line but this will not doe Christian Esau was rejected though he was Isaacs sonne and Ishmael though he was Abrahams sonne Justus non gignit justum gignit hominem Thy righteous father did not beget thee a righteous man but he begat thee a child of flesh corrupt flesh and bloud Thy godly mother brought thee forth under the Apple-tree there thy mother brought thee forth there she brought thee forth that bare thee This was the Jewes great brag that they came forth out of the waters of Judah and were called by the name of Israel and were of the house of Jacob Isa 48. 1. They call'd themselves of the Holy City and this made them stay themselves upon the God of Israel but for all this observe what God sayes to them v. 4 5 6 c. This was that which the Jewes had to boast of to the Lord Jesus Christ Joh. 8. 33. We are Abrahams seed and were never in bondage to any man how sayest thou you shall be made free They tooke it ill that they being Abrahams seed should be so much as supposed to be in a bad condition But observe how Christ takes away their brag in the 39. Jesus saith unto them if you were Abrahams children that is his spirituall children you would doe the works of Abraham But in plainer English ver 44. Ye are of your Father the Devill and the lusts of your Father you will doe Heare this you that had godly parents and your selves have no goodnesse in you Abrahams faith will carry none to heaven but himselfe your parents faith will want a way of conveyance to doe good to your soules Graft a sweet Peare or Plumme upon a wild or sowre Crab-stocke it will grow and yeeld a pleasant fruit the nature will be changed in the fruit but now take the stone or kernell of that fruit and set it in the earth it shall not come forth a Plum-tree but a Crab-stock againe It is thy case Christian thy parent was a naturall Crabstocke the Lord grafted grace upon him then he brought forth sweet and pleasant fruit worthy of amendment of life But now thou art his kernell come out of the earth thou art not come forth gracious but naturall Thy parents grace was by vertue of an inoculation not by nature Therefore to conclude this use let me mind you of the words of the first Gospell-preacher John the Baptist Mat. 3. ver 8. Bring forth fruit therefore worthy of amendment of life and thinke not to say within your selves we have Abraham to our Father Looke to your condition Christians It is neither your noble nor yet gracious parentage and descent will carry you to heaven think not to say within thy self I had a gracious parent Thirdly from hence we may be instructed what a soul-cheating principle Libertines build on that conclude thus There is no need of Repentance or faith or such holy and strict life if we be elected we shall be saved if not we shall be damned Suppose thou beest elected poore creature yet know thou art borne under the Apple-tree O turne not the grace of thy God into wantonnesse looke to find thy selfe raised or thou shalt never see thy soule saved It is true for the sinnes of those whom the Lord hath chosen by name to everlasting life they are decretally pardoned from all eternity and meritoriously pardoned in the death of Christ but still they remaine as offences to God and keep the soule under a reall obligation unto death till the Lord comes and actually and formally in justification acquits the beleeving soule from hels claime and frees it out of the Devils imprisonment Suppose a condemned man in prison the Prince hath determined to pardon him and some friend of his possibly hath purchased his pardon for him but yet he is in the dungeon in fetters in the Gaolers hand till he be actually set free c. So it is with every Elect Vessell Cheat not thy selfe therefore with such licentious soule-deceiving principles of Libertinisme I have done with the first Use of Instruction I passe on to a second Use 2 How doth it now stand every poore soule in hand to examine his condition whether he be not in this sad condition yet yea or no. Christians the weight of your soules hangs upon this Examination This was your and my condition Try therefore your selves whether you be in the faith or no prove your owne selves know you not that more more than nature is in you Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates I have in this place not long since handled this point so fully that I shall at this time adde very little to what I have already said Only it lying so full in my way give me leave to speake a word or two and the Lord speake it to your hearts I will speake but foure words 1. Therfore know this If none hath done more for you than your mother hath done you are under the Apple-tree still That is plaine in the Text There your mother brought you forth there she brought you forth that bare you What doth our Mother doe for us she conveighes Nature to us from her we derive flesh and bloud and our naturall dispositions if thou beest nothing but Nature thou hast nothing of Grace But some will say this is a note as darke as the other To make it therefore so as to be understood by the meanest capacities we must understand that there are two sorts of Natures A more corrupt or a more refined sort of Nature All short of Grace is Nature 1. If thou hast nothing seen in thee but corrupt filthy nature That thy naturall inclination carries thee out to acts of prophane wickednesse and thou hast not so much as put a bridle upon thy wild spirit but letst it run at randome and carry thee out to drunkennesse wantonnesse lying swearing all manner of ungodlinesse This thou mayest be sure of thou art not raised yet out of thy hellish danger in which thou wert borne Eph. 5. 5. 1 Tim. 1. 9 10. Rev. 21. 8. Rev. 22. 15. 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. But secondly If thou hast no more than bridled and refined Nature I call Bridled Nature a kind of civility which thou pridest in that thou art not so debauched a wretch as others are It consists first of all in a Negative righteousnesse Thou canst say thou art no Papist no Malignant and perhaps as much as the Pharisee Luke 18. v. 11. I thanke thee I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this Publicane Secondly In a Positive righteousnesse Thou canst say whose Oxe have I taken whose Asse have I taken or whom have I defrauded Thou tythest Mint and Annis and dost no more to others than thou wouldst be content they should doe to thee thou art a good Second-table-man keepest the rule of justice strictly Thus had he done To whom Jesus Christ said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One thing is
Heb. 3. 17. one reason is given why the Lord Jesus became man and tooke part of flesh and bloud with us that he might be a faithfull High-priest 3. It was requisite that he should thus raise us that he might fulfill the Law for us Now the Law was to be fulfilled two wayes 1. Actively 2. Passively Neither could have been done without the Assumption of our flesh There is not such a contradiction between the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works as some ignorant Libertines would this day make God gave a Law and his Covenant was doe this and live this is that which we call the Covenant of Works man could not doe it What is Gods mind altered now no such matter God sayes Doe this and live still and if you doe not this you shall dye It was written long since that time Deut. 27. ver 26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to doe them And all the people must say Amen to it now as well as they did then But herein is the Covenant of Grace more favourable The Covenant of Works sayes thou shalt personally doe them or dye The Covenant of Grace sayes thou shalt doe it or get Christ to doe it for thee the Covenant of Workes sayes I will take no baile no surety doe it or dye Durus est hic sermo an hard saying who can heare it The Covenant of Grace saith Get me Christs Baile and I will acquit thee if thou beleevest in him Therfore saith the Apostle Gal. 3. 10 11. As many as are of the workes of the Law that look to be justified by their owne workes by their owne righteousnesse in fulfilling the Law are under the curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Law to doe them Look to it saith the Apostle if you look to be justified by obeying the Law in your owne persons take my word for it you have an hard taske But verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law But how was that it followes in the next words Being made a curse for us ver 14. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ Hee was to fulfill the Law Actively that he might fulfill what we through the weaknes of the flesh could not and in regard that he was to fulfill it for us it was requisite he should have our nature and as hee was to fulfill the Law Actively so in regard that his Elect by their past Transgressions had broken the Law of God Adam for himselfe and all his posterity and the body of death which he knew was to remaine after sanctification in his Elect ones would lay them open to hell He also was to fulfill the Law Passively for us therefore saith the Apostle He hath redeemed us from the eurse of the Law Now he tells you how that was verse 13. by being made a curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangs upon a tree Now hee could not have been in capacity of being subject to the curse of the Law by hanging upon the tree for us unlesse he had taken upon him our flesh Nay yet a Fourth Reason may be given why it was necessary that Jesus Christ should raise up his redeemed ones by the assuming their flesh viz. That he might be a mercifull High-Priest It is the Reason that the Apostle gives Hebr. 2. verse 17. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to bee made like unto his brethren that hee might bee a mercifull and faithfull High-Priest in all things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sinnes of the people for in that hee himselfe suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted I shall adde nothing to it Thus he raised us by Assuming of our flesh which in order to our raising it was necessary for him to doe 3. He raised us Passione by his precious death upon the Crosse his falling was our rising his life our death The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes wee are healed His owne bloud was the balme from Gilead as well as himselfe the Physitian there Now in order to the raising of his Elect ones it was requisite that he should dye 1. That he might satisfie 2. That he might conquer 1. That he might satisfie and purchase Remission He that will redeem any slave out of Captivity must pay the summe of Redemption-money required Now Death was that which could alone satisfie for the redeemed ones It was the Lords first Law In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die temporally and eternally Now a death must be paid or justice is not satisfied therefore saith the Apostle Heb. 9. 22. Without blood there is no remission he therefore dyed for our sinnes saith the Apostle he was our sacrifice 1 Cor. 4. 7. And he is no sacrifice till slaine This was typified by the slaying of beasts for sacrifices in the old Law which God required of all those that would obtain pardon And in regard that man had deserved hell as well as death Christ by dying that he might raise us and and make the face of God againe to shine upon us was content to suffer the withdrawings of his Fathers love and to feele as it were the paines of hell to raise us to the joyes of heaven Secondly as it was necessary in order to our raising that Christ should dye to the intent that he should satisfie for us so it was also necessary that he should dye that he might conquer for us This the Apostle fully expresseth Heb. 2. 14 15. Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud he also himselfe tooke part of the same that through death he might destroy him that hath the power of death even the Devill and deliver them who through feare of death were all their life-time subject to bondage Christ was to lead Captivity captive to take away deaths sting and hels victory which he could not have done without wrastling with death himselfe had he not been deaths captive he had never been deaths conquerour Hee raised us by dying for us 4. He hath raised us Resurrectione by rising againe from the dead therefore saith the Apostle Rom. 4. 25. He was delivered to death for our offences and rose againe for our justification Now his Resurrection had and hath an influence upon raising his Elect ones 1. By witnessing to them Christs conquest for them and therefore the Apostle makes the worke of satisfaction for us to be proper to his death and the worke of our justification he appropriates to his Resurrection Rom. 4. 25. When he dyed he went downe that he might conquer but it was his comming up out of the grave that witnessed his conquest over death and hell It was in that day that this Song was sung O death where is thy sting O hell
did it freely we buy without money or money-worth Isa 55. 1 2. 2. If you aske to what end hee did it It was his own glorie that he might get himselfe glory from poore dust and ashes that little thanke him for all this mercy declared to their souls He Predestinated Redeemed and Adopted us meerely to the praise of the glorie of his grace Ephes 1. verse 6. The end which he aimed at in Calling us was his glory Rom. 9. 23 24 25 26. If you aske me why God that could as well have been glorified in the damnation of poore wretches would chuse rather to be glorified in their salvation and bringing them to life I must run back again to the Fountaine againe meerly because so it pleased him because it was his will There wee must rest I shall now proceed to the Application of this mysterious sweet and precious Doctrine and it might be applyed severall wayes But I shall onely apply the consideration of it as offering you ground and matter First of Humiliation Secondly of Instruction Thirdly of Examination Fourthly of Exhortation Fiftly of Consolation Use 1 First of all for Humiliation Harke Christians is it so that thou wert so lost and undone that none but Jesus Christ could raise thee and hee hath done it when none else could and wil raise thee higher yet and this hee could not have done without taking thy flesh dying upon the Crosse suffering the bitternesse of his Fathers wrath consider then what cause thou hast to be humbled for thy sins 1. Considering that these were they put Christ to death 2 that by these since that time thou hast crucified the Lord of life 1. Consider that thy sins were those that put Christ to death Rom. 4. 25. He was delivered to death for our sinnes Me thinks every one when they heare of Christs Agony and bloudy Sweat of his Whippings Buffetings of his bitter Sufferings c. should be ready to cry out with Pilate Quid mali fecit What evill I pray hath he done Ah none Christian it was to raise thee thou wert dead lost undone he dyed to raise thee thou stolest the fruit he climbed the tree thou enjoyedst the sweetnesse of sinning and he for that was acquainted with the bitternesse of suffering He bore thy iniquity even thine and mine too if we be elected Certainly it was a great griefe of heart to David to remember that he had an hand in the bloud of Uriah that was surely the great transgression that hee complained of to be sure that heart-troubling sinne for which hee puts up that particular Petition Deliver mee from bloud-guiltinesse O God And questionlesse it was no small Trouble of Spirit to Paul afterwards to consider that he was one of them that were consenting to Stephens death Acts 7. 59 60. Chap. 8. verse 1. he afterwards repeats it with shame I was a persecuter Christian here is one murdered by cruell hands not an Uriah not a Stephen but hee that is worth ten thousand of these not an Abell yet his bloud troubled Cain all his life time but one whose bloud cries for better things than the bloud of Abell did here 's the Lambe of God slaine slaine by thy hands he was bruised for thine iniquities and his soule was made an Offering for thy sinnes Is it nothing to thee O Christian when Pilate was but about to condemne him his wife came startled in and cries Have nothing to doe with that just man and when Stephen charged the Jewes Acts 7. 52. for being the betrayers and murtherers of the Lord Jesus they apprehended it as a thing so hainous that they would not endure him beyond that word but were cut to the heart and gnashed upon him with their teeth verse 54. Christians there is none of you here but your sinnes were the betrayers and murtheres of the Lord Jesus that Christ that had such eternall sure and unchangeable thoughts of love to your soules Ah! how great were those sins which could not be remitted without the bloud of the immaculate Lamb of God Me thinks every one of you should sit downe and say Ah Lord that ever I should be such a wretch so farre to provoke the fire of thy wrath that nothing could quench it but the bloud of thy Sonne that I should throw my selfe so deep into Hell that nothing could raise mee but the bloud-shedding of the deare Sonne of Gods love You have had to doe with that just man Christians not to doe with condemning him but even with the vildest acts of Barbarisme were done unto him your hypocrisie was the kisse that betrayed him the sinnes of your hands and feet were the nailes that fastened his hands and feet to the Crosse the sinnes of your body were the Spears that pierced his sacred side the sinnes of your soules were they that made his soule heavy to the death that caused the with-drawings of his Fathers love from him and made him in the heavinesse of his panged soule to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me O sit downe goe alone weep and weep bitterly for him whom you have pierced for those stripes by which you are healed 2. But secondly if any thing will move your soules to make your head a Fountaine of water and your eyes Rivers of teares Consider That this Christ you have crucified even since his death upon the Crosse for you When the Apostle St. Peter Acts 2. had made a long Sermon of Christs love shewing the Auditors what Christ had done and what he was he summeth up all verse 36. God hath made that same Jesus whom yee have crucified both Lord and Christ Now saith the Text verse 37. When they heard this viz. that they had crucified this Christ they were pricked at the heart This Christ my beloved whom you have crucified by your youth sinnes and life sins this was he that was crucified for you O be pricked at the hearts at this saying Was it not enough that he once was pierced scoffed wounded crucified for you but must you againe crucifie him and which of you doe it not daily Causinus tels us a story of Clodoveyus one of the Kings of France that when he was converted from Paganisme to Christianity while Remigius the Bishop was reading in the Gospell concerning the Passion of our Saviour and the abuses he suffered from Judas and the rest of the Jewes he brake out into these words If I had been there with my Frenchmen I would have cut all their throats In the meane time not considering that by his daily sins he did as much as they had done Which of us is not condemning the crucifiers of Christ for their cruelty and in the meane time we condemne not our selves who by our daily sinnes make him to bleed againe afresh Ah let us judge our selves and sit downe and mourne we are they that have added to Christs bonds that have increased his wounds and the pangs of his grieved soule
thee 2. Thee that wert as low as others Adam left thee as deep in hell as any reprobate there Loe here the infinitenesse of free grace Two were in the same house yea grinding at the same mill of iniquity and thou art taken and the other is left possibly thou wert in thy wildest youth seeming to ride faster to hell than the other were that were thy brethren friends and acquaintance yet the Lord hath raised thee and let the others lye wallowing in their bloud he hath not said to them live 3. Thee that wert his Enemy Was ever dying love yea love in dying extended to an enemy before You have heard of two stories one of a Grecian the other of a Roman paire Theseus and Perithous Pilades and Orestes that would have dyed for their friends each for another but hath any offered to dye for his Enemy Moses would offer to have his name blotted out for his people that were Gods people and which he loved but would Moses have done it for a Philistine yet this hath Christ done O love ye the Lord all his Saints 4. Thee that never askt it He was found of them that sought it not Alas mankind lay as well without a tongue to aske as an hand to help themselves and behold Christ pitied them and amongst them thee his love declared from Eternity towards thee had not so much cause in thee as a poore prayer would have amounted to he was not moved by thy sighs and teares but by his owne infinite love 5. Lastly thee that hast still Rebellion in thee Christ said within himselfe when he dyed upon the Crosse Now is my heart-bloud powred out for as vile wretches as any are and for those that I know will requite my bleeding wounds my dying love with new speares and thornes thus he knew that thou wouldst doe in the time of thy unregeneracie yea and after thou shouldst be called too Who lives and sinnes not Now Christian lay these things to thy heart meditate of study out this love and see if thou hast not cause to say My soule and all that is within me my tongue and all that is without me praise the Lord. But O remember Christian Remember Burnt offering and sacrifice he doth not require but this he requires that thou shouldst doe his will O say Loe I come I am ready to do it But more particularly let me point thee out some particular duties that the Lord requires of thee in a poor answer to his rich Acts of eternall love First hath not he thought his glory too deare to lay aside for a while for thee nor his Word and Truth too dear to pawne for thee nor his bloud too deare to spill for thee hath he valued nothing in comparison of thee O doe thou value nothing in an equall ballance with him be willing to deny thy selfe for him who in every thing hath denyed himselfe for thee Thy Lusts cannot be so pleasing to thee as Christs glory was to him Be content to leave them Thy Honour cannot be so great as his was which he left for thee and became ignoble in our eyes Surely when wee saw him we esteemed him despised smitten of God and afflicted Isa 53. 4. But it was when hee was wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities when the chastisement of our peace was upon him and that by his stripes we might be healed Thy Riches cannot be greater than his yet remember him O remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who though he was rich yet for your sake became poore that you through his Povertie might be made rich 2 Cor. 7. Thy life cannot be more deare than his yet he valued not his life for thee but powred out his bloud his precious bloud upon the Crosse that through his bloud thou mightest have remission purchased Learne hence Christian a lesson of self-deniall Be content to suffer for him who was content to suffer that he might raise thee value nothing in comparison of him This Lesson had Saint Paul learned Phil. 3. v. 7 8. What things were gaine to me I counted losse for Christ yea doubtlesse and I count all things but losse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the losse of all things and doe count them but dung that I may win Christ c. ver 10. That I may know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death Looke upon nothing in an equall ballance with him 1 Cor. 2. 2. I determined not to know any thing amongst you save Jesus Christ and him crucified Secondly hath Christ entred into a Covenant and given his word to his Father and kept his word with his Father for you O then learne of him Vow your selves to him and keep the vowes of your lips Say with David Psal 116. ver 16. Ah Lord truly we are thy servants we are thy servants and the sons of thy handmaids for thou hast loosed our bonds Say with David Psal 40. Mine eares hast thou opened and bored them Say Ah Lord we come to doe thy will Christ kept his word with his Father for you Ah keep your word with him pay him the vowes which you have made Thirdly Hath Christ to raise you taken upon him your flesh O then Take ye upon your selves his spirit He hath become for you the childe of man doe you become for him the children of God Be made partakers of the divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust 2 Pet. 1. 4. Your Nature was full of imperfection and weaknesse the divine Nature is full of perfection and glory He hath raised you be raised put off your filthy rags and put on change of Raiment Fourthly Hath Christ died that he might raise you from the death of Sinne and from the power of the Second death O then dye to sinne Col. 3. 5. Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleannesse inordinate affection evill concupiscence and covetousnesse which is idolatry for which things c. The Apostle Saint Paul presseth the great duty of mortification from this very principle Likewise reckon yee also your selves to be dead to sinne but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 11. and so on ver 12 13. Let not sinne therefore reigne in your mortall bodies c. Ah throw away the nailes that pierced your Christ Fifthly Did Christ rise from the dead that he might raise you from the death of sinne O then rise to newnesse of life The Apostle Saint Paul presseth this worke of Vivification also from Christs Resurrection Rom. 6. ver 4. We are buried with him by Baptisme into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father euen so we also should walke in newnesse of life and so all along that Chapter Sixthly Hath he
gave thee comfort in the depths of sorrow what thy merry company did thy duties do it If any thing did it but thy Christ I feare thou art still in the Wildernesse when thou didst mourne as one that mourneth for his onely begotten sonne dist thou look upon him whom thou hadst pierced there is nothing but the blood of Christ can give a cordiall to a fainting soule nothing but the hand-kerchiefe of free grace that can wipe thine eyes nothing but the blotting out of the hand-writing which was written in Gods Booke and thy owne conscience against thee that can make thy heart leave trembling and thy knees leave beating together for terror Thou canst not come out alone if ever thou camest out it was leaning 5. Examine thy selfe How thou hast carried thy selfe since thou camest out How hast thou beene since thou wert humbled and lost in the wildernesse of sorrow What effects hath the wildernesse of sorrow wrought upon thee Hath thy sorrow beene like the sorrow of Achan that thou hast been onely sorry because thou hast been under an Attachment of wrath Or like Ahab renting his cloathes putting on his sack-cloth and going softly 2 Chron. 22. Or like Pharoah saying I have sinned Exod. Or like Balaam saying I have sinned I will returne back againe when he might have had more thanks for his labour and never have come there he had checks enough Art thou worse when thou commest out of the wildernesse of affliction that wee may brand thee with Ahaz his Brand This was that King Ahaz Or doest thou come out of thy Afflictions leaning with thy weak faith strengthened and thy strong faith confirmed Hast thou lost no graines but got in the fire Is thy gold as good weight now as before it is a good signe it is good then But I hasten to the next Use which may be to informe us First The sad condition that all unbeleevers are in Secondly The joyfull condition that all the Children of God are in Thirdly The great love of God that he would send Christ to seeke us up in the wildernesse and give his hand to poore creatures to lead them out And lastly If in every wildernesse wee must leane upon the Lord Jesus Christ It may informe us what need wee have at all times to walke close with the Lord Christ First here see the sad condition that all men and women by nature are in that have not the Lord Jesus Christ It consists in two things First They are in a wildernesse Sinne is a wildernesse Now which of you friends but would thinke himselfe as good as a dead man if he were in the midst of an Arabian desert that he could not see any possibilitie of getting out nor any comfort he could enjoy there terror on every side comfort on no side the Lyons and beasts of prey of every hand ready to devour him and it is well if he can keepe his flesh for food for himselfe for he can get no provision for his body nothing except he would eate the barke of trees or the parched grasse What man would not tremble to thinke of one that should be condemned to such an axile Doe not your hearts pittie as oft as you think of those poore men that were left but halfe a yeare in Greenland And yet O Lord How few pittie themselves O poore creatures Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur the Story is thy owne apply it therefore You that are in your sinnes are all in a sad wildernesse the judgements of God like the beasts of prey are ready to swallow you up on every hand 't is a miracle of mercy you are not in hell there is but a thread betwixt you and death the Sword of Gods wrath hangs over your head while you are at your Drunken Banquets of sinne Oh! what comfort what joy can can you have in the wildernesse friends that when you lye downe at night you know not but you may wake in the morning past Repentance even with Hell flames about you as the Lord lives there is but a haires breadth betwixt you and Hell 2. Consider That you have no one to helpe you out of any wildernesse if Christ be not yours nothing is yours what will you doe in a stormy day of Affliction when you shall cry unto God and he shall say unto you as he once said to the roaring Isralites Jud. 10. 14. Goe and cry unto the gods which you have chosen let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation Cry unto your Gold now unto your Lusts now trust your Riches now make you a golden Calfe See if it will now save you O think You that live in sinne and love and delight in sinne what shall I doe in a sad day of sicknesse when the feare of the grave shall surround me and the terrors of Hell shall make me afraid What shall I leane upon when these comforts shall be no comforts when I shall say to all creature-enjoyments miserable comforters are you all Where shall I warme me when these flashes will be out when the sparkes of pleasure and profit shall be choakt and kill'd with the dust and ashes of my grave Heare yee this all yee That kinde a fire that compasse your selves about with sparkes walke in the light of your fire and in the sparkes that you have kindled This shall ye have at the Lords hand you shall lye downe in sorrow Your pleasurable sinnes are but as sparks Sirs What will you doe when your sparkes are out They are as we say of a short flame but a Widdowes joy for a moment Take heed that when your sparks are out you blow not your nailes in hell Take heed that your sparkes doe not kindle everlasting burnings for you What will you doe in a wildernesse of Affliction how will you come out what will you come out What will yee leane upon Secondly This may serve to informe us of the happpy condition of Gods children and that è contrario in a just position to the others misery O lift up your heads yee righteous and be glad yee upright in heart Your happinesse consists in these two things First You are out of the wildernesse out of the danger of Hell and those that can spell in their thoughts but that word hell will know it to be a mercy to be out of the feare of it You are out of the wildernesse O blesse that God that hath helpt you out 't is a great happinesse to be delivered of feares beleeve me Did the wicked men seriously thinke what a weight of wrath they lye under what a cloud of bloud hangs over their heads they would pray till all their knees were melted though they were all steele to be delivered from it Hold up your hands that you have escaped a drowning that you feare not the wild beasts that belong to the wildernesse Gods dreadfull judgements you dare meet the Lyon and the Beare and they dare not set
32. they would have passed by on the other side Christ was he that was the good Samaritane onely that had compassion on us Ez. 16. verse 5. None eye pittied us to doe any thing to us that might doe us any good wee were cast out in the open field to the loathing of our person in the day wherein we were borne But if they would yet none could Alas they had been all Physitians of no value man had beene past their cure Here was the state of a poore Creature An infinite debt was due to infinite justice for mans offence Alas where shall it be had as Job said concerning wisedome Job 28. 13 14. Man knoweth not the price thereof neither is it found in the land of the living The depth saith it is not in mee and the sea saith it is not with mee c. So may we say The Angels said it is not in us for could wee assume bodies and dye yet we were but finite Creatures and there could not be an infinite value in our death Come wee downe to the earth the Beasts and other Creatures say it is not in us for is God pleased with the deaths of Bullocks and Goats and Lambs Ah no! what sayes David Thou desirest not Sacrifice else would I give it thou delightest not in burnt Offering And again Psal 40 verse 6. Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not desire Burnt-Offering and Sinne-Offering thou hast not required Besides how shall the flesh of Bulls satisfie the guilt of another Nature Man said it is not in me No Physician heale thy selfe Wee were all sinners and how should we pay the debt that if we could have paid our brothers debt had had as great a one for our selves to pay Can that Malefactor by his suffering death expiate for another when himself deserves to dye also and stands condemned to death for his owne demerits Besides had all man-kinde dyed they had been but as so many Prisoners laid in Gaole for debt that had not a groat to pay their lying in hell for ever had paid no debts but still increased them Well how shall the satisfaction be made shal we buy man off Alas no Salvation canot be gotten for gold nor shall silver be weighed for the price of it it cannot as job sayes of wisedome be valued with the gold of Ophyr with the precious Onyx or the Saphir The Gold and the Chrystall cannot equall it and the exchange of it shall not bee for Jewells of fine gold no mention shall bee made of Corals and of Pearles for the price of salvation is above Rubies The Topaz of Ethiopia shall not equall it neither shall it bee valued with pure gold whence then commeth salvation and where is the place of it seeing it is hid from all lâ—ving eyes and kept close from the Fowles of the aire Destruction and Death say we have heard the fame thereof with our eares God Christ understandeth the way thereof and hee knowes the place thereof Let us consider but what was necessarily required of whosoever should raise lâ—st fallen man and we shall finde this plaine enough that if Christ had not raised us up we had not been raised to this day I conceive these foure things were required of him that should undertake the raising and redemption of man in point of Justice and Reason so as to gaine acceptance with God First One that could dye God had made it his Statute The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye Nothing but bloud would doe it Hebr. 9. 22. Without shedding bloud there is no remission Justice must have its course Now upon this score neither any person of the Trinity as meerely so nor any Angell in Heaven could helpe us for these had no bloud to shed And without shedding of bloud there is no pardon and remission of sinnes Secondly It must bee the offending Nature that must satisfie againe God is the Fountain of Justice he will not let the beasts suffer for mans transgression The Lords wayes are equall The soule that sinneth that shall dye Ezech. 18. 4. This shuts out all the Earth but man-kinde from making a sufficient satisfaction to infinite justice Thirdly It must bee one that can merit and satisfie by death for if by death he barely payes his own debts what becomes of ours You would laugh at that Debtor that if himselfe owes five hundred pound would undertake with foure hundred to discharge both himselfe and anothers too or at a Malefactor that being condemned himselfe to dye should offer to his fellow under the same condemnation to dye for him Now upon this score all man-kinde is excluded from finding out in it selfe a sufficient Saviour they are all under the same condemnation and when every one lay under a guilt and condemnation to dye for himself surely none could merit for another by dying especially if we consider Fourthly that the Saviour of man was not onely to satisfie but to pay an infinite satisfaction It was was an infinite God an infinite Justice that was offended and must be satisfied and a finite satisfaction would have been too short a pay for an infinite debt And now upon this score again are all creature-satisfactions excluded Let them doe their utmost infinitenesse is not in them they have a bottome may bee seene Now by this time me thinkes you should be wondring at mans salvation and crying out Lord how comes any man ever in heaven The Text tells you I raised you Christ did the worke Harke Christian and I will tell thee neither heaven nor earth could save thee alone there was nothing in heaven could suffer and there was nothing on earth could satisfie and as there was no mercy without satisfaction so there could be no satisfaction without suffering Heaven and earth therefore must bee mingled together From Heaven we must have a satisfying Nature from earth a guilty Nature and a suffering person God the Father sayes to Christ thou shalt goe and doe it Christ sayes I goe It is written that I should do thy will Father it is my delight I am content to doe it But how shall it be done saith God There shall spring up a branch out of the root of Jesse A Virgin shall conceive and beare a Sonne and that Sonne shall be my Sonne yet my Son shall not be her Sonne he shall take unto him the humane Nature and hee shall be despised smitten of God rejected of men full of sorrowes yea he shall dye and by death satisfie my wrath Thus in carne patitur Deus creator ne caro creaturae patiatur God the Creator suffers in the flesh of the Creature that the flesh of the Creature might not suffer I raised thee saith hee yes he did it when none else could doe it his arme brought salvation to us when every creatures Arme was too short yea and he did it alone hee needed no other his owne merits were enough in themselves for they were infinite and they were
whom he justified them he also glorified under Predestination is included Redemption and Sanctification under Justification Now therfore a little to open this mysterie of our Redemption in the Application of it to the soules of them that shall be saved You have seen how there came to be Balme in Gilead and that there is a fulnesse and sufficiency in Christ Now what doth the poore Elect one want that it hath lost in Adam I conceive three things 1. Life 2. Strength 3. Light 1. Life It is a damned Creature in Adam it wants a way of salvation a pardon for its sinnes a righteousnesse to appeare in the sight of God 2. Adam hath left it a weak creature not able to do any thing that is good no not so much as to think a good thought it wants a strength to Act in so as to please God 3. Adam hath left it a comfortlesse creature without any light of Gods countenance shining upon it Now all these are purchased The first of them is necessary to give the first being to a Saint The second is necessary to preserve the Christians being The third ad bene esse for the comfortable being of all Christ is all to the Childe of of God Psalme 27. verse 1. But how doth Christ apply these to the soules of his redeemed ones 1. Saith the Apostle He calls them We say that in effectuall calling which is when God joynes the irresistable power of his Spirit with the outward preaching of the Word God doth these three things 1. Convince the soule of his elect vessell that is a child of wrath by Nature as well as others Ephes 2. 3. what a condition it is in by reason of its Originall and its Actuall sinnes 2. Humble the soule for its sinnes and discover unto the soule the insufficiency of all its owne righteousnesse that it is undone in its sinnes and undone in its righteousnesse and thirdly hee sayes to the soule Yet there is hope looke up to me and live I am as the brazen Serpent onely looke up and thou shalt live And that the soule may be able to look up with a true eye Christ gives faith to the soule to behold him come unto him and to receive him by a true resting and relying upon his Merits for salvation 2. And having thus Called the soule he then justifies it He hath in his Decree justified it from eternity hee hathmeritoriously justified it by his Death upon the Crosse but now hee doth actually and formally justifie it 1. By pardoning its sinnes and acquitting the soule from the obligation it till now lay under to death and forgetting the injury done to himselfe by any of its sinnes 2. By imputing the Righteousnesse of Jesus Christ to the soule by which it appeares the sinner is pardoned not without a satisfaction first given to Justice 3. By accepting graciously the soule thus justified as perfectly righteous for the Lord Jesus Christs sake as if it had never sinned And the worke of true faith in this Justification is to lay hold upon it And thus now Christ applyes the merits of his Death to the soule in conveying life and pardon to it thus hee raiseth it saying to it in its bloud live But this is not all 2. The soule is weake and is not able to live an houre of it selfe Christ therefore in the next place in order to its more perfect raising sanctifies the soule which implyeth two things 1. He gives unto the soule new principles of grace 2. He gives the soule power to act these principles for as except from him we have nothing so without him we can doe nothing Joh. 15. 5. Which power being given the soule from above the soule is raised and becomes strong in the strength of Christ and sets upon works 1. Of Mortification to subdue the strong holds of Satan viz. the remainder of corruption in the soule 2. Of Vivification setting upon such Duties as God hath required of his redeemed ones being exercises of the grace which they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ he gives the soule power to live upon faith to love to desire him to delight in him to do and to suffer for him to be content with him c. Yea and thirdly In his due time he raises the soule to a comfortable life in giving it the sense of his love a perswasion of its Union with the Lord Jesus Christ peace in the inward man shining upon it with the light of his Countenance which is better to it than thousands of Gold and Silver This I say he does in his due time not to all nor continuing it constantly to any but according to his good pleasure thus making knowne to it the Redemption he hath purchased for it and the Justification of its soule which is past in heaven before 4. And lastly in his due time he will yet further raise the soule by taking it to himself and glorifying it with himselfe for ever He will come againe on purpose to raise the soules of his redeemed ones from the dust and to take them up to himself in glory that where he is there they may be also John 16. verse 3. Thus Christ hath meritoriously raised all his redeemed ones and will apply their Redemption with the fruits of it to them in his due time applying life to them by Vocation and Justification strength to them by Sanctification light and comfort to them by shining with the Light of his Countenance upon them and finally giving them Glorification hee shall then perfect his worke of raising us and wee shall live with him in the Highest Heavens for ever I have now done with the Doctrinall part so farre as to shew you 1. That it is Christ that raiseth his Elect ones 1. He is designed 2. He can doe it 3. Hee onely can 4. Hee hath done it meritoriously for all 5. Hee hath done it actually and formally for some and will doe it for the rest And so farre as to shew you the manner how he did it and doth it both in respect of his owne acts in relation to the fitting himselfe for the worke and in respect of his application of it to the soules of his servants If now you aske me the Reasons why and to what end he did it for the reasons of the particular Propositions I have given you them before Now for Reasons in the Generall I shall give you them in two words 1. The moving cause was his owne grace because he would 2. The finall cause was his own glory 1. The moving cause and reason was his owne grace and goodnesse This is the reason of all Gods acts of grace towards the Creature whether Election or Redemption or Vocation or Justification or Sanctification or Glorification the sole cause was in himselfe because he loved us and delighted in us for his owne Names sake c. Isa 43. 25. Deut. 7. 7. Hos 14. 4. His owne will was all the reason he
Gods Word with Heart and Affection read it with obedience so shall we meet in joy at the last day Or else I bid you farewell for ever In these now and such like cases that soule that would make its beauty desireable in the eyes of Jesus Christ must like Levi say to his Father and his Mother I have not seen you in these cases he must not acknowledge his Brethren nor know his owne Children They stand in Christs way and Christ calls hastily The Saint must spare no time to parley Naturall affection with them he must forget his Fathers house the deare company of it his Rolations Secondly all sinfull Company is the Company of our Fathers house The Company of fooles as Solomon calls it Now all this must be forgotten or else in stead of being saved thy soule will bee destroied Prov. 13. 20. A Companion of fooles shall bee destroied Psalme 119. 63. I am a companion saith David of those that fear thee You must leave your swearing Company and your drinking Company and your vain Company or the King will never desire your beauty The soul that would render it selfe desireable in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ must make all its delight with David in those that excell in vertue the Saints upon the earth Saul before his Conversion was a companion of those that stoned Stephen and persecuted the Saints Like to like for himselfe consented to his death and was a Persecutor but no sooner had the Lord made his Motion to him but he forgat this company and assayed to joyne himselfe to the Church Thirdly the soule that would render its beauty desireable in Jesus Christs eyes must forget the Honour and Pompe and Riches and Greatnesse of his Fathers house all the high-Towers and Treasures of it c. They that will be Christs Disciples must not take up Crownes and advance themselves and follow him No they must deny themselves and take up the crosse and follow him their Crownes must be of Thornes made after their Masters Coppy They must not be such as love the uppermost roomes at Feasts and the chiefe seats of the Synagogues and Greetings in the Market and to be called of men Rabbi Rabbi Bee not yee call'd Rabbi saith Christ for one is your Master even Christ and all yee are brethren Hee that is greatest amongst them that are Saints must be as a Servant Matth. 23. 7 8 9 10. They must forget that naturall itching which is in the children of Adam usually and must be scratched with Madam or Rabbi or some high-swelling words of vanity they must not bee such as will swell like that Toad Haman if Mordecay give him not the knee or if their Brother give them not the wall or the way Saints are no such creatures they are such as are not at all taken with any such high titles but Rom. 12. 10. In honour they prefer one before another And they must look upon it as the greatest honor in the world not that they are masters and descended atavis Regibus of great Parentage c. but that they are servants of Jesus Christ the name of Christian the badge of honour first created at Antioch must appeare to them better than the names of Lord or Lady Theodosius was wont they say more to glory that hee was a servant of Christ than that hee was Emperour of the East Now I say That soule that would make its beauty desirable to Christ must forget all these not affect any of them not value them for hee that exalteth himselfe shall bee abased and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted Behold a miracle saith Mat. 23. 12. Augustine God is an high God yea the most high yet the higher thou liftest up thy selfe the further thou art off him the lower thou humblest thy selfe the nearer he drawes to thee he looks neare to the humble that he may raise them up but sees the proud afarre off that hee may depresse them The proud Pharisee prest as neare God as hee could the poore Publican durst not but stood afarre off God was farre from the one and neare to the other The high towers of the fathers house must bee forgotten yea and so must all the rich coffins and chests of it these are part of the furniture of our fathers house You know what Christ said to the young man when he seemed to bee in love with Christ Matth. 19. 21. If thou wilt be perfect if thou wilt make thy beauty a desirable beauty Goe and sell all that thou hast and give to the poore and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow mee and againe v. 24. It is easier for a camell to goe through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of God You know what Christ saies Mat. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the poore are those that are gospellized But to proceed yet The soule that would render its beauty desirable in Christs eyes must forget the pleasures and vanities of its fathers house all that is in the world 1 Joh. 2. 16. whether it be the lust of the eyes or the lust of the flesh or the pride of life When the Apostle speaks of lovers of pleasures he puts in more than lovers of God 2 Tim. 3. 4. Jude tels us such as are sensuall have not the spirit Jude 18. 19. Iob in the description of the wicked Job 21. 12 13. tels us that they are such as take up the tymbrell and harpe and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ their children dance they spend their dayes in wealth c. These are they that say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of his wayes What is the Almighty that wee should serve him and what profit is there that we should pray unto him v. 15. Their fiddles must be laid in the water of true repentance and contrition The daughters of pleasure must undresse if they will be beautifull in Christs eyes they must lay aside their paintings and dressings their curlings and perfumings of the haire where as hee wittily sayes the powder doth forget the dust their ornament must not be the outward adorning of plaiting the haire and of wearing gold and putting on of apparell but the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price 1 Pet. 3. 3 4. The daughters of pleasure must undresse I say for the Lord as he threatned hee would doe in the day of judgement Is 3. 18 19 20. so in the day of mercy to the soule of the vaine creature hee will also take away the bravery of their tinckling ornaments about their feet and their cauls and their round tyres like the moone the chaines and the bracelets and the mufflers the bonnets and the ornaments of the legs and the head-bands and the tablets and the carerings and the