to Believers 1 Iohn 1.9 If we confess and forsake our sins he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins When he wrote to Believers he put himself in the Roll If we confess Experience of the Saints confirmeth the same Psalm 32.5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee God was angry with Iobs Friends till they humbled themselves Iob 42.8 Solomon beggeth pardon for the people of God on these termes 1 Kings 8.47 48. Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the Land whither they were carried captives and repent and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives saying We have sinned and done perversly we have committed wickedness and so return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies which led them away captive and pray unto thee towards their land which thou gavest their fathers the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name The Lord assenteth to the Articles 2 Chron. 7.13 14. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain If my people shall humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked wayes then will I hear from heaven c. Gods Children may fall into miscarriages whereby they may displease God though their persons be justified 2. Constant when we first begin with God we bind our selves to forsake all known sin and to live to God In grown Persons this is confirmed by Baptisme Our Obligation continueth with our lives And therefore we must spend our whole time in Repentance And our necessity inferreth it as well as our Obligation Original Corruption remaineth with the Regenerate and we frequently feel the Rebellions of the Flesh. Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death So long as a Man is a Sinner he is called to Repentance and must use this means till his full Recovery Besides too 't is necessary with respect to our growth We must grow daily in humiliation and self-abhorrence and reform the errours of our wayes more and more and therefore we must look upon Christ still calling us to Repentance that walking in a constant mortifying of Sin he may still lead us to Salvation And by these calls he more and more killeth and weakneth Corruption in us Therefore as they said because of the difficulties of the outward Reformation Ezra 10.13 This is not a work of one day or two so inward Repentance is not the work of one but all our dayes 3. That this is the way of our recovery in order to the injoyment of the Priviledges of the New Covenant God and Christ agreed that Salvation should be dispensed upon these termes and the whole frame of the Gospel is to invite Sinners to repentance God sent him to heal the broken-hearted Matth. 11.28 He interposed as Mediator to make way for this This appeareth by the Doctrine of the Covenant He hath made a Covenant wherein he hath offered Pardon and Life to the Penitent Believer Luke 24.47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations with Mark 16.6 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Repentance putteth us within the reach of the promise which speaketh pardon to none but those which repent Some dispute whether it be an equal condition with Faith 'T is as necessary but Faith hath its special use for some respects As Repentance is a return to the Love and Obedience of our God so Faith is a thankful acceptance of the benefit of our Redeemer Acts 20.21 Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Iesus Christ. The closing Act is Faith or Acceptance of Christ yet the Person must be penitent As in Marriage the hearing of the proposal believing what is heard the liking the Party living in Conjugal Society are termes but the solemn taking one another is the Nuptial Knot so here consent to take Christ is the closing act of Faith and then there must be a living in Obedience afterward 2. The Sacraments or Seals of the Covenant bind to it Baptisme implyeth it Matth. 3.11 I baptize you with water unto repentance that is to seal up the Covenant of Repentance whereby the Party baptized is obliged to his Duty and hath the promise of God to supply us with Grace to repent The Lords Supper also binds to it The main benefit there offered is Remission of Sins Matth. 26.28 which cannot be had without Repentance We are bound in Baptisme but Men forget that they were purged from their old sins Therefore earnest resolutions against Sin need often to be renewed least we become cold and remiss in them Therefore a special Repentance is required before we come to the Lords Table 4. The suitableness of the Qualification 1. It is much for the Honour of God Christ hath purchased the Effects of his Grace to be communicated to us in a way becoming his Wisdom as well as his Justice Now it would not be for the Glory of God nor preserve his Law and Government if we should be pardoned without submissive Confession of past Sins or a Resolution of future Obedience Common reason will tell us that our case is not compassionable without it Who will pity those in Misery that are unwilling to come out of it Repentance is called a giving Glory to God Mal. 2.2 I will curse your blessings because ye will not lay it to heart and give glory to my name Ioshua 7.14 My Son give glory to the God of Israel and make confession to him Revel 16.9 They repented not to give glory to God Repentance repaireth God in point of Honour giveth him the Glory of the justness of his Laws and Providence The self-condemning Sinner subscribeth to all this therefore it is suitable to the Wisdom of God that a penitent Sinner should have pardon rather than an impenitent or one that continueth securely in his Sins and despiseth both the curse of the Law and the Grace of the Gospel 2. The Duty of the Creature is secured when he is so firmly bound unto future Obedience Therefore surely a converting Repentance is the fittest Condition such as may induce an hatred of Sin repented of and a love to God and Holiness Now our first hearty consent for the future to live in the Love Obedience and Service of our Creator with a detestation of our former wayes is most conducible to this end besides the obligation of the Vow its self or Bond of the Holy Oath into which they are entered and the Circumstances accompanying it because this Vow and âromise is made partly in our anguish when we feel the smart of Sin then for the Soul to resign its self to God Acts 9.6 Lord what wilt thou have me to do And partly when we are in the deepest and freshest sense of his pardoning Mercy when we see at how dear a rate he is content to save us and upon what free terms to
in all our Enjoyments If God gives you deliverance you may say as Hezekiah Isa. 38.17 Thou hast in love to my Soul delivered it from the Pit of Corruption You are loved into Mercy Whatsoever you enjoy it is not as a Creature but as an Heir What a Comfort then will a Christian take in a morsel of Bread when he causes God's special Love in it more than worldly Men can take in their greatest Possessions Look as a mean Remembrance from a Friend is better than a Royal Gift from an Enemy so this makes thy Meat and Bread sweet when sent from thy Father in Heaven when thou hast it as an Heir of Promise 6. This will make Afflictions sweet their very Property is altered they are not now vindictive Dispensations but such as belong to the Covenant of Grace and so they will not do us harm In faithfulness thou hast afflicted me Psal. 119.75 When you can make this Reflection the Lord seeth I want this else I should not be exercised with such Providences At least there is a Supply of inward Comfort and then a heavy Burden is nothing to a sound Back If God strikes Sin is pardoned and the Sting of Affliction is taken away 7. It will sweeten Death it self thou knowest whither thou art going Death is a sad stroak to wicked Men which sends the Body to the Grave and the Soul to Hell it must needs be a King of Terrors to them But Death to those that have this strong Consolation is as Haman was to Mordecai from a Mischief it is made a Means to do us Honour Christ hath delivered us both from the Hurt and Fear of Death Heb. 2.14 15. That through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil And deliver them who through fear of Death were all their life-time subject to Bondage So that we may entertain it with Delight as Iacob looked upon the Chariots that were sent for him with rejoicing This is a Messenger to carry me to Christ and who would refuse to be happy Phil. 1.23 I desire to depart and to be with Christ. They know Death is but a loosing from the Body that they may be joined to Christ and they had rather lose a thousand Bodies than Fellowship with Christ their Souls are sent away in peace to the place of Bliss 8. This makes the Day of Judgment sweet Look as the betrothed Virgin longs for the Day of Espousals and when the Bridegroom will come or as a Woman longs for the return of her Husband that is gone a long Voyage so the Soul that is betrothed to Christ longs for the return of the Bridegroom that he may carry it into his Father's House 9. It will make the Thoughts of Heaven sweet When a Christian walks abroad and points up to Heaven he may say there is the place of my Bliss and everlasting Abode One would think this were enough to ravish the Heart of any Man and make him do any thing even run to the ends of the Earth to gain this strong Consolation But we are backward and slow therefore here is the great Question What shall we do to get and keep this great Comfort I shall give you a few Directions Many rest in Notions when they see the Way they are discouraged and go no farther But will you engage before the Lord to observe these things if you find them according to Scripture First Then how to get these strong Consolations 1. Lay a good Foundation by meditating upon the Mercy and Truth of God in the Gospel Our first Comfort ariseth from Meditation or the serious Act of Faith on the Mercy and Truth of God as settled Assurance ariseth from a sight of Evidence God usually gives us at first Conversion a taste of his Goodness and Sweetness which differeth from Assurance 1 Pet. 2.2 3. As new-born Babes desire the sincere Milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby If so be ye have ââsted that the Lord is gracious Usually at first when the Soul is taken up with deep Thoughts of God's Love and Mercy in Christ God lets in some Comfort and Sweetness into the Soul which though it be not Assurance and a solemn Testimony of our Interest in Christ yet it is a Refreshment which the Soul receiveth while it admires the Riches and the Bounty and the Certainty of God's Grace However this is a Taste a Beginning that maketh as look after a more assured sense of God's Grace Briefly there must be believing Thoughts of God's Mercy and Truth I call this Meditation because all the direct Acts of Faith are performed and carried on by the help of the Thoughts Faith engageth us in solemn musing and deep Thoughts fasten things upon the Spirit As Eggs are hatched by a constant Incubation so when the Soul museth Comfort ariseth The two things you should often propound are Mercy and Truth because they are the Iââhin and Boaâ the two Pillars which support the Covenant of Grace for it was made in Mercy and kept in Truth Therefore it is said Mich. 7.20 Thou wilt perform the Truth to Jacob and Mercy to Abraham The Covenant was made first with Abraham therefore it was Mercy to him but it was made good to Iacob therefore it was Truth to him In the 89th Psalm they are seven times coupled the one is the Fountain the other the Pipe and Conveyance it springs from Mercy and is conveyed and dispensed in Truth Therefore the Psalmist saith Psal. 25.10 All the Paths of the Lord are Mercy and Truth to them that keep his Covenant and his Testimonies It is free that it may be sure and sure that it may be free These are the two Attributes God doth glorify in the Covenant of Grace and in all his Dispensations of Grace 1. Meditate of the Mercy and Love of God In the Covenant of Works God would glorify his Justice but his great Aim in the Covenant of Grace is to glorify his Mercy Ephes. 1.6 To the praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath accepted us in the Beloved God would make Grace glorious Justice seeks a fit Object Mercy only a fit Occasion The Question of Justice is To whom is it due But the Question of Mercy is Who wants it who needs it Well then though Satan and our own Hearts may make many Objections there is enough indeed to overwhelm us to damn us when we look to our selves But what will God glorify Grace Grace This is the Banner he hath spread over the Church in defiance of all the Powers of Darkness He hath brought me to the Banqueting-house and his Banner over me was Love Cant. 2.4 You must refresh your Souls with a sense of God's Mercy every day get a sprinkling of Christ's Blood upon your Heart Now in the establishing Assurance this is necessary for the Spirit sealeth us a Spirit of Promise upon terms of Mercy and Grace Ephes. 1.13 Ye were sealed
730 Conscience is God's Vicegerent or Deputy 731 Three Acts of Conscience to be an Accuser Witness and Iudg 736 Conscience to be your Guide 730 Why God hath given Man a Conscience ibid. The Properties of a good Conscience 725 Conscience void of Offence what it signifies ibid. Conscience easily offended but not easily appeased 732 Conscience the best Friend or worst Enemy ib. Conscience the Beginning of Heaven or Hell 733 When there is a Flaw in Conscience all our Trading for Heaven is at a stand ibid. When Conscience speaks not it writes ibid. The Stings of Conscience soon awakned 734 If Conscience do not speak to you you must speak to it ibid. No sound Conscience without sincere Obedience ibid. A man may do Good or Evil without Conscience or according to Conscience or against Conscience 734 Consolation Comfort Peace Ioy and Consolation opened 211 Comfort allowed to the Saints 217 God's People have not alike Comfort 214 Who they are the Lord gives most Comfort to 215 How Christians disparage their Comfort 219 False Comfort of wicked Men whence it ariseth 217 Strong Consolation why so called 212 How it ariseth from Assurance 213 How it is dispensed 214 Motives to look after it 220 The Advantages of it 221 Directions to keep it 226 Convincing Power of the Word whence it ariseth 1034 Correction Why God corrects his People for their Sins in this World 272 Covenant Why God makes a Covenant with his People 826 No Covenant can be made with God without the Interposition of a Sacrifice 828 What we should do to enter into Covenant with God 831 Covenant of God called the Foundation of God and why 1025 The Sureness of God's Covenant 1026 The Seal of the Covenant on God's part 1027 on Man's part 1029 Covenant of Grace why called an everlasting Covenant 691 Covenant of Works what it is 306 All Men by Nature are under this Covenant ibid. Natural Conscience sticketh to this Covenant 307 This Covenant rightly understood prepares Mens for Christ ibid. Vid. Preparatory Works How you may avoid the Curse of this Covenant 310 How the two Covenants agree and are subservient one to another 309 Covet What the Sin is that is forbidden in the tenth Commandment Thou shalt not covet 305 Covetousness how incident we are to it 59 How it discovers it self ibid. The Evil of this Sin 364 Arguments against it 60 Counsel How God gives Counsel to his People 1112 Creation the Power of God seen in it 412 Cross. Why God foretels his People of a Cross 354 Taking up the Cross what it is 350 351 What it is to take up the Cross daily 352 Why those that follow Christ should take up the Cross ibid. Motives to take up the Cross 355 Necessity of being prepared for the Cross ibid. Who are prepared for the Cross and who not 356 Cup. A threefold Cup in Scripture 1131 D DAY of Grace to be prized and improved 14 Darkness What it is to walk in Darkness and see no Light 809 Why the People of God may walk in Darkness and see no Light 810 Comfort to support the Children of God in a dark State 812 In dark times we should trust in God Vid. Trust. Dead Arguments against one coming from the Dead 675 Death of Christ. The Love of Christ in his Dying 1154 Reasons why Christ died willingly ibid. Sacraments relate to Christ's Death 1009 How we are to remember Christ's Death 1011 Vid. Shewing forth Death of Christ to be remembred not as a Tragical Story but as a Mystery of Godliness 1010 Death of Christ a powerful Argument to press Repentance and make us hate Sin 681 714 Delay in answering Prayer Vid. Prayer Delay of Repentance reproved 101 Motives against these Delays 102 532 Destroy What God hath and will destroy 794 Why we should not build what God will destroy 798 Devil How many ways he may vex and trouble God's People 706 Our Trials are the more sore because the Devil hath a Hand in them 707 Why God permits the Devil to vex and trouble his People 708 God doth restrain and bridle the Devil's Fury 709 How far the Devil's Power is destroyed 790 Vid. Power of the Devil Difficulty of Salvation great 397 Wherein the Difficulty lies ibid. Vid. Impotency This Difficulty must be understood and thought of how and why 401 Motives to fortify you against the Difficulty of Salvation 40â Difficulty of rich Mens Salvation why the Apostles wondred at it 394 Vid. Rich Men. Difficulties How we are or are not to consider them 485 The Inconvenience of sinful considering Difficulties ibid. Disciple of Christ. What it is to enter our selves a Disciple of Christ 341 The Necessity of this beyond Alms and all other amiable Qualifications 343 They that profess themselves Disciples of Christ must imitate his Example 344 Vid. Example Discourse good and bad Vid. Tongue Due What is a Man's Due 82 Dwelling in God what it is and in what manner to be done 906 Motives to press it 904 E END Man was made for an End 637 How our End is to be accomplished 638 Man's chief End is to glorify and enjoy God 637 Why other things should not be our chief End 639 How we should urge our Souls concerning our chief End 639 How we should honour God as our last End 39 Enemy The Devil is an Enemy 788 The Nature of this Enmity 789 The Victory of this Enmity and how attained 789 How far the Enemy is overcome 790 That the overcoming this Enmity is Matter of Praise 792 There is an Enmity between Christ and Satan 536 There is an Enmity between God's People and wicked Men 537 Envy at the Prosperity of the Wicked what it is 1045 The Evil of this Sin 1050 No Reason why God's People should envy the Wicked 1046 Remedies against this Envy 1051 Error God's own People may err in some Points of Religion 1066 Yet when convinced they confess their Error ibid. Esteem of Christ what it is 452 How this Esteem of Christ will shew it self 454 Esteem of Christ a Property of Faith 451 Faith only gives Christ this Esteem 453 Christ deserves this Esteem ibid. Esteem of Ordinances Vid. Ordinances Eternity An eternal State proved 980 Good or Evil are valuable by their Respect to Eternity 975 Evil. Grace teacheth us to depart from Evil and do Good 27 We must first begin with renouncing Evil ib. Example Why Christ would propound himself for our Example 345 They that profess themselves Disciples of Christ should imitate his Example 344 The Power of Christ's Example 864 The Advantage we have by the Example of Christ 345 Vid. Following Christ. What Christ's Example in his Humiliation teacheth us 865 Excel Duties of those would excel 430 Expectation what it is not 105 What it is and wherein it sheweth it self 106 How it is wrought 112 How much we expect in Heaven 124 F FAinting We must not faint in Afflictions 765 Faith Several Notions of Faith 754 What it
not only shew them what they must do but how they may come to do their Duty in this kind for saith he The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation c. In the Words you may observe the Teacher the Lesson the Encouragement and Inducements to learn First The Teacher is the Grace of God described ver 11. Secondly The Lesson is the whole Duty of our Heavenly Calling set forth ver 12. and there 1 st Negatively in departing from Evil denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts. 2 dly Positively in cleaving to that which is good We should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Where you may observe that the Duty of the Creature is distributed into three Ranks and Parts according to the several Objects to which it is refââred soberly we must walk as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly that the Lord himself may not be defrauded of his Portion There are in a moral Consideration but three things in the World thy Self thy Neighbour and God and suitably doth the Apostle distribute and parcel out Christian Offices and Duties soberly as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly as to God Thirdly The Encouragements to learn and they are two If we look forward there is Hope if we look backward there is Gratitude or an Obligation arising from the Death of Christ. In short the two great Motives and Inducements are the Hope of eternal Life and the End of Christ's Death Hope of eternal Life ver 13. Looking for the blessed Hope c. the End of Christ's Death ver 14. who gave himself for us c. The Text being long I shall forbear Exposition till I come to handle the several Branches I shall first begin with the Teacher described ver 11. The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men. The Grace of God is described by its Property it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Grace bringing Salvation or tending to Salvation as the Word signifies and by a special Adjunct its present Manifestation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it hath appeared suddainly broken out like the Light of the Morning after a dark Night and then there is the Extent of that Manifestation it hath appeared to all Men. Some indeed refer this Extent not to the Word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it hath appeared but to the Word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã bringing Salvation and they read it as we do in the Margent The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation to all Men hath appeared there is not much Difference To supersede all Doubt and Dispute about the matter all Men here signifies all sorts of Men for the Apostle had spoken of Servants and Bond-men that they in their Relations should glorify God and he proves it by this Argument The Grace of God hath appeared to all Men that is to the Bond-man as well as to the Lord and Master therefore they in their places are to discharge their Duties as well as others for the Gospel as I said hath appeared to all Men and presseth all sorts of Duties I. I begin with the thing described The Grace of God It is a term that admits of divers Acceptations sometimes it is put for God's eternal Favour and Good-Will sometimes for the Effects of this Favour as Grace infused and bestowed upon the Creature Ephes. 4.7 To every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ. Sometimes it is put for the Gospel which is the Charter by which we hold this Grace and so it is said Rom. 6.15 You are not under the Law but under Grace i. e. under the State of the Gospel Here I take it in the first sense viz. for the gracious Will and good Pleasure of God to do Good to Men or to shew Mercy to the Creature for God's Kindness and Bounty to Men is expressed by several terms the most usual are two Grace and Mercy I will shew how they agree and how they differ They both agree in this that they are Attributes which merely respect the Creature The Love and Knowledg of God first falleth upon himself God knows himself and loves himself and then the Creature But now the Mercy and Grace of God are merely transient and pass out to and respect the Creature only God cannot be gracious to himself and merciful to himself as he loves himself and knows himself and therefore herein they agree But now in some respects they differ Grace properly signifies the Freeness of God's Love Mercy relates to the Misery of the Creature God's external Motive is our Misery and his internal Motive is his own Grace Mercy respects us as we are in our selves worthy of Condemnation Grace respects us as we are compared with others that are not elected As for Instance if the Question be Why any are chosen to Life it is out of Mercy because they are lost and undone Creatures But then if the Question be Why these are chosen above others then the ultimate Reason is God's Grace Once more the Angels that never sinned are saved meerly out of Grace and not out of Mercy it is not proper to say they are saved out of Mercy for they were never miserable but Men that were once miserable are saved not only out of Grace but also out of Mercy In short Mercy signifies that Love of God which helps the Miserable and Grace signifies a Property in God to give forth things freely and without desert Grace doth all gratis freely and without any Merit or Precedent Obligation or Debt Note then Doct. 1. That the original and first moving Cause of all the Blessings we have from God is Grace Survey all the Blessings of the Covenant and from first to last you will see Grace doth all Election Vocation Justification Sanctification Glorification all is from Grace There 's a clue of Scriptures which will lead us through all these steps and direct us to Grace 1. For Election Rom. 11.5 6. There is a Remnant according to the Election of Grace And then he adds presently for Paul cannot mention Grace but he must run out into the Praise or Vindication of it And if by Grace then it is no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace But if it be of Works then it is more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work Mark the Context The Apostle's drift in that place is to prove that all Israel are not cast away that thô the Nation of Israel were past by yet there were a Remnant chosen according to the Election of Grace Grace is spoken of by the by but he takes every little Occasion to digress into the Commendation of Grace and what doth he say The Foundation and Ground of Salvation is God's Election and the impulsive Cause of Election is God's Grace Why is there a Remnant there 's an Election and why is there Election it is according to Grace 2. Our Calling when Election breaketh out in time and becometh
actual Look as the Heirs of Salvation are distinguished from others by Election in the Purpose and Bosom of God so are they actually distinguished from others by effectual Calling 2 Tim. 1.9 Who hath saved us and called us with an holy Calling not according to our Works but according to his own Purpose and Grace which was given us in Christ Iesus before the World begââ Why doth God pick and chuse and cull here and there The only reason is his own Grace and his own Purpose When we come to make choice we cull and pick out those things that are worthy of our Love and Respect And we favour none but for something whereby we may be allâred to love them but God saw nothing lovely in us but yet calleth us with an holy Calling according to his Purpose and Grace The same gracious Purpose that distinguisheth them from others before all Time doth in time make an actual choice and distinction between them and others by effectual Calling 3. Justification Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace Mark the Apostle useth two words it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by his Grace and it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã freely by his Grace freely to note the readiness of his Inclination and by his Grace to exclude the Merit of our Works or the meer Grace of God not excited or quickned by any Works of ours but acting of its own accord The Scriptures do with such emphatical and redoubled Expressions inculcate it because there are deep Prejudices in the proud Heart of Man rooted in his Nature against the Grace of God 4. Sanctification all the parts whereof are called the Graces of the Spirit because Gratiae gratiââ dâtae they are not only wrought by the Spirit but freely given us of God Thus Faith is said to be God's Gift Ephes. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God And it is given of meer Grace Phil. 1.29 To you it is given to believe the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies graciously given it is the same word that is used Rom. 8.32 He that spare ãâ¦ã own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he nor with him also freely give us all things ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The same Grace that giveth Christ giveth Faith to believe in Christ that we may be possessed of his Grace 5. Glorification which is the Complement of all Salvation So Ephes. 2.8 By Grace you are saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gifts of God Not only all the Means and all the Tendencies of Salvation are of Grace but Salvation it self from first to last it is all of Grace So that when we come to Heaven this will be our great Work to sing forth the Praises of Grace and to admire and glorify the Grace of God to all Eternity II. To limit the Point Thô it is of Grace yet not to exclude Christ not to exclude the Means of Salvation 1. Not to exclude Christ. The Merit of Christ stands well enough with the Grace of God Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Iesus Freely you will say How so when it was not without so great a Price and Satisfaction as the Blood of the Lord Jesus Yet however it is freely in respect of us it is by no Work of ours it was the exceeding Grace of God to appoint the Merit of Christ that it might be the greater ground of Confidence to us We do not look for things with such certainty which depend upon meer Grace and Favour and Good-will as we do when a thing is established by Merit and Desert Now Merit in us there could not be without wrong to Grace and therefore the Wisdom and Love of God hath found out this way of Merit in Christ that we might be the more confident of the standing of our Priviledges they being bought at so great a Price There was Grace in this that God gave Christ that the Satisfaction is not required of us and therefore indeed there is nothing doth so gloriously discover the Grace of God as the free giving up of Jesus Christ. God might require Satisfaction from the Party offending or the Person that had so sinned might bear the Blame and Punishment but the Lord hath so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son and that not to Angels but to us Well then it is Grace to find out the Merit and Grace by which we are interested in it Christ's Merit is most free both on the part of God the Father freely sending Christ and on the part of Christ taking this Office upon him It was Grace that moved God to give Christ and Grace that moved Christ to give himself who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 Nay after all this it is Grace that gives us Faith that so we may be interested in the Merit of Christ that we which sinned with both Hands earnestly might take hold of God with both Hands And our Salvation is carried on in such a way that we may confidently expect his Mercy whithout any violation of his Justice and Truth So that it doth not derogate from the Grace of God but much amplify and enlarge it This is a great part of the Grace that he freely sent Christ to make all sure between us and him 2. Not to exclude the Means of Salvation not Faith nor Obedience also if rightly understood Not Faith that may well enough stand with Grace Ephes. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God There is a Condition required and that 's Faith but God himself gives the Condition that he requireth Grace cannot stand with any thing that is in Man and of Man as the Condition of the Covenant yet it stands with Faith because it justifies not as an inherent Quality in us or as a Work done by us but as it layeth hold of Jesus Christ and it is not of our selves but is the meer Gift of Grace And then for Obedience that is also subordinate to Faith as a necessary Fruit and Effect of it As Faith is the Instrument so Obedience is required as a Fruit of Faith thô it come not into Justification yet it is an Evidence of our Interest in Salvation It is required as a Testimony of Faith yet not as a Condition which is a Cause of the Thing promised It is required because thô it be not of Man yet it is in Man it is given of God but it is our Work The Papists to excuse the grossness of Merit say That our Works do not merit but as they come from the Grace of God and as they are sprinkled with the Blood of Christ. But mark it is not enough so to ascribe our Works to the Grace of God all Self-justiciaries will do so as the Pharisee that pleaded his Works Luke 18.11
God I thank thee I am not as other Men are And you confound the Covenants when you think that a Man may merit of God by his own Grace Adam under the Covenant of Works might then be said to be saved by Grace Why Because he could not persevere in the use of his own Free-will unless he had received it of God Well then Grace doth not exclude Faith nor Works not Faith as the Instrument of Justification and as the Condition of the Covenant not Works as the Fruit and Testimony of Faith There is a Concurrence of Works but not by way of Causality but Order God will first justify then sanctify then glorify and all of Grace Obedience is the Conditio ãâã quâ non the Condition without which we cannot be saved The Grace of God is the first moving Cause Christ is the meritorious procuring Cause Faith is the Instrument and Obedience is the Fruit of Faith These are subordinate not contrary III. My next Work shall be to give you some Reasons why it must be so that Grace is the Original Cause of all the Blessings we receive from God because it is most for the Glory of God and most for the Comfort of the Creature 1. It is most convenient for the Glory of God to keep up the Respects of the Creature to him in a way suitable to his Majesty Mark God would dispense Blessings in such a way as might beat down Despair and carnal Confidence at the same time Man had need of Mercy but deserveth none Despair would keep us from returning to God and carnal Confidence from ascribing all to God therefore as the Lord would not have Flesh to glory so neither to be cut off from all Hope It is of Grace that we may hope and keep up our Respect to God for there is nothing that keeps up the Devotion and Respects of the Creature to God so much as Grace The Psalmist intimates this There is Forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Psal. 130.4 Mercy in God makes us fear love and respect him And it is of Grace that Flesh may not glory Ephes. 2.9 Not of Works lest any Man should boast but that God may have all the Glory of his Grace If God did not deal with us upon Terms of Grace Despair would make us let go all sense of Duty and a guilty Creature would stand at a distance and fly from the sight of God Some think that the only way to gain Men to a sense of Religion is by rubbing the Conscience and keeping it raw and sore with Terror But the Psalmist faith There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared this is the best way to keep up the Creatures Respects False Worships are meerly supported by Terror and Fear but God that hath the best Title to the Heart will gain it by Love and Grace But as Despair standeth in the way of God's Glory so doth carnal Confidence Now Grace taketh off all boasting 1 Cor. 1.31 He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Here is nothing of Pre-engagement Merit and Hire yea it is for the Glory of the Supream Majesty that he should act freely and that his Blessings should come to us not as a Thing deserved but as a Gift and that he should entertain us as a King not as an Host. He that hath no Money come ye buy and eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price Isa. 55.1 Nothing can be more dishonourable to God than the Merit of the Creature for it takes off part of his Royalty and Supremacy 2. It is most for the Comfort of the Creature Grace is the original Cause of all the Good we expect and receive from God that we may seek the Favour of God with Hope and retain it with Certainty 1. That we may seek the Favour of God with Hope If we had to do with Justice there could be no Hope for Justice giveth only what is due and doth not consider what we need but what we deserve Now mark the Apostle in the behalf of God makes the Challenge Rom. 11.35 Who hath first given to him and it shall be recompensed to him again Come let me see the Man that durst plead Desert with God and claim any thing of him by way of Merit Who will enter that Plea Lord give me what thou owest I desire no more than is due to me Let me not have Mercy till I deserve it Merit-mongers are best confuted by Experience Let them use the same Plea in their Prayers which they do in their Disputes and plead the Merit of their Works and say Lord give me not eternal Life and Grace and Favour till I deserve it at thy Hand Let them thus dispute with God or with their own Consciences in the Agonies of Death and under Horrors of the Lord 's Wrath. Surely those that cry up the Merit of Works are Men of little spiritual Experience and seldom look into their own Consciences Dare they thus plead with God Lord never look upon me in Mercy if I do not deserve it You shall see the best Plea that the eminentest of God's Children could make is meer Grace The Church speaks thus Hos. 14.2 Receive us graciously so will we render the Calves of our Lips It is the Form that is prescribed to returning Israel If you would establish Hope with God this must be your only Plea and Claim Grace Lord Mercy Lord And David saith Psal. 13.5 I have trusted in thy Mercy There 's the ground of my Confidence And Chrysostom hath a sweet gloss upon that place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. If others have any thing to alledg let them plead it Ah Lord I have but one thing to say and plead and upon which to cast all my Hopes and that 's Mercy and Grace Lord I have trusted in thy Mercy Thus Ambrose when he was to die saith Etsi non sic vixi ut pudeat inter vos vivere c. Thô I have not so lived as that I should be ashamed to live I am not afraid to die Why not that I have lived well but quia bonum habeo Dominum because I have a gracious Lord and have made Grace my Confidence So we read in the Life of Bernard seeming to be cited before the Tribunal of God when Satan had spoken in his Conscience What! thou look for any Favour at God's Hand thou art not worthy He replies I confess I am not worthy nor can I by my own Deserts obtain the Kingdom of Heaven but I have a double right Haereditate Patris Merito Passionis by the Grace of my Father and by the Merit of Christ's Passion hereby I can take hold of God with both Hands by Grace and Merit not my own but Christ's Thus God's best Servants their Hopes have been established this way by casting themselves upon Mercy and Grace 2. That we may retain the Favour of God with Certainty Rom. 4.16
Why Because there 's much of Heaven discovered the Eternal Reward is strong enough but Temporals are not of Consideration Carnal Men are of a Temper quite contrary to the Gospel they could be content to be under the Old Dispensation to have Temporal Blessings and let God keep Heaven to himself But this is the great Priviledg of the Gospel that Life and Immortality the Blessed Hope the Eternal Recompences are now mentioned so expresly and propounded to our Desires and Hopes 5. In the Gospel we learn the Sureness of Grace God will no more be disappointed the whole Business lies without us in other Hands In the first Covenant our Salvation was committed to the indeterminate freedom of Man's Will but now Christ is both a Redeemer and a Surety The former Covenant depended upon something in our selves upon the mutability of our Will but now it is put into the Hands of Christ not only to reconcile us to God but to preserve and keep us in such an Estate Therefore Heb. 7.22 he is said to be the Surety of a better Testament Christ stands engaged to see the Covenant kept on both sides God hath Christ to challenge for Obedience and we to give us Grace to perform that which God hath required of us so that now Grace in all its Glory is made known The Apostle saith Rom. 4.16 Therefore it is of Faith that it might be by Grace to the end the Promise might be sure to all the Seed This is that which makes it sure to all the Elect because God deals with us upon such gracious and free Terms SERMON II. TITUS II. 11 Hath appeared unto all Men. Vse 1. LET us prize these Days of Grace We are not apprehensive enough of the Mercy that Grace is so clearly revealed The Gospel is the Light of the renewed World we can no more be without the Gospel than the World can be without the Sun Psal. 19. David first speaks of the Sun then of the Law which signifies there the general Doctrine of the Scriptures People would be in a miserable case and all things would languish and suffer decay if the Sun were gone and such blackness there would be upon the new Creation if we had not the Light of the Gospel O how miserable were they that wanted the Light of the Sun for a few days as in Egypt And how barbarous and miserable should we be were it not that Immortality and Life is brought to light by the Gospel Tertullian saith Gemmae à sola raritate gratiam possident Jewels are commended for their scarceness and rareness O we should the more seriously regard the Gospel because God hath been so tender of revealing it for four thousand Years in a great measure the Gospel lay hid God kept it for a long time as a precious Secret hid in his own Bosom and did not think the World worthy of it till the Son of God came out from him to take our Nature then was the Gospel discovered Only as a King reveals his Secrets to some of his Intimates and Privy-Counsellors and hides them from the rest of his Subjects so God revealed it to some Prophets and some Holy Men and yet they had but a glimpse and saw Christ at a distance As when we see a Man a far off we cannot tell his Shape nor colour of his Clothes nor other Circumstances but only we see the Substance and Bulk of a Man so they saw Christ but it was at a distance they could not tell the particular Circumstances of his Birth Incarnation Death and Resurrection so clearly as now we can therefore the Prophets are forced to study their own Prophecies 1 Pet. 1.10 Of which Salvation the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the Grace that should come unto you They saw there was a glorious Salvation at hand but fully what to make of it they could not tell therefore they studied their own Writings and Prophecies that were brought to them by the Spirit of God The very Prophets of God would have thought themselves happy to see the things that we see Mat. 13.16 17. But blessed are your Eyes for they see and your Ears for they hear For verily I say unto you that many Prophets and Righteous Men have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them We have a far more happy Estate since the manifestation of Christ in the Flesh and pouring out of the Spirit than Abraham and David and the Prophets and Righteous Men had for God hath dealt more mercifully and kindly with us they had but a glimpse and how earnestly did they desire to see more and therefore were enquiring after it more and more The usefulness necessity and rarity of the Gospel should make it more dear to us that we should prize these Days of Grace more than we do Vse 2. Let it put us upon trial What are we the better for these Days of Grace Have we more knowledg and clearness of Faith Alas we are far inferiour to those that obtained but the Shadows their Eagle-Eye discerned more of Christ in a Ceremony than we can in the Substance It is said Zech. 12.8 He that is feeble among them at that Day shall be as David and the House of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them But we come short not only of David but of the meanest Believer in the Old Testament and have little knowledg of the Covenant and Blessings of it We lose the benefit of the days of Light wherein we live as good we had never heard of the Gospel nay in some sense it had been better for us we had never enjoy'd these days of Plenty if we do ãâã profit by them To stumble in the Night is more venial and pardonable but it is dangerous to stumble there where we have the benefit of the Light to see our way The Grace of God hath appeared breaking out like a clear Light yet we come short of Grace offered to us Trees in a fertile Soil should be more fruitful and Cattel in better Pasture should thrive more so we that are led forth by the pleasant Streams and refreshed with the tender Grass of the Earth should thrive more Wherefore hath God set up a Candle a Light in the Church but that we should work by it Therefore have you improved these days of Grace What of Power have you got to subdue Corruption Alas to some the Gospel is but a dead Letter still it gives them no strength to master their Corruptions at best it is a directive Light not perswasive it is only as Light not as Fire to consume and burn up their Lusts therefore what of Strength can you speak of for subduing of Corruption What of willingness of Heart to do Duties The Love of Christ constraineth us â Cor. 5.14 You who are not acquainted with God's
Love and Grace have less Constraint It should not be so yet there is more recorded of the Piety Zeal and Devotion of the Saints of the Old Testament than we can imitate And have we a greater measure of Comfort to carry us out against Discouragement Have we a more full Joy to bear us up against all the Afflictions of this present Life now there is more Grace discovered Joh. 15.11 These things have I spoken to you that my Ioy might remain in you and that your Joy might be full Is there a greater measure of Charity in doing good to them that need it as more of the Bounty of God is discovered to us in these days of Grace Under the Law all things were set down in so many positive Precepts the exact Proportion what they should give and lay out the tenth part was the Lord's But under the Gospel it may be there was no such Precept tho that be a great Question whether the Tenth be not the Lord 's still but God knows Love will not be backward for it is trusted much in the days of the Gospel In short are we more acquainted with God's Covenant Can we subdue Corruptions more bear Afflictions better and have we a greater Ability and Willingness to good Works Which bringeth Salvation to all Men. That is to all that accept of Grace bond or free and that Salvation is taken for our compleat Happiness for eternal Life and Salvation is clear enough The Point then is Doct. 3. That the Grace of God revealed in the Gospel is the great means of Salvation or a Grace that tends to Salvation The Gospel is called the Power of God unto Salvation Rom. 1.16 I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God to Salvation that is a powerful Instrument which God useth Therefore it is called the Arm of the Lord Isa. 53.1 Who hath believed our Report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed It s Force is not in Letters and Syllables but it standeth in the Co-operation of the Spirit by which God owneth and honoureth it It is said to Cornelius when Peter came to preach the Gospel to him Acts 11.14 That he should tell him words whereby he and all his House should be saved There 's no other way to bring Men to God but this this will teach you how you and your little ones should be saved Now the Gospel or the Grace of God in the Gospel is a means of Salvation because it hath a moral Tendency that way and because it hath the Promise of the Spirit 's Work and Assistance 1. It hath a moral tendency that way for there is the History of Salvation what God hath done on his part there are the Counsels of Salvation what we must do on our part and there are excellent Enforcements to encourage us to embrace this Salvation 1. There is the History of Salvation what God hath done on his part there all things are ready there you here of the Love of God that he hath given his only Son and of the free Election of those whom he means to save in Christ. There you hear of the Person of the Mediator his Mission and sending into the World his Incarnation his Unction or anointing to his Office his Abasement his Obedience his Death his Burial his Satisfaction for Sin his Purchase of Life and then his Exaltation with all the Fruits and Effects of it to wit his Intercession at the Right-hand of God his Effusion and pouring out of the Spirit to be his Deputy here on Earth and there you read of his Collection and manner of gathering of a Church by the Institutions of the Word and Sacraments There we hear of the Humiliation of Christ by which Salvation was purchased and of his Exaltation whereby the Graces that accompany Salvation are distributed and dispensed and how Christ by his Spirit applies this Salvation 2. There is the Counsel of Salvation what Man must do on his part that he may partake of the Righteousness and Spirit of Christ according to the good pleasure of God which Christ purchased by virtue of his Humiliation and dispenseth and distributeth by virtue of his Exaltation I call all this the Counsel of God because thus it is called in Scripture Luke 7.30 The Pharisees and Lawyers rejected the Counsel of God against themselves If you will be saved here is God's Counsel thus you must do It is dangerous for a sick Man to alter the Physician 's Method and Receipt to be tampering to be taking out and putting in so it is very dangerous to alter the Counsel of God which he hath set down how we may be brought to Salvation Do not as the young Man that came to Christ and said Matth. 19.16 Good Master what good thing shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life and yet when Christ puts him to the trial it 's said he went away sad So a natural Man his Heart is raised up to hearken after Salvation but he goes away sorrowful when he cannot win Heaven in his own way to enjoy Christ and the World Christ and carnal Liberty and Christ and his carnal Pleasures therefore you must not only look to the History of Salvation what God hath done but to the Counsel of Salvation what you must do And Peter sums it up and gives an Abridgment of the Gospel Acts 2.37 38. Men and Brethren what shall we do And Peter said unto them Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Iesus Christ for the Remission of your Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost Repentance that implies true and lively Grief because of Sin and Misery by which a Man feeleth the Wrath of God grieveth because he hath offended God acknowledgeth that he hath deserved Condemnation hungreth and thirsteth after Christ and then waiteth till his Heart be settled in the Comfort of the Gospel and he possessed of the Righteousness of Christ. Nay Repentance implies more you must lay down the Weapons of Defiance and study Thankfulness to God and walk in new Obedience and love God and love your Neighbour and bear the Cross quietly waiting for eternal Life This is the Counsel of God to you if you would be saved And then he saith Be baptized by which Peter understands a religious use of the Seals and all the Means of Salvation in which God is wont to meet us and give us the Supplies of his Grace by his Spirit 3. There are excellent Enforcements to encourage us to imbrace this Salvation God is very impatient of being denied now he speaks in the Gospel and useth all kind of Methods As a Man who cannot undo a Door and having a bunch of Keys in his Hand tries one after another till the Lock doth fly open So the Lord tries all kind of Methods beseecheth threatneth promiseth that the Heart of the Sinner might fly open He beseecheth God falls a
that we may not look for more than God hath promised an earthly Kingdom without the Cross or imperfect Justification that needs our Merit or perfect Sanctification without the Relicks of the Flesh. But especially let us have regard to the mandatory part of the Gospel there we are apt to flinch and start aside but we hearken not only to what God hath done for us but what he requires of us that we may obey the Counsels as well as believe the History of the Gospel The Covenant is mutual there is an Obligation upon God and an Obligation upon us therefore we read Exod. 24.7 8 9. that half of the Blood was sprinkled upon the Altar to note God took upon him his part of the Obligation and half upon the People to note they must take upon them their part of the Obligation It is true that God in the Covenant of Grace gives the Condition as well as the Blessing promised but our Obligation is to be acknowledged though it be wrought of God yet it is to be done by us And there must be a Restipulation the Answer of a good Conscience towards God 1 Pet. 3.21 What Answer do you make to God's Proposals and Articles It is an Allusion to the manner of admitting Persons to Baptism in those days they were to answer to Questions Credis Dost thou believe The Person to be baptized was to answer Credo I do believe Abrenuncias Dost thou renounce the World he answered Abrenuncio I do renounce Spondes Dost thou undertake to obey God Spondeo I undertake I promise so to do We must not only regard what God and Christ have done but there must be something in us before we can make use of what God and Christ have done for us There is a mutual Consent of both sides the Gospel is as it were an Indenture drawn between God and us therefore as we look to God for Eternal Life and Salvation which is made over to us in the Promises of the Covenant so God looks for Obedience and Faithfulness from us which is required of us in the Precepts of the Covenant To all Men. That is to all sorts of Men Bond or Free to Servants as well as others for in the Context he doth discourse of Servants I shall only in brief observe this Note Doct. 4. That this Salvation which the Grace of God bringeth is free for all that will accept of it God excludes none but those that exclude themselves It is said to appear to all Men. 1. Because it is published to all sorts of Men they all have a like favour in the general Offer Joh. 6.37 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out There are two things in that Description there is the Doctrine of Election and the Offer of Grace It is certain the Elect shall come but then in the offer or tender of Grace they have all alike favour Therefore be not discouraged for whoever comes shall be sure of Wellcome by this means the Reprobate are left without Excuse The Gospel is wisely contrived it gives no ground of Despair to any one hath as fair ground to believe as the other there is no Monopoly in the Offer God doth not say Come you and not others and I will not cast you out but Whosoever comes The Wicked have as fair a ground to believe as others in the general offer God speaks promiscuously 2. All that accept have a like Priviledg therefore this Grace is said to appear to all Men. There is no difference of Nations nor of Conditions of Life nor of lesser Opinions in Religion nor of degrees of Grace See all summ'd up by the Apostle Col. 3.11 There is neither Greek nor Iew Circumcision nor Vncircumcision Barbarian Scythian Bond nor Free but Christ is all and in all We are taken with the admiration of outward Priviledges and are altogether for impaling and enclosing the common Salvation as it is called Iude 3. The Lord accepts of all be they Iew or Greek c. To go over these Distinctions The several Conditions of Life make no difference Bond or Free Rich or Poor Servants or Bond-men in those times were in a miserable case they were but animata Instrumenta used as living Instruments every Master had Potestatem Vita Necis Power over the Life and Death of his Servants as over his Cattel But now free Grace doth over-look this Distinction Bond or Free are all one in Christ. In the account of God there is none poor but he that wants the Righteousness of Christ. Then for other differences in moral Excellencies some Nations are more civil than others but saith he neither Scythian nor Barbarian that doth not vary the case he doth not mention only the Barbarian but the Scythian which were of all People most rude and savage the very Dross and Dregs of Barbarism it self they had little Knowledg in the Arts Letters and Civilities of other Nations yet all these are one in Christ. Then there is no difference of Nation Greek or Iew some may live in a colder some in a warmer Climate as they are nearer or further off from the Sun but all are alike near to the Sun of Righteousness God hath broken down the Partition-Wall and enlarged the Pale of the Church Indeed Rome would fain rear up a new Partition-Wall and confine God to their own Precincts as if out of their Church there was no Salvation Envious Nature cannot endure to hear that all Nations should stand upon the same Level So again for some lesser Differences in Religion that do not destroy the Foundation Circumcision and Vncircumcision all is one in Christ provided they submit to the main Duties of Christianity They were the two known Parties and Factions in those Times but yet such as did not exclude from the benefit of the common Salvation When there was a Schism at Corinth 1 Cor. 3.4 One saith I am of Paul another I am of Apollo Christ is only ours and not yours Paul writeth to them 1 Cor. 1.2 To all that call upon the Name of Iesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours We anathematize one another and impropriate Christ by sacrilegious Censures It is very natural to us to confine Grace within the Circuit of our own Opinions and the worst sort of Christians for the most part do so as if none should go to Heaven but those of their Party Tertullian speaking of the Times in which he lived It is Holiness enough with some saith he to be of such a Party as if none could be saved but Men of their own Perswasion Now saith the Apostle Neither Circumcision nor Vncircumcision all have the same common Priviledg Once more tho there be a difference in the degrees of Grace yet all have an Interest in the common Priviledges of Christians Some have a stronger some a weaker Faith but saith the Apostle Rom. 3.22 The Righteousness of
God which is by Faith of Iesus Christ is unto all and upon all that believe for there is no difference they all take hold of the same Righteousness Look as a Jewel held by a Man and by a Child tho the Man holds it more strongly than the Child yet it is the same Jewel and of the same Worth and Value So the Righteousness of Christ is of the same Worth before God the stronger Believer holds it faster than the weaker Believer but tho he cannot be so high in Faith as Abraham and as other Worthies of God yet he hath his hold-fast upon God Differences of Nations and outward Condition do neither help nor hinder Salvation and different degrees of Grace tho they occasion some accidental difference in the spiritual Life as some have more Comfort than others yet as to the main all that accept have a like Priviledg The Reasons of it are partly because the same Grace is the cause of all Free Grace acts for the good of all upon the same terms Isa. 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy Trangressions for my own sake and will not remember thy Sins God doth not take notice of Differences in them whom he forgives God may pardon the Sin of Andrew and Thomas as well as of Abraham and Paul Grace's Motives lie within it self And partly because they have the same Redeemer Jesus Christ theirs and ours Under the Law you shall find the Rich and Poor were to give the same Ransom The Rich shall not give more and the Poor shall not give less than half a Shekel Exod. 30.15 to signify the Price of Christ's Blood for all Souls is equal they have not a nobler Redeemer nor a more worthy Christ than thou hast And partly because your Faith is as acceptable to God as theirs 2 Pet. 1.1 To them who have obtained like precious Faith with us that is for kind tho not for degree It is of the same Nature Worth and Property with the Faith of the Apostle's tho every one cannot believe as strongly as Peter nor come up to his height Vse 1. If the Grace of God hath appeared to all Men then let us put in for a share Why should we stand out Are we excepted and left out of the Proclamation of Pardon and free Grace If Persons be excepted by Name when a Pardon is offered to Rebels they stand off and will not come within the Verge of such Power but if it be offered to all why should we stand out we must not add nor detract If God hath said Christ died for Sinners believe him upon his Word and say I am Chief do not say I am a Reprobate God hath no Favour for me Will you leave that Word and hazard your Salvation for a groundless Jealousy and Scruple Therefore confute your Fears and put all out of question by a thorow believing Vse 2. For Comfort to weak Believers Tho your Faith cannot keep time and pace with Abraham's nor your Obedience with the Worthies of God yet you are Followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Heb. 6.12 A little Faith is Faith as a Drop is Water and a Spark is Fire it is free to all that have or will accept say then as he Mark 9.24 Lord I believe help thou mine Vnbelief The least dram of Gospel-Faith gives a Title and Interest Indeed you must strive to make it more evident you cannot have Comfort till then and consider Endeavours of Growth do better than idle Complaints therefore follow on still with hope SERMON III. TITUS II. 12 Teaching us that denying Vngodliness c. II. THE next thing to be considered is the Lesson that Grace teacheth us Teaching us that denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World But before I enter upon the Discussion of the particular Branches I shall observe some things in the General Observ. 1. Grace teacheth us Holiness It teacheth by way of Direction by way Argument and by way of Encouragement 1. It teacheth by way of Direction what Duties we ought to perform and so it maketh use of the Moral Law as a Rule of Life The Law is still our Direction otherwise what we do cannot be an Act of Obedience Certainly the Direction of the Law is still in force for where there is no Law there is no Transgression and Duty without a Rule is but Will-worship If the Law were blotted out the Image of God would be blotted out for the external Law is nothing but the Copy of God's Image that Holiness and Righteousness which is impressed on the Heart Now Grace doth not blot out the Image of God but perfects it In the new Covenant God promiseth to make the Law more legible Heb. 8.10 This is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their Mind and write them in their Hearts Well then we are not freed from the Authority and directive Power of the Law Grace adopts it doth not abolish the Law the Commands of the Law sway the Conscience and Love inclineth the Heart and so it becometh an Act of pure Obedience Obedience respects the Command as Love doth the Kindness and Merit of the Lawgiver 2. It teacheth by way of Argument it argueth and reasoneth from the Love of God Gal. 2.20 The Life that I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me There is Grace's Argument Christ loved me we should not then be so unkind as to deny God his Honour or Worship or cherish his Enemies 2 Cor. 5.14 For the Love of Christ constraineth us What will you do for God that loved you in Christ The Gospel contains melting Commands and commanding Intreaties The Law and the Prophets do not beseech but only command and threaten but the Grace of God useth a different method in the New Testament 3. It teacheth by way of Encouragement as manifesting both Help and Reward The Gospel doth not only teach us what we ought to perform but whence we may draw Strength and how kindly God will accept us in Christ. The Law is a School-master and the Gospel is a School-master but in the Discipline and manner of teaching there is a great deal of difference the Law can only teach and command but the Gospel is a gentle School-master it pointeth to Christ for Help Phil. 4.13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me and to God for Reward and Acceptance Heb. 11.16 He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him I do but mention these things because I shall handle the Encouragements hereafter Vse 1. Of Information It sheweth us 1. What is true Holiness such as cometh from the Teachings of Grace obliging Conscience to the Duty of the Law
likeness of his Resurrection Rom. 6.5 We shall be dead to Sin and alive to God The same Divine Power that kills the Old Man quickens the New Again I might argue from the Word which is our Rule for there we have not only Restraints but Precepts therefore we must not only escape from Sin but delight in Communion with God We must eschew what God forbids and practise what God commands Vse Let it press us not to rest in abstaining from Sin meerly Many are not vicious but they are not sanctified they have no feeling of the Power of the new Life The Pharisees Religion ran upon Negatives Luke 18.11 God I thank thee I am not as other Men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers or even as this Publican To enforce this consider both are contrary to the new Nature it hates Evil and loves Good Where there is Regeneration there is a putting on and a putting off Ephes. 4.22 23 24. That ye put off concerning the former Conversation the Old Man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts. And be renewed in the Spirit of your Mind And that ye put on the New Man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness The new Nature makes Conscience of abstaining from Sin and obeying God's Precepts And both are serviceable to the Work of Grace Grace is obstructed by Sins of Omission and Commission for Sins increase as well as unfitness for Duty The Motions of the Spirit are quenched and Lusts grow prevalent in the Soul and both are odious to God A barren Tree cumbers the Ground and is rooted up as well as the poisonous Herb. Obs. 3. We must first begin with renouncing Evil that 's the first thing Grace teacheth Since the Fall the Method is Analytical to unravel and undo that which hath been done in the Soul So it is said of Christ 1 Iohn 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the Works of the Devil Sin is the first Occupant in the Soul and claimeth Possession six thousand Years ago it thrust out Grace which was the right owner therefore first there must be a Writ of Ejectment sealed against Sin that Grace may take the Throne Dagon must down e're the Ark be set up It cannot be otherwise it must not be otherwise there must be mortifying and subduing of Sin by Acts of Humiliation and Godly Sorrow before there will be Experience of Grace 1. It cannot be otherwise for the Devil hath a right in us as long as we remain in Sin therefore there must be a rescue from his Power Col. 1.13 Who hath delivered us from the Power of Darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son Christ and Satan cannot reign in the same Heart nor God and the hââ World Ioseph was taken out of Prison and then preferr'd to Pharaoh This is âhe Method Luke 1.73 That he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the Hands of our Enemies might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our lives Deliverance hath the precedence first the Thorns must be rooted out and then the Corn is sowed 2. It must not be otherwise God will have nothing to do with us till we have renounced Sin A plausible Life is but a counterfeit Varnish like gilding over a rotten Post or a moral Integrity till Sin be renounced The Prodigal left his Husks and then returned to his Father This is the Method at our first Conversion indeed afterwards there is some difference when once Grace is once planted in the Heart it hath the advantage of Corruption and worketh first Thus it is said of Iob Chap. 1.1 That Man was perfect and upright one that feared God and eschewed Evil. First fearing God then eschewing Evil. Grace having taken possession and being seated in the Heart it works first Like a Man possessed and seated in his House he seeketh to expel his Enemy So at first way is made for the Operation of Grace and then all the Work afterwards is the destruction of Sin Obs. 4. It is not enough to renounce one Sin but we must renounce all For when the Apostle speaks of denying Ungodliness he intends all Ungodliness Compare this with 1 Pet. 2.1 Wherefore laying aside all Malice and all Guile and Hypocrisies and Iam. 1.21 Wherefore lay apart all Filthiness and superfluity of Naughtiness All Sins must be renounced little Sins and great Sins Great Sins as Adultery Drunkenness and the like are manifest Gal. 5.19 that is Nature doth abhor them they stink and smell rank in Nature's Nostrils even to a natural Conscience Then for little Sins Matth. 5.19 Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and teach Men so to do shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven It is spoken of Ministers principally whoever shall give licence by the Gospel to the least Sin either break it himself or teach Men so to do shall have no place no room among Gospel-Ministers No Sin can be little that is committed against the great God Sins are not to be measured by the smallness of the Occasion or by the suddenness of the Act but by the Offence done to God to an Infinite Majesty The less the Sin the greater many times it is It argues much Malice to break with God upon every slight Occasion there is more unkindness in it and the more contempt of God and it argues the greater depravation of Nature As a little Weight will make a Stone move downward because of its natural Inclination so it is a sign we have an inclination that way when a small Matter can draw us from God Again secret Sins must be eschewed as well as Publick Isa. 55.7 Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts the Thought as well as the Way is to be forsaken By Way is meant his outward course of Life by his Thoughts is meant the hidden workings of his Spirit Nothing more transient and sudden than the Thought therefore as we must not do Evil before Men so we must not think Evil before God God seeth the Thought as well as Man the Actions and infinitely more The Thoughts are visible to him and these fall under a Law as well as our Actions Again Sins of Temper to which we are more incident as well as other Sins to which we have less inclination they must be mortified Psal. 18.23 I was also upright before him and I kept my self from mine Iniquity That Sin which we call ours should be most watched against and most hated above all others As a Man should be afraid of the Meat of which he hath once surfeited so the Sin that hath once prevailed over us we should be more cautious against It is nothing for a sordid Spirit to be less proud or a proud Man to be less covetous or a covetous Man to be less sensual or a sensual Man to be less
passionate still a Christian is tried by the revenge he takes upon his own Sin his master-Lust Again not only Sins which lie at a distance from our Interest but Sins that bring us most Profit and Advantage In these things God tries us it is the offering up of our Isaac our Darling In a corrupt World some things bring Credit and Profit but as for the right Hand the right Eye we must pluck out the one and cut off the other Mat. 5.29 30. If thy right Eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell And if thy right Hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell Cannot we do so much for God and for Grace's sake I might give you several Reasons one Sin is contrary to God as well as another There 's the same aversion from an eternal Good in all things though the manner of Conversion to the Creature be different Again one Sin is contrary to the Law of God as well as another there 's a contempt of the same Authority in all Sins God's Command binds and it is of force in lesser Sins as well as greater and therefore they that bear any respect to the Law of God must hate all Sin Psal. 119.113 I hate vain Thoughts but thy Law do I love God hath given a Law to the Thoughts to the sudden workings of the Spirit as well as to Actions that are more deliberate and therefore if we love the Law we should hate every lesser Contrariety to it even a vain Thought And all Sin proceedeth from the same Corruption therefore if we would subdue and mortify it we must renounce all Sin He that hateth any Sin as Sin hates all Sin for there 's the same reason to hate every Sin Hatred Philosophers say is to the whole Kind A Man that hates a Toad as a Toad hates every one of the Kind with the same kind of hatred must we hate every Sin Again one Sin let alone is very dangerous One Leak in a Ship if unstopped and neglected may endanger the Vessel One Sin let alone and allowed and indulged may quite ruin the Soul A little Leaven leaveneth the whole Lump A Man may ride right for a long time but one turn in the end of his Journey brings him quite out of the way If you do many things yet if you commit any Sin with leave and licence from Conscience you are guilty of all Sin James 1.10 Whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one Point he is guilty of all As one condition not observed forfeits the whole Lease There is an Indenture drawn between us and God and every Article of this Covenant must be observed If we willingly give way and allowance to the least Breach we forfeit all the Grace of the Covenant Vse 1. Direction what to do in the Business of Mortification We must deny all Ungodliness not a Hoof must be left in Egypt Grace will not stand with any allowed Sin and in demolishing the old Building not one Stone must be left upon another 1. In your Purpose and Resolution you must make Satan no Allowance he standeth lurking as Pharaoh did with Moses and Aaron first he would let them go three days into the Wilderness then he permitted them to take their little Ones with them but they would not go without their Cattel their Flocks and their Herds also they would not leave any thing no not a Hoof behind them So the Devil would have a part left as a Pledg that in time the whole Man may fall to his share 2 Kings 5.18 In this thing the Lord pardon thy Servant that when my Master goeth into the House of Rimmon to worship there and he leaneth on my Hand and I bow my self in the House of Rimmon when I bow my self in the House of Rimmon the Lord pardon thy Servant in this thing We would grant Christ any thing so he would excuse us in our beloved Sins We complain of the Times and set up a Toleration in our Hearts some right Hand or right Eye that we are loth to part with something there is wherein we would be excused and expect an allowance either outward as in Fashions Customs ways of Profit and Advantage or inward some Passions and carnal Affections that we would indulge Grace will not stand with any allowed Sin Herod did many things but he kept his Herodias still He turneth from no Sin that doth not in his Purpose and Resolution turn from all Sin he doth not break off an acquaintance with Sin but rather make choice what Sin he will keep and what he will part with The Apostle speaks Col. 2.11 of putting off the Body of the Sins of the Flesh. We must not cut off one Member or one Joint but the whole Body totum Corpus licet non totaliter the whole Body of Sin tho we cannot wholly be rid of it Dispense not there where Christ hath not dispensed 2. We should often examine our Hearts lest there lurk some Vice whereof we think our selves free Lament 3.40 Let us search and try our Ways and turn again to the Lord. Compleat Reformation is grounded upon a serious search and trial As those that kept the Passeover were not to have a jot of Leaven in their Houses and therefore they were to search their Houses for Leaven such a narrow search should there be to discover whatever hath been amiss Commune with your selves Is there not a jot of Leaven yet left somewhat that God hateth some correspondence with God's Enemies Is there nothing left that is displeasing to God Thus should we often bring our Hearts and our Ways and the Word together 3. Desire God to shew you if there be any thing left that is grievous to his Spirit Job 34.32 That which I see not teach thou me There are many Sins I see but more that I do not see Lord shew them to me So David appealeth to God who must judg and punish Conscience Psal. 139.23 24. Search me O God and know my Heart try me and know my Thoughts and see if there be any wicked Way in me and lead me in the Way everlasting Can you thus appeal to God and say Lord I desire not to continue in any known Sin 4. When any Sins break out set upon the mortification of them Do not neglect the least Sins they are of dangerous Consequence but renew thy Peace with God judging thy self for them and mourning for them avoiding Temptations cutting off the Provision for the Flesh. 1 Cor. 9.27 But I keep under my Body and bring it into subjection The Leper was to shave off his Hair and if it grew again he was still to keep shaving
be pleasing and acceptable to God in order to Practice and value our Lives for this End only that we may serve God it is a sign Grace is planted in the Heart But now ungodly Men neither care to know the ways of God nor to walk in them They that are willingly ignorant and do not search to know how God will be served and pleased and make this their Work they do not count God their chiefest Good They search not that they may not practice they err not in their Mind only but in their Hearts Psal. 95.10 It is a People that do err in their Hearts they have not known my ways To err in the Mind may be through invincible Ignorance but a Man errs in his Heart when he doth not desire to know God and to know his Will and what he must do in Worship and Conversation but saith I do not desire to know God Iob 21.14 Therefore they say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the Knowledg of thy ways Therefore he that doth not make it his great Work and the Business of his Life to find out what God would have him do he is ungodly Usually this is found in Men half convinced they have not a Mind to know that which they have not a Mind to do and so they are willingly ignorant But now a godly Man makes it the Business of his Life still to follow God Foot by Foot to know more of his Mind and Will Rom. 12.2 That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect VVill of God Ephes. 5.12 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. A true Christian always practiseth what he knows and still searcheth that he may know more he would be always more useful for God and more according to his Heart that is the Study the great Business and Project of his Life to find out God's Will and then practise it What shall I do more for God Thirdly God must be acknowledged as the supream Truth and Authority and there if we be not moved with his Promises with his Threatnings and Counsels as the Words of the great God as if he had spoken from Heaven by an audible Voice if we do not yield him Reverence in his Worship and subject our Hearts and Lives unto his Laws it is Ungodliness 1 st We must receive the Counsels of his Word with all Reverence and Veneration as if God had spoke to us by a Voice from Heaven This is to receive the Word as the Word of God 2 Thess. 2.10 They received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved The Heathens received the Oracles of their Gods with great Reverence and were much moved when they had an Oracle but when the Word comes with a mighty convincing Power upon the Heart and you are not moved and affected this argues your Ungodliness So when we can drousily hear of the great things of Heaven and the Death of Christ and the Covenant of Grace and the glorious Salvation offered and are no more moved than with a Fable or with a Dream of Rubies dropping down from Heaven in the Night this is Ungodliness That there is a great deal of Ungodliness in this kind is clear by our Neglect of these Precious Things If a Man should proffer another a thousand Pound for a Trifle and he should not accept it you would not say it was because he prized that Trifle that is not profitable but because he did not believe the Offer So when God offers Heaven and Christ to us upon such easy terms as to part with nothing but our Sins which are better parted with than kept we do not honour him as the eternal Truth if we do not accept it but count him a Liar and this is the greatest Affront you can put upon God for he that believeth not God hath made him a Liar because he believeth not the Record that God gave of his Son 1 John 5.10 He that doth not regard the Offer of the Gospel certainly he believes it is not true and so he dishonours God as the supream Truth 2 dly If we would honour God as the supream Lord of Heaven and Earth we must reverence him in his Worship God is not only terrible in the high Places of the Field and there where he executes his dreadful Judgments and not only so in the Depths of the Sea where the Wonders of the Lord are seen but he is also terrible in his holy Places Psal. 68.35 O God thou art terrible out of thy holy Places Then are the Hearts of his People filled with most awful Apprehensions of his glorious Majesty and of his excellent Holiness and this makes them tremble But now when we do not come with these awful Apprehensions we do not own God as the supream Majesty and therefore when they brought him an unbeseeming Sacrifice saith the Lord Mal. 1.14 Cursed be the Deceiver which hath in his Flock a Male and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord of Hosts and my Name is dreadful among the Heathens This is not becoming my Majesty And the Saints of God never feel such Self-Abhorrency and Loathing of themselves as when they are worshipping God God is even dreadful then when he is most comfortable to his People Deut. 28.58 That thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful Name the Lord thy God Thy God this is the comfortablest Name in all the Scripture this is the Foundation of our Hope and this puts the Saints upon a Holy Reverence But now ungodly Men come with slight cold and careless Hearts their Thoughts are upon the Shop and the Cart and the Plough and any where else than upon God they dream nigh to him with their Lips but their Hearts are removed far from him They do not come to him as a great King and supream Majesty and Authority of all and so they dishonour God exceedingly Our Thoughts in Worship should be more taken up with his Glory 3 dly If we would honour God as supream there must be a willing Subjection of our Hearts and Lives to his Laws Usually here we stick in a want of Conformity thereto Men that love God as a Creator naturally hate him as a Law-giver Men love him as a Giver of Blessings but they would fain live at large Thoughts that strike at the Being of God and Doctrines of Liberty are welcome to a carnal Heart therefore it is tedious to them to hear of one to call them to account and it is pleasing to them to think which is an Argument of the highest Hatred that can be that there were no God to call them to a reckoning that they might let loose the Reins to vile Affections We would be absolute and Lords of our own Actions And this Subjection must be in Heart and Life There must be a Subjection of the Heart God's Authority is never more undermined than by a mere Form of
it was sold was it not in thine own Power still they kept a Property to dispose of it as they saw cause And pray mark it is not said that they did equally divide among them all the things that were sold but Acts 2.44 45. All that believed were together and had all things common and sold their Possessions and Goods and parted them to all Men as every Man had need Here was no levelling but an orderly Charity there was great necessity and they believed the Destruction and Desolation of Iudea and therefore in wise fore-sight took this course And therefore it is notable that it is not said that they sold all they had but only their Possessions and Inheritances Acts 4.34 35. As many as were Possessors of Lands or Houses sold them and brought the Prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the Apostles Feet c. And still it was free yet it was not taken from them but freely given by them it was not catch who catch can but Distribution was made unto every Man according as he had need ver 35. Some good People kept their Houses still as Mary had her House Acts 12.12 He came to the House of Mary 2. Have wicked Men any Right in what they do possess or may they be spoiled as the Canaanites were and outed of all their Possessions I answer Wicked Men have a civil Right and that is Banck enough against Violence and Invasion of Property or suppose there were no other Title but Grace and a Man that had not Grace were an Usurper what a World of Inconveniences and Confusions would follow If one Man were made Judg of another Man's Grace how should we know who had a Right Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesar's if it were so we could not trade with them but Abraham bought the Field of Mamre Wicked Men have a civil Right but that is not all they have a Right before God a common Right of Providence so that they are not Usurpers of what they do possess it is their Portion Psal. 17.14 From Men of the World which have their Portion in this Life and whose Belly thou fillest with thy hid Treasure It is true they have made a Forfeiture as to God and deserve to lose all but the Sentence of the Law is not executed upon them and therefore by the Gift and Indulgence of God they have a just and free use of such things as fall to their share and portion There cannot be a better Title than God's own Gift now God in the general course of his Providence giveth wicked Men many things as he gave Tyrus to Nebuchadnezzar He that giveth them their Lives giveth them Meat and Drink they do him common Service and God rewardeth them with common Mercies But they have not such a Right as God's Children a Right from the Covenant of Grace from God's Love and for their good but their Blessings are salted with a Curse 3 d Rule of Justice If Wrong be done Restitution must be made It is not enough to reconcile your selves to God if you have thriven by unjust Gain but you must make Restitution to Men else the Sin remains There is in all such Acts the Sin and the Injury Now many seek to take away the Sin while the Injury remains but that cannot be and some may seek possibly to do away the Injury while the Sin remains they do not reconcile themselves to God In the Law of Moses he that wronged his Neighbour was to make Restitution Levit. 6.5 He shall restore it in the Principal and shall add the fifth part thereto and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth in the day of his Trespass-Offering That Law speaks of Wrong done against our Will The Thief that wronged with set purpose was to restore fourfold but if a Man did by chance and against his Will wrong another when he was convinced of it he was to restore the Principal and the fifth part in the day of his Trespass-Offering Our Lord renews and repeats this Sentence of the Law Mat. 5.24 First be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift It is an Allusion to this Law where on the day of their Offering they were to make Restitution this is the only way to retract the Wrong As long as you retain the use and fruit of your fraudulent Practices the Sin and the Injury is continued and there can be no true Repentance In the very counterfeit Repentance of Iudas there was a kind of Restitution it is a necessary Fruit of Grace When Salvation was come to Zacheus his House and he was converted he offers the Restitution of the Law If I have taken any thing from any Man by false Accusation I restore him fourfold Luke 19.8 ' Therefore the continuance of Gain gotten by Fraud upbraideth the tender Conscience with the Sin Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum and if you should be disabled from Restitution your acknowledgment must be very serious and humble and take Shame to your self and do what you can And if Servants have purloined from their Masters or if any have thriven by Iniquity of Traffick restore as far as possibly you can He that can rectify the Injury and doth not doth not repent and God will not accept him If the Party wronged be not living it must be given to the next Heir if none of the Line be found it must be given to God for as long as it remains with you it is an accursed thing and will bring a Curse on all the rest If you have wronged others in their Names make them all the Satisfaction you can Christ drew from Peter a treble Profession of his Love to answer his threefold Denial By all publick Vindications you should seek to heal the Wound you have made Take an Instance of one that accused a Bishop at Ierusalem falsly God touched his Heart that he wept his Eyes blind 4 th Rule of Justice You must bear the Injuries of others with Patience rather than revenge them If Patience be not a part of Justice I am sure private Revenge is a part of Injustice because you take God's Work out of his Hands and you make your selves Magistrates without a Commission Rom. 12.9 Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto Wrath for it is written Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. You must leave it to God and his Deputies It is an Usurpation and against all right to avenge your selves that a Man should be Accuser Judg and Executioner and all in his own Cause where Self-Love is is apt to make us partial If we are fit to be an Accuser certainly not to be Judg and Executioner ât crosseth the Ends of just Revenge which are to right the Party wronged or mend the Party offending or to provide for publick Safety He that avengeth his own Quarrel doth but more and more enrage his Adversary
the World whether Christ should come or no do you think carnal Men would give their Vote this way for Christ's Coming The Voice of corrupt Nature is Depart Iob 22.14 Therefore they say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledg of thy Ways that 's the Language of their Hearts Carnal Men are of the Mind of the Devil when Christ wrought a Miracle in casting out a Devil and discovered somewhat of his Divine Power the Devils were afraid as if he were coming to Judgment already Matth. 8.29 Art thou come hither to torment us before the time The Devil cannot endure to hear of Christ's Coming no more can carnal Men for they are of his Mind If Thieves and Malefactors might have the Liberty to choose whether there should be Assizes yea or no do you think they would look for and long for the Judg's Coming and the Day of his Approach So corrupt Nature hath no Desire of this Day It is the Spirit in the Bride that says Come as soon as the Spirit of Grace works in us there is a Bent and Inclination this way 1 Pet. 1.3 Who hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope Spiritual Desires come from Heaven and thither they tend As soon as the Spirit works Grace in the Heart it looks out this way the Heart is bent thither from whence it receives all it hath as all Creatures love the Place of their Original The great Work of the Spirit is to bring us and Christ together The Spirit comes from the Father and the Son to bring us to the Father by the Son and therefore the Spirit stirs up those holy Groans in us When will he come Then look upon the Graces of a Christian there is Faith Love and Hope 1. Faith The Ground of this Looking is the Promise now Faith stands waiting for the Promise as if it were already begun to be accomplished Look as Rebeka espied Isaac a-far off so Faith espies Christ a-far off Faith is the Evidence of things not seen and looks upon Christ as if he were already on his way and so makes the Soul stand ready to meet and receive him As a loving Wife stands upon the Shoar and looks for the Return of her Husband and the Sight of every Ship makes her to realize by an active and loving Fancy the Sweetness of an Interview So Faith stands waiting for the Coming of Christ and the Approaches he makes towards the Church 2. Love 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love The Saints love Christ whom they never saw We know Christ by hear-say here in the Church not by Sight he wooes us as Princes use to do by Picture therefore they long for his Appearing Whosoever is a Friend to Christ will find his Heart long for Christ of whom he hath so often heard in the Word and so often tasted in the Supper Love is an Affection of Union it desires to meet the Party loved so is Love to Christ it is not satisfied with the present State but it cries out Come come Why is his Chariot so long a coming It longs to see him whom it hath heard of so often and so much and of whose Sweetness it hath already tasted for this Love is not only kindled by the Knowledg we have of him by hear-say but by Experience Christ first comes in the Heart by Grace and then the Soul having tasted the Sweetness of it longs for another Coming When will he come in the Clouds that we may see him as he is And as Love to Christ so also Love to the Saints enkindles this Desire We have not all our Company here in the World and till we all meet together we shall never be satisfied 3. Hope that is another Grace God sitteth us with Graces as well as Happiness The Lord doth not only provide a glorious Estate for us but Grace to expect it and stirs up Affections in us sutable thereunto As in the privative Part of Salvation Christ doth not only deliver us from the Hurt of Death but from the Bondage and Fear of Death Despair is the Beginning of Hell So in the positive Part of Salvation the Lord doth not only provide Heaven and Happiness for us but Hope that we may look for this Happiness We are begotten again to a lively Hope 1 Pet. 1.3 And to wait for his Son from Heaven 1 Thess. 1.10 Hope was made on purpose for this thing that we expect our full and future Happiness When the Affection of Hope is elsewhere placed and turned to carnal things it is like a Member out of Joint It was made and framed on purpose that we might look for this glorious Appearing of Jesus Christ. 2. Look upon their Relation to Christ. There are two Relations the Scripture usually takes notice of with respect unto the Day of Judgment Christ is our Master and our Husband As he is our Master we must look for him It is the Property of a good Servant to wait for his Master 's Coming Mat. 24.46 Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Here we have only present Maintenance but hereafter we shall receive our Wages Rev. 22.12 Behold I come quickly and my Reward is with me A Servant of God should remember that when Christ comes he will not come empty-handed he is your good and bounteous Master Here you have but an Earnest as when you hire a Man you give him Earnest But now because God would not have our Affections to be servile therefore there is a sweeter Relation we are to look for him not only as a Lord and Master but as an Husband and therefore it is the Bride that saith Come Rev. 22.17 Here we are only contracted to Christ he hath pass'd his Promise to us but the Day of Judgment is the Day of solemn Espousals Hos. 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever Here in the Covenant of Grace Christ doth pass a Promise to the Church here he comes to give us a Pledg and take a Pledg from us As Tertullian saith Christ took from us the Token and Pledg of our Flesh and is gone to Heaven to make all things ready and he hath left with us the Token of his own Spirit that so we might long for the time when he shall come again for the Consummation of this happy and glorious Marriage that is between him and us We are to wait for Glory as a Servant for his Master and as a Bride or Virgin betrothed doth wait for the Coming of him that hath promised Marriage to her 3. Look upon a Christian's Privileges which we shall then enjoy and certainly Christians must needs desire Christ's Coming The Day of Judgment is the Day of Manifestation the Day of Perfection the Day of Congregation and the Day of Glorification 1. It is called a Day of Manifestation of the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 The earnest Expectation of the Creature waiteth for the Manifestation of
was lost The sinking Disciples cried Lord save us we perish Mat. 8.25 It is long e're God bringeth us to this we never look after Christ till we are ready to perish and be undone Why should we make choice of a Saviour but in case of Danger Faith necessarily implies this a renouncing our selves not in Words but in the Temper and Frame of our Hearts You cannot practise swimming on shore or on the firm Land but then we strive to swim when we are ready to perish in the Flood so when you are utterly lost in your selves then you will look after Christ. 2. Be earnest with God for an Interest in Christ and for the Manifestation of it cry out with David Psal. 35.3 Say to my Soul I am thy Salvation You must chuse Christ as a Saviour Faith is a Consent to take Christ as God offers him you must consent to the Articles of the Covenant of Grace that you will have no other Saviour but Christ Lam. 3.24 The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul And go to God that he would ratify your Choice by his Consent desire God that he would say Amen that Christ might be thy Saviour You had better be a Beast than a Man if you have not an Interest in this Salvation The Death of a Beast is the end of his Wo and Labour but then yours begins The greatest part of Salvation is to be delivered from Evil to come therefore be earnest with God that your Interest in this Salvation might be cleared up SERMON XIX TITUS II. 14 Who gave himself for us c. IN this Paragraph I have observed 1. The Teacher 2. The Lesson 3. The Encouragements to Learning The Teacher is the Grace of God The Lesson is the whole Duty of our Heavenly Calling The Encouragements to Learning are twofold some taken from the Hope of eternal Life and some from the End and Effect of Christ's Death I have finished the former and now come to the latter sort taken from the End and Effect of Christ's Death So that whether we look forward or backward we still meet with Obligations to Obedience Forward there is a glorious and blessed Hope backward there is a great Obligation established upon the Creature The Lord Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity Certainly there is a lawful use of Hope that hath a great Influence upon Grace but the great Principle of the Gospel is Gratitude and Thankfulness to Christ therefore let us look upon this second Encouragement We enter upon other Services out of Hopes but we enter upon Christ's Service out of Thankfulness and Gratitude it is an ingenuous Service In this Verse you have 1. Christ's Act He gave himself for us 2. His Aim to redeem us c. And this is express'd partly by the Privative Part to redeem us from all Iniquity and partly by the Positive Part of it and purify unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Here is Redemption and Sanctification I observe it the rather because both parts are suted to the Exhortation There was the Privative Part denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and sutably hereunto we are redeemed from all Iniquity then the Positive Part living soberly righteously godly So Christ did not only die to free us from Hell but to make us holy where we have the inward Constitution to purify unto himself a peculiar People and the outward Conversation or the Sign and Manifestation of it zealous of good Works All these things are Arguments to enforce the Matter in hand There is the Act of Christ Shall Christ die for us and we cherish his Enemy Shall he be our Saviour and we hug and cherish that which is contrary to him Worldly Lusts and Ungodliness in the Heart Then his Aim he died to free us from the Bondage of Sin therefore they that would have their Sins live are said to put their Redeemer to Shame and make his Kindness void Then Christ died to make us a peculiar People and shall we live as the rest of the Multitude do We expect great Benefit from him therefore certainly we must be holy and not pick and chuse how we would have him a Saviour unto us I begin with the first thing Christ's Act He gave himself for us that is to be an Expiatory Sacrifice he gave himself to die for us Iohn 17.19 I sanctify my self for their sakes that is set apart my self as a Sacrifice 1 Tim. 2.6 Who gave himself a Ransom for all The Point is Christ's Willingness to suffer for the fallen and lost Creature I. I shall demonstrate it by some Expressions by which it is discovered II. Give the Grounds why Christ gave himself by such a willing Resignation to be our Propitiatory Sacrifice to be a Ransom to God I. For the Expressions of his Willingness And there I shall begin with his Eternal Longings to be with the Sons of Men before ever there was Hill or Mountain in the World Prov. 8.31 Rejoicing in the habitable Parts of the Earth and my Delights were with the Sons of Men. Mark long before ever the World was Jesus Christ was feasting himself with the thoughts of his own Grace and what he would do for Men. He desired the making the World and fixing the Bounds of our Habitation that he might be with us there was his End Angels were the Workmanship of his Hands as well as Men nay in their Frame and Constitution they were more noble Creatures than Man yet Christ doth not say My Delight was to be with Angels but with the Sons of Men. I was thinking of the Day I should come into the World and die for Men and purchase exceeding Grace for them The next Expression is Psal. 40.7 8. when God's Decree came to be express'd and made known to the Church see what Christ saith Lo I come In the Volume of the Book it is written of me I delight to do thy Will O my God yea thy Law is within my Heart For the understanding of this place you must know the Divine Justice is there introduced as proposing its Demands God in his Justice as it were speaking thus to Christ Son I am weary of Sacrifice and Burnt-Offerings Hitherto I have shewed my self gracious to the World whilst Burnt-Offerings stood now I resolve to shew my self Just as the Apostle explains this Rom. 3.26 To declare I say at this time his Righteousness that he might be just As long as God accepted of Burnt-Offerings he was a God of Patience and Forbearance and not willing to execute his Wrath upon Creatures Burnt-Offerings served the turn But saith God the World shall know though I pardon yet I will be just therefore now you must take a Body Man's Blood is tainted and you must be formed in fashion like one of them and stand in the Sinner's stead I shall expect from you Satisfaction for every Elect Person you must give your Cheeks to the Nippers and your Back to
Work of the Law that we might be driven out of our selves Sin else would not be bitter nor Christ sweet our Motions and Addresses to Mercy would not be serious every one hath this some in one degree some in another tho all be not anxious yet all are sollicitous O what shall I do Now canst thou speak of this driving Work of the Law Thou canst not say but thou art a poor lost Sinner one willing to fly and take Sanctuary in Christ and to wait upon him in Obedience till thy great Hopes be accomplished This is the lowest Trial what canst thou deny in it Art thou not a poor chased pursued Soul else what mean these Fears and Scruples and what hath the Lord required of thee but to run to Christ for Refuge Many Christians have not Assurance but tho they dare not say Christ is theirs yet here they will wait and not let go their hold-fast for all the World God hath promised to be gracious to every one that takes hold of his Covenant Isa. 56.6 when the Soul will not let go the Grace of God in Christ tho it hath many Discouragements but in the face of all Doubts and Scruples will anchor and hold fast whatever comes of it I am a lost undone Creature it is Christ that must save me and here I will stick and hold This is the Qualification why should we be afraid to be comforted upon God's Terms If you are resolved to wait upon God in and through Christ you are the Heirs of Promise God hath plighted his Oath to you if there be such a Disposition in you being startled and awakened with the sense of your sinful Condition to take hold and not let it go then what mean those Fears and Scruples Do not you desire to take Sanctuary in Christ and wait upon him with strong Resolution not to be discouraged When therefore God hath put it upon such low Conditions why should we stand off Obj. All the fear is these Terms are too easy and cheap to give a solid Comfort and many miscarry by sudden and delusive Hopes and this makes Christians stand at a distance from their own Comfort Answ. When a Man hath God's Warrant to shew for his Confidence why should he doubt If Men were once serious in the Business of Salvation there 's no fear of Delusion You will find Comfort cannot be counterfeited as the Life of a Creature cannot be painted Carnal Men that feed themselves with delusive Hopes who make an account they shall go to Heaven are not serious and mind not what they do as appears by their Contradictions for they blow hot and cold They think that he is in a dangerous condition that doubts of his Salvation and yet they say it is Presumption for a Man to say he is assured of his Salvation the one saying suteth with their carelesness and the other with their own private feeling They have no deliberate and advised Confidence only a rash Presumption And because of their miscarrying we have no reason to weaken our own Hopes because a Man that is in a Dream thinketh that he is awaked when he is not shall not a Man that is really awake know himself to be so Shall we suspect all our Interest in Christ and the Terms of the Gospel as too free and easy Let me tell you by Experience you will find when you are serious and deliberate it is not so easy a matter to have Rest for your Souls Certainty and solid Assurance is not so soon had Guilty Nature is subject to Bondage and presagious more of Evil than of Good more prone to Fear than Hope and to Mourn than to Rejoice therefore go on with your Business wait upon God and take his way without Jealousy and doubting Thus I have shewed how you should meditate on these two immutable things Secondly When must you meditate on God's Word and Oath Answ. Very often The less you apply God's Promise and Oath the weaker will your Consolation be in Christ and the oftner the stronger for by these two immutable things we have strong Consolation Christians lose much of their Peace and Comfort because they do not exercise themselves in thinking of the Condescension and Satisfaction which God hath given them in this kind that he should lay all his Holiness his Life his Excellency at Pledg with poor Creatures I am confident if you did but think of these unchangeable Grounds and Advantages of Faith mentioned before your Comfort would not be upon such loose terms But there are some solemn Times when it must be done 1. Whenever you are conversant about the Seals of the Covenant and go to the Lord's Table Why should I doubt when I have God's Promise and Oath The Sacraments are visibilia Iuramenta visible Oaths here God reneweth his Oath to us and we to God It is an Oath of Allegiance to Christ to walk in all his Ways and it is God's Oath of Assurance to us that he will perform the Promises of the Covenant As under the Law the Blood of the Covenant was to be sprinkled half upon the Altar and half upon the People Exod. 24.6 7 8. God takes an Engagement upon himself and reneweth his Oath to be good and gracious to us in Christ and we take an Obligation upon our selves to walk before him in all Obedience There is a mutual Stipulation therefore there is a special time to meditate of the sureness on God's part God that cannot lie hath said and sworn it 2. In times of outward Trouble when you are in danger of fainting and making Revolt from God meditate of the unchangeableness of his Word and Oath Vnless thy Law had been my delight I should then have perished in mine Affliction Psalm 119.92 God's Word and Oath were given on purpose to revive a fainting Soul This is the Design of the Text the Apostle is disswading from Apostacy and pressing to keep our Hopes to the End Vers. 11. We desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of Hope unto the End Why we are not upon Conjectures and Probabilities and though outward Encouragements fail yet God's Promise and Oath is a sure Ground of Comfort in the midst of all Difficulties and Hardships This reviveth the Soul we have a glorious Inheritance in Reversion and we have God's Word and Oath to shew for it as much as the Patriarchs had to shew for Christ. It is notable that when the Patriarchs were exercised with any new Trouble then God renewed his Oath implying this is a sure hold-fast we have upon God When outward Encouragements in the Service of God are like to fail then think of the two immutable Grounds of Comfort 3. In Pangs of Conscience when Guilt lies heavy and burdensom upon the Soul God's Word and Oath is a proper Meditation The Lord hath sworn That if I will out of a sense of this Misery that is upon me take Sanctuary
us the more dreggy Delights oppress Reason wound Conscience and so make way for Sorrow 2. Or else it is called strong Consolation in comparison with it self with respect to less or more imperfect degrees of Comfort There is a Latitude in Comfort some have more and some less some have only weak Glimmerings and Drops others have strong Consolation Ioy unspeakable and full of Glory 1 Pet. 1.8 Now a Christian should aim at the highest Degree the stronger your Consolation the better is Christ pleased with it John 15.11 These things have I spoken unto you that my Ioy may remain in you and that your Ioy might be full This makes the Heart of Christ glad when our Counsels are more able to swallow up our Sorrow and revive the Soul in the midst of Trouble In some this Confidence is accompanied with more sensible Doubts Staggerings and Weaknesses though Comfort gets the upper hand in others it is more strong clear and lively and they act in the Ways of God with greater Encouragement 3. It may likewise be called Strong in regard of its Effects 1. It marreth Carnal Joy it puts the Soul quite out of taste with other things Men used Acorns till they found out the use of Bread We content our selves with Husks till we taste of the fatted Calf in our Father's House The Soul must have some Oblectation Love cannot lie idle we are taken with Garlick and Onions till we taste Manna When once we have tasted of the Love of God other things will not be so sweet Cant. 1.4 We will be glad and rejoice in thee we will remember thy Love more than Wine 2. It is stronger than the Evil which it opposeth it swalloweth up all our Sorrows whatever they be Look as we say of Wine or of any Spirits it is very strong when a few Drops can change a great deal of Water into its own Nature So because it overcometh the greatest Evils Terrors of Conscience worldly Miseries and the greatest Anguish and Distress which may befal us therefore it is called strong Comfort A mighty Joy a sense of God's Love in Christ swalloweth up all our Sorrow whatever The Wrath of God is a dreadful thing we can hardly think of it without amazement The fear of Hell Death and Judgment to come these are wont to raise a great Storm in the Conscience but spiritual Joy can only allay it As a wounded Conscience can say there is no Sorrow like unto my Sorrow so a peaceable Conscience can say there is no Joy like unto my Joy Phil. 4.7 The Peace of God which passeth all Vnderstanding shall keep your Hearts and Minds through Iesus Christ. The strength of this Joy is seen by Experience rather than Expression In outward Troubles they can take pleasure in Infirmities 2 Cor. 12.10 Glory in Tribulation Rom. 5.3 The more the Devil seeks to trouble the Saints they have the more Joy and are more than Conquerors Rom. 8.37 and all by the Power of this Joy as the more we seek to wrest a Staff out of a Man's Hands he holds it the faster Tribulations Anguish Distress Fears Torments Difficulties they are all overpowred by this Joy II. How this strong Consolation ariseth from Assurance and Certainty To establish Joy and Comfort two things are necessary Excellency and Propriety The thing in which I rejoice it must be Good and it must be Mine Sutably here in the Text there is an assurance of excellent Privileges and then there is a Qualification annexed that we may understand our own Interest God by his Oath assures us of excellent Privileges in Christ and that 's a ground of strong Consolation Then he requireth a Duty of us that we fly for refuge to take hold of the Hope set before us 1. For the Excellency of our Privileges You know that which will minister solid Comfort to the Soul it had need be Excellent A small Matter though never so sure will not occasion a strong Consolation the Joy is according to the Object Now whether a Christian look backward or forward there is Matter of Rejoicing to the Heirs of Promise Backward there is the Immutability of his Counsel Forward there is a Hope set before us From one Eternity to another may a Believer walk and still find cause of rejoicing in God If he looks Backward there God reveals to him the unchangeable Purposes of Grace before the World was If he looks Forward there is an eternal Possession of Glory when the World shall be no more It is sweet to know what 's past and what 's to come there 's naturally a Curiosity in us which would be satisfied We know what God was doing before the World was and what he will do when the World shall be no more We may know for our comfort God was treating and dealing with Christ about our Salvation putting it into an unchangeable course and he hath for ever provided for the Comfort and Welfare of our Souls that we may enjoy him love him and delight in him for evermore Man out of a natural Curiosity hath a great delight both in History and Prophecy to read what is past and to fore-know what is to come especially what concerns his own Destiny Now God in condescension tells us under the assurance of an Oath what he has done for us what Thoughts of Love he had towards us from Eternity what he will do and how happy our Estate shall be for ever God doth not only satisfy the Curiosity of our Nature that desireth Knowledg but the bent of it that poiseth us to our own Happiness It is sweet to read our Names written in the Book of God's everlasting Decree Luke 10.20 Rejoice because your Names are written in Heaven That God hath set us down as Heirs of all that Grace and Mercy he hath dispensed in his Covenant It is sweet and pleasant to reflect upon his antient Purposes of Grace and by the Eye of Faith to read our Names written and recorded in the Rolls of Heaven When you hear any Offer in the Gospel to say this was God's Purpose and eternal Counsel to bestow this upon me before all Worlds he thought of me then And then there is an Hope set before us thy Lot is fallen to thee in a fair Ground O what Joy is this to Believers that their Souls are fully provided for for ever and ever and they shall have what infinite Mercy can bestow and what infinite Merit hath purchased 2. Another Cause of strong Comfort is Interest and Propriety Besides the Excellency of the Privilege there must be the Clearness of our Interest The Object of Joy is not only good in common but our Good ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That which is a Man 's own is sweet to him It doth not enrich a Man to hear there are Pearls and Diamonds in the World and Mines of Gold in the Indies unless he had them in his own possession So it doth not fill us with
God will not linger but fly Delays are a Sign of Unwillingness To say Non vacat I am not at leisure rightly interpreted is Non placet it doth not please me When Men are not at leisure for the things of their Peace it is a Sign they have no Mind to go to Christ and are not earnest in this matter Excuses are but a real Denial as they that have no Mind to pay their Debts they put off their Creditors and troublesome Suitors until another time only to be rid of them When Men have a true sense of their Case they can trifle no longer In a matter of Life and Death Delays are dangerous God is for present Obedience Heb. 3.7 To day if ye will hear his Voice And so a Soul that is affected with its Condition cannot dally with God any longer Gal. 1.16 Immediately I consulted not with Flesh and Blood When Christ called Andrew and Peter they straitway left their Nets and followed him Mat. 4.20 And Zacheus made haste and came down and received him joyfully Luke 19.6 When Men have but a slight Conviction they think of a more convenient Season when such a Business or such a Temptation is over but alas modò modò non habet modum a Sinner's Morrow will never come 2. Running to the City of Refuge implieth avoiding all By-ways A Soul that is rightly affected cannot be satisfied with any other thing Another place would not secure the Man nothing but the City of Refuge Worldly things to a wounded Conscience are as unsavoury as the White of an Egg. Surely the Wound is not deep enough when it can be healed with other Plaisters and that Thirst is not urgent which we can quench at the next Ditch I mean when the Comforts of the Creature can satisfy the Soul our Thirst was not very deep Many have a Trouble upon them but they quench it in Mirth and carnal Company and by little and little wear out all Feelings of Conscience A Man that ran to a City of Refuge would not turn aside but went a strait way thither another Town could not secure him So all things else are but Dung and Dross in comparison of being found in Christ Phil. 3.8 9. There are two things which are apt to keep us from Christ when we begin to be touched with any sight of Sin or God's Wrath pursuing us either the Delights of the World or some formal Duties When a Man begins to be in want with the Prodigal he first feeds upon Husks with the Swine takes up with Worldly Delights which serve to benum and stupify the Conscience Or if that will not do then some outward formal Duty That Trouble never went very deep that can be cured with any thing on this side Christ. 3. This Running implies an unwearied Diligence The Man was running still till he was gotten into the City of Refuge for it was for his Life so we are unwearied until we meet with Christ Cant. 3.2 The Spouse sought her Beloved throughout the whole City from one Ordinance to another Where is Christ They run here and there to the Word and to Prayer to see if God will let in any glimpse of Love They do not presently give out tho they find not what they look for but are born up by Encouragements of the Word Many that have Trouble upon them are anxious and make a kind of Essay whether God will give them Christ or no and if not presently answered throw up all But they which run to Christ in good earnest wrestle with many a Discouragement and Delay it is for the lost Sheep of the House of Israel it is Childrens Bread and not to be given to Dogs but they are resolved to hold fast and take no Denial 4. When they are got into their City of Refuge they stay there having once taken hold of Christ they will not quit their hold-fast for all the World Many times the Children of God have that which Divines call a Negative Adherence that is they do not stick to other things tho they dare not apply Christ to their Souls tho they have but a Twilight and make but a blind Adventure they dare not say Christ is theirs yet they will not let go that kind of loose Hope for all the World Much more when it comes to some Positive Adherence tho not a full Assurance that is when they are resolved to cast their Souls on Christ to see what God will do with them as Ioab when he took hold of the Horns of the Altar he said If I die I 'll die here 1 Kings 2.30 So whatever Discouragements they meet with their Hearts hold Christ fast and will not let him go II. For the second Branch To lay hold upon the Hope that is set before us and you must repeat the word flying or running again Here is another Metaphor implied the Apostle having spoken of flying alludeth not only to the City of Refuge but to that speed and haste Men make in a Race to take hold of the Prize for he speaks of laying hold of a Hope set before them the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies to seize upon it and ver 20. of a Fore-runner that is entred before us 1 st What is this Hope Hope is put for the thing hoped for Heaven with all the Glory thereof for it is a Hope that lies within the Vail ver 19. or a Hope laid up for us in Heaven Col. 1.5 Mark the double end of him that cometh unto Christ Refuge and Salvation for in Christ there is not only Deliverance from pursuing Wrath but Eternal Life to be found First we fly from deserved Wrath then we take hold of undeserved Glory This is more easy of the two Rom. 5.10 11. For if when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom we have now received the Atonement The greatest Brunt is at first because of the great fear upon us to fly from Wrath then we encourage our selves to take hold of Eternal Life In the temporal Refuges they had Security but not Possessions there was no Heritage there but here we are not only secured against the Avenger of Blood but we are called to great and glorious Hopes Our Privileges in Christ are not only privative but positive Cant. 2.3 I sat down under his shadow with great delight and his Fruit was sweet to my Taste Christ is not only a shady Tree to afford a cool and wholsome Shade to shelter us from the Scorchings of the Sun but a fruitful Tree we are not only sheltred from Wrath but called to eat of the Apples of Paradise In the Covenant of Grace God doth not only enter into a League with us that he will not hurt us but he openeth all his Treasure to us So Psal. 84.11
Prosper I pray thee thy Servant this Day and grant him Mercy in the sight of this Man for I was the King's Cup-bearer For Ordinances Mat. 11.23 And thou Capernaum which art exalted to Heaven shalt be brought down to Hell for if the mighty Works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained till this Day Where the Gospel is most clearly preached that Place and People is most clearly exalted and made nearest to Heaven But yet if these be not improved they bring you into the deeper state of Condemnation Persons honoured and favoured by God with spiritual Advantages shall be brought as low as they were formerly advanced Yea for Grace it self You are to be accountable not only for Corn and Wine and Oil but for the saving Gifts of the Spirit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã VVhat do ye more than others Mat. 5.47 You are always to glorify his Name admire his Grace and live answerably to his Love and bring him into Request among all about you 4. Talents are increased the more they are imployed and we double our Gifts by the faithful use of them As the Widow's Oil increased in the spending and the Loaves in Christ's Miracle were multiplied in being divided and the right Arm by being much used is bigger and fuller of Spirits than the left Grace groweth by Exercise but decayeth by disuse Gifts if they be not employed are lost How many poor withered Christians are we acquainted with that are blasted and have suffered a shrewd loss by slacking their Zeal and want of diligent Exercise VVhosoever hath to him shall be given and whosoever hath not from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have Luke 8.18 To have is to use or imploy our present Stock 5. We must give an Account to God We must not think that when God hath given or committed any thing to us he will not look after it any more No he will call us to an Account what Honour he hath by us as Magistrates Ministers or Masters of Families Beasts are not called to an Account for they have no Reason and Conscience but Man is God will ask what you have done with your Time Strength and Estate An Ambassador that is sent abroad to serve his King and Country if he could return no other account of his Negotiation but that he had spent so much of his Time in visiting the Court-Ladies and so much again in Play in Cards or Dice that he could not mind the Employment he was sent about would this satisfy the King that sent him Or if a Factor that is sent to a Mart or Fair should say that he stayed so long guzling at the next Ale-house that the time was over e're he could part with his Companions and riotously wasted the Money that he was to employ in Traffick These are odd things as they are represented to your Imagination Now consider how little better Answer you can make to God when he shall require and ask his own of you 6. Consider what a sad thing it is to have Gifts only to leave us without excuse As the Gentiles had the Light of Nature God left not himself ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without Witness among them Acts 14.17 But what was the Issue The invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse Rom. 1.20 God is not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without a Witness and they are not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without excuse they have not the excuse of faultless Ones To others the Word is preached ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for a Witness to them Mat. 24.14 The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the VVorld for a VVitness to all Nations But it is Mark 13.9 For a Testimony against them And the Lord would have Ezekiel preach That they might know that a Prophet hath been amongst them Ezek. 2.5 So that all the Fruit is God is clear when he judgeth but they have no saving Benefit by all this 7. That in improving what is committed to our Trust our Returns must carry Proportion with our Receipts Mat. 25.16 17. He that had received the five Talents went and traded with them and made them other five Talents And likewise he that received two he also gained other two God will not accept of every Rendering For the Mercies of common Providence it is said 2 Chron. 32.25 He rendered something but not according to the Benefit done unto him So for the Mercies of his Covenant where he pardoneth much he expecteth to be loved much Luke 7.47 Her Sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much But to whom little is forgiven the same loveth little So for Sanctification he expecteth more from them to whom he hath given more Grace Paul saith 1 Cor. 15.10 I laboured more abundantly than they all So for all other Talents Ordinances and Means of Knowledg God expecteth more from them to whom they are vouchsafed than from another People as is evident in his Judgments You only have I known of all the Nations of the Earth therefore will I punish you for your Iniquities The Valley of Vision had the sorest Burden Isa. 22.1 Yea it is more easy to be saved for some than others Righteousness consists in a Proportion which holdeth good both in our Duty and God's Judgments But of this hereafter 8. Consider how many Encouragements God's Stewards have to be faithful 1. His Right is clear as appeareth by this double plain Argument God doth dispose of these Gifts at his own pleasure by his Providence and by his Laws he hath regulated the use of them that thus and thus we shall employ them 2. God hath given a liberal Allowance to every Steward which he employeth He is well provided for for he is an Instrument of God's Providence first to provide for himself and for his own 1 Tim. 5.8 But if any provide not for his own and specially for those of his own House he hath denied the Faith and is worse than an Infidel 3. Besides the Gifts we are intrusted withal there is co-operating Grace to help us to be faithful Phil. 2.13 He worketh in us both to will and to do Else we should swallow the Gift and little mind the Use. Col. 1.29 Whereunto I also labour striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily 4. There is an eternal Reward to the Faithful Mat. 25.23 Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful in a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Ioy of thy Lord. All his Servants shall be highly dignified as those whom Christ delighteth to honour SERMON II. LUKE XII 48 For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of them will they ask the more Doct. II. THese Gifts
himself with a spurious Covenant of Works of his own making which is the main Lett and Hinderance to keep him from Christ and Salvation There is a two-fold Covenant of Works one genuine and true and of God's own Institution another Apocryphal and feigned a Bastard-Covenant of Works and of Mans Invention namely that which a Creature unable to perform the Duty of the Law or to get from under the Curse thereof frameth out of his own Brain as by doing something in order to our acceptation with God thô not doing all that is required and to make recompence for the defects in the weighty things by abounding in Externals There is a Covenant Man makes of himself by a short Exposition of the Law that he may have a large Opinion of his own Righteousness It is not for the Interest of their Quiet and Peace that the Ell should be longer than the Cloath therefore because they know they are not able to stand by the true genuine Covenant of God's making they make a Covenant of their own that so a blameless Conformity to the outward Letter of the Law may make a recompence for their other Defects abounding in humane Inventions and Observances of vain Riâes as if this would make them acceptable with God This is the great thing which keeps him off from submitting to the Gospel-way of Faith and Repentance and humbling himself before the Lord. 2 Reason It must needs be a powerful Instrument to prepare Men for Christ because this Covenant shuts up a Sinner without any hope of Relief unless Christ and Grace open the Door to him There are three places of Scripture which speak fully to this purpose Rom. 3.19 That every mouth may be stopped and all the World may become guilty before God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã lyable to his Process and Wrath nothing to say for themselves no Plea to make by the first Covenant Rom. 11.32 speaking of the Iews he saith For God hath concluded them all in Vnbelief By this Covenant they are as it were shut up in Prison but no way to escape unless Grace and Mercy open the Door So Gal. 3.22 The Scripture that is the Law-Covenant hath concluded all under Sin that the promise by Faith of Iesus Christ might be given to them that believe This Covenant accusing convincing and condemning all Mankind for Sin it doth as it were shut them up under the fearful Curse as a Malefactor is shut up in Prison So that a Man is forced to lay aside all confidence of any Righteousness in himself and fly for Refuge to the Promises and to the Righteousness of Christ. Let us see how this Covenant shuts Men up and inevitably concludes them Lost and Undone If this could be powerfully and throughly done the Work of Conversion would not be at such a stand Thô all men be in such a Cursed Condition yet it is a matter of no small difficulty to convince Men of it or to affect their Hearts sensibly with it Therefore if there were any way to shut them up without all Hope where there is not the least Wicket or Door open for escape from deserved Wrath then the Work would powerfully go on and they would be necessitated to fly to Christ. Let us see then how this Law shuts Men up because the Duty of it is Impossible and the Penalty Intollerable 1. The Duty is Impossible So full and exact is that Righteousness that is required by the Law-Covenant in order to Life that it is impossible for the fallen Creature ever to perform it Rom. 8.3 What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh. The Law promiseth no good to Sinners but only to the Innocent it reveals no way of taking away Sin past but only of punishing Sin no way for Man once a Sinner ever to recover himself therefore it is become weak that is impossible through our Flesh the weakness of the Flesh will not permit it to be fulfilled in that exactness which is required of us if it could be exactly fulfilled for the future yet there would be no hopes of Life because of Sins past Therefore to hope our good Meanings good Intentions and Endeavours should help us is to no purpose A Man must from the first moment of Life to the last minute thereof be perfectly exact with God Now Man that could not keep himself in Innocency it cannot be thought that he can recover himself when Lost. 2. The Penalty is Intollerable Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them The Law is a mouth that speaketh terrible things it curseth a Man in his Person Comforts Basket Store in all things that he hath all the Miseries of this Life are included in this Curse Lam. 3.39 Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his Sins Death it self is part of it it is the wages of Sin Rom. 6.23 and the pains of Hell Mark 25.41 Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting Fire When the Law shall take a Sinner by the Throat and say Pay me what thou owest Alas what can a poor Creature do to avoid the Curse or overcome it Every one of us in Thought Word and Deed have broken the Law of God now wherewith shall we appease his Wrath We have nothing to give God or that he will accept at our hands we cannot hide or withdraw our selves from the presence of the Lord for we must all appear before the Iudgment Seat of Christ We cannot abide this Curse for who can dwell with devouring Burnings O what shall we do then to escape this horrible Curse There is no way but by flying from the Sentence of the Law to the Throne of Grace for Mercy and Pardon There is no other Hope left us for they that do not betake themselves to the Covenant of Grace must stand or fall by the Sentence of the Law So that this is the most powerful Engine to awaken Mens Consciences and prepare them for Christ. Therefore for good Reason Christ sends this Confident Young man to the Law Thou knowest the Commandments 3 Reason There is none passeth into the New Covenant till he be driven by the Old and therefore certainly this is the Way to prepare a Man for Christ to have some sense and feeling of it in our own Heart and we see we are cursed and Undone Creatures and so lye at God's feet with Brokenness of Heart Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father There is a Spirit that goes along with every Covenant the Spirit of Bondage begets fear in all that are under the first Covenant and the Spirit of Adoption begets Hope in all that are under the second Covenant Gal. 2.19 I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God Before we can
lay hold of the second Covenant we must be dead to the Law Men are slight and careless untill the Curse of the Law puts them so hard to it that they are made to despair of getting Heaven and Salvation by Obedience to it O then they think of a New Life and a New Claim The Curse of the Law follows them close makes them utterly despair in themselves then they are fit to live unto God The Apostle tells us this is the great Use for which the Law now serveth Rom. 5.20 The Law entred that the Offence might abound Gal. 3.19 Wherefore then serveth the Law it was added because of trangression that is to convince Sinners of their lost Estate that men might be sensible of their Sins and so forcibly constrained to make after another Righteousness None pass from one Covenant to another but they have a taste of the first I. VSE To inform us how the two Covenants agree and are subservient to one another For these two are not contrary being both Truths revealed by God they have a mutual respect the Law serveth to make Sin known Rom. 3.20 For by the Law is the knowledge of Sin and the Gospel holdeth forth the Remedy of Sin Iohn 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sin of the World The Law paints out our need oâ Christ who is the end of the Law for Righteousness Rom. 10.4 The Gospel maketh an offer of Christ that in him we may have what we could not attain by the Law 1 Cor. 1.30 For of him are ye in Christ Iesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption The Law discovers those Duties wherein a Man made Righteous ought to walk and testifie his Thankfulness Eph. 4.1 2. I beseech you that you walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness c. The Gospel furnisheth him with Spiritual Strength to walk in those Duties which the Law prescribeth 2 Cor. 3.6 The Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life Lex jubet Gratia juvat The Law commands but Grace helps us Thus they fairly agree and are mutually useful II. VSE To awaken our Consciences to consider upon what Terms we stand with God and by what Covenant we can plead with him by the Covenant of Works or by the Covenant of Grace If we be yet under the Covenant of Works and have not got the Sentence of the Law repealed O miserable Creatures there is no hope Psal. 130.34 If thou Lord shouldest mark Iniquity O Lord who shall stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared If God should deal with us in a way of strict Justice according to the tenor of the Law and the Covenant of Works no Man can escape Condemnation and the Curse There is another Covenant but how will you decline Judgment according to the first Covenant 1. There is no hope of your pleading another Covenant till you own the first Covenant to be just and with Brokenness of Heart you look upon your selves as shut up under the Curse and you acknowâedge your selves lost and undone Sinners The great thing that this Young man wanted was Brokenness of Heart and therefore Christ would have him see himself in the Law The Heirs of Promise are described to be those that have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before them Heb. 6.18 It is all Allusion to those that fled for their Life If one had kill'd a Man by chance and not out of Malice prepense there was a City of Refuge appointed and if he fled there before the Avenger of Blood the next of kin seized upon him the Man was safe None are brought in to Christ but they come as those that have the Avenger of Blood following them they are driven and must away from the first Covenant by a deep sense of their Misery Men that are Heart-whole and have only Doctrinal Notions about the two Covenants without feeling the force of either and being driven out of themselves to ly at God's Feet for Mercy they as yet remain under the Old Covenant and need be prepared by this breaking Work Indeed Degrees are different but all feel some Trouble some with great Horror and Despair but others with Anxiousness and Solicitude the Curse is at their heels therefore they desire to be found in Christ Now have you felt any thing of the Spirit of Bondage The deepness of the Wound is not to be looked after but the soundness of the Cure but yet some Wound there will be And therefore till there be some Grief and Shame and Sorrow and bitter Remorse because of Sin a smiting upon the Thigh because of the Indignation of the Lord and humbling our selves before God we are not fit for Mercy We are not Heirs of the Promise if we do not hasten to the Hope set before us 2. They that do as yet trust to their good Meanings and Endeavours and seek Salvation by their own Doing must yield perfect Obedience to the Law of God or else they cannot obtain Eternal Life we make this to be our Covenant by sticking to any one Work of ours Gal. 5.2 3. Behold I Paul say unto you that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing For I testifie again to every one that is circumcised that he is a Debtor to do the whole Law If another Man had spoken this possibly you would have judged him rash and uncircumspect But I Paul say unto you I that have an Apostolical Authority I that know the mind of Christ I testifie this again and again that observing any one Ceremony as part of a Mans Righteousness necessary to Salvation cuts off the Observer from all Benefit by Christ he is a Debtor to the Duty of the whole Law he obligeth himself to perfect Obedience without which the Law cannot justifie any he saith it again and again that Man might take heed This trust in his own Righteousness in effect is a renouncing the Gospel Covenant Christ must be our whole Righteousness and a compleat Saviour or not at all If we rely upon any thing besides him or joyntly with him as a meritorious Cause of Salvation we lose all Hope and Comfort by Christ. This is the great Concernment of the Soul therefore to be inculcated with such Seriousness and Earnestness 3. By living in any known allowed reigning Sin shews we have no Claim to the second Covenant Saith David Psal. 19.13 Keep back thy Servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have Dominion over me so shall I be upright and shall be innocent from the great transgression Our Qualification under the second Covenant is not a Soul exactly perfect but a Soul sincere Now if any Sin hath Dominion over us our Sincerity is gone Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not havâ dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace There were no cogency in the Argument
if Men under Grace could live under the Dominion of any one Sin they are shut up by the Curse we must look to Christ and give up our selves to him This Man in the Text had the Love of the World reigning in his Heart and Christ turns him away and afterwards it is said he went ââway sad III. VSE To instruct us if we would be prepared for Christ what we must do we must study the Law the Purity of it and the binding Force it hath on all under it 1. We must be able to understand it Christ saith to the Young man Thou knowest the Commandments he appealeth to him as to one that had some Knowledge of the Law Those that live in the Church should not be ignorant of the Commandments or Law of God but well acquained with them God complaineth Hosea 8.12 I have written to him the great things of my Law but they were counted as a strange thing To be Strangers to the Word of God little conversant in it and to make little use of it is a great Affront done to God We should acquaint our selves not with the Letter only as little Children learn it by rote but with the sence and purpose of it 2. Meditate often thereupon Psal. 1.2 His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and Night Deep and ponderous Thoughts have most Efficacy without a Study of the Law Men are without the Law while they have it Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the law once Who more zealous for the Law than Paul Gal. 1.14 I profited in the Iews Religion above many my Equals in mine own Nation being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my Fathers but while he did not ponder of it he was without the Law 3. Judge your selves by it One great use for which the Moral Law serveth is to bring men to a sight and sense of their Sins and Imperfections and humble them before God Rom. 7.7 I had not known Sin but by the law for I had not known lust except the Law had said Thou shalt not covet and to undeceive them of Conceits of their own Goodness and Righteousness Look into thy Bill what owest thou 4. Beg the Light of the Spirit to shew thee thy Sin and Misery Rom. 7.9 Whân the Commandment came in the Light and Evidence of the Holy Spirit Sin revived and I dyed Men that have the Letter of the Law may be without the Light and Power of it Without the Spirit we guess confusedly concerning things as the Man that saw men like Trees walking and have but general cursory confused Thoughts SERMON IV. ON MARK X. v. 20. And he answered and said unto him Master all these have I observed from my Youth YOU have heard of a necessary Question propounded by a Noble Young man to Christ What shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life We have spoken to Christ's Answer Now in this Verse we have the Young man's Reply All these have I observed from my Youth wherein there is expressed or pretended at least 1. An Vniversality of Respect to the Will of God All these have I observed 2. An early Beginning to do so from my Youth He was still a Young man but by these words from my Youth he means ever since I had the use of Reason as soon as I begun to distinguish between Good and Evil strait and crooked Certainly this Answer were good if it were true Some goodness there is in it therefore we will observe something from it for it is said in the next Verse when he had answered thus Iesus beholding him loved him First It is good in the first Respect as an Vniversality of Obedience is pretended and I may drop this Note Doct. They that would keep the Commandments must observe not only one but all It is true of the Law of God as it belongeth to the Covenant of Works or to the Covenant of Grace 1. As it belongeth to the Covenant of Works Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them Every Sin the least is damnable by that Covenant and deserveth a Curse if he should omit any thing required or commit any thing forbidden the Curse seizeth upon his Throat So Iames 2.10 Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all As one Condition not observed forfeits the whole Lease therefore it concerns this Legalist to make good his Plea and Conceit of Perfection by the Law to say All these things have I done 2. But is not the Covenant of Grace more favourable No it gives not allowance to the least failings but binds us to make Conscience of all as well as of some 1. Because the Authority is the same Exod. 20.1 God spake not one or two but all these words they are all ratified by the Great God and Law-giver So that the same reason that moves us to one moves us to another also that we do it out of Conscience to God we must walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work Col. 1.10 That we should obey Parents keep the Sabbath not Steal be careful of his Institutions not worship him by an Idol this is pleasing to God and so is that 2. The Heart can never be Sincere when we can dispense with any thing which God hath Commanded And you cannot have the Testimony of a good Conscience approving your Sincerity when you allow your selves in the least Failing Psal. 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy Commandments I confess it is chiefly meant of our final Judgment But in all Conditions in the World if we would be found faithful with God and not lest to shame we must respect all his Commandments Luk. 1.6 Zachary and Elizabeth were both righteous before God walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless And saith David Psal. 66.18 If I regard Iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me If you would not break your Confidence and freedom of Heart when you come to God in Prayer but come with Assurance of Welcome and Audience not one Sin must be regarded When we set up a Toleration in our own Hearts and dispense with any one Duty it is either some Pleasure or Profit or Honour that maketh the Duty contrary to us but this will not stand with Sincerity that any petty Interest or Affection of ours should be preferred before the Will of God for these Men do not serve God but their own Lusts when they will only obey God so far as Pleasure Honour or Profit or some Lust will permit them to yield Obedience to him 3. God giveth Grace to keep all Wherever he Renews and Sanctifies it is throughout he fills the Soul with the Seeds of all Grace so as to dispose and encline us to every Duty
they call Christ Lord and Saviour but do not rest upon him for Salvation nor obey him therefore this will be of no use to them as to Eternal Life So Mat. 7.21 Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father that is in Heaven Thô we profess Christianity and seem to have a great Respect to Christ's Memory yet without the practice of Faith and Obedience we shall have no Benefit by Christ and shall never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Only those who being condemned by the Law fly to Christ by Faith and study to bring forth the Fruits of Newness of Life shall be saved by him Again Iohn 8.31 If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed There are Disciples in Name and there are Christ's Disciples indeed such as are so in Truth Life and Practice Whatever Priviledges Men may have by their outward Profession and Shew yet they have no ground of solid Comfort till they persevere to walk according to Christ's Direction and continue in his Word Thus when we renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh and cleave to Christ as Prince and Saviour and resign up our selves to his Use when this is done in reality then do we enter our selves indeed to be his Disciples This is implyed in our Baptism as in the Primitive Times when they did ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Iustin Martyr phraseth it they did solemnly renounce Christ's Enemies and profess to choose him for their Lord and Master and yielded up themselves to be guided by him in his own way to Heaven And the Apostle telleth us 1 Pet. 3.21 Baptism saveth us not the putting away of the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God that is an hearty acceptance of God's Offers and an engagement in his strength to do his Commandments Secondly Why this is necessary beyond Alms and all other Amiable Qualities 1. Because Heathens and Men of a false Religion may Excell in Charity and other Moralities and yet without true Grace they are nothing The Apostle tells us The Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law Rom. 2.14 And that they excelled in Charity as well as other things appears by Titus 3.14 Let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses Who are they that he calls ours also Compare it with v. 8. That they which have believed in God be careful to maintain good works that is those of our Religion as well as the Iews and Pagans The Gentiles were much given to Charity Paul saith Acts 28.2 The barbarous people shewed us no little kindness Mercy had an Altar in every City of Greece The Alchoran of the Turks say That if men knew what a pleasant thing it was to give Alms rather than want somewhat to give they would slice out their own Flesh So that the Gentiles and men not under the Institution of Christ those that are without the Covenant and Promise and Grace may be addicted to Alms. But now all this is nothing without true Grace 1 Cor. 13.3 Thô I bestow all my Goods to feed the poor and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing A Man would think there were a Contradiction in the Apostles Speech for how can one bestow all his Goods to feed the Poor and yet want Charity If this be not Charity what is I would not Interpret it If I bestow all my Goods upon the Poor Hypocritically for it is a hard thing to conceive Hypocrisie should go to such a length but there is the Grace of Charity and the Natural Amiable Quality of Charity If a Man have not a renewed Heart if it be a meer Natural Motion without Spiritual Grace and that cannot be till they enter themselves Disciples to Christ in the way spoken of it is nothing The Apostle commends the Macedonians that were a poor People yet did exceedingly stretch themselves to contribute to the Poor Saints at Ierusalem 2. Cor. 8.5 And this they did not as we hoped but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God And here was the true Method before they gave their Goods they offered their Hearts to God they gave up themselves to the Lord Christ to be his Disciples they entred themselves into his Service This is the true Fountain of Charity and then it comes to something 2. There is need of Faith in Christ in order to our Acceptance with God and Reconciliation with him and therefore all the Good Works we do will not profit us till we become Disciples of Christ Why till we Believe his Atonement and Reconciliation is not reckoned to us for the Gifts of Enemies are giftless and unacceptable Since the Fall there is no way of acceptance with God till we change our Copy and come to claim by a new Covenant Nothing will render us acceptable to God but compleat Innocence or else Repentance and Faith in Christ. While we stand upon our own Bottom alas the least Failing is damnable and spoils all the good we do for without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 and Rom. 8.8 They that are in the Flesh cannot please God VSE To shew the Necessity of becoming the Disciples of Christ that you may not satisfie your selves with any thing you do without it or beneath it till you have taken Christ for your Saviour But you will say What need this ado we are Christians are not we dedicated to his Service Baptized in his Name I answer three things 1. There is the more need of entring your selves Disciples of Christ because you are Baptized that you may fill up your Baptism with answerable Duty The Apostle Paul presseth to put on Christ Rom. 13.14 But put ye on the Lord Iesus Christ and that because they had put on Christ Colos. 3.10 Seeing ye have put on the new man We are more engaged by our Profession and Covenant sealed in Baptism if we have put on Christ Sacramentaally we must put him on really Rom. 6.11 Reckon your selves to be dead indeed unto Sin but alive unto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. And indeed this is so far from being an Objection that it binds us the more strongly However God may deal with Infidels to be sure it will not fare well with you if you mock God with an empty Formality and put him off with a Baptismal Regeneration without a real Regeneration if ye put on Christ in Profession and do not really put him on and know his Grace in Truth All are engaged the more strongly that live in the Church not only by the common necessity that is upon all Mankind of running to a Redeemer but because of their Profession Rom. 6.3 4 5. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Iesus Christ were baptized into his Death Therefore we are buried
of great Authority and Influence over the Carnal World of great cunning and dexterity in setting our Sins a work certainly unless we be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might there is no standing Eph. 6.10.12 compared But why hath God left it impossible to Man when he hath offered hopes by the New Covenant 1. That all the Glory of the Good that is in us may redound unto his Grace Eph. 1.6 To the praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved That is God's End in the New Covenant that we might ever admire and highly esteem his Glorious Grace And therefore it is not only Grace that opens the Door that removes the flaming Sword that is against us that takes away the Curse of God but in the whole business of Salvation all is to be ascribed to Grace It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 the words willeth and runneth are considerable The Lord that brings us into this State keeps us in this State 2. To keep the Creature in a constant Dependance upon him and that he might often hear from us As long as a Man is sufficient to himself he never comes to God Ier. 2.31 We are Lords and will no more come unto thee If a Man had the Dominion over his own Spirit and were sufficient to himself God would never hear from him The Prodigal went away from his Father when he had his Portion in his own hands and he never thought of returning till he had spent all and began to be in want Luk. 15.14 Thus should we do with God Prayer and all trading with Heaven would cease if we were sufficient of our selves as to do any thing and therefore with Man it is impossible VSE First Take heed that you do not make a wrong Use of this Impossibility namely so as to be discouraged and throw off all as if there were no hope God hath left it so as that we may despair of our own Strength but not of his Help We should not be discouraged since he worketh in us what he requireth of us 1. God can overcome all this Difficulty He that made the Heart is above it and can frame it to himself Evangelical Difficulty lyes in three things the Corruption of our Nature outward Impediments and Satans Opposition Now the Scripture represents God as able to do all for us he can change our Hearts sanctifie our Condition and help us to vanquish our Temptations 1. He can change our Hearts by Regeneration Alas we cannot change our Natures or turn our selves to God and therefore we are apt to be cast down when we look upon God's holy Ways and the strength of our own Lusts but God is able to change those Hearts of ours and take away their Reluctancy not by making a violent Impression as we force a Stone upward but by imprinting in our Hearts the Habits of Grace whereby we are carried out willingly in the Ways of God and so our Business becomes easie Titus 3.4 According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him John 6.44 And draw me and we will run after thee Cant. 1.4 He puts forth his mighty Power upon the Heart and changeth the bent of our Souls and so we come in 2. God can sanctifie our Condition that it shall not be a Snare Christians whatever you think of it it is not easie to keep your selves unspotted from the World to live in the midst of so many Temptations and to carry on an Equal holy heavenly Frame of Heart such as the Apostle mentions 1 Cor. 8 30 31. It remains that they that have Wives be as tho' they had none and they that weep as tho' they wept not and they that rejoyce as tho' they rejoyced not and they that buy as tho' they possessed not and they that use this World as not abusing it This is our Duty But how shall we do to get such a weaned Heart With Man it is impossible but not with God He can give a Rich Man such Grace as to contemn the World to lay up Treasures in Heaven and upon Religious Reasons to leave all for Christ's sake God taught Paul this Holy Weanedness Phil. 4.12 I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need And he can teach it you if you will wait upon him Our own Natural Spirits indeed carrieth us quite another way Iames 4.5 6. The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy but he giveth more Grace Our Natural Spirit is all for Temporal things it envies the greatness of others it designs for our selves but when Lusts rage he can bridle them the Lord is able to give us a holy Weanedness and Moderation of our Desires in the midst of all those Baits and Snares that we are compassed about withal 3. To Conquer Temptations It is God that rescues the Prey and plucked us at first by a strong hand out of Satan's Power Luke 11.21 22. When the strong man armed keepeth his palace his goods are in peace But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him he taketh from him all his Armour wherein he trusted and divideth his spoils God can bind Satan and dispossess him and recover you out of the snares of the Devil wherein you are taken captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And when we are once in a State of Grace he can preserve you in despite of Men and Devils The World assaults the Children of God with great Force and Power and the Devil is in the Design But saith the Apostle Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the World John 4.4 God is greater in Counsel greater in Strength greater in his Providence and watchfulness for the good of his People Till this Divine Power interpose it can never be 2. We have no Reason to doubt of his Will for he hath promised to take away the Heart of Stone Ezek. 36.26 A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your Flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh There is nothing within the Compass of our Christiaâ Calling of which we have not a Promise in the Covenant The Precept and the Promise go hand in hand therefore the Promise will be made good and so we have no Reason to despair but humbly wait upon God in the use of means till these Promises be accomplished Secondly What Use shall we make of it then Go to God for this Power and give all the Glory of any Saving Grace wrought in us by this
Power 1. Go to God for this Power when you are sensible of your Impotency In vain do we talk of Power to men that are not sensible of weakness and will not so much as essay whether they have power or no 2 Cor. 12.10 When I am weak then am I strong When Creatures are helpless and shiftless God takes pity upon them Therefore when you have been tugging and wrestling in the business of Salvation and it doth not come on kindly but you find your weakness then you may come to God for his Power Bewail your Impotency and say as Iehoshaphat 2 Chron. 20.12 Lord we have no might neither know we what to do but our eyes are unto thee Or rather as Ephraim Ier. 31.18 Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a Bullock unaccustomed to the yoke turn thou me and I shall be turned God's Chastisement revived the sense of his Duty and thinking of his Duty made him feel his Impotency and feeling his Impotency that made him groan to God and wait for his Power O it is well when practical Experienee convinceth us of our weakness and Necessities and our weakness and Necessities lead us to the Promises and the Promises to Christ in whom they are Yea and Amen and Christ to God as the Fountain of Grace and then we rest upon the Power of God And therefore since it is impossible with Man go to God and say Lord I confess the Debt I acknowledge my Impotency but thou hast forbidden me to despair therefore I come to thee give what thou Commandest and Command what thou wilt 2. If it be impossible with Men let God have all the Glory of any Saving Grace wrought in thee Mark this Because there is a deceit God must not only have some Glory but all the Glory for in the New Covenant there is no glorying but in the Lord. All will acknowledge and count it a piece of Religious Manners to speak of some help of Grace but they do not give it it 's due praise The Pharisee could say God! I thank thee I am not as other men Luke 18.11 As for Instance If a Man should say it is all from God indeed but only in a Pelagian sence as he is Author Naturae the Author of Nature as he Created us at first with a Rational Soul and gave us an Understanding and Will whereby he enableth us freely to choose that which is good Here is God's Power acknowledged Grace as Sacrilegious as they were in robbing God of his due Quod vivamus That we Live and that we had reasonable Natures that was the Gift of the Gods but quod bene vivamus that we live well that is of our selves This confounds Nature and Grace we Sacrifice the Wax to God and keep the Honey to our Selves Again we should acknowledge God not only in the Grace of External Revelation revealing the Object that God hath given us an Excellent Religion there is his Grace but in working upon the Faculty Here God is acknowledged but at too low a rate for we need not only the Sun-light but Eyes Eph. 1.18 The eyes of your understanding being opened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints Or if we will go further and acknowledge Internal Grace is necessary but not absolutely necessary but only for Facilitation to do it the more easily for the Work is very difficult if meer Man were left to himself here God's Power is acknowledged but not enough Grace is absolutely necessary not as a Horse to a Journey but as Legs and Feet Again if we should acknowledge it as absolutely necessary for God to excite and move us but give the main stroke to our own Will this not praise high enough it is God inclines the Heart it is God that gives us the Will the beginning and ending of all is from him with Man it is impossible therefore God must have all the Glory 2 Doct. Those that have a deep Sense of their sinful Impotency and Carnal Distempers should seriously consider and encourage themselves by the Soveraign Power of God's Grace Of the Power of God as generally considered I shall speak by and by Now I shall speak of it as it worketh in a way of Grace to bring us into a State of Grace and to preserve us therein 1. The Scripture speaks of this Power that bringeth us into a State of Grace Eph. 1.19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his Power to us ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power Mark there is a mighty Glorious Power that is seen in Converting a Sinner and turning him from Sin to Holiness even greater than the Power by which God made the World When God made the World as there was nothing to help so there was nothing to hinder but such is the perverseness of Man's Nature within such is the Opposition from without and so great an Enemy is Satan that nothing less than God's powerful Grace can begin such a Saving Work in them 2 Pet. 1.3 According as his Divine Power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness There is a Divine Power that gives us Life or a gracious Spirit within and a Divine Power that helps us to walk in a Course of Godliness without So Rom. 11.23 God is able to graff them in again The Iews are of all People most obstinate and averse from God they have no Natural Goodness of Disposition in them they please not God and are contrary to all Men and shall the Iews be Converted Yes For God is able to graff them in again and bring them into a State of Grace 2. This Power of Grace is seen in preserving us in a State of Grace and carrying on this Work in despite of Men and Devils till Grace be Crowned in Glory Alas if God did never so much for us at first yet if he did not keep us we should be made a Prey and be Shipwrackt in the Havens mouth Therefore from first to last the Power of God is seen 1. In defending the Habit of Grace that is begun in the Soul When the Apostle had told us that God of his abundant mercy had begotten us again unto a lively hope 1 Pet. 1.3 presently he saith Verse 5. Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation First we are begotten then kept Heaven is kept for us and we are kept for it first the Power of Grace is a quickning Power and then a preserving Power defending the Work God hath begun in us 2. God actuates and quickens our Graces in us It is God which worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure Phil. 2.13 inspiring and breathing holy Motions into us Awake O North-wind come O South-wind blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow forth Cant. 4.16 And then strengthening those Graces and defending
goods to feed the poor and though I give my Body to be burned and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing I am nothing without saving Grace Therefore these are the Mercies for which God will be praised Thirdly These are brought about with more ado than Temporal Favours God as a Creator and Upholder of all his Creatures doth bestow Temporal Blessings upon the Ungodly World even upon the Heathens that know him not that never heard of Christ yet Saving Grace he bestoweth only as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who was to purchase these Blessings by his Death and bloody Sufferings before we could obtain them Eph. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Other Blessings run in the Channel of common Providence these in the Channel of Christ's Mediation Fourthly Because these are pledges of Eternal Blessings and the beginnings of our Eternal well-being The Life that is begun in us by the Spirit is perfected in Heaven Ioh. 5.24 He that heareth my words and believeth on him that hath sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death to life It is a spark that shall not be quenched and the Food that feedeth it is the meat that perisheth not but endureth to everlasting life John 6.27 Those Graces and Eternal Blessedness are to be linked together that they cannot be separated Rom. 8.30 Whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified Sanctification is included in the last word here in the Beginnings by Sanctification and hereafter in the full possession of Eternal Glory So 2 Cor. 3.18 We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. It loseth it self in the Ocean of Eternal Glory and Happiness Fifthly These incline and fit the Heart for praise and Thankfulness to God There is an Occasion to praise God and a Disposition and an Heart to praise God outward Benefits give us the Occasion to praise God but these not only the Occasion but the Disposition other Benefits are the Motives but these the Preparations as they do fit and encline the Heart The Work of Faith and Love do set the Lips wide open to magnifie and praise the Lord Grace is the matter of God's Praises and give also a ready will to praise him yea the very Deed of praising him Psal. 63.5 My Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips When they feel the Love of God shed abroad in their Hearts they are enclined to praise God Sixthly Temporal Favours may be given in Anger but the Graces of the Spirit are never given in Anger God may give us worldly Honour and Riches in Judgment and indulge large Pastures to Beasts fatted for destruction but he giveth not Faith and Love in Anger or a Renewed Heart in Anger but as a token of his Special Love To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 13.11 To you it is given to believe Phil. 1.19 So that for these principally we should praise the Lord. We have a quick sense in Bodily Mercies but in Soul Concernments we are not alike affected We think God dealeth well with them to whom he giveth Greatness and Honour but doth he not deal well with you to whom he hath given his Spirit Seventhly These render us acceptable unto God A Man is not accepted with God for his worldly Blessings he is indeed the more accountable unto God but not of greater Account with him Luke 12.48 For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall the more be required The more Helps and the more Encouragements the more Work and Service God expecteth but they are not more precious in his sight for Temporal things sake Under the Law the Rich and Poor payed the same Ransom the Rich is not accepted for his Riches nor the poor Man despised for his Poverty but now the Saving Graces of his Spirit are acceptable with God It is said 1 Pet. 3.4 A meek and quiet Spirit it is in the sight of God of great price God esteemeth this more and therefore it should heighten the esteem of Grace in our Hearts and quicken us more to get and encrease it Eighthly These Benefits should be acknowledged that God may have the sole Glory of them for he is the Father of Lights from whom cometh every good and perfect gift Jam. 1.17 It was the Opinion of the Stoicks Quod vivamus Deorum munus est quod bene vivamus nostrum Our Natural Being we ascribe to God but our Moral Perfections we are apt to usurp the Glory of them to our selves Iudicium hoc est omnium mortalium saith Tully All Men think that Prosperity and Success is to be asked of the Gods but Prudence and good Management belongeth to us But these Opinions are Sacrilegious and rob God of his chiefest Honour Therefore to prevent Spiritual Pride we must be sure to bless God for Spiritual Blessings our Crowns must be cast at the feet of the Lamb Rev. 4.10 11. for he only is worthy to receive Honour and Blessing and Glory and Power Whatever we do 't is from him who worketh all our works in us Isa. 26.12 Thou wilt ordain peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our works in us And 1 Chron. 29.14 All things come of thee and of thy own have we given thee By his Grace we are what we are 1 Cor. 15.10 By the Grace of God I am what I am And Luk. 19.16 Thy pound hath gain'd ten pounds VSE Is to Exhort us to two Things First To be in a Capacity to bless God for Spiritual Blessings Secondly To be most Affected with these Mercies First See that you be in a Capacity to bless God for Spiritual Blessings First see that you have these Mercies and then bless God for them It would trouble a Man even to trembling to hear slight and vain persons take up a Form of Thanksgiving which no way is proper to them as to Bless God for their Election before Time their Sanctification in Time and their Hopes of Glory after all Time As if a Leper should give thanks for perfect Health or a Mad-man that he is made wiser than his Neighbours or a Man that is ready to die to thank God that he is pretty well and recovering so they give thanks for Grace which they never knew nor felt This is to mock God while we pretend to adore him It is true there are Spiritual Mercies for which all are bound to give Thanks such as the Mystery of Redemption the New Covenant the Offers and Invitations of Grace Means and Time to Repent these you
like Men be strong let all things be done with Charity And therefore that qualification which entituleth us to the Priviledges of the New Covenant is made to be Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 The one Grace without the other is not saâing and sincere Faith without Love is dead Iam. 2.17 and Love without Faith is but a little good Nature or facile Inclination to others not derived from the Spirit of God nor built on our Belief of his Grace in Christ they depend upon one another as the Effect upon the Cause Faith produceth Love as it sheweth the true grounds of Union and from a sense and apprehension of God's Love to us causeth us to love others In short both Graces are recommended by the same Authority 1 Ioh. 3.23 And this is his Commandement that we should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ and love one another as he gave us Commandement He that maketh Conscience of the one will make Conscience of the other also Again the one referreth to God the other to Men Faith for God Charity for our Brethren The one keepeth us from defection from God the other preventeth a Schism and a Breach with our Fellow Christians Well then here was the Commendation of those Thessalonians their Adherence to the Faith was very Constant and they lived in Unity and Amity with one another There is no surer Argument of Sincerity and Proficiency in Christianity than this growth of Faith and Love they are the Fountain of all other Duties and if you would be accounted thorough and growing Christians you must excel in both these Graces for true solid Godliness is rooted in Faith and acted by Love towards God and Men which is the All of Christianity 5. This Growth and Proficiency was found in all Not only some among them were Eminent for Faith and Love but all If the Apostle had only said The Charity of you all aboundeth it might seem to refer to the Church that there was no Schism there but he saith of every one of you all towards each other In other Epistles the Believers to whom the Apostle wrote have all the Style of Churches or men sanctified c. but afterwards notorious and particular miscarriages are reproved which sheweth that the Denomination was a potior parte from the better part but here he mentions all and every one they were a choice sort of Christians where shall we find their Fellows It is our Duty to be such and it should be our Care for here we see what the Grace of God can do if we be serious and what an Advantage it is to be in good Company and to have good Examples about us and how much living Coals do inkindle one another when they lye together 6. He saith Faith groweth but Love aboundeth Love must not only increase but abound to each other A thing may be increased Intensivè or Extensivè Intensively when it is more rooted when there is a greater Fervour and Vigour of Faith and Love Extensively either as to Effects or Objects as to Effects in doing more good as when we abound in Works of Mercy or as to Objects by doing good to more Persons not confining our Love to one only or a few but extending it to all This was the Case of those Thessalonians their Love was not a lank or lean Love but an abounding Love full of all good Fruits and this not to some but to all even the meanest Christians among them If we would give others occasion to Bless God for us let us imitate their Example Occasions are many Objects are many to whom we may be beneficial therefore our Charity must not be streightned but abounding 1. The Internal Affection must increase Phil. 1.9 This I pray that your Love may abound yet more and more that is both their Love to God and their Neighbours especially to those who are God's There are so many things to extinguish it or make it grow cold that we should always seek to increase this Grace that it may be more fervent and strong and not grow cold and dead 2. The external Expressions should abound both as to Acts and Objects 1. As to Acts In Duties of Charity we should not be weary Now we may be weary upon a double Occasion either because we meet not presently with our Reward to that the Apostle speaketh Gal. 6.9 Be not weary of well-doing for in due time we shall reap if we faint not Duties of Charity have their Promises annexed which are not presently accomplished but in their season they will be either in this Life or in the next Or because of continual Occasions when there is no end Heb. 6.10 11. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which you have shewed towards his Name in that ye have ministred to the Saints and do minister and we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of Hope unto the end Meaning that formerly they had a Courage to own Christ and his despised wayes and to be Charitable to poor Christians now he desireth them to be so still as long as the Occasion continueth so long should the Charity continue that at length they might reap the Reward Ye have ministred and do Minister This is tedious to Nature and to a Niggardly and base Heart but Love will be working and labouring still and ever bringing forth more Fruit. Where this Heavenly Fire is kindled in the Soul it will warm all those that are about them but Love is cold in most it will neither take Pains nor be at Charge to do any thing for the Brethren But Christian Love is an Immortal Fire it will still burn and never dye therefore we should continue the same Diligence Zeal and Affection that formerly we had 2. As to Objects Christ telleth us The poor ye have always with you Matth. 26.11 As long as God findeth Objects we should find Charity and the Apostle saith Gal. 6.10 As we have opportunity let us do good to all Men. Expensive Duties are distastful to a Carnal Heart it may be they would part with something which the Flesh can spare and will snatch at any thing to excuse their neglect they have done it to these and these but as long as God bringeth Objects to our View and Notice and our Ability and Affection doth continue we must give still If our Ability continueth not Providence puts a barr and excuseth but if our Affection doth not continue the Fault is our own Now I come more particularly to speak of the Growth of Faith Your Faith groweth exceedingly Doct. That 't is well with Christians when their Faith groweth and doth considerably increase The Scripture speaketh of a weak Faith and a strong Faith therefore it concerneth us to consider whether our Faith be weak or strong in the wane or in the increase Now we shall best Judge of the growth of Faith 1. By
hath revealed because he hath revealed them therefore the Divine Revelation must be conveyed to them by some means or other The Third There is no Hearing without a Preacher some Messenger or Interpreter that may bring Tydings of Pardon and Life by Christ. Then for the Fourth Branch How shall they Preach except they be sent that is come with Authority Evidence and Power whereby it may be known that he is a Messenger authorized and sent by God that the things propounded may be received as a certain Truth of God's own Revelation that we may depend upon the Credit of his Word and that with such a lively and effectual Belief as may prevail with us to Assent unto it and embrace it notwithstanding all Difficulties and Objections to the contrary Now such is the Doctrine of Salvation by Christ which Inviteth us to call upon his Name or Name our selves by the Name of Christ because we may Believe in him and run all Hazards for him 2 Tim. 1.12 Why Because we have heard of him the Fame of his Doctrine so suitable to the Glory of God and the Necessities of Mankind and the Fame of his Miracles especially his Death and Resurrection and that by Authentick Preachers or Faithful Men authorized by God and sufficiently owned by him as those that are Commissioned to Instruct the World and to Teach them the way of Salvation So that the Word is the great Means to work Faith 2. 'T is the Warrant of Faith which stateth the Laws of Commerce between us and God which sheweth how far God hath Obliged himself and we may depend upon him as appeareth by the Words of Christ Ioh. 17.20 Neither pray I for these alone but for them also that shall believe in me through their word The Principal Object of Faith is Christ we believe in him and the Warrant of Faith is the Word that is the Doctrine which by the Apostles is consigned to the use of the Church For these and no other Christ Prayeth and according to this way or Law of Grace God offereth himself to be reconciled to his Creatures So that here you may hold him to his Covenant the Word is gone out of his Lips and without this you make Promises to your selves which God will not stand unto 3. 'T is the Object of Faith or the thing which we do believe Acts 24.14 I believe all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets and add to that in the Writings of the Apostles to make the Object of the Christian Faith compleat take in also what is written in the Apostles for We are built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Iesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone Eph. 2.20 That is the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ being the chief summe and scope of it who is to be accepted of as he is revealed and offered in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament betwixt which there is a sweet Harmony and Agreement But because this is too bulky and large for us to manage at one time let us consider the summe of the Scriptures in the Method wherein God hath put it and that is the Covenant of Grace ratified by the Blood of Christ which is the most glorious Discovery whereby God hath made known himself to his Creatures Psal. 138.2 I will praise thy Name for thy loving kindness and thy truth for thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name There we see that God's Word is the chiefest Discovery that he hath made of himself to the Creature for 't is magnified above all his Name that is it doth set forth God above all that is named famed spoken or believed or known or understood of God And what is the Matter of his Word his loving Kindness and his Truth that is in the Word there are contained Admirable Promises which God will certainly perform to the utmost Importance of them There we see his Mercy and loving Kindness in making such great Promises The Promises of the New Covenant are beyond all Expression great and precious 2 Pet. 1.4 they contain as much as the Heart of Man can desire all Spiritual and eternal Riches Pardon of Sin taking away the Stony Heart Eternal Life these are offered to Men to Believe And then his Truth and Fidelity in performing these Promises most punctually to all those that do Believe and will accept the Pardon Grace and Blessedness offered and behave themselves accordingly Well then God's Mercies in Christ to them that Repent Believe and Obey God are the Matter and Object of our Faith 4. The Word is the Security and Strength of our Faith 1. As it puts God's Grace into the way of a Promise 2. As this Promise is the Promise of God First We have much Advantage in Believing by the Formality of a Promise A Promise is more than a Purpose more than a Doctrinal Declaration more than a Prediction or Prophecy 1. More than a Purpose A Purpose is only the Thought of the Heart a thing secret and hidden but a Promise is open and manifest A Purpose is the Intention of a Person a Promise is his Intention revealed whereby we have a Knowledge of the good intended to us If God had only purposed to give us Eternal Life we might at last have enjoyed it but we could not have known it before hand It would have been as an hidden Treasure Promises are the Eruptions and Over-flows of God's Love to us his Heart is so big with Kindness and Designs of Goodness that it cannot stay 'till the accomplishment of things Isa. 42.9 Before they spring forth I tell you of them God's Purposes are a Sealed Fountain but his Promises are a Fountain broken open bubling forth He might have done us good and given us no Notice but Love concealed would not be so much for our Comfort Besides they are Obligations which God taketh upon himself Promittendi se fecit debitorem So far as God hath Promised so far he hath made himself a Debtor God's Purposes are unchangeable but his Promises are a Security put into our Hands so that we have a greater Hold fast upon God now the Word is gone out of his Lips Psal. 89.34 We may put the Bond in suit throw him in his Hand-writing Psal. 119.49 Remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope We have the Pawn of the thing Promised which we must hold fast 'till Performance cometh His Truth and Holiness lye at stake and are as it were impawned with the Creature 2. 'T is more than a Doctrinal Declaration 'T is one thing to reveal a thing another to Promise it A Doctrine maketh a thing known but a Promise maketh a thing sure A Doctrine giveth us Notice but a Promise giveth us Right and Interest if we be qualified Christ hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Doctrine of the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 But he hath not only manifested
the Life to come let us dig the Pit and tarry till God fill it with Rain from Heaven 2. In case of Difficulties Wants Distresses the naked Promise must be ground of Hope and Comsort to you though it seem to be contradicted in the Course of God's Providence when it is neither performed nor likely to be performed you are to go by his Word whatever his Dispensation be Rom. 4.18 Abraham against hope believed in hope And David saith Psal. 56.4 In God will I praise his Word in God I have put my trust I will not fear what man can do unto me So Verse 10. In God will I praise his Word in the Lord will I praise his Word The best holdfast Faith can have on God is to take him by his Word though he withholdeth Comfort and Deliverance from us yet we may praise him as long as we have his Word His Dispensation giveth no Satisfaction yet the Soul can find Rest and Contentment in his Word Well then if the Word be an impregnable Bulwark against all Fears and Dangers and Comfort against all Wants and Distresses your Faith is grown for the more simply our dependance is upon the Word of God without sensible Encouragements the stronger is our Faith 3. When all the Trust we have in God concerning the Comforts we expect by the way is still referred to the great Blessing of Eternal Life We are to trust God by the way for our Protection and Defence as well as for the Reward at the end of the Journey by swimming in the shallow Brooks we learn to venture in the great Ocean but still in subordination to the main Blessing This is the great Comfort Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom And our Faith in the Word tendeth to this Rom. 15.4 Whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our Learning that we thrô patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Therefore strength of Faith is hereby determined 4. Because the Word is not only our Charter but our Rule The strength of Faith is known by this If we value the Word of God as it maketh us wise unto Salvation therefore we delight in the plain Word without the Ornaments of wit as painting in Glass Windows hindereth the Light Every thing communicateth to it 's own Nature Heat causeth heat Cold causeth cold Ministers speak as the Oracles of God and so the People receive SERMON V. ON 2 THESS I. v. 3. Your Faith groweth exceedingly and the Charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth Fifthly WE come to the Fifth Property of Faith which is an high Value and Esteem of Jesus Christ I mention this 1. Because Faith in the New Covenant mainly and distinctly respects Christ Acts 20.21 Testifying both to the Iews and also to the Gentiles Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ. Why Repentance respects God I shewed you lately because from God we fell and to God we return We fell from him as we withdrew our Allegiance and sought our Happiness elsewhere we return to him as to our Rightful Lord and proper Happiness But Faith respects the Mediator who is the only Remedy of our Misery and the Means of Eternal Blessedness He opened the way to God by his Merit and Satisfaction and actually bringeth us into this way by his Renewing and Reconciling Grace that we may be in a Capacity to please and enjoy God and that 's the reason why Faith in Christ is so much insisted on as it begets a Title to the Blessings of the New Covenant It hath a Special Aptitude and fitness for this work of our Recovery from Sin to God partly because a guilty Conscience is not easily settled and brought to look for all kind of Happiness from one whom we have so much wronged Adam when once a Sinner was shy of God Gen. 3.10 Guilt is suspicious and maketh us hang off from God Psal. 32.13 And if we have not one to lead us by the hand and bring us to God we cannot abide his Presence 2. Partly because the Comfort of the Promises is so Rich and Glorious and the Persons upon whom it is bestowed so unworthy that it cannot easily enter into the Heart of a Man that God will be so Good and Gracious to us unless we have a sound Belief of his Merit who hath procured these Mercies and Hopes for us 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him Therefore since Sense and Reason could look for no such thing 2 strong Faith is necessary 3. The way God hath taken for our Deliverance is so supernatural and strange that nothing but Faith can receive it Ioh. 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life And Rom. 8.32 He spared not his own Son but gave him to dye for us 4. The chief of our Blessings lye in another World and Nature cannot see so far off 2 Pet. 1.9 He that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off Unless we believe Christ and his Message to us we shall never entertain these things 5. For the present Christ's People are assaulted and afflicted with so many Difficulties and so seemingly forsaken and Temptations to Unbelief in this lower World are so manifold and pressing that we can take no Comfort in the New Covenant unless we have Faith in Christ who is able to maintain and defend us till he hath brought us home to God 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day 6. Faith in Christ is most fitted for the acceptance of his free Gift Faith and Grace go always together and are put as Opposites to Law and Works Rom. 4.16 Therefore 't is of Faith that it might be of Grace And Eph. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved through Faith and that not of our selves it is the Gift of God Faith establisheth the free Grace and Favour of God or his Condescention to us in the New Covenant wherein Pardon and Life are offered to Penitent Believers What we receive by the Grace of God in Christ cannot be of Right or such as we may Challenge by Vertue of Obedience to the Law upon that Account He might Condemn us but he doth Accept us upon these New Terms which Christ propounded of his meer Grace and therefore Faith solveth the Interest of Grace in our Pardon and Salvation 7. Because the Duties of the New Covenant are opposite to the bent of the Carnal Heart which is set upon Liberty and Uncleanness Rom. 8.7 The Carnal mind is Enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be And nothing
a greater respect to their own Trouble than the Woman's Affliction that they might not be troubled with her Cries but they desire for quietness sake that she might be dispatched one way or another Many a poor benighted Soul pray themselves and set others on praying till they are weary and God heareth not which is a great Discouragement to a poor afflicted Creature But yet it is but a Temptation for though Man's Drop be soon spent yet God's Ocean of Compassions faileth not When they are troubled yet importunity is welcom to Christ. Thirdly Her next Temptation is sorer Christ seemeth to exclude her out of his Commission Verse 24. But he answered and said I am not sent but to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel This was a Truth for Christ in the days of his Flesh was a Minister of the Circumcision Rom. 15.8 His personal and particular Ministry was principally designed for the People of the Iews they were to have the Morning-Market of the Gospel and the first Handsel of the Redeemers Grace Which by the way was a Rebuke to the Iews that they did no more prize his Ministry and Dispensation when this Stranger was so importunate to receive the Benefit of it But however it was a great Tryal to the Woman as if she were not one of those lost Sheep whom Christ came to seek When Salvation it self refuseth to save us when Christ shall in effect say I am a Saviour but not unto thee thou art not one of my Redeemed ones This is an amazing thing Poor Believers when they are in this Conflict seem to be driven from Christ not only by their own misgiving Hearts but the Denunciation of his Word They question their Election and the Intention of God's Grace whether ever it were meant to them or no. But this is but a Temptation we must not betray our Duties by our Scruples though it be Midnight now we cannot say It will never be Day Our Rule which we must stick to in such cases is God may do what he pleaseth I must do what he commandeth Our Necessities are great and so are Christ's Compassions therefore a believing Soul must not be put off by groundless Fears nor must the Threatnings of the Word drive us from but to the Promise for God opposeth for a while that he may at length give Faith the Victory Fourthly When the Woman reneweth her Suit Verse 25. Then she came and worshipped him saying Lord help me Yet Verse 26. He answered and said It is not meet to take the Children's Bread and cast it to Dogs By Implication Christ reckoneth her among the Dogs A grievous Word to drop from the Mouth of a gracious Saviour But when Christ tryeth us he will try us to the quick and humble us to the very Dust. Our Lord speaketh this according to the common rate of Language among the Iews who accounted all the Heathens as Dogs and without the Covenant Such as were within the Covenant and Pale of Grace were holy and consecrated to God others who were without the Covenant because of their false Religion were accounted prophane and unclean Dogs and Sheep are opposed one to another The People of Israel are decyphered by the Appellation of lost Sheep others are called Dogs Rev. 22.15 Without are Dogs A Term applyed to this day by all Oriental People to those whom they count to be Misbelievers Surely one would think now here were an end of her Faith and Address to Christ no the humble Soul maketh an Advantage of this Verse 27. Truth Lord yet the Dogs eat of the Crumbs which fall from their Master's Table Faith is quick to observe all Advantages whereby it may strengthen it self A Dog is allowed to creep under the Children's Table and to feed on what falls down there Thus she maketh a seeming Rebuke to be a kind of Claim and Title And then Christ can hold out no longer for he will at length yield and will not always hide himself from the seeking Soul They that wrestle will at length overcome Mark 7.29 And he said unto her For this saying Go thy way the Devil is gone out of thy Doughter Secondly Her Victory over these Temptations 1. By her Importunity 2. Her Humility 3. Her resolved Confidence All which are the Fruits of great Faith 1. Her Importunity She will not be beaten off by Christ's Silence but she maketh some Advantage of it For it is not said he heard her not a word but answered her not a word Christ may hear his People when he doth not presently answer them She seemed to be excluded out of Christ's Commission but neither this nor reproach of her own Condition doth hinder the Exercise of her Faith but still she reneweth her Suit Lord have mercy on me Son of David help me The Woman will not be put off praying when Christ seemeth to forbid or not to regard her praying Her Daughter was sore vexed and she must have help from Christ or none The more God seemeth to refuse us the more instant should we be in Prayer and pursue our Suit constantly Let God answer how he pleaseth if he be silent we must resolve to follow the Suit till we get Audience if he seem to deny we must get ground by Denyals if he rebuke us we must still make Supplications Be it a Suspension a seeming Denial a contrary Providence Faith will not give over To sink under the Burden argueth Weakness but it is Strength of Faith to wrestle through it We read of Pherecides a Grecian in a Naval Fight between his Nation and Xerxes that he held a Boat in which the Persians were fighting first with his Right Arm when that was cut off with his Left when that was cut off with his Teeth and would not let go his Hold-fast but with his Life This doth somewhat represent an importunate Soul This Woman when Christ doth seem to turn away from her and refuse her Prayer yet she prayeth Lord help me When he reasoneth from his Charge yet still she will come and worship him when he putteth her off with the common Reproach which the Iews did cast upon all that were not of their Religion his Doctrines and Miracles were Children's Bread she turneth a Discouragement into an Argument and maketh her Claim The Dogs eat of the Crumbs that fall from their Master's Table Thus all true Believers are in good Earnest come what will of it they are resolved to pray still Thus blind Bartimeus the more they rebuked him the more he cried Mark 10.48 Faith is like Fire the more it is pent up the more it striveth to break out and worketh effectually in us We read of Iacob's wrestling with God Gen. 22.24 There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day And it 's explained Hosea 12.3 4. He had power with God yea he had power over the Angel and prevailed he wept and made Supplications to him Wrestling Souls that are good at
offered by him He desired to see me though future and absent and you despise me now present He valued what you scorn and therefore they were degenerate Children of Abraham In the words observe three Things 1. The earnest Desire Abraham had to see Christ's Day Abraham rejoiced to see my Day 2. His obtaining his Desire in some sort and in that way which pleased God and he saw it 3. The Effect of that Sight it bred Joy and Contentment in his Mind and he was glad Some Explicatory Questions shall be handled 1. What was Christ's Day 2. In what sence he earnestly desired to see it 3. How he saw it 4. The Gladness which was the Fruit of it 1. What was Christ's Day I Answer His Coming in the Flesh and setting up the Gospel Dispensation Day in Scripture is put for all that space of time wherein any one hath lived together with the state of things during that time So Christ's Day was the time when Christ came to fulfill his Office of a Redeemer and the state of the Gospel Kingdom there begun 2. How he earnestly desired to see it His Earnestness is implyed in that word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He rejoiced to see my Day With great pleasure of Mind he thought of Christ's coming into the World to save Sinners and desired it might fall out in his time He had no greater desire than to see Christ's Kingdom set up and flourish in the World He rejoiced he vehemently and with ardent Affection desired this might come to pass 3. How he saw it Not with Bodily Eyes that Negative is proved Luke 10.24 Many Prophets and Kings have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them Abraham was one of these But affirmatively he saw it with the Eye of Faith Heb. 11.13 All these died in Faith not having received the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them There it is explained The Object to be seen was revealed and set before them in the Promise and their Eye and Visive Power was Faith Thus God granted him his desire in a better way God may suspend the satisfying the desires of his people in their own way all their days and yet in Effect grant them in a way that is as good and better for them Moses would fain enter into the Land of Canaan but God would only give him a Pisgah-sight The Exhibition of Christ in the Flesh was denied to Abraham and the Patriarchs during their Lives but yet he gave that which was better than a simple bodily sight a Spiritual sight of him in the Word of Promise We desire the Restauration of the Church speedily but it may be it doth not suit with the Harmony of God's Providence therefore we must submit our Will to the Wisdom of his Counsels 4. He was glad and heartily rejoiced at it Gen. 17.17 Then Abraham fell on his Face and Laughed Not as Sarah laughed as doubting of the Event Gen. 18.12 but wondring rejoicing at it being strong in Faith that God could and would make good his Promise There is the laughing of Exultation and the laughing of Derision when one telleth an improbable thing Sarah's was the laughter of Derision and Unbelief Abraham's was the laughing of Exultation The Exhibition of the Messiah and the setting up his Kingdom in the World was Matter of great Joy and Consolation to him Doct. That a strong Faith giveth such a clear sight of Christ as produceth an Holy Delight and Rejoicing in him In handling this Point I. I shall speak of the Ground of Abraham's Faith II. Of the Strength of it set forth by a double Effect 1. His clear Vision and Sight of Christ. 2. His deep Affection or Rejoicing in it I. The ground of his Faith For except the thing to be believed be represented to us in a Divine Revelation it is not Faith but Fancy This sure ground was the Promise of God And if you ask what Promise had his Faith to work upon I Answer That which you have Gen. 12.3 In thee shall all the Families of the Earth be blessed In thee that is in thy Seed as it is explained Gen. 22.18 In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Now to open this Promise we must enquire 1. What this Seed was 2. What this Blessedness was 1. What was this Seed We must distinguish of a Twofold Seed of Abraham his Seed to whom the Blessing was promised which was to be blessed and his Seed in whom both Abraham himself and also his Seed and all Nations were to be Blessed The Promise of Blessing to his Seed is spoken of Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generations for an Everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy Seed after thee Now this Promise to his Seed was either to his Carnal Seed which descended from his Loins God was their God in Visible Covenant with them Or his Spiritual Seed Gal. 3.7 Know ye therefore that they which are of Faith the same are the Children of Abraham Because they walked in the Steps of Abraham and did receive and obey the Doctrine of Faith or Covenant of Grace which he himself believed and received But then there was another Seed in whom he himself and all the Families of the Earth were to be Blessed that is in the Messiah who was to come who is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Promise of Multiplication and Blessing of his Seed was but an Appendage of this Promise and the Means to effectuate it and so subservient to it 2. What was this Blessedness All that good which resulteth to us from God's Covenant Chiefly Reconciliation with God and Life Eternal First Our Reconciliation with God which consists of two parts Remission of Sins and Regeneration Without these two no Man can be capable of Blessedness and both these are included in the Covenant made with Abraham 1 st Remission of Sins Certainly they are Blessed whose Sins are forgiven Psal. 32.1 2. Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven whose Sin is covered Blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity And this is included in the Blessing of Abraham For it is said Gal. 3.8 And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying In thee shall all Nations be blessed So that Justification by Faith a principal part of which is Remission of Sins is that Gospel-blessing which was purchased by Christ for Abraham's Seed 2 dly Regeneration was included also as a considerable part of the Mediator's Blessing Acts 3.25 26. Ye are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with your Fathers saying unto Abraham And in thee shall all the kindreds of the Earth be blessed Vnto you first
Miracles and Acts of Mediation as if we had seen him in the Flesh is still the work and exercise of our Faith So the Apostle telleth the Galatians Chapter 3.1 Before whose Eyes Christ Iesus hath been evidently set forth Crucified among you That is before you he hath been convincingly declared as if he were set before your Eyes Nailed to the Cross. VVe should receive Christ as it were Crucified in the midst of us And the more lively and impressive Thoughts we have of this in the VVord and Sacraments the stronger is ones Faith VVe do so believe it and our Hearts are so warmed by it as if it were all done before our Eyes Such Evidence and Conviction should we have as to warm our Hearts 2. Present To see him so as to make him the Object of our Love and Trust. Iohn 6.40 And this is the will of him that sent me that he that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have Everlasting Life There is a clear sight of Christ still necessary to believing we must see him and know him Spiritually Though he be removed from us within the Curtain of the Heavens yet we must see him and such Worth and Excellency in him as may draw off our Hearts from other things see him so as to believe that he is at the Right Hand of God negotiating for us that we may trust our Selves and our All in his Hands Stephen said Acts 7.56 Behold I see the Heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the Right Hand of God He saw the Lord Jesus as in a posture of readiness to assist and help him that was by Extraordinary Vision for it is said The Heavens opened But Faith doth the like in its degree and proportion Especially must we see him at the Right Hand of God ready to receive us when we die 3. Future We must see him that is be assured of his second Coming and thoroughly perswaded that we shall see him As Iob 19.25 26 27. For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand in the latter days upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh I shall see God Whom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall behold him At the Resurrection we shall get this Sight and Blessed Vision of God Now Faith must over-look all Impediments to assure our selves of this 2. There are other Objects about which the Vision of Faith is exercised as the Glory and Blessedness of the World to come Faith is the Perspective of the Soul by which it can see things at a distance as present It can look beyond and above the World and draw unspeakable Joy from the Hope of Eternal Life Moses Heb. 11.26 Esteemed the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of Egypt for he had respect to the Recompenâe of Reward ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã He looked to it The Glory of the World to come is represented and set before us in the Promise we see it clearly there Heb. 6.18 That by two Immutable Things in which it was impossible for God to Lie we might have strong Consolation who have fled for Refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before us Heb. 12.2 Looking unto Iesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the Ioy that was set before him endured the Cross despised the Shame and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God To this we should look and see it as if it were before our Eyes that we may not be allured or terrified by the things that are before our Eyes But of this I have already spoken in the Nature of Faith See Sermons 3 d Volume on Heb. 11.1 only let me advice you now to keep the Eye of Faith clear that Christ and Heaven may be always in view The Devil seeks to shut it 2 Cor. 4.4 In whom the God of this World hath blinded the Eyes of them which believe not least the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them He doth it by the World deluding and bribing the Flesh and Inchanting the Mind with worldly Felicity so that God and Heaven are forgotten and that necessary Care which we should use in preparation for it is neglected and omitted But it is opened by the Spirit Eph. 1.17 18. That the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him The Eyes of your Vnderstanding being Enlightned that ye may know what is the Hope of his Calling and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints And therefore we should always pray for this Spiritual Eye-salve that we may have a due sense of the World to come fresh and strong upon our Hearts Secondly The next Effect is deep Affection or Rejoicing in Christ and all the Work of Redemption done in his Day Certainly a sight of Christ by Faith doth bring true Joy and Peace into the Soul Here I shall shew 1. That no other Affection will become Christ and the Salvation offered by him and received by Faith but great Joy This is evident by the whole drift and current of the Scriptures The Angels told the Shepherds at Christ's Birth Luke 2.10 And the Angel said unto them Fear not for behold I bring you Good Tydings of great Ioy which shall be to all People Surely Tydings of Christ the Redeemer of the World are Tydings of great Joy because then there was a way found out for our Reconciliation with God and the taking up that dreadful Controversie between us and him that Heaven and Earth may kiss each other and meet again in a Covenant of Love and Peace and Grace purchased by Christ whereby we might overcome the Devil the World and the Flesh. The great Enemies of our Salvation are defeated and a proportionable Happiness found out for Man without which he would have been as Leviathan in a little Pool So when this Grace was offered to any as to Zacheus by Christ's coming into his house and bringing Salvation with him Luke 19.6 He made haste and came down and received him joyfully Or published in the Word Acts 13.48 When the Gentiles heard these things they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as were ordained to Eternal life believed Now we are concerned as well as they The Gospel should never be as State-News to Sinners or as a Jest often told Our Necessities are the same with theirs and the Benefits are offered to us as well as them The Virgin Mary was thus affected Luke 1.47 My Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour That Christ was to be born of her and was formed in her The Eunuch when Philip had preached to him Iesus and he was Baptized into this Faith Acts 8.39 He went on his way rejoycing as Men do that have met with a good Bargain and
In some Sence it is our Duty to consider them that we may not go about the most serious Work hand over head Christ bids us sit down and count the Charges Luke 14.28 For which of you intending to build a lower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it The Saints are wont to put hard cases to themselves Psal. 3.6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about And Psal. 23.4 Yea though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear no evil 2. Therefore the Ends must be observed We must consider them to prevent Slightness and to weaken our Security but not to weaken our Confidence in the Promise When they are urged against the Promise they impeach the Truth of God but when we consider them to prevent Slightness it is good The Difficulties of Salvation must be sufficiently understood oâherwise we think to do the Work of an Age in a Breath Luke 13.24 Strive to enter in at the strait Gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able Josh. 24.19 And Ioshuâ said unto the People Ye âannot serve the Lord for he be is a holy God It is not so easie a Matter as you take it to be 3. Difficulties must be thought on to quicken Faith not to weaken it If they be pleaded against the Promise they weaken Faith if they be pleaded to drive us to the Promise they quicken Faith What greater Arguments are there to press us to dependance than to consider our Impotency the loosness of our Hearts and the strength of Temptations 2 Chron. 20.12 For we have no might against this great Company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are unto thee But to plead against the Promise is to Consult with the Wisdom of the Flesh and it hath ever fared ill with the Saints Luk. 1.18 And Zacharias said unto the Angel Whereby shall I know this for I am an old man and my Wife well stricken in years Therefore for a while he was struck dumb So Moses Numb 20.12 Hear now ye Rebels must âe fetch you water out of the Rock God had bidden him smite the Rock and assured him the Water should flow but he pleadeth the natural Impossibility therefore he was shut out of Canaan So that Noble Man 2 Kings 7.2 Then a Lord on whose hand the King leaned answered the Man of God and said Behold if the Lord would make Windows in Heaven might this thing be And he said Behold thou shalt see it with thine Eyes but shalt not eat thereof But he that will not believe the Truth of a Promise shall not partake of the Benefit of it Well then as Abraham regarded not the great Difficulties that might be pleaded to his Faith from his own and his Wife's Age so must not we Secondly I shall shew you the Inconveniences of this sinful considering the Difficulties in all the parts of Faith Assent Consent and Affiance 1. As to Assent There are many Difficulties which may be objected against the Truths propounded in the Word but it is enough to a Believer that God hath revealed them in his Word and propounded them to his Faith Reason is apt to reply as Nicodemus when Christ spake to him of Regeneration Iohn 3.9 How can these things be Carnal Reason keepeth Men from simple believing or resting on what is revealed till they see a Reason for every thing Now we see a Reason why we do believe and that is the Word of God or Divine Revelation though we do not see a Reason of every thing which we do believe for many things are Mysteries In such cases we must receive Truths as we do Pills not chew but swallow them take them upon the Credit of the Revealer To chew produceth a loathsom Ejection to swallow a wholsom Remedy Believing in the common Notion of it is a receiving of Truths upon Trust from another so it differeth from knowing And Divine Faith is a receiving such things as God hath revealed because he hath revealed them Therefore our first Enquiry is Whether these things be so or no Not how they can be so There we begin at the wrong end In many Cases constat de re the thing is evident in Scripture whereby it is revealed but how it can be is beyound our reach the Modus is not certain Now when we should believe we dispute and so cavil rather than enquire If it be not plainly revealed by God you may reject it without Sin and Danger but if it be you must not contradict all that you cannot comprehend otherwise dangerous Mischiefs will ensue The True God will be no God to you because you cannot comprehend the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Divine Essence Christ will be no Christ because you cannot comprehend how a Virgin should conceive or how a God should become Man It is sufficient that it is revealed in Scripture which carrieth it's own Evidence in it's Forehead shining by it's own Light hath the Seal and Stamp of God upon it and moreover is confirmed by Miracles and handed and brought down to us by the Universal Tradition of the Church through the Successions of all Ages in whose Experience God hath blessed it to the converting comforting and sanctifying of many Souls In short to see a thing in it's Evidence is not to believe but to receive it on the Credit of the Testifyer If you will not credit it unless the thing be evident in it's self without his Word you do not believe Christ but your own Reason and instead of being thankful for the Revelation you quarrel with his Truth because it is in some things above your Capacity You should be satisfied with the bare Word of God and captivate your Understandings to the Obedience of it 2. As to Consent and Acceptance There are many things may be objected against entring into Covenant with Christ as our Unworthiness the fickleness and loosness of our Hearts how unable we are to keep Covenant with him but these things must not be alledged against our Duty and the free offers of the Lord's Grace 1. Our great Unworthiness This is one Reason why the instance of Abraham is produced by Paul as a pattern of Faith to the Gentiles As Abraham considered not his Natural Incapacity to have Children so they not their unworthiness to be Adopted into God's Covenant The Gentiles were not a People unto God but were over-looked in the Dispensations of his Grace but Hosea 2.23 I will have Mercy upon her that had not obtained Mercy and I will say unto them that were not my People Thou art my People and they shall say Thou art my God Our condition is not so desperate that the Mercy of the New Covenant cannot reach us and recover us So for particular Christians they exclude and repell
holds his Hand and cuts you short in spiritual Blessings which otherwise he would plentifully dispense unto his People Partly they exceedingly weaken the Work of Grace which is wrought upon their Hearts their Faith is more dead their Love is more cold than it was Hope is languid the spiritual Life is interrupted and at a stand tho the Seed of God remains yet it cannot put forth it self with such Vigor and Efficacy Yea they may never recover such a Portion of the Spirit as they had before 2 Chron. 17.3 Jehoshaphat walked in the first Ways of his Father David as having some note of blemish on his latter Ways These Sins in short as a Wound in the Body let out our Blood and Strength As a Prodigal that hath once broken after he hath been set up is not trusted with a like Stock again so God's Children may not recover that largeness of Spirit and fulness of inward Strength and Comfort which they had before as many after a great Disease do not regain that pitch of Health which formerly they had but may carry the Fruits of their Disease with them to their Graves Partly because Acts are intermitted when the Soul is distempered it is unfit for Action Either Duties are omitted or else done in such an overly manner as doth increase our Distemper and harden us the more In what a sorry Fashion did David worship till God awakned his Conscience by Nathan Prayer is interrupted 1 Pet. 3.7 As Heirs together of the Grace of Life that your Prayers be not hindred 2. Grieving the Spirit Eph. 4.30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the Day of Redemption All Sin is a Grief to the Spirit especially Filthiness and Bitterness Compare this with Ver. 29 31. Let no corrupt Communication proceed out of your Mouth but that which is good to the use of ediâying that it may minister Grace unto the Hearers Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and evil Speaking be put away from you with all Malice Now the gâieving of the Spirit makes a great Breach in our Grace and Comfort as the Spirit is our Sanctifier and Comforter To speak only of the last When the Spirit is grieved we have not such a sense of God's Love For the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given ãâ¦ã Rom. 5.5 We have not that Liberty and Confidence in Prayer we once had 1 John 5 21. Beloved if our Heart condemn us not then have we Confidence towards God Nor those lively Hopes of Glory and final Redemption in that Text Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the Day of Redemption Nor that Comfort in Reproaches nor Courage in Afflictions nor Strength to resist Sin nor that Readiness and Chearfulness in Obedience that once they had So that a Christian is like Sampson when his Locks are gone all delightful Communion with God is suspended and a Christian doth not act like a Servant that is in his Master's Favour 3. Carnal Liberty When a Man giveth too much Contentment to the Flesh the Spirit or better Part is in Bonds Psal. 119.37 Turn away mine Eyes from beholding Vanity and quicken thou me in thy Way A Man that lets loose the Reins to worldly Vanity will soon find Hardness coming on his Heart and see a need to ask quickning Grace Luke 21.34 Take heed to your selves lest at any time your Hearts be over-charged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and Cares of this Life Worldly Comforts over-affected or immoderately used clog and enslave the Heart and so we are more unperswadible and disobedient to the Motions of his Spirit and the Counsels of his Grace Therefore if we will take heed that our Hearts be not hardned let them not out too freely to worldly things lest they be withdrawn from God but rejoice here as if you rejoiced not that you may keep up your Liberty to God 4. Pride and Self-sufficiency 2 Chron. 32.31 Howbeit in the Business of the Ambassadors of the Princes of Babylon who sent unto him to enquire of the Wonder that was done in the Land God left him to try him that he might know all that was in his Heart Paul was permitted to be buffered that he might be kept humble 2 Cor. 12.7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the Revelations there was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure When you trust to your selves God leaveth you to your selves and then we are as a Glass without a bottom broken as soon as out of hand Iam. 4.6 God resisteth the Proud but giveth Grace to the Humble It is not so much understood of a moral Humility or a lowly Carriage towards Men as of an Evangelical Humility which consists in brokenness of Heart or a sense of our Unworthiness and Weakness these are influenced by Grace but others are left to fall and miscarry by their own presumptuous Confidence And therefore if we would not incur any Degree of this Judgment we must take heed of Pride and spiritual Security Those that feel the daily and hourly necessity of Grace have more of the Supplies of the Spirit they are oftner waiting upon God Psal. 25.5 On thee do I wait all the day Christ hath taught us to beg daily Bread daily Pardon and daily Strength against Temptations that he might engage us to be often with God and keep in a constant dependance on him that the Heart might be kept more awful tender and serious 5. Carelesness and spiritual Sloth When we carelesly entertain the Motions of his Spirit and lie upon the Bed of Ease he is gone Cant. 5.2 3. I sleep but my Heart waketh it is the Voice of my Beloved that knocketh saying Open to me my Sister my Love my Dove my Vndefiled for my Head is filled with Dew and my Locks with the Drops of the Night I have put off my Coat how shall I put it on I have washed my Feet how shall I desile them And ver 6. I rose up to open to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone God's Children may stifle many a pressing Conviction and Motion in their Souls hang off from the Throne of Grace and other good Duties and upon every frivolous Pretence keep away from God This unkind and ungracious Dealing will cost them dear Neglect of the Means of Grace quencheth the Spirit 1 Thess. 5.19 20. Quench not the Spirit Despise not Prophesyings Therefore we should be more diligent in the use of Means Mark 4.24 Vnto you that hear shall more be given We must more carefully obey the sanctifying Motions of the Spirit if we mean to avoid hardness of Heart 2 dly The Means to cure it 1. Bewail the Evil and complain of it before God who alone can help us We complain of
why will you match your Souls that are of an Heavenly Original to these base outward things 4. All these things which we think increase our Happyness do but add to our Trouble both to our Outward Inward and Eternal Trouble 1. Many times to our Outward Trouble The greater Gates do but open to the greater Cares and the more any are endowed with any Excellency in the World they have proportionable Sorrow and Incumbrances Moral Wisdom is the best of all Outward Enjoyments yet that encreaseth our Portion of Sorrow Eccles. 1.18 For in much wisdom is much grief and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow Many have observed that never was a Man eminent for any outward endowment but the Joy of it was abated with an answerable proportion of Sorrow and Trouble and their encumbrances have been every way suitable to their Comforts Those that have been most famous for outward Qualities have come to some dismal End as Sampson for Strength Saul for Stature Absalom for Beauty Achitophel for Council and Parts Asahel for Swiftness Alexander for Warlike ârowess Nabal for Riches and God hath made it good by many Experiences in our times the Wheel of Providence hath rolled upon them and they have come to some sad End So for Witt and Parts Wit has been many a Mans Ruine Isa. 47.10 Thy wisdom and thy knowledge hath perverted thee Many are undone by their own Wisdom and Knowledge and the greatness of their parts and came to sad Accidents 2. For inward Troubles As Children catch at painted Butter-flies and when they have taken them their gawdy Wings melt away in their fingers and there remaineth nothing but an ugly Worm so we catch at those things which perish in the using but the Worm of Conscience remaineth Many times outward Blessings are salted with a Curse we never have outward things as a Blessing till we have an higher Interest in them Psalm 127.2 So he giveth his beloved sleep Those that have an Interest in God can rest quietly in the bosom of Providence and outward Comforts are given as a Blessing when they are additionals and appendices to the Covenant of Grace Matth. 6.33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you God doth not say seek the World and Heaven shall be added to you but seek Heaven and the World shall be added For by seeking of Heavenly things first you drive on two Trades at once for Earth and Heaven But when Men cumber themselves with the World there is a snare upon the Conscience and they cannot enjoy the comfort of their Condition It will add to your inward Trouble when God is neglected and the World sought 3. For Eternal Trouble These things are Temporal and we hazard the loss of Eternal things for them We never leave God but with disadvantage to our selves Ionah 2.8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy whenever you go off from God for a Fleeting Shadow you loose an Eternal Joy The Comfort of the World is but for a time but our Punishment is for ever Ea quae ad usum diuturna esse non possunt ad supplicium diuturna sunt why should we look after those things that we cannot use for ever and so wound and destroy our Souls for ever An immoderate seeking after Temporal things will be our Eternal Ruine Oh that Men would be wise not to run so great a hazard for so small a pleasure Riches are uncertain but the Love of them brings a sure Damnation Phil. 2.19 Whose end is destruction who mind earthly things Oh say then shall I overturn the quietness of my Life Shall I wound my Conscience Shall I contract guilt and terrour for the time to come for that which will perish in the using and is uncertain in the Enjoyment Let us leave things that perish to Men that perish Shall I adventure my Soul upon so vain a pursuit Shall I lose Eternal Glory for a little Vain Glory Shall I make my Children or Kindred Rich and be poor to all Eternity Shall I bereave my Soul of all my hopes and of those Eternal Joyes which God hath provided for them that love him for a possession that is so uncertain and so ensnaring 2. You should deal with your Hearts by apt Similitudes The word will afford you with several who would dwell in a Ditch that may have a goodly House in a City Who would leave Treasures and feed of Husks Who would refuse a pleasant Bride for a Company of nasty Harlots Or who would sit on the Stairs when he is called up to sit on the Throne I may enjoy God in Christ and shall I think it my happyness to enjoy the World 3. By Comparisons Compare the World with Heaven here you have the fuller Wealth and but a foretast of Heaven but the Grapes of Heaven are better than the Vintage of the World and these present Enjoyments are sweeter and more sure than all Honours and Riches in the World These things are gotten with care kept with Fear and lost with grief Reason thus with your selves what are these Pleasures to the Joyes of the Spirit These gratifie the Body the Beast and are so disproportionable to reason it self that when we have sucked out the quintessence of all Earthly Delights they cannot yield a perfect contentment Therefore Solomon saith Prov. 14.13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heavyness We see that laughter by too much extension and dilatation of the Spirits causeth an aking in the sides in the outward Expressions of Jollity God would shew how painful it is you will find carnal delights alwaies go away and leave some sad Impressions God's worst is better than the Worlds best the groans of the Spirit are better than the Joyes of the World The groads of the World never go away but they leave a Contentment and drop some sweetness but the Joyes of the World never go away but Clouds of Sorrow are left behind God's Children rejoyce in the midst of their Mourning and a Glory hath risen upon their Spirits even when they seem to be disconsolate in the Eyes of the World 4. By Colloquies with God Either by way of Complaint that thou hast sinned and been ungrateful to God Psalm 73.22 So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee Lord This hath been my brutishness to chose outward Pleasure before Communion with God and to prefer the Contentments of the World before the delights of thy presence Go and humble your selves and say Lord I have traded with vanity and vexed my self in unprofitable pursuits I have lived so long in the World and have scarce minded the end wherefore I was sent into the VVorld as if I was put into the VVorld only as Leviathan in the Sea to take my fill of Pleasure and bathe my Soul in Carnal Delights Or else by way of Thanksgiving if the
this makes Death to be dreadful and terrible to the Soul and keeps the Soul in Bondage Heb. 2.15 Through fear of death they were all their life-time subject to bondage But certainly it shall be at the day of Judgment then we shall see the folly of it Conscience shall then be extended and enlarged and the Sinner shall remember the wickedness of his past life You will then find the Devil that is now a Tempter will prove an Accuser Oh what kind of Apprehensions will you have when the Devil shall come forth and plead Lord Adjudge this Person to me I never dyed for him I never shed my Blood for him I could promise him no Heaven and Glory yet he easily hearkened to my Temptations Tuus esse noluit per gratiam sit meus per culpam ostende tales tuos munerarios O Christe He would not be thine for all the Grace and Kindness thou didst show him and all the Rewards thou didst propound and promise to him Then all disguises will be laid aside A little consideration and search and Prayer for Conviction for the present would help us to the same apprehensions If Conscience should be now extended as it will be then we should soon be weary of our Lives At least do not rest in your own Valuation and Account for then the Secrets of all Hearts shall be opened 3. The less Sin appeareth many times it is the greater Sins are not to be measured by the smalness of the matter of them but by the offence done to God The first Sin to a vulgar and common apprehension was but the eating of an Apple it seemed a small matter if we did not consider the offence against God It is an aggravation mentioned by the Prophet Amos 2.6 They sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes that is upon so small an occasion or for such a contemptible matter they would oppress the poor The lesser the occasion and temptation is the greater the Impudence the Imprudence and the Unkindness the greater the Impudence that they will dare God to his face for a trifle the greater is the Imprudence that we will hazard our Souls for a mean thing the greater is the unkindness that we will stand with God for a little Sins that are accounted small in the matter of them have been overtaken with the sad Revenges of God he that denyed a crum could not receive a drop of Water to cool his Tongue The contempt of God is the greater when we break with God for a small matter and transgress his Commandments upon every light occasion In short sin is in no case small but only in regard of Gods Mercy and Christs Merits 4. None are exempted from bewailing the evil of Sin Though the Children of God shall never feel it nor have the dregs of God's displeasure wrung out to them for it yet they must bewail the evil that there is in Sin The Death and Merit of Christ doth not change the Nature of Sin nor put less evil into it why should we look upon it with a different eye after Conversion than we did before Sin is still damning in its own Merit and Nature and it is still the violation of an Holy Righteous Law and an affront to the Holy God and an inconvenience to the precious Soul Sin is the same as it was before though the Person be not the same Nay the Children of God are not altogether exempted from the effects of Sin neither it is a Disease though not a Death and who would not groan under the heat of a burning feavour though he be assured of Life God hath still a bridle upon you to keep the Soul in awe And though the godly can never loose their right in the Covenant that doth remain yet they may loose the fruition of it and this is enough to make a Child of God mourn Notwithstanding all the Priviledges of Grace you may be branded though not executed and though the Lord hath made them Vessels of Mercy yet he doth not use and employ them as Vessels of Honour but they are set aside as useless Vessels Sin will still be inconvenient it will bring disgrace to Religion and discomfort to your Souls and furnish the Triumphs of Hell and make Satan rejoyce and Eclipse the Light of Gods Countenance and who can brook the loss of Gods Favour and of intimate Communion with him without sadness and bemoaning his case I may ask you that question Iob 15.11 Are the consolations of God small with thee Do you make so little reckoning of those rich Comforts of the Holy Ghost Though you cannot be damned for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Rom. 8.1 yet your Pilgrimage may be made very uncomfortable and he that prizeth Communion with God would not loose the Comfort of it for the least moment Besides if there were no inconvenience yet Love is motive enough to a gracious Person Where is your Love Christians You sin against Mercy the warm beams of Mercy should melt the heart Ezek. 36.31 Then shall ye remember your own evil wayes and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities and for all your abominations As long as there is Love in the Heart you can never want an Argument to represent the odiousness of Sin Put the matter in a Temporal Case it would be ill reasoning for an Heir to say I know my Father will not disinherit me therefore I do not care how I offend him Where is your Love to God if you do not hate Sin Psam 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate evil Though your Right in the Covenant be safe yet you should still have the evil of your own doings in remembrance 5. Many speak much of the Evil of Sin in Prayers and Confessions yet loath it never the more yea the less What should be the Reason of it All their thoughts are spent in empty Declamations and forms of Satyr or Anger and these do not subdue Affections Or else it may be we only paint Sin in our Fancies and that worketh no more than a Picture or Image which doth not allure and draw Love so much as a Living Beauty it only pleases and tickles a little Things foul in their Nature are pleasant in their Picture and Description What more dreadful than War And yet what more pleasant than in a strain of Poetry or Rhetorick or in a lively Picture to describe the fury and heat of Battle What more uglâ than a Toad And yet a Toad painted to the life pleaseth So when we meerly paint Sin by the help of the Imagination or Fancy it moves only the lighter part of the Soul It is good to be rational in our Considerations and where there is the less Art it leaveth the deeper stroak upon the Heart Imagination and Fancy is a great Instrument in the work of Mediation but still it must be
Persons were swept away at once The next news of Sin is in the instance of Sodom and there Sin was of such an evil influence that it made God to rain Hell out of Heaven as one expresses it Gehennam misit e coelo Gen. 19.24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven Dominus a Domino the Lord Christ from the Lord Jehovah Jesus Christ himself will become the Executioner upon such a Wicked People Go from Sodom to Sion and further trace the Story of Sin Who can read the Lamentations without lamentation or run over the story of Ierusalems sorrows with dry Eyes There was not such a People under Heaven both for Mercies and Judgments the dearly beloved of his Soul given up to a sad ruine Lam. 3.39 Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his Sins What is the reason of all this but Sin Will you go further and see the Effects of Sin upon the Son of God himself who was the Son of his Love the man Gods fellow as he is called Zech. 13.7 his Associate they solaced themselves mutually in each other Prov. 8.30 There was I by him as one brought up with him I was dayly his delight rejoycing alwaies before him See what Sin did to him that was but imputed to him Look into the Garden see him in his Agonies go to Golgotha see Christ hanging on the Cross if you would know Sin Gold and Silver would not ransom us nothing would serve but the Blood of Christ Oh come and wonder The boundless Sea of the God-head was stopped by the bank of Sin For a Candle to be put out is no such matter but for the Sun to be quenched and darkned this is dreadful So for a poor Creature to be forsaken is nothing but when the Son of God shall complain that he cannot actually enjoy the Comfort of the God-head when the Sun of Righteousness shall complain of an Eclipse and of a suspension of Consolation this is dreadful Though the Humane Nature recoyled out of a just abhorrency of the Sufferings he was to endure and he came to his Father Matth. 26.39 Oh my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me And again ver 42. and again ver 44 saying the same words yet Divine Justice would not bate him one farthing what then would have become of us if Jesus Christ had not catched the blow Then survey common Experience If all the Charnels in the World were emptied upon one heap and all the Bones of all that ever dyed were laid together you might say all these were slain by Sin Whenever you see Sin you may entertain it as Elisha did Hazael Thou art the Murderer All Diseases Pestilences Wars Famines Tumults Earthquakes these are but the births of Sin it hath laid Houses desolate wasted Kingdoms destroyed Cities Sin may say Zephan 3.6.7 I have cut off the nations their Towers are desolate I have made their streets wast that none passeth by their Cities are destroyed so that there is no man there is none inhabitant I said surely thou wilt fear me that which we âeel we may fear But we may come nearer home Do but consider the Effects of it within your selves in the Terrors of Conscience What a sorry Creature is Man when God arms his own thoughts against him and sets home one Sin upon his Conscience He longs for Death rather than Life Heman who was a Child of God complains Psal. 88.16 17 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me thy terrors have cut me off They came round about me dayly like water they compassed me about together What a sad thing is this that a Man should be Magor Missabib fear round about that his own Thoughts should be his Hell and wherever he goes he carries his Hell with him when he lies down in his Bed Hell lyes down with him when he walks out into the Field or Garden Hell walks with him when he goes about his Business Hell goes with him Sin is its own Executioner however it smiles in the first address yet afterwards it scourgeth the Soul with horror and despair Consider the horrors in Death There is a Natural abhorrency from Death as an Evil to our Life and Being but that which increaseth Horrour is Sin 1 Cor. 15.56 The sting of death is sin Oh what agonies will it raise in our Souls when we come to dye if we dye in our Sins Though we were immortal yet Sin is so great an Evil that it were not to be committed but when we are to dye and give an account how doth it fill the Soul with horror and diffidence and shame and anger Some wicked Men indeed dye stupid and careless at least doubtful and some may be fool-hardy like a Man that fetcheth a leap in the dark over a bottomless gulph he doth not know where his feet may light A Wicked Man is like a Tree that grows on the Bank of a River he is on the Borders of Hell and when he dyes he falls into it When they come to dye Sin will be accusing Conscience witnessing the Law condemning Satan insulting Heaven will be shut up against them and Hell inlarging her mouth Oh how will the Body curse the Soul for an ill guide and the Soul curse the Body as a wicked Instrument It is a sad parting when these two loving Friends Body and Soul part with Curses and can never expect to meet again but in Torment A Godly Man when he dyes takes a fair leave of his Body and saies farewel flesh He goes down to the Grave with the Covenant of Grace in his hand my flesh shall rest in Hope but a wicked Man dreadeth it that ever his Body and Soul must be united again they part with an expectation never to meet but in flames But all this is nothing to the Everlasting Estate that follows after it consider either the Loss or the Pain both will represent the Evil of Sin Consider the loss by sinning thou losest God and Heaven and Glory for a trifle for a little dreggy pleasure thou thrustest away Eternal Joyes thou dost as it were say I care not for Heaven so I may have carnal satisfaction as of Esau it is said Gen. 25.34 Thus Esau despised his birth-right it is not worth a Mess of Pottage With what sad Reflections wilt thou declaim against Sin when thou shalt see the Holy ones of God stand at the right hand of Christ and thou art halled to thy own place How will thy Heart turn upon thee for thy own folly then As one dreamt that his heart was boyling for his Sins in a Kettle of Scalding Lead and it cryed out to him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is I that have been the cause of this Were it not for Sin I might have had a place in Abrahams Bosom but now I am going to Everlasting Torment then you will know what Sin is
subscribe to them they bind as a Law though not as a Covenant but Vows and Promises make the Covenant more explicite A lawful thing vowed and dedicated to God could not be alienated without Sin Ananias was smitten dead for receding from his purpose Acts 5.4 Whilst it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thine own power why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God But much more in vowes in things necessary that are not in your Power When you have promised Obedience you have promised a thing necessary God might require Duty from you and punish you for the violation of his Law whether you vowed or no It was never left to your pleasure to deal falsely in your Covenant with Men it is a Sin the Lord doth alwaies avenge such solemn Obligations should be Sacred and Inviolable what then is it to break Vows with God after we have solemnly renewed our Covenant with him 6. If it be against former Experiences and that either of the sweetness of Grace or the evil of Sin 1. Of the sweetness of Grace The Lord takes it ill that you should sin against him after you have tasted his good word Heb. 6.5 It is a Mighty affront to Jesus Christ to go off from him after we have had experience of the sweetness of his wayes the Apostle calls this a denying the Lord that bought them 2 Pet. 2 1. that is in foro Ecclesiae in the Court of the Church and with respect to the outward Covenant that is between the Lord and every Church Member An Apostate doth as it were proclaim to the World that Jesus Christ is no good Master that after he hath made Tryal of both the Devil is a better Master than Christ for he seemeth to have known both Masters So we find the Lord contests with his People about their Provocations Ier. 2.5 VVhat iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after vanities and are become vain You have gone far from me and departed from my wayes what is the matter Did I ever do you hurt Have I ever been a Land of Darkness to you or a hard Master So Micah 6.3 O my people what have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearyed thee testifie against me When we go off from God we do as it were proclaim that we have found just discouragement in the wayes of Christ as a Man that goeth off from you sheweth his expectation is deceived in you 2. If you have done it after experience of the Evil of Sin When a Man hath found the bitterness of Sin suppose it be of Drunkenness or Anger when it hath weakned his Body and broken his Peace and yet he runs into it again it is a sad aggravation as that King that would adventure another Captain and his Fifty when one Captain and his Fifty were consumed with Fire from Heaven 2 Kings 1.10 11. When we will be tampering with the Carnal Sweets again which have cost us so much trouble when we have found the Hand of God meet us in a Carnal way yet we will venture again and enter into the Lists with him and set our selves against him it is as the breaking of a Bone in the same place Iames 4.2 Ye lust and have not yet kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet ye have not This is a plain contest with God when after ye have been broken in pieces you will again gather and associate your selves as it is Isa. 8.9 Associate your selves O ye people and you shall be broken in pieces and give ear all ye of far countreys gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces Thus the Children of Israel argued with the Reubenites and Gadites and the half Tribe of Manasseh Ioshua 22.17 18. Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us from which we are not cleansed until this day though there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord But that ye must turn away this day from following the Lord. 7. If Sin has been committed against a special Relation as suppose that of a Magistrate or a Minister this doubles the offence Your Sins are imitated you should be Fountains of Religion and Justice and you poyson the Fountains You are as the first sheet that is printed off and all others are stamped after your Copy It was a sad Title that was given to Ieroboam that he made Israel to sin so when you do not shew forth a special strictness of Religion according to your place it is a great aggravation SERMON IX GENESIS xxiv 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even-tide Thirdly THE Matter I am now to propose to you is The Excellent Contrivance of the Gospel as a Subject for your Meditation an Argument that challengeth all our Reverence and Thoughts and Wonder a Mistery of Misteries the fairest Draught and Picture that ever came out of the Work-house of God 1 Tim. 3.16 And without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness This is a depth that cannot easily be fathomed here are Miracles infolded in Miracles and Misteries within Misteries God would astonish Mankind and save it at the same time Christ is called the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God not only as the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are hid in him and through him conveyed to the Creatures but because herein is Gods Wisdom most discovered by disposing and putting our Salvation into the hands of Christ not only as a Fountain of Wisdom but as a Mapp of Wisdom as discovering the excellent contrivance of God and the curious variety that is in his Councils God sheweth Wisdom in all things Psal. 104.24 O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all Every Creature is disposed into apt Cells and Store-Houses and contribute to the Glory of their Creator But here God would discover the Curiosity of his Wisdom The World is his Work but the Gospel is his Plot. And therefore in your solemn and most deliberate thoughts you should take a view of it It is the great Duty of Saints Ephes. 3. 18 19. That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge This should be your continual task and search There are two great Mysteries in the Word Christ and Antichrist the Mystery of the Gospel and the Mystery of Iniquity it is the great advantage of Christians to discern the Mystery of Iniquity and to meditate upon the Mystery of Godlyness to observe Antichrists cunning and to consider the contrivance of the Gospel Oh then exercise your thoughts herein and study the Excellency of Gods design bring Hallowed and
hath forbidden it to that which is good because God hath commanded it There are in it as in every action two tearms a quo and ad quem 1. The Terminus a quo that from which we are to turn We turn from something from Sin Acts 8.22 Repent of this thy wickedness ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã from thy wickedness from dead works Heb. 6.1 Repentance from dead works And Satan is sometimes made the term from which because the Sinner falleth to his share Acts 26.18 To turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God 2 The terminus ad quem the term to which we are to turn that is to God Acts 20 21. Repentance towards God to the truth 2 Tim. 2.25 If God peradventure will give them repentance ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to the acknowledgment of the truth To Holyness and newness of Life Rom. 6.4 Even so we also should walk in newness of life To Life Acts 11.18 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life According to which terms there is a double Action required of us Humiliation and Reformation Humiliation or Compunction and a due remorse for Sin Reformation or a change of course Which answereth to the double work of God upon the Soul Mortification or the subduing of Sin vivifâcation or the infusion of Life So suitably there are aversion from Sin and a conversion to God and the things of God which is expressed by two Duties confession of Sin and entring into Covenant with God serious confession of Sin is Mortification acted entering into Covenant with God is vivification acted or the desire of Grace expressed Confession of Sin is required that a Man laying aside all Extenuations Evasions and Excuses may take shame to himself giving Glory to God entering into Covenant with God is required that a Man may be under a firm Obligation of Obedience and be cautious over his own heart and wayes the one respects Sin past the other Sin to come First Let us speak of the first Act and the Terminus a quo turning from Sin Supposing the Judgment inlightned and the Heart made tender by Grace the work doth mainly discover it self in the Affections of Fear Shame Grief and Indignation True Humiliation is begun in Fear continued in Shame carryed on by Sorrow and endeth in Indignation And so Sin is renounced and the Power of it broken And indeed when ever we renew our Repentance upon special occasions these are the Affections that are to be exercised They all have a proper ground and consideration to set them at work 1. Fear leadeth the Rank That trembleth at the Wrath of God and Judgment to come an accusing Conscience telling us that we are in a state of Damnation 2. Shame looketh upon Sin not only as hurtful but filthy and brutish 'T is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a fear of just reproach for the filthiness and folly of Sin 3. Sorrow loks upon Gods goodness and Sins unkindness lamenting that ever we should loose the favour of such a God as this is who hath made us and kept us and gave his Son to die for Mankind now that we should forfeit his favour 4. Indignation is stirred up by the unseemliness and disproportion of Sin to the Nature of Man much more to Grace infused or that Interest we have or would have by Christ. In short Fear looketh upon Sin as damning Shame as defiling Sorrow as offensive to God Indignation is mis-becoming our present Resolutions Hopes and Interests The guilt of Sin causeth Fear the stain shame the unkindness sorrow the unsuitableness indignation By this means did we come to be divorced from Sin and by these means it is dayly weakned 1. The first awakening of the Soul is by the sense of the Wrath of God and Everlasting Woe denounced on impenitent Sinners You have done that which in its own Nature deserveth you should suffer Eternal Torments and be separated from the Lord and be cast forth with the Devil and his Angels And then the Sinner being under a fear of being condemned cryeth out O what shall I do to flee from the Wrath to come I am undone and lost unless God help me I say here the work beginneth Punishment is soonest felt and the first Notion that we have of Sin is the guilt of it which causeth âears and terrours with respect to the Wrath that is to ensue So it is said of those Converts Acts 2.37 That they were pricked at their hearts they were troubled about their Condition It requireth a quicker and more tender sense to be sensible of the folly and filthiness of Sin A Man that is covered with noisom Boils and Soars the first thing that affecteth him is the pain though he also abhorreth the sight and smell of them First We tremble at the thought of God's Judgments before we are ashamed of Sin or grieve for it In renewing our Repentance this is an Ingredient It is not against the liberty of the Gospel to make use of threatnings we are sluggish and need all kind of helps 2. There is Shame and self-loathing which ariseth from an apprehension of the odiousness of Sin Ezek. 6.9 They shall loath themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations Iob 42.6 I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes So Ezra 9.6 O my God! I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God They are ashamed to look God in the face they have dealt so unworthily with him This is to hate Sin as Sin when a Man is not only afraid of it but ashamed of it as it is against the Revealed Will of God not only as it bringeth Misery but as it crosses Gods Will Not only for the Evil after Sin but the Evil in Sin That you have polluted your Souls defiled your Natures defaced the Image of God become as a Beast before him Psalm 73.22 So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee O what a Fool I was to turn my back upon God! to imagine that any good could come of Sin which God hateth and to practice a thing so unbefitting the reasonable Nature 3. Sorrow and Lamentation to the Lord which ariseth from a thought of the Lords goodness and Sins unkindness Zach. 12.10 They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him Luke 7.47 She wept much because she loved much Sin will affect the heart most when the wrong done to God is considered who never shewed any backwardness to our good but who gave his Son to dye for us He made us at first and how soon can he take from us that which he hath given us He hath obliged us with a multitude of benefits Isa. 1.3 I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me Rom. 2.4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth
of our discharge but as he dyed for our offences so he rose again for our justification Rom. 4.25 As having perfectly done his work As the Eather delivered him to Death so he brought him back again from the Dead The Apostle layes a great weight upon this Rom. 8.34 Yea rather that is risen from the dead There is some special thing in Christ's Resurrection comparatively above his Death which hath influence on our Justification Was not Christs Death enough to free us from Sin Yes but the visible evidence was by his Resurrection It is as it were an acquittance from those Debts of ours which he undertook to pay As Simeon was dismissed when the Conditions were performed and Ioseph satisfied with the sight of his Brother Gen. 43.23 He brought Simeon out unto them 2. Christs Office is allowed so that he is the great shepherd of the sheep that is the Blessed Saviour into whose hands God hath put his Flock to be justified sanctified and saved and from whom we may expect all that comfort which a flock hath from a good and faithful Pastor We are put into his hands as he is Mediator not by way of alienation for they are in the Fathers hands still Iohn 10.29 My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand But oppignoration laid at pledge in his hands A Shepherd is not Lord of the Flock but as a Servant to take care of them They are not his as Mediator by way of Original Interest and Dominion but in point of trust and charge He hath an Office about them and giveth an account of them at the last day He is sometimes called simply without any addition The shepherd 1 Pet. 2.25 Ye are returned unto the shepherd and bishop of our souls Sometimes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The good shepherd as Iohn 10.11 And here The great shepherd and the chief shepherd 1 Pet. 5.4 because of the Dignity of his Person and Office And surely if we put our selves into the hands of this Shepherd we can lack nothing Psalm 23.1 The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want We may look for all manner of supplies from Christ. 3. God is so far appeased that there is a new Covenant procured and constituted called here the everlasting covenant partly because it shall never be repealed and continueth unalterable and the called obtain by it the title and possession of an Eternal Inheritance Heb. 9.15 They which are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance And partly because Christs Blood is the foundation of this Covenant and the vertue of it never ceaseth therefore this Covenant is Everlasting also and made effectual and able to obtain its ends which is the Eternal Salvation of sinful Man once converted and reconciled to God This Covenant also is called the Covenant of Gods Peace because it is a publick Demonstration that God is pacified Isa. 54.10 But my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed Ezek. 37.26 I will make a covenant of peace with them Partly because in this Covenant this Peace and Reconciliation is published and offered to us that Man may not stand aloof from God as a condemning God So it is said Eph. 2.17 Christ came to preach peace to those that are near and to those that are afar off Acts 10.36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel preaching peace by Christ he is Lord of all Partly because in this Covenant the terms of this Peace between us and God are stated God bindeth himself to sinful Man to give him Remission of Sins and Eternal Life begun by the Spirit and perfected in Heaven upon the Conditions of Faith Rom. 5.1 Being justified by faith we have peace with God and Repentance Acts 3.19 Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out as our Entrance and new Obedience as to continuance Heb. 5.9 He became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him IV. How we come to be Interested in this Peace and Reconciliation or the conveyance of it to us For this Peace may be considered as to the Impetration and Application of it 1. As to the Impetration and laying down of the price that was done by Christ on the cross Therefore it is said 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself Then was God propitiated and the Merit and Ransom interposed by vertue of which we are pardoned and reconciled 2. As to Application when God is actually reconciled with us and we enter into his Peace and are restored unto his Favour This may be considered either as to the first gift God is never actually reconciled to us nor we to him till he give us the regenerating Spirit that is our receiving the atonement Rom. 5.11 It was made on the Cross but received at our Conversion and Regeneration Or else it may be considered as to the further measure of his sanctifying Grace called here perfecting us for every good work and working in us that which is pleasing in his sight This is given with respect to our reconciled Estate as we are actually at Peace and in Covenant with God 2 Cor. 5.17 18. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Iesus Christ. The summ is this At the Death of Christ there was such a foundation laid that we need no other ransom nor propitiation He hath so far satisfied Divine Justice that he hath obtained the New Covenant The first Grace is given us meerly with respect to the Merit of his Sacrifice for Christ purchased the Mercies promised and power to performe the conditions Farther Grace is given us because we are already reconciled unto God which is a ground of the greater Joy and Confidence For our actual Reconciliation giveth us a title to all consequent acts of Friendship which can be expected or received For in Gods way we shall have further Sanctification and after that Salvation V. The Reasons why all increase of Grace comes from God as the God of Peace 1. From the Giver God will not set us up with a new Stock of Grace till satisfaction be made for the breach of his Law We must not look upon him as pars offensa the Offended Party but as Rector Mundi the Governour of the World Private Persons may forgive offences as they please but the Governour and Judge of the World would not pass by the offence of Man till the ends of Government be secured or that the Law fall not to the ground which it doth not whilst God standeth upon the satisfaction of Christ and the submission of the Sinner The right of passing by a wrong and the right of releasing a punishment are different things Because punishment is a common Interest
Office 1. As to his Person There we must consider the Original Holyness of his Natures Divine and Humane Divine he is called Isa. 45.21 A just God and a Saviour Humane he was wholly free from that Original Contagion wherewith others that come of Adam are defiled Luke 1.35 That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Now add to this his perfect Actual Obedience to God both in Heart and Life and this either to the Common Law of Duty that lyeth upon all Mankind for it became him to fulfil all righteousness Matth. 3.15 Or that particular Law of Mediation which was proper to himself Heb. 5.8 Though he were a Son yet he learned obedience by the things he suffered by which he answered the end of the Law which we have broken and was also the meritorious cause of the Covenant of Grace by which all Blessings are conveyed to us 2 Cor. 5.21 For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him Well then his Personal Holyness did make him acceptable to God and should make him amiable to us He loved righteousness and hated iniquity Adam in the state of Innocency did perfectly love Righteousness and hate Sin but not constantly for he soon fell Believers in the state of Regeneration love Righteousness and hate Iniquity sincerely and constantly but not perfectly but Christ when he assumed our Nature did love righteousness and hate Iniquity both perfectly and constantly in Heart and Practice and this even to the Death This qualified him for his Office of Prophet Priest and King As a Prophet who is so fit to teach the World Holyness as one that hath a perfect love to Holyness and hatred of Sin and this manifested in our Nature Angels are Holy and Righteous but not so as Christ who besides the Essential Purity and Holyness of the God-head hath also assumed our Nature and preserved it in Purity and Innocency And therefore his Nature and Practice agreeth with his design 1 Iohn 3.5 He was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin So as a Priest his Holyness gave a value both to the Merit of his Sacrifice and Intercession Heb. 7.25 26. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them For such an high priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Here was a pure unspotted Sacrifice offered up to God here upon Earth and pleaded and represented in Heaven He that was to satisfie in the behalf of others needed to be free from the defilement of Sin himself that he might be not only our Ransome but our Patterne Then as a King this Purity and Holyness is necessary not only that he might powerfully Effect but also Favour and Patronize all that is good Holy and Just in the World For Prov. 15.9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness The one are the Objects of his Abomination the other of his love The Wicked are for a while prosperous and successful therefore they think God loveth them but they are an abomination to him into whose hands all Judgment is put They cannot collect or conclude his approbation from his forbearance no nor any neglect of Humane Affairs as if they were left to their own Chance and Arbitrement No all that can be gathered from hence is his great forbearance and Mercy to the worst while he is inviting them to Repentance On the other side you have the disposition of the Regenerate set forth who do not perfunctorily and by the bye do that which is Holy and Righteous but set their whole Heart and Desire to it They follow after Righteousness their business is to be eminently Holy and surely they are loved by Christ For he that hateth Iniquity and loveth Righteousness will love those that follow after it than which nothing more sweet honourable and blessed can be thought of by us than to be loved by our Redeemer To have a Prince love us or a Wise or Learned Man love us we highly value it What is it then to have Christ love us This will not be a barren or an empty Love Well then he is fit to be the King of the World 2. All this while we have spoken of his Personal Holyness which maketh him acceptable to God and amiable to us and qualifieth him for his Office Now let us see how he sheweth this love to Holyness and hatred to Iniquity in his Office as well as in his Person The general terme whereby this Office is expressed is Mediator The Three particular Functions are those of Prophet Priest and King 1. As to the general terme Mediator whose work it is to bring Heaven and Earth to kiss each other or to make Peace between God and Man God offended and Man guilty All that he did herein was out of his Love love to Righteousness and hatred of Iniquity which was the great Make-bate between God and us therefore surely his chief design was to destroy Sin and to promote Holyness So much we are told Dan. 9.24 That the Messiah shall come to finish transgressions and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophesie and to anoint the most holy The great business for which the Mediator came into the World was to destroy the Reign and Power of Sin and to advance the practice of all goodness and Holyness and to recover the lost World to God Now because his Heart was so much set upon this God anointed him with the oyl of gladness above his fellows 2. Come we to those Three particular Functions wherein this Office is exercised those of Prophet Priest and King 1. As a Prophet by his Doctrine he sheweth that he loveth Righteousness and hateth Iniquity for the whole frame of it discovereth and breatheth out nothing else but an hatred against Sin and a Love to Holyness Iohn 17.17 Sanctifie them through the truth thy word is truth Psalm 119.140 Thy word is very pure All the Histories Misteries Precepts Promises Threatnings aim at this one business that Sin may be subdued in us and brought into disrepute and disesteem in the world The Histories are certain Patterns and Example of Holyness and those taken from Men and Women that had not devested themselves of the Interests and Concernments of Flesh and Blood no more than we have and yet pleased and served God in their several Generations to excite us to like diligence and Self-Denyal Heb. 6.12 Be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises The Misteries are not only to raise our wonder but breed a true Spirit of Godliness 1 Tim. 3.16 And without controversie great is the mistery of
We are never prepared till our State be altered Heart altered and Life altered 1. Our State must be altered For naturally we are Children of Wrath condemned by the Sentence of the Law and under the Curse and doth it become condemned Men to rejoyce and go to their execution dancing No you must take hold of another Covenant the hope that is set before you and then you provide matter of joy yea of strong consolation Heb. 6.18 By taking Sanctuary at the Lords Grace the Heirs of Promise have strong Consolation When the Eunuch was solemnly admitted into Gods Covenant by Baptisme He went on his way rejoycing Acts 8.39 By Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ we enter into the New Covenant and that is a State of Peace Life and Joy In the New Covenant God offers himself to be your Reconciled Father Christ your Saviour and the Holy Ghost your Sanctifier are you willing to consent to this And then Why should not you rejoyce in the Lord For you have enough in God 2. Our Heart must be altered For every Mans relish and complacency is according to the Temper and Constitution of his Soul Rom. 8.5 They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit Know his complacency what it is that a Man is pleased with most and you know the Man An old corrupted Heart and Mind cannot delight it self in God 1 Cor. 2.14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But those that have a Divine Nature put into them cannot satisfie themselves in the World 2 Pet. 1.4 Ye may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust They can easily spare the pleasures of the flesh and leave these husks for Swine to feed on A change of Heart inferreth a change of Delights and Pleasures for the New Heart is nothing else but New Desires and Delights when you have a New Understanding and a New Heart then you will discern and relish Spiritual things 3. The Life must be altered For Holy walking and fruitfulness in Obedience raiseth the greatest Joy Iohn 15.10 11. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers commandments and abide in his love These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full Acts 9.31 Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the holy Ghost The Godly Life is the only sweet Life 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God we had our conversation in the world If you will but learn what it is to live in the Love of God and the belief and hope of Life Eternal and in Universal Obedience to the Laws of Christ you will soon see what it is to live in a State of Joy and Comfort If you fall into great and wounding Sins no wonder if your rejoycing in God be disturbed Surely a tender Heart cannot make light of Sin but it will cost them broken Bones and broken Hearts 2. Act it continually Partly for that the grounds of rejoycing are Everlasting an Eternal God an Unchangeable Covenant Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever a Kingdom that cannot be shaken an Infinite and Eternal weight of Glory Now these things should ever be thought of by us that we may keep up our delight in the Lord. Partly because we need it continually to enliven our Duties to sweeten our Crosses and to wean us from our Carnal Vanities for otherwise our Duties will go off heavily our Crosses will swallow us up with too much sorrow or our Hearts will be apt to be insnared by sensual delights unless we remember that we are continually to rejoyce in God and Heavenly things Partly because this delight cannot be maintained in the Soul unless it be continually exercised by constant acting it we keep it and increase it till at length it cometh to be predominant in the Soul and able to controul our Affection to other things It is said of Iohn Baptists Hearers That they were willing to rejoyce in his light for a season Iohn 5.35 And of the stony ground Luke 8.13 That they received the word with joy and believed for a while but in time of temptation fall away Herod heard Iohn Baptist gladly for a while Mark 6.20 Gods offering Eternal Happiness in Christ may affect us for the present but this rejoycing faileth being over-mastered by the Appetites and Desires of the Flesh. Therefore to root it and increase it that it may be firm to the end it must be continually acted and exercised 3. Take heed you do not forfeit it or damp it by any great and wounding Sin As David speaketh Psalm 51.8 Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Sin cloudeth the Face of God wasteth our Comfort and Joy Psalm 32.3 4. When I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me my moisture is turned into the drought of summer Eph. 4.30 And grieve not the holy spirit whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption When the Comforter is offended he sheweth his dislike and withdraweth when we grosly omit any known Duty or commit any soul Sin he will shew himself displeased with it and withdraw his Gracious and Comfortable Presence Isa. 57.17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him I hid me and was wroth On such occasions he is wroth and smiteth he is wroth and hideth himself and then our Comfort and Delight in God ceaseth Therefore we should deal more dutifully with the Spirit neither grieving him by the omission or intermission of necessary Duties nor by the commission of any hardning Sin by some error of the concupicible or pursuing faculty or the irascible or eschewing faculty by Sins of the Tongue which most easily bewray corruption or by words which discover the temper of the Heart I observe that grieving the spirit Ephes. 4.30 is put in the middle between a disswasive from corrupt Communication verse 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying When Men endeavour to make themselves glad by carnal Discourse which argueth an Heart set for carnal delights and is contrary to rejoycing in the Lord Eph. 5.4 Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks and on the other side verse 31. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from
my understanding I may work upon my Will and Affections and rouse up my self for the Holy Ghost doth not work upon a Man as upon a block Then the New Nature which inclineth us to God as our chief good and last end for the Holy Ghost doth not blow as to a dead Coal Then the Divine Spirit which exciteth those Graces in us which incline us to God as Faith or a belief of his Being Providence and Covenant Love and Desire of the full fruition of him in the Heavenly Glory and hope of the means and end of the means by which we attain the end and the end that we shall thus enjoy by the means These are the three Agents in Prayer and every Holy work I must do something as a Reasonable Creature something as a New Creature and the Spirit influenceth all The second we are now speaking of the New Nature or Inclination to God which inclination is not barely Natural as the inclination of Creatures without Life as in fire or light bodies to ascend or in a stone or heavy bodies to descend but voluntary as in a rational Agent and therefore it is not so indeclinably set that it needeth not to be strengthned excited and increased in us and this I now press you to if you would keep up your praying frame 3. There is a liberty or confidence which ariseth from our peace and friendship with God 1 Iohn 3.21 If our heart condemn us not then have we confidence ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã towards God When we walk unevenly we grow shie of God our Mouths are shut our Prayers choaked in the utterance Therefore we should take heed we do not interrupt our peace 1 Pet. 3.7 Dwelling as heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered Our access to God in Prayer cannot be carryed on so chearfully unless we walk orderly and peaceably in our Relations A Christian is very careful that he may not interrupt his Communion with God but must avoid hainous wounding Sins And because do what we can do daily infirmities will break out he often renews his Covenant with God that his Heart may be settled VSE III. To exhort us to pray without ceasing Consider 1. The Throne of Grace which God hath erected in the midst of his People standeth alvvaies upon God doth not keep Termes and dayes of Audience The High Priest vvas not to be too familiar vvith God to come to him but once in a year But vve may come every day Heb. 4.16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Let us then be often vvith God 2. Gods Compassions and Mercies never fail There is an inexhausted Treasure and Stock of Grace Iames 1.5 If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him Compare this vvith Prov. 25.17 Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbours house lest he be weary of thee and so hate thee You may come too seldom but you can never come too often to God 3. We ovve this respect to God that vve must not go about his Service by fits but constantly As the Queen of Sheba pronounced of Solomons Servants 1 Kings 10.8 Happy are thy men happy are these thy servants that stand continually before thee and that hear thy wisdom much more may it be said of the Servants of God Prov. 8.34 Blessed is the man that heareth me watching daily at my gates waiting at the posts of my doors It is a blessed thing to be much vvith God 4. We never vvant occasions of praying either for our selves or for the Church of God Therefore vve ought alvvaies to live in the sense of our ovvn emptiness and in the Faith of Gods fulness and vvillingness to supply our vvants alvvaies sensible of our need to pray and alvvaies confident of Gods readiness to ansvver and pray accordingly 5. Love vvill not suffer us to keep long out of Gods Company They that delight in one another must have their frequent meetings and frequent interviews An instance of this we have in Ionathan and David 1 Sam. 18.1 The soul of Ionathan was knit with the soul of David and Ionathan loved him as his own soul and therefore he could not be long without his Friend David If we have a love to God we cannot keep long out of Gods Company but will be with him pouring out our hearts to him Consider these things that you may quicken your selves to this Duty of praying without ceasing A SERMON On MARK ii 17 When Iesus heard it he saith unto them They that are whole have no need of the physician but they that are sick I come not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance THE words are Christs Apology for eating with Publicans and Sinners They thought no Iew was to eat or drink or converse with Publicans whom they looked upon as the vilest sort of Men. Publicans are often joyned with Sinners in the Iewish scorn thereby is intended Sinners of the Gentiles Gal. 2.15 Publicans and Heathens Matth. 18.17 Because by reason of their calling they conversed often with Gentiles Their calling was counted sordid hiring or farming the Tributes It is an Hebrew Proverb Take not a Wife out of a Family in which is a Publican because they are all Thieves They were wicked Sinners in common repute Now for Christ to be entertained in the House of a Publican and to converse so familiarly with Publicans this the Pharisaical strictness and rigorous institution could not endure The Cavil was brought to his Disciples and Followers They muttered and whispered about them words that tended to disprove this familiar Converse as not becoming the Person which Christ took upon himself The old Hypocrites deal not directly with the Master himself but the young Converts Christ when he heard it vindicates his practice 1. By representing the agreeableness of this Converse to his Office Represented in a Proverb The whole have no need of the physician but the sick Two things are herein represented 1. That Sin is a soar sickness A Disease not of the Body but the Soul A Mortal Disease it will at length prove unless it be in time cured and the Disease is the more grievous because we are so insensible of it 2. That Christ alone is the true Physician of Souls He knoweth our Malady and our Remedy and is ready and offereth his help to cure if we will but submit to his prescriptions Now both make up his Argument Where doth the Physicians work lye but among the Sick 2. From the end of his Commission I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Where observe 1. The Persons with whom he hath to do not the righteous but sinners 2. The way that he taketh he calleth 3. The end or means of cure on their parts Repentance I. The Persons concerned
if they had their Hearts at command in a moment Or how can they come before God with that Confidence Reverence Humility and Fervency that is required in Holy Prayer when they come reeking hot from their worldly Occasions Then for the matter of these Prayers There are certain common Blessings which we and others continually stand in need of and for which we are continually to pray as the increase of Faith Patience Meekness Love and the like Do you desire these things God will not reject the desires of an humble contrite Heart Many things we desire and lawfully may desire which are not matters of that moment that we should acquaint God with them or seek to interest Providence in them we do not expect nor is it needful to require any special work of his for the performance of them it is not seemly so to do as in a lawful Game a Man may desire to win rather than to lose but it is not fit he should make a Prayer for it Object But if another pray and I join with him how do I find it in my Heart Ans. This is principally meant of personal secret Prayer when we uncover our own sore confess the Plague of our own Heart 1 Kin. 8.38 Then the rule is we must fit and proportion our Words to our Matter and both Matter and Words to our Minds and Hearts A Sermon on Psalm L.5 Gather my Saints together those that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice THIS whole Psalm setteth forth the erection of the Gospel Church and the Ordinances thereof Though the Gospel Kingdom came not with observation that is with external pomp and glory yet much of the Majesty of the divine presence was discernable in it Clearly in the frame of the Psalm you may observe a rejection of the legal worship and an establishment of the Christian service and the spiritual oblations which belong thereunto Yet the expressions do rather represent Christ as coming in the Majesty of a Judge than a Lawgiver for three reasons I suppose 1. Because there was judgment exercised on the Iews for refusing to submit to Christ and enter into the Gospel state 2. Because in the Prophetical writings the two comings of Christ are frequently mixed his first coming in humility with his last coming in glory to judge the World 3. Because those Laws and Ordinances which were given by Christ at the erection of the Gospel Kingdom will be the matter about which we shall be judged at the last and universal day of Doom For these and other reasons is Christ represented as a Judge summoning the World into his presence that the actions of men good or bad may be examined that it may be known who have resisted and despised the Messias and who have subjected themselves to him that the former may be punished and the other rewarded We shall all one day be brought into the judgment about the covenant we have made with God by Sacrifice So much is intimated in the context In the words Observe 1. God's charge to his Officers to summon the Court Gather my Saints together 2 The description of the parties who are to appear in the judgment My Saints that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice 1. His charge to his Officers whether Angels or others None can hide themselves but they must all appear before the Tribunal of Christ for God will have them all brought together from the four Winds or Corners of the Earth 2. The description That have made a Covenant The word signifieth cut a Covenant In Covenants the sacrifices were cut asunder and the Persons contracting went between the divided parts As God bid Abraham take an Heifer and a Ram and a She-goat Gen. 15.10 And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against another and at evening ver 17. a smoaking furnace and a burning Lamp passed between those pieces And Ier. 34.18 They have not performed the words of the Covenant which they had made before me when they cut the Calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof The meaning of this rite was an Imprecation so let them be cut asunder that shall break this Covenant The Heathens Sic à Iove feriatur is qui sanctum hoc fregerit foedus ut ego hunc porcum ferio Let Iupiter strike him dead that breaks this Holy Covenant as I strike this Swine Thus are we said to cut a Covenant with God Now this Covenant is said to be made by Sacrifice For 1. There is no covenanting between God and sinful Man without a Sacrifice And 2. No Sacrifice will serve the turn to make the Covenant effectual but only the blood of Christ by which his Justice is satisfied and Wrath appeased Doct. That God's People or Saints are such as have made a Covenant with him by Sacrifice For so they are described here Two things I must speak to 1. About making a Covenant with God 2. Why no Covenant can be made with God without the interposing of or respect unto a Sacrifice I. About making a Covenant with God Sometimes a Covenant is said to be made by God and sometimes made by us It is made by God as he hath appointed it and stated the terms of it and unalterably fixed them Though there be a condescention in the Covenant Form and therein God carrieth himself as a God of Grace yet in fixing the term so unalterably God carrieth himself as a Sovereign Psal. 111.9 He hath commanded his Covenant for ever We must take the Covenant as God hath left it not bring it down to our fancies and humours Our making Covenant respects our stipulation or binding our selves to perform the conditions required on our part when we heartily accept the Covenant as stated by God In every Covenant there is ratio dati accepti Something given and something taken God will be our God and we must be his people Heb. 8.10 This is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days saith the Lord I will put my laws into their Mind and write them in their Hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People Now God makes this Covenant 1. With respect to himself 2. With respect to us 3. With respect both to himself and us 1. With respect to himself To shew the freeness and sureness of his Grace 1. The freeness of his Grace He might have required obedience from us out of his Soveraignty as he is our Creator and we are his Creatures and given no other reason of his commands but this I am the Lord without any promises or contract made with us But the absolute command of God though it might exact obedience from us yet it doth not carry such motives in its bosom to incourage us to perform it as the Covenant There was so much of Grace in the first Covenant though the condition of it
was perfect obedience and the reward had a respect to our personal righteousness yet God would covenant withal and enter into bonds and terms of agreement with man who was not his equal but the work of his hands and give his word to him to make him sure of Eternal Life in case of perfect obedience But the last covenant hath the honour by way of eminency to be stiled a Covenant of Grace As being made with us after a breach with man fallen so it is called a covenant of peace Isa. 54.10 My Covenant of Peace shall not be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee And because therein God hath manifested the glory of his redeeming Grace and pardoning mercy Eph. 1 6. To the Praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved And because the terms are so gracious that God will accept of our imperfect obedience if it be sincere it is called a Covenant of Grace In short when God was displeased with man for the breach of the first Covenant yet he would enter into a new Covenant to shew the riches of his Grace and Mercy And he giveth notice to fallen Man and sendeth him word that if he will put himself under this Law of Grace he shall be loosed from the Curse Luk. 1.77 78 79. To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of Death to guide our Feet into the Way of Peace And if we once enter into it from first to last he dealeth with us upon gracious terms 2. The sureness of his Mercy We are now at a certainty and may know what to expect from God for he is pleased to enter into bonds and to make himself a Debtor by his own promises Mercy and Truth are the Iachin and Boaz Micah 7.20 Thou wilt perform the Truth to Jacob and the Mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our Fathers from the days of old It was Mercy to Abraham with whom the Covenant was made Truth to Iacob to whom it was made good So Psal. 25.10 All the paths of the Lord are Mercy and Truth to such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies We may enter our plea and claim And therefore we are said to take hold of his Covenant Isa. 56.4 Heb. 6.18 That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we may have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us Here is our sure stay and encouragement and we may challenge the priviledge as ours by God's donation 2. With respect to us 1. To leave the greater bond and obligation upon us For there is besides his right our own consent Therefore he would deal with us in the way of a Covenant rather than in the way of absolute soveraignty God seeth how slippery and unstable our Hearts are that we love to wander and therefore he will bind us to our duty by a solemn Covenant which every one of us is personally to make for himself to God Ezek. 20.37 I will cause you to pass under the rod and I will bring you into the bond of the Covenant We pass under Gods rod as Sheep were told going out of the fold And we enter into the bond of the Covenant that we may be bound to God the faster God taketh us to be firmly obliged to him and it is dangerous to break with him after such consent 2. To make us more willing therefore we enter upon his service by choice We are not at liberty to ingage or not ingage but God chooseth to rule us by consent rather than by force with a Scepter of Mercy rather than a Rod of Iron Isa. 56.4 Thus saith the Lord to the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and chuse the things that please me and take hold of my Covenant And God taketh this way as suiting best partly with the nature of a reasonable creature who is to be led rather than driven to be drawn by his own consent Hos. 11.4 I drew them with Cords of a Man with bands of love And partly as suiting with the tenour of his Gospel dispensation Gospel Grace useth no force it is not extorted but willing obedience which God now looketh for Psal. 110.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power 3. To put an honour upon his Creatures Surely it is an honour to be God's Confederates an honour vouchsafed to his people above all others Deut. 26.18 19. The Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people as he hath promised thee and that thou shouldeât keep all his Commandments And to make thee high above all the Nations that he hath made in praise and in name and in honour and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God as he hath spoken Surely it is the glory of any people to be in Covenant with God The meanest relation to him is above all the priviledges in the World Gods honourable relation attends this Covenant interest They are his Children Iohn 1.12 As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God 1 Joh. 3.1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God They are his friends Iam. 2.23 Abraham was called the friend of God Joh. 15.14 Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you It is a Covenant of amity they are his friends his dear Children Surely this is a great favour 3. With respect to both parties That both parties might be ingaged to each other by mutual consent Without it God is not bound to us nor can we be knit and tied to the Lord. We are said to be joined to the Lord by this Covenant Ier. 50.5 Come and let us join our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be forgotten and to cleave to him as a Girdle cleaveth about the Loins of a Man Ier. 13.11 For as a Girdle cleaveth unto the Loins of a Man so have I caused the whole House of Israel and the whole House of Judah to cleave to me saith the Lord that they might be to me for a People and for a name and for a praise and for a glory God is not bound to us as he is not to any Creature no not to the Angels in Heaven yea he is altogether free before the contract but is pleased for our good and benefit to enter into bonds and is pleased to bind himself to bless us And it was not fit we should be possessed of such benefits without being bound to God and coming into some nearness to him For in the Covenant God doth manifest himself in the most familiar way to his People and therefore will have
this mutual bond to precede that he and his creatures might come near to each other with the greatest familiarity and bind themselves to each other by reciprocal ingagements and consents II. That no Covenant can be made with God without the interposing of and respect unto a sacrifice 1. In the old Church when Israel entred into Covenant with God there were solemn sacrifices The manner you have described Exod. 24. from vers 4. to the 10 th And explained by the Apostle Heb. 9.19 20. When Moses had spoken every Precept unto all the People according to the Law he took the blood of Calves and of Goats with Water and scarlet Wool and Hyssop and sprinkled both the Book and all the People saying This is the Blood of the Testament which God hath enjoined unto you In this Action you may observe that after the writing of the Law Moses built an Altar under the Hill and twelve Pillars according to the Twelve Tribes of Israel Exod. 24.4 The Altar represented God the first and chief party in the Covenant And the twelve Pillars of stone represented the other confederate Party the People of Israel who were to come before the Lord as his obedient People Now both the parties were not only thereby dead representation or in Image and Figure but there were also lively Types of the Glory and Presence of the God of Israel for it is said vers 10. They saw the God of Israel and there was under his feet as it were a paved Work of a Sapphire Stone and as it were the Body of Heaven for clearness God was there in great Majesty to Solemnize the Covenant You know Heaven is his Throne and the Church his Foot-stool Therefore when the Church was desolate it is said Lam. 2.1 God remembred not his footstool in the day of his Anger On Israels part there were present Moses and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu and Seventy of the Elders of Israel and they were to worship afar off vers 1. To express their reverence to this great God who was to enter into Covenant with them Moses alone was to come up to Iehovah but the Elders went up but half way Moses went up unto the top of the Mount in a Dark Cloud as the Mediator and the People abode beneath at the foot of the Mount and the Elders went up but half way Well then the Covenant is propounded to the People Moses came and told the People all the words of the Lord and all the judgments And they make Answer All the words which the Lord hath said will we do vers 3. But before the full confirmation of his Covenant you read that Moses sent the Young men of the Children of Israel who offered Burnt-offerings and sacrificed Peace-offerings of Oxen unto the Lord v. 5. The Young men that is the first-born who had the right of Priest-hood before the Levites were chosen and taken instead of the first-born of Israel Numb 3.41 And by their Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings it was declared that we cannot enter into Covenant with God without sacrifices These sacrifices did Figure the Death of Christ and the benefits thence accrueing to us There were Burnt-offerings to shew the means of their propitiation with God and Peace-offerings to shew their thankfulness for the peace and Salvation which by it they obtained The next thing in this Action was that Moses took half the blood and put it in basons and half the blood he sprinkled on the Altar vers 6. And then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the Audience of the People and they said All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient vers 7. Then he took the rest of the blood and sprinkled it on the People He sprinkled it on the Altar to shew that God took upon him an obligation to bless And the reading of the Book of the Covenant in the Audience of the People sheweth That those that will enter into Covenant with God should understand their Duty and be ready to fullfil it Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the People and said Behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words vers 8. The blood sprinkled on the People may be meant of the twelve Pillars set up to represent the People They take an obligaââân to obey One Party is not bound and the other free but both bound to each other Thus the first Covenant was not dedicated without the blood of a sacrifice Well then God is the principal Party covenanting and binding himself to the People by his Promises And the People binding themselves to his precepts that they might avoid the penalty threatned and obtain the blessings promised And this Covenant was confirmed by blood and this blood sprinkled and so made inviolable There is but one circumstance more and that is Vers. 11. And upon the Nobles of the Children of Israel he laid not his hand also they saw God and did eat and drink That is these select and chosen men the Elders spoken of before were not hurt and affrighted by God and did feast in his presence in token of their reconciliation with him and joy in his grace This was the way of entrance by the Jewish Church all which are Mysterious and Typical God that otherwise driveth a sinner from him is made propitious to us that we need not be afârighted at his presence yea may hope for all good things from him yea we mây feast chearfully in his presence 2. The Christian Church doth also make a covenant with him by sacrifice This will appâar in three things 1. thaâ Christs death hath the true notition and vertue of a sacrifice 2. That this sacrifice hath respect to the covenant of Grace 3. That our manner of entering into Covenant with God is by the same moral acts by which they were to be Conversant about a sacrifice 1. That Christ's Death hath the true Notion and full vertue of a Sacriââce 1. The true notion Ephes. â 2. He hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour His death is a mediatory sacrifice a propitiatory sacrifice for the expiation of the sins of his People In all the sacrifices of the Law there was shedding of blood without which was no remission of sins All were killed âlayed Some were burnt some rosted some fryed on coals some seethed in pots All which were but shadows of the painful sufferings of our Lord Christ which he indured for our sins Christ is the only true and real sacrifice wherein provoked justice doth rest satisfyed Christ in this sacrifice was the Priest who as God did offer up himself Heb. 9.14 Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God As man he was the sacrifice Heb. 10.10 By which will we are Sanctified through the offering of the Body of Iesus Chrâst once for all We may add
also that he was the Altar whereupon this sacrifice was offered For as the Altar doth sanctifie the gift Matth. 23.11 So doth his Godhead add an infinite value to his sufferings Act. 20.28 Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood 2. It hath the full vertue of a sacrifice For sacrifices had a three-fold respect To God to Sin and to Man God is pacified Sin expiated and Man delivered and freed All these concur in Christ. 1. As to God who in the Mystery of redemption is considered as the Supream and Universal Judge He is Pacifyed and Satisfied by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as the party offended So he pittyed Man found out a ransom and sacrifice for our attonement As the Supream Law-giver and Judge of mankind so he is to receive the Ransom Sacrifice and Satisfaction or else to punish us as we have deserved For before this Supream Judge man standeth guilty and lyable to Death But Christ made his Soul an offering for sin Isai. 53.10 He undertook the penalty due to us for sin And therefore he is said to give himself for us as a Propitiation 1. John 2 2. And he is the propitiation for our sins And God intended him as such Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood 1 John 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved Goâ but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our Sins Now propitiation implyeth his being pacifiâd and appeased so as to become propitious and merciful for ever to sinful man submitting to the to the terms of his Covenant 2. As to sin So he is said to expiate abolish and purge it Heb. 1.3 When he had by himself purged our sins he sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high As God would not be appeased without a Sacrifice or Satisfaction So sin could not be purged without bearing the Punishment When the Sacrifice was offered and made on the behalf of sinful man then was Sin purged or expiated or made removeable upon certain terms determined by God our Supream Judge and Law-giver The Blood of Christ hath done that which will remove the Guilt and Pollution of it when rightly applyed 3. As to the Sinner he is delivered and freed from Sin That is the sinning party making use of Gods Remedy is reconciled to God Col. 1.21 22. And you who were sometimes alienated and Enemies in your Mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the Body of his Flesh through Death The Sin is not reconciled to God but the Sinner is and being reconciled is pardoned Eph. 1.7 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood the Forgiveness of Sins And also sanctified Heb. 13.12 Wherefore Iesus that he might sanctifie the People with his own Blood suffered without the Gate That is there is enough done to sanctifie the Party and consecrate him to God Yea perfected Heb. 10.14 By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified There needeth no other Sacrifice no other satisfaction for by this Sacrifice he hath obtained all things necessary to Salvation There needeth no more to satisfie Justice or to procure Salvation for his People in the way of a Sacrifice 2. That the New Covenant is made and confirmed by vertue of this Sacrifice and without it there is no Admission to the Grace of it 1. By it Christ is authorized to offer the terms and dispense the Benefits of it Heb. 13.20 The God of Peace that brought again from the dead the Lord Iesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant That Blood of the Everlasting Covenant hath a double reference there to the God of Peace which is the Title of God God's wrath was appeased and his Justice satisfied by the full recompence which was made for our offences through the Blood of the Covenant So he is the God of Peace And also to his bringing back Christ again from the dead as having done his work and satisfied to the uttermost farthing and so God investeth him with his Office as being the great Shepherd of the Sheep That is a Power of saving that which was lost or recovering the Poor stray Sheep out of the Power of the Wolf that they may be brought again into the Pasture and injoy the Priviledges of Gods flock 2. By this Sacrifice the Benefits of the New Covenant are sealed ratified and conveyed to us As is evident from the words of our Saviour in the Institution of the Lords Supper This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you Luk. 22.20 Or This is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins Mat. 26.28 Wherefore we have the New Covenant the Blood confirming this New Covenant which is the Blood of Christ shed for the Remission of Sins as the principal Blessing of the New Covenant which promise had been in vain if Christs Blood had not been shed to satisfie Divine Justice So that this is the firm and immutable basis upon which this Covenant is fixed otherwise a Covenant between God and sinful man had not been stable So in other places Zach. 9.11 By the Blood of thy Covenant I have sent forth thy Prisoners out of the Pit in which is no water All our deliverance cometh by the Covenant and by the Blood of the Covenant not only as a promised but as a purchased Blessing It is by the Blood of the Covenant that we are pardoned by the Blood of the Covenant that we are sanctified by the Blood of the Covenant that we are perfected for ever 3. That our manner of entering or renewing Covenant with God is by the same Moral Acts by which they were conversant about the Sacrifices To understand this let us see what the Sacrifices did import 1. They were glasses to represent their Misery and the debt contracted by Sin And therefore the Apostle calleth them The hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us and was contrary to us Colos. 2.14 For by the killing of the beast it was testified that they deserved to dye themselves Their Sacrifices were a publick Testification of their Guilt an acknowledgment of the Debt rather than an Acquittance So Heb. 10.3 In those Sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of Sins every Year And that is the Reason why it is said Psal. 51.17 The Sacrifices of God are a broken Heart Every one that offered Sacrifice was in a broken-hearted manner to profess and acknowledge that he was worthy to die for his Sins And doth not the same Obligation lye upon us if we would make a Covenant with God by vertue of the great Sacrifice of Atonement offered to God for the whole Congregation of God's people Surely the curse of the Law bindeth us over to Eternal wrath And this must be assented unto and subscribed by every mans Conscience with
much brokenness of Heart Cold thoughts of Sin beget but cold thoughts of Christ For every mans value and esteem of the Remedy is according to his sense of the Misery If we are not deeply affected with our lost Condition Christ is of little use to us It is the cântrite and broken Heart which doth most relish the Grace of the Redeemer 2. Sacrifices were figures of the Mercy of God and the Merit of Christ viz. of his Death and Obedience Heb. 9.13 14. If the Blood of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the Flesh how much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God So Heb. 10.5 6 7. Wherefore when he cometh into the World he saith Sacrifice and Offering thou wouldest not but a Body hast thou prepared me In burnt Offerings and Sacrifices for Sin thou hadst no Pleasure Then said I Lo I come to do thy Will O God So that the Sacrifices were to represent Christ to them without which they did little else than qualifie for legal Priviledges Therefore it behoved every one that would make Covenant with God to own the promised Messiah the Surety who died for Sin and the great Sacrifice of Atonement the Lord Jesus Christ. And is not this incumbent upon us who would make and renew Covenant with God What is required of us in the Eucharist but to bless God for all his Mercies especially the gift of his Son to die for us That which was promised and prefigured is now accomplished Surely the Death of Jesus Christ is the only true means of Redemption and Propitiation for Sin which must be acknowledged with all joy and thankfulness 3. They were Obligations to Duty and that worship and Obedience which we owe to God For a man by offering a âeast did in effect devote himself and all his Power and Strength to God The Worshipper was to Consecrate himself wholly to his Service So Rom. 12.1 I beseech you by the Mercies of God that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice Holy and Acceptable to God which is your reasonable Service This was the Interpretation of the rites of the Law and the reasonable part of that Worship And are not we to give up our selves to God with a sincere firm Resolution of new Obedience Thus for our Humiliation the Sacrifices revealed our Misery for our Consolation they propounded the Remedy of Grace and in order to our Sanctification they taught us gratitude and new Obedience But their chief and first Relation was to Christ without whom our Misery had been in vain discovered and Holiness of Life to little purpose required for we have all from him I. Vse To press you to enter into Covenant with God especially being incouraged thereunto by the Atonement and Reconciliation made by Christ. You have no Benefit by it till you personally enter into the Bond of it It is true God being pacified by Christ offereth Pardon and Acceptance on the Conditions of the Gospel but we do not actually partake of the Benefit till we perform those Conditions Though the price be payed by Christ accepted by the Father yet we have not an actual Interest through our own default for not accepting Gods Covenant The Covenant of Nature lieth upon us whether we consent or no because that is a Law but this is a Priviledge and therefore we must man by man make out our Title and Claim What shall we do 1 Bless God for this Grace That when man had irreparably broken the first Covenant and fallen from his State of Life and all the World left under guilt and a curse Rom. 3.19 All the World is become guilty before God That God took occasion by this Misery to open a door of hope to us by Christ 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself And hath set up a new Court of Righteousness and âife where Sinners may appear where Grace taketh the Târone and the Judge is Christ and the Rule of proceeding is the Gospel and upon Faith and sincere Obedience we may be accepted O let us run for refuge to this Court take Sanctuary at this Grace Heb. 6.18 Who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us The Lord standeth with Arms open to receive us if we will but acknowledge our Iniquities Ier. 3.13 Only acknowledge thine Iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God 1 John 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness Judge and Condemn our selves for them 1 Cor. 11.31 If we would judge our selves we should not be judged With Penitent and Contrite Hearts the self-condemning Sinner is acquitted Luk. 18.13 14. The Publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his Eyes to Heaven but smote on his Breast saying God be merciful to me a Sinner I tell you this man went down to his House justified rather than the other For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted 2. Own Christ as the Son of God and the Redeemer of the World and the Fountain of your Life and Peace For till we own the Mediator of the Covenant we have not the Benefit of the Covenant Though his Blood be shed 't is not sprinkled on us Heb. 12.24 And to Iesus the Mediator of the New Covenant and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the Blood of Abel Nor can it be pleaded by us with any Comfort and Satisfaction Therefore you must own him Iohn 20.28 My Lord and my God At least prize and esteem him Phil. 3.8 I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord. And use him to the ends for which God hath appointed him Iohn 1.16 Of his fulness have all we received and Grace for Grace And 1 Cor. 1.30 But of him are ye in Christ Iesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sancâification and Redemption Let him be to you what God hath appointed him to be and do for you what God hath appointed him to do for Poor Sinners Micah 5.5 This man shall be the Peace that is in him alone will we seek it this is the Blood of the Covenant 3. Devote your selves to God to serve him and please him Isa. 44.5 One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call himself by the Name of Jacob and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord and surname himself by the House of Israel And Ezek. 16.8 I entred into a Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine Now this must be done sincerely Not only with a Moral Sincerity not to dissemble but with a Supernatural Sincerity Deut. 5.29 O that there were such
are Holy though sinners by nature yet dedicated to God and by vertue of the Parent 's Covenant accepted into the visible Church This agreeth with the exact rules of friendship to be a friend to us and our Families as David was to Mephibosheth for Ionathans sake 2 Sam 9.7 Fear not for I will shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy Fathers sake So Rom. 11.28 As concerning the Gospel they are Enemies for your sake but as touching the Election they are beloved for the Fathers sake For so many thousand years This is a friendship like God whose kindness is expressed in a way becoming himself Well then every Child is capable of dedication to God in the solemn way of an Ordinance 'T was a grief to Gehazi to have the Leprosie cleave to him and his Posterity it is a comfort to you that your Children are Holy Another Leper was born of him another Child is born to God of you More especially when the Covenant breaketh out then Children are a blessing indeed an Heritage from the Lord Gen. 9.25 26. Cursed be Canaan a servant of Servants shall he be to his Brethren And he said blessed be the Lord God of Shem. Ham is cursed in the person of Canaan whose progeny was excluded from the Grace of the Ordinances Instead of blessing Shem as he had cursed Cham Noah blesseth and praiseth God Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. God is his God that is happiness enough which is to be ascribed to his Grace But to return God hath implanted an affection in Parents to their Children he hath a Son himself and he knoweth how he loveth him and he loveth him for his holiness Heb. 1.9 Thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the Oil of gladness above thy fellows So many times in a condescention to good Parents he bestoweth this priviledge that they shall have Godly Children Look as to a Minister those whom he converts to God they are his Glory and his Ioy and his Crown of rejoicing at the day of the Lord 1 Thes. 2.19 20. So as to those whom we have been a means to bring into the World if they are in the Covenant of Grace it is a greater blessing than to see them Monarchs of the World 3. 'T is a gift and a blessing dispensed as a reward and heritage with respect to the obedience or disobedience of their Parents God would by all ways and means ingage us to godliness now because our temporal happiness or misery much dependeth upon our Relations and Children he would make this one motive to invite us to walk in his ways This is one way or means to let in happiness or trouble upon us Sometimes he promiseth Children and flourishing Children as a reward of piety and threateneth no Children or unhappy Children as a punishment of disobedience See Iob 5.4 compared with 25. Of the wicked it is said ver 4. His Children are far from safety they are crushed in the Gate and there is none to deliver them 'T is promised to the godly ver 25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great and thine off-spring shall be as the Grass of the Earth So the Second Commandment Exod. 20.5 6. I the Lord thy God am a Iealous God visiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shewing Mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments and many other places Though not all the Godly and only they have the gift of prosperity and a successful posterity yet God is pleased in express terms to adopt this blessing into the Covenant Wicked Parents are ordinarily great snares and plagues to their Children and the godly prove great blessings Because this is an argument often pressed in Scripture I shall a little state it how far wicked Parents may procure a judgement and godly Parents a blessing to their Children 1. How far wicked Parents may procure a Judgment to their Children Answ. Punishments are either Temporal or Eternal For Eternal no man is punished with Eternal punishment for anothers sins properly and directly there we stand upon our own personal account occasionally a Child may be punished eternally for his Father's sin as being deprived of the means of Grace by the Parent 's revolt from the true Religion As for external means the Parents who are a kind of Trustees may put away the means of Grace from their Families When God cometh to tender Grace to them he tendereth it to them in the name of their whole house Luk. 19.9 This day is salvation come to this House Forasmuch also as he is the Son of Abraham as a Believer he had an interest in Abraham's promises Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and thy Seed after thee So Act. 16.31 Believe on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved thou and thy House that is put in a way of Salvation If a Family reject the strictness of profession and give up themselves to cursing swearing uncleanness gaming hatred of reformation and of a lively Ministry the Children born in the Family may be justly left to be wicked by these examples and prejudiced against the ways of God 2. For Temporal Punishments These may be supposed to come both on those that continue in their wicked Parents Paths and Courses or on those who do break them off by repentance 1. If they continue in them then both Parents and Children are considered as one Body and Society Isa. 65.6 7. I will recompense even recompense into their bosom Your iniquities and the iniquities of your Fathers together There is a cup still filling and when we add more Water then it runneth over As by a figure added to a number already set the value is increased to a much greater sum than the single Figure would bear if it stood alone So the personal sins of the Child are made much more hainous by the foregoing offences of the Parents Or as a fire that is already kindled when it meeteth with more combustible matter the flame is the more increased so by the addition of the Childrens sins to their Ancestors the judgment is made more exemplary and remarkable nay it may be the judgment may begin with the Children when the Parents in this World do escape and go unpunished The Parents kindle the Fire and the Children come and cast in more Fuel and then no wonder if the burning be the greater 2. If they be godly The judgments may continue though they be sanctified to their holy posterity Thus God's quarrel for the sins of Manasseh continued in the days of good Iosiah 2 Kin. 23.26 The Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations
wherewith Manasseh had provoked him Thus godly Children may bear in their bodies the fruits of their Parents uncleanness and intemperance and their estates which they had from their Parents may moulder away in their hands And this may teach Parents as they love their Children to beware of leaving such sad debts upon the heads of their posterity Their Children shall smart for the fruits of their sin We often see that the godly Children of wicked Parents are ruined for the sins of their Families both in their Persons and Estates If you ask for what sins Perversion of God's Worship as in the Second Commandment Persecution of God's Children so Ahab's Posterity was rooted out 1 Kin. 21.29 I will bring the evil in his Son's days Ill getting an Estate Haereditates transeunt cum onere The Inheritance passeth with its burden There is a Curse goeth along with it Parents sell their own Souls to make their Children great and God will shew the fallacy of it by blasting that greatness Iob 20.10 His Children shall seek to please the poor and his hands shall restore their goods 2. How far godly Parents are blessed in their Posterity 1. Good Men convey many a temporal blessing to their Relations As God blessed Ishmael for Abraham's sake Gen. 16.10 And the Angel of the Lord said unto her I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be numbred for multitude Gen. 21.13 And also of the Son of the Bond-woman will I make a Nation because he is thy Seed They have the blessing of Ishmael if not the blessing of Isaac 2. They are without scruple Children of the Covenant in visible relation to God and in better case than the Seed of Infidels not merely as the Off-spring of your bodies nor as deriving Grace from you by generation but because you have dedicated your selves and all that you have to God They are capable of Ordinances Rom. 9.16 For if the first fruit be holy the lump also is holy and if the root be holy so are the branches 3. If they die before they come to the use of reason you have no cause to doubt of their Salvation God is their God Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy Seed after thee compared with Gal. 3.14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Iesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through Faith And they never lived to disinherit themselves As we judge of the Slip according to the Stock till it live to bring forth fruit of its own So here 4. If they live to years of discretion they have greater advantages of being godly than others Partly as your dedication doth oblige you to greater care in their education Eph. 6.4 Ye Fathers provoke not your Children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Partly as God tendereth them more means with respect unto the Covenant Act. 3.25 26. Ye are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our Fathers saying unto Abraham And in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the Earth be blessed unto you first God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless you You are Children of the Covenant therefore unto you first c. partly as the Grace of the Covenant runneth most kindly in the Channel of the Covenant Rom. 11.24 How much more shall these which be the natural branches be graffed into their own Olive Tree 5. If they take to their parents Covenant and fear and love God their blessings are increased David urgeth that Psal. 116.16 O Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant and the Son of thine Handmaid When they are serious they have a greater holdfast upon God 2 Chron. 6.42 Remember the Mercies of David thy Servant Well then out of all you see it is such a blessing as is dispensed in the way of a reward yet it is such a blessing as may be turned into a Curse It is a Door whereby God may let in blessing or cursing upon us And though they are an happiness yet not our main happiness but dispensed sometimes as rewards and sometimes as punishments Vse 1. To reprove those who are not thankful for Children but do grudge and look upon it as a burden when God blesseth them with a numerous issue These murmur at that which is in it self a Mercy When we want them we value them when we are full of Children we are full of distrust and murmuring It was counted an honour to be a Father in Israel Surely those that fear God should not count an happiness to be a Burden Psal. 128.3 4. Thy Wife shall be as a fruitful Vine by the sides of thine House thy Children like Olive Plants round about thy Table Behold thus shall the Man be blessed that feareth the Lord. God maketh his People Families like a flock Psal. 107.41 Use 2. Reproof to those who do not acknowledge and improve this mercy 1. Those who do not acknowledge this mercy Surely Parents should acknowledge God in every Child given to them Much of his providence is seen in giving and with-holding Children We have songs of thanksgiving very frequent in Scripture upon this occasion It is a thing wherein God will have his bounty taken notice of by solemn praises And for every Child God should have a new honour from you What hath been done to the Lord for this Therefore do not look upon the birth of a Child as a natural thing see God in it When Rachel fell out with Iacob about her barrenness Am I saith he in Gods stead Who hath with-held from thee the fruit of the Womb Gen. 30.2 Specially confederate Parents should acknowledge this mercy It is a mercy that when a sinner is taken into favour God will accept of our Actions which are the fruit of our souls That the evil that is in all these should not out-weigh the little goodness which is in them nay that they should not only be accepted but rewarded But further that he should make a Covenant with the fruit of our body if you consider your natural sinfulness it is wonderful that your Children should be holy and Gods portion Grace like a mighty River will be pent within no banks but overflow all that a man hath God loveth not to take a single person but grace cometh to our houses Act 16.31 Believe in the Lord Iesus and thou shalt be saved thou and thy house Doth the faith of the Master of the Family save the Family occasionally it doth as it giveth a title to the means of Grace Therefore this should be acknowledged with all thankfulness 2 Sam. 7.19 Thou hast spoken also concerning thy servants house for a great while to come 2. Those that do not improve the mercy nor indeavour to make Children
Subjects For all Kingdoms are Governed by Laws Now the Law of Christ is the Gospel or new Covenant which is both a rule of Duty to shew what is due from us to Christ and a Charter of Grace to shew what we may expect from him upon the account of his Merit and Mercy if we be duly Qualified Therefore the whole design of the Gospel is to bring us to an humble submission and obedience to Christs Healing and Saving Methods all the Doctrines Precepts and Promises of the Gospel tend to this The Gospel is not only a Promise but a Law Rom. 3.27 Called a Law of faith And requireth not only confidence but obedience 2 Thes. 1.8 In flaming Fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel 1 Pet. 4.17 What shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God 'T is not enough to profess the Gospel but we must obey the Gospel Some of the precepts of the Gospel are Mystical such as believing in Christ 1 John 3.23 And this is his commandment that we should believe on the Name of his Son Iesus Christ. Some moral viz. The primitive Duty we owe to God 1 Cor. 9.21 Being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ. Not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 4. Rewards and Punishments 1. For punishments Though the proper intent and business of the Gospel is to bless and not to curse yet if men wilfully refuse the benefit of this dispensation they are involved in the greatest curse that can be thought of John 3.19 This is the condemnation that light is come into the World and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil Heb 10.29 Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trâden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith ye were Sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace It will be more grievous to sin against our Remedy than our bare Duty More aggravating circumstances are in it and therefore the more it increaseth our torment not only on Gods part inflicting but on our part reflecting upon our sin and ingratitude 2. Rewards The Priviledges of Christs Kingdom are Exceeding great 1. For the present Pardon and Peace are obtained both in the way of Justificacation as Rom. 5.1 Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ. And also of Sanctification Gal 6.16 As many as walk according to this Rule Peace be on them and Mercy and upon the Israel of God This is the intertainment God giveth to the Obedient Soul and the fruit of Christs internal Government 2. Hereafter Eternal Happiness or an immutable State of Glory Mat. 25.34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World That 's the consummation of the Kingdom of God and it shall be the portion of all those that obey Christ how despicable soever their condition be in this World Jam. 2.5 Hath not God chosen the poor of this World rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him II. That in all reason this Kingdom should be submitted unto 1 Because of the right which Christ hath to Govern He hath an unquestion able Title by the grant of God Acts 2.36 Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Iesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. And his own merit and purchase Rom. 14.9 For to this end Christ both died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living Which should silence and quiet all Rebellious Motions Hath not God a right to dispose of you and shall Christ lay down his life to be head of the renewed estate and at length be deprived of that Honour and that meerly by the Rebellious Obstinacy of the Creature There can be no hope of exemption His we must be whether we will or no Our consent and willingness doth not add to the validity of his Title only aggravateth our sin if we refuse or prove unfaithful or maketh our Obedience acceptable if we be sincere in it Now God is tender of his grant and Christ of his acquired right and purchase that he may not lose the fruit of his Death and sufferings 2. This new Right and Title is comfortable and beneficial to us 'T was the fruit of Gods pity to mankind to set up a new Government which might be Remedial of our Misery but not Destructive of our Duty 'T is a full Remedy for our Misery for the purpose of it is to effect mans Cure and Recovery to God The Scripture always speaketh of it as Medicinal and Restorative Acts 10.38 God Anointed Iesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil for God was with him Preaching Peace in his Name for he is Lord of all So Acts 5.31 Exalted to be a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins That we might injoy Gods favour and live in his Obedience In this new Remedial dispensation God aimed at the healing of our Natures and the restoring our Peace and Comfort that we might serve him with pleasure and delight who otherwise could not think of him without fear and horror Much less set our selves to please him with any Hope of acceptation 3. 'T is by his Kingly Office that all Christs benefits are applied to us As a Priest he purchased them for us as a Prophet he giveth us the knowledge of these Mysteries but as a King he conveyeth them to us overcoming our Enemies changing our Natures and inclining us to believe in him love him and obey him For he doth not only convey the benefits giving us Remission of sins but he worketh in us the Qualifications giving as well as requiring Repentance Acts 5.31 He hath Exalted him to be a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance Well then since his Executive Power attendeth upon his Kingly Office we have no reason to dislike it but to bless God for this part of his Administration The Fruit and Effect of it is the Gift of the Spirit by which all is applyed to us So that the Communication to us is done this way His work as a Priest lyeth with God and as a Prophet and King with us As a Prophet he maketh way by giving us the good Knowledge of God through the Remission of Sins but he Actually communicateth his benefits to us as our Quickening Head and King 4 Our Actual Personal Title to all the benefits intended to us is mainly Evidenced by our Subjection to his Regal Authority Certainly without it we can have no benefit by Christ Heb 5.9 And being made perfect he
sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the Spirit of our God Man's Justification is not the cause of his Sanctification nor his Sanctification the cause of his Justification but Christ is the cause of both but yet he is first sanctified then justifyed first we recover his Image then his Favour then his Fellowship Now you must look after both these not to be eased of the fear of Hell onely but to be fitted for God The penitent heart seeketh both 1 Iohn 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness He were a foolish Man that having his leg broken should onely seek to be eas'd of the smart and not to have his leg set right again Sin is the Mire that carnal persons stick in and are unwilling to be drawn out of it Therefore you are rightly affected when you seek not the one onely but the other also to have sin subdued as well as pardoned 3. Being Justified and Sanctified you must live to the Glory of God For you were not onely lost to your selves but to God And you must be recovered not to your selves onely but to God also You are redeemed to God Thou hast redeemed us to God Revel 5.9 and this redemption is applied to you Heb. 9.14 How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead works to serve the living God You are Mortified to the Law Gal. 2.19 I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God You are Married to Christ Rom. 7.4 That you should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that ye should bring forth fruit unto God In short as we are under the New Covenant we are obliged to live unto God As we are Justified and Pardoned we are incouraged to live unto God As we are Sanctified we have a Principle of Grace to incline us to live unto God And we shall have besides this habitual principle his Spirit to work in us what is pleasing in his sight 4. You must continue with patience in well doing till you come to live with God Till then Christ's salvation is not perfect he hath not saved us to the uttermost nor is our recovery perfect we are not fully cleansed from all sin nor do we serve God perfectly nor injoy full communion with him Here Christ seeketh and there he saveth us indeed here he puts us into the way of Salvation but then are we compleatly saved A wicked Man is gone out of the way losing himself more and more but the regenerate person though he be put into the way yet he is not come to the end of the journey and therefore now we are but expecting and waiting for the salvation of God It is said Heb. 9.28 That unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto Salvation Then he will reward all his Faithful Servants that look for him Heretofore he came to purchase Salvation then to confer and bestow Salvation Then Man shall be delivered from all sin and all the sad and woful consequents of sin and that for ever Now this is that we look for and wait for and that in the way of well-doing for when Christ hath sought us out and brought us home we must wander no more Well then being renewed and justified we must wait for the time when we shall be rid and freed from sin and sorrow for ever Vse 3. Is to press us to Thanksgiving that the Son of God should come from Heaven to seek and save those that are lost and us in particular Thankfulness for Redemption and Salvation by Christ being the great duty of Christians I shall a little inlarge upon it 1. Consider how sad was thy condition in thy lost estate You were fallen from God and become an Enemy to him in thy mind by evil works Col. 1.21 And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled And were a wretched bondslave to Satan led captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil who are taken captive by him at his will And thy work was to pursue vain pleasures sutable to thy fleshly mind Titus 3.3 Serving divers lusts and pleasures running with the rest of the wicked World into all manner of sin Ephes. 2.2 Wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this World according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience And all this while thou wert under a Sentence of Condemnation Iohn 3.18 He that believeth not is condemned already And there was nothing but the slender thread of a frail Life between thee and Execution and the Wrath of the Eternal God ready ever and anon to break out upon thee Iohn 3.36 He that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Surely we that were lost were not worth the looking after now that God should with so much ado and so much care seek to save such wretched creatures Oh how should we be affected with the Mercy Which of you having a servant that run away from you sound and healthy but afterwards is become blind deformed and diseased will seek after him and cure him with costly Medicines and much care and bring him into the Family and receive him with so much tenderness as if all this had not been and yet this and much more is the case between us and God 2. Consider how many Thousands there are in the World whom God hath past by and left them in their Impenitency and Carnal Security under the bondage of sin and the vassalage of Satan and how few there are that shall be saved in comparison of the Multitude that shall be eternally destroyed and that God should call thee with an holy calling and bring thee in to be one of that little Flock that is under that good Shepherds care And that when there is but as it were one of a Family and two of a Tribe that thou shouldst be singled out from the rest and chosen when they are left What meer Grace and astonishing distinguishing Mercy is this Who maketh thee to differ from another And what hast thou that thou hast not received 1 Cor. 4.7 The Lord hath passed by Thousands and ten thousands who for deserts were all as good and for outward respects much better than us We were as deep in Original Sin as they and for Actual Sin it may be more foul and gross And for Dignity in the World many more Rich more Honourable more Wise are left in a state of sin to perish eternally And that thou shouldest be as a brand plucked
particular Mercy of a dwelling place and to Gods providence in and about our habitations And so it is of use to us 1. When we want a dwelling place Or 2. When we have one 1. When we want a dwelling place or such an one as may be safe and commodious for us A Child of God should not be dismayed nor altogether without hope as if God could not provide a dwelling place for him Now now is the time for God to shew himself most eminently to be an habitation Neither through ignorance and unbelief should we conclude our selves to be forgotten and forsaken of him We are very apt to do so and it is a great temptation when we are shiftless and harbourless Isa 49.14 Zion said The Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me Therefore I shall lay down some Considerations 1. Consider God's general Providence The Apostle telleth us that he hath determined concerning all Men the times before appointed and the bounds of their Habitation Act. 17.26 When and where Men shall live They do not flit up and down by chance but by God's Providence They are not born by chance nor do they die by chance nor live here and there by chance Some in this climate some in that in Europe or Asia or America That one possesseth so much another so little all is under God's guidance and direction As God divided the Land of Canaan by Lot which is a kind of appeal to God Iosh. 14.2 So the whole World is carved out by God's direction He inlargeth and streightneth Nations and Persons according to his own pleasure The generality of Men indeed are spilt upon the great Common of the Earth by a looser Providence but there is a more especial care about his people They are the Salt of the Earth and the light of the World Mat. 5.13 14. God sprinkleth them and scattereth them here and there for use and service They are his Jewels A Man is more careful of them than of ordinary and common Utensils And among them as any are more useful so they are more under his special care As the journeys of the Apostles were guided by the Spirit as well as their Doctrine The Spirit moved them or the Spirit suffered them not Act. 17.7 They assayed to go into Bithynia but the Spirit suffered them not Therefore certainly God taketh notice of their condition and in every place where they are scattered he will provide subsistance for them while he hath service and work for them to do and will follow them in all the places of their dispersion with the testimonies of his love and respect Psal. 99.14 For the Lord will not cast off his people neither will he forsake his inheritance Men often cast them off as unworthy to be Members of the Church or any civil Corporation Yet God will not cast them off He may suffer them to be exercised and tryed but because of his interest in them he will take care of them 2. Consider his Covenant and Promise God offereth to be his peoples dwelling place and they chuse him and use him as such The Covenant is both expressive of God's Grace and our Duty what God is and what the Saints should make him to be how they should use him and imploy him God undertaketh to be our Habitation and we accordingly must address our selves to him for this benefit See Psal. 91.1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty The qualification and the priviledge are both expressed there almost in the same terms implying that if we will take God to be to us what he offereth to be and what he hath promised to be we shall find him actually and indeed to be so when need shall require it and we make use of him for that end Therefore why should a Believer doubt of safety comfort and rest It is not any other priviledge that is promised viz. that he that dwelleth in God shall have more Grace or Heaven at least No but he shall dwell in God Nor is it any other qualification that is required whether love or fear or exact obedience but he that dwelleth in God Now when this duty and this priviledge are suited use God as an Habitation and he becometh so As delight is rewarded with delight Isa. 58.12 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my Holy day and call the Sabbath a delight the Holy of the Lord honourable c. Then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord And courage or strength of Heart is rewarded with strength of Heart Psal. 27.14 Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy Heart Psal. 31.24 Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your Heart all ye that hope in the Lord. So dwelling in God is rewarded with dwelling in God For God loveth to make good the undertaking of Faith and will every way answer his peoples expectation Surely this should incourage us that our priviledge and our duty are so near of kin And that God promiseth much and requireth little only that we should own him by Faith to be what he is and what he hath promised to be Dwell in God and you shall dwell in God in all dangers and distreââs you shall have a safe and comfortable lodging in him Our dangers that compass us about are great and every day grow more and greater and therefore will easily invite us to seek a safe refuge God Almighty only requireth that he may be this refuge trust him and you shall have all that trust can expect from him Among Men protection costs dear every private Man that he may be protected by the Government he liveth under is willing to support it with a good part of his estate God that protects our Soul and Body desireth only that he may be trusted with the keeping of both and then he will be to us whatsoever Faith will have him to be Use God as your Habitation and he becometh so 3. Consider the constant experience of the Saints In the Text Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations He hath been so to his people living in every place and in every Age. When their Fathers were travellers in a strange Country God was a dwelling place to them To Abraham Isaac and Iacob when they were in Egypt when in Gerar and when in Padaâ-aram By one means or other they were still driven up and down in the World sometimes by special command sometimes by some judgment as by Famine But still God provided a place of shelter for them So for themselves in all their troubles and travels in Egypt there was a Goshen provided for them there In the Wilderness they had Tents and Quails and Mannah that fell round about them God kept a Market for them in the Wilderness and sent in provisions from Heaven Now they gather confidence in their remaining troubles and
that God's people cannot be Houseless and Harbourless Exod. 33.14 My presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest Under his defence they dwell safe and sound in the Wilderness The Shekinah or God's Majestick Presence went along with them though they had not an opportunity to build an House therefore God supposed they would not forget this even when they had built to themselves goodly Houses Deut. 8.12 to the 16. Now God once gracious is ever gracious for God is always like himself If he was so to former Saints or his People living in former Ages he will ever be so We may lay claim to the same priviledges the same Mediator the same Covenant the same terms of Grace The Lord's kindness to his People is alike in all Ages 2. It is of use to us when we have an House God is still to be owned as our Habitation A Christian should always make use of God and look beyond the Creature whatever his condition be There are two notions of a Refuge and of an Habitation Psal. 91.9 Because thou hast made the Lord which is my Refuge even the Most High thy Habitation A Refuge is the place of our retreat in a time of danger an Habitation is the place of our residence in a time of peace Most men make use of God in their streights and the time of adversity when they are beaten to him and have no other place of retreat God is their refuge but he is not their habitation They are frightened into a little Religiousness when they are in trouble and their life and temporal comforts are in hazard They use God as Men in a City do a Porch or Pent-house Or as Men in a Journey do a broad and well-spread Tree They run to it in a Storm but do not fix their Residence there The Psalmist speaketh of dwelling and abiding Psal. 91.1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty He doth not say He that hopeth or trusteth in the most high but he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High We must not run to God's help as we run to a Tree or Pent-house to use it onely for a time or for a turn and by compulsion against our wills Many seem to beg God's help in Prayer but are not protected by him They seek it onely in a storm and when all other means and refuges fail them But a Christian must maintain constant Communion with God must dwell in God not run to him now and then It is an everlasting truth Thou art our habitation In this respect a Snail may be an emblem of a Christian They carry their Houses about with them And though they wander here and there yet still they are at home God is not to be used for a turn but for every good thing his people need and he is to be acknowledged in all things which we have Not for one day onely but there must be a constant recourse to him Psal. 71.3 Be thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort Sermon II. on Psalm Xc 1 Lord thou hast been our Dwelling-place in all Generations WE must make use of God daily owning him in all things that we have Therefore whether we have or want an House he is still our habitation How when we have an House 1. Whatsoever comfort and safety we have in an outward dwelling must be owned as the effect of his bounty who ruleth in all our affairs and giveth and taketh these things at his own pleasure So it is said Exod. 1.21 Because the Midwives feared God that he made them Houses It is the Lord's Providence that we enjoy any thing in this kind an house health peace and safety therein Psal. 3.5 I lay'd me down and slept I awaked for the Lord sustained me So Psal. 4.8 I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord onely makest me dwell in safety So that the habitation of our habitation is God himself Alas without him the Noblest Dwellings will be but a comfortless place All the World are but Tenants at will to God who is our Great Landlord and putteth into possession and turneth out of possession as he pleaseth I gave thee thy Master's House saith God to David 2 Sam. 12.8 God is called the Possessour of Heaven and Earth Gen. 14 19 Not onely the Creator but the Possessor because he still disposeth of all things here below We are but his Tenants at will received by him into those places he seeth convenient for us and entertained by him during our abode there He is the Preserver of us and our dwellings against what evil might otherwise befal us by Men or Devils or any kind of accident He keepeth off the violence of Men. When the Males go up to Worship at Ierusalem the Enemy shall not desire their Land He keepeth off Diseases When dangers are near a Thousand shall fall at thy side and Ten thousands at thy right hand it shall not come nigh thee Psal. 91.7 and vers 10. The Plague shall not come nigh thy dwelling This must be acknowledged then when we dwell in safety 2. God must not be displeased or dishonoured in our houses but glorified served and obeyed A practical acknowledgment giveth God more glory than a verbal acknowledgment and we destroy our own happiness and cannot depend upon him with that comfort for the continuance of our Mercies if we do not honour and love him and serve him We saw before how sin maketh Mens dwellings to spue them out and cast them out They will soon grow weary of us if we do not pay our Great Landlord the constant rent of Duty Service and Worship Surely if we would comfortably enjoy God there we must walk uprightly and glorifie God there Psal. 101.2 I will walk in my house with a perfect heart There his domestical carriage is described and how he would purge his house from all impurity Psal. 30. The Title A Psalm of David at the Dedication of his house We should enter upon our houses in a Religious manner and consecrate our selves and houses to him It is good to observe the different carriage of Men in their houses Nebuchadnezzar when he walked in the Palace of Babylon Dan. 4.30 Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty Pride of heart came upon him Those Iews that dwelt in Ceiled Houses were well and at ease therefore neglected God Haggai 1.2 This people say The time is not come the time that the Lord's House should be built David 2 Sam. 7.2 See now I dwell in an house of Cedar but the Ark of God dwelleth within Curtains Nebuchadnezar was proud the Iews careless David zealous Say then What have I done for God who hath done so much for me It was a saying of Parisiensis Qui majores terras
God A moderate estate is freest from Temptations Abundance of all things without any want disposeth to a forgetfulness of God as perpetual want without any taste of Gods goodness on the other side disposeth the Soul to Atheism which are the two extreams whereof the one starveth religion the other choaketh it The middle sort of Men carry away Heaven and Graces while others disregard God Both poverty and riches in the extremities have their temptations the middle estate is freest from danger both of sin and misery Fertile ground is apt to breed Weeds Oh that Men would often think of the worthlesness and insufficiency of Worldly things I shall not be more safe nor happy nor acceptable to God nor more comfortable in my self It 's Grace does all in Poverty and Riches and so all Men are upon the same level Iam. 1.9 10. Let the Brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted but the rich in that he is made low 3. Greater Estates lye open to greater cares and troubles Eccles. 5.11 When Goods increase they are increased that eat them and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their Eyes True they have more attendance but then more provision is required for them The charge of Family and Retinue will increase likewise there are more Bellies to be filled more Backs to be cloathed in that which is real others have their comforts as well as he 4. Greater Estates must give greater Accounts We are Gods Stewards and we must give an account of our Stewardship Luke 16.2 You do but seek a greater trust and you cannot discharge that you have already Luke 12.48 Vnto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more We must give an account for more time more opportunities to do good the more mercy the more plenty there 's a greater reckoning to make 5. When we come to die it is not the possession but the use will comfort us We can carry nothing with us into the other World but the comfort of a good Conscience Eccles. 5.15 As he came forth of his Mothers Womb naked shall he return to go as he câme and shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand Riches cannot go with us into the other World A Godly Man can carry his happiness with him which another leaveth behind him A worldly wealthy Man hath made his Will and left all his Estate to such a Son such an Inheritance to such a Daughter such a portion to such a Friend such a Legacy What hath the poor Man left for himself If he hath not Grace what hath he left to carry with him but the anguish and misery of a guilty Conscience and the expectation of worse to come Oh poor miserable Creature when all things take their leave what a sorry comfort will that be that he hath once possessed But if he hath used it well their works follow them Luk. 16.9 Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting Habitations Well then use diversion 1. Let your desires be set on other blessings I must and will have Grace Pitch your desires on the great blessings of the Covenant I must and will have Grace and Heaven Valde protestatus sum saith Luther me nolle sic à Deo satiari Psal. 106.45 Remember me O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thy People O visit me with thy Salvation That I may see the good of thy chosen that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy Nation that I may glory with thine inheritance Give me the favour of thy People There is no danger nor no snare in that I will not be put off with other things Whosoever will Rev. 22.17 let him take the Water of life freely All our business with you is to bring you to this resolute bent of Heart as to your Spiritual and Eternal injoyments These are the blessings of his People Christ gave his Spirit to the faithful Apostles and his Purse to Iudas As Iacob would take no nay he must have the blessing So a Christian Lord I must have Christ and I must have Faith This is Holy Impudence Luk. 11.8 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth 2. Chuse other business One that maketh it his business to go to Heaven and to serve and please God will not so easily be surprised by the love of the World he will measure himself by thriving in Grace not in Estate Psal. 119.14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all Riches Every man is as his business is Iohn 6.27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life 1 Tim. 4.7 Exercise thy self unto godliness The main business of your Life is for Earth or Heaven to please God or to get the World which way is your labour and care carried out You should be most careful to get Gods love and work out your Salvation Vse 4. To observe and examine whether this disposition be in us yea or no. This will be known 1. By the frequency of your Thoughts 2. By the vehemency of your Desires 3. By the drift and course of your Lives 1. By the working of the Thoughts and debates of the Heart If the Heart be still exercised with covetous projects if you have your Wits set a work how to get in more this shews you would be rich Thoughts are the genuine issue and birth of the Soul and do discover the temper of it When their minds do run only upon earthly things Phil. 3.19 Whose end is destruction whose God is their Belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things Such a project and course of gain Iam. 4.13 and that with a savour and sweetness Still catering and contriving not how to grow good and gracious but great and high in the World The worldling in the Gospel is brought in musing Luk. 12.17 18. And he thought within himself saying What shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits And he said This will I do I will pull down my Barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and goods I will do thus and thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã verbum mirè appositum saith Beza For a worldly Man is always framing Dialogues within himself and asking and answering his Soul and his Heart is so incumbred with these thoughts that he cannot get it off in holy duties Ezek. 33.31 They come unto thee as the people cometh and they âit before thee as thy People and they hear thy words but they will not do them for with their mouth they will
Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith Observe there the saving of Noah from the Flood is a Type and Shadow of Salvation by Christ. The Flood drowned and destroyed the Impenitent World but Noah and his Family were saved in the Ark. We are warned of the Eternal Penalties threatned by God if we do not repent and believe we shall not be saved from wrath but if we believe and prepare an Ark diligently use the means appointed for our safety then we become Hâirs of the Righteousness of Faith are accepted by God and have a right to all the Benefits which depend thereupon It was a business of vast charge and an eminent piece of self-denying Obedience to prepare an Ark. So true Faith sheweth it self by Obedience We read of the Obedience of Faith Rom. 16.26 as the Fruit of the Gospel 3. With respect to it's Rule and Warrant And that is the Gospel and New Covenant called the Word of Faith Rom. 10.8 The Hearing of Faith Gal. 3.2 Received ye the Spirit by the Works of the Law or by the Hearing of Faith The Law of Faith Rom. 3.27 This is the Doctrine which iâ believed Now all that the new Covenant requireth may be called the Righteousness of Faith For look as to be justified by the Law or Works required by the Law is all one So to be justined by Faith and to be justified by the new Covenant is all one also And therefore whatever the new Covenant requireth as our Duty that we may be capable of the Priviledges thereof is a part of the Righteousness of Faith Now it requireth Repentance from dead Works Acts â7 30 He hath commanded all men to repent because he will judge the World in Righteousness We are to repent in order to the Judgment which will be either of Condemnation or Justification So the new Covenant requireth Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ Iohn 5.24 He that believeth in Christ shall not come into Condemnation So it requireth new Obedience Heb. 5.9 He is become the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him None are qualified for Eternal Liâe but those who perform sincere Obedience to his commands It is not absolutely perfect Obedience that is required but only sincere and upright And there is a necessity that we should be sincerely Holy not only in order to Salvation but Pardon 1 Iohn 1.7 If we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Iesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin And in order to the Application of the Blood of Christ to our Souls or to the obtaining of the Gift of the Spirit or any new Covenant Gift Act. 5.32 We are his Witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him Well then these are the Conditions to be found in us before we are made partakers of the full Benefit of Christs Merit Repentance towards God Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and new Obedience And all these are comprized in the Expression The Righteousness of Faith For Faith receiveth Christ and the Promises made to us in Christ upon the Terms and Conditions required in the Gospel Only these things are of a different Nature and concur differently The Obedience of Christ in a way by it self of Merit and Satisfaction Faith Repentance and our Obedience only in a way of Application And in the Application the Introduction is by Faith and Repentance and the continuance of our right by new Obedience Yea in the Introduction Repentance respects God and Faith Christ Act. 20.21 Testifying both to Jews and also to the Greeâs Repentance toward God and Faith toward our Lord Iesus Christ. We return to God as our chief good and soveraign Lord that we may love serve and obey him and be Happy in his Love Faith respects Christ as Redeemer and Mediator who hath opened the way for our return by his Merit and Satisfaction or Reconciliation wrought between us and God and given us an Heart to return by the renewing Grace of his Spirit Coming to God and being accepted with God is our end Christ is our way And indeed in the Righteousness of Faith the chiefest part belongeth to him who by his Blood hath procured this Covenant for us for whose sake only God giveth us Grace to repent believe and obey and after we have done our Duty doth for his sake only accept of us and give us our Reward These are not Co-ordinate Causes but he is the Supream cause all that we do is subordinate to his Merit and Obedience II. What is the Hope built upon it or the things hoped for by Vertue of this Righteousness And they are Pardon and Life 1. Certainly Pardon of Sins is intended in the Righteousness of Faith As appeareth by that of the Apostle Rom. 4.6 7 8. David describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without works saying Blessed are they whose Iniquities are forgiven and whose Sins are covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute Sin If this be the Description of the Righteousness of Faith or the Priviledges which belong thereunto for now we are upon the Hope of the Righteousness of Faith then certainly Remission of Sins is a special branch of this Felicity 2. There is also in it Salvation or Eternal Life Tit. 3.7 That being justified by his Grace we should be made Heirs according to the Hope of Eternal Life The Crown of Glory is for the justified called therefore the Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4.8 You have both together Acts 26.18 That they may receive forgiveness of Sins an Inheritance among them that are sanctified by Faith These two Benefits are most necessary the one to allay the fears of the guilty Creature the other to gratifie his desires of Happiness Therefore the Apostles when they planted the Gospel they propounded this Motive of forgiveness of Sins Acts 13.38 Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of Sins And also the other of Life Eternal 2 Tim. 1.10 That Christ hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel These two Benefits give us the greatest support and comfort against all kind of troubles Our Troubles are either inward or outward Against troubles of Mind or inward Troubles we are supported by the Pardon of our Sins Mat. 9.2 Son be of good cheer thy Sins be forgiven thee Against outward troubles we are supported by the Hopes of a better Life being secured to us 2 Cor. 4.17 18. For our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal Again both are eminently accomplished at the last Judgement when the Righteousness of
it Again it is an holy Law according to which the process of that day shall be guided A Law that is clean and pure which alloweth not the least evil Thy Law is exceeding pure Psal. 119.140 The Gospel abateth nothing of the purity of it Now when we appear before an holy God and must be judged by an holy Law surely we must have holiness and righteousness answerable or how can we stand in the Judgment It is an holy God before whose Tribunal we must appear and an holy Law that we must be judged by therefore if we be destitute of all kind of righteousness What shall we do 2. No other righteousness will serve the turn but the righteousness of Faith And therefore till we submit to the New Covenant we are in a woful case Now the righteousness of the New Covenant is supream or subordinate The supream by way of Merit and Satisfaction The Subordinate by way of Application and Qualification on our parts 1. The Supream is the Righteousness or Obedience of Christ. VVhich can alone deliver us from Hell Job 33.24 Deliver him from going down to the Pit for I have found a ransom There is no deliverance from eternal destruction which our sins deserve but onely by the Ransom which he hath paid Till his Justice be satisfied by Christ no good can come unto us 2. The Subordinate Righteousness which qualifieth us and giveth us an interest is Faith Repentance and new Obedience All which are hugely necessary and convenient and gracious terms 1. Faith By which we own and acknowledge our Redeemer with love thankfulness dependance and hearty subjection to him Certainly love and thankfulness is due to him who hath indured so much and procured such great benefits for us Would we have the blessings instated on us and not know from what hand they come And acceptance is due for should Christ save us without our wills and against our consent Dependance is due Should they have benefit by Christ's Merits who question the force and efficacy of them Therefore God hath set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his Blood Rom. 3.25 2. Repentance is necessary Would we have God to pardon us while we continue in our rebellion without sorrow for it or purpose to leave it The case of the obstinate is not compassionable Jer. 3.13 Onely acknowledge thine iniquity and I am gracious And to acknowledge an offence and continue in it is to condemn our selves 3. New Obedience That was due before to our Creator and our Redeemer strengtheneth the Bond and maketh it more comfortable For we have a new Lord by right of Redemption Rom. 14.9 For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living A Lord that hath payed dear for our Souls 3. This righteousness is every way sufficient that we may venture our eternal well-being upon it For what is appointed by God will be accepted by God And though there be many defects in our Faith Repentance and Obedience yet there is an intrinsick value in the obedience and death of Christ besides the Institution Heb. 9.14 How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered up himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God And 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by Tradition from your Fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Lastly See your help The Spirit is the great new-New-Covenant Gift purchased by Christ that it might be dispensed to us the more abundantly John 1.16 And of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace Tit. 3.5 6. By the renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us By his Sanctifying and renewing Grace we are inabled for all this duty We have it by the hearing of Faith Gal. 3.2 And the whole dispensation of the Gospel is called the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 5.8 Therefore if a sluggish heart did not possess Christians they might do more than they do A Sermon on 2 Pet. III. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some Men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance THe Apostle in Answer to the Cavil and Exception of the Mockers of Religion is taking off the Scandal of the delay of Christ's Coming Three Considerations are produced to satisfie the Godly 1. The true measure of speed or delay is the Eternity of God which admits of no beginning succession and ending but consists in a constant presentness to all that which to us seemeth past or to come And we must judge as he judgeth This is laid down vers 8. 2. The end of this delay which is the conversion of Sinners It proceedeth not from any culpable slackness in God but onely his patience towards the Elect. God is not slack but we hasty Our temper requireth time and patience to work upon us and bring us under the power of Grace This is in the Text. 3. The manner of coming which is sudden and unexpected like the coming of a Thief upon a sleepy family ver 10. Therefore we should rather prepare for it than complain of slackness We are upon the second consideration Wherein 1. The false cause of this delay is removed The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some Men count slackness 2. The true cause assigned But is long-suffering to us ward 3. The end of this long-suffering propounded First Negatively Not willing that any should perish Secondly positively But that all should come to Repentance Wherein the way to escape ruine is intimated which is Repentance The only doubt is about the sense of the words How that is to be understood that God would not have any perish but all come to Repentance For we see many do yet perish all do not come to Repentance And is God frustrated of his end Ans. To this doubt three answers are given and all solid though I prefer the two first 1. The Patience of God according to its nature hath that use and end to invite all sinners to Repentance Rom. 2.4 Despisest thou the riches of his goodness forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance Gods continuing forfeited Mercies and tarrying the sinners leisure giveth us an hope that he is willing to be reconciled And if we do not seek his favour and turn to him by Repentance it is long of our selves the fault is our own because we do not improve this hope 2. The Apostle in this place hath special reference to the Elect who are concerned more especially in the promise of Christs coming to put an end to their sufferings and to render them an eternal reward Certain
Bond in suit but spareth upon our intercession Now this should be taken notice of and notably improved A Man is sick afraid to be damned but he recovers again Now though it be not a total pardon we cannot say it is none at all For God took such a one out of the Jaws of Hell for that time So Mat. 18.32 The Debt was forgiven yet required afterwards the meaning is he was spared for the present He did not obtain that full pardon which amounteth to justification yet he was recovered out of sickness misery and apparent danger and that upon his cry to God 7. If you are continued till you have some experience of the Grace of Christ then much more have you cause to bless God for his long-suffering How ill would it have been for your Souls if you had died in your sins God may say to you as he did to his People Isa 43.24 25. Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thine iniquitiâs I even I am he that blotteth out your transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins If God had been quick with us where should we have been We are of an hot and eager nature cannot bear affronts or despightful usage Luk. 9.54 Lord wilt thou that we call for Fire from Heaven to consuâe them as did Elias This was Iames and Iohn beloved Disciples ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The fury of rash zeal appeared in the best even in the Disciple of love but God does not deal so with us Vse 3. To exhort to Repentance If a Malefactor arraigned at the Bar of Justice should perceive by any speech or word or gesture sign or token any inclination in the Judge to Mercy how would he work upon that advantage to get a Reprieve and the Execution put off So should we improve God's forbearance and long-suffering to sue out a Pardon A Sermon on Rom. X. 5 6 7 8 9. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the Law that the Man which doth those things shall live by them But the righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thine heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above Or who shall descend into the Deep that is to bring up Christ again from the Dead But what saith it The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of Faith which we Preach That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath Raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved THese words which I have now Read need both Vindication and Explication My first work shall be First Vindication or reconciling Paul with Moses That seemeth difficult because in the Allegation some things are changed some things added some things omitted as appeareth by the Collation of the Places the Text and Deut. 30.12 13 14. It is not in Heaven that thou shouldest say Who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldest say Who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it But the word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it To avoid the difficulty some say these words are alledged sensu transumptivo onely by way of Allusion and Accommodation not as Interpreting Moses but as fitting them to his own purpose But this I cannot yield to for these Reasons 1. From the scope of the Apostle which is to draw off the Iews and Iudaizing Brethren from sticking to the Law of Moses as necessary to Justification To do it thoroughly he bringeth an Argument from Moses himself who doth in his Writings give a clear distinction between the Righteousness of the Law and the Righteousness of Faith and so by consequence between the Tenour of the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace Now if it were an Allusion only the Apostle would produce a bare Illustration not a Cogent Argument and so would rather Explain than Convince 2. The Exposition it self is so clear that we need not make it an Allusion if we consider the place whence these passages are taken Deut. 30. The whole Chapter is a Sermon of Evangelical Repentance see the 1 2. Verses And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee and thou shalt call them to mind among all Naâions whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee And shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day thou and thy children with all thy heart and with all thy soul. This was spoken of a time which the Iews themselves confess to belong to the Kingdom of the Messiah And reason sheweth it For the words were spoken by Moses as referring to such a time when the Israelites were dispersed among all Nations which happened not till after Christ's Ascention and the Preaching of the Gospel and doth yet remain and will remain until the Conversion of the Iews of which the Apostle will speak in the next Chapter So that Moses words are applicable to them when the Gospel-dispensation was set on foot That was the word which was nigh them The great prejudice of the Iews against Christ's being the Messiah was because he came not in a way agreeable to their Carnal Conceits or with such Pomp and Visible Demonstration of Authority as to satisfie all his own Countrymen Therefore they were prejudiced and would not own him nor receive the Grace tendered by him but looked for that as afar off which was nigh them and among them And therefore the Apostle doth apply the words of Moses to them to bring them to embrace the New Covenant 3. From the Nature of the thing First Certain it is to us Christians that Moses Wrote of Christ for our Lord saith John 5.46 Had you believed Moses you would have believed me for he Wrote of me Secondly If he Wrote more obscurely we must consider he was a Prophet not an Apostle 3. That he Wrote of Christ in this place the Apostle's Authority is sufficient for he was a good Interpreter If he being infallibly assisted saw more in it than we do we are not to Cavil at his Authority but with reverence to receive this light not vex the Citation by nice Disputes but humbly receive the Interpretation he giveth of it You will say the words are altered But the Apostles usually in Quoting Minded the Sense rather than the Words And Moses his drift was to perswade them to take notice of the Divine Revelation made to them at that time when these things befel them the destroying of the Temple and City and these Dispersions among the Nations Secondly
the Heart and may be determined partly by the object or matter believed partly by the subject of it or the acts of the Soul towards it First The Object or Matter believed is in short this That there is a God Heb. 11.6 That God having made Man he hath right and power over him to govern him by his Laws James 4.12 There is one Law-giver who is able to save and to destroy That Man failing in his Obedience he and all his Posterity are subject to the wrath and vindictive Justice of God Rom. 3.19 That all the World may become guilty before God Ephes. 2.3 And were by nature children of wrath even as others That such was God's Love that to recover Man out of this wretched condition he sent his own Son into the World John 3.16 That Iesus Christ who was the Son of God died for our offences and rose again for our Iustification Rom. 4.25 That is died to expiate our sins and rose again to convince the unbelieving VVorld of the Authority and Dignity of his Person and Offices and also of the truth of his Law and Covenant that having died and rose again he hath acquired Novum Ius Imperii a new right of Command and Empire over the World Rom. 14.9 For this cause he both died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord of dead and living That is have full power and dominion to dispose of us dead and living That Christ having this full power and dominion over all flesh hath established and enacted a Law of Grace or New Covenant wherein Pardon and Righteousness or Title to Life is assured to Penitent Believers Mark 16.16 Whosoever believeth shall be saved And Luke 24.47 And that Repentance and Remission of sins be Preached in his Name to all Nations And shall actually be bestowed upon all that obey him Heb. 5.9 But those that refuse this Christ shall be eternally miserable John 3.19 This is the condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil This is the sum of what is to be believed Secondly It may be determined partly by the Subject of it or the acts of the Soul about it The Subject is the Heart both Understanding and Will The Understanding Assents to all this as true both what is said of the Person of the Redeemer and his Covenant and accordingly disposeth the heart of Man to carry it self towards both 1. To the Person of the Redeemer We Thankfully and Broken-heartedly receive him to the ends of the Gospel or to be to us what God hath appointed him to be and do that for us That God hath appointed Him to do for poor sinners To be our Lord and Saviour Iohn 1.12 Col. 2.6 as Lord to obey him and as Saviour to depend upon him and trust our selves in his hands for our happiness whatever befalleth us 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day 2. Towards the Covenant which he hath appointed as the Law or Rule of Commerce between us and God There are Promises and Precepts Commands and offers of Grace 1. For the Promises you heartily accept them as the greatest Happiness that can be bestowed upon you and depend upon them as things that surely will be performed for there comes in the consideration of true and good 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a true and faithful saying Ephes. 1.13 In whom ye trusted after ye heard the word of truth as true doubts are opposite to them as good carnal inclinations 2 For the Precepts and Duties required you bind your selves to perform them upon these hopes whatever it cost you And there comes in also the nature of Faith Sincere Resolution and Absolute Self denial Sincere resolution to perform what God hath required that you may obtain what he hath offered which is called a giving up of our selves to the Lord 2 Cor. 8.5 And absolute Self denial or Selling all for the Pearl of Price Mat. 13.46 And so that Faith which is made such a difficult thing to explain as it were a Bugbear to affright poor Christians from all thoughts and study about it is made easie and facile to the understandings of the meanest Christians who must live by it and be saved by it This then is believing with the Heart Secondly What is Confession with the Mouth A solemn outward declaration that we take Christ for our Lord and Saviour or that we believe what is revealed to us concerning God and Christ and our duty to him This is necessary because the Promises of the New Covenant run in both strains of putting the word in our Heart Ier. 31.37 and putting it in our Mouths Isa. 59.21 The Saints Prayers are That God would not take it out of their Hearts Psal. 119.36 nor out of their Mouths Verse 43. Take not the word of Truth utterly out of my Mouth And the nature of their duty to God requireth it for a Man is first to embrace the True Religion to receive it with his Heart and then he is to profess it or express it with his Mouth for no Man is to conceal and keep his Religion to himself Our Tongues and our Bodies were given us to shew forth that acknowledgment and Adoraâion of God which is in our hearts He that denieth God or Christ with the Heart doth not believe in him or Worship him with the Heart So he doth not Worship God with his Tongue and Life who doth not outwardly profess and honour him As he hath given us an understanding that we may know him so he hath prepared for us a body wherewithal to profess him and our esteem of him Isa. 45.23 To me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear Which is again repeated and established as our duty in the Gospel Phil. 2.10.11 At the Name of Iesus every Knee should bow And every Tongue confess that Iesus Christ is Lord. But more distinctly to open this confession with the Mouth 1. The matter to be confessed is the great truths which we do believe God Christ the Covenant of Grace Eternal Glory and Happiness And the lesser truths in their season at other times Rom. 14.22 Hast thou Faith have it to thy self before God 'T is not meant of the necessary Articles of the Christian belief but things of a doubtful disputation If we know more than others in these things yet we must not needlessly trouble the Church or offend the weak to the danger of their Souls and hindrance of greater truths And yet in these things you must not deny the smallest truth 2 Cor. 13.8 We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth For though the thing we contend for be small yet sincerity is a great matter and to profess our Assent or Consent to what we neither count true nor can well approve of is to come under a
Ghost yet there is but one the only and true God 2. He is represented by his Relation to the Creatures the Father 'T is not taken ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Personally but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Essentially as often in Scripture as Isa. 63.16 Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us Meaning not only the first Person but all the rest And Mat. 5.16 Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And Mat. 6.9 Our Father which art in Heaven Jam. 3.9 Therefore we bless God even the Father In all these and many other places Father Son and Holy Ghost is the only true God and called Father 3. He is set forth by his Dignity and Preheminence as the first cause and last end For from him are all things and we in him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. To him and for him I take the Marginal Reading so Rom. 11.36 For of him and through him and to him are all things 2. What is said of the Mediatour He is described 1. By his Person or Name signifying his Person Iesus Christ. There is no other Name given under Heaven Acts 4.12 c. 2. By his Dignity Lord that is Mediator Christ is often set forth by this Term or Title Acts 2.36 God has made that same Iesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. He is Lord over all Creatures and over the House of God Phil. 2.11 And that every Tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father He died for that End and Purpose Rom. 14.9 To this End Christ both died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord both of dead and living Therefore we should own him as such Iohn 20.28 My Lord and my God Both in Word and Deed. In Word Phil. 2.11 That every Tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord. Indeed in worship Psal. 45.11 He is thy Lord worship thou him In ordinary Practice and Conversation Loving Serving Sâudying to please him ân all things Luke 6.46 Why call you me Lord and do not the things which I say Col. 1 10. Walk worthy of the Lord in all pleasing 'T is our Comfort that he is Head over all things Eph. 1.22 So he is able to Subject the Church to himself by his Spirit to vanquish its Enemies and defend us by his Power And 't is both our Comfort and Duty that he is our Lord. He purchased us by his Blood Acts 20.28 and Eph. 1.14 âherefore the Church is given him as an Inheritance Psal. 2.8 We are married to him in the Covenant of Grace Therefore he appeaseth the Wrath of God by his Passion and Intercession He cherisheth and takes care of us 3. The Appropriation of this Office and Dignity to him alone one Lord Iesus Christ. To set up other Lords of our Faith or other Mediators between God and us is a wrong to Christ. There is but one Mediator either of Redemption or Intercession and no Saints or Angels share in this Honour 1 Tim. 2.5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Iesus Eph. 4.5 One Lord. Without Partner or Substitute He will communicate this Glory and Dominion over his Church to no other in whole or in part 4. The distinctness of his Operation as Mediator from what was said concerning the Father 'T is said of the Father Of whom and for whom are all things but of the Mediator it is said By whom are all things and we by him God is the Fountain of all Heavenly Gifts Iam. 1.17 And Christ is the Pipe and Conveyance God is the ultimate Object of our worship and by the Mediator do we make our Addresses and Applications to him Eph. 2.18 For through him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father From God all things have their Being as from their Spring and Cause both in a way of Nature and Grace So all things by the Mediator Doct. That the owning and worshipping God by the Mediator Iesus Christ is the summ of the Christian Religion Natural Religion owneth a God but the Christian Religion owneth a Mediator and Father Son and Holy Ghost for that only true God and Jesus Christ for that Mediator See other Scriptures Iohn 17.3 And this is Life Eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent There is the summ of what is necessary to Life Eternal that God is to be known loved obeyed worshipped and injoyed and the Lord Jesus as our Redeemer and Saviour to bring us home to God and to procure for us the Gifts of Pardon and Life and this Life to be begun here and perfected in Heaven So 1 Tim. 2.5 For there is but one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Iesus Here are the two great Points of the Christian Religion one God in whom is all our Trust and Confidence and one Lord Jesus the only Mediator for the Restauration and Reconciliation of Man with God Here I shall shew you 1. The Necessity of a Mediator 2. The Fitness of Christ for this Office 3. The Benefit and Fruit of it 4. Who are the Parties interested in these Comforts and most concerned in these Duties I. The Necessity of a Mediator in this lapsed and faln Estate of Mankind Two things infer and inforce this Necessity Distance and Difference Distance by reason of Impurity and Difference by reason of Enmity Both these occur in the Case between God and Men. God is a God of Glorious Majesty and we are poor Creatures God is an Holy God a God of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity and we are sinful Creatures As Creatures unworthy of immediate access to God as lapsed and under the guilt of Sin and desert of Punishment and unable to deliver our selves cannot draw nigh to him with any Comfort 1. Our Distance Which is so great that it is a Condescention for God to take notice that there are such Creatures in the World Psal. 113.6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things which are in Heaven and Earth The Excellency and Majesty of God is so great that either Angels or Men are unworthy to approach his Presence Now as Inferiour and mean People dare not approach the presence of a great Prince but by some powerful Friend and Intercessor at Court so our distance produceth our fears and estrangedness and backwardness to draw nigh unto God and so hindreth our Love and Confidence in him Well then to depend upon one so far above us that he will take notice of us take care for us relieving us in our Necessities and Streights and help us out of all our Miseries and finally save us requireth a Mediator one that is more near and dear to God than we are which can be no other than Jesus Christ as I shall shew by and by When a Sinner looketh only at God as in himself he is confounded and amazed as quite
drink indeed But especially in invocation or solemn calling upon God in a way of Prayer or Praise into which all duties issue themselves 1. In a way of Prayer the mediation of Christ doth especially respect that duty and you must put your suits into his hand if you mean to speed Iohn 16.23 Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you There is no speaking to God or hoping for any thing from God but by Christ. Having such a Mediator to present our desires and requests we may come boldly to him The Father is well pleased with these requests We cannot have sufficient sense enough of our unworthiness and his worth and merit 2. In a way of praise Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in Word or Deed do all in the Name of the Lord Iesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him All the success of our lawful undertakings or expectations is to be ascribed to God through Christ. All good things derived to us from God as the prime Authour is by Christ's Mediation Eph. 5.20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ. For all things Temporal Spiritual success of all Ordinances Providences his merit procured the mercy and maketh the duty acceptable 3. We come to God in the practice of all commanded duties A Christian is always with God he liveth with him and walketh with him He that is a stranger with God in his ordinary conversation can never be familiar with him in his worship and the Grace of Faith Hope and Love are acted not only in worship but ordinary practice whilest having a deep sense of an invisible God and a constant aim at an invisible World Love doth level and direct all our actions that we may please this God and attain the happiness of that unseen World Every righteous action is done in obedience to God and an aim at Heaven either by a noted thought or the unobserved act of a potent habit Sure I am that a great part of our communion with God is carried on in our ordinary conversation 1 Iohn 1.7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another And every holy action is a step towards âeâven as every sinful one is in its self a step to Hell Now this can only be by Christ. Unless we are in him and be assisted by his Spirit how can we bring forth fruit unto God Phil. 1.11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Iesus Christ unto the Glory and Praise of God He is the root of your life and you live as upon him and by his Life The Apostle saith in one clause that we are for him in the other that we are by him whole we not only some actions of ours but God hath put our life into his hands and because he liveth we live also Iohn 14.19 We do not use Christ only at our need but as the Branches the Root or the Members the Head we can do nothing apart from him but in all businesses and in all conditions we must live in him to God Now this is to come to God by Christ. Vse I. To press us to improve this for our comfort and use 1. 'T is an incouragement in our expectations from God and those communications of Grace which he exhibiteth to us in the covenant of Grace for here is one God and Father from whom are all things and one Lord Iesus by whom are all things God is set before you as an all-sufficient Fountain of Grace and Christ as an all-powerful Mediator 1. Here is one God and Father from whom are all things Where shall we find comfort if not in God He can supply all our Wants cure all our Diseases overcome all Enemies deliver us out of all Dangers God in the New Covenant is represented under the notion of God All-sufficient Gen. 17.1 He offereth himself under that notion to ingage us to trust him alone The People of God gather it from their Covenant interest Psal. 23.1 The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want So elsewhere there is an infinite latitude in the object of Faith This one God and Father is every way sufficient to do us good no pain so great but he can mitigate and remove it no danger so dreadful so likely but he can prevent no misery so deep but he can deliver us from it no Enemies so strong but he can vanquish them no want that he cannot supply When we have a want God cannot supply or a Sickness that God cannot cure or a danger that he cannot prevent or a Misery that he cannot remove or Enemies that are too hard for him then you may yield to despondency of Heart Chuse God for your portion and chief happiness and you shall want nothing whatever faileth we have an All-sufficient God still to rejoice in and depend upon See how largely God expresseth himself in the offers of his Grace Psal. 84.11 For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield the Lord will give Grace and Glory no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly We are subject to dangers and perils from Enemies Bodily and Spiritual he is our Shield we want all manner of Blessings now he will give us all things that truely belong to our happiness he will be a Sun to us A Shield here a Sun hereafter I am thy Shield and exceeding great Reward If He be a reward and a great reward it cannot come short of Heavens Glory and that Eternal Happiness which is an aggregation of all Blessings then our Sun shall be in his Meridian and shall fully and for ever shine upon the Saints It followeth there Grace and Glory will he give He will restore what we lost in Adam the Image of God the Favour of God and Fellowship with God and bestow upon us a Blessedness which possibly we should not have had if Adam had stood Eternal Life and Rest in Heaven Grace to bear our expences to Heaven and Glory at the end of the Way All manner of light life and comfort See one place more 2 Pet. 1.3 According to his Divine Power hath he given unto us all things that pertain to Life and Godliness Whatever pertaineth to life that is life Spiritual the substance of every saving Grace though not the full Measure also a right to what may inable us to honour God in practice either to an Holy Heart or an Holy Life 2. Here is a compleat and powerful Mediator And 1. Hereby we see God in our Nature and so nearer at hand and ready to help us God is become our Neighbour yea as one of us Bone of our Bone and Flesh of our Flesh That made Laban kind to Iacob Gen. 29.14 Though he hath removed his Dwelling into Heaven again yet 't is for our sakes and for our benefit our Nature remaineth there at the Right Hand of
There it shall not Cease 1 Cor. 13.13 The Duties are other but the grace is the same 1. Use. Let me beseech you as Chrysostome did his hearers often to ruminate on this Description of Charity Remember it is a discriminating grace not an Arbitrary thing that we are speaking of The business is whether you are something in Religion or nothing They that cannot bridle their Passions but live in Enmity Malice Pride and Covetousness and have not Charity are nothing 2. What reason we have to deprecate God's strict Judgment and clear up the business of our sincerity Alas without an Evangelical Interpretation what would become of us 'T is true we break not into gross Enormities but how many Infirmities stick to us Though a Christian cannot wholly subdue them he must in some measure overcome them Anger will stir when we are provoked but by the ordinary assistance of GOD's Grace we may keep off from running out into furious Words and Actions or Cursing or Swearing or Striking or Reviling An envious thought may arise against our Brother because he is preferred before us but we hate it Labour to keep it under Chide our selves for it do not let our Envy break out into a Malignant detraction from their worth or blemishing their Gifts and Graces A Child of God may feel the ticklings of Pride yet he will not suffer it to break out into boasting Language some motions of Revenge but they do not break out into mischievous contradiction 3. What need there is of Constant Mortification how else can we exercise this Love we being so Covetous Proud Passionate and self-seeking The ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Affections and Lusts must be both broken Gall. 5.24 They that are Christs have Crucified the Flesh with the affections and lusts thereof 4. What a Friend Christianity is to humane Society for how peaceable might we live together if this love did more rule in our Hearts 5. How perverse Man is who accounts this duty irksome when he will do much more for his Lusts and Ambition Verse 7. Beareth all things Believeth all things Hopeth all things Endureth all things Easily will Men bear this task for their Worldly ends 6. How much love in the Spirit differeth from ordinary love This is a fruit of love to God 1 Iohn 5 1. Every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him and of faith in Christ. Iohn 15.12 This is my Commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you and hopes of Eternal Life in the Text. A Sermon on Psal. Lxxxiv 7 They go from strength to strength every one of them in Zion appeareth before God THIS Psalm was penned by David in his Exile as is most probable for therein he professeth his longing after the Courts of GOD or his wonted access to the Ark of the Covenant and publick Ordinances Being deprived of that benefit he expresseth his value of it Such priviledges are best understood carendo magis quam fruendo by want rather than enjoyment In which of his flights and persecutions it is not easie to determine whether those by Saul or by Absolon rather those by Absolon for then the Ark was upon Sion-Hill 2 Sam. 6.12 But in Saul's time the Ark was at Kirjath Iearim 1 Sam. 7.1 And when he fled from Absolom was his solemn parting from the Ark 2 Sam. 15.25 26. And the King said unto Zadock Carry back the Ark of God into the City if I shall find favour in the eyes of God he will bring me again and shew me both it and his habitation But if he say thus I have no delight in thee behold here I am let him do to me as seemeth good unto him In the Psalm I. He professeth his value and esteem of the publick Worship or injoying God in the Ordinances and means of Grace How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts Ver. 1. Then his earnest desire of this priviledge of free wonted access to the House of God ver 2. My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God There was Soul and Heart and Flesh in it as to extension and crying out longing fainting and all for the Courts of God as to intention II. He compareth his Condition 1 with the Swallows and Sparrows that had liberty of flying and building their Nests about the Altars of God It is a notable Poetical strain as passionate Lovers are wont to express themselves upon like occasions Ver. 3. Yea the Sparrow hath found an house and the Swallow a Nest for her self where she may lay her young even thine Altars Oh Lord of Hosts my King and my God 2. Then he compareth himself 1. with the Priests and Levites whose constant residence was in the Temple ver 4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy House they will be still praising thee Selah Those that are always in God's House constantly allowed the Priviledge of his solemn Service or Sacred Assemblies beholding the Symbols of his Presence the Ark of the Covenant upon which God sate and gave Answers of Grace Oh Blessed they indeed III. With the People that went up to worship three times of the year at Ierusalem to keep the Solemn Feasts according to the Ordinance of God Exod. 23.17 Three times in the year all thy Males shall appear before the Lord God They were to journey a foot to the Tabernacle there to appear before the Lord. Their condition was Blessed in comparison of David's who was now debarred of all access to God's Courts These are described 1. By their earnest Desire and Resolution to take this journey though they dwelt far off from the Tabernacle ver 5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose heart are the ways of them Their Hearts were set upon the ways that led to the Courts of God 2. By their painful passage and yet some refreshments by the way ver 6. Who passing through the Valley of Baca make it a Well the Rain also filleth the Pools Their way to the Tabernacle now seated upon the Hill of Sion lay through dry and comfortless places through the Valley of Baca or of Mulberry-trees as the Margin readeth it that is through dry and sandy Desarts in which those Trees grow It may be the place mentioned 2 Sam. 5.23 24. The Valley of Rephaim where Mulberry-trees grew and where David smote the Philistins Sept. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Valley of Tears The want of water in those hot Countries was very troublesom Where great multitudes with store of Cattle travailed towards Zion upon these solemn occasions they had their difficulties and discouragements by the way but their ardent Zeal and strong Affection overcame all And as they had their Difficulties so they had their Comforts sometimes they met with a Well and sometimes with a Pond filled with Rain sometimes with more sometimes with less
ingage our Thankfullness and increase our Hatred of Sin In short two affections are most proper and seasonable Mourning for Sin and Rejoycing in Christ. 1. Mourning for Sin When we call to remembrance the Death of Christ the anguish of his Soul the bruises of his Body the effusion of his Blood these are all occasions of Godly sorrow For he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows and he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the Chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed Isai. 53.4 5. Therefore godly sorrow is seasonable so far as it is a means part of Repentance The Iews on the Solemn day of attonement used to afflict their Souls on that Day as you may read Levit. 23.27 28 29. On the Tenth day of the seventh Month it shall be a day of Attonement it shall be an holy Convocation unto you and ye shall afflict your Souls and offer an offering made by Fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work on that day for it is a day of Attonement to make an Attonement for you before the Lord your God For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day he shall be cut off from among his people Mark when this should be at the day of Expiation or Attonement and Solemn Reconciliation with God that they might have forgiveness of all their Sins Affliction of Soul or Humiliation is inward by Godly sorrow for Sin which worketh repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 It is done by judging and loathing our selves for the Evils we have committed outwardly by Fasting and Abstinence from all fleshly Delights which the Iews observed with great rigour I press it only as it was a sign of Repentance Then we best remember Christ Crucified when we are Crucified with him Gal. 2.20 I am Crucified with Christ. When the Sensual Inclination is mortified and the Heart deadned to the pleasures of Sin which are but for a Season 2. Rejoycing in Christ Jesus The other tendeth to this as a preparation to the Solemn effect And to Repentance there must be joyned Faith which is an acceptance and acknowledgment of the benefits procured and offered to us by Christ. Therefore we cannot receive them so sealed confirmed and applied as they are in the Lord's Supper without joy We are invited to the Lord's Table as to a Feast and joy doth best become an Holy Feast This Ordinance was instituted for our Consolation as being one of those Solemn assutances given to the Heirs of Promise And their nature and use is to beget Strong Consolation Heb. 6.18 It is true we come to it with remorse but that by way of preparation and for the quickening of our appetite But the proper act wherein consisteth our Communion with Christ and his Body and Blood is the joy and contentment that the Soul received in that Christ dyed for us Christ is not only propounded as dead but as dead for us that his Death may be our Life and a fountain of everlasting comfort to us When we come to God's Table we Eat and Drink in his presence as those that are agreed with him and reconciled to him by Jesus Christ. And then Rom. 5.11 We joy in God through our Lord Iesus Christ as those that have received the attonement So Psal. 22.26 The meek shall Eat and be satisfied they shall praise the Lord that seek him your Heart shall live for ever That is the poor humble Christian is revived and comforted by the Eucharistical Spiritual Food and the vital effects thereof of which by Faith they are made partakers He speaketh there of paying his vows and alludeth to the Peace-offerings when they feasted with their Friends Which is fulfilled in the Eucharist or Commemorative Feast which we observe in the remembrance of Christ's Death These are the Spiritual Affections we come with brokenness of Heart and go away with Joy Act. 8.39 And when they were come up out of the Water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip and the Eunuch saw him no more and be went on his way rejoycing 3. The Commemoration of Christ's Death as a Mystery of Godliness is done by a due consideration or reflection on the cause occasion and benefits of it 1. The first inward moving cause of all is the great love and mercy of God to us Iohn 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life And 1 Iohn 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our Sins This must not be overlooked partly because this is commended to us Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love to us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us Some things may be told us but this is commended that we may be sure not to forget it This was the great thing propounded to our thoughts this gracious act and expression of God's mercy and bounty carried on in the most astonishing way far beyond what we could conceive or imagine And partly because this calleth for thankfulness the great principle of Gospel-Obedience 2 Cor. 5.14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead And that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again Yea the Life and Soul of every Duty the very design and tenor of the Gospel and the way of Salvation by a Redeemer is so ordered by God as to raise the highest Thankfulness in Man and that we might be deeply possessed with his Love Thankfulness is the great Duty of the Gospel and which containeth and animateth all the rest For the Gospel from first to last is a benefit 1 Tim. 6.2 Partakers of the Benefit And therefore to be received with Thankfulness for what obedience is to a meer Law that is Thankfulness to a Benefit This Duty is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or an Eucharist The Lord Jesus hath gone before us as a pattern 1 Cor. 11.24 When he had given Thanks he brake it and Verse 25. After the same manner he took the cup that is giving Thanks as Matth. 26.27 He took the cup and gave thanks And all because of that Grace and Bounty of God which he came to discover to Mankind and would Seal with his Blood Well then this Grace Love and Goodâess of God in giving his Son to dye for our Sins should never be over-looked by us That all our Acts may be Acts of Thankfulness our Repentance may be a thankful Repentance our Love may most affect the Heart with Sin Ezek. 16.63 Thou mayst remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified
righteousness for the remission of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God Rom. 3.25 In him God will satisfie his justice and accept of the believing Penitent He spared not his Son that he might spare us Rom. 8.32 He that spareth not his own Son but delivered him up for us all Isa. 53.10 It pleased the Lord to bruise him and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand In the same verse Christ's Bruises and our Salvation are called the pleasure of the Lord. The Lord was willing of both and well content with both 3. His gracious Covenant which may be considered 1. As to the terms or conditions it requires 2. As to the Penalties which God hath reserved a Liberty to inflict 1. As to the Terms or Conditions propounded it requireth Perfection and accepteth of Sincerity It requires Perfection Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect Surely the Covenant of Grace requireth Perfection for the righteous Law is Adopted into the frame of it as the rule of our duty otherwise our defects were no Sins and otherwise allowed failings were consistent with sincerity and where shall we then stop otherwise we were not obliged to strive after perfection for it were only a work of Supererrogation not of necessary Duty to press towards the mark Therefore certainly it doth invite us to the highest degree of Goodness and maketh Perfection it self our Duty And there is Mercy in it that our Duty and Happiness may agree and we may not have liberty to be bad and miserable but ever bound to our own felicity which consisteth in an exact Conformity to God and the most perfect subjection to him But yet it accepteth of Sincerity If our Hearts be upright with God and set to obey please and glorify him and we make it our main work so to do God will not enter into judgments with his Servants nor be strict to his Children nor condemn those that Love and Fear him 2 Chron. 30.18 19 20. But Hezekiah prayed for them saying The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his Heart to seek God the Lord God of his Fathers though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary And the Lord hearkned to Hezekiah and healed the people Therefore he taketh not advantage of our infirmities to ruine us Indeed as the Covenant commandeth Perfection it noteth our infirmities to humble us in order to our cure but as it accepteth of Sincerity Christ looketh not to our Infirmities as a Judge but as a tender Physician to rid us of them and free us from them more and more 2. As to the Afflictions and Penalties which God hath reserved a liberty to inflict notwithstanding the new Covenant they all infer his sparing of us for they are but Temporal Evils when we have deserved Eternal and the Temporal Evil is sent to prevent Eternal It is true they are merited by our Sin but yet they turn to our good They are in themselves the effects of God's displeasure and parts of our Misery but by them he speaketh to the Conscience of a Sinner and sealeth Instruction to our Hearts that we no longer deal perversly for the rod hath a voice Micah 6.9 Hear ye the rod and who hath appointed it In short they are in themselves and in their own nature Evils of punishment but there property is changed and so they are acts of God's Faithfulness Psal. 119.75 I know O Lord that thy Iudgments are right and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me and they are sent to us as a needful Medicine Isa. 27.9 By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his Sin And are profitable acts of God's Fatherly Discipline Heb. 12.10 For they verily for a few days chastned us after their own pleasure but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his Holiness Mercy turneth them to our benefit 'T is our part to seek after the benefit it is God's part to give it and to remove the affliction and that is his sparing Hic ure hic seca modo in Aeternum parcas or Burn me or Cut me or do what thou wilt with me here so thou spare me as to Eternal punishment said one of the Ancients 4. From his comfortable relation to us He is our Father and a Father will not be severe to his Children partly out of Instinct of Nature which inclineth the Bruits to their Young ones till they can shift for themselves and partly from Reason which should guide Men they being our own Flesh Blood and Bone a New and Second self the Child is the Father Multiplied and the Father Continued And partly out of Conscience of God's Command who hath injoyned this Duty on Parents to be tender of their Children Now if God be our Father and will take the relation upon himself he will do whatever this relation implieth Psal. 103.13 Like as a Father pitieth his Children so the Lord pitieth thosâ that fâar him Yea whatever is in the Creature is ascribed to God per modum Eminentiae By way of Eminency Tam Pater nemo No one is so much a Father as God Luke 11.13 If ye then being evil know how to give good Gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him So in the present case 1. There is sparing as to acceptance A Father if there be any blemish in his Child he will pity it and cover it He accepteth in good part the willingness of his Son to serve him though he through weakness fail in the exact manner of performance So our Heavenly Father accepteth of a willing and honest Heart though we come short of that perfection required in the Law His choice Servants have had their blemishes yet their merciful Father giveth them this commendation that they have have walked before him with a perfect Heart So doth God to David Asa and Iehosaphat 1 King 15.5 David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned not aside from any thing which he commanded him save only in the matter of Uriah The brand of that wilful sin sticketh upon him but other things are passed by 2. There is God's sparing as to Punishment and Correction It is true that God hath reserved a liberty to scourge his Children but still he doth it as a Father Heb. 12.6 For whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth To spare the Rod is to spoil the Child but still he useth it as a Father which is seen partly because he cometh to it unwillingly There are Tears in his Eyes as it were when the Rod is in his hand Lam. 3.33 He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men And partly because he doth it in measure and with great Moderation In chastising his people he dealeth otherwise with his People than
conveyeth Pardon and Life to us Now this may be considered Two ways Either as Offered or Applied either as Externally Preached according to the Approving or Commanding Will of God or as Acted and effectually applied to the Hearts of the Elect according to the Decree of God As Offered so the Proposition asserts the Immutability of the Gospel-Covenant contrary to the Doctrine and Offence occasioned by these false Teachers As Applied so it asserts the Perseverance of the Saints Both which are confirmed by the Seal annexed both are contrary to the Scandal offered by these false Teachers They denied the Resurrection or Hopes of the other World God will give the Blessings promised to his People if they suffer here or be miserable here they shall be happy hereafter The Covenant is applied against the Offence God would be Faithful if they would be vigilant and he would preserve them in a state of Grace though others did fall away Well then the Truth which we are to discuss is That God's Covenant will be sure firm and stable to all those that are sincerely entred into the Bond of it It must needs be so 1. It is every where sure on God's part And 2. He will make it sure on our part If he will not depart from us and we shall not depart from him surely then it is stedfast 1. On God's part there is no danger of failing There is his eternal Love back'd with an infinite Power and engaged by an infallible Truth God's Love and Mercy were the only Reasons which ingaged him to make this Covenant with us The pleasure of his Will gave it a Being and his Truth is ingaged to make it Good Micah 7.20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Iacob and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old The Promise was out of Mercy given to Abraham with whom the Covenant was first made but out of Truth and Fidelity it descended to Iacob and was established with his Seed In the managing of the same Covenant God shewed his Power Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient that solved all Difficulties to Abraham We have the same Grounds to depend upon in the Covenant made with the Christian Church in the promise of Eternal Life Surely Christ would not feed us with Chimera's who was ever plain-hearted and open with his Disciples Iohn 14.2 If it were not so I would have told you He meaneth as he speaketh and persisteth in the same mind and is able to make his Word good His everlasting Love provided this Happiness for us before the World was Matth. 25.34 Then shall the King say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World So Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom It is secured by the promise of the faithful God and he hath confirmed it by an Oath Heb. 6.18 That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have strong consolation Yea and it is possessed by our Surety and Head in our name Heb. 6.20 Whither the fore-runner is for us entred even Iesus made an High-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck And the Power of God is engaged to prevent the Dangers by the way 1 Pet. 1.5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation Heaven is kept for us and we for it Which Power of God is engaged to solve all the Difficulties about the End and Happiness it self Phil. 3.21 Who shall change our vile bodies that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself So that on God's part it is sure They that have the Word of the Eternal God to build upon do build upon a sure Foundation Psal. 89.34 My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips It is compared with the stability of Hills and Mountains Isa. 54.10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall never depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee It is compared also with the Covenant of Night and Day which cannot be disannulled by any Created power Ier. 31.35 36. Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by Day and the ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by Night which divideth the Sea when the Waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his name If those ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever Jer. 33.20 21. Thus saith the Lord if you break my Covenant of the Day and my Covenant of the Night and that there should not be Day and Night in their season Then may also my Covenant be broken with David my Servant 2. It is secure also on our part where all the danger lyeth as God will not depart from us so he will take care we shall not depart from him So that if once we truly and really enter into Covenant with God we do not only keep the Covenant but the Covenant keepeth us Two things maketh it firm on our parts 1. Internal Grace vouchsafed and granted to us by promise Ier. 32.40 And I will make an Everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them Good but I will put my fear in their Hearts that they shall not depart from me So Ezek. 36.27 I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Iudgments and do them It doth not hang upon the mutable Motions of the Creatures will 2. External Providence or the Provision that is made for failings and slips where the Heart is sincere for the main There is a clause put into the Covenant that every failing in the performance of our Duty shall not make a Forfeiture See Psal. 89.30 31 32 33. If his Children forsake my Law and walk not in my judgments If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments Then will I visit their Transgressions with the Rod and their Iniquities with Stripes Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail It is the Duty of God's Children to watch over their Corrupt Nature and against Temptations that they may not fail otherwise they are not sincere but yet notwithstanding their greatest watchfulness they will in some things be found faulty both in point of Omission and Commission yet the Lord will not be severe upon every Trespass the Covenant goeth on still notwithstanding lesser Transgressions on our part 2 Sam. 23.5 Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting
acceptance with God if both Principle and Performance are right and justifiable fearing God and working righteousness He that is truly Sanctified must first be one that truly feareth God that is maketh God his Witness Approver and Judge His aim is to please and Glorifie God and his work is to sue God Grace must be acted in the whole life and this not by starts and fits but for a constancy Psal. 106. 3. We can make no judgment upon our selves by what is unusual and extraordinary but by the tenour and drift of our Conversation Not by what happeneth rarely but by our ordinary course Acts 10.2 Cornelius gave much alms to the people and prayed unto God alway Daily converse manifesteth the temper of our hearts A Christian is not to be judg'd by single Acts but by his Life These two then we must still look after the Principle and the Performance The Principle is Fear that owneth God's Authority our Hearts and Lives must be ordered and directed according to his Will and moved and acted by his Rewards And the performance must be regarded wherefore did God change our Hearts and infuse Grace into them but that we might have the use of it But that we might act it and live by it Saving Grace is a Talent and the chiefest Talent that we are intrusted with for the Masters use Matth. 3.8 Bring forth fruits meet for Repentance And Acts 20.21 Testifying to the Iews and Greeks repentance towards God There must be practices becoming such a change of Heart 2. Use. To press you to fear God and work Righteousness I have many Arguments in the Text. 1. From the Priviledge to be accepted with God That should be our great scope 2 Cor. 5.9 labor that whether present or absent we maybe accepted of him with respect to God See that all is right between you and God It is his Law you have broken his Wrath you fear his Judgment you must undergo his Presence you come into his Favour which is your Life and Happiness So that it is a great priviledge to be accepted of God Then for your comfort 2 Cor. 1.12 This is our rejoycing the testimony of our conscience Carnal joys do but tickle the Senses this doth affect the Heart yea the Conscience which is the quickest tenderst and most sensible part of the Heart Many things please our Affections which yet cannot appease our Consciences That frowneth upon and sowreth our other Delights if it be not pacified Till God accepteth our persons this still occurreth God may condemn thee to Eternal Torments for all this 2 With respect to Men He that is accepted with God needeth not care for any mans hatred he may be confident of God's Favour and the priviledge of his Servants Iob 16.20 My Friends scorn me but mine eye poureth out tears to God Besides you have a testimony in their Consciences not by being zealous for the Interests of a Faction but careful of God's Laws Rom. 14.17 18. He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men 2. From the condition What is required of you 1. Fear To fear God is not contrary to your Comfort or Blessedness to be always in God's company living as under his Eye is a branch of Blessedness Prov. 28.14 Happy is the man that feareth always 2. Righteousness These are things which bespeak their own Respect If the Lord had bidden us do some other things we might have stuck at it but Righteousness is so amiable and lovely that if a Man be well in his wits he will not stick at it but would work Righteousness if it were not requir'd of him We should be so inured to it that we cannot go out of its track We should never consent to break a Law so fit for God to give and us to receive so conducible to the Glorifying of God Governing our selves and Commerce with others 3. The force of the Enunciation In general it is predicatio adjuncti de subjecto But what kind of Adjunct is it 'T is either Signi de Signato or effectus de medio requisito necessario 1. It is a sign or evidence whereby you may really know that you are accepted with God It is a comfortable thing to know how we shall fare in the judgment hereafter or whether we shall be accepted to Life or no. This cannot be known but by somewhat equivalent to what is asserted in the Text. That is a sure Note which gives you comfortable access to God for the present and hopes of fruition of him hereafter 2 Kings 20.3 Remember Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart But 2. There is not only necessitas signi but necessitas medii A Sign is with respect to our own judgment of our Selves but a means is our qualification before God and God considereth these things in his Judgment Luke 1.6 They were righteous before God and walked in all the ways and ordinances of God blameless Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of lifâ A Sign giveth us Comfort but a necessary Means appointed by God giveth us right The New Covenant is certainly the strongest ground of solid Comfort to the fallen Creature We can have no other hope of acceptance with God than that alloweth Now in the New Covenant there are three things considerable all which have a great influence on our Comfort and Peace 1. The first is the Merit and Satisfaction of the Lord Jesus This is necessary to allay the Conscience of Sin which is the root of all our trouble Heb. 9.14 How much more shall the âlood of Carist who through the eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our Bodies washed with pure water Heb. 12.24 And to Iesus the Mediator of the New Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel 2. The Matter of it or the large priviledges we enjoy by it For these are the Hope set before us Heb. 6.18 Psal. 84.11 He will give grace and glory c. Psal 119.111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever thây are âhe rejoycing of my heart 3. The Third is a sure claim Now this is not Perfection but Sincerity Gen. 17 7. Walk before me and be thou perfect or upright Psal. 84.11 No good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly Here then are the three grounds of Comfort Everlasting Merit Blessed Promises Sure Title This last is to walk before God in all Holy Conversation and Godliness this keepeth Conscience from being offended Acts 24.16 This is accepted with God next to Faith in Christ. So that attain this and Conscience is well setled and hath a full
is crucified unto me and I unto the World And again 2 Cor. 5.14 15 The love of Christ constraineth us because we thus Iudge That if one dyed for all then were all dead And that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them These are true workings of heart only remember the same place that is sprinkled with the blood of Christ on the same place must the Law be written that we may love God and keep his Law and intirely give up our selves to do his will and be subject to him And remember also that it is the Lintel and side Posts that must be sprinkled and the Law was written upon the Door Posts not inscribed upon the Threshold There are some which tread the blood of the Covenant underfoot Heb. 10.29 Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despight unto the spirit of grace These are Swine and Dogs before whom we must not cast holy things lest they tread them under feet Matth. 7.6 These prefer their Carnal satisfaction before the fruits of Christ's death and sell their birthright for a Mess of Pottage 2. By the same Faith by which the blood of the Lamb of God is sprinkled on the doors of our hearts by the same Faith is his flesh eaten The Lamb of God was given not only as a ransom to Divine Justice but as food for our Souls The eating of the Sacrifice noteth the manner of our fruition of Christ for Eating implyeth an intimate Union those things which are Eaten are turned into our substance and become one with us Iohn 6.53 Verily verily I say unto you unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ye have no life in you Christ is as truely meat as the Paschal Lamb was but meat not for the Body but the Soul and therefore he is Eaten not with the Mouth of the Body which receiveth bodily food but the Mouth of the Soul which is Faith The Appetite is Spiritual so is the Food it is a Spiritual Hunger and a Spiritual Thirst that must be satisfied Now a Corporeal thing beareth no proportion with it there is no satisfying this Hunger nor quenching this Thirst but by coming to Christ that is believing in him for it is said Iohn 6.35 I am the Bread of Life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst In that manner we receive Christ in what manner he dwelleth in us now he dwelleth in us by Faith Eph. 3.17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith Christ dwelleth in us not by his infinite presence as God so he is every where nor by his Corporeal presence as Man so the Heavens must contain him but by his Gracious presence and special influence as our Head whereby he quickneth us Therefore we are to receive him by Faith and not by the Mouth and Stomach and give him a hearty welcome into our Souls The Israelites in the Wilderness did all eat the same Spiritual Meat and did all drink the same Spiritual Drink for they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10.3.4 As they did eat Christ and drink Christ before ever his Body was formed in the Virgins Womb so do we now he is ascended into Heaven The Passover-Lamb was not to be eaten Raw or half Roasted but throughly Roasted So is the Lamb of God he is not digested and turned into strength and nourishment by a few crude cold cursory and careless thoughts but this Mystery must be much concocted by deep serious pressing and ponderous Meditation for Meditation is that to the mind which Concoction and Digestion is to the Stomach An unattentive mind gets no warmth no strength no Comfort from the Lamb of God In short we must so mind these things as to chuse them and so chuse them as to be determined and governed by our choice in our whole course The Lamb was to be eaten whole there was nothing to be left of him Exod. 12.10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning To shew that Christ must not be divided not Nature from Nature nor Office from Office nor Benefit from Benefit this is to Eat part of Christ and leave the rest If we would have his Glory we must be partakers of his Sufferings and take up his Cross if we will have him for our Redeemer and Saviour we must own him for our Lord and Lawgiver if we would be feasted with Priviledges we must not neglect Duties his Spirit must renew us as well as his merit justifie us The Paschal-Lamb was to be eaten with bitter Herbs it is our Misery giveth Christ a relliâh God casts us into Sufferings or puts us under a Cloud that we may not be Gospel-glutted or cloyed with Doctrines of Grace He must be eaten with Unleaven-Bread simple plain Bread without mixture 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Purge out therefore the old Leaven that ye may be a new Lump as ye are Unleavened For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of Malice and Wickedness but with the ânleavened-bread of sincerity and truth Christ in whose Mouth there is no guile cannot endure Hypocrisie At first they were to eat the Passover with their Loins girt their Staff in their hands and Shoes on their feet So Luke 12.35 Let your Loins be girded about and your lights burning 1 Pet. 1.13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds Eph. 6.14 15. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of Righteousness And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace We are strangers here and must put on for Heaven and be ready for a remove for the Heavenly Journey II. How we are to behold him or how is he to be considered by us This Ecce Behold doth not only point at Christ as Personally and Corporally present as an object of the Senses but doth excite their mind and Faith to get a Spiritual sight of him to behold him in the Quality of his Office He is not Personally present with us as he was when these words were said yet that doth not hinder the sight of Faith Whenever we are conversant about these holy Mysteries it may be said to us Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World 1. Behold him with Seriousness and Reverence This Mystery must not be passed over with a few hasty and running Thoughts It is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the greatest Wonder that ever was in the World that God should die and for such forlorn Creatures How should we be swallowed up of Admiration when
forsake their Sins and fly unto him for Mercy He seeks for Pardon for them that sought it not and considereth not so much what they deserved as what became himself and the Riches of his Grace They curse and he blesseth they vomit our Scorns and Slanders but he poureth out Prayers to God for them 2. That all Sins even the greatest except that against the Holy-Ghost are pardonable What greater Sin could there be than crucifying the Lord of Glory yet upon Repentance it is forgiven That it was capable of Pardon appeareth by this Prayer of our Saviour and that it was actually Pardoned appeareth by the Second of the Acts when they were touched to the quick with the sense of this Crime and asked what they should do Peter adviseth them to this Remedy Acts 2.38 Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sins and they found it effectual upon the use of it Ver. 41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls And that it is so in the general Case our Lord assureth us Mat. 12.31 All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the Holy-Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men There is no exception of any Sin though it go so high as Blasphemy but the malicious blaspheming the Operations of the Holy-Ghost those by which he testified manifestly and sufficiently that he was the true Messiah and their imputing these Operations to the Devil But of other Sins there is no exception speaking against the Son of Man was not believing him to be the Messiah that may be forgiven but Blasphemy against the Holy-Ghost is resisting his Manifestations affirming them to be done by the Devil rather than God and this shall never be forgiven Well then let us conceive of God's Mercy according to the Infiniteness of his Nature and of Christ's Merits according to the Dignity of his Person an Ocean of Water will wash one Sink or filthy Hole clean 3. That Remission of Sins is the free Gift of God and the Fruit of his Pity and Grace Christ asketh it of his Father Father forgive them He must be sought to we cannot merit it of our selves David addresseth himself to God and useth no other Plea but Grace and Mercy Psal. 51.5 Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions Our Work lieth with the Father of Mercies and the God of all Compassions that he may be reconciled to us and seal up his perfect Pardon to our Souls 4. That Pardon of Sins is a special Benefit Christ asked no more than Father forgive them It is a special Benefit because it freeth us from the greatest Evil Wrath to come 1 Thess. 1.10 And it maketh us capable of the greatest Blessing Eternal Life Tit. 3.7 That being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life It is purchased at the dearest rate even the Blood of Christ Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God It is brought about by the highest Power the finger of God or his all-conquering Spirit who by converting us or giving us Repentance maketh us capable of Pardon Acts 2.38 Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sins Acts 5.31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins It openeth the Door to the choicest Priviledges the favour of God and communion with him in the Spirit therefore David pronounceth the Pardoned blessed Psal. 32.1 2. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth no iniquity 5. That Love of Enemies and those that have wronged us is an high Grace and recommended to us by Christ's own Example Sure it is needful that we should learn this Lesson to be like God Luke 6.36 Be ye merciful as your father also is merciful That we may obey God who hath required this at our hands Therefore we must consider not what others have been to us but what God will have us to be to them meek patient and merciful Again we hereby shew the Purity and Sincerity of our Love Nature will teach us to love those that love us but Grace only teacheth us to love Enemies This is Love with Self-denial they who love us indear themselves to us the other alienate themselves from us yet for God's sake we can love them and seek to draw them out of the Snares of the Devil that we may restore them to God 2 Use. Reproof of those that are Cruel and Revengeful How different are they from Christ who are all for Unkindness and Revenge and solicite Vengeance against God's suffering Servants with eager Aggravations Oh! how can these Men look upon Christ's Practice without shame How can they look upon these Prodigies of Love and Grace and not blush Can there be a greater Crime and Wrong done to any than was done to Christ And yet when he was whipped Crowned with Thorns pierced with Nails lifted up upon the Cross he doth not pray for Revenge but Pardon he doth not cry Justice Justice but Mercy Mercy Father forgive them he doth not by captious Queries and Expostulations aggravate the Offence but he alleviates it by a sweet Interpretation They know not what they do It is strange to think what bloody Principles many Christians have espoused of late that we rage against our Brethren upon every Offence especially in Matters of doubtful Apprehension where Men are more liable to Mistakes Oh! it is sad when God is but a little displeased to help onward the Affliction I wonder where Men learn that cruel and fell Spirit into which we are commenced of late it was wont to be good Doctrine Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful What is become of all those good Lectures of Charity and Meekness and Gentleness which are commended to us in the Rule of the Gospel and the Example of Christ Certainly when the Spirit is exulcerated it argues some loss of Peace with God David was never more cruel than when he had violated the Peace of his own Conscience 2 Sam. 12.31 And he brought forth the people that were therein and put them under saws and under harrows of iron and under axes of iron and made them to pass through the brick-kilne Certainly Matters are not right between us and God when Men's Principles and Practices grow bloody and cruel 3 Use. To exhort us to imitate Christ in being meek patient merciful void of Malice doing Good for Evil bearing the worst Usage
Benefits purchased thereby 2. Positively that the Work of our Redemption so far as related to Sufferings was now about to be Consummate Christ's Sacrifice which he was about to offer for us was no imperfect Sacrifice This appeareth by his Message to Herod Luke 13.32 I do cures to day and to morrow and the third day I shall be perfected That is the Work of his Office was then fully to be accomplished Heb. 2.10 The captain of our salvation was made perfect through sufferings Christ as Mediator seemed to lack something till the full number of his Sorrows was accomplished then he was perfectly fitted to do us good So Heb. 10.14 By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified As to an Offering there needeth no more A patched Salvation of half of Christ and of half of the Creature will not do good as if Christ must do a part and we must merit the rest This is inconsistent with God's Design we must not part Stakes with God this is neither for our Comfort God's Glory nor our Redeemer's Welcom to Heaven No Christ is a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed he could avouch his Work before the Tribunal of God all is finished Now he can plead his Right aâ the Bar of Justice Psal. 2.8 Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession II. The Evidences and Reasons of this compleat Satisfaction 1. From the Dignity of the Person satisfying Two Things are required in our Mediator that he might be a sufficient Undertaker for us One is That he should be perfectly Holy and Righteous for how could he redeem us from Sin who being defiled with Sin had needed to be redeemed himself The second was that he should be a Divine and Infinite Person for Sin being committed against an Infinite Majesty therefore the Suffering by which it must be expiated must be of an infinite Value Now both these do perfectly concur in Christ for as Man He was holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 And died The just for the unjust that he might bring us to God 1 Pet. 3.18 He was perfectly Holy even Holiness it self Luke 1.35 That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God As he was God over all blessed for ever he was capable to give a Value to his Sufferings To which purpose God is said to purchase the Church with his own Blood Acts 20.28 Feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood In short God was resolved to lose no Glory by the Fall and therefore whosoever was the Redeemer he was to restore what Adam took away by the Fall God's Authority was violated by the Creatures Transgression whose Command was just and our Obedience reasonable Now it was meet that God should keep up the Authority of his Law His Majesty also was despised in slighting the Threatning and his Holiness wronged as if he did not hate Sin and his Justice and Truth as if he would not Punish it his Power lessened for Sin is an Act of Presumption and implieth a Contest with God Now in all these Respects it was necessary that God should vindicate his Glory and be no Loser which was fully brought to pass by Christ to whom there is in Scripture a double Fulness and Sufficiency attributed A Fulness of Grace or Holiness For it pleased the father that in him should all fulness dwell and by him to reconcile all things to himself Col. 1.19 20. And therefore he is said To be full of grace and truth that of his fulness we may all receive and grace for grace Iohn 1.14 16. Besides this there is a fulness of the Godhead that dwelt in him bodily Col. 2.9 Not Mystically and Spiritually as in Believers not Symbolically as in the Sacraments not Typically as in the Law But Bodily that is Really and Personally as Body is opposed to Shadow or noteth a Person Well then the Argument is strong if the Person satisfying were not only Holy and Undefiled but also Infinite the Satisfaction also must be Infinite and therefore most Perfect and Sufficient for what can be Greater and more Perfect than what is Infinite And therefore all is finished if such a Person will take a Body and die for us there needeth no other Satisfaction 2. I Reason from the Unity of the Mediatory Office and that Oblation or Sacrifice which was made by Christ by Virtue of that Office 2 Cor. 5.14 If one died for all then were all dead 1 Tim. 2.5 There is one Mediator between God and Man the man Christ Iesus And as these places prove that there is but one Mediator so there is but one Sacrifice Heb. 10.10 By the which Will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once for all And Vers. 14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Rom. 5.18 By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all to justification of life Heb. 9.26 But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself Vers. 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many The Scripture so emphatically insisting upon this Term Once certainly all is finished there needeth no more to be done by us to satisfie God's Justice that is sufficiently done already 3. From the greatness of the Punishment imposed upon Christ. For if he suffered all the Punishments due to us it cannot be that any thing more should be done to pacifie God all is finished Now Christ omitted none of those Things which Divine Justice required He fulfilled all Righteousness Mat. 3.15 Was obedient to death even the death of the cross Phil. 2.8 Yea and suffered all those Things which the Law did put upon Sinners either as to Loss or Sense as to Desertion or as to the Curse And therefore he is said To bear our griefs and carry our sorrows and to be wounded for our transgressions and to be bruised for our iniquities Isa 53.4 5. To be made a curse for us Gal. 3.15 To be made sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 God spared him not but put him to Grief not out of Hatred to his Son but Love to our Salvation Hence those Agonies of Christ and Prayers and Tears and strong Cries 4. From God's Approbation of the Person and Sacrifice of Christ. If God did so far approve the Sacrifice of Christ as willingly to accept it for our Redemption that upon it he grounded a Covenant and made Offers of Terms of Grace to us and Reconciliation with us there is no question but that upon Christ's Death all was finished No more was necessary for paying the Price and Ransom for God the most just Judge would not accept of an imperfect Satisfaction or give Testimony that he was well pleased with it But that Christ's
Person and Sacrifice was approved of God is evident not only as he appointed it and surely he will Accept what he hath Appointed not only also by the Miracles which he wrought when alive which evidenced his Commission Acts 2.22 Iesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by miracles wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you but chiefly by the Resurrection of Christ which was not only a Testimony of the Truth and Dignity of his Person Rom. 1.4 And declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead but it was a clear Argument of the perfectness of his Satisfaction For unless he had abundantly satisfied God how could God who as a just Judge had appointed him to die for our Sins raise him up from the Dead Would an upright Judge deliver a Debtor or his Surety from Prison unless first full Payment had been made Would God shew himself willing to be Reconciled to us if yet there remained any Wrath to be appeased any farther Ransom necessary to be paid for us Now in the Scripture Christ is sometimes said to rise from the Dead to shew his Divine Power sometimes to be raised by God to shew the Fulness of his Satisfaction Acts 2.24 Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of them When Christ was raised our Surety was let out of Prison And the Scripture hath delivered it to us under that Notion Isa. 53.8 He was taken from Prison and from judgment and who shall declare his Generation For he was cut off from the land of the Living for the transgression of my people was he stricken The Lord sent an Angel to remove his Grave-stone not to supply any lack of Power in Christ but to shew he was fully Appeased and Satisfied Therefore it is said Heb. 13.20 Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant Mark through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant he is become the God of Peace through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant he brought Christ from the Dead He doth not only do us good but le ts go our Surety through the Virtue of that Blood The Phrase of Bringing again from the Dead is Emphatical Christ did not break Prison but was brought forth as the Apostles Acts 16.39 The Magistrates came to the Prison and brought them out Christ rose not only by his own Power but by the Father's Authority If our Surety had perished in Prison we could have no Assurance or if he had continued still under Death the World could have no Discharge But Christ rose again and is not only taken out of Prison but carried up to God in Glory and Honour 1 Tim. 3.16 Received up into glory It is not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Actively he Ascended but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Passively he was Raised up God hath Rewarded him And therefore he hath perfectly done his Work God hath not only taken him out of the Grave but taken him up to Glory Certainly God is well pleased since he hath given him not only a Discharge but a Reward Christ undertaking for us is somewhat like that of Reuben for Benjamin Gen. 43.9 I will be surety for him of my hand shalt thou require him if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee then let me bear the blame for ever Let me see thy Face no more Christ undertook to carry it through and failed not in the Enterprize III. What Comfort is this to poor Sinners since though there be a full Satisfaction Conditions are required which we are not able to perform e're we can have Benefit and we find Sin remaining in us so that it is finished and unfinished as to us I answer There is great Comfort in God's general Grace before it be particularly applied and exhibited to us in the Effects and Sense thereof A sufficient Sacrifice and Ransom given for you is the Foundation of all solid Peace for it is the Foundation of the Gospel or of the Covenant of Grace I shall prove it by these Reasons 1. Because this answereth the grand Scruple which haunteth the Creature and is at the bottom of all our Fears namely how God's Justice shall be appeased Micah 6.6 7. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God Shall I come before him with burnt offerings with calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl Shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul The way of appeasing God's Anger hath been an old Controversie that hath troubled all Nations and till it be answered and fully determined Man is not perfect as appertaining to the Conscience Heb. 9.9 Though God be infinitely Merciful yet he is infinitely Just and we can expect no more from his Mercy than we may fear from his Justice Guilty Nature still presageth Evil to us till there be something Penal endured and something of Price and Value given to appease Justice 2. That God now looketh for no Satisfaction at your hand it is all done perfectly by Christ all is finished he satisfied for us that we might not be obliged to satisfie in our own Persons Heb. 1.3 When he had by himself purged our sins sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Isa. 53.5 By his stripes we are healed It was at his Cost that our Recovery was brought about 3. In this Provision we see the Will of God putting forth it self for our help in the most astonishing way that could be imagined 1 Tim. 3.16 Without controversie great is the mystery of godliness God manifested in the flesh 1 John 4.10 Herein was love not that we loved God but God loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins This is such an unusual expression of Love such an engaging Instance so much surpassing our Thoughts that we cannot sufficiently admire it When God laid such a broad Foundation surely he intended some notable Grace to us 4. Here is a full Answer to those usual Objections which are raised by broken Hearts as the number and greatness and heinousness of our Sins for as such they shall not be your Ruine As great as they are God can with honour pardon them for barely to plead the number of Sins or greatness of Sins is to lessen the Price The Messiah came Dan. 9.24 To finish transgression and to make an end of sin and to bring in everlasting Righteousness There is no Sin so great but the Redeemer's Merit can countervail it And no Man shall perish for the want of the Payment of his Ransom or an Expiatory Sacrifice for his Sins He may
good without it All things are Mercy even those that fall out contrary to our Expectations Rom. 8.28 All things shall work together for good to them that love God to them that are the Called according to his Purpose Well then they that know the want of Grace or the worth of Grace will earnestly seek it 3. Let me plead the possibility of obtaining it For the three Persons conspire and agree together not to your Ruine but Salvation Whatever may be expected from Infinite Love Eternal Merit and Almighty Power it is all offered to those that will seek after it There are none but are sensible that they need to address themselves to God for Pardon and a Blessing Now God is an holy God how shall Sinners deal with him As the Prophet said to Ahab If it were not that I regard the Presence of Jehoshaphat the King of Judah I would not look towards thee nor see thee 2 Kings 3.14 Whatever we seek and expect from God we must seek it from Jesus Christ who hath purchased all Isa. 53.5 He was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed Ephes. 1.7 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood the Forgiveness of Sins And he is appointed to bestow all that which he had purchased Acts 5.31 Him hath God exalted with his right Hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel and Remission of Sins And by his Intercession he doth apply all Heb. 7.25 VVherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Well then if we will go to Christ he sendeth us to the Spirit who worketh all and doth accomplish in us the Pleasure of his Goodness Go to the Spirit he must heal you and help you The Spirit sendeth us to the Means Acts 1.4 And being assembled together with them commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father You shall find him present in the Ordinances O what Incouragement have we to be serious and in the use of the Means by which the Spirit worketh 4. We are obliged by our Baptismal Covenant Matth. 28.19 Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Father Son and Holy Ghost take upon them to convey this Love Grace and Power and we take upon our selves to accept the Father for our Lord and Happiness Christ for our Redeemer and Saviour and the Holy Ghost for our Guide Sanctifier and Comforter to obey his Motions to use those Means whereby we may feel his Power to avoid those wilful Sins which may grieve the Spirit and cause him to suspend his Operations and Comforts There we are consecrated as Children to the true God consent to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and obey his Spirit Now make Conscience of this Vow Vse 2. Is to put us upon Self-reflection Is the Love of the Father and the Grace of Christ and the Communion of the Holy Ghost with us Do we seek our Happiness in Father Son and Holy Ghost Or do you consent that God shall be your God as reconciled to you in Jesus Christ 1. As to the Father Do you own him as your rightful Lord and are you willing to return to his Obedience by Jesus Christ Do you take him for your Portion and Felicity Do you expect to receive all your Happiness from him valuing and preferring his Favour and Love above all the Pleasures Profits and Honours of the World Psal. 4.6 There be many that say VVho will shew us any Good Lord lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us Admiring it 1 Iohn 3.1 Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God! His Favour is Life Psal. 30.5 yea better than Life Psal. 63.3 Because thy Loving-kindness is better than Life my Lips shall praise thee Willing to forsake all rather than forsake him Behave your selves with that Thankfulness as those that owe your selves and all your Happiness to him 2 Cor. 5.14 15. The Love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judg that if one died for all then were all dead And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again Carry it as those that are obliged by Love 2. Do you take Christ for your only Saviour and Redeemer giving up your selves to be saved by his Merits Righteousness and Intercession as he hath promised in the Word Do you trust your selves and Souls with him for Pardon Peace and endless Happiness depend upon his Covenant and Promises for Reconciliation with God and everlasting Fruition of him in Glory trampling upon all things rather than turn your Back upon your Redeemer's Grace 5. Do you yield your selves to the Holy Ghost Are you unfeignedly desirous to be rid of Sin as displeasing to the Holy God how dear soever it hath been to you And do you submit to the Spirit to be sanctified and perfected by degrees in the Means he hath appointed being ruled by his Motions rather than the Desires of the Flesh Do you observe his Accesses and Recesses and behave your selves accordingly FINIS AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE OF THE Principal Matters Contained in this VOLUME A Page ABraham's Faith opened 1. In his clear sight of Christ to come 474 The Grounds of this Faith 475 The Strength of it 476 2. In overlooking the Difficulties that lay in the way of the Promise 482 The Grounds of this Faith 483 The Strength of it ibid. The Effects of it 488 Acceptance with God for the pardon of Sin the highest matter in the World 945 Account There are Books of Account kept between God and the Creature 261 At the Day of Iudgment these Books of Account shall be opened 262 All shall be called to an Account ibid. Iudgment shall pass upon all Men according to the Account then given 263 The Advantage of calling our selves often to Account ibid. Mens Account shall be answerable to their Mercies ibid. Adherence Resolute Adherence of Faith how seen 471 The Grounds of this resolute Adherence 472 Adoption How the Spirit witnesses of our Adoption 1135 Afflictions should not make us question our Adoption 1136 1139 Afflictions come from God 1133 Afflictions and Miseries may befal Gods ' People 1210 Bearing Afflictions becomes God's People 1137 We must not faint under Afflictions 765 Afflictions of the Righteous prove a Life to come 1215 Angels look into the Mystery of Redemption by Christ 918 What of this Mystery Angels look into ibid. The manner how Angels look into it 920 The Reasons why Angels look into it ibid. Angels fallen Why God would not save fallen Angels but fallen Men 658 Page
Anger of God God may be angry with his own People 273 Anointing what it signifies 712 Christ was anointed by God 716 Why Christ was anointed 717 Who were anointed first Christ then Believers his Fellows ibid. Apparel Sobriety to be used in it 75 How to judg of Excess in Apparel 76 Helps and Motives to Sobriety in Apparel ib. We must not envy the Apparel of others 75 Appearing of Christ. Vid. Coming Assurance to be laboured after 114 What Application there must be when Assurance is wanting 115 B BAckslider in Heart what he is 1109 The Backslider in Heart shall be filled with his own Ways Vid. Filled Balaam's Plot to destroy Israel 802 Observations from hence 804 Believing what is necessary to it 723 Believing in God and Christ how they differ 235 Why believing in Christ is specially required besides believing in God 245 Believing in Hope against Hope opened with the Reasons of it 484 Better We are not only to be good but to grow better 429 Blessedness True Blessedness not to be sought on this side Heaven 129 Blessedness eternal wherein it consists Vid. Heaven 116 Duties of those that have an Interest in this Blessedness 130 Blessings spiritual we are to be much affected with them 426 We are to be in a capacity to praise God for spiritual Blessings 425 In Thanksgiving spiritual Blessings to be owned 424 Body The Qualities of a glorified Body 119 Brazen Serpent the History of it 747 The Typical Vse of the brazen Serpent 748 The Resemblance between Christ and the brazen Serpent 749 The Excellency of Christ above the brazen Serpent 751 Breasts Naked Breasts condemned 78 Brethren Christ having taken our Nature is not ashamed to call us Brethren 1083 Comforts from being Christ's Brethren 1088 Whether Believers may call Christ Brother ibid. Bruised Christ bruised by the Serpent and bow 538 Burden What a Burden Sin is 1125 None can take off the Burden of Sin but Christ 1126 C CAlamities In all Calamities we must look to God 1132 Vid. Afflictions Calling of Christ twofold outward and inward 784 Canaan The Woman of Canaan that she was a Believer 467 The Greatness of her Faith ibid. Her Temptations and Trials 468 Her Victory over them 470 Captives To whom we were Captives 164 The way of redeeming Captives 165 Care of the World What that Care is that is to be moderated 79 How sinful Care may be discovered ib. Whence it ariseth 80 Arguments against distrustful Care 1099 The Cure of sinful Care 80 Carnal Things Men are addicted to them more than to spiritual things 1111 Cause When we do not honour God as the first Cause 33 Centurion's Faith opened 460 The Greatness of his Faith 459 How it discovered it self 462 How this Faith was bred or begotten in him 461 Certainty conditional and actual what 1104 Charitable We must be charitable to others according to our Power 87 Reasons why we must be charitable 336 Charity or Love to the Brethren the Properties of it 995 Children are a Blessing 833 834 Much of the Providence of God exercised in and about Children 834 How far Parents may procure a Blessing or a Curse to their Children 836 How far godly Parents are blessed in their Posterity 837 Motives to Parents to take care of their Childrens Education 839 Christ. That Christ was God proved 152 Why Christ was called the Great God 150 Why Christ must be God ibid. Christ to be honoured and praised by Saints 1175 1183 Christ's Growth stated and proved 855 856 How Christ grew in Wisdom and Knowledg 855 Coming second of Christ the Preparations of it 139 Second Coming of Christ will be glorious 138 Why Christ's second Coming will be glorious 144 Inferences from Christ's glorious Coming 146 The Personal Glory of Christ at his second Coming 140 His Attendants then 141 His Work then 142 The Consequents of Christ's second Coming 143 Belâevers to look for Christ's second Coming 131 Objections answered 135 Reasons of it 132 The Advantage of looking for Christ's second Coming 135 How we are to prepare for Christ's second Coming 138 The Privilege of the Saints at Christ's second Coming 133 Coming to God How we are said to come to God by Christ 965 Who they are that come to God by Christ 964 Common Work not to be rested in 291 Comparison fourfold between this Life and the next 1211 Conceit Why Men are apt to conceit well of themselves 316 Arguments to press you against this Self-conceit 320 Conditions of the Gospel Man cannot perform them of himself 405 Confession with the Mouth what it is 953 The Matter to be confessed 954 The Way by which it is to be made ibid. The Necessity of it to Salvation 957 The Respect that Believing with the Heart and Confession with the Mouth have to one another 955 Conflict with Sin in the Regenerate and Vnregenerate the difference between them 365 Conflict spiritual we are to arm our selves for it 1101 The use of Faith Hope and Love in the spiritual Conflict 1105 Conscience the Nature of it 730 Conscience is God's Vicegerent or Deputy 731 Three Acts of Conscience to be an Accuser Witness and Iudg 736 Conscience to be your Guide 730 Why God hath given Man a Conscience ibid. The Properties of a good Conscience 725 Conscience void of Offence what it signifies ibid. Conscience easily offended but not easily appeased 732 Conscience the best Friend or worst Enemy ib. Conscience the Beginning of Heaven or Hell 733 When there is a Flaw in Conscience all our Trading for Heaven is at a stand ibid. When Conscience speaks not it writes ibid. The Stings of Conscience soon awakned 734 If Conscience do not speak to you you must speak to it ibid. No sound Conscience without sincere Obedience ibid. A man may do Good or Evil without Conscience or according to Conscience or against Conscience 734 Consolation Comfort Peace Ioy and Consolation opened 211 Comfort allowed to the Saints 217 God's People have not alike Comfort 214 Who they are the Lord gives most Comfort to 215 How Christians disparage their Comfort 219 False Comfort of wicked Men whence it ariseth 217 Strong Consolation why so called 212 How it ariseth from Assurance 213 How it is dispensed 214 Motives to look after it 220 The Advantages of it 221 Directions to keep it 226 Convincing Power of the Word whence it ariseth 1034 Correction Why God corrects his People for their Sins in this World 272 Covenant Why God makes a Covenant with his People 826 No Covenant can be made with God without the Interposition of a Sacrifice 828 What we should do to enter into Covenant with God 831 Covenant of God called the Foundation of God and why 1025 The Sureness of God's Covenant 1026 The Seal of the Covenant on God's part 1027 on Man's part 1029 Covenant of Grace why called an everlasting Covenant 691 Covenant of Works what it is 306 All Men by Nature are under this Covenant ibid. Natural Conscience
that may be hence deduced For certainly it was a special act of Gods meer Love Deut. 23.4 5. They hired against thee Balaam the Son of Beor to curse thee nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken to Balaam but the Lord thy God turned the Curse into a Blessing unto thee because the Lord thy God loved thee So Josh. 24.9 10. And Balak the Son of Zippor King of Moab arose and Warred against Israel and sent and called Balaam the Son of Beor to curse you But I would not hearken to Balaam therefore he blessed you still So I delivered you out of his hand 1. That wicked men cannot hurt the Godly but when God permitteth Gen. 31.7 Your father hath deceived me and changed my Wages ten times but God suffered him not to hurt me So Laban saith vers 29. It is in the Power of my hand to do you hurt but the God of your Fathers spake unto me yester-night saying Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad God hath the power of Blessing and Cursing in his own hand however men are disposed The King sought by all means possible and deviseable to bring Gods Curse upon them but God changed it into a glorious Blessing Mens hearts are not in their own hands and if they find their hearts success is not at their command God disappointed the plots and practice of Balak and Balaam Balaam returned as he came and could not Curse Israel but denounced woes against their Enemies 2. That God can protect us against the fraud as well as the violence of Enemies The Devil assaults us with Wiles and Darts Eph. 6.11 16. so do his Instruments assault us they vex us with their Wiles and pursue us with their open Hostility and Persecution but we may trust God with our safety A remedy may possibly be prepared against violence when no Man by his own foresight can find out all the Snares laid for him But this is the comfort of God's people that nothing is hidden from God he is wise and he is watchful wise to foresee the draught of his own providence Psal. 37.12 13. The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his Teeth The Lord shall laugh at him for he seeth that the day is coming And as God is wise so he is watchful Psal. 121.4 He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep God is privy to their most secret designs 3. That God's providence is especially interested when the design is to corrupt Religion Balaam was right in pronouncing Blessings on the Children of Israel whilst they kept true to their Religion but his advice was to feast and entertain Israel kindly to induce them to forsake their God and then the Lord interposed and defeated this malicious purpose Many times God doth that for the sake of Religion which a people that profess Religion deserve not Isa. 4.5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Sion and upon her assemblies a Cloud and Smoak by day and the shining of a Flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence Particular persons fell by those Wars but Religion was secured and kept safe 4. That God can make our very Enemies befriend us Thus he over-ruled the Heart of Balaam to bless Israel and curse their Enemies Prov. 16.7 When a Mans ways please the Lord he maketh even his Enemies to be at peace with him It is a Proverb not a Promise and must be interpreted that God can if he will and oftentimes doth it for the most part for proverbs are taken from what is usual and common Thus he made the keeper of the Prison kind to Ioseph Gen. 39.21 The Lord was with Joseph and shewed him Mercy and gave him favour in the sight of the Keeper of the Prison And Laban was smoothed by the way when he pursued after Iacob Gen. 31.29 The God of your Fathers appeared unto me yesternight saying Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad And Esau was kind to him when Iacob feared him Gen. 33.4 he ran to meet him and embraced him and fell upon his neck and kissed him But above all take the instance of the text Balaam came contrary to Gods warning having an eager desire after the reward his Hostile Mind continued still yet he blesseth instead of Cursing by the over-ruling power of God God hath several ways to accomplish this either by bridling their rage or putting convictions on their Consciences or changing their Hearts or determining their Interests It cannot be imagined but that the Creator is able to rule his Creature one way or other therefore we should cease from Man who is not sovereign Master of his own affections When all is thoroughly considered God will be found to be the most desireable friend and dreadful Adversary 5. That we cannot lye open to the plots and snares of those that hate us till we have provoked our shadow and defence to depart from us For till there was an Apostacy from the truth and the right ways of God Balaam withall his Wiles could have no advantage against Israel Balaams Counsel did more hurt than his Curse When we once contemn Gods Law and turn to the Wicked we forfeit our protection both against open violence and secret machinations Many things are contrived against us in the dark that we know not and see not but God watcheth for us Isa. 8.10 Take counsel together and it shall come to nought speak the word and it shall not stand for God is with us Keep God with you and you are safe All the plots of the Enemies were to separate between Them and God do not gratify them herein 6. Observe God's just Judgments on violent and fraudulent Enemies Balak and Balaam designed a mischief against Israel but it fell upon their own pates Balak lost a considerable part of his Territories which was allotted as a portion to the Tribe of Reuben Balaam was slain by the Sword And thus it usually falls out in the course of Gods Providence Psal. 7.15 16. He made a Pit and digged it and is fallen into the Ditch which he made His mischief shall return upon his own head and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate They are taken in the Pit they digged for others their treacherous designs and attempts return upon themselves to their own destruction as Iron when it is over-heated in the Fire burneth their Fingers which hold it or like an Arrow Shot up against Heaven it cometh down most piercingly upon their own heads they are taken in their own Pit poisoned in their own cup so that in the issue it appeareth they laid a snare for themselves all is converted to their own ruine 7. That God's Mercy is not wholly made void to his people notwithstanding their many sins and failings He spareth some though he punisheth others and remembreth his Covenant when our sins deserve it
should be broken off Alas whosoever readeth the carriage of this people in the Wilderness towards God he shall still find Grace striving with sin and the goodness of God overcoming the evil of Man and his fidelity prevailing above their unthankfulness and unfaithfulness And the character of this people in the Wilderness is just our own in travelling to Heaven how often do we forfeit the blessing of God's presence but he is not severe upon every failing and upon repentance he is willing to renew covenant with us and set us in joint again nothing hurteth us more than the sinful provocations of God's people have no hand in them or if you have been accessory to publick guilt bemoan it and humble your selves before God and be more awful and tender for the future and you will find God to be a merciful God III. Why such kind of Mercies should not be forgotten Here I will prove First That Man is apt to forget the great mercies of God especially national Mercies Secondly That yet these Mercies should not be forgotten both because of God's command and the profit of remembring them First That Man is marvellous apt to forget these benefits Therefore there are so many cautions that we forget them not In private mercies Psal. 103.2 Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Deut. 8.11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day and verse 14. That thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt from the House of Bondage So we have many Precepts Deut. 8.2 Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years 1 Chron. 16.12 Remember his marvellous works which he hath done his wonders and the judgments of his Mouth And so many charges and complaints Jud. 8.34 The Children of Israel remembred not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hands of their Enemies on every side Psal. 78.11 they forgot his works and his wonders that he had shewed them and Psal. 106.13 They soon forgot his works And all this is no more than needeth for Man's memory is a bad friend to benefits Injuries are written in Marble but benefits in the Water Now as these cautions charges and accusations do respect all Mercies so especially more eminent Mercies for it is said He hath made his wonderful works to be remembred Psal. 111.4 The great miraculous works of his Providence should make such impression upon Men as never to be forgotten but recorded and reported for ever As for great deliverances God hath appointed Ordinances for a memorial such as the Passover or the Lord's Supper to remember our Redemption by Christ for by these works God maketh himself a name by doing great things for his people 2 Sam. 7.23 Redemption from the tyranny of Antichrist is not to be forgotten 2. That yet these mercies should not be forgotten partly because God hath commanded the contrary as we have seen It is not only a sin to forget his Word but his Works and partly also because of the profit 1. That we may be more deeply possessed of the goodness of God The Ear doth not affect the Heart so much as the Eye and what is felt leaveth a greater impression upon us than what is talked of for experience giveth us a more intimate perception of things The King of Syria said We have heard that the Kings of the House of Israel are merciful Kings 1 Kings 20.31 A rumour and report giveth incouragement but actual experience silenceth all contradiction when I can say I know God is not unmindful of his people but relieveth them in their great streights and watcheth over their welfare As the Apostle Acts. 10.34 Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons Psal. 140.12 I know that the Lord will maintain the right of the poor and the cause of the afflicted Unquestionably God will undertake the patronage of his distressed Servants when all other hopes fail them meaning when God did signally defend them and watch over them 2. To incourage us to walk in his ways It is our forgetfulness of God's goodness that maketh us so disobedient and unthankful to him Psal. 78.7 That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments Nothing breedeth a careful uniform obedience to his commands so much as a grateful remembrance of his Mercies Alass as our thankfulness is abated so is our obedience God's authority sways the Conscience but God's love inclines the Heart Therefore mercies should be remembred 3. To fortifie us against all oppositions and temptations Deut. 7.18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt It is a great comfort to Faith to look back upon the former manifestations of God's power and good will towards his People We have manifold fears and infirmities upon us when we see the power or suspect the craft of our Enemies but let us remember former experiences and that will be an allay to them When we see the continuance of his judgments so many years and in so many forms frequently varied but still lying upon us we are filled with many sad thoughts and reasonings of unbelief but we may soon suppress and silence them by the thoughts of God's power and love heretofore and the evidences of his love and good will and fidelity to all that depend upon him Former dealings raise our hearts to the expectation of future mercies Vse is to press us to this remembrance 1. Of the great Christian Mercies that concern the whole common-wealth of Believers such as the Birth Death Resurrection and Ascension and Intercession of the Lord Jesus these are the standing Dishes at a Believer's Table the constant food for our Faith Mercies never out of season these are mercies so general and beneficial that they should never be forgotten but remembred before God we should always bless God for Jesus Christ and desire that the knowledge of these things may be perpetuated to after Ages Eph. 3.21 Vnto him be glory in the Church by Iesus Christ throughout all Ages World without end Amen 2. For National Mercies so far as they concern either the first planting or the restoring of Christs Religion or the maintenance of it against the eminent open attempts or secret plots of Antichristian Adversaries These should be remembred by us partly to awaken our zeal that religion thus owned may not die upon our hands partly to shew our esteem both of the Religion and the mercy of God in owning it partly that we may beg the continuance of it for every thanksgiving is an implicite prayer partly that we may embolden our selves against all the difficulties we may be exposed unto in owning the true profession