condition but if ever he were a liar he is a liar in this and God will judg him and his instruments for bringing up this evil report upon the good Land which he hath given his people Beloved be not discouraged by this slander from looking after this heavenly Canaan as the Children of Israel were from entring into the earthly Canaan when the Spies that went to search the land had spoken evil of it to them for as Caleb said to them the same I say to you The Land is an exceeding good Land I mean now the state into which Christ hath brought believers is even in this World a joyful state You shall see how it was prophecied of in the Old Testament that it should be so Psal 67. read vers 1 2. where he speaks of the coming of this Freedom God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us Selah That thy way may be known upon earth thy saving health among all nations and what follows why vers 3 4 5. Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee O let the nations be glad and sing for joy there 's the joy that it brings with it So Isa 35. 10. this chapter is to he understood of Gospel Freedom and Salvation and mark what Joy here is now The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Obj. But where can you shew us the people in the New Testament that live so comfortably and joyfully by this Freedom and that in this World Why turn to Rom. 5. 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and vers 10 11. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have received the attenement Obj. But it may be they were a people that met with no great afflictions if they had it would have spoiled their joy tho they were in this Freedom Well for that I 'll give you a full Scripture see 1 Pet. 1. These were scattered abroad by persecution vers 1. They had manifold temptations vers 6. And in v. 7. the Apostle speaks of the tryal of their Faith by fire Yet in vers 8. how comfortable they were for all this In whom tho now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Sirs you that are out of this Freedom are hindred by it from abundance of joy you don't know what true joy and true comfort is without it 5. It is good to make us taste the sweetness that is in the ways of God 't was the Spouse of Christ the redeemed company that uttered that in Cant. 2. 3. I sat down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste Duties Ordinances are sapless things without this but they are refreshing yea ravishing things with it What made David say that a day in Gods Courts was better than a thousand otherwhere 't was because he was in this Freedom Why did the Lord call his Ordinances that should be under the Gospel A feast of fat things a feast of wine on the lees of fat things full of marrow of wine on the lees well fined Isa 25. 6. But because he knew they would be so to Souls that should be brought into this Freedom Oh this is that which will make a Prayer sweet and a good Sermon sweet and a Sacrament sweet and Grace and the Exercise of it sweet You that are in the Bondage of sins may come and hear precious truths but you cannot tell what is in them for savour and relish that Bondage hath put your mouths quite out of taste as I may say to you there 's nothing so sweet as that which is most bitter and that is sin if your palat were not vitiated by this Bondage you would call it as the Scripture calls it viz. The gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity Acts 8. 23. 6. This Freedom is good to make us spiritually useful Indeed one that hath it not may be useful and very useful for earthly respects and if he should be taken away by death there might be a great miss of him the family might want him or the Parish may want him But spiritually useful such a one is not nor can be any otherwise then as a wooden leg can be useful to the body which tho it helps it a little yet 't is but outwardly it hath none of that life or motion that the true members have But now they whom Christ hath made free oh what a deal they are good for upon a spiritual account they are useful persons to bring up a Family for God they are good for the Souls of their Relations You that are out of Christ you may be good for the bodies of your Children you may be good to provide them Meat and Drink and Cloaths and to take care of them when any of them fall sink that they may not want attendance or the like or you may be good to train them up in a civil way and to lay up for them what you can for a Portion in this World or to put them to a good Trade or help them to as rich a match as you can and in these kind of things your usefulness to them is at its journeys end As for the poor Souls of your Children you forget them because you never rememberd your own it may be you 'l say to your Children sometimes you must be a good boy or a good girl and there 's all the good counsel that they shall have of you but alas you take no care to tell them which way they must be good indeed and truly if God should take you away from them and leave them Fatherless and Motherless their outward man would miss you sadly it may be but their Souls would not you were never good for them but they who are in this Freedom are good for the Souls of their Family And beloved they are very useful persons to promote a good work when they see it would tend much to the Glory of God to have it carried on and to take occasions and opportunities of speaking to others about everlasting concernments and to mourn for the sins of the times and places in which they live and to stand in the gap when the Wrath of God is breaking in upon a Nation and when God takes away one of these oh what a miss there is of them and what a loss 't is upon the best account If God had pleased a hundred wicked men might have been better spared than one of these The least of these
it were rend his sacred Image all to pieces As for the effects of it it separates God and man from one another it robs him of likeness to him and communion with him it hardens his heart against all that is good and inclines him to all manner of disobedience 't is that which fills the World with sorrow and is the cause of all miseries in this life and that which is to come Oh that I could tell how to bring you out of love with sin Why Sirs if God should deal with you according to the desert of one sin you would never live a comfortable day I cannot part with this Vse but I must endeavour a little to leave an everlasting brand of reproach upon a sinful life and therefore consider Four things of which it is made up viz. 1. Innumerable Wickednesses 2. Abominable Filthiness 3. Lamentable Deceitfulness 4. Vnspeakable Wretchedness 1. Innumerable Wickednesses A sinful life is a Sea of sin As abundance of waters do meet in the Sea so abundance of wickedness doth meet in a sinful life 'T is a life to which all manner of sins flow Adultery Blasphemy Covetousness Drunkenness Envy False dealing Gluttony Hypocrisie Idleness Lying Murder Pride Quarrelling Railing Swearing Theft Uncleanness Witchcraft c. Amos 5. 12. I know saith God your manifold transgressions 'T is not to be reckoned up what Volumes of wickedness one unsanctified heart is full of Oh what hath every Christless Soul to give account for when as all the Faculties of the Soul and all the Members of the Body are sinning and sinning and sinning against God continually And yet as many as they are God keeps an account of them every one I know them saith he They are forgotten by them that commit them but they are remembred by him that forbids them Hos 7. 2. They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness Mark he remembers all and without repentance he will make you to remember them again tho now you have forgotten them Psal 50. 21. he will set them in order before your eyes 2. A sinful life hath in it Abominable Filthiness Psal 14. 3. The Psalmist speaking of the children of men with respect to their sinfulness says of them that they are altogether become filthy They that live in their sins are a polluted people Hence the Scripture says they are defiled that the wicked is loathsome It compares them to Ethiopians or Blackmores They are so filthy that God charges all his people to come out from among them and be separate and touch none of their unclean things Their sins make them deformed creatures in the sight of God and good men A sinner is so filthy that till he be washed he is fit for no Company but his own and the Devil 's God won't let him come near him Psal 119. 119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross Gods people don't care to be familiar with them v. 115. Depart from me ye evil doers And yet this is not Pride in them but 't is their duty to keep at a distance from the wicked in their sins Eph. 5. 11. to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness 3. There is in it Lamentable Deceitfulness Says the Apostle We our selves were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived c. Tit. 3. 3. The lusts to which they give up themselves are called deceitful Lusts Eph. 4. 22. and Heb. 3. 13. there is express mention made of the deceitfulness of sin Exhort one another daily says the Apostle lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin There are many that are wise to sin but yet they are not wise enough to avoid the deceits and snares that are in sin While they nibble at the Bait they don't see the Hook When the Devil comes to tempt us to sin he comes with his wiles and devices he plays the Serpent and the old Serpent he will tell a man that that which is a sin is no sin and so make him believe he is serving God when he is sinning against him Our Saviour foretells his Disciples that the time comes that whoso kills them shall think that he doth God good service Joh. 16. 2. Accordingly the Apostle Paul professeth Acts 26. 9. That he verily thought with himself that he ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth He will tell a man that he may do such and such a thing for none sees him and the poor deluded sinner thinks that he is hid because he sins in secret or in the dark whereas the eyes of the Lord are upon the ways of man and he pondereth all his goings Prov. 5. 21. He will tell a sinner that there 's time enough to repent when he may die the next hour He will tell a sinner that God is merciful of purpose that he may miss of mercy He will promise pleasure when 't will end in pain and peace when 't will end in trouble and profit when 't will end in the loss of the Soul He will tell us that we are justified when we are not sanctified and that we are real Saints because others count us so that our Gifts are Graces and that we have communion with God in Duties because we have good Expressions in our mouths Oh Sirs take heed to your Souls watch against all the delusions of your spiritual Enemies There are Four great Deceivers that you are in great danger by 1. a deceitful Devil 2. Deceitful Sin 3. A deceitful World 4. Your own deceitful Hearts 4. There is also in a sinful life Vnspeakable Wretchedness Rom. 3. 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways Sin makes one more wretched than any affliction or any suffering in the World can do Look into that Eph. 2. 12. and tell me if a sinner is not a wretched creature Ye were without Christ being aliens from the Common wealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world Mark without Christ. There 's enough if there were no more To be out of Christ why 't is to be amongst them that are lost among them that are unpardoned among them that are unsanctified Aliens from the common-wealth of Israel to wit from them that God owns Strangers from the covenants of promise Is not that a woful thing to have none of the promises and all of the threatnings of the Word belonging to one Having no hope Is not that a sad condition to have no hope Object But wicked men are full of hopes Ans But alas what hope is it No true hope upon no good ground They call it hope but God calls it no hope without God in the world what a wretched condition is that that whatever they have they have not God in it God out of any thing is a misery God out of the Creature God out of Affliction God out of Ordinances And after all this wretchedness to
and he can dye he can love his Enemies he can gain by losses he can prevail with God c. 10. That a poor creature should come to know what thoughts God had of him before the World began and what he intends to do with him to all eternity Why many will be ready to say how is it ever possible that such a thing should be Why now 't is one of the Wonders of this Freedom that by the having of it a man may come to know this if you look backward from all eternity he may be sure that God hath chosen him if you look forward to all eternity he may be sure that God will receive him into Glory See how Paul speaks about this 1 Thes 5. 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Many there be who are in this Freedom that are assured of this and such as are in it tho they be not sure as yet of it yet they are in the way to it You see something of the Wonders of this Freedom and now is it not an excellent Freedom also upon this account I will only add this That the Scripture holds forth to us that Gods wonderful works must have five Duties performed about them and so must this wonderful Freedom 1. They must be talked of Psal 105. 2. So now oh speak of this wonderful Freedom one to another as you sit in the house and as you walk by the way declare what God hath done for his people by Jesus Christ 2. They must be considered pondered upon Joh. 37. 13. So this wonderful Freedom you must observe the Wonders in it have deep and serious thoughts of it Search into it by Meditation Mysteries cannot be understood by a superficial looking upon them but they must be dived into 3. They must be remembred Psal 105. 4 6. So take heed of forgetting this wonderful Freedom 't is a mercy never to be forgotten 4. God must be praised for them yea praised and praised again Psal 136. 1 2 3 4. So highly bless God for this wonderful Freedom see in two Psalms which are made about it Psal 72. and he closes up all with this vers 18. 19. Blessed be the Lord God the God of Israel who only doth wondrous things And blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory Amen and amen And Psal 98. read the whole Psalm 5. They must be believed Psal 78. 32. So you must believe this report about this wonderful Freedom you must close with it by faith you must not continue in your sins as if all this were a lye that we tell about Salvation by Christ I will end this Seventh thing of the Wonders of this Freedom with that Scripture Acts 13. 38 to 42. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgivness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses Beware therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your days a work which you shall in no wise believe tho a man declare it unto you Do you Wonder at the things you have heard Oh! take heed that you don't Wonder and perish for want of believing of them CHAP. XII The Application of this fifth Branch of the Doctrine AND now is this Freedom of Christ such an excellent Freedom as you have heard it is Then I shall finish this fifth Branch and so this whole Text with seven Uses 1. Of Information 2. of Admiration 3. of Lamentation 4. of Examination 5. of Expostulation 6. of Exhortation 7. of Consolation Use I. Of Information It informs of four things 1. That the remedy that is prepared for sinners misery is beyond all exception their misery is their Bondage by sin their remedy is Freedom by Christ and 't is beyond all exception for 't is excellent Freedom The Lord Jesus cares not who looks upon his redeeming-work 't is done so well it wants nothing to make it sufficient and all-sufficient for the ends and purposes to which it was intended we are sure therefore that if we can but use this soveraign Plaister as we ought it will without question heal our wound There is that in Christ that will do our work do but make trial and you 'l find 't is true for in this case trial is all in all Christ desires to be put to the proof whether he cannot do all things for a poor Soul that it hath need should be done for it If you 'l but venture your Souls he will venture his Salvation what would you desire more to manifest that a receit for a disease is the best that can be got than that every one that hath made use of it should give their approving-testimony that they have been cured by it Now this is the witness that all believers will give of Christ If you should go up and down for their hands they will be all ready to sign and seal to the great cures that they have by him Isa 53. 5. 't is as it were the general voice of all that have made use of Christ We are healed Again it informs us 2. That there is something that is much better than that which the men of the World do spend their time and thoughts about The truth is they follow this World as if it were the best thing that ever was or ever shall be But ah Sirs you whose life and labour is thus laid out are mistaken There is an excellent Freedom by Christ that is better than all that you cark and care and rap and rend for Would I could but tell what to say to you to bring you out of love with this World you that are so much in love with it What do you see or find in it that you should set your hearts upon it you run after that and that runs from you and that so fast that some of you cannot overtake it for your lives I may say that the World looks upon some persons as if it were afraid to come near them they would fain lay hands upon it and God wont let them he bids the things of this World run away from them and this surely is in much mercy to some for God sees that if they should gain the World they would lose their Souls and if he bears a love to them he had rather they should miss of Earth than Heaven Well but it may be God suffers some of you to overtake this World you make such haste after it and when you have got it what have you got I don't speak to lessen thankfulness for any of these outward mercies but my drift is to set the World in its place and this Freedom in its place but what have you gotten