Lesson That such and so great is the indispensable need that we have of the Lord Jesus Christ that without him we are undone for ever In the 53d verse of this exeellent Chapter Verily verily I say unto you except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you He speaks there of eating of his flesh and drinking his blood in a spiritual manner You know there are many desires of the Soul that may be dispenced with but hunger is a desire that must be satisfied unless you have bread for your sustenance the body dies so unless you have Jesus Christ for your spiritual sustenance your Souls die and drop down into Hell for ever for look as the union of the Body with the Soul is the life of the Body so the union of the Soul with Jesus Christ is the life of the Soul O hearken to this thou that art yet in a natural and unregenerate estate uncalled unconverted that never was yet transplanted from off the old rotten stock of Adam and replanted into the true Vine the Lord Jesus Christ if thou livest in this estate and diest in this estate thou art undone for ever the poorest worm that crawls upon the ground is in a better condition than thou art in Acts 26.27 Believest thou the Prophets said St. Paul to King Agrippa I know that thou believest Believest thou this Doctrine say I to thee that art yet uncalled unconverted I know thou believest it not for if thou didst believe it thou couldest not rest contented in a Christless condition for one week no not for one day but wouldest by prayers and tears and supplications cry out Lord Jesus give me thy self whatever thou denyest me give me thy self though I be as poor as Job upon the Dunghil But we cannot perswade men that the danger of a natural estate and condition is so great as indeed it is but the Lord convince you and perswade you of it A second Doctrinal Inference that may be hence deduced is this If Jesus Christ be the living bread then it follows the vanity and emptiness and insufficiency of all Creature-accommodations is exceeding great name what you will of these outward accommodations that the World do so greedily gape after whether Riches or Honours or Pleasures or goodly brave Buildings this and that alas we may say of them they are not bread Isa 55.2 Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not bread Your money that is your precious opportunities your time that is your money to make your Markets for Eternity with for Moments are the Markets for Eternity Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Alas alas these outward things they are neither satisfactory nor permanent they are not satisfactory for Solomon tells us that He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance with encrease Eccles 5.10 As soom may you hope to fill a Chest with Wisdom and Knowledg as to fill a Soul which is a spiritual substance with temporal things And as these outward things are are satisfactory so neither are they permanent or lasting 1 Cor. 6.13 Meats for the belly and the belly for meats but God shall deslroy both it and them Look as the belly devours the meat so the worms at last shall devour the belly and so both meat and belly perish together But if you can but once get this spiritual bread the Lord Christ you shall never perish Alas alas consider your own folly and brutishness in seeking for satisfaction here below where none is to be found your bread without Christ is but gravel in your throats your moral Vertues without Christ are but glittering sins your bodies without Christ are but dust and ashes dust that will drop down into the Grave and ashes that are fitted for the Furnace of Hell-fire your Souls without Christ are but the Devils Palace your lives without Christ is but the service of sin and your deaths without Christ will be nothing else but the wages of sin Oh who would rest then in a Christless condition Who would sit down contented with these poor transitory shadowy comforts A third Lesson we may learn by way of Inference is this If Jesus Christ be the living bread then our main end and errand in coming to the Lords Table is not to feed the Body but to feed the Soul 1 Cor. 11.21 What have you not Houses to eat and to drink in saith the Apostle So that it is not the end of your coming to the Lords Table therefore you eat but a little piece of Bread and drink but a little draught of Wine to put you in mind that it is not the Body that you come to feed but you come to feed the Soul and therefore you should labour to get a preparation suitable to that spiritual bread that you are to taste of But what is that you will say I answer There should be something done before your coming and something done in the Administration of the Elements and something done after the receiving of the Elements First There should be something done before you come Oh beg a blessing upon your spiritual bread Man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Matth. 4.4 I may apply it thus Your Souls will not live by this Sacramental Bread but by the Word of Gods blessing If God will bless this spiritual food to you your Souls shall live On therefore beg the Blessing of God upon this Heavenly Bread Secondly And then there is something to be done while you are eating this Bread you should get your hearts all on fire with love to this blessed Redeemer that was contented to be made bread to be prepared food as I told you even now to be threshed and winnowed and ground and bak'd and scorch'd in the Oven of his Fathers Wrath Oh how should your hearts be all on a flame with Love as the two Disciples were going to Emaus As Jesus Christ brake bread and gave it to them and opened to them the Scriptures their hearts did burn within them Luke 24.32 they were as it were all on a fire So should it be with you when you come to the Lords Table you should have your meditations wholly taken up with that which is the life of the Sacrament even the death of our Saviour let not your hearts be roving and wandering about watch them narrowly you will hardly keep them close to a duty two Minutes without great watching Thirdly There is something to be done after when you have eaten of this living bread that is to be exceeding thankful study to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing That 's the first Use of Information The second Vse is of Exhortation Is Jesus Christ that living bread that gives eternal life to all those that have a
now be confirmed and precious Evidences of Eternal Salvation may be now gained and likewise precious Graces and precious Faith and precious Hope and precious Love Humility Repentance and Self-denial these precious Graces may be now procured a precious soul may be saved a precious pardon may be sealed Oh what precious things then are tendred to you in the preaching of the Gospel these opportunities therefore are exceeding precious if Christ be thine now he is thine for ever Oh that you you did but know the price of these things that are tendred to you in the preaching of the Gospel if a condemned prisoner did know how precious the pardon that was brought to him was would he slight it Here is a precious Pardon Grace Mercy Peace all tendred to you in the preaching of the Gospel How infinitely then does it concern us to improve our Gospel-seasons 4. The fourth Lesson by way of inference is this It lets us see the contempt nay the neglect of the Gospel is a very dangerous sin for if the knowledg of Salvation be brought to the soul by the Gospel then certainly he that neglect the Gospel neglects Salvation and Salvation it self shall not save that man that despiseth the remedy yea that neglects Salvation says the Apostle How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Heb. 2.3 As if he had said It is impossible to escape eternal Damnation if we do but neglect this eternal Salvation These are the Lessons from this Doctrine and that 's the first Use of Information The second Use I shall make of this Doctrine it is for Examination If so be the knowledg of eternal Life be brought by the Gospel be discovered and revealed by the Gospel then take occasion to call your selves to an account and see whether this eternal Salvation be so discovered to you that you may be partakers of it otherwise what advantage will it be to you to hear that Life and Immortality is brought to light unless this Light do shine into your souls But may be you will say to me How may we do to know that the Day-spring from on High hath shined into my soul that God hath called me out of darkness into his marvellous Light that he hath discovered the Mysteries of Salvation to me even to me I answer You may know it briefly thus If the Light of Life be revealed to thy Soul then certainly thy knowledg will not be a Notional knowledg only but an Experimental knowledg thou wilt not have a knowledg swimming in thy head only but a soaking and sinking knowledg in thy heart thou wilt not only know Christ but taste Christ thou wilt taste that hidden Manna Rev. 2.17 To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna Thou wilt not only know but taste the bitterness of sin and thou wilt say Jer. 2.19 It is an evìl and bitter thing that I have for saken the Lord and that his fear is not in me A blind man may talk of Colours that never saw them and a hungry man may talk of a full dinner that never tasted it so a carnal man may have a great deal of knowledg in his head and never rellish nor taste it but he that hath the knowledg of Salvation revealed to his soul he hath a Light shining in his heart Jer. 31.34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying Know the Lord for they shall know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord that is they shall not need to be taught those experimental truths that are written in their own hearts by the finger of the Spirit of God A man that hath this Life and Immortality brought to light by the Gospel will say You need not tell me that sin is a bitter thing I have tasted the bitterness of it You need not tell me the favour of God is sweet and lovely Oh it is sweeter to me than life it self You need not tell me that Jesus Christ is very Amiable and Beautiful I see him to be so with my eye of faith You need not tell me there is a marvellous power in the death of Christ for the crucifying of sin I do experimentally know it when a man hath this experimental knowledg he will say as the Apostle 1 Tim. 1.13 I was before a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and injurious but I obtained Mercy because I did it ignorantly When a man hath the feeling and experience of spiritual Truths in his own soul then may he be sure that Life and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel unto him A third Use I shall make of this Doctrine it is of Reproof Two sorts there are that are justly liable to the reproof of this Doctrine First It condemns and crys down that Hellish practice of the whore of Rome and the Popish Clergy who lock up the Scriptures and keep Millions of souls from the knowledg of Gospel from the knowledg of the mysteries of Salvation this is all one as if they should lock them up in the pit of Infernal darkness for if so be Salvation or Eternal Life be brought to light by the Gospel and this Gospel be to them but as a Light in a dark Lanthorn must not they needs inevitably perish Oh cruel bloody Butchers Oh merciless mischievous Soul-destroyers may we say of the Romish Synagogue well may the whore of Rome be said to be drunk with blood because she is drunk not only with the blood of the bodies of Men but with the blood of the Souls of men Oh the tender Mercies of God that hath opened our eyes to see better things and to free us from the bondage and slavery of that Antichristian yoke this is a great mercy to be delivered from the poyson of those serpents and a greater mercy than ever we can be thankful for But take this withal I beseech you Take heed that Popery do not creep in at a back-dore of Toleration let us bless God for that liberty that we have but take heed that you do not hanker after those Popish Doctrines that may poyson the soul and that will provoke God to remove his Candlestick from amongst us A second sort to be reproved are those that grow weary of the Gospel I but may be you will say Are there any so bad in our days as to be weary of the Gospel yea my brethren many there are that are weary of the Truths of it many that are weary of the Profession of it many that are weary of the Power and Practise of it First Many there are that are weary of the Truths of the Gospel that chuse rather to be raking in the stinking puddles of Popery Arminianism Socinianism and other damnable heresies as the Apostle calls them they chuse these rather than the clear fountain of truth revealed in the Gospel Oh these are in a very dangerous condition when men chuse rather to
is a Positive Unbelief and this is when men are ready to distrust Gods Power and his Providence and his Promises or when we do not so fiducially rest upon them as to obey the Gospel This is a Positive unbelief this is the sin which is so dangerous Now you must know this Positive Unbelief is twofold First Temporary Secondly Total or Final First There is a Temporary unbelief and this is that which may befall even Gods own Elect they may be under unbelief for a while True it is possible for an Elect Child of God to be under an act of unbelief though he cannot be brought into a state of unbelief for you must distinguish between these two between a state of unbelief and an act of unbelief A Child of God may be under an act of unbelief so you know was Godly Zachariah Elizabeth's husband he was under an act of unbelief And behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because thou believedst not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season Luke 1.20 And Thomas one of the twelve Apostles he was under an act of unbelief when he said Vnless I shall see in his hands the print of the Nails and put my finger into the print of the Nails and thrust my hand into his fide I will not believe Joh. 20.25 So were all the rest of the Apostles under an act of unbelief for a while therefore our Saviour when he was risen again he upbraided them the Text says with their unbelief Mark 16.14 After he appeared to the Eleven as they sate at meat and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen This is a Temporary Unbelief Secondly There is a Total or Final unbelief and that is the sin of those that live in a state of impenitency and abide in that condition those that abide in their unbelief until the wrath of God abides upon them You see what this unbelief is a distrusting of Gods Power and Providences and Promises and that not for a time which may be the condition of a Child of God but when it is a Total and Final unbelief That 's the first thing for Explication Secondly By way of Explication it may be demanded Why is this such a dangerous and destructive sin that it does debar men of this Heavenly Canaan I shall give you these three Reasons of it First Because you must know it is a sin that robs God of his Glory Look as by believing we do most of all honour God for by this we set to our Seal that he is true John 3.33 He that hath received his Testimony hath set to his Seal that God is true By believing we give him the honour of his Truth and Faithfulness and Mercy and Goodness and Power Thus Abraham by believing gave glory to God in Rom. 4.20 He staggered not at the Promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God So on the contrary by unbelief we dishonour him in a high degree nay in the highest degree that can be named because we make him a Liar 1 John 5.10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself he that believeth not God hath made him a Liar because he believeth not the Record that God gave him of his Son Now what greater reproach or dishonour can be cast upon a man of worth than to give him the lye Unbelief therefore is a bold sin it steps into Gods Cabinet as I may say and it robs him of the choicest Jewel that he hath namely his Glory which he hath said He will not give to another Isa 42.8 I am the Lord that is my Name and my Glory will I not give to another neither my praise to the graven Images The glory of God it is nothing else but the reputation that God hath in the World Take away Gods glory and the reputation that he hath among the Sons of men then with reverence be it spoken he is little worth in the eyes of men Now Unbelief is that that robs God of his Glory Secondly Unbelief is such a dangerous destructive sin because it is the first sin that ever was in the World As it is the mother of all other sins so it was the first sin whereby the Devil got entrance into the heart of man I know there is a dispute amongst Divines What was the first sin our first Parents were guilty of whether Pride or Unbelief without all doubt it was Unbelief for God told our first Parents expresly Whenever they did eat of the Tree of life they should die the death as sure as they lived they should die but the Devil he goes and tells them You shall not die Now mark they believed the Devil more than they believed God Unbelief therefore was the first sin that ever was committed in the World and as it was the first sin whereby the Devil got entrance into the heart of man so may it be said to be the root and mother of all other sins therefore says the Apostle Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Heb. 3.12 Look as Faith may be said to be the Mother of all other Graces because Faith lets in Jesus Christ into the Soul and so purifies the heart Act. 15.9 And put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by Faith it applyes the purifying-blood of Jesus Christ So on the other side Unbelief may be said to be the mother of all other sins because it keeps out Christ and keeps out Grace and polutes the heart and defiles it and makes it no better than a Den for Satan to lodg in It is a good observation of an eminent Divine whom for honour sake I mention namely Doctor Sibs Look as the first return of the Soul to God is by Faith so the first departing of the Soul from God is by Vnbelief for from thence comes a departing to other sins and so unbelief being encreased the rent that is made between God and the Soul the estrangement between God and the Soul is still made wider and wider and so the Soul departs further and further and is still departing and departing from one sin to another till at last it comes to hear that fatal and final sentence Matth. 25 Depart thou cursed wretch into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Well therefore may Unbelief be said to be the Mother of all other sins Unbelief and Apostacy are very near akin Unbelief may in some sense be said to be all disobedience The same Greek word that signifies unbelief signifies also disobedience Col. 3.6 For these things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of unbelief or children of disobedience And well may it be said to be the Mother of disobedience for
Secondly The Gospel may be said to reveal salvation in this regard because it is a means of conveying the spirit of grace into the soul who is the applier of this Salvation Hence it is the Gospel is called the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious And you read in Acts 10.44 that while Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his Company the Holy Ghost fell upon them While Peter yet spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word so that the Holy Ghost was dispenced to them in the preaching of the Gospel Thirdly The Gospel may be said to reveal salvation in that it is an Instrument of begetting faith in the soul which is the hand whereby we lay hold on this salvation Faith comes by hearing of the Gospel Rom. 10.17 Fourthly The Gospel is ordained by God to be an Instrument of Regeneration and Sanctification and of Edification Of Regeneration 1 Cor. 4.15 For though you have ten thousand Instructors in Christ yet have you not many Fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel And then it is the Instrument of our Sanctification too in John 17.17 Sanctifie them by thy truth saith our Saviour for thy word is truth And it is the Instrument of our Edification or building us up in our most holy faith Acts 20.32 And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace that is the Gospel which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified Now then if the Gospel be the Instrument both of our Regeneration Sanctification and Edification it must needs be also the Instrument of our Salvation that is for the first Quaery How the Gospel may be said to reveal Salvation Because it reveals Jesus Christ who is the Author of this Salvation and it is an Instrument of conveying the spirit of Grace into the heart who is the applier of this Salvation and works faith which is the hand whereby we lay hold on this Salvation and it is the Instrument of working Regeneration Sanctification and Edification in us and therefore must be the Instrument of our Salvation The second Quaery is this But is the knowledg of Salvation revealed only by the Gospel may some say Does not the Law also reveal Salvation Does not the Law say Do this and live To this I answer Though the Law may be said in some sense to reveal the knowledge of Salvation Yet there is a very great difference between the Laws revealing and the Gospels revealing it and that in these two respects especially First the Law does not reveal the knowledg of salvation so clearly Secondly The Law does not reveal the knowledg of Salvation so effectually First The Law does not reveal the knowledg of salvarion so clearly for it reveals it only in types and shadows and resemblances therefore the Apostle says Heb. 10.1 The Law having the shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things He compares the Law to a shadow it had a shadow of good things to come For example The Law told us indeed of a Saviour that was to come into the World and the Law told us of the blood of Jesus Christ but it was typified in the multitude of those bloody Sacrifices that were offered from day to day and it told us of heaven and the heavenly inheritance but it was but obscurely it was shadowed out by an earthly Canaan or the Land of promise whereas now the Gospel brings in Jesus Christ fully and clearly exhibited it brings in Jesus Christ as the Day-star from on high which does enlighten us and the Son of Righteousness that does dispel all those clouds and shadows that were in the Ceremonial Law The Gospel does as it were draw the Curtain that now we may with open face behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. last verse therefore the Law does not discover the knowledg of salvation so clearly Secondly The Law does not discover the knowledg of Salvation so effectually True the Law hath told us of Salvation but it doth not shew us the means whereby we may attain it the Law shews us the way but it does not help us to walk in the way the Law hath commanded us to obey but it gives us no strength to perform therefore the Apostle says The Law was weak because of our flesh Rom. 8.3 For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh Again The Apostle tells us expresly Heb. 7.19 The Law made nothing perfect The Law could never bring Man to Heaven never was mortal man saved by the Law It is true indeed it required obedience but it gave us no strength to perform that obedience it exacted obedience upon the penalty of a dreadful curse but it did not enable us to avoid that curse for it s said Cursed be he that continueth not in all the words of this Law to do them Deut. 27.26 And it 's said the man that doth them shall live in them Gal. 3.12 Lev. 18.5 I but the Law gave no strength to do what it did enjoyn I but now the Gospel reveals the knowledg of Salvation more effectually because as it commands us to obey so it gives us strength to perform the Law commands but it is the Gospel that helps us How doth it help us it helps us thus Because it directs us to Jesus Christ by whom we may have strength Surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength Isa 45.24 And says the Apostle I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me Phil. 4.13 I but here it may be objected Does not the Apostle say That the Gospel is the savour of death unto death as well as the savour of life unto life 2 Cor. 2.16 Now if the Gospel be the savour of death unto death then how can it be said to bring Eternal Salvation To this I answer When the Gospel is said to be the savour of death unto death it is not spoken because the Gospel does kill and condemn simply and in its own nature but through the corruption of mens hearts that do not obey it but do reject it that do resist it A Kings pardon you know does not kill any by it self but by the contempt of a Malefactor that does reject it and so the pardon may double the Malefactors guilt and bring upon him a more speedy and fearful execution So here the Gracious pardon of God that is tendred in the Gospel does not kill or condemn any in it self or in is own nature but through the contempt of those that do disregard it in this regard not simply but accidentally through the corruptions of mens Hearts and Natures in this regard
I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth Secondly Thou mayst know it by that spiritual strife and combat and conflict that is in thee certainly there will be a conflict in thy soul because there are two contrary principles there put water to water or fire to fire and there is no conflict but put water and fire together and there will be a great conflict So corruption will not strive with corruption but where there is Grace and corruption in one soul there will be a combat and conflict the Flesh will lust against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh Gal. 5.17 Thirdly Thou mayst know thou hast life in thee by thy spiritual crying thou wilt cry out for deliverance from danger and evil O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Thou wilt make this the chief subject of thy suit and supplication to God from day to day O that once I might be freed from a base whorish backsliding-heart that continually is departing from God Fourthly If thou hast life certainly that grace thou hast though it be but weak though it be but little though it be but as a spark yet it shall prevail against corruption for wherever the Lord Christ enters into the soul to dwell there he comes like a Conquerour and he brings forth Judgment unto victory Matth. 12.20 That is his Government shall be victorious over all the opposition of sin and Satan Grace like oyl will be uppermost if there be but a spark of Grace in thy heart it shall not be quenched but it shall rather increase more and more and at last shall grow up into a flame as the fire of the Lord that came upon Elijahs offering 1 Kings 18.38 consumed the burnt-sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench Grace is a fire that comes down from Heaven though there be but a little spark of it at first yet by little and little it will lick up all the water of our corruptions and consume our sins Grace will grow stronger and stronger and corruption weaker and weaker That is the first symptom of an infirmity If there be spiritual life in the soul but if there be not spiritual life there is no infirmity Secondly The second Sign or Symptom of an infirmity is this That may be said to be an infirmity when some particular action crosses the main intention of the heart If thine eye be single if thy heart be upright if the Byas and bent of thy soul be towards God then all the obliquity or all the swervings in thy life are but lookt upon as infirmities For example A good Archer that is handling his Bow may-be his eye is right and his aim is right but through the weakness of his hand or the distemper of his Bow he may miss the Mark that is an infirmity So here if thy eye be right towards Gods Commandments if thy intention be to please God if the bent and byas of thy soul be God-ward not sin-ward then all the rest of the obliquity or swervings that are in thy actions are lookt upon but as infirmities As a Traveller for example in his journey if he set his face the right way and he be enquiring the way and willing to follow the way or if when he goeth out of the way he check himself though he may miss of the way through ignorance or may be seduced by some that told him wrong yet that may be said to be but an infirmity So here when thou canst set thy face towards Heaven as the children of Israel and Judah are described Jer. 50.5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward saying Come let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten When a man thus sets his face towards Heaven then his wandrings out of the way if they be beside the intention of his purpose and mind are lookt upon but as infirmities David was out of his way when in a fury he would be avenged on Nabal for his churlishness when he said God do so to me and more also if I cut not off Nabal and every one that belongs to his Family yet when Abigail a wise Woman comes and tells him he was out of his way how glad was he and stops his course and said Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging my self with my own hand 1 Sam. 25.32 33. See the difference between the sin of Judas and the sin of Peter Judas you know he sinned with deliberation and his intention was stark naught his intention and purpose of betraying his Master was to inrich himself he was a Thief and nibled money out of his Masters Bag therefore his intention was naught But on the contrary look on Peter when he thrice denyed his Master it was a great sin too but it was without his intention or purpose certainly Peter had no intention at all to deny his Master but it fared with him as a man that is writing with his Pen in his hand and writing a straight Line but it may be some body comes and joggs him on the Elbow so he makes a crooked line against his will Or as a man that is shooting at a Mark but some body comes and joggs his Elbow and makes his Arrow to go awry thus was it with Peter This is the second Sign or Symptome of an infirmity Thirdly That is an Infirmity when a mans judgment is kept sound and upright that he does not approve of any sin when no sin hath any allowance or approbation in his heart this was the fruit of John Baptist his Preaching Isa 40.4 Every Valley shall be exalted and every Mountain and Hill shall be made low and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain that is those that are converted by John Baptists preaching they would not look on crooked things as plain or plain things as crooked that is they would not defend or justifie themselves in sin but look upon sin as sin and duty as duty and they would not look upon the ways of God as crooked but straight they were indeed crooked to them before because their judgment was not sound but now they look upon them as straight and all his ways to be equal ways A child of God will be sure to commend that duty which yet he cannot practise and he will be sure to condemn that sin into which yet he often slips and falls and that because his judgment is right duty will be duty in his eye and sin will be sin in his eye though through infirmity he may fail in the one and fall into the
and say Lord what will become of me Lord what will become of me Vse 2. Of Exhortation I shall close this Point with a word of Exhortation If it is possible for many that profess the Truth and true Religion and are confident that they are in a state of grace and seem to come very near to Heaven and yet for all that to come short of it then as you love your God as you love your Souls as you love your Peace as you desire to appear with comfort before your Judg rest not in any bare outward profession rest not in a naked name of Religion Be not contented that you have the Lamps of Profession unless you have the Oyl of saving Grace Consider what advantage will it be for you to come near to heaven to come to the brow of the hill as it were and afterwards to drop down into hell What advantage will it be for a man to be lifted up to heaven and not lifted up into heaven it is the greatest curse that can possibly be expressed Oh what a cutting Corrosive what a gnawing Worm will this be to all Eternity for a man to say I came near to Heaven to the top of the Hill and yet I fell short of those glorious hopes that are laid up for the Saints in light O what a stinking Cockatrice will this be to them that have but a bare naked name of Religion an outward profession only It may be thou art no Swearer nor Lyar nor Sabbath-breaker but it may be thou art a covetous wretch over head and ears in the world tumbling up and down in dirt and clay as if there were no other happiness but here below It may be thou art but a formal Christian it may be thou art but a picture that hath hands and eyes but no legs it may be thou hast eyes but no feet to run the ways of Gods Commandments It may be it may be said of some of you young men that hear me this day what was said of the young man in the Gospel You are not far from the Kingdom of God what will this advantage you if you do not follow Jesus Christ fully and obey him sincerely that you may enjoy him eternally O that my counsel this day were accepted by you in the fear of the Lord give no rest to your eyes nor slumber to your eye-lids until you can say Blessed be God I am more than the best Hypocrite in the world though he can outstrip me in shew yet for the inside I outstrip him But it may be you will say What is this inside of Christianity this essential Religion wherein you would have us outstrip Hypocrites and those that come short of Heaven I will tell you in three words To the Essentials of Christianity there are these three things required 1. Union with Christ 2. Renewing Grace 3. A Compliance with the Will of Christ First Union with Christ Till you are united to him you have no interest in him nor benefit by him therefore look this that you have the Spirit of God to unite you to the Lord Jesus Christ Our Saviour saith John 15.4 As the branch cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the Vine so neither can you bring forth fruit unless you abide in me O labour for this Union when the Soul is once united to him then it hath communion with him in his life in his death in his resurrection in his intercession in his graces and comforts and all What is that which knits the Cistern to the Fountain You know it is the Leaden Pipe that is it that is the conveyance from the Conduit-head to the Cistern so here What is it that knits thy Soul to Jesus Christ that thou mayst be continually partaking of him who is the Fountain of light and life and peace and consolation What is it but this Pipe the Union that is between Christ and the soul Now a Hypocrite hath not this Union he is not united to Christ it may be he bears the name of Christ but never was ingrafted into him it may be he is tyed to Christ by the thred of an outward profession as the Seions is tied to the stock but yet he is not ingrafted into the stock Secondly It consists in renewing Grace If any man be in Christ he is a new creature 2 Cor. 5.17 An Hypocrite may have many trinkets and bables as we say I but a Regenerate man he brings forth one Jewel worth ten thousand of them An Hypocrite may have restraining grace but a truly Regenerate man he is renewed in the spirit of his mind he hath a new name which I spake of in so many Sermons the white Stone and the new Name Rev. 3. Thirdly This Essence of Christianity consists in a total compliance with the Will of Christ he that is a true Believer a true Regenerate man an inside Christian he can say Lord not my will but thy will be done Lord Rule in me as thou pleasest so I may be but thine take possession of my heart and dispossess sin and Satan he will say Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee But now an Hypocrite it may be he gives up his name to Jesus Christ in profession but he doth not give up his heart to Christ in subjection and submission it is one thing to give up the name to Christ and another thing to give up the heart to Christ when you give up the key of the Castle to Christ then you will say Lord I will do what thou wouldst have me do and suffer what thou wouldst have me suffer and forsake what thou wouldst have me forsake there is nothing I have though it be as dear to me as my right-hand and right-eye but I will part with it at thy command To shut up all If you would not come short of them that come short of Heaven then rest not in a bare profession in a bare naked name of Christianity labour to be united to Christ labour for renewing Grace labour to give up your selves to Jesus Christ let there be a compliance in your will to the will of Christ Again If many may be confident that they are in a state of Grace and yet come short of Heaven O then take heed of self-delusion and self-flattery to think your selves something when you are nothing and so deceive your own souls It is better a thousand times for a man to think himself nothing when he is something than to think himself something when he is nothing saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.10 I have laboured more abundantly than they all and yet not I but the grace of God which was with me Beg earnestly of God that you may know the worst of your selves and the best of Jesus Christ and pray O Lord let me not be deceived in this great business of Eternity let me not go to hell with vain hopes of Heaven
Thirdly May a man come near to Heaven and yet come short of it O then take heed of these two sins Slothfulness and Apostacy Take heed of Slothfulness Be not slothful in business but fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force Matth. 11.12 Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure set to the work with all your might put your whole strength to the work shake off all drowsiness and dulness And then take heed of Apotacy this makes many that come near to Heaven to come short of Heaven because they do not hold out to the end He that endures to the 〈◊〉 shall be saved blessed are they who notwithstanding all difficulties and discouragements that they meet with in Heavens way are resolved to hold out to the end and in the end Thus I have dispatcht the first Doctrine That it is possible for many that profess the Truth and are confident that they are in a State of Grace and seem to come near to Heaven and yet for all that to come short of Heaven Now I come to the second Doctrine in this last Branch of my Text from these words Come short of it And the Doctrine is this To come short of eternal Rest is such an unvaluable and unconceivable and irrecover able loss that it is to be trembled at by all sorts of persons whatsoever It is a loss to be trembled at by all those that have not quite lost their sense and feeling For the confirmation of this truth there are these two Queries I shall speak to First What it is to come short of this eternal Rest Secondly How it may appear that this coming short of Heaven is such an unvaluable irrecoverable and unconceivable loss For the first What it is to come short of this eternal rest What is it Oh! God grant that neither you nor I nor any soul here present may ever experimentally know what it is to come short of Gods eternal rest let me shew you what it is that you may avoid this dreadful danger The Original word here used is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it signifies to come too late just as those five foolish Virgins that had no oyl in their Lamps they came and knockt Lord Lord said they open to us but the door of Mercy was shut they came too late Matth. 25.10 11. It signifies likewise to fail of that which a man expects Heb. 12.15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God Or it signifies this for a man to miss the Gole or Prize that he runs for and so it is a Metaphor from runners in a Race if they be heavy or lumpish or careless they lose the Prize they miss the Gole So Christians that are secure and careless and slothful and mind every thing more than that one thing that is necessary they come too late they fail of Grace and Glory they miss the Gole they lose the Prize they are deprived of that eternal happiness they expected this is to come short of this eternal Rest Second It may be demanded How will it appear that this coming short of eternal Rest is such an unvaluable unconceivable and irrevocable loss that it is to be trembled at I answer It will appear by these three reasons They that come short of Heaven they lose 1. The Presence Of God in eternal happiness They that come short of Heaven they lose 2. The Favour Of God in eternal happiness They that come short of Heaven they lose 3. The Fruition Of God in eternal happiness First They that come short of this Eternal Rest they lose the presence of God how great how unconceivably great this loss is it passeth my skill to tell you But conceive it thus David tells us in Psalm 16. ult In his presence is fulness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore Now if in the presence of God be the fulness of joy then certainly in the want of his presence is the fulness of misery If at his right hand are pleasures for evermore then certainly at his left hand is wo and misery and calamity for evermore even such misery as the Prophet Ezekiel speaks of Ezek. 2. ult A roll of a book was written within and without lamentations and mourning and wo And it stands with reason it should be so for if God be light then a separation from God must needs be darkness If God be life then a separation from God must needs be death If God be the fountain of Bliss then the separation from him must needs be the possession of all misery and wo and calamity and distress that can possibly be expressed or conceived This punishment of loss in the opinion of all Divines doth incomparably torment the soul more than all the punishment and tortures and torments of Hell-fire Nay the loss of that heavenly and unconceivable Joy the loss of one hours communion with the crowned Saints in glory the loss of one glimpse of the glorified Body of Jesus Christ is a greater and far more and considerable loss than the loss of all the Kingdoms of the World besides I know that carnal men have very carnal conceits of Heaven and happiness because they look usually upon heaven and spiritual things with carnal eyes but if they did but look upon them with such an eye as Moses did Heb. 11.27 By the eye of Faith he saw him that was invisible if they would not look upon things that are seen but upon things that are not seen For the things that arn seen are themporal but the things that are not seen are spiritual and eternal as saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.18 If they could but look upon them with spiritual eyes then they would acknowledg that a thousand thousand rendings of the body from the soul are far less than one rending of the soul from God It was the speech of one Nicostratus a curious Painter to one that admired at him for looking so wishfully upon a curious Picture Oh said he if thou hadst but my eyes thou wouldst admire what I admire so may I say to men that will not now believe that the loss of Gods presence is such a loss hadst thou but spiritual eyes thou wouldst acknowledg the truth of what I now say That the loss of Gods presence is such a loss as can never never be sufficiently bewailed no not with tears of blood It was the speech of Chrysostom and it was a savoury speech I had rather endure a thousand Hells than to hear that one dreadful sentence Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And suitable to this was the speech of Augustine I could be contented to endure the torments of Hell for a while so I might but see the glorified body of Jesus Christ in Heaven for you know what our Saviour saith Father I will that they also whom thou
General it is a dishonour to him 2. Then it is damnable in the effects of it because it puts Religion to open shame it makes the Name of God to be blasphemed Rom. 2.24 It is a scandal to the weak it staves men off from the profession of Religion and it opens the mouth of Adversaries to speak evil of the ways of God thus it is damnable in the effects Thirdly It is destructive in the end and issue of it for First God will reckon Apostates amongst Reprobates God will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity those that turn aside to their crooked ways Psal 125. ult Lead them forth that is put them in the same condition with the most profligate and scandalous sinner that is 2. Their latter end shall be worse than their beginning as our Saviour shews in the Parable Mat. 12.43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man and returns again he brings seven Devils more and the end of that man is worse than his beginning The Apostle tells us in 2 Pet. 2 and the two last Verses It had been better men had never known the way of holiness than having known it to turn aside from the holy commandment it fares with them according to the Proverb the Dog is turned to his vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire Before I come to make Application of this truth there is one doubt to be resolved You say Christians must hold fast the grace they have received Why may some say Can a man that hath received saving grace lose that grace he hath received To this I answer No He cannot lose saving-grace totally or finally this is Mary's part which cannot be taken away Mary hath chose that good part which cannot be taken away Luke 10.42 The Apostle saith he that is born of God sins not cannot sin to death because the seed of God as a principle of spiritual life abideth in him 1 John 3.9 therefore he cannot sin unto death the righteous are said to be built on an everlasting foundation Prov. 10.25 that is he abides unmovable in grace till grace be turned into glory and the reason of this is saving-grace bestowed upon the Elect is built on four immutable and unmovable Pillars 1. The love that God bares to his people it is an everlasting love Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love we are very fickle and unconstant in our love to God but God is not fickle or unconstant in his love to us 2. The Covenant of grace is a stedfast Covenant so saith David in the last words of that sweet Singer of Israel when he was to leave the world He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant sure and stedfast and ordered in all things 2 Sam. 23.5 It is a Covenant sealed with the blood of Christ therefore it is called the blood of the everlasting Covenant Heb. 13.20 this everlasting Covenant cannot be broken True indeed sin may break the peace of the Covenant but it cannot break the bond of the Covenant of Grace it may break the peace of the Covenant Psal 89.31 If thy children break my statutes and keep not my commandments then will I visit their transgressions with a red and their iniquities with stripes but I will not suffer my faithfulness to fail my covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth 3. The third Pillar is this the Power of God which is irresistible and unconquerable on this Pillar our blessed Saviour builds the salvation of his Elect John 10.29 My father that gave me these sheep is greater than all and none can take them out of my fathers hand and on this Pillar St. Paul built his hope of Salvation He is able to keep that I have committed to him he is able to keep my depositum 2 Tim. 1.12 4. The fourth Pillar is the Intercession of Christ and his intercession is a prevailing intercession Heb. 7.25 Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them Whence was it that Peter though he fell fearfully yet he did not fall finally because our Saviour prayed for Peter I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not Luke 22.31 But mark though this be true That saving grace once wrought in the heart cannot be lost for it is built on these four immutable Pillars the Love of God the Covenant of Grace the Power of God and the intercession of Christ yet it is possible for a man in the state of grace to have his declinings as I shewed you not long ago he may have his declinings in regard of the measure of grace and the comfortable feeling of grace and in the operations and vigour of his grace First A child of God may lose the former heat and fervency that he had The Church of Ephesus fell from her first love Secondly He may lose the comfortable feeling of Grace David prays Restore to me the joy of thy salvation 3. Grace may be as a spark of fire covered over with a heap of ashes that yields neither light nor heat and so he may lose the vigour of his grace therefore Christians should take heed of these declinings and should hold fast the grace they have received Now to make some Application 1. By way of Reproof How justly taxable and reprovable are they that do not hold fast the grace they have received but fall from their first love Oh how many back-sliders are there many that did begin well but they are weary of well-doing the Lord awaken them out of their drowsiness know you not it will be bitterness in the latter end will you lose all you have and all you hope for God forbid Therefore to close up this Point with a word of Exhortation I beseech and exhort you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ That you will hold fast the grace you have received the savour of Religion that you have got the principles of Religion and the practice of a holy Conversation hold fast these Take heed of Apostacy as you love your God as you love your Souls as you tender your own everlasting Salvation be not found in the number of those that draw back to perdition but be stedfast and immoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. ult That you may persevere and not be weary Let me give you these three or four helps 1. Be not content with a notional and traditional Faith for such a Faith will change as the time changes but labour for a divine well-grounded lively working effectual Faith experimental Faith such as the Samaritans had Now do we believe say they not because thou toldst us this is the Christ but because we have heard him our selves and we know indeed this is the
work of Grace in us Thirdly The Graces of the Spirit which likewise are purchased by him are precious Graces Faith is a precious Grace as it is called 2 Pet. 1.2 Simon Peter a Servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious Faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ that the tryal of your Faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth The tryal of Gold is the worst thing that belongs to Gold and the tryal of Faith is the worst thing that belongs to Faith yet saith the Apostle The tryal of your Faith is much more precious than that of Gold 1 Pet. 1.7 So Repentance that is a precious Grace because it is Repentance unto life as the Apostle calls it Acts 11.18 When they heard these things they held their peace and glorified God saying Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted Repentance unto life And Hope that is a stedfast Grace it is the Anchor of the Soul And Love that is a lovely Grace it brings the Soul into nearer Communion with God Then Wisdom that is a precious Grace a shining Grace A mans wisdom maketh his face to shine saith Solomon Eccles 8.1 And Job speaking of Wisdom saith he Job 28.12 13 But where shall Wisdom be sound and where is the place of Vnderstanding Man knoweth not the price thereof neither is it found in the Land of the Living it is of more price than Rubies it is of an invaluable price And Humility that is an honourable Grace And Fear that is a preserving Grace And Patience that is a supporting Grace And Perseverance that is a Crowning Grace All these Graces are precious Graces and they are all of them bestowed upon us meerly upon the account of Christs merits Fourthly The Priviledges that we have by Jesus Christ they are precious Priviledges U-union with him and Communion in his Life and Death and Resurrection and Comforts access to God the Father and that with boldness Fifthly The Promises that are sealed by his blood they are precious Promises promises for this life and promises for the life to come that Promise That all shall work together fer good to them that love God a big-bellied promise as I may so say All things work together for good and our prayers and our persons shall be accepted Lastly The Inheritance that he hath purchased for us is a precious Inheritance An incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven In brief Such is the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that compare him with the most precious things that can be named and you shall see they are but vile and base in comparison of him For Example 1. The Souls of men and women they are said to be precious but Oh how infinitely precious is Jesus Christ whose blood is a valuable and equivalent price for the Souls of all the men and women in the world 2. Light is said to be precious Christ said of himself I am the light of the world John 8.12 Light is precious to those that are in a Dungeon of darkness Now says Jesus Christ I am the light of the world 3. Truth is precious so precious that we are to buy it at any rate and sell it at no rate Jesus Christ says of himself I am the Truth John 14.6 4. Fountains and Springs of water are precious in hot and dry Countreys Oh the Lord Jesus Christ he is the Well of Salvation Isa 12.3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the Wells of Salvation 5. Bread is precious to those that are ready to perish a man will venture the getting of bread with the hazard of his life Lam. 5.9 We get our bread with the peril of our lives Now Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life John 6.48 6. Balm and Balsom is precious His blood is the only Balm that can cure wounded Souls so precious is the Lord Jesus Christ that all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth are but a picture of that beauty and preciousness that is in him he is the Abstract and Epitome of all perfections how precious must he needs be to whom all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth do contribute all their Excellencies to make him excellent and glorious Thus you see the Point opened Now for the Uses of it First By way of Information Is the Lord Jesus Christ so infinitely precious you may see then why the Souls of men and women are so precious because they are purchased by a precious Saviour purchased by his precious blood Hearken O sons of men why are you tumbling up and down in dirt and clay why do you not raise your hearts and thoughts higher and higher seeing that you have such precious Souls that are capable of a precious Inheritance why do you not look after a precious Covenant of Grace â—ealed to you and precious Promises confirmed to you by the blood of Christ why do you not look after that precious Pearl the Lord Jesus Christ who is worth more than ten thousand worlds Oh the baseness of the heart of man that should prefer dirt and dross and dung before him who is so infinitely precious that they should so undervalue their precious Souls that cost such an invaluable rate for their Redemption Secondly By way of Information see the horrible greatness of the sin of Unbelief that makes the Sinner undervalue this precious Redeemer Says Jesus Christ You will not come to me that you might have life John 5.40 Oh bewail your Unbelief that keeps Christ and your Souls a precious Christ and your poor Souls at such a distance Thirdly By way of Information take notice what a blessed condition they are in that have gotten the Lord Jesus Christ into their Souls If the Lord bestows this gift of all gifts this precious Christ upon you Oh it is more than if he had given thee the World nay then if he had given thee ten thousand Worlds for thy portion O rejoyce in thy portion for as soon as ever thou art a Believer thy heart is made a Cabinet for this precious Pearl the Lord Christ for He dwells in our hearts by faith Ephes 3.17 Oh manifest to the World the brightness of this Pearl let some lustre of Jesus Christ shine in thy Conversation shine through this Cabinet as Light shines through a Lanthorn The second Use is by way of Exhortation And here I must but name some few particulars answerable to the Explication of the Doctrine I insisted on more largely and there are several Duties I would briefly commend to you and the Lord give you hearts and me a heart and every one a heart to close with this precious Truth tendred to you in reference to this precious Redeemer First If Jesus Christ be so precious in his person as being God and Man then learn to honour him admire and adore him for This is the will of God the Father that all should
Communion with him in his life and because he lives you may live also I mean the life of Grace and life more abundantly and communion in his Death because he died for sin you may die to sin and communion in his Resurrection because he rose from the Grave you may rise to holiness and newness of life And the like Again Hath he purchased such precious Promises and all those Promises are sealed in his blood 2 Cor. 1.20 For all the promises of God are in him Yea and in him Amen unto the glory of God by us O then do you labour to be made partakers of those Promises that you may know that you are Heirs of those Promises that you may look upon them as Legacies bequeathed to you by your dear Lord and Master by your Husband Jesus Christ who left these Legacies to you Lastly Hath he purchased a precious Inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled then I beseech you in the fear of Almighty God that you take heed that it fares not with you as it did with that unbelieving Prince that saw the plenty in Samaria but did not taste of it but died for all that so you to hear of a glorious Inheritance but to come short of it and so be undone to all Eternity according to my Afternoon Text Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entring into his Rest any of you should seem to come short of it Heb. 4.1 Oh hath he purchased this Inheritance and do not you long to be with him where you shall sin no more nor sorrow no more Thus you see what use may be made of the preciousness of Jesus Christ in all these respects as he is precious in his Person in his Titles in his Offices in his Kingly Priestly and Prophetical Offices in his Ordinances in his Prerogatives in the purchases of his Blood those precious Priviledges and Inheritance he hath purchased for us The Lord help us seriously to think on these things and to meditate upon them and to lay them up in our hearts as Cordials against a day wherein we may stand in need of them And so I have done with the first Point of Doctrine That Jesus Christ is infinitely precious in himself The other Doctrine is That the Lord Jesus Christ is exceeding precious to all Believers and is highly prized by them 1 Pet. II. 7. Vnto you therefore which believe he is precious I Made entrance into this Text the last time that we had this solemn occasion of drawing near to God in the use of this precious Ordinance of the Lords Supper I shewed you the Coherence Sense and scope of the words and there were two Points of Doctrine that I drew from them The first was this That Jesus Christ is infinitely precious in himself I now come to the second Doctrine drawn from these words and that is this As Jesus Christ is precious in himself so is he exceeding precious to all Believers and highly prized by them For the proof or setling of this Point before I come to open it to you I shall give you but two Testimonies for the Confirmation of it the one out of the Old Testament the other out of the New that out of the Old Testament is in Cant. 5.9 10 where you shall read the strangers enquiring of the Spouse that is the Church of Christ saying What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved O thou fairest among women What is thy Beloved more than another Beloved that thou dost so charge us The Church makes this answer My Beloved is white and ruddy the chiefest among ten thousand c. My Beloved is white and ruddy Jesus Christ he is white in respect of his Divine Nature Being the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his Person Heb. 1.3 And yet he is red in his Humane Nature being of the same substance with the first Adam that was made of red Earth He was white in his Holiness but yet he is red also in that bloody passion which he was contented to undertake for our sakes he was white in his unspotted Innocency but yet he is red withal by the imputation of our sins which are said to be Crimson and Scarlet sins Isa 1.18 Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool Thus Jesus Christ is white and ruddy I but says the Church withal He is the chiefest among ten thousand or he is the Standard-bearer among ten thousand as the Hebrew word may be interpreted the Standard-bearer he is higher than the Kings of the Earth therefore called the Standard-bearer Psalm 89.27 Also I will make my first-born higher than the Kings of the Earth He guides and leads his people as being the Captain of their Salvation he leads them as a Standard-bearer leads an Army by his Colours Oh what a high price and value did the Church set upon Jesus Christ here He is white and ruddy the choicest among ten thousand Christ was very precious you see in her eyes The other testimony which I shall give you is in the New Testament Phil. 3.8 Yea doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledg of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ I count all things but loss whatever I esteemed gain before all my outward Priviledges that I stood upon before I count them but as loss but that is not all I count all things says he dung dross and dung or as the Greek phrase there sigsignifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such things as we cast out to Dogs I account them but as scrapings as skins as parings as nothing worth in comparison of the Lord Jesus Christ If there had been presented to Paul a whole Mountain of Gold and Silver and precious Pearls in comparison of Jesus Christ it would have been but as a heap of dung to him I count all things says he but loss and dung in comparison of Christ Consider but what things they were that he did undervalue in comparison of Christ and consider who did undervalue them Consider what it was that Paul did undervalue all the Priviledges that he had for example He tells you in the 5th and 6th verses Circumcised the eighth day so outwardly in covenant with God bearing the Covenant of God in his flesh this was nothing in his esteem of the stook of Israel of the Tribe of Benjamin an Hebrew of the Hebrews Of the Stock of Abraham this was his Birth-priviledg but this was nothing He was a man of Parts and Learning brought up at the feet of Gamaliel but all his natural parts abilities and endowments all these he esteemed nothing yea he was a man of a civil and unblameable conversation touching the righteousness which is
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes Job 42.5 6. Secondly This Knowledg is a reflective knowledg it makes a man turn in upon his own heart it makes a man to be wise for himself Prov. 9.12 If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self There is many a man that knoweth how to teach others but yet he cannot teach himself Job 5.27 Lo this we have searched it so it is hear it and know thou it for thy good In the Hebrew it is Hear and know it for thy self Thirdly This assured Knowledg is an experimental knowledg for it will make a man read some Sculpture or ingraving of the Spirit of God upon his own heart that his heart will be Christs Epistle written not with Ink but with the Spirit of the living God 2 Cor. 3.3 The truth is my Brethren and I would have you to remember it that all the truths of God to a carnal and unregenerate man are Mysteries No man for example knows what Repentance is but the repenting Sinner no man knows what Faith is but the true Believer no man knows what Regeneration is but he that is regenerate no man knows what Union with Christ is but he that is united to Christ no man knows what it is to have Communion with Christ in his Life and Death and Resurrection and Graces and Comforts but he that hath felt them in his own heart no man knows it savingly until he knows it experimentally A sick man doth better know what his disease is than all the Physicians in the World because he feels it A blind man may talk of Colours that never saw them A hungry man may talk of a rich Banquet that he never tasted of But now this is sure knowledg it is an experimental knowledg Fourthly It is a heart-warming knowledg other knowledg a notional knowledg is but like the light of the Moon it enlightens indeed in a dark night but it doth not warm But now this assured Knowledg is like the light of the Sun it doth not only enlighten you but it heats and warms your hearts it will make you in love with Jesus Christ and to long for more Communion with him in Grace here and in Glory hereafter Thirdly You may know this certainty of Knowledg by the Effects of it and I shall name but these two First This assured Knowledg will make you to hold fast the Name of God notwithstanding all the opposition that you meet with it will make you stick to the Truths of God Psalm 119.31 I have stuck unto thy Testimonies O Lord put me not to shame In Rev. 2.13 God speaks to the Church of Pergamus Thou holdest fast my Name and hast not denyed my Faith even in those days where Antipas was my faithful Martyr who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth Thou hast kept my Name there in the midst of opposition Secondly It will make a man run any hazard rather than part with the Truth See the courage of Saint Paul Acts 20.24 The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying Bonds and afflictions abide me but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto my self so I may finish my course with joy The truth is a little light if it be spiritual will make a man to resist temptations that the allurements of the Flesh and the World and the Devil shall not biass him and carry him away On the contrary a great light if it be not spiritual will yield to every temptation and hence it is that sometimes you see a man of weak parts stand out in an hour of temptation and tryal when a man of strong and great parts if he wants this spiritual Light falls fouly and fearfully A man that hath once got this assured knowledg of the Truth he will say I will lay down my life rather than I will part with the truth another man that hath not received this Light how will he shift and shuffle and temporize and part with the truth and swim with every stream and sail with every wind How will he be a double-minded man in all his ways and will be carried about with every wind of Doctrine Vse 3. Now to shut up all with this one word of Exhortation I beseech you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you would labour for this full assurance of Understanding that you would be rooted and setled and established in the truth get a setled understanding Now to press you to this let me use but these two Motives The first is this The truth is there is no proper Knowledg where this certainty is wanting it is at the best else but matter of conjecture See an instance in Saint Paul before he had this spiritual Light in Acts 26.9 I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things against Jesus of Nazareth It was but his thought and conjecture whereas when a man hath once gotten this certainty of Knowledg then he understands the Scriptures indeed Luke 24.45 Then opened he their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures And you may observe in the Parable of the Sower and the four Grounds three whereof were naught and one good of the three first it is not said that they received the Word with understanding but only the fourth Ground heard the Word and received it with understanding Matth. 13.23 A second Motive is this it will be of singular use to you in erroneous and backsliding times it will be of singular advantage to your poor Souls when you shall have that Knowledg that you can discern Truth from Error and Gold from Copper and Food from Poyson Our Saviour here in the Text speaks of it as the Priviledg of a Believer or obedient Christian that he shall be able to discern true Doctrine from false Certainly in such times as we live in wherein the Name of God is so much blasphemed and the Truth is eclipsed and the Sun of the Gospel is so much darkned by those fogs and mists of Error it is a singular Priviledg for a man to have a setled knowledg in the Truth that he may not be carried about with every wind of Doctrine But it may be you will say What course must we take to get this certainty of knowledg I shall tell you that in three words First If ever you desire to have this full assurance of Knowledg you must resolve to walk humbly with your God Psalm 25.9 The meek will be guide in Judgment and the humble will he teach his way Secondly Strive to be growing Christians That is an excellent Scripture Hosea 6.3 Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. Thirdly If you would get this full assurance of Understanding I cannot give you a better direction than the Text gives you which our Saviour here prescribes you do but the Will of God that is
practice what you know and you shall know more and you shall know in a better manner and know more assuredly than you do I conclude with an excellent Speech of a Reverend Divine that is now with God Men in matters of Religion do therefore become Scepticks because they are not Practicks that is men are ever doubting of Truth they will be Seekers Nullifidians they will believe nothing because they do not practice what they know It is the practical Christian that shall know much of God that shall have the mind of God made known to him shall have more of the incomes of the Spirit of God whereas if you will not be practical Christians you shall be always floating and wavering and double-minded and ready to be seduced and led into by-paths of Error which will endanger the Salvation of your immortal Souls The Lord help us to practice those Truths that we know that he may delight in us and do us good and lead our feet in the way of life FINIS Books printed for and sold by Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the Poultrey A Golden Key to open hidden Treasures or several great points that refer to the Saints Blessedness and future happiness with the resolution of several important Questions the active and passive Obedience of Christ vindicated and proved Eleven serious singular Pleas which all sincere Christians may fafely make to those ten Scriptures which speak of the general Judgment and the particular Judgment that most certainly must pass on all c. The works of Mr. James Janeway containing these six following Treatises Heaven on Earth or the best friend in the worst of times Death unstung being a Sermon preached at the Funeral of Mr. Thomas Moseley an Apothecary with a Narrative of his Life and Death also the manner of Gods dealing with him before and after his Conversion A Sermon preached at the Funeral of Thomas Savage Invisible Realities demonstrated in the holy Life and triumphant Death of Mr. John Janeway The Saints encouragement to Diligence in Christs Service with Motives and means to Christian activity His last Legacy to his Friends containing 27 Sermons instances of Gods Providences in and about several dangers and deliverances with the names of several who were Eye witnesses to several of them Whereunto is added a Sermon on the same Subject Mr. Wadsworth's last Legacy being a serious Exhortation to an Holy Life or a Plea for the absolute necessity of Inherent Righteousness in those that hope to be saved with an Elegy on that Author's death Mr. Caryl's Exposition on the Book of Job Gospel Remission or a Treatise shewing that true Blessedness consists in the pardoning of sin by Jeremy Burroughs Mount Pisgah or a Prospect of Heaven being an Exposition of the 4th Chapter of the 2d Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians by Thomas Case The retired mans Meditations or the Mysterie and power of Godliness presenting to view the richness and fulness of Christs person as the Mediator or the Spiritual and Natural man in their proper distinctions c. by Sir Henry Vane Knight The Saints Triumph over the last Enemy in a Sermon preached at the Funeral of that zealous and painful Minister of Christ Mr. James Janeway by Nathaniel Vincent A Collection of Sermons preach'd at the Morning-Lecture in Southwark and elsewhere by N. Blakie The Morning-Seeker shewing the benefit of being good betimes with directions of making sure work about early Religion by John Ryther A Discourse of Evangelical Love Church-peace and Unity with the occasions and reasons of present differences and divisions about things Sacred and Religious by John Owen D. D. Saints Memorials being a Collection of Divine Sayings written and delivered by the late Reverend and Eminent Ministers of the Gospel Mr Edm. Calamy Mr. Joseph Caryl Mr. R. Venning Mr. James Janeway c. Heaven realized being some of the Experiences of a famous Christian Gentlewoman The Christians greatest Interest or a tryal of a Saving-interest in Christ the way how to attain it by W. Guthry late Minister in Scotland The Weavers Pocket-Book or Weaving spiritualized in a Discourse wherein men employed in that Occupation may be instructed how to raise heavenly Meditations from the several parts of their work by J Collins D. D. A Call to Prayer in two Sermon on that Subject lately preached to a Countrey Auditory with an account of the Principles and practice of the Quakers in the matter of Prayer The Life and Death of the godly Man exemplified in a Sermon preached at the Funeral of that Pious and faithful Minister of Christ Mr. Thomas Wadsworth by R. Bragg The History of the Wars in New England with an account of the several fights between the Joint-Forces of the United English Collonies and the Indians A Practical Expositon of the Ten Commandments with a Resolution of several Momentous Questions and Cases of Conscience by Mr. James Durham late Minister at Glasgow The Memorial of Gods Judgments Spiritual and Temporal in some Sermons of Mr. Nicholas Lockier Minister of the Gospel Godly fear or the Nature and Necessity of fear and its usefulness both to the driving Sinners to Christ and to the provoking Christians on in a godly Life through the several parts and duties of it till they come to Blessedness by R. A. Author of Vinditiae Pietatis