Doctrinal Inferences or Lessons that we may learn fron this point thus opened 1. See how infinitely we stand indebted and ingaged to our gracious God that hath lookt upon us here in this Nation and in this City who hath brought us into the fellowship of th Gospel and hath kept us in that fellowship for so many years together Oh that we should live under the showres and Sun-shine of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ for almost a hundred years together without interruption What a singular mercy is this if we did but know how to prize it He hath scarce dealt so with any Nation under Heaven as he hath dealt with us What did God see more in us than in Turks Indians and Pagans that never heard of God nor Gospel He foresaw how we would despise this precious Pearl and how we would be ready to trample it under foot God foresaw how weary we would be of those glorious Gospel-mysteries that are discovered to us from day to day yet it did not hinder him from bestowing this precious Jewel upon us therefore not to us not to us but to his own Name be the Glory 2. A second Lesson we may learn by way of inference is this If the knowledg of eternal life be discovered in the Gospel then it follows Where-ever God hath a Church planted or a Church to be planted there will still be need of a powerful quickning soul-searching Ministry for the discovery and making known the Mysteries of Salvation The publick preaching Ministry of the Gospel is that standing Ordinance that must continue in the Church of Jesus Christ so long as he hath a Church here upon earth and this appears by that of the Apostle Ephes 4.11 12 13 And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the prefecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ How long till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledg of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ That is to the end of the World God will have a standing Ministry where-ever he hath a Church planted or to be planted God will have a Gospel standing Ministry till all the Saints be gathered If this be so then how justly are they to be reproved that think that a Gospel-ministry of all other things may be best spared if there be any such here mark what I say You could ill want any of the four Elements Earth Air Fire or Water You could ill want Salt Bread Drink Cloathing let me tell you a Gospel-ministry is as needful as any of these I have named as Earth Air Fire Water as Salt Bread Drink Cloathing for does not Solomon say Prov. 29.18 Where there is no vision the people perish and would you have your souls perish everlastingly Is not our soul worth a whole World It was a noble speech of Luther It were better that the whole World were in a Combustion and Confusion than that the Gospel should not be preached or that any one soul that belongs to Jesus Christ should be neglected And it was spoken concerning Chrysostom who was a famous Light in the Church It was better that the Sun should not shine than that Chrysostom should not preach and it was a witty observation of a Father speaking concerning the beheading of John Baptist Herod took off John Baptists head because of the promise he made to the Damosel Whatever she ask'd him to the half of his Kingdom should be granted says that Father speaking of this passage Herod might have kept his promise though he had not taken off John Baptists head for he promised the Damosel to give her to the half of his Kingdom But now says he John Baptists head was worth a whole Kingdom Pray tell me you that have slight thoughts of the Gospel or of a Gospel-ministry Does not the Scripture compare Ministers to Planters to Builders to Fathers to Remembrancers to Stars to spiritual Guides and to a City upon a Hill and the like If ever you be trees of Righteousness in Gods Garden it is a Ministry that hath planted you and if ever you be spiritual stones in Gods everlasting Building it must be the Ministry must build you if ever you be Sons and Daughters begotten to eternal Life it is the Ministry must beget you For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 says the Apostle and if ever your seet be guided into the way that leads into everlasting life it is a Gospel-ministry must guide you and if ever you be led to Jesus Christ as the Wise-men were by the Star in the East when Christ was born in Betlehem it must be these spiritual Stars that are in the firmament of Gods Church that must lead you Now judg in your selves therefore whether a Gospel-ministry can be spared 3. The third Doctrinal inference is this If the knowledg of eternal Salvation comes by the Gospel then it teacheth us this Lesson also How infinitely it does concern us to prize and fruitfully to improve our Gospel-seasons those opportunities God puts into our hands for the enriching of our souls but especially we should improve our Sabbath-day opportunities because Sabbaths are the Market-days of Eternity the Markets wherein we must make provision for Eternity Oh how careful should we be to improve these Gospel-seasons Let me tell you Gospel-seasons are very precious seasons because marvellous precious things are tendred to you in the preaching of the Gospel more precious than all the Gold of Ophir more precious than all the Kingdoms of the World if they were in your own power for in the preaching of the Gospel a precious Christ who is the Pearl of price worth ten thousand thousand Worlds and more worth this precious Christ this Pearl of Price may now be obtained and a precious Covenant a Covenant made between God and the soul this precious Covenant may
I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth Secondly Thou mayst know it by that spiritual strife and combat and conflict that is in thee certainly there will be a conflict in thy soul because there are two contrary principles there put water to water or fire to fire and there is no conflict but put water and fire together and there will be a great conflict So corruption will not strive with corruption but where there is Grace and corruption in one soul there will be a combat and conflict the Flesh will lust against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh Gal. 5.17 Thirdly Thou mayst know thou hast life in thee by thy spiritual crying thou wilt cry out for deliverance from danger and evil O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Thou wilt make this the chief subject of thy suit and supplication to God from day to day O that once I might be freed from a base whorish backsliding-heart that continually is departing from God Fourthly If thou hast life certainly that grace thou hast though it be but weak though it be but little though it be but as a spark yet it shall prevail against corruption for wherever the Lord Christ enters into the soul to dwell there he comes like a Conquerour and he brings forth Judgment unto victory Matth. 12.20 That is his Government shall be victorious over all the opposition of sin and Satan Grace like oyl will be uppermost if there be but a spark of Grace in thy heart it shall not be quenched but it shall rather increase more and more and at last shall grow up into a flame as the fire of the Lord that came upon Elijahs offering 1 Kings 18.38 consumed the burnt-sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench Grace is a fire that comes down from Heaven though there be but a little spark of it at first yet by little and little it will lick up all the water of our corruptions and consume our sins Grace will grow stronger and stronger and corruption weaker and weaker That is the first symptom of an infirmity If there be spiritual life in the soul but if there be not spiritual life there is no infirmity Secondly The second Sign or Symptom of an infirmity is this That may be said to be an infirmity when some particular action crosses the main intention of the heart If thine eye be single if thy heart be upright if the Byas and bent of thy soul be towards God then all the obliquity or all the swervings in thy life are but lookt upon as infirmities For example A good Archer that is handling his Bow may-be his eye is right and his aim is right but through the weakness of his hand or the distemper of his Bow he may miss the Mark that is an infirmity So here if thy eye be right towards Gods Commandments if thy intention be to please God if the bent and byas of thy soul be God-ward not sin-ward then all the rest of the obliquity or swervings that are in thy actions are lookt upon but as infirmities As a Traveller for example in his journey if he set his face the right way and he be enquiring the way and willing to follow the way or if when he goeth out of the way he check himself though he may miss of the way through ignorance or may be seduced by some that told him wrong yet that may be said to be but an infirmity So here when thou canst set thy face towards Heaven as the children of Israel and Judah are described Jer. 50.5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward saying Come let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten When a man thus sets his face towards Heaven then his wandrings out of the way if they be beside the intention of his purpose and mind are lookt upon but as infirmities David was out of his way when in a fury he would be avenged on Nabal for his churlishness when he said God do so to me and more also if I cut not off Nabal and every one that belongs to his Family yet when Abigail a wise Woman comes and tells him he was out of his way how glad was he and stops his course and said Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging my self with my own hand 1 Sam. 25.32 33. See the difference between the sin of Judas and the sin of Peter Judas you know he sinned with deliberation and his intention was stark naught his intention and purpose of betraying his Master was to inrich himself he was a Thief and nibled money out of his Masters Bag therefore his intention was naught But on the contrary look on Peter when he thrice denyed his Master it was a great sin too but it was without his intention or purpose certainly Peter had no intention at all to deny his Master but it fared with him as a man that is writing with his Pen in his hand and writing a straight Line but it may be some body comes and joggs him on the Elbow so he makes a crooked line against his will Or as a man that is shooting at a Mark but some body comes and joggs his Elbow and makes his Arrow to go awry thus was it with Peter This is the second Sign or Symptome of an infirmity Thirdly That is an Infirmity when a mans judgment is kept sound and upright that he does not approve of any sin when no sin hath any allowance or approbation in his heart this was the fruit of John Baptist his Preaching Isa 40.4 Every Valley shall be exalted and every Mountain and Hill shall be made low and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain that is those that are converted by John Baptists preaching they would not look on crooked things as plain or plain things as crooked that is they would not defend or justifie themselves in sin but look upon sin as sin and duty as duty and they would not look upon the ways of God as crooked but straight they were indeed crooked to them before because their judgment was not sound but now they look upon them as straight and all his ways to be equal ways A child of God will be sure to commend that duty which yet he cannot practise and he will be sure to condemn that sin into which yet he often slips and falls and that because his judgment is right duty will be duty in his eye and sin will be sin in his eye though through infirmity he may fail in the one and fall into the
other Fourthly He that sins through infirmity will still keep his conjugal love to Jesus Christ and although some failings in him may work a kind of estrangement between Christ and his soul yet notwithstanding his heart will still cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ and this appears thus Because he will chuse no other Husband he will chuse no other Saviour for all this but he would rejoyce with all his heart if he might be but reconciled to Jesus Christ though there hath been some unkindness between Christ and him He says I will return to my first Husband for then was it better with me than now Hos 2.7 and he is grieved for the unevenness of his carriage towards so sweet a Husband us he hath been to him If there be such a disposition in you to hold fast your conjugal love to Jesus Christ and still keep close to him though there may be some unkindness yet thou pitchest on no other Husband certainly this is but an infirmity But says the poor soul Can that be an infirmity that cleaves to me all my days that I have been vext and perplext with twenty thirty years together I answer Possibly there may be such infirmities cleave to Gods children As for example some deadness in duties dulness and deadness in hearing the Word it may be slipperiness of memory or forgetfulness of the words we have heard or it may be some strong corruption which is like a thorn in the flesh which the Lord Jesus hath left in thee to humble thee and to make thee base in thy own eyes all thy days But it may be then you will object and say How then will this stand with the Doctrine you delivered even now you made it a mark or token of spiritual life That Grace will prevail against corruption that the Government of the Lord Jesus Christ would be victorious I answer True Grace will be victorious at last but I do not say it will be all at once but it will be by degrees and it is some kind of victory and conquest over corruption when it is subdued though it be not quite extinguished if it be weakned and abated though it be not destroyed when a man can feelingly cry out of it as the Apostle did O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death and he breaks out and says thanks be to God through Jesus Christ Rom. 7.25 Secondly I answer God sometimes works by contraries God is carrying on the work of Grace in his Children when corruptions seem to be thriving and growing when God means to give his Children victory he suffers them to be foyled first the work of Grace in the heart sometimes goes backwards that it may go forwards As the Seed that is sown in the Field it rots in the ground before it springs and grows Sometimes you must know that God will strengthen us by our very slippings he will have us learn to stand by our very falls and bruises he will have us to be strengthened by our weaknesses and infirmities he will have us to be deep-rooted by our shakings Our infirmities are the keepers of our Graces it makes us look more carefully to our own standings it is good therefore to observe the methods and manner of Gods dealing with our souls and to learn to live by faith be acting of faith in the business of our infirmities for as I have often told you The life of faith is in the use of faith so much as we use faith so much we live by it it is good for a man to live by faith in point of his infirmities and to say when I am foyled I shall have victory when I fall I shall arise when I am weak I am strong as the Church said Micah 7.8 Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall arise when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me Thus you have the explication of the point what an Infirmity is and what are the causes of it and what are the signs and symptoms of it For the use of the point 1. For Consolation 2. For Caution 3. For Exhortation First For Consolation because that is the principal use of the Text And O that I could speak not only to the ears but to the heart of any poor doubting drooping dejected soul O that this Doctrine might be as a box of ointment to comfort such an one to refresh him O that I eould but drop in some Consolation into any poor bruised soul that hears me this day that such an one might lift up those hands that hang down and feeble knees that tremble Isa 35.3 And this is the comfort I have to tender to thee That the Lord will not reject thee for an infirmity He carries his Lambs in his Arms and gathers them in his bosom poor weak ones he carries them in his bosom when it may be the Leg is broken and they are not able to go he gently leads those with young in all their fears doubts and disquietments about their Condition he hath a tender care of his Lambs of his weak ones If thou art but one of Christ Lambs know thus much for thy comfort that he hath a care of the poorest Lamb that is in his Flock if thou art a Plant in his Vineyard know that he hath a care of the tenderest Plant never was it known that a merciful and compassionate Father cast off a child because of his weakness many times it may be when the child is so sick and weak that it is not able to speak but only to say Father it may be it cannot speak out then the Bowels of the Father yearns towards him the more the weaker the child is and unable to speak the more his compassions are rowling towards him O let not our unbelief make Jesus Christ unnatural Do we think that Jesus Christ has less compassion toward his Lambs than Jacob had Jacob was such a Shepherd that he had such a tender care of his Lambs that says he if you over-drive the flocks the lambs will die and do you think that Jesus Christ is less sollicitous for the good of his But alas says the poor soul my infirmities discourage me they weaken my assurance and rob me of my peace and comfort I answer true it is infirmities do so but they should not do so and that they may not do so take these three or four Considerations First Consider in every infirmity as there is something against God so there is something also from God There is something against God that is true because our infirmities are not suitable to the holiness and strictness of his Law and therefore we should strive against them with prayer and care and watchfulness But as there is something against God so there is something also from God It may be he le ts loose those infirmities upon thee even like a Messenger of Satan to buffet thee to humble
of the Lord Jesus Christ deny that he is God when this is one of the Titles wherewith he is called The Mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace What glorious Titles are here So you shall read he is called his Fathers delight Isa 42.1 Behold my servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my sul delighteth And the Fathers bosom-friend John 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time save the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him If the love of all the Parents in the World were concentred in one it were but as a drop of that infinite Ocean of Love that is between the Father and the Son Nay more he is called the Fathers Fellow Zech. 13.7 Awake O Sword against my Shepherd and against the man that is my Fellow saith the Lord of Hosts So likewise he is called The Head of the Church Eph. 5.23 and the Judg both of quick and dead Acts 10.42 In a word such is the Dignity of his Person such is the Excellency of his Merits such is the sweetness of his Graces such is the fulness of his Perfection that the Scripture does abundantly put those terms of honour upon the Lord Christ as sometimes comparing him to a Corner-stone because he does support us Ephes 2.20 Sometimes to A Vine because he does refresh us John 15.1 Sometimes unto a Physician because he does heal us Matth. 9.12 Sometimes to a Day-star because he does enlighten us Rev. 22.16 Sometimes to A Shepherd because he does lead us John 10. Sometimes to Manna or the Bread of life because he does feed us What glorious Titles are these that are given to Christ therefore he is precious in his Titles Thirdly As he is precious in his Titles so he is precious in his Offices in his Kingly Office in his Priestly Office and in his Prophetical Office First He is precious in his Kingly Office he calls himself The King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev 19.16 The King of Kings He is such a King that conquers the enemies of our Salvation as Sin and Satan and Death and Hell and the World other Kings Rule over us but this King can only Rule in us My Kingdom is not of this world saith he The Kingdom of God is within you Lnke 17.21 This King can make Laws that can bind the Conscience he is such a King as hath all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him Matth. 28.18 Again He is such a Priest as hath reconeiled us to God the Father and ever lives to make intercession for us who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities Col. 1.21 Heb. 7.25 Heb. 4.15 And he is such a Prophet as can perfectly instruct his Church others may preach to the ear but he hath his Pulpit in Heaven only that can preach to the heart other Preachers can open the Scriptures but it is Jesus Christ only that can open our understandings that we may understand the Scriptures Luke 24.45 Then opened he their underderstandings that they might understand the Scriptures O what glorious Offices are these Fourthly He is precious in his Ordinances For Example His Word is exceeding precious to all those that have tasted the sweetness of it how precious was it to David Psalm 119.72 The Law of thy Mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver How precious are Sabbaths to those that know how much of Heaven is wrapt up in the Sabbath Certainly these Sabbath-days are Market-days for our Souls wherein we may make provision for Eternity days wherein the Lord Jesus Christ many times communicates himself and much of his sweetness to those that wait upon him in holy Duties And how precious is the Ordinance of the Lords Supper wherein the Lord Christ makes us a feast of fat things a feast of Wines on the Lees of fat things full of Marrow Wines on the Lees well refined Isa 25. Wherein he gives his own flesh to eat his flesh that was crucified to satisfie Divine Justice and his own blood to drink that blood which only can quench the fire of Hell quench the fire of Gods anger which otherwise would have been burning and burning against us to all Eternity Fifthly As he is precious in his Ordinances so he is precious in his Prerogatives for he and he only is the Saviour of the World and besides him there was no other Saviour Acts 4.12 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved That is there is nothing can be named for it is but a Hebraism there is nothing can be named under Heaven whereby we can be saved but only the Name of Jesus Christ he had no Coadjutor or Helper in the work of our Redemption Isa 63.3 I have trodden the Wine-press alone and of the People there was none with me for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments and I will stain all my rayment And as he is the only Saviour so he is the only Mediator too For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 So he is the only Head of his Church Eph. 1.22 And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church He only hath the Supremacy and Authority as being Omnipotent and Omnipresent one that is able to protect his people from all injuries one that is able to prevent all the plots and projects that are hatcht and invented against them he hath these Prerogatives that cannot be given to any Creature in Heaven or Earth but only unto him therefore he is precious in his Prerogatives Sixthly The Lord Christ is precious also in the purchase of his blood the purchase he made for us by his blood is a very precious purchase and the portion that he bestows on his Elect that he hath purchased for them is a precious portion so he is precious not only in regard of his Person but in regard of his Portion For Example the Redemption that he hath wrought for us by his blood is a precious Redemption a Redemption from Sin and Satan and Death and Hell In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins Ephes 1.7 Secondly The donation or bestowing of his Spirit it is a very precious gift that the Spirit of God should in his Name that is for his Merit be bestowed upon all those that do believe But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you John 14.26 O what a precious invaluable gift is it to have the Spirit of God given us to quicken us to draw us to Jesus Christ and to carry on the
first work of his Conversion and it is called A Passive Humiliation because the Sinner is wholly Passive and doth nothing at all conducing to his Conversion and of this the Text speaks of Secondly There is An Active Humiliation and this is that whereby a Sinner humbles himself before God of this you read 2 Chron. 12.7 They have humbled themselves therefore I will not destroy them Now it is not this latter I am to speak of this to speak properly is nothing but the act of renewed Repentance but I am to speak of the first namely that whereby God in the first work of Conversion lets a man see the need that he hath of Jesus Christ and it may be thus described Passive humiliation is a work of the Spirit of God whereby a poor Sinner being stricken with a sense of his sin and fear of wrath doth fly out of himself and closeth with Jesus Christ I say It is a work of the Spirit of God because it is the Spirit that convinceth of sin and by convincing of sin he humbles the Soul and hence it is the Spirit of God in the first work of Conversion is called the spirit of bondage Rom. 8.15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Why is it called the spirit of bondage not because the Spirit of God brings the Soul into bondage for the Spirit of God is a free Spirit Psalm 51.12 Vphold me with thy free Spirit and where the Spirit of God is there is liberty But he is called a Spirit of bondage because he discovers to us our bondage and lets the Sinner see the bondage and slavery wherein he is miserably captivated under sin and Satan A man before the work of Conversion is wrought thinks himself a Free-man We are Abrahams Seed and were never in bondage to any how sayest thou we shall be made free John 8.33 But now the Spirit of God comes and lets a man see himself in the glass of Gods Law whereby he discovers sin to be out of measure sinful and it lets him see himself in the glass of Conscience and so comes to the Sinner and says to him just as Nathan did to David Thou art the man thou art he that lieth under the guilt of sin and under the wrath of God and under the condemnation of the second death therefore look to it When the Spirit of God lets a man see himself and his bondage and that state of wo and misery in which he is then he confesseth he is in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity Again I say in the description of it that the poor Sinner is stricken with the sense of his sin and with the fear of wrath Before a man is humbled he is just like a man in a dead sleep in a drunken sleep he hears not he fears not he feels not like the Drunkard that Solomon speaks of Prov. 23.34 35 Yea thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the Sea or as he that lieth upon the top of a Mast they have stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick they have beaten me and I felt it not when I shall awake I will seek it yet again But when once the Spirit of God comes to strike the Sinner to the purpose now sin is revived and Conscience awakened and convicted as the Apostle Paul saith I was alive once without the Law alive in my own apprehension alive without the spiritual knowledg of the Law but sin revived and I died Rom. 7.9 Then the Law shewed me I was but a dead man O Conscience now began to be awakened and convicted Sense of sin brings with it a fear of wrath and hence it is that the spirit of bondage is called a Spirit of fear 2 Tim. 1.7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of Power of Love and of a sound mind And this fear doth awaken a man and leave some kind of impression upon the spirit of a man so that he is awakened and looks out for help out of himself Again I say A Sinner thus stricken with the sense of his sin flyes out of himself and flyes to Jesus Christ That is he despairs of all hope and help in himself I dare say he was never a true Believing Sinner that was not a despairing Sinner understand me thus There is a Religious desperation as well as a damning-desperation I say a Sinner that is stricken with the sense of his sins despairs of help in himself this is an holy despair whereby a man renounceth all hope of help in himself and flyes to Jesus Christ This is a certain Rule The less a man trusts in himself the more he trusts in a Saviour That 's the first thing What this Humiliation is A second Question to be satisfied is this Whether the like measure of humiliation be wrought in all those that are brought home to Jesus Christ I answer No some have more and some have less according to the different tempers of mens spirits some men are more froward and some are more ingenious those that are openly prophane stout stubborn Sinners they usually have a great measure of humiliation but now those that are more flexible have a less measure of humiliation to the first God comes like a mighty rushing wind to the second sort he comes like a still wind in a more mild and melting way sometimes God breaks in upon the Sinners heart with open violence as he did upon St. Paul when he was smitten down to the ground Acts 9. Sometimes again God opens the heart without any noise as he did the heart of Lydia Acts 16. Sometimes God suffers a Sinner to lie long under the spirit of bondage those especially that he hath appointed for some special use and service to himself as the Timber that is appointed for some special service lies long a soaking before it be made use of Sometimes again Sinners are set free from Legal terrors suddenly now this is the least measure of Humiliation wrought in those that are brought home to Jesus Christ to make sin odious and loathsome to a man and to make a man fly out of himself to Jesus Christ There is a twofold Passive humiliation 1. A Legal Humiliation 2. An Evangelical Humiliation The Legal humiliation is that which consists in Legal terror and fear of wrath and the sense of Gods wrath and horror of Conscience and fear of Hell-fire Secondly There is an Evangelical humiliation and that consists in the operation of Gods blessed Spirit convincing a man of sin when the Spirit of God convinceth the Sinner and by convincing him empties him of himself and by emptying him fits him for a Saviour Legal humiliation Pray mark though it makes a greater noise yet it is not always absolutely needful for all persons which I prove thus It is not a grace
and Comfort and Mercy and lead men to Heaven in a mild and meek and gentle way To this I Reply What would you have us apply a Plaister where there is no sore Would you have us apply a Cordial where they are not sick Would you have us pour in the Oil where there is no wound God himself pours not in the Oil of Mercy but into a broken Vessel Isa 61.1 The Lord knows we delight not in preaching any terrible Doctrines to you if you were but fitted for mercy but if you are not fitted for Mercy then as the pricking Needle makes way for the sewing of the Cloth together so this kind of Preaching convincing and humbling the Sinner makes way for the bringing of Christ and the Soul together and therefore you may well bear with it A second Instruction that we may learn from hence is this It serves to let us see what the reason is that there are so few Believers so few converted and convinced O Ministers cannot speak of this scarce without watery eyes Truly heretofore three thousand were converted at one Sermon but now there is scarce one that is converted with three thousand Sermons O whence is it that the work of Conversion is almost at an end in England in London It is rare to hear of a Soul converted we hear of many that are perverted that are led into by-paths of Error and Heresie and Blasphemy and Schism but it is a rare matter to hear of one converted they are but few that see the need they have of Christ that prize him that believe in him that obey him that constantly cleave to him but most men are very well contented to be in a natural condition they are secure and quiet without Christ but what is the Reason Because they do not see the need they have of Christ for if they did but see the need they have of him they would say They may better want light than want Jesus Christ who is the Light and by whom they may have the Light of Life John 8.12 They may better want Bread for their bodies than the Lord Jesus Christ who is the bread and spiritual food of the Soul I am the Bread of Life John 6. If they did but see the need they have of him doubtless they would close with him but why do not they see the need that they have of him The Reason is Because they are not humbled they were never yet stricken with the sense of sin they never yet saw the inside of themselves they never with the Jaylor in the Text were afrighted amazed stricken down in the sense of sin Oh this is the misery of all miseries which Ministers have most cause to complain of that men are not fitted enough for Jesus Christ they are not lost enough in themselves for a Saviour Hos 14.3 With thee the fatherless find mercy Were we more hopeless helpless and fatherless we should find more mercy from the hand of Jesus Christ O that God would awaken and shake some sin-sleeping Soul this day Oh that this Doctrine thus opened might be as a Thunderbolt to let some of you see the inside of your selves O poor Sinner thou hast an insupportable burden of sin and guilt lying on thy Soul ready to press thee down to Hell and yet thou feelest it not thou hast the wrath of God hanging over thy head by the twined thred of a short life which it may be thou mayst not be free from one year nay perhaps not one month but thou seest it not if thou didst but see it then thou wouldst cry out as he did in Bosworth field A Horse a Horse a Kingdom for a Horse so thou wouldst cry out None but Christ nothing but Christ ten thousand Worlds for Christ The second Use of Exhortation And I have but two Exhortations to tender to you First I beseech you and exhort you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ whose poor Messenger I am that you would labour to be convinced of the necessity of humiliation believe it be perswaded of it be convinced of it that thou must be broken if ever thou wouldst have Jesus Christ to bind thee up thou must be sick of sin if ever thou wouldst have Jesus Christ to heal thee thou must be dejected and cast down if ever thou wouldst have Jesus Christ to comfort thee if God therefore do not open thine eyes and awaken thy Conscience and touch thy heart I do pronounce against thee that there is no Christ no Heaven no Pardon no Peace no Comfort no Salvation for thee Oh the miserable deplorable condition of all you that were never yet humbled you that never yet were convinced of sin you that never tasted the bitterness of sin you that never felt the burden of sin that never yet complained with the Apostle Rom. 7 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Some derive the word from a man that is troubled with the stone in the bladder O wretched man that I am O miserable is the condition that you are in you that never yet felt sin to be sin that have not felt the burden of it nor tasted the bitterness of it you are not fit to come to Jesus Christ you are out of his Commission for he is sent to the humble and broken hearted Sinner Isa 61. It may be thou knowest what sin is and Christ is and Grace is notionally but there is a great deal of difference between knowing and inward feeling wretched was thy condition if thou didst but feel it but a thousand times more wretched it is because thou feelest it not My second Exhortation to you is this If so be sound humiliation be a necessary Antecedent to Faith and Salvation then use the utmost of your endeavours that you may be humbled broken and bruised Sinners that you may be put into a capacity to close with a Saviour Now because I know this is but a harsh Exhortation give me leave to sweeten it with these three Considerations First Remember that the promises of Grace and Mercy are made to all humbled Sinners Levit. 26.41 If then their uncircumcised hearts shall be humbled and they accept of the punishment of their iniquities then will I remember my Covenant with Jacob and also my Covenant with Isaac and also my Covenant with Abraham will I remember and I will remember the Land Secondly Consider God never looks with so much mercy and compassion on any as those that are most humbled Jer. 31.18 20 When Ephraim bemoaned himself thus Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a Bullock unaccustomed to the yoke I have been proud and stout and stubborn under all thy Rods Turn thou me and I shall be turned Surely after I was turned I repented after I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded Now in the 20 verse you have God bemoaning Ephraim Is Ephraim my dear