in my Conscience well but now here is the case of Conscience whether is this quiet that I have in my Conscience from the hope I have of Gods mercy from presumption in me or from true Faith It concerns every one to get this case of Conscience answered Now I know no greater help for the answering this case of Conscience than this one thing that I have spoken of Hast thou quiet and ease and hast thou hope of Gods mercy and doth that bring thee quiet if it be but presumption it makes thee secure it makes thee barren and sluggish but on the other side if thou hast ease and quiet in thy Spirit and thou findest that the more that ease and quiet encreaseth the more fruitfull thou art in all good works it makes thee the more active and stirring in all good works this is a sign that it comes from Faith as you heard before a gracious heart hath the more activeness in it the more ease it hath now as his activeness in goodness causeth easiness in his heart so the easiness in his heart causeth activeness in goodness there is a mutuallness in these two and indeed this latter is the more facile for people to exam in themselves by perhaps every one cannot group to that activeness of heart but now hath it this power upon your hearts that you are more fruitfull than before This is the ease of a gracious heart if it doth so Ninthly And then the ease that a carnall heart hath in the waies of God is from hence because he hath but only one principle in his heart when he is in the waies of God and when he is in the waies of the world he is acted but by the same principle in both there is not a contrary principle in his heart one that carries him one way and another that carries him another way but the ease of a gracious heart is this that he finds a stronger principle that overcomes a contrary principle of corruption in him there lies his ease a carnall heart goes on and performes Duties and hath not divers principles in his heart to cary him this way or that way but hath only one principle a carnal principle that carries him on to serve his own ends and somtimes he can serve his ends in one thing somtimes in another thing but one that is Godly finds ease from hence from the power of Gods Grace that doth overcome his corruption I find a stirring in my heart but I thank God I can get the victory the ease of a Godly heart comes from the victory that it gets but it is not so with a carnall heart your civill men do not find ease from their victory because what they do is not suitable to them but a Godly man finds that there is a principle of Grace that opposeth the principle of lust and corruption and therefore can say since I set my heart towards God and his waies I have found more corruption than before stirring but I thank God I have got victory over them I find a conquest gotten over the corruption that is stirring in my Soul and that is my ease another man he finds no corruption stirring in his heart and therefore no marvell if he find ease but now a Godly man finds a contrary principle to that which is good stirring in his heart and then finds Gods Grace coming in upon his heart to help him against that corruption and this brings ease and quiet to him Tenthly And then the last is this That the ease the one hath comes from this that all that he doth he preformes in his own strength and he doth not see any need of any further strength than that which he hath in himselelf to enable him to perform Duties and so he finds ease As a man finds his Trade to be easie if he trades with his own stock and hath nothing but his own stock to trade with and trades in no higher things then what himself can reach unto whereas another man that must have the stocks of other men to trade with finds a great deal more trouble that sees his trade requires more stock than his own It is so with a Gracious heart he sets upon duty so as needs he finds he more stock than his own his trade is beyond his own strength but now a Godly heart when he comes to want strength he fetcheth strength from Christ he fetcheth strength from the Covenant of Grace he fetcheth strength from the Promise and when he hath got strength from Christ from the Covenant of Grace from the Promise Oh now he finds rest and ease in his Duty and you shall see the reason of it in the next Point why the Sants finds difficulties many times they will think to be trading with their own strength and their own stocks whenas the things they trade about is beyond their own strength but now when they can look higher and see a fulness in Jesus Christ in the Mediator of the new Covenant and of his fulness we must receive Grace for Grace and fetcheth strength from this Oh! then here is quiet and ease when the Soul comes to trade with another stock Observe this you will find it as certain as can be all those that are meer civill People that find it so easie to go on in the waies of God they were never sensible of any need they have of any more strength than their own whereas the Yoke of Christ is heavier than any naturall strength is able to bear and therefore if you find ease in that you have strength of your own to perform it Certainly it is not the Yoke of Christ But now when you find your own strength too short when you go to perform any Duty and find a great deal of difficulty you can go to Christ and to the Covenant of Grace and to the Promise and there fetch in strength you have ease and quiet Oh that you were acquainted with this Mystery of Godliness that when you go out to perform Duties and you find them difficult and hard that then you can go out to Christ and the Covenannt of Grace and the Promise and fetch strength from them to perform Duties this is the ease of a Godly heart when it finds ease in Gods waies after this manner and all you that are acquainted with this Mystery of Godliness know that whatsoever ease you have found hitherto it is not the ease of a Gracious heart but rather of a carnal heart CHAP. CXXXIX Divers Objections answered The easiness of the waies of Christ which is the third particular mentioned in Chap. 139. QUEST BUT do we not find that Christ hath said in his word that the way to Heaven is difficult and the Gate to Heaven is strait and narrow and do we not find Preachers ordinarily speaking so that the way to Heaven is difficult and strait according to what is in Scripture yea do we not find that the People of
deal of ease in respect of the Jews that were under the burden of the Ceremonial Law because that their service it self was very chargeable to their outward estates their Sacrifices that they did offer up to God How chargeable was it What a great part of the estates of men did go forth partly in the maintenance of their Levites There is a great deal of murmuring now for a little Money for maintenance of Ministers but there if the account be summed up the maintenance of the Levites was a great part of their estates not barely the tenth of their Sacrifices They had their Cities divers forty or more Cities that were theirs for their possession And many things might be shewed that way the mighty charge that they were at for the service of God several waies not Tithes only but Cities and the like now God hath in a great part eased us of those things that he required of the People of the Jews there is nothing now required but what is in moral equity what is in common reason due to the Laborer for his work only somwhat is due by that Scripture Thou shalt not muzle the mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the Corn so that all the maintenance now for the work of God is due in a way of common reason but there was other things required in the service of God in the times of the Jews and that is an ease that is very suitable to many men to have ease that way from their outward service yet certainly the Lord as we shal hear more by and by requires of us more service other waies And then Thirdly In the ceremoniall Law there the very service of God had a kind of burden in it for there were so many external performances that the Holy Ghost cals them beggarly Rudiments so many outward ceremonies outward things that were a burden to the outward man and they were mean things and childish things in comparison of the Gospel they are called by the Apostle Beggarly Rudiments And truly one would think that when we shall read such a Scripture as that that shall call the ceremonies of the Law beggarly rudiments that were the ceremonies appointed by God himself and yet when they came to be abrogated they were called but beggarly rudiments one would admire how it is possible that any one that professeth Christianity should come and conform themselves to so many ceremonies as they have done to such beggarly rudiments certainly these must needs be beggarly rudiments much more and what a strange pass were we brought into that we should count such things the great Ornaments of Gods service whenas God did not require them but at that time and that they are so vilified by God now But inventions are never required by God and therefore they are to be accounted more vile and it is a great mercy to be delivered from the bondage of the outward ceremonies of the Law though such things as were once appointed by God to spend so many daies as they did from their outward business this is somwhat Surely if it were in mans power to appoint ceremonies and make daies holy as many did undertake heretofore we had been brought into a greater bondage than ever the Jews were under the Law but Christ would have ease in the outward administration of his worship And then likewise though God hath appointed some outward things yet very few for the outward part of his vvorship What a few things are appointed by Jesus Christ vvhereas in the times of the Law there vvere multitudes of external things yea and how easie are they that Christ hath appointed for the outvvard part of his vvorship whereas in the times of the Lavv it vvas hard as circumcision vvhat a hard thing vvas it to have to foreskin of the flesh cut off and you knovv it made them sore vvhen the men of Sichem vvere circumcised they vvere so sore that two or three men vvere able to destroy a vvhol City novv Christ hath required no such hardness of us And truly that may be one thing that may make us much doubt of the waies of many that put people upon such vvaies as in the Winter time to go into Rivers and venture their healths lives as they do certainly Christ requires no such thing if Christ did require such a thing I dare appeal to any to give me any one place in the old Testament vvhere there is a harder commandment than that if that vvere a commandment then Christs yoke in that one thing is harder than any one thing that Christ required of the Jews no one Duty so difficult to the outward man as that thing iâ— now certainly the yoke of Christ as he himself saith it is but easie it is not hard to the outward man in such external services Christ did not change one Ordinance from another to make it harder there is no Ordinance that Christ did change from the Law to the Gospel to make it harder and there is no mercy that is allowed in the times of the Law but is allowed in the times of the Gospel And further That is another Argument that is very perswaâ—ive to the Beleever and his children for if God should deny this condition to the children in the times of the Gospel that was in the times of the Law it would make the Gospel to be harder than the Law and the truth is the denying such a mercy to Beleevers children would be a harder yoke to Beleevers a greater burden to them than all the ceremonies were to the Jevvs in the times of the Lavv. As suppose this if a Beleever should plead thus Lord there vvas a time vvhen thou didst not only receive me into Covenant but receive my child too and give my child the seal of the Covenant likevvise and there vvas a time that I had such a priviledg that not only I but my child vvas in a different condition from the Heathen the Heathen round about me vvas not in such a condition as I vvas in in regard of my posterity and I counted this a great mercy but Lord since the time I vvas converted and imbraced Christian Religion and since the time that Jesus Christ is come as suppose a Jevv should speak thus one that vvas a Jevv before Christs time and should live til Christ came and should plead thus Lord hast thou brought a greater burden on me since Christ came than I had before Christ came for before Christ came I had such a liberty that vvas as dear to me as my life that I vvould not be vvithout for all the vvorld that I should not only have my self but my child separated from the world and be in covenant with thee and under the Seal of thy Grace but Lord since Christs coming into the world and since I imbraced religion though I may come and take the seales though I may be in covenant with thee yet now my child may not there is no
live amongst but now because in some things thou art bound up having a tender Conscience that you must go according to the Rule therefore it should be thy wisdom in all things wherein thou canst condescend and suit thy self with other men lawfully to do it because hereby thou shalt convince the world that when thou dost differ from them it is not out of proud singularity but out of Conscience they will think that if thou couldest in thy Conscience suit with them thou wouldest because in all things wherein thou canst thou suitest with them and indeed those that are Christians should in as much as they can be Servants to every one that is yeild to every one and suit themselves with every one upon this ground that they may by this convince al the world that where they are different from other men it is not out of honor and pride but meerly out of obedience to Jesus Christ Thus you have seen the behavior of an humble Spirit in reference to God in reference to himself and in reference to other men CHAP. CXXIX The excellency of Humility in thirteen particulars 1. God prizeth it 2. It is a convincing Grace 3. By it we walk worthy of the Gospel 4. It is an Evidence of election 5. Better than Sacrifices 6. It serveth for the prevailing of Prayer 7. It is a tryed heart 8. It is fit for great Services 9. It is the ornament of all Graces 10. It preseves all Graces 11. It makes all Duties and Crosses easie 12. It makes the life comfortable 13. It is most usefull to give God the Glory of the new Covenant THe excellency of this Grace of Humilty Learn of me for I am meek and Lowly in heart This Grace is above all Graces next to Faith it self and mightily extolled in Scripture and it is proper indeed to Christianity if you read in Phylosophers that speak of moral vertues you shall find high commendations of Justice Vertue and the like and little or nothing said of Humility No it is the Christian that counts Humility to have an Excellency in it it is Christ that is come from the Bosom of his father into the world to be an example and a pattern to hold forth the excellency and glory of this Grace before the world and that was one Reason why Christ came into the world Namely to hold forth the Glory and excellency of his Grace Humility may say but little of its own praise God takes care for the Glory of it it will discover it self by the fragrancy of it self as violets discover themselves by the sweetness of them though they be covered with Leaves so the excellency of humility will discover it self by its sweetness and no man or Woman needs to take care for the discovery of its excellency and therefore it is abundant folly for a man or woman to be proud of their humility or to shew themselves humble that others may take notice of it and so commend them for it but true humility shews forth it self and it must not be forced but let it alone and let it appear in it self in a genuine way and its excellency of its self wil be best discovered Let us see theâ— wherein the true excellency of a Lowly heart appears that we may be in Love with this Grace First There is no grace in Scripture that God speaks more honorably of that the Lord hath a more honorable esteem of In Prov. 16. 19. See what the Testimony of God is of an humble spirit Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the Spoile with the proude .. Here is Gods Testimony here is two sortes of people compared one with another the humble spirit and he that divides the Spoile with the proude there is no time wherein the heart of man is more lifted up than when a man hath overcome his enemy and is triumphing and dividing the spoil Oh Now his spirit is above Now saith God you poor creatures when you can get victory and make a prey of your enemies then your hearts are lifted up and you think such a man hath a brave conquest over his enemy and now he is triumphing Well saith God there is a poor humble contrite heart that the world takes no notice of and I count it better for one to be of an Humble Spirit with the Lowly than to divide the Spoil with the proud Take men in their greatest jollity and height and glory and lustre that ever men were in the world yet the poor humble Lowly spirited men are more glorious in mine Eyes I count a poor Sâ—ul a Child a Servant that hath gotten into a hole humbling their Souls before me I look upon these as a more glorious object for me to behold than great Alexander and Caesar and the greatest conqueror in the world We cal the proud happy but the Lord cals the humble happy And so in Isa 66. That Famous place The Lord that dwels on high be looks on him that iâ— of an humble and contrite spirit As if there were no object for the Eye of God to feed upon to be pleased withal but the humble spirit whereas the proud he looks afar off upon them Psalm 138. 6. Though the Lord be high yet he hath respect unto the Lowly but the proud he knoweth afar off The humble he looks upon as if God should say there is nothing in all the world that is worth my looking upon but an humble spirit yea and God loves to be neer to them in Psal 34. 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite Spirit He loves to be neer one that is of an humble spirit Yea and he loves to dwel with them In Isai 57. 15. Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwel in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and an humble spirit God lifts up himself and saith twice first that he is high and lofty in himself and then that he dwels in the high and lofty place and yet faith he I dwel in an humble spirit it may be an humble spirit is such a one as proud men scorn their company cannot indure their company Well but God loves to dwel in the House where thou art let it be never so poor a cottage he loves to dwel there God hath but two Houses he hath the highest Heavens and the lowest heart those are the two Houses God dwels in the Heavens above and the heart that is low and the lower the heart is the more the Lord loves to dwel there Secondly The excellency of an humble spirit appears in this that it is a grace that most convinceth men even a proud man sees a lustre of humility in others one proud man hates another proud man whereas one humble man loves another humble man humility is that that glaires in
they shal trust in the name of the Lord it is spoke of the times of Captivity and great misery that People should be in times of trouble Yea All outward needfull things is promised to the humble in Prov. 22. 4. By Humility and the fear of the Lord is Riches and Honor and Life You wil say Humble people may be are poor but they have more assurance of Riches than any in the world have they have Gods bond for Riches but still ever to be understood with the condition of the Cross ever understood so as may be usefull for the enriching of their Souls God hath promised to enrich their outward estates You think by the pride of your hearts and your busseling in the world you may get much but by walking humbly with God you may expect more blessing upon your estate than from any thing in the world But now that which is the main Promise of all is that in the Text Learn of me for I am Meek and Lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your Souls and there are no People in the world that have so much rest in their hearts such satisfaction in their Souls as those that are of humble hearts there is a great deal of disquiet in the world and men complain that they cannot live at quiet and they have no rest at all in their Spirits know that is from that proud Spirit of thine that there is no rest in thy bones and Spirit but if God come once to work this Grace of humility in thy Soul thou wilt find rest unto thy Soul in all thy waies thou wilt walk with such a quiet and contented Spirit that none in the world walks with Would not any of you have this Promise fulfiâ—led in such troublesome times as this when there is no rest in any thing in the world Here is that Scripture that will shew that though you cannot have rest in any thing in the world yet you shall have rest in your Souls it was in the former verse when Christ did invite poor laden Sinners to come to him I will give you rest there is the rest of the Gospel that comes to the soul by Jesus Christ I do not intend to look back to those things all that I intend in this Promise is to shew you how Humility brings rest unto the Soul I have shewed before how Meekness brings rest unto the Soul and then we shall come to the words following the easiness of the Yoke of Jesus Christ to those that are thus lowly as Christ would have them to be Thirteenthly Humility is an excellent Grace next unto that Grace that the Scripture makes to be the condition of the new Covenant Faith it is that Grace that is most useful and necessary to give God the Glory of the new Covenant and that upon this ground For God though he did intend Salvation to some wretched and unworthy Creatures yet he hath so wrought in his Wisdom that he will save them in such a way as he shall have all the Glory and the Creature shall be debased as much as can be We cannot think how an infinite Wisdome could find out a way to save mankind and that in a way of Covenant too to save lost man in a way of a Covenant wherein man that is saved should be debased and the name of God so much honored as that way is that God hath done in the Covenant of Grace for it is this God will save them in the way of a Covenant a Covenant you wil say that is somwhat it is true God will require somwhat of man in the Covenant I but yet in that manner as man is as much debased as possibly can be for the condition is so as man must be emptied of al be nothing in himself he must go wholly out of himself for a principle of life yea and when he hath it he must live upon that that is out of himself for so a Christian must do not only go first in Jesus Christ for a principle of life there but this principle of life must depend upon Christ it cannot be with man now as it was with Adam God gave Adam Grace and he was to live upon that stock but now we have grace from Christ and we cannot live upon that stock but we must still live upon him still upon the life that is in him So that man is the most emptied and debased in that way that God hath appointed to save him by he must deny himself in the greatest manner that a Creature can be put to We think this is a great deal of self deniall for a man to be willing to be mean in the world and to suffer much in the world for Christ it is a great deal of self deniall I confess but when the Soul goes to Christ in the way of Faith in the Covenant of Grace there is the greatest self deniall of all for there a man doth not only deny his outward comforts here for the present but he denies his own Righteousness his own abilities his own gifts yea and afterwards when he comes to have Graces he denies them too and wholly goes out of himself for justification and reconciliation with God and all those things that are excellent in their own nature he doth look upon as Dross and Dung in comparison of what he finds in Jesus Christ so that Faith is that that carries with it as great a self denial as we can conceive a Creature is capable of in this world Faith makes one like Christ in that respect Christ though he was glorious yet he did empty himself Faith makes one empty ones self of all that is good and therefore of all Graces humility is the most subservient and helpful to Faith and pride is the greatest enemy to Faith and especially pride in those things that a man counts his greatest excellency some men indeed have a pride in their Cloaths and others in their Estates these are but poor things but when a man comes to have pride in his Duties and graces this is the pride of heart that is an enemy to Faith And therefore that place is very obseruable in the Prophecy of Habakkuck How living by Faith and pride are opposed to one Another In Habakkuck 2. 4. Behold his Soul which is lifted up is not upright in him but the just shall live by his Faith This Text will serve both for this I now bring it for and to confirme another thing that I spake of even now that is how humility preserves Grace and keeps men and women from being Apostates It is apparent here saith he Behold his Soul which is lifted up is not upright in time of trouble He will fal off But the just shal live by his Faith It is all one where there is no pride there is humility where the heart is emptyed of pride there the heart is fit to beleeve and that is the Reason why many poor Souls are
so long under the Spirit of bondage because God would be weakening the pride of their hearts You think that a poor Soul that hath horror and trouble of conscience hath little pride in him one that is ready to despair and to conclude of it self that it shall go to Hell is that Soul proude Certainly there is a great deal of pride in it then you will say how will that appear that it is pride Because it would fain find somwhat in it self to present unto God for its mercy though it do not think to merit yet it would present somthing to God for its mercy and here is pride the heart hath not denied it self thus as to venture it self upon Christ though it have nothing to present to God it is not brought to this to go to Jesus Christ as a meer beggar that hath nothing to live upon now because the Soul is not brought to this therefore it is that the Soul is many months and years without comfort the Lord hath not humbled and emptied the Soul yet but now when the Lord comes to empty the Soul perhaps by the work of his Spirit though not by Gods Sanctifying Grace though there is not a Sanctifying principle put into the Soul yet it is that that is very like it and it is that whereby the Soul doth act by as it doth when a principle of Sanctification is put into it but this Grace is very useful for that is one special aime that God hath in the Covenant of grace though he wil glorifie his creature yet he wil debase it in such a way that the Creature shal have nothing to boast of what should we Boast of Saith Paul if it were of works then we might boast but because it is of Faith we have nothing to boast of Thus much for the Excellency of the grace of Humility CHAP. CXXX Humility brings Rest unto the Soul in Eight Particulars 1. It ventures upon nothing before it sees Gods call 2. The Head of such is lower then their condition 3. He is never disappointed in the World 4. He would have God have his Glory 5. It freeth from opposition oâ— maketh the Heart yeild to it 6. It makes the Heart rejoyce in the property of others 7. It is under many promises 8. All Crosses are smal to an Humble Heart BUt now we come to open the promise and then we will apply altogether the promise here made to those that are lowly in Heart I will give you Rest Now I shal not need to open the Rest that a Christians heart hath that comes to Christ that hath been done at large in the former verse Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy Laden and I will give you Rest Therefore here I shall only shew how Humility and Lowliness of heart gives Rest unto the Soul There is I confess a great correspondency between those two Graces and therefore I shal speak the less now of the Rest of the Soul in humility because there is a great affinity between this and Meekness now one that is Lowly in heart must needs live at Rest First Because such a one dares not venture upon any thing before he sees Gods cal a bold spirit will venture upon any thing when he hath not Gods cal and there he meets with trouble but now a Lowly Spirit thinks thus is this Gods way Have I a word for it And a cal for it If I have Let me go on whatever comes of it if he meet with trouble in such a business if he can say I undertook it thus I had Gods cal what abundance of Rest hath he What is the Reason that men are disquieted in the world and troubled It is because they rush upon things without Gods cal When the Soul can appeal to God Lord I would not undertake such a thing nor such a thing though I say there might be some preferment by it and somewhat got by it yet Lord thou seest the uprightness of my heart that I would not venture upon it without thy cal and then when I saw that I ventured upon it such a Soul must needs have a great deal of quiet Secondly One that is humble hath Rest because he can never be in so low a condition but his heart is lower then his condition This is an excellent frame of Spirit though my Estate is low yet my heart is lower if you be able to say so you that have low Estates your care is how you can raise your Estates if I could raise my Estate as high as others Then I should have a great deal of Peace and comfort No thy way must be to lowen thy Heart that is the way to raise thy Estate If a mans affliction be above his Heart and his heart beneath the affliction if the fire he under the fewel then the fire quickly catcheth the fewel but now if the Fire be above the fewel it will not so soon kinkle it so I say in a mans affliction if a mans heart be above his affliction I mean in a sinful way he hath lifted up his heart and he would have higher things then these things are and these things are beneath his spirit he hath a higher design and plot and aimes at greater things and these things are beneath what he would have Oh! Then the affliction troubles the Spirit but when a mans spirit is beneath his afflictions then a man hath a great deal of Rest and quiet he is lower then his afflictions and therefore he is quiet Thirdly Another thing in the Lowliness of heart that doth bring quietness and hath affinity with it is this One that is Lowly in heart hath never any disappointments in the world nothing is more troublesome and disquieting to a mans spirit then disappointment now one that is Lowly in Heart he expects no great matters in this world and therefore he cannot be much disappointed in any thing that befals and so he is quiet you that have great plots and designes in your heads and make account of great things in the world there will follow many Crosses that wil disappoint you and how do they disquiet you you may account of such a voyage and when it is lost how unquiet are you Whereas one that is Lowly in heart he is quiet and goes on in obedience to God and that is that he looks to most to go on in his calling in obedience to God and leaves the issue to God and therefore if there be any thing coming in he receives it thankfully because he is most unworthy if he be crossed he is not much disappointed because he looks for no high things Fourthly An humble heart must needs bring Rest because this is the guise and frame of it it would have God to have his glory his own way and this one principle Oh What abundance of quiet and Rest would it bring to a mans spirit That God should have his Glory we all yeild to that I but
in a morning or if you do pray you do it sleightly now do not you find your hearts off the hooks al the day long after have not you more trouble all the day long when your conscience tells you that you should go and seek God and pray I but other things are more easy and that is a hard thing and therefore you neglect it now do not you find it more dificult to be with out prayer in a morning then is in all the labour of prayer compare one day with another and see which is the easyest The yoke of Christ that was upon David might be somwhat hard to the flesh but the casting off the yoke broke his bones therefore in Psal 51. He cries to God to restore to him the joy of his Salvation and to heale those Bones of his that were broken That the Bones that thou hast broken may rejoyce that expression the Prophet hath Psalm 51. vers 8. Make me to hear joy and Gladness that the Bones that thou hast broken may rejoyce so that it broke the very Bones of David the casting off the yoke of Christ the trouble that David felt in his heart it was such a burden to him as broke his bones now when did ever any duty that David performed break his bones though it might a little paine his flesh and be a little burdensom to his flesh yet it was not that which broke his bones the casting off the yoke of Christ is a greater burden and more troublesom to a gracious heart then to keep it on Sixthly Thou complainest of difficulty in duty in Christs yoke may be it is not the yoke of Christ that is upon thee that is so heavy upon thee if thou examinest it again perhaps thou shalt find it is not Christs yoke that is upon thee 1. May be it is a yoke that thou hast taken upon thy self perhaps somthing that thou hast put upon thy self that Christ never required of thee then it may be grievous to thee if we will put that upon our selves that Christ never required as Papists do that put that upon themselves that Christ never required who required these things at your hands It may be some men have put somthing upon you that Christ never required of thee it may be thou puttest upon thy self a duty at this time that is not the duty of this time but is the duty of some other time when thou wilt enjoyne thy self to do such a duty that is not the duty of this time but the duty of another time then it may be troublesom as many poor Christians are pestered this way when God would have them do such a duty conscience puts them upon another duty God calls them to a duty of their calling but conscience puts them upon prayer now that is not the duty it may be of this time and this is the way of Satan of the Devil to weary them and tire them by putting them upon duty unseasonably when he cannot by temptation hinder them from duty then he labors to weary and tire them by putting them unseasonably upon duty As I have known some they could not be at their work a quarter of an hour but suddenly they must leave all and go to prayer and they thought it was the motion of Gods Spirit and the dictates of conscience and they thought they must not neglect it and so made their lives uncomfortable upon that ground whereas the Spirit of God puts people upon duty seasonably every thing in its right order and right way and in its due time it will put you upon prayer in a fit time and put you upon duties of your calling in a fit time and when it comes unseasonably to disquiet you it is rather a suggestion of Satan to disquiet you then to make you to obey Christs yoke 2. May be it is not the yoke of Christ but meerly the yoke of the Law as thus though it may be the same thing that Christ would have you do yet you may have it laid upon you in a legal way to do it meerly out of fear of the wrath of God and damnation and so it may be as a scourge to force you to it and so to look upon every duty as if your eternal estate depended upon it as if you were to be cast or saved by the meer performance of your duty this is rather the yoke of the Law then the yoke of Jesus Christ to be put and hurryed upon duty as if your eternal estate did depend upon your duty and you were to be cast in your eternal estate by that rather then any thing here is the yoke of Moses not the yoke of Christ Christ puts you upon duty for the honor of God yet so as the hazard of your eternal estate is over and thou art not to be cast upon the performance of the duty this way or that way that if thou failest thou wert to be cast for ever to everlasting destruction upon thy failing he doth not bring you before God as before a severe and revenging judg but puts you upon service as a Child is put upon doing service by a Father now it is a great deale easyer for a child to do service to a father then for a slave to do service to one that hath him in bondage that will be continually lashing him and beating him black and blue so indeed the yoke of the Law which we are to speak of afterwards when we come to speak of the easiness of Christs yoke that is greivous and many Christians they do their duties meerly in a legal way and so it is rather Moses yoke then the yoke of Jesus Christ and so it comes to be hard whereas when thou comest to understand what the yoke of Christ is and what the duties are that are required by Jesus Christ and so to take them from him by a covenant of Grace for so they are required there is no duty in the Morral Law but is required of you in the Gospel and in a stronger bond then ever it was required upon the first Covenant but in another way coming unto it in another way in Christ and through the hand of the mediatour Jesus Christ so it comes to be a great deal more easy and when duties are taken up in an evangelical way then they are easy but so long as you take them up in a legal way then they come to be very grievous that is the Sixth Answer Seventhly Another answer is this that difficulty that you find it is not the Yoke of Christ if you consider That now Corruption is more Stirred then ever it was before the difficulty is in the discovery of corruption in the Stirring of your corruption more then before so that your Corruption through this by means of the yoke of Christ comes to be more stirred then formerly it was As thus now sometimes I think I have given you this Similitude if there be a few embers
difference between my child and the child of a heathen Lord is there no difference between this and the times of the Law thou sayest thy yoke is easy and thy burden is light but here is a great burden upon me that I have not that benefit that heretofore I had certainly my brethren Christ did not come into the world to lessen the Grace of God you will say they were in a worse condition then this but how are they in a better as for the covenant of Grace in Jesus Christ that certainly a Jew had they were saved by the same way that we are namely by beleeving in Jesus Christ now those that were beleevers and did understand Jesus Christ they had the same benefit by Jesus Christ that we have I but if their children now should not have the same benefit that they had I say then Christ hath brought a greater yoke upon beleevers in the times of the Gospel then was upon beleevers in the times of the Law and this is contrary to what Christ saith my Yoke is easy and my Burden light Methinks I wonder that any men that are Beleevers that have children of their own that should drinke in that opinion for certainly it cannot but be a greater Yoke upon them and if they should think there were no difference between their children and the children of heathen they should count it a great Yoke and they should think it better for them if they had lived in the times of the Law and before Christ came into the world for then they had benefit for their children Now we are delivered from the Yoke of the ceremonial Law that required hard things and we are not brought into a worse condition you cannot be in a worse condition saith Christ in coming unto me then you were in the times of the Law But especially the Morral law that was a great burden a great yoke as looked upon in the Covenant of works now for that I shal not need to speak much because I have opened it in the invitation of Christ Come unto me al ye that are weary and heavy laden and there I shewed unto you the burden of the Law and from that saith Christ I will give you rest I shewed how Christ delivers from the burden of the Law Certainly the Gospel then is a great ease to mention to you but two or three particulars in this then I shewd you there how it required absolute impossible things impossible unto us now not unpossible unto Adam nâ—t impossible to that power that Adam had at first but impossible to us Now it requires absolute perfection in every thing it doth not admit of any repentance no nor of any endeavour not to accept of it the Law accepts of no endeavour except he continue in every thing he accepts of no repentance But now saith Christ my yoke is easy I require nothing of you but what is easy the Law doth not accept of endeavour but I will accept of endeavour if there be a will I will accept of it if there be repentance I will accept of it the Law would not do â—t let a Sinner weep his heart out the Law would â—ot accept of it after you have sinned the Law binds â—ou over to an eternal curse and had not Jesus â—hrist come into the world you had been bound oâ—r to an eternal curse for ever and that is the reaâ—â— that the Angels cannot be saved and therefore saâ—h Christ take heed of this yoke this is a heavy bâ—den that there should be no mediating nothing should be accepted but saith Christ I will bring you an easyer yoke it is not so when you come to beleeve in mee now your endeavours shal be accepted and though you be imperfect yet if you be upright it shall be accepted CHAP. CXLIV The Yoke of Christ easier then the Yoke of Sin and Antichrist WEll the next is the Yoke of Sin the Yoke of Christ is farr easyer then that sin is the greatest slavery in the World it makes a man or woman a slave to the worst of Creatures that ever was made to the Devil himself to be a slave to sin it is to be a slave to the Devil we have many bills sent up to us to pray for those that are taken captives in Argire it may be there are some of you here that have been taken slaves there and you count that a miserable Yoke when you are made slaves to the Turke you thought your freinds that were at home were happy that had their liberty to go up and down Now Oh! you that ever felt that Yoke or that have heard the doleful complaint of that Yoke by your freinds that you would by that be sensible of the slavery to sin and to the Devil is it noâ— better to be in slavery to any men in the world then to the Devil When you go abroad you must neeâ—s go into the Alehouses to drink and to be amonâ—st company and abuse your bodies to drunkennâ—ss and uncleanness and you have eyes ful of adulâ—ery that cannot cease to sin and you will excuse your selves and say you cannot do otherwise â—hen you are slaves and are taken captive by the Devil to do according to his will that Text you haâ—e for it in 2 Tim. 2. And the last That they may recover themselves out of the Snare of the Devil that are taken captive by him at his will When a man is taken captive he cannot do his own will he cannot go whither he will but he must go whither his master wil have him and he cannot do what work he wil but he must do what his Master will have him So you cannot do what you would but you must do what the Devil would have you to do sin is a slavery to the Devil But now the obedience of the Gospel is that that brings the soul to be a subject to Jesus Christ your King so that here is the difference between the Devills service and Christs that in the one your work is a base slavery and in the other it is an honorable service Christ requires no base slavery of his subjects it were better to do any slavery and drudgery to Jesus Christ then to do any work for the Devil the Devil requires nothing but drudgery and Christ requires nothing but honorable service and therefore the Yoke of Jesus Christ is easyer then the Yoke of sin yea the Yoke of sin hath a great deal of contradiction in it there are cross commands they serve divers lusts one lust would have them do one thing and another would have them do another but now in the service of Christ there is a blessed agreement between them in the service of sin there is nothing but contradiction but in the service of Christ there is nothing but comly order and therefore his service is a great deal easier then the service of sin and the truth is if so be you did but know both of
humbled for our sins in an evangelical way as wel as performe duty in an evangelical way Now evangelical humiliation it is a sorrow for sin not that we might purchase pâ—â—don for that sorrow as we must not perform a duty to think to purchase Heaven neither must we sorrow for sin to think to satisfie for sin and to purchase pardon for our sin but our very sorrow for sin must have a sweetness from Christ in it it must be out of love our very mourning must be a fruit of love and not come from the fear of being destroyed eternally for such sins that is legal sorrow I have sinned against God and therefore am afraid that God will destroy me eternally and therefore I am sorry No but I have sinned against the Lord a gracious and a merciful Father and the Lord yet hath made a Covenant with me that he will not take advantage of my sin that he will not destroy me and therefore my soul mourns and laments the rather for my sin that I have sinned so much against the grace of the Gospel as I have done Sorrow evangelically and then your sorrow wil have more sweetness in it then all the joy that the men of the world have when all their Corn and Wine and Oyl is encreased not only when God lifts up the light of his countenance but even the very sorrow of your heart for sin may have more sweetness in it then all the men of the world have when their Corn and Wine and Oyl encreaseth Many Christians have much bitterness in their sorrow but certainly Evangelical sorow the tears of it is Rose water that hath a great deal of sweetness it is sweet both unto God and sweet unto the soul even while the soul is sorrowing there is sweetness in the heart and this is the difference between legal terror and Evangelical sorrow the one hath nothing but bitterness and gal in it and the other nothing but sweetness That is the first thing Secondly Another way to facilitate and make easie that we do is this Labor to keep our hearts in a constant readiness and preparation to every duty Duties are very hard because we fall upon them unprepared we are not in a readiness continually unto every good work you know when you are set about any work and if you have many things to prepare and to look for when you should go about your work it will go off but heavily and it will be more troublesom but now when every thing is prepared in a readiness then how soon and how easie doth the work go on when you are going to Sea there is making a great deal of preparation aforehand now when the Ship is rigged and trimmed every thing ready then you are at an instant able to put off and set saii and go away when al things are ready you go off with ease If you would entertain Guests if they come upon you suddenly and you have nothing ready what a deal of stir is in the house what running up and down this way and that way but now if things be ready when they come they are entertained with a great deal of delight and all things in the house are in order and things go off very easily and there is no trouble in it Truly thus it should be with a Christian he should not only perform duties now and then but his life should be a constant walking with God so that he should be alwaies in readiness for every duty that God requires of him so it comes to be easie As now for the duty of Prayer you should keep your hearts in a praying frame continually and then prayer would be easie it would be an easie thing for you to pour forth your souls to God when you keep your hearts in a praying frame all the day long It may be when you go to prayer you find a great deal of trouble within you your thoughts wander and your affections are dead and dul and you rise up discouraged But what is the reason you do not keep your heart all the day long in a praying frame in a heavenly temper and frame in the day time and therefore when you come to pray at night there is no readiness in your hearts to the duty but you are altogether indisposed to it And so to come unto the Sacrament you find it a great labor and toyl to prepare for the Sacrament as you should I speak of those that make conscience of preparation many times they find it a mighty toyl a hard work I but Christians should keep themselves alwaies in a Sacramental disposition a Sacramental frame alwaies having their spirits savoring of the meditation of the death of Jesus Christ that nothing should be more familiar to a Christians Soul than the meditation of the death of Christ and of discerning the Lords Body and the Covenant of grace and giving it self likewise to God in a Covenant of grace this should be continually and then if you should receive the Sacrament every day you might be fit for it or every week you would be fit for it Now People think it a great matter and make a great deal of do about receiving of it often whereas the truth is the Saints of God they should be in as great a readiness to receive the Sacrament as to hear the word or to pray and that would be a mighty ease unto them therefore if things were as they should certainly it would be more convenient to have it more ordinary and constant every Lords day the Sacrament The Christians in the primitive times would receive it every day in the year and they kept their heart in readiness to such kind of duties let it be what work it wil be You should be patient in affliction if affliction come upon you and your heart is not in a readiness to alter your condition Oh! it wil be a grievous burden to exercise patience it wil be a hard thing for you now you should keep your hearts ready for every condition that is the true work of grace in the Soul to keep the soul in a constant bent Godward and that Soul wil do things very easily Somtimes you have much ado with your children when strangers come to keep them in good order the reason is you neglect them at other times and that is the reason that they trouble you when strangers come but keep them in a good order at all times and then you wil have them right at those times So it is with the heart keep the heart prepared and ready to every good work and then every work wil be easie Object But you wil say That is a great deal of toyl and labor to keep our hearts alwaies bent and ready to good works To that I answer at first it may be some labor and toyl but those that have once got their hearts into a readiness find it not so hard but have a great deal
of ease As now it is a great deale of toyl for one that neglects his accounts he is not ready but his accounts are intangled if he be called to give a perfect account it is a great deal of toyl to him but now let a man get over the difficulty and make all his accounts cleer now for him every day to keep his Books streight and cleer this wil not be so great a trouble This is the difference between one Christian and another for all the world one that shall take his pleasure all the week long and ride this way and the other way and neglects his Books and but one day in the week will look them over he wil have a great deal of trouble and it wil break his head somtimes when he hath multitude of business But now the other Merchant looks into his Books every day spends half an hour or a quarter of an hour every day and he goes on with a great deal of cheerfulness So it is with many Christians they think on the Lords day they must have their hearts in a good frame and temper but all the week they have no thoughts of God and of the word and now when the Sabbath comes or Sacrament and holy duties come they are burdensome to them whereas another that keeps his heart in a holy frame he rejoyceth in the Sabbath for he hath had a Sabbath day frame of heart all the week long Luther saith a Christians life should be a perpetuall Sabbath And that is the second means to facilitate every good work 3. Another is this Labor to inflame your hearts with love unto the Duty Do not do duties because you must do them but use all the means that you can for to kindle in you a love unto the duty never satisfie your selves with this I see I must do duty Conscience puts me upon duty therefore I must do it so it may be burdensom but labor to use all arguments you can to make you in love with the duty A Schollar that is in love with his Book will not cry when he goes to the School and especially if he delight in it and be in love with his Master there is many that are put to go to School that dare not go Oh their Father will be angry and their Master wil be severe if they should not learn and so they learn but with much ado they had rather do any thing in the world than go to School neither love their Books nor love their Master and so seldom come to any eminence of learning Love takes away all difficulty love is ashamed to complain of difficulty at any time as now take a man that loves recreation that loves that kind of sport of hunting or hawking if he love it he wil be running in the dirt all the day long though it be a hot day run over hedg and ditch whereas now if such a man had not a love to such a thing but were injoyned to such a thing that you must all the day from morning to night eate not a bit of bread but all the day long run after doggs over hedg and ditch and through waters it would take away the love that such a one should have in his sports and what a miserable bondage would this be so it is in the waies of God let there be love to the waies of God then whatever difficulty there may seem to be in them it is taken away presently love to the person of Jesus Christ will take away the difficulty of the waies of Christ you know when Jacob loved Rachel he cared not how long he served for her the hard nights were not hard to him Love God and love Christ and then his waies will not be difficult 4. Another rule is this do not loose your incouragements that that you have had from what good God doth bestow upon you and inable you to do take heed of loosing that incouragement many Christians are altogether looking upon what they ought to do what God requires of them to do and because they have had not yet attained unto what they ought to do and what is required of them to do therefore they find no incouragement from what the Lord hath already bestowed upon them what the Lord hath already inabled them to do they wholly neglect that and never think of it they think of what they want and what they should have and what they should do and so they are labouring to get what they should have and to do what they should do but for what God hath inabled them to do already or what God hath given them already that they do not think of and for want of those incouragements they make their endeavours for the getting of more to be burdensome to them but now when we are endeavouring to do more we should go on in the strength of this incouragement Oh blessed be God for any little You shal have Christians thinking of what they should do and therefore they think all the grace they have is nothing Oh! say they that which I have done what is it It is true if we were looked upon in the way of the Covenant of works it is nothing but in the way of the Covenant of Grace it is a great deal now that wil be a great ease to your souls labour to get more and do more for God but stil carry along with you the incouragement of what God hath done for you when you pray for any grace bless God for any grace you have Take notice of al the incouragement that God doth give you and that will help you to go on in any further work that God calls you unto and the want of this makes the lives of many Christians to be very greivous and burdensome unto them because they neglect those incouragements they might have from what God hath inabled them to do and from what God hath done already for them 5. Take heed of lying in the guilt of any sin I meane though in respect of God the guilt is taken away from beleevers but of lying so in any sin as not to cleer up all between God and your soul for the discharge of it of having any thing not cleered up in your own consciences take heed of lying in any sin unrepented of that is my meaning every sin that a man commits excepting those daily incursions and infirmities of the Saints which they cannot while they are here in the flesh be altogether without but every other sin it is as a thorne at least a thorn â—n the foot every sin that a man hath committed by strength of temptation it is a thorn in the foot and if it be a greater sin it is a gash in his flesh Now a man that hath a thorn in his foot he cannot go very fast but especially if he have a gash in his flesh when thou hast been overcome with a great sin thou hast given a great gash unto