of Antichrists followers by this That they had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thess 2.12 By all which the pleasures of sin appear to be forbidden pleasures so that no man can injoy any one lust but he must resolve to controul God to violate his Authority and break his Command and he that breaks this hedge a serpent will bite him Eccles 10.8 But where are we forbid to take pleasure in Godliness Are spiritual delights forbidden fruit May not a man rejoyce in God O yes For 1. This is so far from being forbidden as a sin that it is commanded as a duty Delight thy self in the Lord Psal 37.4 Rejoyce in the Lord always and again I say rejoyce Phil. 4.4 2. It is the true Character of a godly man His delight is in the law of the Lord Psal 1.2 I will delight my self in thy commandments which I have loved Psal 119.47 I delight in the law of God after the inner man Rom. 7.22 This no unregenerate man can attain to Will he delight himself in the Almighty says Job of the Hypocrite Chap. 27.10 He may do much but this he cannot do He may pray and read and hear and make profession of God but he cannot delight in God 3. This makes us sharers in the very pleasures and joys of Saints and Angels in Heaven for the joy and pleasure of that state is in God and Holiness 4. This shall have a sure reward Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart Psal 34.4 Thou shalt delight thy self in the Lord and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father Isai 58.14 Sometimes delight in God is required as a duty but here it is promised as a reward So that here is a double reward promised to delighting in God First Such shall delight in God They that make it their duty it shall be their reward As God sometimes punishes sin with sin Hos 8.11 which is a great punishment so he rewards delight in God with delight in God which is a great reward They shall find such rich consolations such abundant sweetness and matter of satisfaction in God and his ways as shall fill the Soul with delight Thy comforts delight my soul Psal 94.19 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures Psal 36.8 That is one reward promised Secondly I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father That is literally the blessings of the land of Canaan given for an inheritance to him and his seed but this being a Type of Heaven therefore it is the glorious inheritance above that is chiefly intended So that these spiritual pleasures shall have a sure reward And hence it appears that though the pleasures of sin are forbidden fruit yet the pleasures of holiness are not They are lawful pleasures Sixthly The pleasures of sin are dangerous pleasures full of danger What Solomon says of the Harlot Isai 59.7 Her house inclines to death and her paths to the dead Prov. 2.18 is true of every sin it is a way that takes hold of hell and death Never any went on in it but have miscarried And what pleasure can there be in a way so full of danger But in the pleasures of godliness there is no danger no fear of miscarrying An high way shall be there and it shall be called the way of holiness the way-faring men though fools shall not err therein Isai 35.8 Where there is life without death there must needs be pleasure without danger and so it is here In the way of righteousness is life Prov. 12.28 and in the path-way thereof there is no death O what dangers do men run into for the pleasures of sin dangers of Soul and body dangers of present judgment and eternal torment but here is pleasure without danger Seventhly The pleasures of sin are disturbed pleasures the smarting reflections and checks of Conscience do greatly interrupt the free injoyment of sins delights There are but few sinners but their pleasures in sin are attended with an upbraiding Conscience The best part of a natural man is his Conscience when will and affections are wholly for lust Conscience many times takes part with God when affections intice conscience troubles and gives such an amazing prospect of the dreadful consequences of sin as doth very much abate its pleasures and imbitter its sweetness Nay many have been in great troubles and horrors for sin upon this account the gnawings of this worm within have been such as have utterly extinguished the pleasures of sin for the present Conscience reflects guilt guilt causes fear and fear hath torment 1 John 4.18 And in this case the pain of sin is far more than the pleasure for no man can act with much pleasure against the checks of his own conscience And therefore many have been forced to find out ways to quiet conscience or at least to silence its clamors that they may have a more free and undisturbed injoyment of their lusts and this is that which hath made so many Hypocrites both among Papists and Protestants taking up a little outside devotion and taling over a few prayers to God and then thinking this a full amends to him for what is past and so sin upon a new score Lust can't be freely injoyed unless conscience is silent conscience will not be silent unless God be some way owned and hence though the sinner in his heart hates God and the life of God yet he is forced to mingle somewhat of the practice of devotion with a vicious conversation that he may at once injoy the sweet of his lusts and yet quiet a quarrelling conscience Or if custom in sin and a seared conscience have worn out the sense of such checks and regrets the case is so much the worse where-ever sin is practised and conscience not pained the man is dead past life and past hope Dr. Preston relates of one in Cambridge that falling into a great sin his conscience was troubled but having this temptation upon him That if he did the same sin again his conscience would trouble him no more he complied with the temptation and ran into the same sin again after which his conscience was silent and from that time he went on in his lusts without trouble or controul But the pleasures of godliness are undisturbed pleasures Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 3.17 The sinner hath pleasure but no peace but in the ways of God the good man hath pleasure and peace And it must needs be sweet where pleasure is attended with peace There is a twofold peace that doth attend the life of godliness peace supernal and peace internal The one is a peace between God and Conscience The other is a peace between conscience and a mans self And where this peace is the pleasure of the Soul must needs be an uninterrupted pleasure
many times the sinner out-lives all his joys and delights they tarry not till he dies from them but they die from him sometimes pining diseases sometimes continued crosses sometimes a worm in the conscience extinguish these joys and they are never kindled more But if none of these do to be sure death doth for when that once comes then farewel the pleasures of sin for ever Hell is too hot a Climate for wanton delights to live in sin shall be so far from affording delight there that the remembrance of it shall greaten their torment And therefore if the pleasures of sin do not die from us yet we are sure to die from them as Pope Adrian said to his Soul when expiring Quae nunc abibis in loca Nec ut soles dabis jocos Thou art now going where there is no pleasure to be found But now the pleasure of godliness is durable pleasure it is not transient and fading It is not water from a fading brook but from a river whose springs fail not Therefore the Holy Ghost had no sooner said Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures Psal 36.8 but he presently adds in the next verse For with thee is the fountain of life A fountain is always running and yet is never exhausted The river of pleasures which godliness affords is fed from a fountain that is overflowing and ever flowing Fourteenthly The pleasures of sin have a sad end There is a sting in the tail of them they are like the wine Solomon speaks of that though it looketh pleasantly in the cup yet at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder Prov. 23.31 32. The stollen waters of sin how sweet soever they seem to be in the mouth will be gall and wormwood in the belly even bitterness in the latter end So says Zophar Job 20. 12 13 14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth though he hide it under his tongue Though he forsake it not but keep it still within his mouth yet his meat in his bowels is turned it is the gall of asps within him O that sinners would consider the end of sin As Abner said to Joab Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end 2 Sam. 2.26 Sensual pleasure goes out like a candle and leaves a stink behind it great damps and sore griefs in the conscience Wo to you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep Luke 6.25 In Isai 5.14 it is said Hell hath inlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it That is he that lives in the pleasures of sin his present pleasure shall end in Hell where there is punishment without pity misery without mercy sorrow without succour mischief without measure and torments without end This is all you shall ever get by sin a little pleasure and eternal torment But the pleasure of godliness as it is sweet in the way so it is sweeter in the end Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Psal 37.37 Christ keeps the best wine till the last The pleasures of godliness that good men injoy in the way are not to be compared to the pleasures that they shall injoy in the end When the pleasures of sin shall end in the wrath of God and eternal misery the pleasures of godliness shall be so far from being extinguished that they shall be perfected * Si quid male feceriâ— voluptas transit dolor manet si quid benefeceris labor transit voluptas manet For holiness brings us into the full fruition of God at last In whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 So that we may say of the pleasures of holiness and the pleasures of sin as Solomon says of wisdom and folly Eccles 2.13 Wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness So do the pleasures of holiness excel the pleasures of sin And thus you have the pleasure of Christs Yoke made out comparatively viz. by comparing it 1 with the Yoke of the Law 2 with the Yoke of Sin 3 I shall make it out by a collation of instances And I will instance in the most difficult duties of Religion If the most difficult and severe duties of Religion have a real pleasantness in them then it must needs be good to come under the Yoke of Christ but the most difficult duties of Religion have a real pleasantness in them I will instance in three which I take to be the most difficult Repentance Mortification of Sin Bearing the Cross 1. Repentance This seems to be one of the most difficult and unpleasant duties which the Yoke of Christ lays us under It is an afflicting the Soul Ezra 8.21 And what pleasure can there be in affliction It is a being ashamed and confounded for sin Jer. 22.22 And what pleasure is there in shame and confusion It is a renting and breaking the heart Joel 2.13 Psal 51.17 And what pleasure can a man take to have his heart rent and broken It is an exercising indignation and revenge upon our selves 2 Cor. 7.11 And what pleasure is it for a man to be angry with and take revenge upon himself It seems therefore upon all these accounts to be a very difficult duty and yet notwithstanding it is a duty full of pleasure and sweetness And this will be manifest First If you consider it in its spring and rise The work of repentance if it be right hath for the spring of it the efficacy of the grace of the Gospel upon the Soul melting it down at the foot of God The sweet sense of the goodness and mercy of God in Christ thaws the heart and causes it to melt into tears of godly sorrow for all sin done against such infinite love and tender bowels That thou mayst remember and be confounded because of thy shame when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord Ezek. 16.63 The reconciled face of God shining upon a sinner makes him more ashamed of sin than any argument in the world can do And there cannot but be pleasure in the exercise of this grace when it flows from so sweet a spring Secondly If you consider how great a hand it hath in removing the burden of sin Sin is such a burden as will sink the Soul down to Hell if it be not removed And if any man feel it not to be a burden it is because he is dead in sin but where there is any life the burden is very great Mine iniquities are gone over my head as a burden they are too heavy for me Psal 38.4 Now repentance helps to remove the burden of sin for when the Soul repents God forgives and so the burden is took away The pardon of sin is that which takes away the burden of sin this Job intimates in that his expostulation with God
your box of oyntment be never so precious Eccles 10.1 yet this dead fly will spoil it all If once judgment be sent forth to victory over every thing of self then art thou prepared for a full subjection to the Yoke of Christ Nothing a man doth can be called gospel obedience unless it be done from a principle of self-denial for till then all his duties are but a sacrificing to his own net Hab. 1.16 or as the Prophet Hosea calls it a bringing forth fruit to himself Hos 10.1 Our Lord Christ himself acted from this principle for as he did not his own will so he sought not his own glory Joh. 8.50 I seek not mine own glory but the glory of him that sent me A man can never carry it becomingly under the Yoke of Christ nor keep his commandments unless he be acted by a principle of self-denial That is the first thing therefore that you are to look to that the principles of your obedience be right 2. If you would order your conversation aright under this Yoke of Christ see that your obedience be in proper acts and exercises All that is done in Religion is not obedience all that is done with reference to God is not obedience to God There is a building wood and hay 1 Cor. 3.12 and stubble upon the foundation this work must be all burnt It is the vanity of Popery and the wickedness of its teachers to prefer the precepts of men before the commands of Jesus Christ Matt. 15. ◠and so to take up the Yoke of Antichrist instead of the Yoke of Christ This obedience tho done in the name of Christ yet is down right rebellion against Christ Nothing can be obedience to Christ but what is done with respect to the authority of the commands of Christ Not this or that single command but all Many obey Christ in one command and neglect another zealous in some things but must he dispensed with in others The Yoke of Christ doth not consist of any one single observance but is made up of many duties it is as extensive as the preceptive part of the gospel which comprehends in it whatever is in any sense the matter of our duty The whole government of heart and life with respect to God to our selves to others is fully taught by the precepts delivered in the gospel And therefore obedience lies not in some particular observances as to this or that command but it is an intire and full resignation of our selves to the laws of Christ as they are a rule of guidance and government to the whole man We must have respect to all That obedience that is not universal is not real Quod propter Deum fit aequaliter fit I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right Psal 119.128 Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things Phil. 4.8 But yet there is a preference in the commands of Christ some are greater then others there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the weightier matters of the law Matt. 23.23 Some commands are more essential to piety others are more circumstantial Some wherein the glory of God and the salvation of the soul are more immediately concerned in others more remotely Some precepts there are wherein the vitals and main parts of religion are contained there are others that are but as fences about these And therefore though every command is to be obeyed yet some are to be preferred Though it is a duty to respect all yet not with the same degree of respect Though the commands are all equal in regard of the authority of the law-giver yet in respect of the things commanded there is a difference and disproportion To love God is a greater duty than to love my neighbour To obey is better then sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of rams 1 Sam. 15 22. I will have mercy and not sacrifice Matt. 9.13 Now then if you would have your obedience manifested in proper acts and exercises then observe these six rules 1. Neglect no duty in its season several seasons have their several duties annexed to them by God which makes them more a duty then any other duty That which is the duty in season is greater than any other duty 2. Where God layes most weight there we are to express most care As for instance I. Where any commandment is called great there God layes great weight Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great commandment Matt. 22.37 38. Therefore this ought to have our first and greatest observance II. Where God gives forth commands with the greatest sanctions and severest penalties there he layes great weight and there we should express great care So in the second commandment there you have a sanction consisting of a sore threat and a sweet promise Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments Therefore of all sins we should take heed of false worship and idolatry for this God abhors and keep close to divine institution in all religious performances III. Where two duties come together there the greater is to take place of the less Agendum est id quod est major obligatio In this case that which is the lesser duty ceases for that time to be a duty and the greater duty becomes the only duty Thus positive precepts are to give place to moral precepts Though I am commanded to keep the Sabbath and do no work yet for preserving my neighbours life or house when on fire I may as lawfully work on that day as any other And in moral precepts the less is to give place to the greater Thus when the first and the fifth command meet obey God and obey your rulers the first is to take place The power of a delegate is not to be own'd in competition with the authority of God In praesentia majoris cessat potestas minoris In this case superiours are not to be obeyed For no command of superiours can bind against the command of God who is higher then the highest Again when my own temporal good and the spiritual good of another meet in competition I am to prefer his spiritual good before my own temporal good Therefore Paul would rather never eat meat then offend his Brothers conscience This is the meaning of that in 1 Joh. 3.16 We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren That is our corporal lives for their spiritual As in time of persecution when the death of the strong may confirm the saith of the weak and so be a service to the
of an ingaged Providence 3. Is that profitable which brings its own reward with it This Religion doth In keeping thy commandments there is great reward Psal 19.11 The Prophet seems here not to intend the future recompence of reward which the obedient shall receive at last in Heaven for that is a reward for keeping his commandments though it is a reward not of merit but of grace but this is a reward in keeping his commandments The full harvest will be hereafter but yet the Christian hath a present reaping time for God meets them that rejoyce and work righteousness that remember him in his ways Isai 64.5 Our Lord Christ tells Peter Mark 10.30 31. That whoever hath left house or relations or lands for his sake and the Gospel's shall receive an hundred fold now in this life So that there is a reward in obedience as well as for it As beaten Spices recompense the pains by their grateful smell so the practice of Religion causes a sweet reflection upon the Soul and is thereby its own recompence Therefore David elsewhere speaks of what he had as a reward of obedience as well as what he hoped for Psal 119.56 This I had because I kept thy precepts This I had but he doth not tell you what but that may easily be guessed at by the dealings of God with him He had peace of Conscience he had the quicknings of God he had increase of grace he had frequent communion with God he had joy in the Holy Ghost he had many great experiences many deliverances and salvations and all this was the fruit of his obedience This I had because I kept thy precepts to be sure it was some great Boon because he mentions it so gratefully as a reward of mercy for his close walking with God So that the obedient Christian hath not all in hope there is much in hand he possesses much though he expects more For godliness hath both the promise of this life and of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 4. Is that profitable which fills the Soul with such joy as nothing else can This Religion doth It reconciles the Soul to God stamps it with his image lays it in with Divine principles whereby he is inabled to take the testimonies of God for his heritage for ever which become the rejoycing of his heart Psal 119.111 The Promises believed do not only create a joy in the Soul filled with peace and joy in believing Rom. 15.13 but the Precepts obeyed minister joy also The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart Psal 19.8 So that the good mans joy arises from a double spring Faith secures his interest in the promise and so he rejoyces in hope of the glory of God Rom. 5.2 Holiness subjects him to the precept and so he rejoyces in his conformity to the will of God I rejoyced in the way of thy testimonies more than in all riches Psal 119.14 This is a joy appropriated to the Children of God none partake of this oyl of gladness but they who have the oyl of grace in their vessels Disobedient sinners are strangers to this joy Prov. 14.10 Theirs is a joy arising either out of perishing comforts the joy of corn and wine and oyl Psal 4.7 or which is worse out of sinful acts and objects Who rejoyce to do evil Prov. 2.14 Now this is a poor weak unfruitful joy it wets the mouth but cannot warm the heart In the midst of laughter the heart is sorrowful Prov. 14.13 It is rather revelling than rejoycing and therefore the Wise-man calls it mad mirth I have said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it Eccles 2.2 What satisfaction doth it afford what profit doth it bring with it Will it ease the smart of affliction will it remove the fears and doubts of Conscience will it bear us up against reproaches will it help us against the fear of death and judgment If not then what doth it it emasculates the spirits discomposes the judgment displaces reason feeds the senses and starves the Soul and the end of that mirth is heaviness Prov. 14.13 So that carnal joy is but a cold armful as one saith of a bad wife * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud Sophocl in Antig. Like Adonijah's feast 1 Kings 1.9 49. that began in mirth but ended in fear 2 Sam. 13.26 82. or like Amnon's entertainment at Absolom's sheep-shearing who met with death at the banquet Solomon compares it to the crackling of thorns under a pot Eccles 7.6 where there is much noise but little fire much light but little heat and soon extinct As Comets make a great blaze but when their exhaled matter is spent they end in a pestilent vapor Such is the sinners joy soon lighted and soon wasted when his candle is put out as it quickly will be it leaves a stink behind Wo to you that laugh now for ye shall mourn Luke 6.25 The sinner purchases his joy with guilt and shame possesses it with an accusing vexing Conscience and at last it is extinguished if not in present terrors yet to be sure in eternal torments But the joy of obedience and holy walking is another thing it is a spiritual and heavenly joy wrought by a spiritual power drawn out by spiritual arguments fixed upon a spiritual object and serves to spiritual ends and uses to give check to worldly lusts to extinguish sensual appetite and abate the relish of carnal pleasures to support under losses wants reproaches to fence against the quarrels of Conscience to arm us against the fear of death and damnation In all these things the joy of the Lord is the good mans strength Nehem. 8.10 and therefore it is called strong consolation Heb. 6.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prevailing consolation It is prevalent against all opposition both from corruption within and temptation without It gives relief against all fears doubts and troubles either it prevents them or prevents the mischief of them by supporting the Soul under them This is such a good that as no good can match it so no evil can over-match it A heart full of grace and a conscience full of comfort makes a man sit either for doing or suffering it makes him insuperable under durances and unsatisfiable in duties for that hereby every cross becomes tolerable and light and every command delectable and sweet 5. Is that profitable that at once serves our temporal our spiritual and our eternal interest and advantage This Religion doth First It serves our temporal interest Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you Mat. 6.33 In the Christians Charter the World is put in as well as Heaven and things present as well as things to come 1 Cor. 3.21 22. It is said of Wisdom that is Christ Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Prov. 3.16 And what doth Christ do with
slay them before me The Lord open your eyes that you may see the madness of this for most true is that of Solomon concerning sinners Madness is in their heart while they live and after that they go to the dead Eccles 9.3 Thirdly Now having shewed you the causes why so many do neglect taking up the Yoke of Christ and laid before you the aggravations of the sin let me lay down but three considerations if the hardness of your heart will suffer you to take them in First Consider what you will answer to Christ for slighting his Yoke do ye believe there is such a day coming wherein the Lord Christ will sit in judgment upon every Soul and in which every one must give an account of himself to God if ye do not ye do not owne the Bible ye do not believe the Scriptures to be the word of God for there is no truth more plainly attested in the Scriptures than this See Acts 17.31 Rom. 2.5 6. and chap. 14.10 11 12. 2 Corinth 5. 10.2 Thess 1.8 9 10. Heb. 9.27 James 5.9 Revel 20. 12 13. and many places more And if ye do believe a judgment to come pray tell me what you think the business of that day will be will it not be to take an account how you and I have carried it to Christ God hath sent him into the world to dye for sinners 2 Tim. 1.10 to bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel to fix the terms and conditions of life and salvation and these terms are subjection and obedience to Jesus Christ and his commands as King and Lord and the business of that day will be to take an account what complyance we have made with these terms not whether we have professed him and outwardly owned him but whether we have closed with him upon the conditions of the Gospel Now you that have refused or neglected taking up the Yoke of Christ how will you answer it to Christ in that dreadful Day 1. Will you say you were not called that you cannot for God hath called you many ways many of you have had calls by your Parents in a Godly education calls by instruction calls by counsel calls by correction calls by Godly examples many of you have been called by being placed in religious families under Godly Masters or Godly Tutors and Governours Mic. 6.9 Many of you have been called by afflictions by the voice of the rod of God all of you have been called by the dispensation of the Gospel for what is the work of Ministers but to call you to Christ to take up his Yoke Will you say you were too young that you can't for others as young as you have heard his call and obeyed taking up his Yoke betimes Besides it is your duty to make it your first work Matt. 6.33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness Will you say you have present concernments that must first be attended to that you cannot for there is nothing in the World of so great concernment as this Besides God hath made a promise of all other things to Godliness for this very reason that we might be incouraged to an early practice of it and to leave the neglecters of it without excuse Matt. 6.33 1 Tim. 4.8 Psal 84.11 Will you say you expected a longer time in the World for this work but how could that be why should you expect what God never promised or why should God lengthen your days for you to spend in the service of your lusts you that would not repent of sin and turn to Christ in the time that God gave you for that purpose neither would you have done it if the Lord had lengthened your life to the age of Methuselah Therefore your mouth will be stopped Matt. 22.12 and you found speechless in that dreadful Day of account Secondly Consider you that will not come under the Yoke of Christ must come under the wrath of Christ You shake off this you cannot shake off that There is a two-fold dispensation of wrath to these Sons of Belial one in this World the other in the World to come 1. That in this World lies in giving them up to their own corrupt wills and lusts of their own hearts And this is wrath to the uttermost as it is call'd 1 Thes 2.16 There can be no greater expression of Gods wrath in this world than to give a man up to his own lusts And when a man sits under Gospel-seasons and hath sin disovered Christ tendred faith and obedience pressed upon him and yet will not hearken to the voice of God herein nor leave his lusts for Christ that man is very near to this judgment See Psal 81.11.12 My people would not hearken to my voice Israel would none of me so I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels This is a dispensation of wrath in this world 2. There is a dispensation of wrath in the next world and that lies in the pouring out of eternal vengeance Now I pray consider this you can refuse present obedience but can ye refuse eternal vengeance you may say I will not come under Christ's Yoke but can you say I will not come under his wrath You read of some that call for the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the lamb Revel 6.16 but all in vain How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation Heb. 2.3 mark if we neglect he doth not say if we reject and renounce it if we scoff at and deride it if we oppose and persecute it no but if we neglect it the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same as in Matt. 22.5 They made light of it If we make light of let slip shift off take no present care of our salvation what then how shall we escape that is there can be no escaping the wrath of God It is somewhat like that expression Rom. 2.3 Thinkest thou this O man that thou shalt escape the judgment of God Thirdly Consider where will you lay the blame of your destruction you can't lay it upon God for he gave Christ to redeem and save you You can't lay it upon Christ for he would have gathered you Matt. 23.37 and you would not he never cast you off till you cast him off You can't lay it upon the spirit for he would have convinced and converted and sanctifyed you and you have resisted and quenched him You cannot lay it upon your ministers for they have set before you life and death and declared to you the danger of sin and the necessity of holiness but you would not believe their report You can't lay it upon your ignorance for either you do know your duty and then your disobedience is inexcusable or you might know it if you would and so your ignorance is inexcusable You can't lay it upon your want of leisure and time for you
Christ but an unseigned subjection to him Christ is said in that Day to separate the sheep from the goats Matt. 25.32 33. and to set the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left The one for a blessing the other for a curse And who are the sheep why he tells you John 10.27 they that hear his voice and follow him and to these he gives eternal life v. 28. And who are the goats but carnal sinners that will have their lusts rather than Christ that cast off his Yoke Luk. 19. v. 14. v. 27. and will not have him rule over them And what is their doom bring them out and slay them before me There will be but two sorts of men in that day saints and sinners obedient and disobedient subjects and rebels the great question then will be whose servants you have been to whom have you lived to the world to lust or to Jesus Christ and according to this so shall your sentence be as you have lived so shall you be judged see Rom. 2.6 7 8. And therefore as ever you would be able to lift up your heads in the Day of Gods tryal it concerns you to try your selves CHAP. XII Several Rules for the knowledge of our state laid down both negatively and affirmatively Quest HOW may a man know whether he be under the Yoke of Christ or not Answ I will answer the question first Negatively 1. Negatively There are some of whom it may be said without the least rashness of judgment or breach of charity that they are far from the Yoke of Christ professed rebels to his Government and Authority They carry the tokens of Death and Damnation in their foreheads the Holy Ghost reckons them up in several places of Scripture one is in 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God Revel 21.8 The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second Death These are all sons of Belial they are not under the Yoke of Christ I beseech you consider a little if any of these sins be chargeable upon you your case is desperate you are actually shut out from any claim in Christ You may know as certainly as if God had told you from Heaven that you are in a lost undone condition the Holy Ghost calls all such children of disobedience because of these things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience Ephes 5.6 2. Such as are scoffers at Godliness and make a mock of Religion This is one of the reigning sins of this Day 2 Pet. 3.3 There shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts Mark while they scoff at Godliness they live in ungodliness walk after their own lusts they will not leave their lusts and therefore scoff at Religion because that opposes their lusts Now what says the Scripture Judgment is prepared for scorners Prov. 19.29 2 Chron. 36.16 These therefore do openly declare they are not under the Yoke of Christ 3. Such as have a secret enmity against the power of Religion they have a form of godliness but deny the power of it 2 Tim. 3.5 These can be no subjects of Christs Kingdom for the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power 4. Such as have their secret reserve in closing with Christ they will not let Benjamin go some sweet sin some profitable lust they will not part with These are not under the Yoke of Christ for he that comes to Christ and hates not father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple Luke 14.26 5. Such as live in the sinful neglect of Gods worship that slight hearing the word restrain prayer before God have no regard to their Souls Such are not under the Yoke of Christ for he that is of God heareth Gods word John 8.47 No man that slights the word and worship of God can be under Christs Yoke for it is the word that fastens this Yoke 6. Such as give up themselves to carnal pleasures and delights that are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God 2 Tim. 3.4 These were never yet under the Yoke of Christ for they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 7. He that trusts to his own righteousness and looks to find acceptance for that was never under the Yoke of Christ for this is a plain rejecting of Christ it puts him out of office a man makes a Saviour of his own duties and so as other men perish by their sins this man perishes by his duties None do reject Christ more than these Rom. 10.3 Going about to establish their own righteousness they have not submitted to the righteousness of God 8. Such as see no need of any strength for duty but their own can do all without any supernatural aids and divine incomes such were never under the Yoke of Christ For that will shew a man his daily need of divine power for every performance 9. He that never felt the burden of sin was never under the Yoke of Christ For none else are call'd to take it up Matt. 11.28 29. 10. Such as maintain an ungrounded confidence of the goodness of their condition without any experience of a change made in them are perswaded their state is safe but cannot shew one good ground for it these are not under the Yoke of Christ O that you that are young would lay these things to heart for now we are upon the search I pray therefore look every one inward is it thus with you for let me tell you whoever is under any one of these Characters hath never yet took up the Yoke of Christ They shall be reckoned among the enemies of Christ that have rejected his Yoke despised his Authority and as such they shall perish except by a timely conversion they be brought to close with and submit to him 2. Affirmatively How may a man know when he is really and indeed under the Yoke of Christ how may he come to a knowledge of the goodness of his state by the truth of his Subjection to the Lord Christ Give me leave to answer the question First More generally Secondly More particularly First More generally There are some things that will greatly contribute to this and without which he will never attain to a well grounded satisfaction in this matter and therefore they are very necessary to be considered and made use of in this inquiry Rule 1. One is a full and deliberate conference with your own hearts He that makes a judgment upon slight inquiries and sudden inconsiderate answers is very like to
outward profession of him is a very wrong rule For 1. How common is it to have the form separated from the power This the Apostle tells us is one of the sins that shall abound in the last Days and that shall make the times so perilous having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof 2 Tim. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the true form for forma est per quod res est id quod est The true form of Godliness consists in an inward change by a work of Grace and is that which denominates a man a godly man for forma dat esse rei And therefore it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies an outward shew a formality a vizor or mask of Godliness and what is that but a profession so that a man may wear the vizor of a profession all his days and yet be an Enemy to the power of Religion 2. That profession of Religion which may consist with a state of spiritual death can be no true measure of a mans subjection to Christ Now a man may maintain a high profession and yet be dead in sin thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead Revel 3.1 alive to the World by an outward shew but dead to God for want of the substance What a lively professor was Judas and yet in a dead estate There is never an ordinance of the Gospel but a man may be found in the use of it and yet be all the while dead in sin No outward means of Grace did ever nor can it by any vertue or power of its own quicken one dead Soul How many sinners abide all their days under the loud calls of the word preached and yet perish in their lusts so that to many it is so far from working life that it superadds a second death To some we are a savour of death to death 2 Cor. 2.16 and therefore a profession of Religion is but a crooked rule to judge of your subjection to Christ by These are necessary cautions for carnal and ignorant persons that are apt to mis-judge their state and condition by errors on the left hand There are other cautions that are as necessary for weak believers who are as apt to err on the right hand by judging their case by false rules also whereby instead of true peace their souls are filled with groundless troubles I will name but four First One is degrees of Grace Grace in improvement this many make a rule to judge their case by And because Grace is weak and little therefore they judge it is false and counterfeit and they have no Grace Now this is a false rule to judge by for it is not the quantity of Grace that proves the state but the quality Will any man say a peny is not silver because a crown piece is bigger you do not judge of it by the bigness but by the goodness Will any man say it is not Day unless it be noon you don't judge of the Day by the heighth of the Sun but by the light of it We should try our selves as God trys us not by the scale for then we should be found too light there would be a Mene Tekel upon the best of us but he trys us by the Touchstone if Grace be true Grace if Obedience be sincere it is owned and accepted and shall pass the approbation of God though it be little yea though never so little Thus saith the Lord as the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith destroy it not for a blessing is in it so will I do for my servants sake Isai 65.8 He will not despise the day of small things nor should we Zech. 4.10 We should eye the weakness of Grace so as to labour to improve it but not so as to mis-judge our selves because of it If we would press forward Philip. 3.13 the way is to overlook attainments and leave them behind us but if we would know our state the way is not to overlook but to set them before us Our comfort lies in the increase of Grace but our salvation lies in the truth of Grace for God hath not promised salvation to such a measure but he hath promised it to Grace in any measure Therefore though a man ought not to rest satisfied with his Grace if it be never so much yet he ought not to be discouraged though it be never so little For though little Grace possibly may not afford much comfort yet it proves the goodness of our state and secures our Souls Secondly Another rule is comparing themselves with Saints of the highest attainments and because they are not come to their pitch and stature in Grace therefore judge they have no Grace As Hypocrites think their condition good by comparing themselves with such as come short of them so weak believers think their case bad because they judge themselves by such as have outgone them This is another false measure for as in nature so in Grace growth and stature is various Some are but children some are strong men some are aged and full of years different growths but the same life of various statures but one in kind So it is here some are children in Grace some are strong men some are fathers 1 John 2.12 13. here is Grace differing in degree but of the same kind The green fig is of the same nature with that which is ripe Cant. 2.13 and the tender grape with that which is ready for the press In Christs Orchard that is his Church there are trees of various growths Cant. 4.14 Spikenard and Saffron Calamus and Cinamon with all trees of Frankincense Myrrh and Aloes Brightman makes these to set forth the several sorts of Christians some are newly sprung up these are the Spikenard and Saffron Herbs that do appear but little above the ground Some are of a middle stature these are the Calamus and Cinamon Trees of about two Cubits high Some are tall and eminent in Grace these are the trees of Frankincense Myrrh and Aloes trees of different growth and yet all of the Lords planting Some are Lambs and some are Sheep and yet all are of the same flock of Christ Shall any one then say I have no Grace because I have not so much as another Is not thy faith true faith because it is not so strong as Abrahams who against hope believed in hope or wilt thou question the truth of thy obedience because thou canst not offer thy Son as he did May not God be thy God though thou canst not call him as David did Psal 43.4 God my exceeding joy wilt thou deny the truth of thy dependance because thou hast not the Apostle Pauls assurance mayst not thou be under the sanctifying work of the spirit as well as he though thou hast not the witnessing work of the spirit as he had though the spirit
concealed it is out of the reach of those means that should give check to it It is the most rational way to cure Soul troubles and settle our comfort Sin is like an impostume while it is gathering it is painful but when it is broke or lanced and runs then there is ease Or like a wind lockt up in the Earth which causes great Earthquakes till it finds a vent and then the Earth is quiet It commends the vertue of Christ's Blood when we open to him those mortal wounds which none but he can cure It puts an edge upon prayer he that hath no sin to acknowledge hath but little mercy to beg It is the next way to forgiveness If any say I have sinned and it profited me not he will deliver his Soul from going into the pit Job 33.27 28. In the first Covenant it was He that commits sin shall dye But in the second Covenant he that confesses sin shall be forgiven 1 Joh. 1.9 Confession speakes out such a sensibleness of sin as works the Soul to a ready compliance with any terms of deliverance And a heart brought over to submit to Gods remedies is in a fair way to a cure Though sin be a desperate Disease yet it is never deadly where the Patient is ready to use Gods Medicines This confession leaves such a dread of sin upon the heart that it dare not return to it as it was wont I do not say but that possibly a Believer may through the prevalency of lust and temptation fall into the same sin he hath confessed to God yet it shall not prevail as formerly But it is not every kind of Confession that speaks out an enmity to sin It is possible a man may often confess sin and yet ne-ver forsake it but persist in it all his days and perish in it at last Saul confessed and yet perished Judas confessed his sin and yet lost his Soul Therefore It must be free and voluntary not forced and extorted It must be in sincerity and uprightness of heart Psal 38.18 It must be with brokenness of heart I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin It must be with a hearty resolution against sin This is another thing the Hypocrite comes short in he cannot thus confess sin he flatters himself in his own eyes till his iniquity be found to be hateful Psal 36.2 He covers his Transgression as Adam by hiding his iniquity in his bosom Job 31.33 3. This odds in Believers against sin appears in the hating of sin There is odium abominationis and odium inimicitiae One is a hatred that causes aversation the other is a hatred that causes opposition Both ways the Believer hates sin 1. He turns from it as being a thing offensive and loathsome to the Spiritual Appetite and Renewed Will. No natural man can thus hate sin because there is a sutableness between the Heart and Lust He may possibly hate that which is sin but he cannot hate it as it is sin for then he would hate all sin One of a tenacious gripple humour may hate pride and prodigality One that is prodigal and profuse may hate Covetousness And yet he may not hate sin formally considered though he hates that which materially considered is sin This kind of hatred of sin is usually for the sake of some other sin it is only a reserving the affections for some Lust that suits him better So that it may be said of Lust in this case as is said of the Sea what ground it loses in one place it gains in another Whilst he hates one sin he loves another whilst he turns from one he cleaves to another He cannot hate sin as sin this is peculiar to Believers There is no Hypocrite in the World that can unfeignedly hate every sin he cannot say with David Psalm 119.128 I hate every false way but the Believer can and doth I don't say that he ceaseth from all acts of sin that is impossible so long as Grace is imperfect and he carries a body of death about him but he hates all sin and darling sins above all as being the worst of sins for these are they whereby God hath been most dishonoured the Mind most blinded the Heart most bewitched Satan most gratified and the Soul most wounded To dislike some sins and not others is not hatred If the heart be right with God the same reasons that induce us to hate one sin will induce us to hate all God hates all and wherever the Divine Nature is wrought it shews it self in suitable dispositions It is a Universal Principle which as it inclines the heart to all good so it sets it against all sin And it must needs be so or else how can a man be said to be in subjection to Jesus Christ for one sin keeps possession for Satan as well as a thousand And this discovers many that would prove their subjection to Christ by their hating sin when as they do not hate all sin There is ever some lust in reserve of which they say as Jacob of his beloved Benjamin Gen. 42.38 He shall not go Or as Naaman of his bowing to Rimmon when I bow my self in the house of Rimmon 2 Kings 5.18 the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing Now suppose a Woman should love her Husband better than a thousand and a thousand men yet if there be any one that she loves and embraces and desires more than him would ye not say she was a harlot yes as really as she that prostitutes her self to all that pass by He that indulges to any one sin was never yet truly under the Yoke of Christ Though a Believer may possibly fall into many sins yet there is no Believer but hates every sin And let me tell you I know not a surer sign of a mans being under the power of Grace than this For what else is it that can make a man loath that sin that he loved as himself Many a man may be angry with sin but that is consistent with love Many a man may forbear sin for fear of shame or punishment But this is not to hate sin as sin When sin is loathed as being a violation of Gods Law a contempt of his Authority contrary to his Nature an Enemy to his Service and Honour a grief to the Spirit this is to hate sin as sin and he that thus hates sin must necessarily hate all sin for all sin violates his Law is contrary to his nature opposes his Service and grieves his Spirit Secondly as he hates it with a hatred of abomination so he hates it with a hatred of enmity and this appears in a vigorous activity against sin 1. He prays against it Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me Psal 119.133 Prayers and Tears are the Christians Weapons not only against the malice of enemies without but also against the mischief of sin within He don't
pray against his sin as it is said Austin did in his Natural State who was afraid that God should grant his request He prayed one thing and desired another But he prays as David did wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Psal 51.2 Oh the sighs and groans that a gracious heart sends up to God under the load and burden of sin We groan being burdened 2 Cor. 5.4 Hence that of the Apostle Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death never did poor Prisoner more long and wish to be freed from his chains then the Believer doth to be rid of his sins None can know what the wrestlings of a gracious heart are with God against Corruption but they that have been wearied with the burden of it 2. He mourns and sorrows under it as the daily burden of his Soul Grace softens the heart and then sin makes it mourn They shall be on the mountains like Doves of the valleys all of them mourning every one for his iniquity Ezek. 7.16 And this is sorrow of the right kind There is a great deal of sorrow caused by sin that is not right therefore the Apostle speaks of being made sorry after a Godly manner I rejoyced not that ye were made sorry but that ye sorrowed to Repentance for ye were made sorry after a Godly manner 2. Cor. 7.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye sorrowed according to God And it is known from all other sorrow By its object and that is sin Sin more than any thing and special sin more than any sin 1. Sin more than any thing more than suffering more than affliction more than Hell Nothing in the world causes that sorrow in a gracious heart as sin doth Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight sayes the poor prodigal Luk. 15.21 he doth not say I am full of wants ready to famish for bread but here is his wound father I have sinned So as it was with David 2 Sam. 24.10 I have sinned greatly in that I have done and now I beseech thee take away the iniquity of thy servant He doth not say take away this judgment this pestilence nay he is willing to bear it ver 17. Lo I have sinned and done wickedly but those Sheep what have they done Let thine hand be against me He is willing to indure the smart so as God would remove the guilt He would quietly bear his hand in chastisement for sin so that his heart were but towards him in the pardon of sin It is not smart but guilt that is the chief cause of sorrow in a gracious heart Now the hypocrite cryes out more because of smart then guilt Punishment causes sorrow when sin doth not Pharaoh is under a plague of Frogs and he presently calls for Moses and Aaron and what must they do Intreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me Exod. 8.8 he doth not say that he may take away my sin from me he was very sensible of the plague of frogs but had no sense of the plague of his heart So that here you see the difference between David and Pharaoh David is for the taking away of sin rather then of judgment Pharaoh is for the taking away of judgment but not a word of the taking away of sin 2. True sorrow for sin is more for special sins then for any other sin Though all sin is matter of sorrow yet special sins above all And it must needs be so for by these God hath been most dishonoured By these he hath so often broke with Jesus Christ By these he hath given the deepest wounds to his own Conscience By these Satan hath so long maintained his power and rule in the Soul And so easily insnared and overcome him The hypocrite never sorrows for his special sins His sorrow as it is feigned so it is either for some petty sins or such as are common to him with others But he feels no remorse for his bosom lusts nor comes near to that which is the chief cause of controversie between God and his Soul His beloved lust lies secure in his heart without the least disturbance or notice taken of it 3. He maintains a constant conflict against sin And this is a natural effect of hatred for hatred stirreth up strife Prov. 10.12 hence ye read of striving against sin Heb. 12.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a military word and implies an opposing and fighting as against an enemy to whom a man is resolved not to yield And the enemy is here said to be sin which is the greatest enemy in the world and makes the fiercest war for it wars against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 against the grace of the Soul against the peace and comfort of the soul against the life and salvation of the Soul Hence it is that the life of a Christian is a continual warfare The Age that men observe in Civil Wars is from sixteen years old to sixty but this war commences from the first moment of taking up the Yoke of Christ to the last moment that a man lives in the world Every man that is born again is born a man of strife as Jeremy speaks in another sense he keeps up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jer. 15.10 a truceless war with sin Cant. 6.13 what is the company of two armies in the Shulamite but the lusts of the Flesh and the Graces of the Spirit in continual conflict and opposition of each other So the Apostle explains it Gal. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh And mark the Tense it is not said it did lust viz. at the first working of grace or it will lust viz. when grace is come to more strength and maturity but it lusteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the present Tense and so it notes two things 1. That so soon as ever Grace is wrought in the heart it shews it self in strifes and contests with lust and corruption it lusteth against the Flesh or else it is not Grace 2. That this contest once begun will never end so long as any one lust remains in the heart Nor can it for this hatred of sin wrought by grace in the heart is so radicated in the new nature and so essential to it that as grace is increased so this hatred is heightened and needs it must for all hatred springs from love amor odii causa it is love to God and Christ which works to hatred of sin and therefore as love grows stronger so our hatred of sin still grows greater so that this contest can never end but in the death and destruction of every lust Other enemies a Christian can love and pity and forgive and pray for but he hath no pity for sin It is a hatred wrought by the Spirit of God which is full of indignation and revenge What indignation it wrought in you yea
what revenge 2 Cor. 7.11 Hence it is that he is so conversant and constant in the use of Ordinances his great end is to subdue and weaken lust under all First He uses the word to this end for this is the sword of the Spirit Eph. 6.17 and in conflicts either with corruption within or with Temptation without there is none to that No man was ever overcome either by Corruption or Temptation so long as he kept close to the word I write to you young men because ye are strong and have overcome the wicked one 1 Epist John 2.13 Here is an evidence of their strength their overcoming the wicked one But where lies their strength that is intimated ver 14. I write to you young men because ye are strong and the word of God abides in you and ye have overcome the wicked one The abiding of the word in the heart implies the power and virtue of the word taking hold of the heart and there it is mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds 2 Cor. 10.4 The abiding of the word in the heart includes every part of the word precepts promises and threatenings and the Believer makes use of all to subdue lust 1. The Precepts of the word where all sin is forbidden Hath God forbid sin and shall I indulge to it ought not his word to be my rule can I be true to God and transgress his Precepts what is sin but a transgression of the law 1 Joh. 3.4 and shall I dare to invade the rights of God and deny his Sovereignty Thus his heart stands in awe of the word Psal 119.161 2. The promises of the word he makes use of them to incourage hope and hope purifies the heart 1 Epist John 3.3 Hath God made such promises so many so great of this life of that to come and all to incourage the Soul to dye to sin and shall I live in it and so frustrate my hope in the promise Hath God so often promised Heaven and Glory to such as mortifie sin and shall I live to the Flesh and dye Thus having these promises 2 Cor. 7 1. he labours to be cleansed from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit 3. He makes use of the threatenings of the word as an incentive to fear for by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil Prov. 16.6 Thus the law of his God is in his heart so that none of his steps shall slide Psal 37.31 Secondly He uses the Sacraments for this end both Baptism and the Lords Supper 1. His Baptism he reflects upon it as a token and seal of that Covenant wherein God hath made himself over to him to be his God and in which God requires a forsaking of all sin and by his owning this Covenant he hath taken God for his God and devoted himself to live to his will and therefore looks upon himself as strictly ingaged against every lust and for this cause labours daily to put off the body of the sins of the Flesh Col. 2.11 2. The Lords Supper here by Faith he sees Christ Crucified for sin and how can this but make him hate sin and heighten his rage and indignation against it shall Christ dye for my sins and shall I suffer any lust to live that had a hand in his death Besides this Supper is a solemn renewing of Covenant with God and no man can renew Covenant with God but he must solemnly ingage to hate and renounce all the lusts of the Flesh Thus the Christian uses and improves every Ordinance to carry on the contest against sin that so he may mortifie and destroy it 4. His hatred of sin appears in his purposes and resolutions against it The Covenant with Hell and Death is now broken and he resolves never to say a confederacy to the lusts of the flesh any more When he is at any time surprized by sin as sometimes he is he hates it the more and it causes him to issue out a practical decree for God like that of David I said I will take heed to my ways that I sin not Psal 39.1 When once a man hath truly taken up the Yoke of Christ the resolve and bent of his Will is never to sin more Though a Believer cannot promise absolutely not to sin yet he may fully purpose not to sin So did David I am purposed my mouth shall not transgress Psal 17.3 No man can be said to hate sin that doth not purpose against it and he that doth not hate sin his heart is not right with God And this is one of those fruits of subjection to the Yoke of Christ whereby judgment may be made a posteriori Now I would to God that young ones would try themselves by this Character What is the disposition of your heart towards sin do ye make it your work to search out sin do ye labour to know more of your secret lusts and carnal frames and deceitful hearts this every one that is under Christs Yoke doth Do ye accuse and charge your selves home before God for sin and is it done freely and in sincerity and brokenness of heart this every one that is under Christs Yoke doth Do ye hate sin with a hatred of abomination I so as to loath and turn from sin and is it from all sin and do ye hate it with a hatred of enmity do ye pray against it do ye mourn under it do ye keep up the spiritual conflict striving against sin and using means of Grace and Ordinances to keep down sin this every one that is under Christs Yoke doth Is the bent and resolution of your soul against sin have you taken up fixed purposes never to live to the lusts of the flesh more thus every one that is under the Yoke of Christ doth By this then every one may make a judgment whether ever he hath taken up the Yoke of Christ or not 2. It may be known by living to God in a course of Holy Obedience Whoever hath truly put on the Yoke of Christ makes it his work and business to live to Christ there is such a Principle of grace infused that obedience becomes natural And this obedience is an infallible sign of your subjection to Jesus Christ and therefore a fit medium to try your State by For 1. What better Testimony can there be of our subjection to Christ than that which evidences the work of holiness in the heart Now obedience in the life is a sure evidence of the work of holiness within It is the natural fruit of the feed of God sowed in the good ground of an honest heart Holiness is an inward frame obedience is an overt act proceeding from it Holiness is the Divine Nature planted in us Obedience is the fruit that grows upon that Root Holiness is our Conformity to the nature of God Obedience is our Conformity to the will of God And nothing can prove our participation of the divine nature like our subjection
to the Divine Will Holiness is the being of the Spiritual Life in us Obedience is the operation of that Life according to the degrees of it in the Soul For there is a great difference in the degrees of Spiritual Life in Believers it is variously Communicated to one more to another less All Believers have it but some have it more abundantly Joh. 10.10 and according to the measure of the life of holiness in us such is our strength to obey and according to the strength of our obedience such will the evidence of our subjection to Christ and his Yoke be 2. What greater evidence can there be of our subjection to Christ then that which is the proper and essential act of the new creature and that obedience is It is not more essential to the eye to see nor to the ear to hear then it is for a renewed heart to obey God A Believer doth but act his nature in obeying and that appears from that pleasure and delight which so far as renewed he takes in it Acts of nature are acts of delight hence that of the Apostle Rom. 7.22 I delight in the law of God after the inner man And that of David I delight to do thy will O my God And whence this delight arises the next words tell you Thy Law is within my heart Psal 40.8 The principle of grace within makes obedience to the law of God a delight and delight in obedience to the law of God proves the truth of that Principle within All delight in doing arises from a suitableness between the Principle and the Precept the heart and the work If there are precepts injoyned us and a defect of Principles in us much may be done but there can be no delight in doing the commands will be grievous But it is not every kind of Obedience that can prove the truth of our subjection to Christ A hypocrite may go far in the outward part of obedience he may have a form of Godliness 2 Tim. 3.5 and what is that but a resemblance of a Christian in all the outward lineaments of Godliness He may be able to do all external acts of obedience in common with Believers But there are some things essential to Believers as such the goodness whereof doth adhere intrinsecally to this work done as to love God to fear God to trust in God to delight in God These mingled with our outward duties make them to be obedience of the right kind and these no hypocrite can attain to and therefore cannot perform any one act of true obedience For obedience consists in a full conformity to the will of God as revealed in his word from a Principle of holiness within Many profess subjection to Christ in word but deny it in works calling him Lord Lord but not doing the things which he sayes Luk. 6.46 And many have flexible knees but stiff necks bowing the former to the name Jesus but will not bow the latter to the Yoke of Jesus being abominable disobedient and to every good work reprobate Tit. 1.16 There is no such Testimony of your being under the Yoke of Christ as conformity to the will of Christ By this then you may make a judgment in this matter When the spies returned from searching the Land of Canaan they brought with them a cluster of Grapes and Pomegranates and Figs Numbers 13.23 and when they came to give an account of their search they shewed them the fruit of the Land and said surely it flowes with milk and hony and this is the fruit of it ver 27. q. d. the Land that yields such good fruit must needs be a good Land The fruit of being under Christs yoke is dying to sin and living to God in a Holy Obedience And by these two Characters your State may certainly be known The heart that yields such fruit is surely a good heart Pray observe that of the Apostle Rom. 6.16 Know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey his servants ye are whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness It is not being Baptized into the name of Christ nor taking up the outward profession of Christ and Religion that can distinguish between the servants of Christ and Satan Here is a surer rule He that obeys sin is the servant of sin and he that obeys Christ is the servant of Christ CHAP. XV. Exhorts to thankfulness to God who inclined the heart to this Yoke The wisdom of taking up this Yoke manifested THE last use shall be of Exhortation and I shall direct it to two sorts of persons 1. To them that have taken up the yoke of Christ in their youth 2. To such as have never yet taken up the yoke of Christ to this day Exhortat 1. To them that have taken up the yoke of Christ in their youth that have made it their work to mind Religion betimes to remember their Creator in the dayes of their youth There are three duties I would commend to such by way of direction Duty 1. The first is thankfulness Though this contributes nothing to God yet it is that which he is delighted with It shews the honesty and integrity of the heart in ascribing effects to their proper causes Thankfulness diminishes the creature to himself and magnifies God It shews a man looks upon himself as nothing and God as all Therefore bless God and be thankful for this great mercy Is there not a cause For 1. How came you to take up Christs yoke Rom. 6.17 Isa 26.13 Time was when ye were the servants of sin other Lords had dominion over you Time was when you were slaves to lust How came you to take up the yoke of Christ It was not natural for by nature we are enemies to grace and holiness It was the fruit of the wisdom of God impressed upon the Soul it was he that gave thee counsel to make this choice and therefore bless him So David sayes in the like case I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel Psa 16.7 Counsel for what to take the Lord for his Lord and that implies taking up his yoke O my soul thou hast said to the Lord thou art my Lord ver â— thou art my Lord that implies subjection Thou hast said thou art my Lord that implyes a Covenant resignation So that here he chooses God for his portion and chief good and for his highest Lord and how he came to make this choice he tells you ver 7. It was the Lord that counselled him to this and therefore he resolves the praise and glory shall be to him I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel Go you and do likewise bless the Lord who hath perswaded and over power'd your hearts to close with Christ For no man comes to Christ except the Father draw him Joh. 6.44 2. It is the wisest choice that ever you made to choose Christ for your Lord and
1.14 Sacrificing was a duty commanded by God but he that corrupted his sacrifices came under a curse as they did that offered the blind and the lame and the sick to God ver 8. When men have not a rule from the word of God for a warrant of their worship that is a blind sacrifice When there is action without affection the lips without the heart that is a lame sacrifice When dutyes are done coldly without life and vigour that is a sick sacrifice and such a sacrificer is a deceiver because he doth not observe the right manner and cursed be the deceiver So Jeremy 48.10 Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully 1 Corinth 11.29 He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself And what the judgment is he tells you in the next verse For this cause many are sick and weak among you and many sleep Many were under soar diseases and many swept away by death for coming to the Lords table in an unworthy manner It is of great concernment therefore to see that your obedience be right for the manner Otherwise we may think we serve God when our very service becomes sin It is excellent counsel of the Apostle Heb. 12.28 Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably That which gives the acceptance is the manner of obedience Now there must be four things to make obedience right for the manner I. It must be a willing obedience duties are to flow from the heart freely like the drops that come from the hony comb without pressing it is a character peculiar to the subjects of Jesus Christ they are a willing people And herein the efficacy of grace is seen in taking away natural reluctancy and opposition and bringing the will into subjection to Christ And therefore it is said to be an effect of the day of his power in the soul Psal 101.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power God is more honoured by the obedience of the will than by all the service of the outward man Humane force may compell this but nothing but grace can rule the other Many obey but it is by constraint not by choice The influence of by ends or forreign motives or the compulsion of a natural conscience or fears of hell and wrath may compell them to do many things as Herod did but they are burthensome and grievous Ever as the will is such is the service and therefore God who in some cases accepts the will for the deed never accepts the deed in any case without the will 2 Cor. 8.12 In the duties of Gods service the will is all in all Thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind 1 Chron. 28.9 II. It must be an universal obedience And that both in respect to the subject and to the object 1. With respect to the subject it must be the obedience of the whole man Jesus Christ hath redeemed both body and soul and regeneration is a work upon the whole man All things are become new 2 Cor. 15.17 and therefore the service of the whole man is required 1 Cor. 6.20 Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods Many give God an outward obedience but their hearts are set upon their lusts and many pretend their hearts are good and right with God but their lives are vitious and among the unclean but where the Yoke of Christ is truly taken up the whole man is the Lords 2 With respect to the object The whole will of God as revealed in his word Walk in all the wayes that I have commanded you that it may be well with you Jer. 7.23 There are affirmative precepts and negative commands for suffering as well as doing positive commands and relative greater commands and less None may be neglected It is said of David he fulfilled all Gnds wills 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 13.22 i. e. his will in all his commands He had respect to all his commands Psal 119.6 Zachary and Elizabeth walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless Luke 1.6 and it will be so wherever the heart is right with God For in regeneration the whole law of God is impressed upon the heart so that the soul is equally inclined to all the commands as to one and makes conscience of one as well as another I know in a legal sence no believer on earth can obey universally and fully for in many things we offend all But Evangelically and in the sense of the new covenant every believer keeps all the commands of God that is 1. In love and esteem I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right Psal 119.128 Now love is the fulfilling of the law Rom. 13.10 2. In unfeigned desire That which his soul longs after is Col. 4.12 to stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God O that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes Psal 119.5 3. In purpose and resolution I will keep thy statutes Psal 119.8 All people will walk every one in the name of his God and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever Micah 4.5 Thus they cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart Acts 11.23 4. In sincerity of indeavour and undertaking He sets no bounds to his obedience that is hypocrisie but forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before He presses toward the mark Phil. 3.13 14. and this according to the tenour of the new covenant is full and perfect obedience III. It must be an upright and sincere obedience Walk before me and be thou perfect Gen. 17.1 in the margent it is be thou sincere or upright So that sincerity and uprightness is new covenant perfection The perfection of grace in heaven is glory but the perfection of grace on earth is sincerity One dram of this in the heart is worth a world It is that which God delights in Thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness 1 Chron. 29.17 Nay he doth not only delight in uprightness but in the persons and performances of the upright The upright in their way are his delight Prov. 11.20 there you see his respect to their persons and from the person this delight of God passeth to their performances The prayer of the upright is his delight Prov. 15.8 God can take no pleasure in any duty without sincerity because all duties that are not done in sincerity are a lye It is said of those Israelites in Psal 78.34 36 37. When they sought God and returned and inquired early after him that they did but lye to him with their tongues and why Because their hearts were not right with him It is sincerity that commends every duty to God It supplies all other defects denominates a man a Saint under all his failings
service and subjection therefore call'd Ministring Spirits Heb. 1.14 and said to do his Commandments Psal 103.20 The Angel sayes to John Rev. 22.9 I am thy fellow-servant and of them which keep the sayings of this book So that the highest liberty is consistent with the service of God therefore David puts them together I will walk at liberty Ps 119.45 for I seek thy Precepts Many decline the ways of God and cleave fast to their Lusts for the sake of liberty Whereas it is the greatest slavery in the world to serve sin the little finger of lust is heavyer then the whole loyns of Christ Nothing makes a man such a slave as sin He that lives in the love and service and injoyment of God hath the truest freedom But every sinner is a vassal to lust at the command of every unclean motion Is not he a slave that is at the will and command of Satan That is moved and acted by Satan in his whole course You pity men made slaves by the Turks laid in chains condemned to the Gallyes grinding in Mills broken with burdens drub'd and beat after all I tell you it is an eligible condition to this Nay sin doth not only make a man a slave but a bruit for it bereaves him of all reason and judgment their is no judgment in their goings Isa 59.8 2. This finding rest under the yoke of Christ implyes an easiness in his service And so it follows Matt. 11.29 30. Ye shall find rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light A Believer in the ways of obedience hath those aids of God those divine quickenings those daily supplyes of the Spirit that Communion with God in all that no duty is difficult or burdensome 3. This finding rest to your souls implyes an after good by your present obedience There remains a rest for the people of God Heb. 4.9 The service of sin is best at first and worst at last Sin in the temptation is taking but sin in the conclusion is vexing It is sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly Satan shews the pleasure and profit of sin to insnare you and then comes the guilt of sin to torment you But now the service of Christ is worst at first and best at last All the difficulty is in the beginning but the end is peace Psal 37.37 4. This finding rest implyes an end of your service and duty as it is labour So sayes the Holy Ghost Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 for they rest from their labour your yoke shall be put off then But when shall the vassalage of sin end This is such a yoke as shall never be put off an everlasting servitude The sinner goes from a present slavery to a worse His present condition is servile but hereafter it will be dreadful First chains of Lust then chains of death and at last chains of darkness Jude 6. The sinner lyes in yokes and chains for ever for what is guilt of Conscience This is a chain that binds wrath upon the soul for ever He shall be holden with the cords of his own sins Prov. 5.22 What is utter despair This is another Chain the sinner is held in What is Gods power that is another chain And what is the everlasting sentence Mat. 25.41 go ye cursed into everlasting fire He is an Eternal Prisoner there God shuts him up and there can be no opening Job 12.14 He hath the Keys of Hell and Death Rev. 1.18 and who can get them out of his hand O what an everlasting slavery doth sin bring upon the soul Will you therefore hearken to the counsel of Christ and take his Yoke upon you 1. Consider How reasonable a thing this is For 1. God commands nothing that is unsuitable to our reason Look upon this Yoke in such duties as refer more immediately to God Either in External Worship or Internal 1. In External Worship As Prayer how reasonable is it that an indigent creature should go to God for what he wants seeing he can't support himself let him go to him that can Hearing how reasonable it is that if God be to be obeyed and this obedience is not to be by the creatures arbitrement but by Gods precept that then I should labour to know what Revelation he hath made of this 2. Look on Internal Worship Faith How reasonable is it that he who is the Eternal Truth should have credence in all the discoveries of his will and that I should trust him upon the credit of his promise Love It is the most reasonable thing in the world I should love God because he is the chief good and because he is always doing me good Gods love to us comes under no reason but what is in himself but our love to God is founded in the greatest reason 1 Joh. 4.19 we love him because he first loved us The fear of God how rational a duty is it he being the highest Lord and his supremacy absolute He is great and therefore greatly to be feared Look upon the most difficult dutyes Repentance Self-denyal Mortification of lusts c. These may be troublesome to the flesh but not unreasonable What more equal than that I should do whatever God would have me do how contrary soever to flesh and blood and the dictates of a carnal mind 2. He commands nothing that is prejudicial to our interest The end of every Precept is our felicity both our spiritual and eternal good are promoted by it And is there any thing more reasonable then that a man should persue his own good 3. He commands nothing but what answers the end of our being The end though last in execution is first in intention Now what is the great end of your being young ones what do you do in the world let me say as God said to Elijah what make you here What do you think God gave you being for was it to please the flesh to suck the sweet of the creatures to pass away your years in mirth and jollity to live to your selves Hath an immortal soul no other end of being but this Surely yes as God is the Fountain of being so his glory should be the end of being You are come into this world to make provision for another to avoid the snares of death and lay hold on Eternal Life To walk so before God here as that you may secure his favour for ever This is the great end of being and how reasonable is it that every man should attend to that which he was born for and came into the world for Or else the being of man is in vain as David expostulates the case Psal 89.47 Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain 2. Consider the great advantage that comes by this and that whatever your condition be Suppose your extract be mean that you are a branch of a poor Family What an advantage will your subjection to Christ
Christ You must be divorced from all sin or you cannot be Marryed to Christ therefore remove all hinderances to the duty Direct 3 Labour to be convinced of the absolute necessity of conversion A true sight of the dreadful condition you are in by nature will discover this And what is that you are by nature children of wrath under the curse from the very womb the guilt of all the sins that ever you committed lies upon you you are the devils bondslaves dead in sin Eph. 2.1 Eph. 4.18 under the power of lust alienated from the life of God Hasting to destruction there is but one step between you and Hell you stand upon the brink of the bottomless pit for whoever dies in an unconverted state shall assuredly perish the holy God hath said it and will make it good And is this a state to be rested in where is the sinner that dares dye and appear before the Righteous God in this condition therefore let this shew you the necessity of conversion Direct 4 Heartily accept of Jesus Christ as the Gospel tenders him Here is the turning point of thy Salvation Christ in bowels of pity to thy undone case tenders himself to thee as a universal remedy to pardon to purge to renew to sanctifie to save Young ones have any of you a heart thus to accept of Christ if so you are happy for ever and all your sins and lusts nay all the devils in hell can't hinder it Let an intire resignation follow this acceptation Direct 5 Having thus received Christ give thy self wholly up to Christ resolving that Body Soul and Spirit shall be the Lords so it is said of them 2 Cor. 8.5 They gave themselves up to the Lord. A hearty subjection must follow this resignation Direct 6 No man can be fully resigned that is not intirely subject Be sure therefore let Christ bear rule let the government be upon his shoulders let him give law to thy heart and life thy affections and actions do not part with some sins and retain others this is to hold fast deceit Jer. 8.5 and to refuse to return Do not obey Christ in this or that command but in all you must take all or none An imperfect obedience may be right and sincere but a partial obedience cannot I pray remember this the yoke of Christ is made up of every Commandment not this or that but every Commandment goes to the making up his yoke and when you become willingly subject to all the commands of Christ then have you taken up the yoke of Christ Lastly this must be done without delay Direct 7 The Text prompts to this It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth What sayes David I made hast and delay'd not to keep thy Commandments Psal 119.60 As Christ said to Judas in another case What thou doest do quickly Consider 1. It is a business of life and death and what a foolish thing it is for a man to deliberate whether he shall be saved or damned go to Heaven or Hell 2. By continuance in the ways of disobedience the heart is made more obstinate as a path becomes the harder by frequent treading Sin is of a hardening nature Heb. 3.13 So that if conversion to Christ be hard to day it will be harder to morrow and so every day adds to its difficulty because the heart grows harder and harder 3. You suffer great loss by delays What grace might you have gotten e're this had you begun betimes what victories over sin what experiences what communion with God what evidences for heaven 4. There are special seasons of grace which are but for a limited time and in complying with or slighting these the happiness or misery of man is fixed Because to every purpose there is time and judgment therefore the misery of man is great upon him Eccles 8.6 If your seasons of grace are lost they are never to be redeem'd Now I pray consider in what part of life is it most probable that in the wisdom of God these are placed in youth or in old age Can you think that God would chose the infirmities and dotages of life for his service rather then the strength and vigour of your days and affections 5. The slighting of your special seasons is the way to lose them Luk. 19.42 Gen. 6.3 These three years I come looking for fruit and find none And what follows cut it down why cumbers it the ground Luk. 13.7 Three years they had injoy'd Christs ministry and yet brought forth no fruit and therefore Christ casts them off O sirs how many years hath Christ been calling of you and waiting for fruit why stand ye all the day idle Remember the foolish Virgins and tremble and get Oyl while the Market is open 6. Thou dost not know how near thy day of account may be It is many times nearest when we think it is farthest off We are many times most secure when we are least safe 1 Thes 3.5 When they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction c. My Lord delays his coming said the wicked servant Mat. 24.48 And what follows The Lord of that servant shall come in a day that he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of Little did the old world think of a flood so nigh when they gave themselves to sensuality Or Sodom of fire from Heaven when they burn'd in their lusts So shall it be when the son of man comes Luk. 17.30 Lastly Consider this If any of you that have heard these Sermons of taking up Christs yoke betimes shall dare yet to live in the neglect of this duty This word that I have spoken to you in the name of the Lord and this call that God hath made to you by me will be a dreadful witness against such refusers in the last day and that which I have intended for your conversion will turn to your destruction and damnation But God forbid what shall I run in vain and labour in vain nay shall the Lord Christ call in vain and his Blessed Spirit strive with you in vain Therefore I beseech you lay things to heart and let me know what you intend Will you at last be prevail'd with to submit to Christ and take up his yoke forthwith without any more delay if not let me tell you God will look upon you from this day as wilful refusers of his grace and love and it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah then for you But if you have a heart now to accept of Christ to be resigned to him and to take up his yoke without any more delay you have done your work you have saved your souls Now God is yours Christ is yours Peace Life Salvation all the good of the Covenant all the glory of Heaven is yours and therefore you are blessed and happy for ever For as your present choice is such shall your Eternal Condition be The Lord perswade sinners to know the things of their peace before they are hid from their eyes FINIS
Great peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them Psal 119.165 Eighthly The pleasures of sin are distracting pleasures and this arises from the contrariety of one lust to another As all sins are contrary to grace so some sins are repugnant and contrary one to another Therefore you read of serving divers or differing lusts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 3.3 and from the repugnant commands of differing lusts the service of sin must needs fill the mind with distraction for in gratifying one lust the sinner displeases another if he serves pride he displeases covetousness c. But now in Religion there is nothing contrary Virtutes sunt inter se connexae there is a delightful harmony and correspondence among all the graces of the Spirit he that acts one grace doth not contradict another because of the harmony that is between them and this makes the pleasure of godliness greater than the pleasure of sin can be because it is a pleasure without distraction Indeed the mind may be and too often is distracted from the efficacy of indwelling lusts but not from any contrariety in the graces of the Spirit for one duty forwards another and helps another and makes another the more easie Ninthly The pleasures of sin are wasting and expensive pleasures they waste the strength of the sinner And thou mourn at the last day when thy flesh and thy body are consumed Prov. 5.11 They waste the estate sin is a very chargeable thing it cannot be maintained without great cost Some mens lusts cost them more in a day than their families do in a year many a man starves his wife and children to feed his lusts and many a wife robs her husband to gratifie her lusts and by this means many a fair Estate hath been brought to a morsel of bread But the pleasures of godliness are not so they neither waste the strength nor the estate Not the strength for though the youth faint and be weary and the young men utterly fail yet they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint Isai 40.30 31. Nor the estate for though Religion calls for open-handedness and honouring God with our substance yet it calls but for a part unless in extraordinary cases but lust will have all it is like the horsleech that always crys Prov. 30.15 Give give it is never satisfied One lust is more chargeable to a sinner to maintain than all the graces of the Spirit are to a Believer Godliness never wasted any man but one lust hath consumed many Estate and Body and Soul and all Tenthly The pleasures of sin are confuted pleasures The Word of God confutes them it calls them folly Prov. 15.21 madness Eccles 2.2 vexation of spirit Eccles 1.14 lying vanities Jon. 2.8 Good men have confuted them by renouncing and disclaiming them espousing the worst of Religion rather than the best of sin Chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to injoy the pleasures of sin for a season Heb. 11.25 Wicked men have confuted them sometimes upon a dying bed sometimes under convictions Oh how have they cryed out then against the accursed pleasures of sin and of the folly and madness of their hearts for delighting in such swinish lusts Luther says one drop of an evil conscience swalloweth up a whole Sea of worldly joy * Vna guttula malae conscientiae totum mare mundani gaudii absorbet So that the pleasures of sin have had many confutations But whoever confuted the pleasures of godliness The Word of God never did no that commends and ratifies them Prov. 3.17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness Prov. 3.17 Good men never did no they justifie them and that living and dying Wisdom is justified of her children Mat. 11.19 The enemies of godliness never did nor could they may reproach and scoff at the ways of God but confute them they cannot Eleventhly The pleasures of sin are depending upon the creature a man must keep up a communion with carnal objects to maintain them But the pleasures of godliness are independent that is as to the creature the Soul need not be beholden to any creature whatever to support and feed them they flow from God himself In the pleasures of sin the creature lets out it self but in the pleasure of holiness God lets out himself and all the creatures in the world cannot let out so much sweetness as God nor such kind of sweetness as God doth The creature communicates but to sense but God communicates to the Soul Twelfthly The pleasures of sin are unsatisfying pleasures and needs they must because they are unsuitable and disproportioned to the Soul which is a Spirit whereas the pleasures of sin are suited to sense and flesh So that you may as soon make up a number with only cyphers or make a meal of a shadow as feed rational Spirits with sinful pleasures And this is the reason why the Soul makes such frequent diversions in its pursuit of carnal delights and goes from one pleasure to another it is not because it is better but because it is new Affectation of variety proceeds only from sense of want and is a confession upon tryal that there is not in such an injoyment what was expected But the pleasures of godliness are satisfying pleasures Psal 36.8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house how so thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures and he that drinks of this river cannot but be satisfied and satisfied abundantly He that drinks of the water I shall give him shall never thirst more Clitorio quicunque sitim de fonte levarit vina fugit John 4.14 The Soul takes up with these divine refreshments and looks no farther it crys out with Jacob I have enough Gen. 33.11 Thirteenthly The pleasures of sin are short and transient They are not only vain but vanishing The wicked mans prosperity is compared to a candle now how soon is the candle of the wicked put out Prov. 24.20 Therefore the triumphing of the wicked is said to be short and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment Job 20.5 This was one reason why Moses and it was when he was grown to years of discretion too Heb. 11.24 25. chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to injoy the pleasures of sin because they were but for a season but momentany Therefore fitly compared to the crackling of thorns under a pot Eccles 7.6 much noise but little heat and soon extinct O what pleasure did the rich man take in his abundance but how long did it last He reckoned upon many years but it did not continue many hours Thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee Luke 12.20 It is impossible that the pleasure of sin should last long when the life of the sinner is so short Indeed
salvation of others then we ought not to count our lives dear IV. When external duties are commanded internal obedience is therein required and chiefly intended For every precept is given to the whole man and therefore binds the inward man as well as the outward or else we are obliged to be hypocrites and seem what we are not When we are commanded to repent to hear to pray to do good works they are not the outward acts only that Christ calls for but the inward graces and affections And therefore you never obey the precept whatever duties you perform unless they be done in spirit and truth V. Observe the station and condition God hath set thee in and the circumstances thou art under and attend to the duties thereof For that which is the duty of one may not be the duty of another and that which is a great duty at one time may be no duty at another One man may be a Magistrate another a Minister and so may be obliged to those duties which are no duties to another VI. Lastly whatever duties conduce most to Gods glory whatever have the greatest tendency to our own salvation and the salvation of others whatever may put the greatest honour upon religion and render it lovely among men and put to silence the ignorance of the foolish 1 Pet. 2.15 in these things lye the proper acts and exercises of obedience And therefore these are the works chiefly to be attended to by all that are under the Yoke of Christ but we must not so be concerned in the greatest as to neglect the least Qui minima spernit paulatim decidit Spiritual decays begin in the neglect of lesser duties Remember that of Christ to the hypocritical Pharisees These ye ought to have done and not to leave the other undone Matt. 23.23 And that in Matt. 5.19 Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven 3. If you would carry it becomingly under the Yoke of Christ as you must look that the principles of your obedience be right and that the matter of your obedience be in right exercises so you must see to the manner of your obedience It is not the bare doing what God commands that is obedience unless it be done in a right manner Most men miscarry herein taking up in a bare performance of duty and resting in opere operato in the work done Like the blind Papists that bead out their devotions and serve God by tale How few watch over their hearts in duty or look to the frame of their spirits in obedience whereas this is the great thing God looks at And therefore the precept doth not only direct in the matter to be done but also in the manner of doing not only what but how Take heed how ye hear Luke 8.18 Take heed ye do not your alms before men Matt. 6.1 Now what doth our Lord Christ mean by these take heeds but to shew us how possible it is for a man to miscarry in the very doing of duty if he do not make as much conscience and shew as much care in the manner of doing as in the matter to be done Malum ex quolibet defectu Tho all requisites must concur to make an action morally good yet any defect makes a good thing evil And therefore in all instances of obedience the manner is carefully to be attended to For 1. This is the great distinguishing character between a true believer and an hypocrite It is not in the matter done but in the manner of doing both may be ingaged in one and the same duty and yet it may be an act of grace in one and an act of sin in the other The good man prays so doth the hypocrite but the one prayes with faith and fervency the other draws nigh to God with his lips when the heart is far from him Matt. 15.8 The good man serves God so doth the hypocrite but the one brings the male of the flock Mal. 1.13 the other brings the torn and the lame and the sick The one serves him deceitfully the other acceptably Heb. 12.28 2. A duty that is materially good may be formally evil by failing in a right maner Good becomes evil and duty is turned into sin by an undue manner of performance It is iniquity even the solemn meeeting Isa 1.13 3. It makes God disown his own appointments and reject the very performances which the precept makes a duty When ye come to appear before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my courts Isa 1.12 It was Gods requirement as you may see Deut. 12.5 To the place which the Lord your God shall choose to put his name there to his habitation shall ye seek and thither ye shall come So that they had the command of God for treading his Courts and yet here God rejects his own appointments Who hath required this at your hand Though God required it yet not of such as they were nor in such a manner as they appeared So in v. 13. Bring no more vain oblations incense is an abomination to me But were not these oblations and incense of Gods own institution Yes but because they were feignedly performed therefore they were not accepted and so became vain and abominable But there is a farther hint in the words for oblations were from the people incense was from the priests so that when he saies their oblations are vain and incense an abomination he doth therein reject the specious worship and services both of priests and people He that offereth an oblation is as if he offered swines blood Lev. 11.7 and he that burneth incense as if he blessed an Idol Isai 66.3 And if God rejects that worship which he himself appointed and so was right for the matter because not done in a right manner what shall become of that worship which is neither right for matter nor manner where the commandments of God are made of none effect by the traditions of men this Matt. 15.6 wherever it is renders the worship of God vain for so the Lord Christ himself hath determined the case Matth. 15.9 In vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the commandments of men O that our superstitious will-worshippers would consider this who have to use the Phrophets phrase the broth of abominable things in their vessels Isa 65.4 and as ever they would avoid the devils meat let them shun feeding upon his broth For little innovations in the worship of God open a door for the gradual entrance of the most abominable idolatries And so the house of prayer becomes by degrees a den of thieves Matt. 21.13 4 A man may lay himself under great vengeance and judgement from God in the doing the very thing which God commands for want of a right manner Cursed be the deceiver that hath a male in his flock and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing Mal.