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
my suppoting-grace is better for thee than the deliverance thou beggest Paul was heard in that he was not heard though he was not heard in the letter of his request yet he was heard for the better for his advantage On the contrary The Devil was not heard in that he was heard he beg'd liberty to tempt Job God gave him leave Job 1 Lo he is in thy hand all he hath is in thy power but what did the Devil get by it he was baffled and fool'd and prov'd a lyar to his face for Job notwithstanding all the losses upon his estate kept his integrity and sinned not but saith the Devil Put forth thine hand and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face and the Lord said Lo he is in thy hand but save his life then the Devil used all his art he could to make him blaspheme God but he could not prevail so the Devil was proved a lyar to his face Now the use I shall make is this This doctrine may be like Aaron and Hur to hold up Moses hands it is a great encouragement to every one of us to pray still to seek the face of God still though he seem to delay us or deny our importunities or to turn from us yet follow God still though he seem to deny our prayers yet give not over praying for you see God will at one time or other in one kind or other answer all the prayers that are put up to him In the day when I cryed thou answeredst me Let me tell you We shall never have cause to repent of our praying could we pray an hundred times more than we do we should never have cause to repent of our praying except it be for this That we have prayed no more frequently and fervently And so much for the first point of doctrine The second point of doctrine is this It is one gracious way of answering our prayers when God doth bestow upon us some spiritual strength When he bestows strength in our souls that is one way of Gods answering our prayers graciously if he do not give the thing we desire yet if he gives us strength in our souls he graciously answers our prayers For the better clearing of this point it may be demanded What is this spiritual strength I answer it is a work of the spirit of God enabling a man to do and suffer what God would have him without fainting or backsliding I call it a work of the spirit of God because indeed it is the spirit of God that does corroborate and strengthen the soul Eph. 3.16 That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man Alas we of our selves if we have not the spirit of God to help us are as weak as water we are no more able to stand in a day of trial or withstand any temptation than a little child is able to withstand a giant but now when Sampson was cloathed with the spirit then he could grapple with a Lion so when once we are cloathed with the spirit of God we shall be able to encounter with Lion-like corruptions and temptations Secondly Whereby a man is able to do and suffer what God would have him to do and suffer there is strength considerable strength required in doing the will of God Joshua 1.7 Only be thou strong and very couragious that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Law which Moses my servant commanded thee turn not from it to the right-hand or the left that thou mayest prosper whither soever thou goest but there is a great deal more strength required in suffering Paul had attained a great deal of strength when he said For the Lord Christ his sake I have suffered the loss of all things Phil. 3.8 Thirdly I say whereby a man is enabled to do and suffer what God requires without fainting and backsliding there is strength required in doing the will of God but there is much strength required in suffering I but yet more strength is required in perseverance for if we faint in the day of adversity our strength is but small Prov. 24.10 and therefore says the Apostle We must often look upon Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith and consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest we be weary faint in our minds Heb. 12.3 Secondly It may be demanded how doth God strengthen a man with strength in his soul I answer these three ways First God strengthens a Christian with spiritual strengths when he doth comfort him in the assurance of his love shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost Oh this will enable a man to bear any burthen Smite Lord will such a one say I will bear any thing willingly because my sins are forgiven Secondly God strengthens us with strength in our souls by encouraging us in our sufferings by cheering up our hearts with some inward cordial Look how God cheer'd up Saint Paul when he was in danger when forty men swore his death in Acts 23.11 And the night following the Lord stood by him and said Be of good cheer Paul for as thou hast testified for me in Hierusalem so must thou bear witness also at Rome So when God comes and cheers up the heart and brings some of his best cordials in our worst fainting fits when in our strongest afflictions he brings in his sweetest consolations when we are able to say with David Psal 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy Comforts delight my soul when God brings in his divine comforts then he strengthens us with strength in our souls As I remember when Philip Landsgrave being long prisoner under Charles the fifth being demanded what cheered him up in that condition made this answer I feel says he the divine comforts of the martyrs God hath divine comforts for his people in their fainting fits as their afflictions abound so he makes his comforts to abound Thirdly God strengthens with strength in the soul when he does support and keep up the spirit from sinking says David in Psalm 94.17 18 Vnless the Lord had been my helper my soul had almost dwelt in silence but when I said my foot slipped thy mercy O Lord held me up That is an excellent Scripture Isa 41.10 Fear thou not for I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness And observe when God does support a man though the affliction be never so heavy yet it shall not sink him but he shall be able to stand under it see it in David 1 Sam. 30.4 when he was at Ziglag when there was such a load of afflictions upon him he wept that he could weep no longer his own soldiers mutinied his wives were taken and carried captive yet God
they have received they lose all they have and all they hope for All they have viz. Their present endeavours and all they hope for their future Reward 1. They lofe all they have all their praying reading hearing and communicating and humbling themselves before God all this will be lost if they do not persevere does not God himself say so Ezek. 18.24 When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness he does not speak there of one truly and really righteous in a state of grace one that is savingly righteous when he turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth shall he live all the righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die So that a man loseth all he hath done in the business of Religion Saith Hierom We must be judged not by our past but by our present condition As the Tree falls so it lyes as death leaves us so shall judgment find us 2. He loseth all he hopes for too for the Crown is promised to none but to those that do hold out Be thou faithful to the death and thou shalt receive a Crown of life Rev. 2.10 Christianity is compared to a Race Let us run the race that is set before us Heb. 12.1 Now as in a Race it is not enough for a man to begin well but he must hold out else he loseth the Gole so is it in the Race of Christianity therefore saith the Apostle so run that you may obtain not only run but so run that you may not lose the Gole 1 Cor. 9.24 2. Such as Christs love is to us such must our love to Christ be Christs love to us is a constant and unchangeable love whom he loves he loves to the end John 13.1 The Lord Christ is not only the beginner but the finisher of our faith Heb. 12.2 He did not leave the work of our Redemption imperfect but he held out until he came to consummatum est till he cryed out upon the Cross it is finished Reason Third may be this Christians must hold fast the grace they have received because Apostatizing and turning our backs upon God is a most dangerous damnable soul-destroying sin 1. It is dangerous in the Original of it it springs from four bitter roots 1. It springs from Infidenlity or Unbelief take heed saith the Apostle lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelies in departing from the living God Heb. 3.12 Unbelief is a damnable sin where it is not bemoaned bewailed and striven against but reigning unbelief is a damnable sin so saith our Saviour Mark 16. ult He that believes not shall be damned And he that believes not the wrath of God abides upon him for ever John 3. ult Now this Infidelity makes the soul depart from God and it makes God depart from the soul It was a great observation of an eminent Divine now with God Look as the first return of the soul to God is by Faith for Faith sets the Soul in joint it brings Christ and the Soul together so the first departing of the Soul from God is by unbelief for from thence comes a departing to other sins and this departing to other sins encreaseth our unbelief and unbelief being encreased the rent or breach between God and the Soul is made wider and wider till at last the Soul comes to a total departing from God and then God totally departs from the Soul and says Depart from me thou cursed wretch I know thee not Now this same Apostacy it springs from Unbelief 2. This Apostacy springs from Hypocrisie for usually Hypocrisie ends in Apostacy as I have told you often Judas the Hypocrite proved Judas the Apostate Amaziah did that that was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a perfect heart 2 Chr. 25.2 therefore Amaziah the Hypocrite proved Amaziah the Apostate In Psal 78.37 it is said there Their hearts were not upright neither remained they stedfast in his Covenant Why were they not stedfast why did not they keep constant to the ways of God to the Vows and Covenants made with God their hearts were not upright where grace is sincere it will be lasting but that which is counterfeit will be lost whatever is counterfeit is fading 3. It springs from Pride and Presumption when men think they have grace enough and holiness enough and have gone far enough in the way to Heaven this is the root of Apostacy there is a gradual as well as a total Apostacy the Saints and Servants of God may be guilty of gradual Apostacy so Peter was though not of total Apostacy it was Peters presumption that was one principal cause of his fall lofty Cedars are thrown down with a Tempest when the lower Trees in the Valley stand firm and fast So likewise lofty Christians high in their own conceits many times nestle themselves on high and their fall is great whereas Christians that walk humbly are supported and preserved Look as a man that gazeth at the Stars looks up on high quickly catches a fall because he looks not to his feet So a man that is highly conceited in his own opinion lifts up his head on high many times catches a feaful fall it is just with God to leave such men to try them Hezekiah though a very gracious King yet when his heart was listed up with Pride 2 Chron. 32.25 the Text saith God left him to himself to try what was in his heart in ver 31. That Solomon speaks of falling into misery is as true of falling and declining in grace Prov. 16.18 Pride goes before destruction and a haughty Spirit before a fall 4. Apostacy springs from Covetousness and worldliness look as the seed in the thorny ground it brought nothing to perfection because it was choaked with the cares riches and pleasures of this world as you may read in the Parable of the Sower Luke 8.14 So it is here where the heart is stuft with covetousness and the cares of this life that is usually a forerunner of a fearful fall Demas hath forsaken me having embraced this present world what was the ground of his Apostacy but his worldliness and selfishness so that Apostacy is dangerous in the Original of it Secondly It is damnable in the effects of it for 1. This puts Jesus Christ to open shame in Heb. 6.6 Apostates crucifie Christ afresh and put him to open shame for by falling away from him we do as much as tell the world we have found his service that it was an unprofitable service the service of the world is better than his service and that we have not found in Christ what we expected when we turn our backs on Christ and go to the world we do as much as openly proclaim the world is a better Master than Christ is When Soldiers forsake their
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
my self Hab. 3.16 If so be thou didst believe the Promises Oh thou wouldst embrace them thou wouldst suck and be satisfied with those Breasts of Consolation Isa 66.11 It is said of the Patriarchs They saw the Promises after off and embraced them Heb. 11.13 But now when thou sayest thou believest the Commands of God and yet never obeyest his Commands thou sayest thou believest his Threatnings and yet never tremblest at any Threatning thou sayest thou belivest the Promises and yet art no way thereby encouraged to a more active and fruitful and chearful walking with God then thy Belief crosses thy Profession And this is a certain and undeniable Evidence of Unbelief the Lord awaken some of you and convince you and send you home to your own hearts to see how deeply you stand guilty of this sin my Text speaks of for if there be not reigning unbelief in many of you for my part I do not understand the Scripture I shall close with a word of Exhortation Is it so That Vnbelief is one main cause why so many men despise and undervalue that Heavenly Canaan and are debar'd from that Heavenly Canaan Then I have a twofold Exhortation to tender to you The First is to those that are Regenerate Secondly To those that are Unregenerate First To those that are Regenerate And my Counsel to you is this Oh do not mourn for the dregs of this sin that yet remain in you there are dregs of Unbelief even in those that are true Believers That man or woman that is not sensible of the dregs of this sin in him I say then he is a stranger to his own heart In Heb. 13.5 says the Apostle Let your Conversation be without Covetousness and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee There you have a Promise He hath said Who is it that hath said it The Great God of Heaven and Earth that can make it good How hath he said it how with the greatest earnestness or asseveration that ever Promise was made for he that hath skill in the Greek Tongue shall find there five Negatives in that one Promise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will not forsake thee that is not enough but says God Be assured I will not forsake thee no no no no I will not forsake thee so many No's therefore be assured As if the Lord should say it as the greatest Asseveration and with the greatest earnestness that ever we read of any Promise made with Yet let me tell you and it is what you will find by your own experience Though in time of prosperity it is an easie matter to presume yet in time of adversity it is a hard matter to believe this Promise when we come into straitness to say God will not leave me nor forsake me he will not leave me in the Bryars nay though you and I have had experience of Gods faithfulness to this day we had experience of his faithfulness when we were in our Mothers womb As a learned man once said If a man should live to the days of Methuselah if he should live a thousand years he could never have that experience of Gods power and tender mercy to him as he had when God preserved him in his mothers womb and took him out of his mothers belly We have had experience of Gods preserving us then and we have lived upon him ever since some twenty some thirty some forty some fifty years all this time God did never leave us nor forsake us yet if we be in straits we find it a very hard matter to believe that one Promise I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Oh therefore bewail and bemoan the dregs of Unbelief cry out with that good man Lord I believe I would believe help my unbelief That is the first Exhortation Secondly I have an Exhortation to those that are in a state of unbelief unregenerate impenitent wretches that go on in sin and will not be reclaimed that slight the invitations of Jesus Christ and the proffers of his Grace My Counsel to you is this and I have but two words of Counsel to tender to you First Be sensible of this sin Secondly Labour to get this sin removed First Be sensible of this sin be sensible of the greatness of it be sensible of the hainous nature of it what to turn the Truth of God into a Lye what to make the great God of Heaven and Earth a Lyar what to rob him of his Glory what to go into his Cabinet and steal away his chiefest Jewel Can there be a greater sin Be sensible of the danger of this sin it brings imminent and unavoidable destruction along with it Tremble at that Scripture John 3.18 He that believeth not is condemnâ—d already because he hath not believed on the Name of the only begotten Son of God he is condemned a sentence of death is past upon thee if thou be in a state of Unbelief Secondly My other word of Counsel is this Oh labour labour to get this cursed sin of unbelief destroyed in you O let this sin be destroyed or else thou must be destroyed But you will say How shall we get this sin of unbelief cured I will tell you Will you hearken to me in four or five Rules and then I have done First Take heed of Atheism for I profess we are fallen into days of Atheism and all our Religion if the Lord be not merciful to us will end in Atheism Infidelism and Athesm there is but one step between them what is Atheism but when men will not believe there is a God all Insidelity springs from Aheism But you will say What do you think we are Atheists Do you think that we believe there is not a God Let me tell you There are Atheists in Opinion as well as Atheists in Language The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God there are Atheists in practice as well as Atheists in profession They profess they know God but in works they deny him Take heed therefore of this cursed sin of Atheism Secondly Would you have Unbelief removed then learn to know more of God to know more of his Goodness Wisdom Holiness Purity Perfection and other of his glorious Attributes They that know thy Name will put their trust in thee I am sure did you but know him you would believe in him you would obey him you would fear before him I know whom I have believed saith St. Paul 2 Tim. 1.12 Thirdly Resolve to practice what you do know if you would be Believers you must know that there are many things a man may believe notionally which he does not believe practically I shall give you an instance There is never a one of you that hears me this day but believes you are mortal you believe you shall die you verily believe that as you believe there is a Sun in the Firmament yet notwithstanding though you do
of the Lord Jesus Christ deny that he is God when this is one of the Titles wherewith he is called The Mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace What glorious Titles are here So you shall read he is called his Fathers delight Isa 42.1 Behold my servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my sul delighteth And the Fathers bosom-friend John 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time save the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him If the love of all the Parents in the World were concentred in one it were but as a drop of that infinite Ocean of Love that is between the Father and the Son Nay more he is called the Fathers Fellow Zech. 13.7 Awake O Sword against my Shepherd and against the man that is my Fellow saith the Lord of Hosts So likewise he is called The Head of the Church Eph. 5.23 and the Judg both of quick and dead Acts 10.42 In a word such is the Dignity of his Person such is the Excellency of his Merits such is the sweetness of his Graces such is the fulness of his Perfection that the Scripture does abundantly put those terms of honour upon the Lord Christ as sometimes comparing him to a Corner-stone because he does support us Ephes 2.20 Sometimes to A Vine because he does refresh us John 15.1 Sometimes unto a Physician because he does heal us Matth. 9.12 Sometimes to a Day-star because he does enlighten us Rev. 22.16 Sometimes to A Shepherd because he does lead us John 10. Sometimes to Manna or the Bread of life because he does feed us What glorious Titles are these that are given to Christ therefore he is precious in his Titles Thirdly As he is precious in his Titles so he is precious in his Offices in his Kingly Office in his Priestly Office and in his Prophetical Office First He is precious in his Kingly Office he calls himself The King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev 19.16 The King of Kings He is such a King that conquers the enemies of our Salvation as Sin and Satan and Death and Hell and the World other Kings Rule over us but this King can only Rule in us My Kingdom is not of this world saith he The Kingdom of God is within you Lnke 17.21 This King can make Laws that can bind the Conscience he is such a King as hath all Power in Heaven and Earth committed to him Matth. 28.18 Again He is such a Priest as hath reconeiled us to God the Father and ever lives to make intercession for us who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities Col. 1.21 Heb. 7.25 Heb. 4.15 And he is such a Prophet as can perfectly instruct his Church others may preach to the ear but he hath his Pulpit in Heaven only that can preach to the heart other Preachers can open the Scriptures but it is Jesus Christ only that can open our understandings that we may understand the Scriptures Luke 24.45 Then opened he their underderstandings that they might understand the Scriptures O what glorious Offices are these Fourthly He is precious in his Ordinances For Example His Word is exceeding precious to all those that have tasted the sweetness of it how precious was it to David Psalm 119.72 The Law of thy Mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver How precious are Sabbaths to those that know how much of Heaven is wrapt up in the Sabbath Certainly these Sabbath-days are Market-days for our Souls wherein we may make provision for Eternity days wherein the Lord Jesus Christ many times communicates himself and much of his sweetness to those that wait upon him in holy Duties And how precious is the Ordinance of the Lords Supper wherein the Lord Christ makes us a feast of fat things a feast of Wines on the Lees of fat things full of Marrow Wines on the Lees well refined Isa 25. Wherein he gives his own flesh to eat his flesh that was crucified to satisfie Divine Justice and his own blood to drink that blood which only can quench the fire of Hell quench the fire of Gods anger which otherwise would have been burning and burning against us to all Eternity Fifthly As he is precious in his Ordinances so he is precious in his Prerogatives for he and he only is the Saviour of the World and besides him there was no other Saviour Acts 4.12 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved That is there is nothing can be named for it is but a Hebraism there is nothing can be named under Heaven whereby we can be saved but only the Name of Jesus Christ he had no Coadjutor or Helper in the work of our Redemption Isa 63.3 I have trodden the Wine-press alone and of the People there was none with me for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments and I will stain all my rayment And as he is the only Saviour so he is the only Mediator too For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 So he is the only Head of his Church Eph. 1.22 And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church He only hath the Supremacy and Authority as being Omnipotent and Omnipresent one that is able to protect his people from all injuries one that is able to prevent all the plots and projects that are hatcht and invented against them he hath these Prerogatives that cannot be given to any Creature in Heaven or Earth but only unto him therefore he is precious in his Prerogatives Sixthly The Lord Christ is precious also in the purchase of his blood the purchase he made for us by his blood is a very precious purchase and the portion that he bestows on his Elect that he hath purchased for them is a precious portion so he is precious not only in regard of his Person but in regard of his Portion For Example the Redemption that he hath wrought for us by his blood is a precious Redemption a Redemption from Sin and Satan and Death and Hell In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins Ephes 1.7 Secondly The donation or bestowing of his Spirit it is a very precious gift that the Spirit of God should in his Name that is for his Merit be bestowed upon all those that do believe But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you John 14.26 O what a precious invaluable gift is it to have the Spirit of God given us to quicken us to draw us to Jesus Christ and to carry on the
first work of his Conversion and it is called A Passive Humiliation because the Sinner is wholly Passive and doth nothing at all conducing to his Conversion and of this the Text speaks of Secondly There is An Active Humiliation and this is that whereby a Sinner humbles himself before God of this you read 2 Chron. 12.7 They have humbled themselves therefore I will not destroy them Now it is not this latter I am to speak of this to speak properly is nothing but the act of renewed Repentance but I am to speak of the first namely that whereby God in the first work of Conversion lets a man see the need that he hath of Jesus Christ and it may be thus described Passive humiliation is a work of the Spirit of God whereby a poor Sinner being stricken with a sense of his sin and fear of wrath doth fly out of himself and closeth with Jesus Christ I say It is a work of the Spirit of God because it is the Spirit that convinceth of sin and by convincing of sin he humbles the Soul and hence it is the Spirit of God in the first work of Conversion is called the spirit of bondage Rom. 8.15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Why is it called the spirit of bondage not because the Spirit of God brings the Soul into bondage for the Spirit of God is a free Spirit Psalm 51.12 Vphold me with thy free Spirit and where the Spirit of God is there is liberty But he is called a Spirit of bondage because he discovers to us our bondage and lets the Sinner see the bondage and slavery wherein he is miserably captivated under sin and Satan A man before the work of Conversion is wrought thinks himself a Free-man We are Abrahams Seed and were never in bondage to any how sayest thou we shall be made free John 8.33 But now the Spirit of God comes and lets a man see himself in the glass of Gods Law whereby he discovers sin to be out of measure sinful and it lets him see himself in the glass of Conscience and so comes to the Sinner and says to him just as Nathan did to David Thou art the man thou art he that lieth under the guilt of sin and under the wrath of God and under the condemnation of the second death therefore look to it When the Spirit of God lets a man see himself and his bondage and that state of wo and misery in which he is then he confesseth he is in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity Again I say in the description of it that the poor Sinner is stricken with the sense of his sin and with the fear of wrath Before a man is humbled he is just like a man in a dead sleep in a drunken sleep he hears not he fears not he feels not like the Drunkard that Solomon speaks of Prov. 23.34 35 Yea thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the Sea or as he that lieth upon the top of a Mast they have stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick they have beaten me and I felt it not when I shall awake I will seek it yet again But when once the Spirit of God comes to strike the Sinner to the purpose now sin is revived and Conscience awakened and convicted as the Apostle Paul saith I was alive once without the Law alive in my own apprehension alive without the spiritual knowledg of the Law but sin revived and I died Rom. 7.9 Then the Law shewed me I was but a dead man O Conscience now began to be awakened and convicted Sense of sin brings with it a fear of wrath and hence it is that the spirit of bondage is called a Spirit of fear 2 Tim. 1.7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of Power of Love and of a sound mind And this fear doth awaken a man and leave some kind of impression upon the spirit of a man so that he is awakened and looks out for help out of himself Again I say A Sinner thus stricken with the sense of his sin flyes out of himself and flyes to Jesus Christ That is he despairs of all hope and help in himself I dare say he was never a true Believing Sinner that was not a despairing Sinner understand me thus There is a Religious desperation as well as a damning-desperation I say a Sinner that is stricken with the sense of his sins despairs of help in himself this is an holy despair whereby a man renounceth all hope of help in himself and flyes to Jesus Christ This is a certain Rule The less a man trusts in himself the more he trusts in a Saviour That 's the first thing What this Humiliation is A second Question to be satisfied is this Whether the like measure of humiliation be wrought in all those that are brought home to Jesus Christ I answer No some have more and some have less according to the different tempers of mens spirits some men are more froward and some are more ingenious those that are openly prophane stout stubborn Sinners they usually have a great measure of humiliation but now those that are more flexible have a less measure of humiliation to the first God comes like a mighty rushing wind to the second sort he comes like a still wind in a more mild and melting way sometimes God breaks in upon the Sinners heart with open violence as he did upon St. Paul when he was smitten down to the ground Acts 9. Sometimes again God opens the heart without any noise as he did the heart of Lydia Acts 16. Sometimes God suffers a Sinner to lie long under the spirit of bondage those especially that he hath appointed for some special use and service to himself as the Timber that is appointed for some special service lies long a soaking before it be made use of Sometimes again Sinners are set free from Legal terrors suddenly now this is the least measure of Humiliation wrought in those that are brought home to Jesus Christ to make sin odious and loathsome to a man and to make a man fly out of himself to Jesus Christ There is a twofold Passive humiliation 1. A Legal Humiliation 2. An Evangelical Humiliation The Legal humiliation is that which consists in Legal terror and fear of wrath and the sense of Gods wrath and horror of Conscience and fear of Hell-fire Secondly There is an Evangelical humiliation and that consists in the operation of Gods blessed Spirit convincing a man of sin when the Spirit of God convinceth the Sinner and by convincing him empties him of himself and by emptying him fits him for a Saviour Legal humiliation Pray mark though it makes a greater noise yet it is not always absolutely needful for all persons which I prove thus It is not a grace
and Comfort and Mercy and lead men to Heaven in a mild and meek and gentle way To this I Reply What would you have us apply a Plaister where there is no sore Would you have us apply a Cordial where they are not sick Would you have us pour in the Oil where there is no wound God himself pours not in the Oil of Mercy but into a broken Vessel Isa 61.1 The Lord knows we delight not in preaching any terrible Doctrines to you if you were but fitted for mercy but if you are not fitted for Mercy then as the pricking Needle makes way for the sewing of the Cloth together so this kind of Preaching convincing and humbling the Sinner makes way for the bringing of Christ and the Soul together and therefore you may well bear with it A second Instruction that we may learn from hence is this It serves to let us see what the reason is that there are so few Believers so few converted and convinced O Ministers cannot speak of this scarce without watery eyes Truly heretofore three thousand were converted at one Sermon but now there is scarce one that is converted with three thousand Sermons O whence is it that the work of Conversion is almost at an end in England in London It is rare to hear of a Soul converted we hear of many that are perverted that are led into by-paths of Error and Heresie and Blasphemy and Schism but it is a rare matter to hear of one converted they are but few that see the need they have of Christ that prize him that believe in him that obey him that constantly cleave to him but most men are very well contented to be in a natural condition they are secure and quiet without Christ but what is the Reason Because they do not see the need they have of Christ for if they did but see the need they have of him they would say They may better want light than want Jesus Christ who is the Light and by whom they may have the Light of Life John 8.12 They may better want Bread for their bodies than the Lord Jesus Christ who is the bread and spiritual food of the Soul I am the Bread of Life John 6. If they did but see the need they have of him doubtless they would close with him but why do not they see the need that they have of him The Reason is Because they are not humbled they were never yet stricken with the sense of sin they never yet saw the inside of themselves they never with the Jaylor in the Text were afrighted amazed stricken down in the sense of sin Oh this is the misery of all miseries which Ministers have most cause to complain of that men are not fitted enough for Jesus Christ they are not lost enough in themselves for a Saviour Hos 14.3 With thee the fatherless find mercy Were we more hopeless helpless and fatherless we should find more mercy from the hand of Jesus Christ O that God would awaken and shake some sin-sleeping Soul this day Oh that this Doctrine thus opened might be as a Thunderbolt to let some of you see the inside of your selves O poor Sinner thou hast an insupportable burden of sin and guilt lying on thy Soul ready to press thee down to Hell and yet thou feelest it not thou hast the wrath of God hanging over thy head by the twined thred of a short life which it may be thou mayst not be free from one year nay perhaps not one month but thou seest it not if thou didst but see it then thou wouldst cry out as he did in Bosworth field A Horse a Horse a Kingdom for a Horse so thou wouldst cry out None but Christ nothing but Christ ten thousand Worlds for Christ The second Use of Exhortation And I have but two Exhortations to tender to you First I beseech you and exhort you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ whose poor Messenger I am that you would labour to be convinced of the necessity of humiliation believe it be perswaded of it be convinced of it that thou must be broken if ever thou wouldst have Jesus Christ to bind thee up thou must be sick of sin if ever thou wouldst have Jesus Christ to heal thee thou must be dejected and cast down if ever thou wouldst have Jesus Christ to comfort thee if God therefore do not open thine eyes and awaken thy Conscience and touch thy heart I do pronounce against thee that there is no Christ no Heaven no Pardon no Peace no Comfort no Salvation for thee Oh the miserable deplorable condition of all you that were never yet humbled you that never yet were convinced of sin you that never tasted the bitterness of sin you that never felt the burden of sin that never yet complained with the Apostle Rom. 7 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Some derive the word from a man that is troubled with the stone in the bladder O wretched man that I am O miserable is the condition that you are in you that never yet felt sin to be sin that have not felt the burden of it nor tasted the bitterness of it you are not fit to come to Jesus Christ you are out of his Commission for he is sent to the humble and broken hearted Sinner Isa 61. It may be thou knowest what sin is and Christ is and Grace is notionally but there is a great deal of difference between knowing and inward feeling wretched was thy condition if thou didst but feel it but a thousand times more wretched it is because thou feelest it not My second Exhortation to you is this If so be sound humiliation be a necessary Antecedent to Faith and Salvation then use the utmost of your endeavours that you may be humbled broken and bruised Sinners that you may be put into a capacity to close with a Saviour Now because I know this is but a harsh Exhortation give me leave to sweeten it with these three Considerations First Remember that the promises of Grace and Mercy are made to all humbled Sinners Levit. 26.41 If then their uncircumcised hearts shall be humbled and they accept of the punishment of their iniquities then will I remember my Covenant with Jacob and also my Covenant with Isaac and also my Covenant with Abraham will I remember and I will remember the Land Secondly Consider God never looks with so much mercy and compassion on any as those that are most humbled Jer. 31.18 20 When Ephraim bemoaned himself thus Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a Bullock unaccustomed to the yoke I have been proud and stout and stubborn under all thy Rods Turn thou me and I shall be turned Surely after I was turned I repented after I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded Now in the 20 verse you have God bemoaning Ephraim Is Ephraim my dear
Thirdly An obedient Christian shall know truths more transformingly that is he shall be transformed into the very Image of those truths that he knows 2 Cor. 3. ult But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord That is we are changed from one degree of grace unto another by the Spirit of God That is an excellent knowledg that is a transforming knowledg that makes a Christian have a heart framed into the Word of God that is cast into the Mould of the Doctrine of the Word of God made like unto it as Lead that is melted and cast into a Mould is of the shape of the Mould Rom. 6.17 But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered you or into which ye were delivered or cast Fourthly An obedient Christian shall know truths more powerfully than he did before that those truths which he knows shall over-awe his heart that he dare do nothing against the truth but for the truth 2 Cor. 13.8 For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth Acts 4.20 We cannot but speak the things which we have heard and seen It was an excellent speech of Saint Hierom I can die for the truth but I cannot deny the truth nor be silent whereas another man it may be he can oppose the truth and the ways of truth though he knows he ought not to do it it may be another man can break his Vows and Covenants and Promises and Protestations although he knows the sin of Covenant-breaking is a grievous sin and shall be severely punished as appears by that remarkable Scripture Ezek. 17.15 16 Where it is testified of Zedekiah that after he had made a Covenant with Nebuchadnezzar he rebelled against him and saith God Shall he prosper he that doth such things as these are shall he prolong his days He hath broken his Covenant saith God shall he be delivered As I live saith the Lord he shall die in that Land for his Covenant-breaking So I say a man may have so much knowledg that he knows such and such things are sin and he may know the Judgment of God that they that do such things are worthy of death yet they do it and take pleasure in them that do it For example They know that Whoredom is a sin and a damnable sin that carries thousands to Hell Stollen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant but he knoweth not that the dead are there and that her Guests are in the depths of Hell Prov. 9.17 18. Those works of darkness are pleasant for a while but the Devils banquet shall have the Devils shot Though a wicked man knows that whoredom is a sin yet his knowledg is so weak that it hath no powerful influence upon his heart and life but now an obedient Christian he shall know truths so powerfully that they shall have an awe upon his Soul Thus was it with the Prophet David Psalm 119.161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause but my heart stands in awe of thy Word That is the fourth an obedient Christian knows truths more powerfully Fifthly He that doth the will of God for the manner of his Knowledg shall know truths more satisfyingly to oversway all Objections that are made against him and all discouragements that he meets with in the way of holiness Saint Paul tells us how it was with him in this regard Gal. 1.15 16 When it pleased God to reveal Jesus Christ in me That phrase in me is very remarkable A man may have Jesus Christ revealed to him and yet not revealed in him but when God revealed Christ in me immediately I consulted not with flesh and blood but this Knowledg did preponder and out-weigh all Objections that could be made against it Another man that hath but a weak and feeble knowledg it may be he takes check at the ways of holiness and what says he If I walk in a strict way and am circumspect and careful in ordering my conversation I shall be scorned and opposed and contemned and these his Objections prevails with him A man now on the other side that is taught of God is able to answer all these Objections and to pass through good report and ill report This is the first thing for Explication Secondly By way of Explication it may be demanded But how comes it to pass that obedient Christians shall know more than others For answer to this I shall give you these four Reasons for it First Because God hath promised the Holy Ghost to them that obey him Acts 5.31 32 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins and we are his witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him You must understand it aright God doth not promise the Holy Ghost for our obedience but in a way of obedience now if God give his Spirit to them that obey him then they shall have more knowledg they shall know more of his will for the Spirit of God is a Spirit of light and opens our understanding The Spirit of God is a teaching Spirit and they that are taught by the Spirit of God shall certainly come to Jesus Christ John 6.45 All thy children shall be taught of God every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me Isa 54.13 And the Spirit of God is a leading Spirit The Spirit will lead you into all Truth the Spirit will not only take you by the hand but lead you in the way that you should walk in As you lead your children when you teach them to go so the Spirit will lead you into all truth that man to whom the Spirit of God is given must certainly needs know more of the Mystery of Salvation Secondly A second Reason is this Because God hath made many Promises to the obedient how many precious Promises have you in that one Scripture Deut. 28 If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voyce of the Lord thy God to observe and to do all his Commandements then the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all the Nations of the Earth and all these blessings shall come upon thee blessed shalt thou be in the City and in the Field and in the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground and an the fruit of thy Cattel and thy Kine and the Flocks of thy Sheep and blessed shall be thy basket and thy store blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in and when thou goest out c. There are blessings of all sorts promised and among others this is one for saith our Saviour To him that hath shall be given and it is twice repeated in one Evangelist in Matth. 13.12 and Matth. 25.29