Lord hath rebounded on his own head Though hee be as Gad a serpent in the way yet you may now tread upon this serpent and it shall not hurt you The strong man is now bound if hee be a god still hee 's a God in chains a prince in fetters he must ask leave of your father ere he can touch one hair of your heads Hee cannot tempt you nor cast a bank against you nor shoot an arrow at you without a commission from heaven The devils are subject to you He is cast out and in your Lords name you may cast him out In my name shall ye cast out devils out of possessed bodies out of possessed souls you may be instruments to bring many a soul to repentance that they may recover themselves out of the snares of the devil who are held captive by him at his will Every sinner that is converted by you you have cast out a devil out of that soul Though he be an adversary still yet such an adversary as may be resisted whom resist stedfast in the faith 1 Pet. 5.9 And if you will resist hee shall flee from you James 4.17 Stand and your enemy runs Nay more hee is not only a conquer'd enemy but made your servant This viper shall yield you medicine against his own poyson His smitings shall be an excellent oyl his messengers he sends to buffet you his thorns he sticks in your flesh shall be a prevention of greater evils The very destruction he intends to bring upon you shall promote your salvation 1 Cor. 5.5 Deliver such an one to Sathan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Behold the devil is the Churches servant and such a servant as in their present state they cannot well want The executioner of their censures A Common-wealth may as well want a Jaylour or an Hang-man as the Church a Devil Behold Sathan divided against Sathan the devil without against the devil within the destroyer of souls become the destroyer of sin Deliver such an one to Sathan for the destruction of the flesh Though much against his mind his hand is against his own party Hee 's made to kill his own friends which otherwise would kill the soul Whether he will or no the very tormentour is made a saviour that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christians as much as you feel of the devils malice you could ill want his service there 's many a soul lost and undone by a sleeping that might have been recovered and rouzed by a raging devil His winds shall blow off your chaff his floods shall wash away your filth his earth-quakes shall open your prison-doors his tempests shall drive you to harbour Some men want a tempest to save them from a wrack Nay once more he is not low enough yet he shall be yet brought lower You have assurance of his total and final overthrow Rom. 16.20 The god of peace shall tread Sathan under your feet shortly Rev. 20.10 The devil shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone 'T is but a little while and when he hath done his work he shall be sent to his place where he shall be shut up and a seal set upon him whence he shall come out no more for ever He shall tempt no more vex no more deceive no more destroy no more torment you no more he shall be thrust out he shall be chain'd up the tormentour shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever Stand Christians stand your ground a little while follow your work hold up your holy profession hold on your holy course keep your hearts keep your garments keep on your armour keep under corruption resist temptation bear your affliction hold out faith and patience fight against your adversaries watch with your Lord this one hour and behold hee that shall come will come he cometh quickly and hee that is in the world shall bee consumed with the breath of his mouth and destroyed with the brightness of his appearing Hee shall bee cast out hee shall bee cast down and rise no more for ever CHAP. VII Death in the Covenant 7. GOd hath put Death into the Covenant 1 Cor. 3.21 Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the World or Life or DEATH all are yours Death there is a great purchase you 'l say what advantage is that yes death is advantage To dye is gain For 1. The Commission of Death is changed 'T was once take him Jaylour away with him carry him down to Prison with him there to bee reserved to the Judgement of the great day It is now take him Janitour take him Porter take him in give him an entrance into his Master's joy Death doth but take the Bride when shee is ready and lodges her in the Chamber of the Bride-groom this made death the Apostles desire Philip. 1.23 I desire to depart and to bee with Christ which is far better 2. Death is conquered What does this mean Your enemie is yours other than this your enemy is conquered to you a conquered enemy is made a Tributary death is dis-armed it hath lost its sting when a Serpent hath lost its sting you may take it into your bosome Hee that can say Death where is thy sting may go on and add Thankes bee to God which hath given me the victory A Signet sent from Heaven with a Death's head is a precious token Come Christians bee of good courage set your feet on the neck of this King of terrours 3. Death is at once The destruction of all their enemies when once death hath done its office upon them then farewel Edom and Ammon and Amaleck and Aegypt fare-well the pricking bryer and the grieving thorne then farewel sin and sorrow for ever the Egyptians they have seen and fear'd and felt to day they shall never see again for ever It destroys it self their last enemy by destroying them it hath its welcome and farewell the same moment it is but welcome death and farewel death for ever Death dies with them once dead they dye no more for ever mortality is swallowed up of life death is cast into the lake of fire that is its Region there there they die and dye and dye again over and over for ever and ever but for the Saints it doth but set them on the banks of that good Land whether it cannot follow them our Lord by death by ours as well as his own hath delivered those who for fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Christians you may now not onely with patience but with desire expect the assault of this King of terrours What shall tribulation and persecution and famine and nakedness and peril and sword shall sorrows and fears and mortality dye with mee yea shall sin dye with mee then welcome death Lord strengthen me this once let mee dye with the Philistines Would it bee good for
head never so many stars appear nor with such lustre as in a frosty night grind the spices and their fragrancy flows out Saints are never more Saints than in the house of bondage or the Land of their pilgrimage our Winter-weather makes us warm at heart As our outward man perishes our inward man is renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4.16 Persecution is the time of life We are delivered to death for Jesus sake that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh 2 Cor. 4.11 Decayed soul comfort thine heart the cross comes now thou shalt live now thou shalt recover This weakness will strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die Now faith and love and patience and courage that have so long hung the wing now lift up the head the day of your redemption draweth nigh this night is your day of hope 2. A more clear revelation of special Love Lovest thou me Lord there 's enough Let me hear thy voice let me see thy face Kiss me with the kisses of thy mouth Thy loving kindness is better than life send forth thy light and thy truth let these tell me thou lovest me Thy love-sick Spouse is sick for love O when wilt thou say Thou knowest that I love thee Why come up with me on the cross that withered tree bears more blossomes of love than all the green trees of the field The whole Gospel is hung upon the cross Where our Lord hung there 's sin nail'd the curse vacated death vanquished pardon peace joy glory shewed forth in open sight There 's love with all its tokens go up and take Fear not to be baptized with thy Lords Baptism nor to drink of his cup this cup also is the communion of the blood of Christ Come with me into the wilderness there will I speak comfortably to thee When thou most wantest it where thou wilt most value it there will I shew thee my loves Our Lord loves not to have love slighted the full soul loathes the honey-comb thou hast yet too many Lovers to bid thy Lord welcome he keeps his best Wine till all thine own be sowred then it will relish and then thou shalt have it His oyl is for thy wounds The Childe never knows so much of the Parents heart and bowels as when 't is sick or in distress then every look is love every word is pity and compassion O the soundings of Christs bowels towards his swooning children when thou knowest hatred then look to know love When thou art persecuted when thou art cast out and trodden under foot of men then will he take thee in and cherish thee 3. A more full manifestation of glory There 's not a prison into which the Saints are cast but hath a window into the palace Calvary becomes a Tabor where they have a sight of their Lord in his glory Golgotha becomes a Pisgah where they may look over Jordan into the land of promise Hast thou known little of heaven thou hast not yet been in the deep Of Stephen the first Gospel-Martyr its said Acts 7.55 He looked up stedfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God And Chap. 6.15 All that sate in the Council saw his face as the face of an Angel Such an admirable splendor and serenity in his countenance as spake him rather an Angel then a man O what an heaven was there within that cast out such a divine lustre on his face His joy was too big for his heart his face must have its share yea his very adversaries at second hand beheld the glory of God He looked up and saw heaven opened Looking down he might see hell opened all his tormentors about him the jaws of death ready to devour and swallow him up but looking up he saw heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God O there he is for whose sake is all this My beloved my beloved is yonder Behold the region of light whither this dark tempest is wasting me his hell and his heaven meets but the light swallows up the dark Hell ceases to be hell where heaven appears to bee heaven This is the portion of suffering Saints When you read what 's written of those armies of Martyrs that have gone before of their unspeakable joys their undaunted courage their admirable boldness of their chearing their friends confounding their foes their rejoycing in their stripes singing in their stocks leaping in their chains boasting of their bonds kissing their stakes embracing the flames riding up in triumph in their chariots of fire not repenting of their Faith nor accepting of deliverance what doth this speak but that their eyes as well as their anchor are within the vail whither Christ their fore-runner is gone before them Oh who would not be with them who would fear sufferings Soul what art afraid of whither art thou running from what art thou hiding thy self what is thine ease or thy liberty or thy quiet why so loth to loose from this shore lanch forth into the deep Fear not transportation into thine house of bondage when thou art once there 't is but look up and thou art in Paradise Such are the sufferings of Christ This is the cross of the Covenant 4. In summe as that which comprehends all the rest a more manifest exhibition of Christs special presence Jer. 30.11 I am with thee to save thee Isa 43.2 When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Through fire and water thou must go we went through fire and water into a wealthy place but whither ever thou goest he will go with thee When the bush was on fire the Lord was in the bush when the three children were in the furnace the Son of God was there with them Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions he was afflicted he saved them by the Angel of his presence in his love and his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Though all men forsook me the Lord stood with me and strengthened me 2 Tim. 4.16,17 The Saints shall never have this to charge upon the Lord I was in prison and thou visitedst me not He is ever with them to bear their burthens and ease their shoulders to plead their cause and maintain their innocence to wash their stripes to wipe off their tears to heal their wounds to bind up their broken bones to revive their weary spirits to perfume their prisons to lighten their dungeons to lead them in their wandrings to converse with them in their solitudes to give down from above in divine smiles in illapses of spiritual joys assurances of dearest love tenderest care melting sympathie gracious acceptance to give down from above what-ever is wanting beneath In fine to preserve them
Christ from henceforth unto death Thou wilt have Christ but when Shall this be the Marriage-day VVilt thou from henceforth be the Lords or when shall it be Must it be to morrow first or next moneth or next year or some time or other thou knowest not when May we not take thy promise as they did the Prophecy Ezek. 12. Is it not for many dayes to come is it not of the times that are afar off To morrow thou wilt hereafter thou wilt as good as thou hast said nothing As good thou hadst said never as not yet Speak Soul wilt give thy self to the Lord wilt presently if thou wilt how long wilt thou abide with him wilt thou not endorse on thy Deed of Gift a power of revocation wilt thou not repent not return again from Heaven to Earth wilt be chaste and play the Harlot no more wilt be faithful to the death obedient to the death Is this thy voice I have opened my mouth to the Lord and I cannot go back As the Lord liveth nothing but death no not death it self shall part thee and me I am perswaded I am resolved that neither life nor death Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other Creature shall separate me from the love of God or withdraw me from Jesus Christ my Lord. Now Soul gather up all this together stand thou before the Lord the God of all the Earth and this once more say Wilt thou have Jesus Christ for thy Husband dost thou choose him for thy Lord wilt thou cleave to him in love wilt thou lean upon him for righteousness and strength for righteousness to pay thy debts and for strength to pay thy vows wilt thou be subject to him thou knowest the commandments how holy how strict they be Wilt thou obey them in all things wilt exercise thy self to godliness in the strictness of it wilt be a thorow-pac'd Disciple wilt not content thy self with such a cold or lukewarm indifferency in Religion as thy lazy flesh will bear as thy credit thy safety or the temper of the times will bear wilt follow thy Lord fully Wilt thou take up thy lot with Christ be it better or worse shall his Father be thy Father his Inheritance be thy Inheritance yea and his Sufferings thy Sufferings his stripes his bonds his poverty be thine wilt thou espouse not his Crown onely but his Cross too whither ever he goes wilt thou go where he dwells wilt thou dwell wilt say where ever my Lord is there let his Servant be Wilt thou forsake all others all thy sins wilt thou be made clean wilt give up thy sores and thy ulcers thy filthy and fleshly lusts to be purged out does thine heart stand disengaged from every sin is there not any one iniquity concerning which thine heart sayes Let this stay with me wilt search out thy sins wilt accomplish a diligent search sweep every corner search every chamber of thine heart life wilt go down to the bottome of thy great deep to find out what lodges there wilt faithfully endeavour no more to allow thy self in any known iniquity wilt use all Gods means for the conquering and casting them out Wilt forsake the world wilt cast away thine Idols shall thy Mammon be no more a god nor a demy-god to thee shall it neither carry away thine heart from him nor so much as share with him in it wilt thou not bow down to this golden Image nor serve it wilt thou no longer serve thy greedy appetite shall thine heart no longer go after thy covetousness wilt thou abandon thine estate thy pleasures thine honours thy friends and companions so far forth as any of these divide or entice or steal away thine heart from thy Lord When ever they say Come away wilt thou say Get you hence VVilt forsake the Devil wilt fear and flie from and no longer hearken to his temptations wilt no longer regard his promises nor his threatnings his flatteries nor his frowns Coming off from the tents of all these wilt cleave unto thy Lord from henceforth from this day forward and not depart from him for ever Wilt hold on thy course wilt run out thy race wilt be faithful to the death wilt hope to the end for the grace that shall be brought unto thee at the revelation of Jesus Christ What sayest thou If thou sayest no as the Lord liveth thou speakest this word against thine own life If thou refusest to enter into this Covenant thou sayest I will not be the Lords I will none of him I will not live let death and wrath and chains and plagues be my portion for ever I will not be the Lords I will not leave my sins and my pleasures and my companions for his love that is I will be a Fool and a beast and a Devil I will die and will not see life Mistake not thy self be not deceived 't is a matter of life and death that is before thee 'T is whether Heaven or Hell a God or no God a Christ or no Christ a Soul or a lost Soul everlasting life or everlasting Fire shall be thy portion that stands now to be determined by thy consent or refusal look to it be wise this once for eternity Consent and thou art blessed consent and he is thine and with him the Kingdome Thy Lord hath given his consent already view the hand-writing the whole New Testament which is written in blood and sealed as 't is written there thou hast his I will in every line almost visible before thee put to thine and 't is done What sayest thou dost thou consent shall thine heart come in and put to thine hand and subscribe for thee I will Let that be done and then say after me A form of words expressing mans covenanting with God O Most Dreadful God for the Passion of thy Son I beseech Thee accept of thy poor Prodigal now prostrating himself at thy Door I have fallen from thee by mine iniquity and am by Nature a Son of Death and a thousand-fold more the Child of Hell by my Wicked practice The Terms of our conversion are either from which or to which But of thine infinite Grace thou hast promised Mercy to me in Christ if I will but turn to thee with all my heart Therefore upon the Call of thy Gospel I am now come in and throwing down my Weapons submit my self to thy Mercy The Terms from which we must turn are Sin Satan the World and our own Righteousness which must be thus renounced And because thou requirest as the Condition of my Peace with thee that I should put away mine Idols and be at defiance with all thine Enemies which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with against thee I here from the bottome of my heart renounce them all firmly Covenanting with thee not to allow my self in any known Sin but Conscientiously to use all means that
vexations afflictions plague thee on this earth whatever horrour and anguish whatever amazing confounding torments are like to meet thee and feed upon thee in the lake beneath thou mayest say of all this This is the wrath of God That day the Lord sayes to thee Fury is not in me he faith also Fear shall be no more to thee That hour the Lord saith I am thy friend Death and Hell vanish The day is broken the shaddows fly away And this is one thing included in that promise I am their God I am their friend 2. Their Portion Fury cease Fears vanish Friendship favour life granted But what shall he have to live upon Man was never intended to be a self-sufficient he was created under a necessity of dependance on somthing without him not onely for the continuation of his being but of the comfort of his being he cannot live upon the aire though he hath scaped the fire the soul of man is too big for all the world like Noah's Dove it can finde no rest below and where shall it finde it or on what shall it subsist Why God will not starve his friends he that hath saved their lives will finde them a livelyhood because there is no other to be found he himself will be a livelyhood to them their portion their maintenance and their heritage for ever As their deliverance is from him so their dependance shall be on him he is their substance and on him is their subsistence Jer. 10.16 he writes himself the portion of Jacob and as such his Saints accept him Psal 16.5 The Lord is the portion of mine Inheritance he is their bread and their water their stock and their store The Lord Gives portions to his enemies not onely the young Ravens but the old Lions and Tigers the worst of men do seek their meat from God Psal 17.14 they have their portion in this life whose bellies thou fillest with thy hid treasure they have their portion some of them have their portion in the City others a portion in the Field to some he gives a portion of gold to others a portion of worldly glory to others a portion of pleasures by all these he deals as the father of the prodigal he gives them their portion and sends them away But whilst he gives portions to these he is the portion of his Saints he makes over and settles himself upon them as their inheritance for ever they shall never be in want whilst there is in him to supply them they shall never be in straits whilst there is in him to relieve them all their wants be upon me The Lord is their Portion and he is a sufficient portion With thee is the fountain of life Psal 36. In thy presence is fulness Psal 16. The Lord God is all things to them enough and to spare In my Fathers house there is bread enough and to spare He that hath all things below God but not God hath nothing he that hath nothing besides God but hath God hath all things enough and to spare filling up and running over there 's still more to be had if more could be held the soul hath never enough till it hath more then enough is never full till it runs over while it can contain and measure and number all that it has this is its judgement of all Pauperis est numerare pecus In God is enough for filling up and running over enough there is in him to fill up all their faculties their understandings there are infinitely beautiful perfections where we may gaze and glut our eyes with unspeakable delight but when we have looked the farthest into them when the most searching eye the most greedy thoughts have searched and run their utmost they come not near the end they shall look and look and see and see and when they can reach no farther then they shall admire at those treasures of light and beauty that are still beyond them Admiration is the understanding full and running over when it s nonplust and can reach no further then it wonders at what it perceives still beyond it The Apostle tells us Eph. 3.18 that the Gospel which presents God in flesh hath in it an height and depth and length and bredth and I may tell you from him 't is an height without top a depth without bottome a length without limits a bredth without bounds in one word immensity unmeasurable and therefore unspeakable unsearchable glory Whilst the blind world deride and despise the portion of the Saints looking on God and all the things of God as shallow things that have no depth in them they will be found by those that search into them to be deep things that have no bottome in them 1 Cor. 2. the deep things of God All the raptures and extasies of glorious joyes of the Saints in the other world are the running over of their eyes upon their hearts and do break in upon them from their vision of God There 's enough to fill up their wills and affections there 's infinite goodness incomprehensible love marvellous loving kindness unspeakable delights glorious joyes Psal 31.19 Oh! how great is the goodness which thou hast laid up for those that fear thee Oh! how great is the goodness 'T is vox admirantis an admiring word great beyond expression great beyond imagination Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither have entred into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him and 't is vox exultantis of an heart leaping for joy rejoycing in hope of the glory of God which is laid up for his Saints Laid up where Why laid up in himself that 's the fountain that 's the treasury there 's love there 's joy there 's satisfaction our life is hid with Christ in God Oh love the Lord all ye his Saints O bless the Lord all ye his Saints He that is mighty hath done for you great things since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear neither hath the eye seen oh God besides thee what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him Isa 64.4 or as 't is in the margin There hath not been heard or seen a God besides thee which doth so for him that waiteth for him There 's enough to fill up our time there 's admiring work and praising work for ever there 's matter for love and joy to live and feed upon for ever endless praises eternal pleasures everlasting rejoycings Isa 35. Everlasting Joy Psal 16. pleasures for evermore There 's enough to reward all our labours and repay all our expences there 's a full reward Gen. 15.1 Fear not Abram I am thy shield and exceeding great reward Christian thou shalt not serve the Lord for nought he will reward thee and 't is little in his eyes that thou shouldest serve him for corn and for wine for sheep and for oxen yea for the crowns and kingdoms of
this world these shall not be thine hire the everlasting God will be thy reward thine exceeding great reward exceeding not thy work only but thy very thoughts also A little is too much for thy earnings but the whole world is too little for his bounty less than nothing might satisfie for thy labours but less than himself will not satisfie for his love the eternal God will be thy reward Oh the unsearchable riches of the poorest of Saints Onimium foelices bona si sua nôrint Poor what and yet hast a God! In want what and yet hast all things Is he a God that is thine and art thou still in straits Would a few sheep and oxen vineyards and olive-yards make thee a rich man and can a God leave thee a beggar Is not a pearl more than pebbles Milk and wine than mud and water Men use to say Money is all things meat and drink and clothes and friends and lands virtually all things And is not God more than money Sure he hath said to his Gold thou art my god that cannot say Let God be mine and then go thou thy way Hast thou a God and yet poor Nay farther would the fatness of the earth and the fulness of heaven if thou hadst both be enough for thee Would corn and wine and houses and lands and pleasures here and eternal life hereafter suffice thee And is not God alone as much as all this Dost thou want Star-light when thou hast the Sun Is the Ocean more full for the Rivers that run into it Or would there be any want there if all these were stopp'd and dry Can they contribute to it which have their rise from it Hath the almighty God a self-sufficiency and hath he not enough to satisfie a poor worm Is he blessed in himself and mayest not thou be blessed in him He that thinks any thing less then God will suffice understands not a soul and he that wants any thing more understands not God God alone is as much as God and all the world and this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord God is their portion If enough be not yet said look a while and consider whence thou art taken up into this blessedness What hast thou left What an exchange hast thou made Thou wert taken with the Prodigal from the trough with the beggar from the dunghil yea as a brand out of the burning there thy lot was fallen Oh where hast thou left the rest of the world Blessing themselves in vanity pleasing themselves with shaddows and apparitions feeding on ashes warming themselves at their painted fires sporting themselves with the wind rejoycing in a thing of nought their crackling thorns their glozing pleasures their drinkings and dancings and riotings their horses and their dogs and their hawks and their harlots making a shift a while to make merry with these whilst they are hasting to the pit To that fire and brimstone which is the portion of their cup. Consider man what is the chaffe to the wheat What is a Comet to the Sun What is the night to the day What are bubbles and childrens toyes to â—…e durable riches What are things that are noâ— to hâ—m whose name is I am But oh what is death and wrath and the curse which was once all thine heritage to that life and love and peace and joy and glory which thou now possessest in that God that is thy portion What a poor wretch wert thou once when thou hadst nothing but sin and shame and misery that thou couldst call thine own these thou mightest call thine sin was thine woe was thine death and the grave and the curse and the pit were thine own but that was all thou hadst thy good things thou livedst upon had they been of never so great value were none of thine thine house and thy lands are none of thine thy gold and thy silver and thy substance are none of thine they are all but borrowed or committed to thee as a Steward and all to be given up upon demand and what thou hast spent of them thou must be brought to a reckoning for a poor wretch thou wert and hadst just nothing all that thou hadst was none of thine But now God is thine own all that he is all that he has is thine never couldest thou lay such a claim to any thing thou possessedst to house or wife or childe or body or soul as now thou mayest to thy God God is as surely thine as thou art thy self as sure as thou art a man thou hast a God Come Christian here 's now thy poâ—tion the light of thine eyes the lifting up of thinehead the joy of thine heart the strength of thy bones thy stock thy treasure thy life thy health thy peace thy rest thy all Whom have I in heaven but thee and in the earth there is none that I desire besides thee My flesh and mine heart faileth but God is the strength of mine heart and my portion for ever Psal 73.25,26 Here is thy portion know it for thy good take it for thine own live upon it and live up to it 1. Live upon thy portion Here thou mayest feed herein thou mayest rejoyce herein thou mayest bless thy self for ever Let him that blesseth himself on the earth bless himself in the God of Truth Let him that rejoyceth in the earth rejoyce in the God of truth Let the strong man live upon his strength let the wise man live upon his wits let the rich man live upon his lands come thou live upon thy God come enjoy God and thy soul enjoy God in thy soul enjoy thy soul in God Thou hast possession what should hinder thy fruition In fruition the Schools tells us there are three things which go to the making it up Cognitio Delectatio Quietatio 1. Knowledge according to the clearness or cloudiness of our apprehensions of any good we more or less take the pleasure or comfort of it and therefore the full fruition of God is not till at last when we shall know as we are known Here we see but as in a glass and darkly we know but in part and while we know but in part we love but in part and joy but in part the dimness of our sight makes an abatement upon our joy When the vail shall be taken away when we shall come to see face to face then we shall fully feel what it is to have a God Christian know thou the God of thy Fathers the more thou knowest the more thou hast The carnal world enjoy not God at all God is not known in their Tabernacles In Jewry is God known his Name is great in Israel at Salem is his Tabernacle and his Dwelling in Zion But what of God in Edom or Ammon or Amaleck or Aegypt those dark Regions wherein neither Sun nor Star appears Leave them to their dunghil gods to the gardens which they have desired and the Oaks which they have chosen The
unto me look unto me and I will be thy Sun I le shew thee all that glory and the right way that will bring thee to it I promise thee I will trust me I will be a light unto thee 4. Their Shield Psal 84.11 The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield The gods of the earth are so stiled Psal 47.9 The shields of the earth much more the God of glory Ephes 6.16 Faith is called a shield Above all taking the shield of Faith it signifies the same as God is a shield Faith is to the soul what-ever God is This is the grace that entitles the soul to God and applies God to the soul Gen. 15.1 Fear not Abraham I am thy shield What 's promised to the Father of the faithful stands sure to all the seed Rom. 4.16 The state of Christians in this life is a militant state a state full of hardships and hazards By reason whereof as richly as they are provided for they are subject to fears of being undone and spoiled of all They are in fears about things eternal they have spiritual adversaries that lye in wait for their souls that fight against their souls that are tempting them and enticing them from their God that watch their opportunities to steal away their God by stealing away their hearts from him and such dangerous attempts of this kind they meet withall that they often are in great doubt what the issue may be They are in fears about things temporal their names are shot at their liberties are invaded their estates with all the comforts of their lives are in danger to be made a prey to day they are a praise to morrow a scorn to day they are full and abound but to morrow they may have nothing left they dye daily they are killed all the day long But what-ever their dangers and their fears thereupon are here 's sufficient provision made against all God is their shield Christian thou hast enough and all that thou hast is in safety Thou art compassed about with a shield secur'd on all hands there 's no coming at thee What-ever assaults are made thy God is a wall of partition betwixt thee and harm They are not shields of brass and iron thou are furnish'd with the strong God is thy defence Wherefore dost thou doubt O thou of little faith A Christian and yet afraid shifting for thy self taking care for the Asses and Oxen and Sheep vexing and loading and losing thy self in thy cares and fears from day to day Where is thy God man Doth not God take care for Oxen and Asses and all that thou hast But oh what meanest thou in this to be shifting thy self from danger by shrinking back from thy God securing thy self from affliction by taking sanctuary in Iniquity What art thou doing but throwing away thy shield to save thee from harm making a breach in thy wall to keep thee in safety Gen. 17.1 c. chap. 15.1 Walk before me and be thou perfect follow thou me stick to me and then Fear not Abraham I am thy shield This now is the first and great promise of the Covenant I am thy God and the second is like unto it CHAP. II. Christ in the Covenant 2. GOd hath put Christ into the Covenant and made over him to his people Isa 42.6 I will give thee for a Covenant He who is promised as the chief matter the Mediator Surety Scope of the Covenant is by a metonymy called the Covenant I will give thee for a Covenant that is I covenant to give thee to the people Whatever glory and blessedness there is in the fruition of God wo is me there is a great gulfe fixed between me and it over which there is no passing there 's a partition-wall raised over which there 's no climbing there 's an hand-writing against me whilst that stands all that is in God is nothing to me Were this God mine I had enough Let me be put to labour or suffering let me dig or beg or starve and die whether I be rich or poor have somthing or nothing be a praise or a reproach it matters not so God were mine But oh how may I obtain Who shall bring me to God why the Lord God hath given thee his Son to undertake for thee and to be thy way unto the Father Heb. 11.19,20 Jesus Christ who is the morning star the Sun of righteousness the Image of the Invisible God the first-born of every creature by whom are all things who is before all things the head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first-born from the dead In whom dwells all fulness even the fulness of the Godhead bodily who hath made peace by the blood of his Cross Col. 1. and chap. 2. Whose Name is Wonderful Councellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Isa 9.6 This Jesus is granted thee in the Covenant to bring thee to God To which blessed and glorious purpose he is exhibited 1. As the Light of Life 2. As the Lord our Righteousness 3. As our Lord and King 4. As our Head and Husband 1. As the light of Life A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel Luk. 1.32 In him was life and the life was the light of men John 1.4 He that followeth me shall have the light of life John 8.12 there is a light that serves to kill and destroy to bring death and condemnation to light the light of the Law that killing letter concerning which the Apostle Rom. 7.9,10 When the commandment came sin revived and I died the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death But Christ brings life and immortality to light heaven glory the invisible God which are lost out of reach and out of ken are all discovered in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 To give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ He is the Image of the Invisible God the brightness of his Fathers glory the glass in which by reflection we see the Sun John 14.8,9 Shew us the Father and it suffices us Why sayes he Hast thou known me Philip and yet sayest shew us the Father He that hath seen me hath seen the Father and this is the light of life John 17.3 this is life eternal that they might know thee the onely true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent 2. As the Lord our righteousness This is his Name Jer. 23.6 He shall be called the Lord our righteousness To this end he is given to us 1. As our propitiatory Sacrifice 1 John 2. The propitiation for our sins 1 Cor. 5. Christ our Passover Rev. 13.8 A lamb slain from the beginning of the world Our price our ransome to satisfie Justice pacifie wrath discharge from the Curse to blot out the hand-writing break down the wall of partition to finish the transgression to make an end of sins to make reconciliation for
hath it in the greatest excellency and perfection of it that doth pertingere ad summum gratiae Aquin. 2. Ex parte habentis gratiam in respect of the person that hath it and thus a person is said to be full of grace that hath as much grace as he is capable of Christ is full of grace in both respects that grace which is in him is grace in the highest perfection of it and as much as his vessel can hold 3. That this fulness of Christ is ours and for us John 1.16 Of his fulness do we receive grace for grace Coloss 3.3 Your life is hid with Christ in God Your life that is both your spiritual life grace and your eternal life glory 1 John 5.11 This is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son Our life is said to be in Christ in three respects 1. It s hid in Christ as the effect in the cause As the life of the branches is hid in the root so is the life of a Christian in Christ He is our root 2. It is deposited with Christ it is laid up with him committed to his trust and custody with him it is secured and put into safe hands 3. The dispensation of it is committed to him from him it is at his pleasure to be derived to us Of his fulness we receive The Son hath life in himself and he giveth it to whom when and in what measure soever he pleaseth Christian art thou nothing in thy self Thou hast enough in thy Jesus Art thou dark He 's a Fountain of light Art thou dead He 's a fountain of life Art thou poor and low weak in knowledge in faith in love in patience c He 's a treasure of all grace and what he is he is for thee Is he wise he is wise for thee Is he holy He is holy for thee Is he meek merciful humble patient He is so for thee Is he strong is he rich is he full 'T is for thy sake as he was empty for thee weak for thee poor for thee so for thee he is mighty he is rich and full Whilest thou bewailest thine own poverty and weakness Oh bless thy self in thy Lord in his riches righteousness and strength 2. A complication of interests As the head and body as the Husband and Wife so Christ and his Saints are mutually concerned are rich or poor must stand and fall live and die together As the husband conveyes to the wife a title to what he hath as the wife holds of the husband so is it betwixt Christ and his Church they have nothing but through him their whole tenure is in capite they hold of the Head they have nothing but through him and whatsoever is his is theirs His God is their God his Father is their Father his blood his bowels his merits his spirit his victories all the spoils he hath gotten all the revenue and income of his life and death all is theirs For them he obey'd suffered liv'd died rose ascended is set down in glory at the right hand of God He obeyed as their head died as their head rose ascended reigneth as their head and hath in their names taken possession of that inheritance which he purchased for them This is that Jesus which is given to us and thus is he granted and made over to all his Saints in this Covenant of God CHAP. III. The Spirit in the Covenant 3 GOd hath put his Spirit into the Covenant the Almighty the Eternal Spirit the Holy Spirit the spirit of Glory and of God This Holy and eternal Spirit is first poured forth on our head the Lord Jesus to annoint him our Redeemer to furnish and qualifie him for that great undertaking Isa 61.1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon mee because hee hath annointed mee to preach good tidings to the meek c. Isa 11.2,3,4 I will put my Spirit into him the spirit of Wisdome and Vnderstanding and of the fear of the Lord Isa 11.2 And hee is promised to each member Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you To all these hee is granted 1. As a Spirit of VVisdome and Revelation 2. As a Spirit of Holiness and Sanctification 3. As a Spirit of Truth and Direction 4. As a Spirit of Comfort and Consolation 1. As a Spirit of Wisdome and Revelation Ephes 1.17,18 To enlighten them to open their blinde eyes and to shine into their hearts to give them the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that they may know what the hope of his calling is and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints To counterwork the spirit of this world whose work is to blinde mens eyes lest the light of the glorious Gospel should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4.4,5,6 This is hee by whom the Father hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2.9 the light that the spitit brings in is a marvellous light and that in three respects 1. It is a marvellous thing that ever light should come into such dark souls That those that were born blinde and upon whom the god of this world had for many years together been trying his skill to thicken their darkness to encrease and seal them up under it that ever such eyes should bee opened and the light of life should shine in upon such hearts this is a marvellous thing When our Lord Jesus in the dayes of his flesh opened the eyes of those that had been born blinde the people ran together and wondred at the sight If you should see stones to live if you should see dead stocks or dry bones to walk up and down the streers if you should see Trees or Houses or Mountains full of eyes this were not more full of wonder than to behold blinde sinners receiving their sight Thou wert once darkness art thou now light in the Lord stand and wonder at thy cure 2. They are marveâ—lous things which this light discovers 'T is a wonder that such eyes should ever see and they see wonders The Gospel is a Mystery full of wonders There are heights and depths and lengths and breadths Wee have seen strange things to day Strange love strange grace wonderful wisdome wonderful pitty patience mercy wonderful providences wonderful deliverances incomprehensible excellencies unspeakable joy and glory 't is a wonder there should bee such things every day before our eyes and yet wee could not see them till now and 't is a wonder that when wee did not see them before wee should ever see them now that those things which wee despised derided mocked at stumbled at as meer foolishness and fancy wee should now see and admire even to astonishment that that Jesus which was to the Jews a stumbling block to the Greeks foolishness should bee to the same men when called the Wisdome of God and the Power of God O the deep things of God!
the nostrils feel and smell So knowledge is involved in every grace Faith knows and believes Charity knows and loves temperance knows and abstains patience knows and suffers humility knows and stoops repentance knows and mourns obedience knows and does compassion knows and pitties hope knows and expects confidence knows and rejoyces And therefore wee believe and love and obey and hope and rejoyce because we know God gives us this knowledge as the eye of our souls and by that eye hee enters with all his power and Glory Ephes 3.19 That ye may know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge and bee filled with all the fulness of God Day-light is not that light wee receive by reflection from the Moon and Stars at second hand when the Sun is risen and come in among us then it is day When the Sun of Righteousness is risen in the heart there 's the light of life God is and God dwells in this light and where God dwells every unclean thing vanishes can Darkness dwell with the Sun can Death dwell with Life according to the measure of the manifestation of God in us so far forth is sin necessarily vanished Thou art but the carkasse of a Christian the light that is in thee is darkness the life that is in thee is death if thou bee not in the whole man renewed after the Image of him that Created thee If Christ bee not formed in thy heart if the Love the humility the meeknesse the patience the compassion the holiness of the Lord Jesus be not begotten in thee whatever thou knowest thou knowest nothing as thou oughtest to know if thou hast all knowledge and hast not charity and so if thou hast all knowledge and hast not humility meekness holiness thou art nothing thou art but as sounding brass or a tinkling Cimbal Doubting Christian that complainest of and bewailest thine ignorance and fearest that thou knowest not God look upwards where his Glory dwells lift up thine eyes and see or if thou canst not see lift up thy heart for eyes Lord where dwellest thou let mee see thy Face shew mee thy Glory pitty thy blinde let the eyes of this blinde bee opened and the tongue of this dumb shall bee loosed and speak forth thy praise Look upward and if yet thou seest not thy God look inward canst thou see his Face in thy soul canst thou see his Image on thy heart canst thou behold in this Glasse the Glory of the Lord and finde thy self changed into his Image Comfort thine heart how short sighted soever thou seemest to bee how dimme soever thy Candle burns how weak soever in the Knowledge of God thou complainest thou art thou hast seen God thou hast seen his Face in peace God that commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined into thine heart and given thee the Knowledge of his Glory in the face of Jesus Christ 2. A Fructifying Power this Sun-shine makes a fruitful soil Colos 1.9,10 my desire for you saith the Apostle is that you may bee filled with the Knowledge of his Will in all Wisdome and Spiritual understanding That yee might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful unto every good work and encreasing in the Knowledge of God Strengthened with all might according to his glorious Power unto all Patience and long suffering with joyfulness and Phil. 1.11 Being filled with the fruits of Righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the Glory and praise of God Full of Light and full of Love of Faith of Patience of Humility and fruitful in every good work Mat. 12.35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things A good man hath a good treasure within him a treasure of Heavenly Wisdome of Divine Truth a treasure of Light God hath shined into his heart Hee 's filled with all the fulness of God And what is laid up within hee brings forth without An evil man hath an evil treasure Satan hath been filling his heart Act. 5.3 Why hath Satan filled thine heart the treasures of darkness are there a treasure of lust and lies Falshood and folly are found with him these treasures of darkness within bring forth darkness dark souls lead dark lives their way is dark their deeds are darkness O how fruitful are sinners in their unfruitful works filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickednesse covetousness maliciousnesse envy murther debate deceit malignity c. Rom. 1.29,30 Their hearts are full and thereupon their mouths full their eyes full their hands full mouths full of cursing eyes full of adultery hands full of violence filled with all unrighteousness O Generation of Vipers how can yee being evil having such hearts speak good things all is evil that comes from you and how can it bee otherwise Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks And in like manner O Generation of Believers How can yee being good but bring forth good things Or how can you say or think there is a treasure of Grace a fountain of light within when no streams spring forth Penury in the life speaks no great plenty in the heart the Truths of God within you are the Seed of God the good seed that hee sows in his fields where there 's good seed sown in good ground you will expect a fruitful Harvest a barren crop speaks a barren soil or no good seed sown there 1 John 2.3 Hereby we do know that wee know him if wee keep his Commandements We know God but are you sure of it are you not mistaken No wee are not mistaken wee know that wee know him But how do you know it Why how are trees known By their fruits ye shall know them How do yee know that this is indeed the Tree of Knowledge Why see what fruits are hanging upon it wee keep the Commandements Here 's Obedience growing here 's Holiness and Righteousness and Mercy Doubtless this is the right Tree for behold all the Commandements the two Tables hanging upon the boughs of it and not broken but kept and observed Wee may as well say Obedience is no Obedience Duty is no Duty Faith and Love and Humility and Patience are not what they are as that the Tree that brings forth this fruit is not the Tree of Knowledge Wee know that wee know him because wee keep his Commandements Yea and the Tree of Life too both in one a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her Prov. 3.18 Where these fruits are not found where are nothing but shews and sounds painted fruits where are nothing but the fruits of unrighteousness contention strife covetousness sensuality and the like he 's very ignorant indeed that is not able to say what ever I am ignorant of this one thing I know that I know not God Christian boast not of what thou hast but consider what thou doest try thy head by thine heart and thy
the latter dayes But how can goodness be the Object of fear We fear evill and not good The meaning is they shall fear to wrong or abuse goodness They shall fear to wrong the Lord because he is good in the latter dayes These latter dayes that this Promise refers to shall be dayes of more grace wherein there shall be not onely a more clear revelation of the goodness of God they shall know the Lord and his goodness But a more plentifull communication and diffusion of the goodness of God they shall love the Lord and his goodness They shall see themselves both more obliged by goodness and shall feel themselves more seasoned with goodness By grace they shall be better natured Religion doth not make morose but more generous free and ingenuous There 's nothing more abhorrent to an ingenuous spirit then to be base and unworthy Abuse of goodness is an unworthiness which an ingenuous nature abhors as death to be guilty of 't is its destruction 't is disingenuity The abuse of the goodness of God is great unthankfulness and unthankfulness is great disingenuity Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris Call me unthankfull and you call me all that 's naught Call me any thing else but unthankfull Indeed were I all thanks I should still be unthankfull I should still be behind-hand with the goodness of the Lord my debt is greater then I can pay yea greater then I can acknowledge but shall I return evil for his good If I cannot pay should I deny my Debt He that is unthankfull whatever God requires of him saies wickedly this is more then I owe thee God I owe thee nothing I care not for thee Oh this is dreadfull to a gratious heart If this be in sin for all sin is unthankfulness if this be in sin if this be the signification of all my neglects of God and my duty to him then the Lord forbid what ever I suffer that I should yeeld to sin How shall I do this wickedness How shall I neglect this duty and sin against God How should I look my God or my own soul in the face should I be so unworthy For thy sake Lord let me not sin against thee thou art good thou art kind thou art gracious thou art holy O let me not be a Devil what heart where a Devill is not but such goodness will charm it into love Shall I sin Shall I rebell For thy sake Lord I will not do it I will not for mine own sake for where then shall I appear In sinning against God I sin against mine own soul I dare not for my life sin and Death sin and Hell are link'd together but were it not so might I sin and escape sin and not die yet for thy sake Lord I will not do it Thou art good good in thy self good to me thou att my God thou art my Father love care tenderness compassion kindness is all that is in thine heart towards me what I am what I have what I hope for that I breathe that I live all is thy goodness thy bounty to me Oh let me not rise up against the Womb that bare me and the Paps that give me suck I would not to my childe to my servant to my friend but Oh let me never to my Father to my God return evill for good and hatred for his good will Let not this evill which I fear ever come upon me put thy fear into mine heart O Lord that I may not sin against thee CHAP. XV. Obedience in the Covenant 7. OBedience Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them Obedience is either of the Heart or of the Life In this Scripture God undertakes for both 1. For the obedience of the Heart he undertakes in the former words I will put my Spirit in your heart where the Spirit dwells be rules Where Satan dwells he rules and where the Spirit of the Lord dwells there God rules the Spirit in the heart is the Law in the heart Those two Promises I will put my Spirit in your hearts and I will write my Law in your hearts signifie the same thing The Law in the heart is the will of man melted into the will of God The Law of God may be in the mouth and the heart a Rebel its reception into the heart notes the hearts subjection to it The Obedience of the heart includes two things 1. The opening of the heart to the Word 2. The resolution of the heart for the Work of the Lord. 1. The opening of the heart to the Word What wilt thou have me to do Lord That 's the voice of an obedient heart Veniat verbum submittemus Speak Lord command Lord what wilt thou And when he speaks whatever it be the word is embraced and accepted of the heart Dan. 4.27 Let my counsel be acceptable to thee The acceptance of the word in the heart is signified by its hearkening to it To hearken is more then to hear though they sometimes note the same thing yet ordinarily hearing is of the ear hearkening of the heart Psal 81.11 Israel would not hearken my people would none of me They heard what the Lord spake but they would not hearken that is as t is there interpreted they would none of the Lord. They rejected the word of the Lord which he spake unto them When the word is let come in with Authority suffered to rule in the soul when the heart gives up it self unto it then it is accepted there 's its hearkening to it 2 The resolution of the heart for the work of the Lord Psal 110.106 I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments I have vowed and I will perform I have covenanted and I am determined to keep thy statutes The word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not do that 's the rebellious Whatsoever the Lord shall speak we will do that 's the obedient heart Where the heart is thus resolved to obey this is that obedience which shall be accepted unto salvation Where this resolution is as there is opportunity there will be practice and where there 's not opportunity in Gods account this is it This is Praying this is Hearing this is giving and feeding and cloathing and visiting this is walking circumspectly working righteousness shewing mercy exercising Faith and Patience and Repentance this is our keeping the Commandments of God and walking in his Statutes an heart to obey is our obeying an heart to do is our doing an heart to suffer in Gods account is our suffering for his Name But here it must be carefully noted that though sincere resolution for Obedience be Obedience yet every resolution is not that resolution Resolution for Obedience is then sincere where 1. It flowes from an inward and rooted inclination 2. It 's bottomed on a
firm belief of Scripture Revelation 3. It 's built on the highest and weightiest Reasons 4. It 's the result of the most mature and deep deliberation 1. A sincere resolution flowes from an inward rooted inclination Psal 119.112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes Our new purpose is from our new nature It is not produced by some sudden fright or sence of danger or meerly by a present force of Argument but by a Divine power working the heart to a suitableness to the will and waies of God and an habituall propension and inclination thereto Resolution for holiness without an holy inclination is a Blade without a Root as fresh and as green as it looks 't will wither and come to nothing no Ropt no Fruit nor lasting The heart is the root of action and grace is the life of the root When our Resolutions are the Blade sprouting forth of this living Root then they will abide and bring forth the Ear and an Harvest 2. A sincere resolution is bottomed on a firm Assent to the truth of Scripture Revelation A Christian resolves for godliness because he believes God that he is as he hath said the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him He is built on the Scriptures as his hopes so his purposes have the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles on which they stand Whatever Resolution hath not this Foundation is but as an house upon the Sands 3. A sincere Resolution is founded on the highest Reason Where we resolve without Reason we will quickly find a Reason to change Where we resolve we know not why we shall change we know not how soon To resolve we know not why and to resolve on we know not what will be alike unstable Though there be Reason for Religion yet Religion may be taken up without Reason Whatever Reason there be for it yet if it be not understood or considered 't is all one as if there were no Reason at all And if there seem some Reason for it yet if it be not the highest Reason when a stronger then it comes we quickly change our purpose The Reasons we have for our serving and following God are the highest of all Reasons and that whether we respect it as our duty or our happiness For 1. There 's none can lay such claim to us as God Whos 's am I Who hath made me Who hath bought me 1 Cor. 6.20 Glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are his Psal 100.2,3 Serve the Lord with gladness For the Lord he is God it is he that hath made us not we our selves we are his people and the sheep of his Pasture What reason have you to serve men or to serve sin or the world Men think they have reason for it but what reason Are any of these Gods Are men your Gods Is sin or the world God Do you owe your selves to them It is he that hath made us and his we are As the Apostle concerning obedience to Parents much more may it be said here Children obey your God for this is right This is his due and your duty if any one can lay as good a claim to you let him carry you away for servants 2. There 's none can be better to us then God None can require and none can reward our obedience as he Where can you be better then with God Hee l require no more then that you serve him till you can find a better Master He that saith 't is best to serve sin and the world is a fool and hath said in his heart there is no God If God be God he is the chief yea the onely good If any thing in the world upon what account soever be thought better then the Lord that 's set up for a God in his room 3. Whomsoever we serve 't is God must pay us our Wages at last God is Judge he is the Rewarder both of the evill and the good both of those that serve him and those that serve him not If you receive the Lord he will be your reward if you serve him not he will reward you but what reward have you Those mine Enemies which will not have me to reign over them bring them and slay them before me There 's their reward Sin hath its rewards but what are they but vanity and vexation Or if they were better how long will they last But when sin hath paid the most it can Oh what a reward is there behinde that God hath to pay you This shall ye have of mine hand ye shall lye down in sorrow 4. The Wages which God will give shall certainly be blessed or dreadfull according to our Obedience or Disobedience The reward that God hath to give is an eternal reward Eternal salvation to them that obey him everlasting destruction to him that serveth him not I have a soul this carkass is the least part of me there 's another world a world to come a few years is the most I have to spend in this I must abide eternally eternally in the other world How inconsiderable is it what I have here whether little or more better or worse in a short time that will come all to one But oh my eternity what 's that like to be Why t is God that must determine it and he will certainly reward every man according to his works Rom. 2.6,7,8,9,10 Who will render to every man according to his deeds To them which by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory honour and immortality eternal life But to them that are contentious and obey not the truth tribulation and anguish c. There 's glory and shame mercy and wrath life and death set before me there 's no third state one of the two must be my lot and this is it that doth determine which If I obey I live if I disobey I die for ever Now when my resolution is founded on such Reasons as these then which none can be imagined higher and more weighty till eternity become of less regard then time and an immortall soul be set below a perishing body and when the question being put Shall I follow God or not God or the world God or my lust Speak soul give in thy Answer when this is the Answer it gives Why there 's none can lay such claim to me as God there 's none can be as good to me as God whomsoever I serve its God must be my Rewarder my everlasting blessedness or eternal ruine depends on him and must be infallibly determined according to my obedience or disobedience This is the plain case Obey and Live Obey or die for ever And therefore what can I say less or more but that I am the Lords and will be his Servant Let others chuse whom they will serve as for me O my soul serve thou the Lord. This resolution thus founded is like to stand 4. A sincere Resolution is the fruit of mature deliberation Deliberation gives Reason
wander or stay sway from Christ 1. There 's that within them which will bring them back the grace of God within them will bring them home The grace of God is now their nature Sinners whilest walking with Christ and Saints whilest wandring from Christ are both under a force they are carried against the stream when the winds are down that carried them on they will return to their course The grace of God is the seed of God He that is born of God sinneth not that is not unto death the seed of God remaineth in him Thy seed of God is immortal seed it may languish and be ready to dye but it shall not dye it shall recover 2. There 's one above them which will bring them back Though he suffer them for a time to wander from the way yet he will not suffer them to perish from the way Of those whom thou hast given me I have lost none He hath lost none and he will lose none He sends a word of command after them Jer. 3.14 Return O lack sliding children for I am married to you Whither are you running Whom are you following after Come back from your Lovers return to your Husband I am married to you and we may not part After the word of Command he sends a word of Promise ver 22. I will heal your back-slidings Return from your back-slidings and I will heal them I will forgive your back-slidings and I wil cure you of your back sliding heart All the Breaches they have made shall be made up I will pass by all that you have done and be reconciled to you If you will return return and I will receive you And this word of Promise is a word of Power I will bring you to Zion then shall she say I will go and return to my first Husband Hos 2. Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Jer. 3.22 He that will not leave his Israel after the flesh with their Idols much less will he leave his Israel after the Spirit Phil. 1.6 Being confident of this very thing that he that hath begun a good work will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ A good work may be said to be begun in double sence 1. When there is some good think a doing Or when something is done towards it when it is in fieri When the Lord hath been ploughing up the fallow ground making his Batteries against the strong Hold shaking secure hearts breaking false hopes awakening Consciences convincing sinners spreading sin and death and hell before them entring upon a Treaty with them and perswading them over to Christ to make an escape There may be hopes in this The pains of Travel gives hopes of a Birth But this may go back and after the highest hopes prove an abortion Sinners awakened sinners beware you make not a stand at the Threshold beware that your Plough'd ground be not left to lye fallow Beware that the Womb prove not the Grave of all your hopes Mistake not Conviction for Conversion make on let not your God nor your souls lose the things which here been wrought 2. When there is some good thing done When 't is in facto esse When the Rubbish is removed and the first stone is laid when the Plough hath been going and the good Seed is sown when the New-creature hath passed the Birth when Christ is formed and the light of life is newly sprung up in the soul it there be but a grain of Mustard-seed the least and the lowest degree of saving Grace broken forth in the heart the question is not whether it be much or little if it be grace there 's the immortal seed there 's the good work begun which shall be carried on till the day of Jesus Christ Grace is a security for Glory Yet beware Christians let not this security make you secure though there be an Harvest in the seed yet the seed must be cherished watched and well looked to that it may grow up to the Harvest He that lets it dye for want of looking to proves that it was dead whilest alive Let not your falling short of Glory prove that your Grace was not Grace Christians lay hold on the Promise and lift up your heads you are under fears however it be with you for the present you are in doubt how it may be your way is long and dangerous yet your hearts are deceitful and unstable you are going on at present but doubt how you shall hold out I may meet with Lions in the way which may fright me back I may lose my way and never recover I may be weary and faint in the way and lye down and give off My Lord and my soul have been often upon the parting point I have been almost gone and I tremble to think what may yet become of me Yet remember who it is that hath said I will not turn from you to do you good I will put my fear in your hearts and you shall not depart from me Rise soul take care for to day and take no thought for to morrow Mind the present duty go on thy way though weeping and trembling and hard bestead go on thy way and then commit thy way and thy self to him by whose mighty Power thou shalt be kept through faith unto salvation Faithful is he that hath called you and will do it And now you have all Let us hear the Conclusion of the whole matter God hath made a Covenant with his people hath given himself for their Portion his Son for their price his Spirit for their guide in the way his Earth for their accommodation by the way his Angels for their Guard the Powers of darkness and death for their Spoils everlasting Glory for their Crown And because their way is difficult and their work is contrary to them he hath given them all that grace that is necessary to bring them to Glory In General a new heart in all things suited to their way and throughly furnished for every good work In Particular Knowledge to guide oneness to fix and intend tenderness to submit ro and yeeld love to constrain and bring on fear to fence and hold in obedience to perform and bring forth and perseverance to go through and hold out to the end and there grace and glory meet This is the Covenant of grace this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you It will be said But if God hath undertaken all this for us what is there then left on us to do Here 's a Doctrine according to sinners hearts if this be Gospel then soul take thine ease take thy liberty cast away care make much of thy body God will take care of the rest But is there nothing required of us Let the Scriptures speak Ezek. 36.37 Yet for all this will I be enquired of or sought unto by the house of Israel otherwise let them look for no such things He that will not ask in
deny it g g 2 Cor. 4.17 Mark 10.29 Phil. 1.29 Things to come ours Things to come are yours the Perfecting of your souls the Redemption of your bodies the Consummation of your bliss At death in Glorification Initiate When you have glorified me for a while on Earth and finished the work I have given you to do you shal be caught up into Paradise and rest from your Labours and your works shal follow you h h Rev. 14.13 Luke 23.43 The Convoy of Angels I will send of mine own Life-guard to conduct home your departing souls i i Luk. 16.22 and receive you among the spirits of just men made perfect k k Heb. 12.23 And you shal look back upon Pharaoh and all his Host and see your enemies dead upon the Shore Redemption from all Afflictions and Corruptions Then shal be your Redemption from all your Afflictions and all your Corruptions l l Luk. â—1 28 Eph. 4 30. The thorn in the flesh taken out The thorn in the flesh shal be pulled out and the hour of temptation shal be over and the Tempter for ever out of work The sweat wiped off from our browes The sweat shal be wiped off from your browes and the day of cooling and refreshing shal come and you shal sit you down for ever under my shadow m m Acts 3.19 Heb 4.9 For the Lamb that is in the midst of the Throne shal feed you and lead you to the living Fountains of waters n n Rev. 7.17 The tears wiped away from our eyes The tears shal be wiped away from your eyes and there shal be no more sorrow nor crying neither shal there be any more pain for the former things are passed away and behold I make all things new o o Rev. 21.4,5 I will change Marah into Naomi and the cup of sorrow into the cup of salvation and the bread and water of affliction into the wine of eternal consolation p p Joh 16.20.21,22 Luk. 6.21 You shal take down your Harps from the Willows and I will turn your tears into Pearls and your penitential Psalms into songs of Deliverance You shal change your Ichabods into Hosanna's and your Ejahs of sorrow into Hallelujahs of Joy q q Rev. 19.1,4,6 The Cross taken off from our backs The cross shal be taken off from your backs you shal come out of your great Tribulations and wash your Robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb and you shal be before the Throne of God and serve him night and day in his Temple and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among you and you shal hunger no more and thirst no more neither shal the sun light upon you nor any heat r r Rev. 7.14,15,16 The load taken off from our consciences The load shal be taken off from your Consciences Sins nor doubts shal no more defile you nor distress you Å¿ Å¿ Rev. 21.27 and Heb. 12.23 I will make an end of sin and knock off the Fetters of your corruptions and you shal be a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but Holy and without blemish t t Eph. 5.27 Rev. 7.9.13,14 The souls admission into the chamber of Presence and Vision of God Thus shal you be brought to the King all glorious in raiment of Needle-work and clothing of Gold with gladness and rejoycing shal you be brought and enter into the Kings Palace u u Psa 45.9,13,14,15 So shal the beloved of the Lord dwel safely by him and you shal stand continually before him and behold the beauty of the Lord. and hear his Wisdom w w 1 Cor. 13,12 Then will I open in you an everlasting spring of joy and you shal break forth into singing and never cease more nor rest day nor night saying Holy holy holy x x Rev. 4.8 Ps 16.11 Thus shal the grand Enemy expire with your breath and the body of death be put off with your dying bodie and the day of your death shall be the birth-day of your glory y y Phi. i. 23 Lu. 23.43 Have faith in God z z Mark 11.22 Wait but a little and sorrow shall cease and sin be no more At the Resurrection in Glorification consummate Redemption compleat And then a little longer and death shall be no more a a Rev. 20 14. and 21.4 but your last enemy shall be destroyed and your victory compleated b b 1 Cor. 15.26 The Return of the Redeemer Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and you also shall appear with him in glory c c Heb. 10 37. Col. 3.4 This same Jesus which is taken from you into Heaven d d Act. 1.11 shall so come as he went up into Heaven and when he cometh he will receive you to himself that where he is there you may be also e e Ioh. 14.3 Behold his sign he cometh in the clouds of Heaven with Power great Glory every eye shal see him and all the Tribes of the Earth shal mourn because of him f f Rev. 1.7 Mat. 24.30 but you shal lift up your heads because the day of your Redemption draweth nigh g g Luke 21.28 The raising of the body Then shal he sound his Trump h h 1 Cor. 15.52 1 Thes 4.16 and make you to hear his voice in your dust i i Ioh. 5.28 and shal send his mighty Angels to gather you from the four winds of heaven k k Mat. 24.31 who shal carry you in the triumphant Chariot of the Clouds to meet your Lord l l 1 Thes 4.17 and you shal be prepared for him and presented to him as a Bride adorned for her Husband m m Rev. 2.2 And as you have borne the Image of the Earthly so shal you bear the Image of the Heavenly n n 1 Cor. 15.49 Full conformity both in body and soul to our glorified Saviour and you shal be fully conformed both in body and spirit to your glorious head o o Phil. 3.21 Heb. 12.23 Then shal he confess you before his Angels p p Rev. 3.5 Publick Approbation and Absolution and you shal receive your open Absolution before all flesh and be owned approved and applauded in the Publick audience of the general Assembly q q Mat. 10.32 and 26 32,34,35 c. Solemn Espousals And you shal be with all Royal solemnities espoused unto the King of glory in the presence of all his shining Courtiers r r Rev. 19.7,8 2 Cor. 4.14 Mat. 25.31 to the envy and gnashing and terror of your Adversaries Å¿ Å¿ Luk. 13.28 The Coâ—ovation and Enthronement of the Saints Their sitting in judgment upâ—n the World So shal your Lord with his own
will they not prove themselves so to be but specially graces will be their own evidence Things outward fall alike to all No man knowes love or hatred by ought that befalls him Eccles 9.1 Thou mayest be a son or a bastard notwithstanding all that thou enjoyest or sufferest here but not one of the fore-mentioned graces but is a childes portion Gods mark upon the heart to distinguish children from strangers Prove that thou truly knowest the Lord hast one heart a tender heart c. and thou therein provest thy self to be a child of Promise Read over the descriptions that have been given of these graces observe diligently where the main differenâ—e lyes betwixt common and special grace compare thine heart with it and thereby thou mayest give a judgement of thy state If it be yet questionable whether it be sound or no sit not down till thou hast obtained but having obtained 2. Keep your evidences clear Have you peace maintain it carefully The hidden Manna will never breed worms by long keeping Content not your selves that you once had peace 't will be but a poor livelihood you will get out of what 's wasted and lost Get you good evidences that God is yours and keep them by you till you need them no more Grace is your best evidence cherish and preserve it Get a seeing eye and keep your eye open get a single heart and let it not be again divided get a tender heart and keep it tender let the love and fear of God be acted in holy Obedience An obedient gracious watchful active life will keep grace in heart and flourishing grace will speak for it self and you Look not that the Lord should so far countenance your declinings to a more fleshly careless state as to smile upon you in such a state God will not be an Abettor to sin Count upon it that your grace and peace your duty and comfort will rise and fall together suspect those comforts that accompany you into the tents of wickedness and forsake you not when you forsake your God Keep up your spirits and then lift up your heads keep heedfully on your way and your joy shal no man take from you Particularly 1. Keep close by God 2. Keep hold on Christ 3. Keep touch with the Spirit 4. Keep in with Conscience 1. Keep close to God Keep thy self under his eye and influences Both thy grace and thy comforts as they had their birth so must they have their nourishment from Heaven Lose the sight of the Sun and darkness follows Let thine eyes be towards the hills Let divine love be the pleasure of thy life Let it be thy Lords cord upon thine heart let it binde thee to him be loves Captive let thine ear be bor'd to the threshold be familiar in Heaven keep thine acquaintance there and be at peace chide back thy gadding heart Soul whither art thou going who hath the words of eternal life let the interviews of love betwixt thy Lord and thee be constant let them not be onely on some few holy days of thy life Count not thou hast lived that day in which thou hast not liv'd with God Keep close to God by keeping close to duty Keep close to duty and keep close to God in duty Call not that a duty which thou canst not call communion with God Make not duty to do the work of sin to take God out of sight Let not Prayer or Hearing or Sacraments be instead of a God to thee Such praying and hearing there is amonst many but know not thou any thing for Religion wherein thou meetest not with God Behold the face of God but behold his face in righteousness Psal 17.15 'T is ill looking on God with a blood-shot eye Guilt upon the heart will be a cloud that will make the Sun as darkness to thee Walk in the light of the Lord. Walk in the light as he is in the light In thy light the holiness of thy life thou shalt see his light The light of his holiness in thee will be attended with the light of his countenance upon thee By the light of his countenance thou wilt both see thy self in thy way to thine hopes and learn thy way more perfectly Psal 119.135 Make thy face to shine upon thy Servant and teach me thy statutes God hath many ways of teaching he teaches by Book he teaches by his Finger he teaches by his Rod but his most comfortable and effectual teaching is by the light of his Eye Send forth thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me to thy holy Hill 2. Keep hold on Christ He is thy peace Appear not before God but in the blood of the Lamb let him carry up thy duties and own not that for a comfort which is not brought thee by his hand Let him be thy way to the Father and thy Fathers way to thee Keep fresh upon thine heart the memory of his death and satisfaction and let that be thy life and thine hope Hast thou cast Anchor on this Rock lose not thy hold hang upon the horns of the Altar Thou canst not live but there if thou must dye say but I will dye here Put forth fresh Acts of faith everyday and hour Believe believe believe and thou shalt be established Fall not into Unbelief then thou art gone thou departest from the living God Heb. 3.12 3. Keep touch with the Spirit Observe and obey his motions when he excites get thee on when he checks get thee back know the holy from the evil spirit by its according or differing with the Scriptures reject that spirit in the heart that is not the same with the Spirit in the word Try the Wind what and whence it is by thy Card and Gompass To the Law and to the Testimony And when thou perceivest it s from above hoise up thy sails and get thee on Quench not the Spirit Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby thou art sealed to the day of Redemption 4. Keep in with Conscience Make not thy witness thine enemy Deal friendly with it thou wilt need its good word which thou canst not have if it receive blowes from thee it will not learn this Lesson to speak good for evil or if thou shouldest beat it into it thou art undone if an abuse conscience speak peace it becomes thy Traytor Give due respect to Conscience Let it abide with thee in Peace and in Power Keep up its Authority as Gods Vicegerent Next under God commit the keeping of thy soul to conscience as the Lord hath so do thou make it superintendent in thy soul the Judge and Over-seer of all thy motions and actions Let conscience counsell thee and tell thee thy way let conscience quicken thee and put thee on in thy way let conscience watch thee that thou turn not out of thy way let conscience check thee and reduce thee into thy way Whither ever thou goest carry conscence along with thee carry
up your hearts with all your heart grudge not that the Lord requires but bless God that he will accept of an offering this hath a comfortable signification If the Lord had meant to destroy us he would not have accepted an offering at our hands Judg. 13.23 2. A Thank-offering Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows unto the most High Offer up your selves in token of yuor thankfulness to the Lord. Be ye both the Priests and the Lambs for the sacrifice Present your selves to the Lord as the accomplishments of his Covenant as the fruits of the death of your Redeemer as the Trophies of his Victory as the spoils which he hath recovered from Death and Hell making a shew of them openly that it may be seen that the promise of God is not of none effect and that Christ did not die in vain Let your Lord Jesus when he comes down into his Garden where he left his blood reap his pleasant fruits and carry up your purified Souls as the signals of his glorious atchievement Offer up your sins to the Lord these unclean beasts will be an acceptable sacrifice There 's more real honour growing up to the Lord from one mortified Saint then from ten thousand Anthems from the most seraphick tongues Offer up your duties to the Lord your obedience for a sacrifice To obey is better then sacrifice then thousands of Rams and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyle Let your whole life be this sacrifice let every day be a Sabbath every duty an Eucharist every member a Cymbal sounding out the praises of God Offer up the calves of your lips unto the Lord. O let your souls be filled with wonder and your mouths with praise Whence in this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me Oh whence is this to us that the Lord our Father should come and come so near to us Oh whence is it That the Mighty God should indent and come into bond with sinful man that he who was free from all men should make himself debtor to any That the high and lofty One that inhabits Eternity should dwell in Houses of Clay and pitch his Tabernacle in the Dust That he who humbleth himself to behold the Heavens should come down into the earth and after what is he come down but after a dead Dog or a Flea that he should make a league with the stones of the gâ—ound with the beasts of the field and creeping things should espouse dust and ashes and gather up vile worms into his bosome should set his heart upon shadows and adopt the refuse of the earth for Sons and Daughters to himself should raise the poor out of the dust and the beggar from the Dunghil should do such great things and should choose the foolish and the weak and the base and the contemptible and bostow on them among all the world these high honors should make them the Head and the honourable whom the world hath made the Tail the filth and the off-scouring of all things should give himself to be the portion his Son to be the ransome his kingdome to be the heritage of bankrupts prisoners and captives Lord what is man that thou art thus mindful of him Soul what is God that thou shouldst be yet unmindful of him How is it that the tongue of the dumb is not yet loosened that the feet of the lame do not leap as an Hart Oh what is that love whence this strange thing hath broken forth This this is the womb that bare thee hence hath thy righteousness sprung forth hence have thy dignities thy astonishing hope and joys arisen to thee this is it that yearned upon thee in thy mercy that reprived thee from death redeemed thee from darkness rescued thee as a brand out of the burning that pitied thee in thy blood washed thee from thy blood spared thee pardoned thee reconciled thee and brought thee an enemy a rebel a traitor into a Covenant of peace with the God of glory Ah contemptible dust that ever there should be such compassionate contrivements and such astonishing condescentions of the eternal Deity towards so vile a thing O love the Lord all ye his Saints O bless the Lord ye beloved ye people near unto the Lord. Alas that our hearts should be so narrow that the waters should be so shallow with us where are our eyes if we be not yet filled with wonders what hearts have we if we have not yet filled our lips with praise Open all thy springs O my soul let them flow forth in streams of love and joy let every faculty be tuned and strained to the height let heart and hands and tongue and eyes lift up their voice be astonished O heavens be moved ye strong foundations of the earth fall down ye Elders strike up ye heavenly Quires lend poor mortals your Notes to sing forth the high praises of God who rideth on the heavens and hath caused us to ride on the high places of the earth and made us sit together in hevenly places shewing forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus Awake up my Glory awake Psaltery and Harps I my self wil awake right early My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour for he that is mighty hath done for me great things and holy is his Name Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath visited and redeemed his People who hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David who hath laid help on one who is mighty and exalted one chosen among the People and hath given him for a Covenant to them Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name who hath redeemed thy life from death and crowned thee with loving kindness and tender mercies Salvation to our God that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb. Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and glory and honour and blessing for thou livedst and wast dead and art alive for evermore Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and hast made us Kings and Priests unto our God for ever Hallelujah Hallelujah FINIS