a poore miserable creature commend my love commend my mercy to such a poore soule and tell him though hee hath beene an enemy to me yet I am a friend to him tell him though he hath beene a traitor to mee I have beene a good King to him he hath beene a rebell to mee but tell him I have beene a good God to him commend my love to him and let him know that all his sinnes are done away for the Lord Jesus died for sinners when they were sinners This is the argument of Saint Iohn If God so loved us as that he gave his onely begotten Sonne for us how ought wee to love one another I collect from hence But how then ought we to love God himselfe It was this that kindled the frozen heart of Saul he had a heart almost as cold as ice and yet this did worke upon him Marke what the text saith When David had taken Saul on the hip 1 Sam. 24.19 and had him at advantage and might have taken away his life and yet would not when hee saw that David was so kinde and would doe him no hurt David knew Saul persecuted him and desired to kill him hee was the most profest enemy he had and was the onely man that stood betweene him and the kingdome Now when David had him in his hands and spared him this kindnesse of David wrought even upon the heart of a Saul and kindled a kinde of love in him as the text saith Thou art more righteous than I for thou hast rewarded mee good and I have rewarded thee evill and thou hast shewed this day that thou hast dealt well with me forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered mee into thine hands thou killedst me not for if a man finde an enemy will hee let him goe well away wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day So that wee see a Saul is warned and his love is kindled towards David for his kindnesse So when the soule considers what is the Lord thus gracious to me who ever found an enemy and slew him not Had it not beene just with the Lord to take advantage against me Had it not beene just that I which lived in sinne should have perished for my sinne Had it not beene just that I which loved my corruption should have perished for my corruptions But that the Lord should finde an enemy and not slay him nay that the Lord should finde an enemy and send his Sonne to save him is wonderfull Let my soule for ever love that God and rejoyce in that mercy this would work almost upon a Devill If the soule had but the sap and sweetnesse of this it could not but warme the heart of an humbled sinner and kindle in him an abundant love to God who hath beene so loving to him Particular 3 Lastly the greatnesse of the sweetnesse of the mercy of God this inflames the soule the sweetnesse warmes it the freenesse kindles it and when the greatnesse meets with these it sets the soule all in a burning flame This is the ground the Apostle presseth to the Ephesians he desireth that they may be rooted in love that is stablished with mighty strong love how shall that be Why the text saith comprehending with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge as who should say can you but once comprehend the unmeasurable dimensions of Gods love and goodnesse this will kindle and inflame your hearts with admirable love to the Lord Jesus When the sinner thinkes thus with himselfe I that have done all that I could against so good a God that my heart even bleeds to thinke of it there was no name under Heaven I tore in peeces but Gods Name his wounds and heart and life I have torne all nay there was no command in the world that my soule so much despised as the command of the Lord Jesus There was no spirit that ever spake to me which I so much resisted as the Spirit of the Lord. Oh how many sweet motions hath the Lord let into my soule that he might plucke mee from my base courses and sinfull practices but I have flowen in the face of his blessed Spirit If I had lien in a dungeon and had beene plagued with torments all my life time yea though I had another world of misery to live in it is infinite mercy so the Lord would passe by these base dealings and pardon these rebellions of mine But that God should send his Sonne to love mee so incomparably so unconceivably that I could not hate him so much as he loved me I could not so exceed in unkindnesse towards him as he hath exceeded in kindnesse towards mee Oh the height of this mercy beyond my desire Oh the breadth of this mercy without all bounds Oh the length of this mercy beyond all times Oh the depth of this mercy beneath all miseries Were my eyes made of love I could nothing but weepe love were my tongue made of love I could nothing but talke love were my hands made of love I could nothing but worke love and all too little for that God that hath loved mee so admirably so unmeasurably What shall I love if I love not the Lord I love all things but I love God above all things Psal 18.1 I love thee dearly O Lord my strength saith David this is the last particular whereby the soule comes to bee all on a flame and hath a burning affection towards the Lord Almighty Vse 1 We come now to the application of the point that so wee may reape some good to our soules thereby First then it is a ground of instruction which I desire to presse unto you because it is both seasonable and profitable From the former Doctrine therefore wee collect and conclude undeniably that there is no sufficiency in a naturall heart to be carried to the Lord Jesus Christ or to the worke of grace wee have not this before God doth give it unto us nay we cannot move towards God or be carried in the least kind to love or delight in him further than the Lord will carry us himselfe and beare up our hearts by the hand of his Spirit It is true and wee finde it by wofull experience it is in our power to love the world it is in our power to delight in our lusts Nay being but naturall men it cannot be but that we should love our selves and love our honour and our ease and profit and applause in the world There is enough of this foolish wild-fire there is enough of this carnall selfe-love in every mans heart But to love the Lord Jesus Christ and to have a heart inlarged with joy to him this is a worke of grace which groweth not in our gardens there is not one sparke of this holy fire and spiritual delight in our hearts Nay we cannot buy it nor borrow it
treasures of his mercy in the Lord Jesus If a man have no eye hee cannot see if hee have an eye and have no object nor colours before him hee cannot see first therefore the Lord gives an eye to the humbled heart and when hee hath given him an eye then hee layes colours before him that hee may see and looke and fall in love with the treasures of mercy and compassion 2 Cor. 3. the foure last verses the Text saith The vaile of blindnesse is taken from our minds and then the faithfull Soule beholds as in a glasse all the grace and mercy and compassion that God layeth before him in Christ the humbled sinner hath now gotten an eye and some spirituall eye-sight that the Lord hath brought within his view all the riches and treasures of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Soule saith oh that mercy and grace and pardon were mine Oh that my sinnes were done away The Lord saith I will refresh them that are heavy laden Oh that I had that refreshing saith the Soule You shall have rest saith God Oh that I had rest too saith the soule Now the Soule beginneth to looke after the mercie and compassion which is laid before it Passage 3 The Spirit of the Lord doth witnesse or certifie throughly and effectually to the Soule that this mercy belongs to him that is the upshot of the notice God gives to the Soule The third stroke of the Spirit strikes through the bargaine and makes the understanding close with that grace and mercy set forth unto it and without this the Soule of an humble broken hearted sinner hath no ground to goe upon Beleeving in Scripture is called comming Now no man can goe without some ground now this is the ground without which the Soule hath no bottome to beare it up either to come to Christ or perswade it selfe of mercy in Christ What good doth it doe any hungry stomacke to heare that there is a great deale of cheere and dainties provided for such and such men what is it to him if he have them not Take a begger that hath a thousand pound told before him hee may apprehend the summe of so much gold and so much silver but what is that all to mee saith he if in the meane time I die and starve It falls out in this case with a broken hearted sinner as with a prodigall childe the prodigall he hath spent his meanes and abused his Father the prodigall hath now much need the famine is in the land and poverty is befalne him and hee knowes there was meat enough and cloaths enough in his Fathers house but alas hee can expect no kindnesse from his Father but only his heavy displeasure if any man should say goe to your Father hee will give you a portion of a hundred pounds againe doe you thinke the prodigall would beleeve this no no he would answer thus haply my Father will imprison mee or send a Sergeant to arrest mee or an executioner to take away my life it is my Father that I have offended my portion I have spent and his anger I have incensed and what will hee receive mee no I will never beleeve it Indeed had I beene a good husband I might have had his favour and increased my estate but I have lost his favour my owne estate patrimony and all but if a man should come and tell him now that he heard his Father say so and bring a certificate under his Fathers hand that it was so this would draw him into some hope that his Father meant well towards him so it is with the sinner when he is apprehensive of all his rebellions that hee hath heaped up against Gods mercy and spirit and grace by his declining from the truth If a man should tell such a soule goe to God he will give you a pension of a hundred thousand pounds a yeere that is hee will give you abundance of mercy and compassion the Soule cannot beleeve it but thinkes what I mercy no no blessed are they that walke humbly before God and conforme their lives answerable to Gods word let them take it but the truth is it is mercy I have opposed it is grace that I have rejected no mercy no grace for mee you cannot wooe the soule to be perswaded for to thinke that there is mercy for him But if God send a messenger from heaven or if under the hand of his spirit that hee doth accept of him and will doe good to him and passe by all former sinnes and shew favour to him this makes the soule grow into some hope this is the ground whereupon the soule goeth to the Lord. This the Lord performeth to the soule That which David prayes for Psalm 35.3 the Prophet was not contented that there was salvation in Gods hand hee knew that God had a world of mercy and salvation and pardon lying by him but David prayes to God Say unto my soule thou art my salvation testifie it speake it home Lord once more plainly effectually and sensibly there is salvation with thee Paul was saved and Abraham was saved but what is that to mee say unto my soule thy sinnes shall be pardoned thine iniquities shall be forgiven thy person accepted Quest But now the question growes on But how shall a man discover this testification and this witnessing of the spirit to the heart of a humble broken hearted sinner that these things are so Answ This third worke of the spirit makes knowne it selfe in three particulars Partic. 1 The spirit doth evidence to the soule broken and humbled That the soule hath an interest in this mercy that it was appointed for it and he hath to meddle with it in reason we may observe that a witnesse in a cause doth marvellously cleare it if he be wise and judicious and the thing that before was doubtfull comes now to be apparant as now in a point of Law two men contend for land now if an ancient wise man of some place is called before the Judge at the Assises and hee beares witnesse upon his knowledge that such Lands have beene in the possession of such a generation or family for the space of many yeares this is a speciall testification that this man being of that generation he hath interest to these lands So it is with the witnesse of Gods Spirit there is a controversie betweene Satan and the soule the soule saith oh that grace and compassion might be bestowed on mee why saith Satan dost thou conceive of any mercy or grace and Salvation marke thy rebellions against thy Saviour marke the wretched distempers of thy heart and the filthy abhominations of thy life dost thou thinke of mercy Here is the controversie whether an humble sinner hath title to or interest in the mercy of God Now the Spirit of God comming in that casts the cause and makes it evident if such a poore heart have interest and may meddle and make challenge to mercy and salvation because
a matter of complement and indifferencie No no I may call it the very wheeles of faith upon which faith is carried for all this while faith is a sowing into the soule Looke as it is with a waggon knocke off the wheeles and all lyes in the dust so take away this desire and faith is in the dust the tenour of all the promises run upon this the thirstie they are invited the hungrie they shall be satisfied nay not onely so but observe further the necessity of this when desire comes all good workes goe forward and our hearts are not only set upon the dutie but the dutie is crowned and credited by this desire It is like the mill damme the fuller the damme is the faster the mill goes so get but desire and all will goe forward the more desire the more paines in seeking after grace this gives a crowne and a credit to all our actions thou prayest haply halfe an houre it is not thy tongue that the Lord accepts but thy desire thou performest many duties outwardly God cares not for that he lookes only at thy desire to approve thy selfe to God in those duties this is the thing that gives credit to all our actions Meanes 3 The third meanes is this labour to spread forth the excellencie of all the beautie and surpassing glorie that is in the promises of God Looke wisely daily and judiciously upon them as occasion serves and when thou seest that admirable and incomparable vertue and beautie that is in Christ and in the precious promises and canst but view them in their proper colours Oh they will even ravish thee and quicken up thy desire If a man carry a packe of never so rich commodities and never opens them no man will have a desire to buy Or if a man have a cabinet full of never so precious jewels if he doe not unlocke it no man will be stirred with a desire after them Even so it is with the promises all those unsearchable riches that are in the Lord Jesus and all the comforts both of this life and that which is to come they are all shut up in the promises Now set open the Gospell and unlock the cabbinet of the promises and then the soule will earnestly desire the same I tell you God is a God of comfort and all the promises are yea and Amen in the Lord Jesus Christ read them daily and examine the excellencie and beautie therein that so thy heart may be brought to prize them and the comfort arising thence Thy soule is discouraged there is mercie to comfort thou wantest grace there is grace to quicken thee See the worth thereof more fully Luke 24. When Christ came and walked with the two disciples that were travelling towards Emaus Luke 24.32 opened Did not our hearts burne within us say they while he opened the Scriptures the Latine word signifieth to burne with desire But how came this they did not talke a word and away but the Lord Jesus Christ opened the Scriptures to them the riches of grace and salvation were unlocked and by Christ opened and then their hearts burned againe with desire Oh that Christ and that mercie and that pardon c. So view thou the promises of Christ and grace and salvation you doe not see the value and riches that are therein but if you will but talke and conferre about them your hearts will burne with desire doe not cast an eye and be gone doe not looke over a promise and away no wonder though your hearts are not affected because the excellent things therein contained are not opened and propounded to you Meanes 4 In the fourth and last place after all this thou must know that it is not in thy power to bring thy heart to desire grace thou canst not hammer out a desire upon thine owne anvill digge thy owne pit and hew thy owne rock as long as thou wilt that is a worke out of thy abilitie and strength Nay let all the Angels in heaven and all the Ministers on earth provoke thee yet if the hand of the Lord be wanting thou shalt not lift up thy heart nor step one step towards heaven therefore I beseech you marke and acknowledge this and goe to him who is onely able to worke this desire in thy soule It is the complaint of Christians and they mourne under it and it is a great miserie Oh they are troubled because they cannot fetch a good desire from their owne soules and one falls another sinkes and a third shakes and they are overwhelmed with discouragement And their complaint is this What a wretched heart have I Object Grace No no the world I can desire the life of my childe I long for that nay every trifling profit and pleasure my soule covets it and I say with Rachel Let me have honour or else I dye But I cannot buckle my heart nor worke this vile nature of mine to bee carried after and long for the unconceivable unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ And will the Lord shew mercie to me Shall I attaine any favour either here or hereafter Answ Marke the deceit in this case desires grow not in your garden they spring not from the root of your abilities you cannot frame your soules nor order your spirits to desire Christ no struggle while thy eyes sinke in thy head and thy tongue falters when thou prayest and yet thou shalt not procure any longing desire after Christ whiles the world stands desire comes from the quickning vertue of the spirit Therefore seeke to God and confesse In truth Lord I cannot it is not in my power I have not any sufficiencie to frame my heart to this desire I expect it not from my selfe it is not this vile and sinfull soule it is not this wicked base wayward heart of mine that can lift up it selfe it is earthly and heavie but it is thou O Lord from whom come all our desires it is thou that must worke it it is thou that hast promised it good Lord quicken thou this soule and inlarge this heart of mine thou only art the God of this desire none of thy Saints that ever panted after and longed for thy mercie David himselfe had it not in his owne power and sufficiencie it must come from thy power and thy promise and thy grace and blessing Now good Lord worke this in the heart of thy poore servant I would faine have a desire Lord from heaven thus hale downe a desire from the Lord and from the promise for there only you must have it this is the course whereby you may partake of this desire from the hand of the Lord. When the Church was lazie and sluggish and would not rise Cant. 5.4 the hands of her beloved dropped mirrhe upon the handle of the doore and this raised and pulled up the heart of the spouse and she lingred after him and followed him and pursued him and her heart was quickned and inlarged to
occasions and diligent to dispatch his businesse and therefore hee receives him that hee may get contentment from the servant not that hee may give contentment to the servant but if hee findes any inconveniency in his estate or receives not that satisfaction from him which hee desires and expects hee turnes him out of doores But now hee which entertaines a Noble man after a noble manner and he which entertaines a King after a kingly manner labours to give him all content hee will not please himselfe nor fulfill his owne minde but studies how hee may give content to the Noble man or to the King Nay it is admirable to see what men of great place will doe in this case When they entertaine a King they themselves will bee servants while the King is there haply hee is a man of great estate and hath many to attend upon him yet hee gives charge to his servants I care not what becomes of me but bee sure let his Majesty be pleased and if any comes to speake with him hee tels him hee cannot possibly speake with him now hee must attend upon his Majestie So it is betweene a sound faithfull loving soule that entertaines Christ and an Hypocrite the one receives Christ into his soule as a servant into his family and all the while Gods Gospell or Grace may promote his honour or ease or credit so farre as these may serve his turne so farre as profit and honour and riches come in by this means welcome Gospell and welcome Christ But if he sees danger will come or inconvenience befall or misery betide then he turnes Gospell and Christ and profession and all out of doores because hee entertained the Gospell onely as a servant to content himselfe But hee that entertaines Christ and the Gospell as a King into his soule labours to give him all content he will not please himselfe or his lusts or his pride or vaine glory or any thing in the world Nay when Christ comes once to be received into the soule he which before had his retinue and all to attend upon him they must all serve Christ now nay he will not give Christ distaste in the least thing he cares for no honour now but to honour him he cares for no advancement now but to advance him he esteems of no riches now but so farre as they may credit the Gospell Nay to goe further they that were his neerest and deerest friends if they come and desire his company he tels them no he cannot the Lord Iesus must bee pleased and the Spirit must bee contented Nay his old lusts and his old acquaintance his old base haunts of heart and his old sinfull courses that have beene at inward league with his soule though they come and plead for acceptance the poore sinner regards none of all these he respects Christ onely Nay he will displease a fashion rather than he will displease Christ he will displease all the great men under Heaven rather than hee will displease Christ Nay all that same glory and pride of his which hath beene so much beloved of him the soule that hath beene truly humbled and brought to an apprehension of Gods goodnesse will rather displease that than displease the Lord Iesus Christ This is an entertainment that beseemes the Lord and this is the guise that beseemes him which gives contentment to a Saviour You must now and then receive the Gospell when it pleaseth you and anon fling out the Lord Iesus and currishly behave your selves towards him but you must give all content unto him and bestow all attendance upon him It is admirable to see what love will doe how men will square their mindes and hearts to the mindes of those that are tendered by them they will be where they please doe what they will Psal 40.8 and talke of what they will I delight to doe thy good will O my God saith David the originall carries it thus It is my good will to doe thy good pleasure So it is the good will of the soule that loves God to please him above all things wee should so speake and worke and walke as beseemes the Lord as will give sweet contentment to the Lord that hee may delight to love us and walke with us and bee a good GOD unto us for ever Triall 4 The fourth triall is this He that loves a thing it is his happinesse and good to see the happinesse and good of the thing he loves observe it this is an undoubted argument of sound affection that a man should bee willing that that which is affected by him should have all good though hee in the meane time misse of it if there bee any prosperity befals the party he loves he thinkes himselfe blessed if any honour comes to him hee thinkes himselfe honoured nay he had rather hee should be honoured and advanced than himselfe this is true love indeed But see a patterne of love and a blessed mirrour of a heart inlarged with affection When David was anointed to the crown and Saul pursued him heavily and thought to defeat him of the Kingdome and dealt wretchedly and cruelly with him 1 Sam. 23.17 Now Ionathan meets him after an heavy affliction and labours to cheer up the heart of David and saith Feare not for the hand of Saul shall not finde thee thou shalt bee King over Israel and I shall bee next unto thee A man would thinke why should not Ionathan rather labour for the crowne himselfe hee was next heire apparant thereunto hee might have said Saul is my father and why should not I succeed him in the crowne why should David start in before me No this comforted his heart and rejoyced and cheered his soule David shall bee King and I shall bee next unto him hee loved David dearly and therefore this refreshed him thou shalt bee King in Israel and it is the comfort of my heart that I shall be next unto thee As who should say it contents me more that thou shalt be honoured than if I my selfe were honoured So it is with a good heart that loves Iesus Christ and his Grace and his Gospell Oh the happinesse of the Gospell and the promotion thereof is the greatest good and comfort that can befall him The Christian saith let God bee honoured though I bee disparaged it skils not Is the Lord advanced and doth his Gospell thrive Is his Glory promoted Doth the worke of grace goe forward It is enough what becomes of my honour or parts or liberty or case it is no matter Let it goe well with the Gospell and let honour be given to the Lord Iesus in the use of the means and ordinances which he hath bestowed upon us let Gods cause finde that acceptance amongst his servants which it ought it is sufficient it rejoyceth my heart See this in Iohn the Baptist when Christ began to set forth the Gospell and to baptize and many came unto him the Disciples of Iohn grudged
finde my selfe I hope the Lord will save me though I cannot save my selfe But the hopes of the wicked hang like a cloud they are not grounded upon the evidence of the Scripture they crowd all in the generall I hope to fare as well as others and other had mercy and why not I And hence the hopes of the wicked are unstedfast and wavering but a man might here demand are not the hopes of the Saints so too Doe they not waver and stagger many a time Answer It is true but with this difference the hopes of Gods servants are like an anchor which though sometimes it is shaken yet it holdeth the faster but the hopes of the hypocrites are like the waves of the seas and they come to nothing Prov. 8.28 The hope of the righteous shall be glad but the expectation of the wicked shall perish as who should say though the waves be great and the stormes violent yet the anchor shall bee fast and the ship shall come safe to haven but it is otherwise with the wicked their hopes doe perish What is become of your hopes now you thought you should bee saved and that you should doe as well as others but when the day of judgement commeth and the last great day of account shall be what then shall become of all your hopes You shall see it is as if a man should plead for a mans inheritance because he did dwell in the same towne and were of the same name But now the Saints of God when they come to lay claime to mercy they bring a hold a word Isay 61.3 He appointeth them that mourne in Sion will you have a legacy of joy mercy and pitty here it is the Lord Christ left it you I bequeath this and leave it to all you broken hearted sinners to all you humble mourning sinners in Sion this is your legacy sue for it in the Court and you shall have it for ever Hence David ventureth all for this hope hee taketh this as a childs part Psal 33. the last verse Let thy mercy come unto us as our hope is in thee not according to our sense and assurance but according to our hope thy desires may faile and endevours faile and the means faile yet let thy mercy come unto me according to my hope The second is this a grounded hope is ever of great power and strength to hold the soule to the truth of the promise the Spirit you know wee shewed stirreth the heart to hope now hee turneth hope so to God that the eye of the soule goeth that way and cannot bee taken from it but it will goe promise-ward and God-ward Hence take a poore sinner when hee is at the weakest under water when all temptations oppositions corruptions grow strong against them the Lord letteth them loose against the soule nay letteth the poore soule come to joyne side with Satan against himselfe and the goodnesse of the Lord and hee saith the truth of it is I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul this proud foolish filthy heart of mine it will be my bane it had better for me never to have beene I shall never get power strength and grace against these sinnes here is the lowest under of a poore soule If a man should now reply why then cast off all hope and confidence reject the meanes and turne to your sins Marke how hope steppeth in and saith it is true what ever I am and doe what ever my condition is I will use the means I am sure all my helpe is in Christ all my hope is in the Lord Jesus and if I must perish I will perish seeking him and waiting upon him Why this is hope now and I warrant that soule shall never goe to hell Psal 119.81 My heart fainted and my hope was in thy salvation Isay 8.7 I will wait for the Lord who hath hid himselfe from the house of Iacob the Lord hideth himselfe he doth not shew himselfe he hath not manifested himselfe yet I will hope in the Lord that hideth his face Psal 69.3 But the hope of the wicked is not so 2 King 6. and the last verse this evill commeth of the Lord and why should I wait any longer Prov. 14.32 The hope of the wicked is driven away that though a man stood upon his bottome and all the world could not perswade him to the contrary but that he should be saved and hee should goe to heaven though proud still though vaine still but his hope shall bee driven away but the righteous shall have hope in his death friends faile life faile and wealth faile but yet he hath hope in his death Signe 3 As the strength of this hope is great in regard of all opposition that commeth to the contrary so also the excellency and surpassing worth of this hope which overshadoweth all the hopes in the world that can be offered propounded desired all seeme nothing to this hope which the soule hath to God that when the soule commeth to be drawne to God and to hope in him all other hopes hold no weight hopeth not for honour for profit nor liberty nor delight it discovereth the basenesse of these so that the soule careth not for any thing else in comparison It is in this case with the soule as with the hound the hound haply followeth the game untill hee bee spent and tyred yet if there come a fresh hare yet the very sent of a fresh one will make him leave all so it is here though heretofore hee hath had many games in the world he hoped for honour and profit and his soule run all amaine upon them but when the soule hath beene brought to know the riches of Gods mercy in Christ it leaveth the old profits the old contents the old delights that he had Heb. 11.13 All these died in the faith when they had saluted the promises And observe here a carnall hearted Hypocrite his hopes be vaine idle and uncertaine the truth is if the world giveth other hopes of honour and profits and delights he leaveth his hope and with Demas he embraceth the present world but the Saints of God are not so Heb. 11.25 Moses might have had great honour but he forsooke his honour and had an eye to the recompence of reward Signe 4 The last is taken from the vertue of hope and the speciall fruit and effect that it worketh in the soule A grounded hope it alwayes lendeth supply and succour when all the rest of a mans abilities faile and are not able to sustaine and support his soule when desire faileth and love faileth I meane in his owne sense and apprehension I say then hope supporteth the soule Psal 16.9 My flesh shall rest in hope that is hope will give a man rest in the most miserable forlorne condition that may be that when the heart is ready to say where is the meanes that I have had and the good dayes that I have seene this dead heart cannot
how David makes the conclusion David was almost disquieted and his heart disquieted with the prosperitie of the wicked therefore hee said if this bee so then have I cleansed my hands in innocencie and washed my hands in vaine yet marke how hee recovers himselfe againe saying Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none in earth that I desire in comparison of thee therefore it is good for me to draw neere to God Let the wicked take the world and their profits and their pleasures yet there is nothing in the world that I desire in comparison of the Lord Jesus Christ and his grace and goodnesse Consider it sadly the wicked have much wealth and friends and means Oh thou beloved faithfull soule thou hast the rich treasury of grace and mercy to inrich thee all this whole world is nothing to that rich treasury of mercy which faith brings in as Salomon saith in Ecclesiastes Money answers all if a man have money he may buy meat to feed him and cloth to apparell him and cover him If money will doe so much what will mercy doe then thou hast not wealth nor friends nor meanes but thou hast mercy from God in Christ and this will answer all it is better than friends and meanes and all therefore if thou hast this let thy heart be contented and know that thou hast a childs part and thy lot is fallen into a marvellous faire ground Secondly as faith takes off all miseries and supplies the want of them so in the second place faith takes away all feares for the time to come alas saith the soule friends and means and wealth are good but they continue not ever What if sicknesse come and if povertie come what shall I doe then and so the heart shakes at the feare of evill Now pray marke how faith cures all feares and takes off the edge of all those inconveniences that may bee brought upon a man as in the 112. Psalme 7. He shall not bee afraid of any evill tidings why for his heart is fixed and he beleeveth in the Lord for although heaven and earth may shake yet God and Christ and the promise will never faile and hee casting his heart there by faith he must needs hold What is it that a man may feare we feare the power and policy and malice of the devill and his wicked instruments now faith outbids these and faith rests upon the precious promises of God in Jesus Christ and faith perswades the heart that they have no power but from God and they cannot use that power further than God gives leave and they cannot have successe further than God goes with them they can goe no further than God gives a Commission Now sayes faith that God which orders the power of all these he is my God hee is the God of Hosts and none of all the armies can either command peace neither can they hinder peace therefore I adde a little more faith levies new forces from heaven against all the sorces of earth are the wicked politique then sayes faith the Lord is much more wise and is able to dash all their enterprises and are the wicked fierce and violent then faith lookes to God where there is more power to defend him than they can have to hurt him doe wee see the wicked maliciously bent and full of spleene to wrong the people of God faith sees mercy and goodnesse in the Lord that is more able to releeve us than all the wicked can bee to hurt us faith sayes if hell gates were open and all the devills were about thy eares they can doe nothing further than God gives them power and gives a Commission to them therefore I may bee quieted because God is more able to keepe me than they are to hurt me Thirdly faith it is that inables a man to all duties for imagine a man had all the power in his owne hands and had no wants present nor feared no wants nor troubles to come if yet hee were not able to doe what God required this would disquiet his heart therefore by faith the Lord inables a man to doe every duty that the Lord commends to him or expects from him It is the ground that Paul contents his heart withall Phil. 4.13 I can doe all things through the power of Christ which strengtheneth me I can bee poore and beare it and I can be rich and yet not surfet of the world I can doe all but how through the power of Christ inabling me therefore famous is that of Abraham Rom. 4.18 God had promised Abraham a childe and yet his body was dead and his wife barren and it was even against nature for him to beget a childe or for her to beare any Now how doth God provide for this Abraham under hope beleeved above hope and in the 21. verse because he was fully perswaded that he that had promised it was able to make it good there was no hope in nature that Abraham should beget a child his body being dead and no hope that she should beare any therefore faith goes to God that was able to quicken them hast thou a barren a dead heart as theirs was and therefore thy soule complaines and thou saist I shall never be able to goe through the worke required I know it is the complaint of many poore soules Oh send faith up to Heaven and beleeve in him that is able to succour you and to quicken you to whatsoever he requires content thy heart in this manner and say when thou findest thy heart dead I am ignorant but the Lord is able to inlighten my blinde minde and I have a dead barren heart but the Lord who is the God of power hee is able to quicken me and to releeve a poore dead blockish sinner Hee beleeved in him saith the Text which calleth things that are not as if they were Abraham is not lively and Sarah is not fruitfull but the Lord can make them so and therefore faith goes to God so thou shalt be wise and have thy heart quickned to whatsoever duty concernes Gods prayse and thy owne comfort so then hee that hath what hee will or can desire or stand in need of and he that hath all his feares removed and is inabled to doe all duties commanded nothing more can bee added to this man therefore why should not hee be contented what would you have you poore beleevers Quest Then the question here growes namely if it be so that faith makes a mans life easie and gives him full contentment in every condition then why is it thus as Gedeon said so if faith thus contents the soule then how comes it to passe that those poore silly creatures are so troubled with discouragements and discontentments and none so cast downe with their owne basenesse and vilenesse as they they hang downe their heads and goe drooping all the day long either saith one I have not faith or else if I have faith then why
the cure remember two passages First be fearfull and jealous of thy selfe when through Gods assistance and helpe thou art able to get some power in the performance of service to get some measure of sufficiencie when thou hast abilities about thee bee most fearfull and jealous because then thy estate lieth in most hazard doe in this case as sea-faring men doe they hoise up saile and goe amaine where there is no hazard and where there is sea roome enough but if they goe in a straight or in a sand where many have suffered ship-wrack and there is a remembrance of it such a man perished here and such a man suffered shipwrack here how carefull are they then to sterne aright and observe all curiously and exactly lest they fall where others fell before them and suffer shipwrack where others were overthrowne or looke as it is with men that travell if they come to some suspicious or theevish places though they were carelesse before yet when they come there lest they be surprised on the sudden and to fortifie themselves one rides with his sword drawne and another with his hand upon his sword and they make what speed they can because they suspect an assault so it is here Saul hath slaine his thousands and David his ten thousands I tell you carnall securitie hath kild many but carnall confidence hath sunke downe ten hundred thousands into hell when you come then to this stand when God hath enlightned your mindes and given you some parts and bestowed some abilities upon you and now you clap and applaud your selves and say this is somewhat this it is to be a Christian poore novices must come and live upon my crums and desire my information the Lord hath enlightned my eyes and wrought upon my heart thou art now upon a sand for the Lord Jesus sake take heed to thy selfe here Saint Paul had like to have suffered shipwracke and here those hypocrites in Isay 28. suffered shipwracke here is the skull of one man and the hand of another man and the soule of another man I meane thousands have suffered shipwrack here now looke to heaven and suspect thine owne soule and thinke if the Lord keepe mee now I shall escape the worst but here is the most hazard therefore I must be most carefull hereof it is pretty to observe in experience poore Christians that are lowly and humble how tenderly doe they walke how fearfull are they of their hearts of their pride and peevishnesse and idlenesse and carelesnesse when you shall see a bold brazen fac'd presumptuous carnall wretch because hee can pray and read and heare he will follow riotous fashions and continue in base courses and carrie all away with his abilities The second thing I would have you consider is this grow every day up in the observance of thine owne basenesse and in the acquaintance of thine owne weaknesse in the best of thy duties this is a sweet pitch of a Christian the more God bestowes and the more grace God vouchsafes he goeth away and hangs downe his head and wonders at Gods goodnesse that ever the Lord should help a poore creature so to call upon his Name and sayes Lord it is thy grace it came from the assistance of thy Spirit but that ever a wretch should say to his services and duties yee are my gods abhorre this in thy soule and keep a marvellous dislike of thy selfe and a low esteem of thy duties and bee wondering at Gods grace and admiring at Gods mercy and returne to God that hee hath given thee power to performe any service and lie thou in the dust and trample upon thine owne performances doe therefore as Paul did Phil. 3.7 he saith Now these things I counted gaine I count losse for Christ Oh my zeale for the Law and the exact strictnesse of the Pharisees I thought that would have carried mee to Heaven but they are dung I will tread them underfeet nay doubtlesse I count all things not only the services I did before and the prayers before God called me but even since the best prayers and performances I ever did dung in the comparison of Christ What availes it for a man to faile faiâ—e on the Sea and suffer shipwracke in the haven he had been as good have perished at Sea thou sailest faire in the world in thy duties and thou sufferest shipwrack in the haven and restest in thy duties and goest downe to hell thou and thy duties and all therefore labour to see a need of a Christ even to heale and to pardon thy best performances that ever thou madest and never leave thy soule and thy service till thou grow to 〈◊〉 apprehension of the basenesse therein and so 〈◊〉 to Christ The third hindrance is this the sinner by this time is driven from these two holds and driven two staires higher to Christ the sinner seeth he must change and that he cannot helpe himselfe his prayers and performances are good things good meanes but the Physitian is in another place a mans legs may carry him to the Physitian but they cannot cure him so a mans services are good things but he cannot helpe himselfe he must goe to another for helpe Another hindrance is this when the sinner sees hee cannot helpe himselfe yet he thinkes he is able to goe to another for helpe it is a thing incident to our nature and it is usuall that we thinke that it is in our power to beleeve and that the matter of resting upon Christ is not a matter of that difficultie and that hardnesse as some Ministers pretend and the Word seemes to expresse unto us and this is that keepes a man utterly from going out I beseech you observe it though a man cannot helpe himselfe in nature yet a man will say hee can call to another for helpe though a man cannot succour himselfe in his want and necessitie yet to take supply from another that is an easie matter so when we cannot doe what duties we should when wee cannot satisfie Gods justice as he requires and answer the law we thinke though we our selves cannot helpe our selves yet wee can goe to Christ and intreat him and beseech him to help us and wee can receive succour and help from him this is not so hard a matter this is our nature take notice of it in experience looke into the course of mens carriages and lives wee shall observe that every man will acknowledge his infirmities in other things but now his inabilities in this there is not one man confesseth one complaines his abilities are poore hee cannot pray as he should another his parts are meane he cannot conferre as he ought another his passions are unruly and heady and he cannot master them as God requires and commands thus every one will confesse his infirmities in other things but goe to every mans doore and aske doe you not beleeve why all the swearers and drunkards and sots in the towne they can beleeve they can
towards Zion a cup of poison and a stone of stumbling when he had spoken of all the bulwarks that God had made and all the goodnesse and mercy that he had shewed to his people and the malice and wrath of his enemies he saith This God is our God even for ever as if he had said The Lord did provide for his people in Egypt and overthrew proud Pharaoh that set himselfe up against God and this God is our God when thou art in the wildernesse this God is thy God when thou art in persecution this God is thy God and the God of all thus he stores up while the season lasts And as thou must observe what God doth to others Note this so labour to treasure up thine owne experiences 2 Tim. 4.18 He hath delivered us and hee doth and will deliver us saith the Apostle and the Prophet David saith I remember thy judgements of old O well fare a good old store I remember saith he how thou didst rebuke Abimelech and overthrow Nimrod and Nebuchadnezar and Achitophel Oh it is admirable to consider these things I received comfort saith he God will overthrow every enemy and this is store for thy faith to worke upon Psal 89.49 Where are thy former mercies David is afore hand with God now he is not come to buy food just at the time of famine but it is laid up before hand Rule 2 We must lay it in abundantly lay in promises of all kindes you had better leave than lack How to lay in matter for our faith and it is the wisdome of a man to have somewhat to spare and to have an overplus aforehand that a man may not live feebly and poorely and be at his wits end at every turne and knowes not which way to shift for himselfe and have no bread in his house I meane no provision of promises by him Isay 42.23 Whose is wise let him heare for after times as if hee had said You must not only lay in promises just for the present but store them for afterwards as the chapman saith I shall want this at such a time and so the husbandman saith I shall have occasion for this or that at such a time and therefore they get aforehand O that God would give us these hearts it is good as we may so say to keepe promises in pickle that wee may spend them at leasure 1 Kings 17.6 7 8 9. Iezebel had threatned to kill Eliah but shee mist of her worke for shee was slaine her selfe and he went to heaven and never died at all the text saith Hee went and hid himselfe by the brooke Kerith and when all victuals failed the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening and when all that failed too the Lord said unto him Arise get thee to Sareptha I have commanded a widow there to sustaine thee 1 King 18.4 Obadiah hid a hundred of the Prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water and in another place the text saith In the dayes of famine thou shalt have enough these precious promises will be good meat in Lent when haply thou shall sit under an hollow tree and creep among the bushes then three or foure of these promises will give a man a good meale of comfort therefore store them up for they will doe you no harme and when you are driven from house and friends and all and God takes away the Gospell from us which God of his mercy prevent Amen and give us hearts to speake to him that he may prevent it onely your wisdome will be this to get all promises for this and a better life for the getting of grace and the preserving in grace and not only to pray by a promise but to live by a promise and trade by it and to enjoy all that you have by a promise if you will have comfort in it therefore be sure that you sort the promises aright every promise is not for every purpose but each promise suits for each occasion and therefore suit them all imagine a man wants comfort and strength against sinne why then that promise will not fit them wherein the Lord saith Hee will be with them in six troubles and deliver them in seven that for a temporall deliverance he doth not want that but power against his corruptions Againe if a man feare that he shall not hold out in perseverance now that promise doth not sit wherein the Lord saith Hee will pardon all his sinnes and cast them all as a milstone into the bottome of the sea this is not for perseverance in grace if thou seekest for succour there thy hand is in the wrong box but that promise is for this purpose wherein God saith I will knit them to mee with an everlasting love and I will write my lawes in their inward parts that they shall never depart from me any more So there are promises for deliverances in trouble and for comfort in affliction and in a word Gods infinite free grace is scattered in so many promises according to so many necessities and severall occasions that is all healing and saving vertue is in God so he dispenseth it to so many drops and severall promises therefore we must doe with the promises as the Apothecarie doth with his drugs he puts Bezar stone into one and Studdine that if the body be weake and low then your Bezar stone is good for him and so for the rest so that as the Apothecary hath all drugs so he hath sorted them all so deale you with the promise and word have the command of God to owne thee and the promise of God to comfort thee and that thou maist sit thine owne soule let it be a suitable promise suppose thou findest thy heart proud and stubborne then thou maist not looke upon mercy and pardon but looke upon the justice of God and how hee lookes upon the proud afarre off hee gives grace to the humble but resisteth the proud here is studdy for thee to pull downe thy proud heart and when thou findest thy heart full of venome and malice against the Ministers of God now that Bezars stone doth not fit thee therefore apply this Hee that hates his brother in his heart is a man-slayer and no man-slayer shall enter into the kingdome of God and he that hates his brother is a childe of the Devill these are vomits that fit thee Rule 3 Lastly we must lay them up that we may have them at hand To lay up the promises bring your provision home and leave it not in the market it is a folly for a man to say I have as good provision as can bee but I have it not here Colos 3.16 Let the Word of God dwell in you plenteously and richly in all wisdome First observe the plenty of our provision it must not be scantie but richly and wisely and it must dwell in you