love Paul because Paul was the Minister that did convert him therefore he calls him 1 Tim. 1.2 Timothy his beloved son in the faith And hence it is that when the Apostle would draw love from the Corinthians to himself and the Ministers of Christ that were the means of their calling hee urgeth it upon this ground that they were the means that did beget them to Christ Jesus 1 Cor. 4. ver 1. compared with ver 15 16. Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and as Stewards of the mysteries of God Why should men so account of them For ver 15. though you have ten thousand Instructors yet have you not many Fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel Hereby he would draw out their love to him because he was the instrument that did first convert them Now then put these two together A man that is effectually called he doth both love the Word of Christ that was an instrument of his calling and the Minister that preach'd that word which was the means by which he was called and try your selves by these Many of you haply have some good wrought as you think upon you and some change in you but truly let me tell you this if you are persons that are out of love with the Word if you are out of love with those Ministers God made instrumental to convert you you have just cause to suspect your calling for you see thorowout the whole course of Scripture their hearts did cleave with love to them that called them And therefore they that can slight and contemn those Ministers by whose ministry they were brought home to Jesus Christ they have just cause of jealousie to suspect their Call Again 2. If God hath effectually called you he will by his Spirit bring you out of a state of ignorance and darknesse and give you some measure of knowledg to be acquainted both with the mysteries of God and Christ and the sinfulnesse of your selves more then ever you were before This the Apostle Peter intimates 1 Pet. 2. ver 9. You are a chosen generation a royall Priesthood a peculiar people that you may shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darknesse into his marvellous light i. e. out of ignorance into a great measure of knowledg And it is called a marvellous light 1. Because it is marvellous if you compare that knowledg you shall have under the Gospel with what men had under the Law 2. It is marvellous because men are astonish'd that they should after so long a night of ignorance come to so great a measure of knowledg 3. It is called marvell us because it is so contrary to that condition they were formerly in As if a man that hath lain long in a dark dungeon should be suddenly called into a glorious Palace the Palace would seem more glorious because it is so contrary to the dark Prison So this work of God when he calls you it is called marvellous light because it is so contrary to the condition you were in before your calling Isa 30.26 Acts 26.18 He hath sent his word to call you from darknesse to light and from the power of Sathan to God 4. It is a marvellous light because such as none but the Mediator could procure it Isa 42.6 7. I will give thee for a light to the gentiles 5. It is a marvellous light because a light that shines out of darknesse 2 Cor. 4.6 God that commanded the light to shine out of darknesse 6. It is a marvellous light because it hath more force then any other light 't is called the light of life Joh. 8.12 Now this call from darknesse to light hath two Branches 1. A man shall have more light to have more acquaintance with and more clearnesse in the mysteries of Jesus Christ And 2. more light to know the sinfulnesse of himself First He shall have more light to know the mysteries of Jesus Christ And hence it is that Paul tels us Gal. 1.16 It pleased God to call me by his grace and to reveal his Son in me implying that where God by his grace doth call a sinner he doth reveal his Son unto him Wherefore Beloved if Jesus Christ be not made known to your souls if you have no competent measure of the knowledg of Christ you may be under this conviction that you are not yet called by Jesus Christ Nay further he doth not onely call you unto this light to manifest Jesus Christ to you in some dim way but you shall have a clear light 2 Cor. 4.6 For God who commanded light to shine out of darknesse hath shined in our hearts not in a dim but shining light to give us the light of the knowledg of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that is you have a cleer light to know God in the face of Christ you cannot know God in himself but in the person of Christ you shall have light to know him This therefore is the first Branch That God will put a light into thy soul whereby thou shalt have a clear knowledg of the things appertaining to Jesus Christ Again Secondly This light shall not onely reveal Christ to thee but this light shall also reveal thy Self to thee the sinfulnesse of thy self It is observable of Paul that before his calling he was after the law blamelesse he thought himself to be a faultlesse man but when the word called him then he cryes out I see sin to be exceeding sinfull then he saw sin to be sin and himself to be a vile and wretched man And therefore Beloved any of you that have not this marvellous light in your souls neither to know God nor know Jesus Christ nor the matters appertaining to him nor to know the sinfulnesse of your own hearts take it from God you are not effectually called either these passages in Scripture must be rased out or else your calling must not be sound and therefore take heed I would fain make my Ministrie searching that hypocrites may not lie lurking under it You would be better Christians if you were better acquainted with all that unsoundnesse and that wretchednesse of heart that is in you and therefore I intreat you look about you Though I would have no godly man discouraged by this that is spoken but that you that are not yet called might have your hearts a little staggered by what is and will be said 3. A man effectually called is cast out of himself and cleaves to and closeth with Jesus Christ with more complacencie and contentment then ever he could do in all his life before John 6.45 Hee that hath heard and learned of the father shall come unto me he doth not say all they that hear of the father many men do heare the word but never close in with Christ but all they that have heard and by hearing have learnt and are called come unto mee and close
T. Cross Sculpsit A TREATISE OF EFFECTUAL CALLING AND Election In XVI SERMONS On 2 PET. 1.10 WHEREIN A Christian may discern whether yet he be effectually Called and Elected And what course he ought to take that he may attain the Assurance thereof Preached by that faithful Servant of CHRIST Mr. CHRISTOPHER LOVE late MINISTER of Lawrence Jury LONDON LONDON Printed for John Rothwell and are to be sold by John Clark entering into Mercâ—rs Chappel at the lower end of Cheapside 1653. TO THE Reader Good Reader IT 's a true saying that the Assurance of an eternal life is the life 〈…〉 temporal life The Apostle◠〈…〉 that if in this life only we 〈…〉 in Christ we were of all men most â—â—â—â—rable None being exposed to so many troubles and tribulations in this life aâ— the best Christian And what could sustain and beare us up under them all but the certain hope and expectation of a better Resurrection This makes Christians glory in tribulation despise all the glory of the world run as swiftly in wayes of duty as the charets of Amminadab in a word to enjoy a Heaven upon earth They therefore are the greatest enemies of a Christians comfort that teach a doctrine of doubting that a Christian must alwayes hang in suspense about his eternal state and can never arrive to any certainty whether he shall be saved or no. But as this assurance is excellent so is it hard to come by Difficilia quae pulchra 'T is not to be obtained without a great deal of labour and diligence 'T is usually the fruit of much prayer and care and humiliation and long-waiting those that come by it so easily and get it so soon have great cause to suspect that their assurance is not of the right kinde Carnal security and presumption is easily attained but Christian assurance not without great difficulty 'T is therefore much to be lamented that there is so little diligence used for obtaining the assurance of our effectual Calling and eternal Election which is of such great concernment to every Christian What care do men take what diligence do they give to make sure their lands and goods and worldly estates They cannot be at rest till they have secured these But upon what uncertainties do they venture the salvation of their precious and immortal souls They run the most desparate hazards of their eternal salvation never consider whether they are in the way to heaven or hell until they drop irrecoverably into the bottomlesse pit Oh what a strange madnesse possesseth the mindes of men that they should look no more to their own safety that they think it wisedome to secure every thing except their own soules What evil have they deserved of you that you should neglect them so much The designe of this Treatise is to awaken men from their security and to stirre them up to give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure It was handled by the Author as a just Consectary from the doctrine of the Glory of Heaven and the Torments of Hell which Treatise is already published as appears in the Introduction to this discourse That seeing there is such glory prepared for the Elect and such torments for the reprobate it concerns every Christian to give all diligence to make sure to himself that he shall attain the one and escape the other So that these three Treatises have dependance upon each other and together make up one compleat Systeme In this last thou wilt finde many practical cases handled of great soul-concernment both for the comfort of such as are sincere and the discovery of those that are unsound If thou shalt reap any profit by the perusal hereof let God have the praise and let them have thy prayers who are Ready to spend and be spent for the good of thy soul EDMUND CALAMY SIME ON ASHE JEREMIAH WHITAKER WILLIAM TAYLOR ALLEN GEERE OF THE ASSURANCE OF OUR VOCATION AND ELECTION SERMON I. 2 PETER 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure TO give you an account why I pitch'd upon these words it is briefly thus Having spent seventeen Sermons in treating of the Glory of Heaven for the Elect and of the Torments of Hell for the Reprobate I deem'd it most meet to shut up those two Doctrines in the prosecution of this Subject of the Assurance of our Election and Vocation that so if this Doctrine be well improved you may have establishment in your own hearts that you are freed from the torments of the Damned and may be confident you shall be stated into the Glory of Heaven which God hath provided for all his Saints And to the end you might have assurance that you shall be freed from the one and shall enjoy the other you must make it your work according to the words of my Text to make your Calling and Election sure Make but that sure and you are sure of Heaven This is the reason why I pitch'd upon this Subject And it is my care in preaching the Word not to chuse those Texts that are most for my ease in study but for your profit in hearing that so one Subject might back another and one Subject might strengthen another and being put together might more serve for your edification and knowledg I shall not stand long in Prefacing All that I have to do in the managing of these words are these three things 1. To shew you the scope and dependance of the words 2. The sense and meaning 3. To draw out those practical Observations which naturally flow from them And then apply the Observations deduced For the scope and dependance of these words you may discern it lies thus Peter who is called an Apostle of the Circumcision that is an Apostle whose work and Office it was to preach to the Circumcised Jewes as it was Paul's Office to preach to the uncircumcised Gentiles he writ this Epistle to the dispersed Jewes that were scattered throughout the world through Pontus Asia Cappadocia Galatia and Bythinia Whence observe Gods people are a scattered people And to them he writes that though they were persons living in different places yet they had the same faith Simon Peter a servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious faith So that you see the Spirit of God where it works in men though they live in different places yet they shall all believe the same Truth and all receive the same Faith Though different in Language yet but one God and one Faith The Spirit of God wrought the same Faith among those scattered Christians And the Apostle writing to these Jewes he begins his Epistle first by way of Salutation ver 2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you 2. He writes by way of Consolation ver 4. telling them that they are Partakers of the Divine Nature that they are call'd to Glory and shall enjoy all the Promises of the Gospel These are
souls that they are effectually called and eternally elected Give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure Now I cannot handle this Doctrine in the bulk of it but must of necessitie take it into parts and handle it piece by piece that so I may give you the strength of the whole Observation in the Application of it And seeing Calling lies in the front I shall in a few Sermons treat of that And the Point from thence will be this That Doctr. Christians ought to put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually Called Beloved This is a very material Point I am now upon especially in this deceitful age wherein men plunge themselves into a gulph of presumption wherein many times men take faith upon trust and Christ upon trust It is meet that you that live under the Gospel should trie your Calling by the Gospel whether it be true or no there may be an external Cal when there is no inward calling by the operation of the Spirit upon your hearts In the managing of this Point I shall shew you these three things First What Effectual Calling is Secondly Why you are required to put forth a great deal of diligence to make your Calling sure to your souls Thirdly By what Characters or Discoveries you may be assured in your own hearts that you are effectually called First What Effectual Calling is You say we must make it sure therefore what is the nature of it For answer you may take this description of it Effectual Calling is the fruit of Gods Election whereby God of his free grace works a wonderful change in the heart of an Elect person by the inward operation of the Spirit accompanying the outward Ministry of the word by vertue of which the soul is brought from under the dominion of sin and Satan into a state of grace and so made meet for the enjoyment of God in glory Now I shal not take this apart but commit it to your memorie and judgment to apprehend Only in this description there are laid down four differences to distinguish effectual Calling from that ordinary or outward Calling that wicked men have by the Ministrie of the Word As 1. Effectual Calling in the description is said to be a fruit of Gods Election but outward or general Calling is a fruit only of common providence God by an over-ruling providence sends the Gospel among a people and thereby calls them to an outward compliance and conformitie but effectual Calling is a fruit of Gods Election 2. It is said in the description that Effectual Calling it changes the heart whereby God works a wonderful change in the heart but an external Calling no way reacheth the heart only worketh some kind of civil or common alteration in the life 3. It 's said Effectual Calling is wrought by the inward operation of the Spirit accompanying the outward Ministry of the word whereas an External Call is only by the word but no inward saving work of the Spirit at all 4. It s said of Effectual Calling that it is from the dominion of sin but External Calling is only from the external acts of sin Indeed by an external calling the word may have that power over a man as to restrain and keep in the visible and external actings of sin but it no way works upon the inclination to take off the affection from sin wheras this effectual Calling works upon the heart and works to the subduing and destroying of the power of sin as well as the actings of it Secondly Why doth God require that we should put forth such great diligence in making sure that we are effectually called by the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the Gospel There are three Reasons why this should be Reas 1 First Because there are many professing the Gospel that do harbour ungrounded perswasions that they are effectually called when they are not Now if many men be deceived why may not you And if many are apt to be deceived about this matter have not you great cause to be diligent lest you are deceived also The Jewes of old they boasted of their Calling and said We have Abraham to our father but Christ confutes that If you were Abrahams children saith he you would do the works of Abraham but you seek to kill me which Abraham did not But then they go higher John 8.46 they were effectually called For God is our Father No saith Christ You are of your father the Divel Thus many men run into these gross mistakes to believe they are effectually called when they are not Many are called outwardly that are not called effectually Matth. 22.14 And therefore it concerns you not to be deceived in this great business Reas 2 Secondly Because there is this natural aptness in all of us in things that are of any value concerning the bodie you wil be sure to make sure of them It may be if you have Brass and Pewter or baser Mettals your Kitchin shal serve for that but things of greater value as Pearls and Diamonds they must be in the Closet and in a Cabinet in that Closet you wil be sure to ensure them Why how much more should you ensure this great and precious Jewel of Effectual Calling that so much concerns your immortal souls When you buy Land you will be sure your Title is good to draw up your evidences so as to be firm in Law You know Merchants if they venture a great or most part of their estate at sea where happily there may be hazard in the Voyage they will run speedily to ensure a great part of their Commodities Beloved this should you do this bodie of yours is the Ship and the Merchandize and Freight in this Ship is your souls and this Ship is going a great Voyage to Glorie Glorie is the Port whither this Ship is to come you shall meet with many dangers in your way haply with storms and tempests of temptation yea haply you may run upon the rocks of presumption or quick-sands of despair O now run to the ensuring Office what 's that why run to seek the Testimonie of Christs Spirit in your own Spirit by the word to evidence unto you upon good ground that the Ship shal be safe and the Commodities brought secure to the Haven that Ship Bodie Soul and all shal come safe to Heaven Beloved if men wil thus ensure their Estates you have much more reason to ensure your souls For believe it if you make not sure your souls if you suffer shipwrack ye are turned Bankrupts presently bankrupt to God you lose him for ever It is said of an old Usurer That when any man came to borrow money of him he would hardly trust one in twentie and being ask'd the reason Why he would do so O saith he it is good to be sure Why Beloved shal an Usurer in all his ways be so secure and so heedful in all his disbursments that he could say
It is good to be sure and may not I much more say to you It is good to be sure of heaven it is good to be sure you are effectually called by Jesus Christ it is good to be sure that you are Christians in truth not in name only that you are Christians in Deed not in Profession only O it is good to make your Calling and Election sure Reas 3 Thirdly Christians should labour to assure this because the more assured you are of your Effectual Calling the more it wil heighten and increase your inward peace and comfort 1 Pet. 1.8 In whom believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakeable and full of glory It is verie observable that in all the Epistles of the New Testament where the Apostle speaks of their effectual calling to be Saints in the very next verse he salutes them with these words Grace and Peace be towards you 1 Cor. 1.2 You are called to be Saints Grace and peace be towards you Rom. 1 6 7. Called to be Saints grace and peace be multiplied towards you and so in everie Epistle besides to note that when a man is effectually called the more assurance he hath of his calling the more peace he hath in his own conscience It wil greaten your peace and greaten your inward comforts therefore you should labour after this assurance of your effectual Calling And thus having shewn you what Effectual Calling is and why you must give diligence to make this sure I now pass to a third Querie What are the Characters or discoveries whereby my soul may be assured that I am effectually called by Jesus Christ And in the dispatch of this I shal resolve it only by these two general heads First You may be assured of your effectual Calling if God hath taken that method with your souls which he doth ordinarily take with those whom he doth effectually call Secondly If the Lord hath wrought in you those saving effects or concomitants which do ordinarily accompanie those that are thus effectually called if these two things be done you may have a seal and assurance in your own hearts that you also are effectually called Beloved it is not for Ministers to flatter you there are among many in the world but few that are called among many that are called but few elected and therefore do not flatter your selves If upon trial you find you are not in the number of Gods Called ones go home and bewail your unregerierate and unconverted estate But before I can speak of this method I must first lay down some mistakes that are held by erroneous minds about the method God takes in calling a sinner home to himself A first mistake is of the Pelagians who hold this that a man is able to call and convert himself Now this opinion doth quite exclude and justle out God from having any hand therein they say A Christian is able to call and convert himself having only a general concurrence and assistance from God 2. Of the Arminians and they hold this That Effectual Calling consists only in moral perswasions and may be resisted by the person that is thus called and that a man being called into a state of grace may fall from his Calling and fall from his grace and so have no profit by his Calling at all which is a most uncomfortable opinion and surely God would never take this method in calling of his people 3. That of the Papists they say That God cals ordains a sinner to glorie but it is upon the foresight of his good works God foresaw how good and holie the man would be and therefore God would chuse and call him to glorie But this hath no ground from Scripture neither 4. That of the Familists and they hold this That Gods method in calling a sinner is not by the outward Ministrie of the word but it is by raptures and revelations and by divine inspirations and extraordinarie waies of working but this is not Gods usual method though God sometimes take this way as he did by Paul who was called this way after an extraordinarie manner Yet this is not Gods odinarie rule 5. There is another Mistake and that is of those who press a necessitie of such measures of legal horrour and terror upon the consciences of men else they can never be saved Sometimes Ministers have been so harsh now and then though indeed no such cause to blame them as is pretended yet sometimes lashes break out that men must be so and so humbled in such a measure and so long for duration Now this is not Gods method to press for measure but a great mistake about Gods manner of calling a sinner though I must confess this is the nearest of all the five to that rule God takes in calling a sinner to glorie Having thus laid down the mistakes 't is the easier now to find out the truth I come now to speak of that method God takes in calling a sinner And here I shall lay down a sixfold method in which God proceeds with those whom he doth effectually call which if he doth so with you you may go home with a seal upon your hearts that you are effectually called to grace and you shall one day come to glorie First When God goes about effectually to call a poor sinner into a state of grace he puts a clear light into his soul whereby he may see the hainous and aggravated nature of all his sins more then ever he did before Rom. 7.8 8 13. Paul tels you Before the commandment came he was alive and sin was dead that is before the power of the word came upon his conscience to convert him he was alive i e. he thought he was a good man and a just man and he thought sin was dead sin was destroied he never knew sin so sinful but when the commandment came sin revived and I died but when the word of God came with power upon my conscience and light upon my judgment then I saw I was a dead man sin had kild me and I saw sin was raigning and sin was raging in me and what then ver 13. I saw sin exceeding sinful he never saw sin so before conversion before his Call when he was a Pharisee but when the word of God came with power upon his conscience to call him then saith he I saw sin to be exceeding sinful Now O Beloved hath ever God done thus with your souls may be you look upon sin with a transient and general view but do you look upon sin so as to see more evil in sin then ever you saw before This is the course God usually takes Me thinks God deals with a converted sinner as it is spoken in Job 33.27 28. He looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it doth not profit me he will deliver his soul from going down into the pit and his life shall see the light that is God looks
though they wanted these poor outward comforts they did not want Christs comfort and Christs graces and therefore when they had neither purse scrip nor shoos they wanted nothing Why O Beloved if you were of the temper of these gracious Disciples you would say so too that if you can find a grounded and real interest in Christ though you want many of the Comforts of this world you will say you want nothing Wanted yee any thing and they said Nothing 5. You that make povertie and persecution a plea Consider this that the poor are ordinarily the most people that Jesus Christ doth cal to imbrace his Gospel The poor receive the Gospel saith Christ and blessed are you that are not offended at it Not many wise not many noble are called but the poor things of the world hath God chosen 1 Cor. 1.26 And in James God hath chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith Do not therefore Beloved make this a plea to keep off from Christ because ordinarily they are the people Christ pitcheth most love upon and doth delight to make them rich in grace who are poor in goods 6. Consider That if upon this ground you refuse the call of Iesus Christ you are exposed to more Povertie and to worse persecution then ever you could be exposed to in the entertaining of Christ In the following of Christ you are only exposed to an outward povertie but in neglecting the cal of Christ you are exposed to be poor in faith and to be such a beggar as not to be endowed with one dram of grace and then you are beggars indeed As we say he is a poor man that God hates he that hath not Christ and hath not the treasures of heaven in him he is exposed to worse povertie a thousand times then he can be for embraceing the cal of Iesus Christ Rev. 3.17 Yea and he is exposed to worse persecution also that for fear of persecution neglects Iesus Christ Psal 83.5 The Lord will persecute them saith David with furie and wrath speaking of wicked men All persecution from man reaches but to the body but this from God reacheth to the soul 7. And then lastly This should not hinder you from following Iesus Christ considering that though you should be poor and should be persecuted yet heaven wil make you amends for al Heb. 11.35 Heavē wil make amends for poverty when you are indowed with all the riches of Christ and Heaven wil make amends for persecution when there the weary shal be at rest and there the troubled shal be at ease And thus much be spoken of the third suggestion of the Devil that if you entertain the cal of Jesus Christ you shal be exposed to much poverty and persecution here in the world SERMON VI. 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure THe Doctrine I am yet upon is this That Christians ought to put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their souls that they are effectually called by Jesus Christ In the prosecution of which I have resolved one case of conscience and am yet upon the second case namely what suggestions the Devil doth use to keep men off from imbracing the call of Jesus Christ I have laid down and answered three already 4. Now there is one suggestion more when the Devil sees neither of these wil take place then he comes in with a fourth to disswade men from imbracing the call of Christ and that is this Why saith the Devil if you will entertain the call of Christ you will abridge your selves of all the joy and comfort of your lives you will never have merry daies while you live upon earth You see men that pretend to be converted and do hear Sermons what lumpish and melancholy men they are not so jocund and jolly as others are that walk not so precisely if you follow Christ and his Gospel this wil casheer all your merry daies and this wil put you into a sad temper all your jovial daies are gone Therefore to take off this aspersion that the wais of Christ are sad and melancholy waies which hath been an aspersion that from age to age generation to generation hath been as a Gin the Devil hath used to keep men from Christianity And I remember it is one of the great Engines Antichrist useth to support and uphold his Kingdome The Papists to deter men from Christianity and the Protestant Religion they would hold their Disciples in hand with this that the spirit of a Calvinist is a sad and lumpish spirit and therefore they would disswade all Nations from turning to their Religion and this the Priests were to tel in all the Churches of Rome how sad and melancholy they were that turned to the Calvinists Religion and this did mightily stay the people from imbracing the truth And this aspersion hath passed from hand to hand and is many times prevalent upon the spirits of men that are of the true Religion that they must not be too forward in the practice of Religion fearing lest this should work melancholy and sad thoughts in them Now to take off this I shal onely urge four or five heads briefly First Whereas you say they are melancholy and sad that are called by Christ to a profession of his waies I would answer thus That they of all people in the world have most cause of mirth and gladnes and they are the most truly joyful people in the world That they have most cause of rejoycing is apparent When the Disciples came triumphing that they could cast out Devils heal the diseased and work Miracles O but saith Christ Rejoyce not in this but rejoyce that your names are written in the book of Life Luke 10.20 As much as if Christ should say All the indowments and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit they are no such grounds of joy if you had them all but here is your joy and cause of rejoycing that your names are written in the book of Life that you are in Christ and your souls shal be saved And so Paul tels us Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord alwaies again I say rejoyce The Apostle would not speak it to them with a single command but doubles his expression to shew that they that are people that have their sins pardoned that have their souls reconciled that have a Title to glory whose names are written in the book of Life these of all men in the world have most cause of joy and gladness And they have not onely most cause but they do most truly rejoyce and have more real joy in their hearts in one day then the wicked can have all their lives 1 Pet. 1.8 They rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory What joy you have in the world the tongue is able to speak of it but the tongue is not able to speak of that inward joy that godly men have in their hearts
impossible and therefore in that we are commanded and bound to do it it is clear that it is possible and may be made sure Secondly Because it is the office of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to work this particular assurance in the hearts of those that are effectually called that they are in the state of grace and shall be brought to glory 1 Cor. 2.12 We have received not the spirit of this world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God 1 John 5.10 He that believeth he hath a witnesse in himselfe a witnesse to his own soul that he doth believe Eph. 1.13 14. There the Spirit is called a Seal you are sealed by the Spirit of Promise and verse 14. It is called the earnest of our inheritance Now a seal and earnest is to give more assurance to a Promise and here the Spirit of God is given to Believers as a Seal and earnest-Penny that as they have the first fruits in grace they shall have their harvest in glory 1 John 4.13 Hereby we know we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us his Spirit It is the office of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to assure our hearts in this particular Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witnes with our spirits that we are the children of God Thirdly Particular servants of God in Scripture that have been partakers of this mercy they have had this firm assurance of their effectual calling I shall instance in three First in Paul and the Scripture tells us of him that he had a clear evidence of his effectual calling Gal. 2.20 I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me who loved me and gave himself for me There he had a particular assurance that Christ loved him and gave himself for him So 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded also that what I have committed to him he will keep till the last day So 2 Tim. 4.8 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is a Crown laid up for me Nay not onely Paul but Job also Job 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liveth and I shall stand up before him at the last day he knew Jesus Christ was his Redeemer And so David also saith Thou art my God and I will praise thee Psal 118.28 and Psal 23.6 Surely the goodnesse and merey of God shall follow me all the dayes of my life So that put these together God commands it it is the spirits office to work assurance in the heart and particular servants of God have had this assurance therefore why may it not be obtained But if you say these were not ordinary servants of God these were servants of a higher rank and form but may ordinary weak Christians know this also Yes Therefore Fourthly Not only particular Saints have had this but the people of God in General they have declared in Scripture that they have injoyed this particular assurance of their effectual Calling and safety of their condition by Christ Instance in a few Isa 63.16 Doubtlesse thou art our Father They made no doubt of it they were so perswaded they feared it not Isa 45.24 Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousnesse and strength Surely a word of confidence they were assured they had righteousnesse for their justification in Christ Jesus So 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God eternal in the heavens They knew that when they died they should see God in heaven not only Paul but other godly Christians with him So Heb. 10.34 You know in your selves that God hath provided for you a better and more induring substance They were assured within themselves that when they should die or lose their estates here God had provided for them a more enduring substance So 1 John 3.19 Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before God So verse 14. We know we are translated from death to life c. So that what can be more clearly proved then this that this assurance is to be attained in this life because God commands it it is the spirits office to work it particular Christians have had it and the people of God in general they have enjoyed and profest this Temper Vse Is it so then that assurance is attainable in this life Then how much to blame are our adversaries the Papists who hold their followers in suspense that they must live without the assurance of their own estate that their soules must hang in feares and doubts all their dayes that the most they can have is only a conjecture oh into what a gulph of discomforts do they plunge them Beloved the Lord in the Book of Deuteronomy chap. 29. did pronounce it as a curse that their lives should hang in suspense it 's a greater curse that mens souls should hang in suspense that men shall not know whether they shall be saved or damned it 's a hell on this side hell and therefore they are much to be blamed that hold their followers in hand with a peradventure they shall be saved peradventure not when the Scripture is so clear in this thing Secondly Let not the thoughts either of the impossibility or the difficulty of attaining this assurance discourage you from looking after it It is not impossible though it is difficult indeed and the difficulty should be so farre from discouraging you that it should quicken your endeavours to make your calling and election sure Thirdly Seeing assurance is attainable in this life inquire into the cause why you who are effectually called have not attained this assurance before now And this puts me upon handling of the second case of conscience seeing this assurance is attainable Therefore Answ Secondly what is the reason that many Christians who are called effectually by Jesus Christ do live in many doubts and feares about their effectual calling Doubt In answer to this I shall lay down these three particulars that the doubts that do arise in Christians about their calling they flow from this threefold fountain Either first from some seeming defect they apprehend in the manner of their calling Or Secondly some seeming defect they apprehend to be in the meanes of their calling Or else Thirdly some seeming defects they apprehend in the effects of their calling and these three grounds are the rise from whence many Christians effectually called do doubt of their call and are not assured of it First It doth arise from some seeming defect they apprehend to be in the manner of their calling They say I am not called in such a manner as I see others are As thus Think they I see other men when they are converted that their humiliations are great I see that they have horror of conscience that they are wrought upon by the terrors of the law
is a speech that Bernard hath That to whomsoever Jesus Christ once becomes sweet that he can taste the sweetnesse of his love and the sweetness of his mercy this very sweetnesse in Christs love will imbitter the world unto him Fourthly you are to manage and use your assurance with tenderness of conscience against sinne Assured Christians should be tender-conscienced Christians Psal 85.8 God will speak peace to his people but mark the duty they must not turn again unto folly They must not run again into sinne they must be tender of sin and then God will speak peace to his people Sin as I once told you will be like wind in the bowels of the earth Philosophers say Earthquakes and ruptures are occasioned by winde got into the bowels and cavernes of the earth which having no place for vent it overturnes mountaines and buildings Beloved sinne in the heart will do the like it will make the heart quake and tremble if it be there it will prove the grave of thy comforts and the resurrection of thy feares Therefore Christians that are assured they must take heed of sinne if they would keep their comforts they must keep their hearts that sin get not into their consciences Beloved they that are assured Christians they know how difficultly they did attain this assurance and they know how sweetly they enjoy this assurance and that will make them very tender that they do not lose a thing so hardly gotten and sweetly enjoyed for a trivial lust that they lose not their former evidences and revive former terrors Fifthly Assurance must be managed with patience in bearing any outward affliction that you may meet with in the world Assured Christians must be patient Christians Heb. 10.34 They suffered joyfully the spoyling of their goods knowing that they had in heaven a better and more enduring substance and that made the Saints of God tush and scorn at all the losses they met with in the world Suppose a man be at Sea and have precious jewels and pearles aboard with him if the man can be but sure he shall save his own life and save his jewels though he lose the Casket though he lose the box that will not much trouble him Thou that art sure of heaven thou canst never lose that pearle thy soul thou maist lose the shell thy life thou maist lose the Casket thou shalt never lose the jewel and shall that trouble thee If thou art an assured Christian be sure whatever storme of Temptation blow upon thee thou shalt only lose the box never lose the pearle This therefore should make assured Christians to be patient Christians what ever they shall undergo here in the world I have read a story in Fox his Acts and Monuments of a woman who when she came to be tried for her Religion before Bonner that bloody Bishop he threatened her he would take away her husband from her saith she Christ is my husband I will take away thy childe Christ saith she is better to me then ten sonnes I will strip thee saith he of all thy outward comforts yea but Christ is mine and you cannot strip me of him saith she The thoughts of this bore up the womans heart spoile her of all and take away all yet Christ was hers and they could not take him away O Beloved when thy soul lives in the assurance of Gods love and of thy calling to grace and glory this should make you wonderful patient to endure what ever you shall meet with here below It was the speech of that famous servant of God holy Bradford when a company of his fellow prisoners were that morning to go to be burnt saith Bradford O my fellow-sufferers be chearful for though we are all of us to have a bitter breakfast yet truly we shall have a chearful dinner Here you see how assured Christians their comforts in God did so transport their hearts that it made them overlook and with patience bear all afflictions they were to meet with You have a remarkable phrase Esa 33.24 The Inhabitants of Sion shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity A strange passage he doth not say they were not sick but the text saith they should not say so And what 's the reason why should the people forget their sorrows forget their pains this should make them the Lord had forgiven them their iniquities The sense of pardon took away the sense of pain And Beloved Christians should walk thus to shew that trouble should not daunt them and afflictions never startle them you that are assured Christians you should be patient Christians under all sufferings And take this for a rule that God takes impatience more unkindly at assured Christians hands then at the hands of any men in the world besides Because if God give thee assurance he hath given thee a seal in thy own brest that all shall work for thy good and wilt thou be impatient He hath given thee a seal in thy own brest that heaven shall make amends for all and wilt thou be angry God will take this more unkindly at them then any Sixtly Assurance should be managed with indeared love to Jesus Christ Assured Christians should be Christ-loving Christians When Christ told Mary Magdalen Thy sins which are many are forgiven thee When she had assurance her sinnes were pardoned what saith Christ Much was forgiven her therefore she loved much because she was sensible much was forgiven her she would shew forth much love to Jesus Christ And the reason is because it was Christs love brought those Christians into a State of salvation and his love likewise that gave them assurance of their own call and this should indear their hearts to Jesus Christ Seventhly Assurance should be managed with abundance of compassion towards those Christians that are tempted troubled by Satan Assured Christians should be compassionate Christians If God have given you assurance of his love you should carry compassionate brests towards your Brethren who remain behinde in great distress and perplexity that lie tossed and turmoiled by Temptations When a ship is brought safe to the haven if they have any bowels when they see another ship in the main Ocean strugling for life in the midst of the waters they will pity them You that have got assurance you are come to a safe harbour but your tempted Brethren they are tossed upon the waves and tempests of temptation you should now have compassionate hearts towards tempted Christians 2 Cor. 1.4 The Apostle tells us The Lord hath comforted us in all our tribulation that we might comfort others with the same comforts wherewith we our selves are comforted of God It was the work and task of the Apostle and them with him that they having comforts and assurance from God they would labour to comfort others and bear up others and establish others that they might rejoyce and receive the same comforts with themselves Hence you
it If you grieve the Spirit of God God will grieve you and your spirits shall be grieved that you shall not keep the joyes of the Lord in your brest in the assurance of his love and favour to you You read Esa 63.10 They grieved his Spirit so he was turned to be their enemy and fought against them Beloved though God may be your friend yet he will frown upon you as an enemy and seem to fight against you too in case you grieve his Spirit if thou grieve Gods Spirit God will grieve thine and when thy spirit is grieved thou must needs lose thy comforts Sixthly Take heed of the sinne of hypocrisie false grace will breed a false joy A false heart must needs have false comforts You will never keep true comforts if you have an unsound heart The upright in heart they shall shout upon their beds for joy they shall do it but hypocrites shall not Take heed therefore of this evill and you are in a way to preserve your assurance 2 PET. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure THE Doctrine I am yet upon is this That Christians ought to put forth a great deal of diligence to make this sure to their soules that they are effectually called by Jesus Christ In the managing of which I came to an use of direction to those who are assured of their effectual calling and to them I gave three directions First That you would rightly manage your assurance Secondly Carefully preserve your assurance Thirdly Daily improve your assurance the last of which I have yet to handle And touching this third direction daily to improve your assurance I shall give you but three heads which if you make use of you may every day improve your assurance and bring it from a little to a great measure As First In case you would do this improve your graces The more you increase in grace the more you will grow in comfort Grace and comfort they are two Twinnes that the more one growes the better the other thrives Hence you read that in the saluation of every Epistle the Apostle puts both together Grace mercy and peace be multiplied to you in Christ Jesus 1 Cor. 1.3 There the Apostle makes the multiplying of grace to be the multiplying of peace The more you multiply and grow in grace the more you will increase peace inward peace of conscience they are both joyned together You have a passage 2 Peter 1.5 11. compared together Adde to your Faith vertue c. The Apostle there urgeth our diligence to adde grace to grace that is to live in the improvement of grace And what will follow verse 11. If you doe these things you shall never fall for so an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdome of our Lord Jesus Christ You shall not onely go to heaven but you shall have an abundant entrance ministred before you come there you shall have abundance of assurance and inward peace before you come there And here to give you a more particular direction there are these foure graces chiefly you are to improve First Improve the grace of humility Esa 57.15 the Lord doth promise there to revive the spirit of the humble It is a particular promise to that grace that God will revive you and give you a new life if you have it And reviving there is not meant of the first life of grace but of a life of comfort They had grace before but God would give them a life of comfort he will restore your consolation to you in case you are a humble people Hence it is James 4.6 The Lord gives grace to the humble Yea he gives more grace The Lord gives more grace to the humble person then to any man in the world Now the more grace you have the more comfort you must needs have Humility is a foundation of more grace therefore needs must be a foundation of more comfort That building whose foundation is laid lowest is of all the most beautiful and comely Fabrick above ground So those Christians that lay a foundation low in humility they are likely to rear up a most beautiful Building in way of comfort Secondly Improve the grace of faith in believing and that is the way to increase comfort 1 Peter 1.8 Whom though you have not seen yet believing you rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Though they did never see Christ yet believing in Christ and improving their faith they had not only an ordinary measure of comfort but they had more comfort in their hearts then they could utter with their Tongue They rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory So Rom. 15.13 The God of peace fill you with all joy and peace in Believing that you may abound in hope through the holy Ghost Believing makes you full of all joy and makes you abound in it The more you are in Believing the more you will be in assurance Thirdly Improve the grace of love to Jesus Christ John 14.23 If any man love me my Father shall love him and we will come in unto him and make our abode with him That is If you improve in your love to Jesus Christ God the Father and God the Son will make their dwelling in your hearts Now he must needs be a comfortable Christian that hath so good a guest as God the Father and Jesus Christ to come in and make their abode with him As you know to your bosome-friend whom you love and you know loves you you will communicate all your secrets Thus will God the Father if hee knowes you are his bosome-friends and seeth you love him he will communicate all his comforts to you you shall never want comforts if you increase in love to Jesus Christ Fourthly Improve the grace of godly sorrow you will never finde sweeter musick in comfort then when you are laid down in teares As the sound of the Trumpet is never more pleasant then when they are upon the water so when God seeth you flow with the water of repentance and godly sorrow then you are likely to hear the most melodious harmony in the apprehension of Gods love Psal 126. They that sowe in tears shall reap in joy You shall not onely have a dram but a handfull of joy as Reapers they cut down handfuls of corne at once And as you know in seed though you sowe but one grain of corne there may a dozen eares come from that one seed so if you sowe but a little godly sorrow a grain of godly sorrow may be a root to a great deal of spiritual joy Secondly If you would improve your assurance preserve a clear conscience both towards God and man A good conscience is a continual feast Prov. 15.15 Assurance I may say of it as a Father speaks of the Holy Ghost Res delicata est Spiritus Dei and the comforts thereof The Spirit of God is a