to procure it not to implant Grace but to purchase it You cannot therefore sit down and say what need is there of my working Christ hath already done all my Work for me to my Hands No Christ hath done his own Work he hath done the Work of a Saviour and a Surety but he never did the Work of a Sinner If Christ by meriting Grace had bestowed it upon thee and wrought it in thee then indeed there was no more required of thee to become Holy but to cast back a lazy Look to the purchase of Jesus Christ then thy Sloth would have had some pretence why thou dost not labour But this will not do our Saviour commands all Men To seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof Mat. 6.33 Acts 8.22 And the Apostle exhorts Simon Magus himself though in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity yet pray says he if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee Do not therefore cheat your own Souls into Perdition by lazy Notions of Christ's Merits What though Christ hath merited yet God requires that you should work and labour to change your own Hearts and reform your own Lives but if you sit still expecting till the meriting Grace of Christ drop down into your Souls and of its own accord and change your Hearts truly it may be before that time you your selves may drop down into Hell with your old unchanged Hearts And this is the first thing Christ requires Secondly 2. Those that have Grace must Labour for Salvation Christ expects and requires that those that have Grace should put forth the utmost Strength and Power thereof in labouring after that Salvation that he hath purchased for them He hath merited Salvation for them but it is to be obtained by them through their own Labour and Industry Is not that which Christ hath already done sufficient for them Is it not enough that he hath reconciled them to God by the Blood of the Covenant that he hath made their Peace and procured their Pardon for them But must Christ Repent and Believe and Obey for them This is not to make him a Saviour but a Drudg He hath done what was meet and fit for a Mediatour to do He now requires of us what is meet for Sinners to do namely to Believe to Repent to be Converted and to Obey He now bids you Wash and be Clean and what would you have more Would you have the great Prophet come and strike off your Leprosy and you only mark the Cure and do nothing thereunto Or is it indeed enough that Salvation and Happiness is purchased that the way to Heaven is made passable that the Bolts and Bars of the new Jerusalem by Christ are broken off Alas what of all this thou mayest still be as far from Heaven and Glory as ever if thou dost not walk in the way that leads to it Still thou art as far from entring into Heaven as ever if thou dost not strive at the entrance into the strait Gate It is therefore in vain that Christ died it is in vain that thou art Justified it is in vain that thou art Adopted it is in vain that Heaven is prepared for thee Christ may keep Heaven and Glory and his Crowns and Robes for ever to himself unless as he hath purchased these great things for his People so also he hath purchased to himself a peculiar People Zealous of good Works A People who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Immortality and by that way obtain it Thus we see Christs doing all for us is no excuse for our doing nothing He hath indeed done all for us that belongs to him as a Mediatour meriting and procuring Grace and Salvation but he never intended to do all for us as to the conveying of them to us and making of them ours No that is still to be done by us And therefore tho Christ's Works alone were meritorious yet by the actings of Faith we must apply his Merit and by the acting of Obedience confirm them to our selves I might add also when Christ is said to obey the Law in our stead as well as to suffer in our stead Though his bearing the punishment of the Law by Death doth excuse and exempt us from suffering yet his obeying of the Law doth not excuse our Obedience unto the Law Christ obeyed the Law in a far different respect to the Obedience which is now required from us He obeyed as a Covenant of works we only as a Rule of Righteousness If he had failed in the least tittle he could not have purchased Life that was promised but we though we fall infinitely short in our Obedience may yet inherit that Life that Christ hath purchased Christ's Obedience was fully perfect yet ours is not derogatory thereunto because it proceeds from other grounds than Christ's did But I will not proceed further in this only conclude this Answer with two practical things in reference to this Question First So work with that Earnestness Constancy and Unweariedness in well doing as if thy Works alone were able to justifie and save thee Look with what Affection and Fervency you would pray if now God with a Voice from Heaven should tell you that for the next Prayer you make you should be either Saved or Damned Look with what Reverence and Attention you would Hear with what Spiritualness of Heart you would Meditate if your eternal State and Condition were to be determined and fixed by the next of those Duties that in this kind you were to perform with the same Fervency Affection and Spiritualness perform all the Obedience that you do Why should you not do so Are not Gods Commands as peremptory and as Authoritative for Obedience under the Covenant of Grace as they were under the Covenant of Works Is not Obedience of as absolute necessity now as ever though not to the same end and purpose And since the end of our Obedience is graciously changed doth not this chang lay a farther obligation of Gratitude upon us to obey God who requires it from us not as Merit but as Duty Still there is as great an obligation to obey now under the condition of the Covenant of Grace as ever there was while Mankind stood under the tenour of the Covenant of Works Certainly Christ's Merit was never given to slacken our Obedience and it is the most unworthy nay let me say it is the most accursed use that any Christian can make of them that from the Merit of Christ he shall take encouragement to grow more remiss and slack in Obedience Would you not therefore turn the Grace of God into Wantonness Would you not abuse the infinite Mercy of a Mediator Think with your selves how would I strive and struggle were I to stand or fall upon the account of my own Works and Duties use the same Diligence put forth the same Endeavours as indeed in that
follow them They rest from their Labours First They rest from their Labour in working under Affliction 1. No Affliction in Heaven Sometimes Afflictions are Spurs and Incentives and sometimes they are Burthens and Discouragements to Obedience But when we arrive at Heaven we shall no longer need the Spur to quicken us nor shall we any longer bare that Burthen to oppress us but cast it down at Heavens Gate where never Sorrow nor Suffering durst yet appear And 2. No Desertion in Heaven Secondly In Heaven you shall rest from your Labour in working under Desertion Now though you do work yet it may be you apprehend God frowning upon you and finding fault with all that you do Now it may be though God doth cause the clear Light of his Precepts and Spirit to shine before you to direct you what your Work is that you should do yet he makes it dismal Darkness behind you and shuts up the Light of his Comfort that you cannot see what Work you have done and this is your great Trouble you work and labour and yet you know not whether you shall be accepted Obedience were easy and pleasant Work says the Soul if I knew that God did regard me but alas I pray and he shuts out my Prayer from him I lay hold upon him but he shakes me off in displeasure I obey but he rejects all my Services and this is the Anguish and Torture of my Life This indeed is Matter of great Grief and Trouble But know Oh Soul thou shalt not long work thus in the dark shortly thou shalt be above these Clouds and then thou shalt see that those Prayers that thou thought'st were vainly scatter'd and lost in the Air are become a Cloud of sweet Incense hovering before the Throne of God And those Tears that thou thought'st were dropt in vain upon the Earth are all gathered up and preserved in God's Bottle And those poor Duties of thine that for their own meanness and vileness thou thought'st God would scorn yet thro' that worth that is put upon them by the Intercession of Christ are ranked in the same degree of Acceptation as the most perfect Services of the Angels themselves are Have but patience a while and continue working and thou shalt see a happy Issue when the Clouds of Darkness and Desertion that now lie upon thy Spirit shall be all scattered and blown away 3. In Heaven there is Rest from Sin Thirdly You shall also rest from your Labour in working against the continual Workings of your own Corruptions which shall then at once both cease to act and cease to be And this indeed is the great Thing that makes it such a blessed Rest to the People of God Indeed God cuts you out your Work in his Commands but it is the old Man within you that makes it to be tedious irksome and difficult unto you God makes it not so but your Corruption makes it so and this it doth two ways First By deadning your Heart to it And Secondly By turning your Heart against it Deadness and dulness to and averseness from the ways of holy Obedience are the greatest cause of all that Toil and Pains that most take in the Work and Service of God if ever they will bring it to a good issue Now both these shall shortly cease and be removed if you but wait and continue striving against them 1. In Heaven there is Rest from labouring with a dead heart in the ways of God First You shall rest from all that Labour that you take with a dead and heavy Heart in the ways of God Now you are continually calling upon it Awake awake my Glory now you are continually tugging of it to get it a little more forward lifting of it up to get it a little higher towards God and Heaven Now you stand in need of continual quickning Grace to actuate and excite those Lumps of Lead that lie heavy within your Breasts and it is the greatest disquietment of your Lives that you find your Hearts so heartless and listless to what is holy and spiritual It is with them as with some great Bells that you must pull long at the Rope before you can make them sound Is not this the daily Complaint of God's Children that their Hearts are dull and heavy and they cannot raise them and this makes the ways of Obedience yea this makes their very Lives become burthensome Well have but patience for a while and continue still to struggle against this sad Indisposition and it will not be long before you shall rest from this Labour also Though now you are as Birds whose Bodies are too heavy for their Wings when you stretch them forth and would fain be soaring up to Heaven you can only run up and down and flutter upon the Earth yet shortly these heavy and cloggy Bodies shall fall off and you shall be all Wing free from all Deadness and Straitness Distraction and Weariness in the Ways of God that now afflict you Then shall your Affections be always intent and not languish always burning and yet never waste nor consume every Motion of your Soul shall then shoot themselves to God as quick as the Lightning and yet constant as the Sun-beams And those who are now out-stript by weak and underling Christians shall then be able to keep pace in their Obedience even with the Holy Angels themselves 2. In Heaven there shall be a resting from the opposition of our Heart against Duty And then Secondly In Heaven there shall be a resting from all that Labour that the People of God now take in the ways of holy Obedience through the averseness of their Hearts from them and the opposition of their Hearts against them There is that contradiction in the carnal part against what is holy and spiritual that the Godly cannot bring themselves to the performance of it without much Strife and Contention the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and when the spiritual part calleth for holy Thoughts and heavenly Affections the corrupt and fleshy part sends forth noisome and stinking Vapours obstructing the Good that we would do and infecting that little Good that we do perform So that as if working were not a sufficient Imployment a Christian must Fight that he may Work and this is it that makes working for Salvation so laborious because we must Fight and Work at once But it shall not be long before that which hinders shall be removed and then as you are not under a sad necessity of offending God so also you shall be under a most blessed necessity of serving God and shall find no more trouble in that Service than in those Actions which you now cannot but do And thus shall you have a happy Rest from all that Labour and Pains that your Corruptions here made you take And therefore be incouraged to persevere in well-doing perfect the Work you have undertaken in spight of all opposition from your own corrupt Hearts
it shall be with so much more brightness and clearness that in comparison of the obscure and glimmering way whereby we know God here it may be called a seeing of him Face to Face and knowing him as we are known by him though to speak in absolute Propriety of Speech these things are not possible to any Creature Object 3 It may seem no small disparagement to God to be every-where present What! for the Glorious Majesty of God to be present in such vile and filthy Places as are here upon Earth Answ 1 To this I answer God doth not think it any disparagement to him nor think it unworthy of him to know and make all these which we call vile and filthy places why then should we think it unworthy of him to be present there God is a Spirit and is not capable of any pollution or defilement from any vile or filthy things The Sun-beams are no more tainted by shining on a Dunghil than they are by shining on a Bed of Spices no more can God be sullied by being present in filthy Sinks to speak with Reverence than to be in the glorious Heavens because he is a Spirit and his Essence is not subject to any taints from the Creature The vilest things that are have still a being that is good in their own kind and as well-pleasing to God as those things which we put a greater value and esteem upon Lastly It reflects no more dishonour upon God to be present with the vilest Creatures than to be present with the noblest and highest because the Angels are at an infinite distance from God There is a greater disproportion between God and the Angels than there is between the vilest Worm and an Angel all are at an infinite distance to his Glory and Majesty Thus much for the Objections APPLICATION Vse 1 First Is God thus infinitely present every-where and thus in and with all his Creatures then what an Encouragement is here unto Prayer Thou canst not say Alas I now pray but how shall God hear He is in Heaven above and I am on Earth below many Thousands of Miles distant from his presence How then shall my weak Whisperings that can scarce reach the Walls of mine own Closet ever be able to reach his Ear No God's Essential Presence is with thee wheresoever thou art as he is in Heaven it self and God is all Ear he can understand the silent Motions of thy Lips every-where yea he can understand the secret Motions of thy Heart When Hannah prayed for her Son Samuel Eli the Priest of God thought her Gesture did proceed from a distempered Head and not from an holy Heart but God was present with her Lips and that Prayer which was thought by the Priest of God to be but a dumb shew yet to God himself it was powerful Rhetorick and as loud as Thunder in his Ears The Scripture generally intimates that all our Prayers shall be directed to God in Heaven So Solomon prayed 1 Kings 8.32 Then hear thou in Heaven c. And it is again expressed in the 30th Verse So that most excellent Composure which Christ taught his Disciples in the beginning of it Our Father which art in Heaven it gives our thoughts a Lift to Heaven Now this doth not imply that God doth no where hear our Prayers but only in Heaven But how then Why is this Phrase used For these two Reasons First Because Heaven is the most glorious place there God especially hath established his Throne of Grace and sits upon it Now because it is most Glorious and Majestick and since God is there to hear Suits and receive Petitions that are tendred up by all his Servants here on Earth therefore the Scripture directeth us to that most glorious and celestial place Hear thou in Heaven Hence we have that Expression Acts 10.4 Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up for a Memorial before God Certainly if our Prayers should not be heard till they come to Heaven they are so weak and faint that they would be out of breath by the way and not be able then to speak for themselves But yet God speaks in us by his Spirit and keeps alive the Sense of his Majesty upon our Hearts that he would not have us think it to be a mean and trivial thing to have our Prayers heard therefore he represents himself to us Arrayed in all his Glory Secondly Our Prayers are directed to God in Heaven because though he hears them where-ever they be uttered yet he no where hears them with acceptation but in Heaven only Our Prayers are accepted by God because they are heard in Heaven Thy Prayers are not accepted by God because God hears them upon Earth as they are heard in thy Closet or as they are heard in thy Heart but only as they are heard in Heaven and the reason is because that Prayers are acceptable only as they are presented before God in the Mediation and Intercession of Jesus Christ He must mingle them with the Incense of his Merits before they can ascend up before God as a sweet Savour Now Christ performs his Mediatory Office no where but in Heaven for though as God he be every-where present as the Father is and therefore hears your Prayers wheresoever they be put up yet as Mediator they are only heard in Heaven by him and he hears no Prayers but the Prayers of his People as he is Mediator and therefore it is no comfort to you that Christ hears your Prayers as he is God only for so he doth and cannot but do it unless he hears your Prayers likewise as he is Mediator Now Christ as he is Mediator he is God-man for as he wrought out our Salvation in both Natures so he still continues to mediate for us in both Natures And since the Human Nature is only in Heaven therefore it follows he performs the Mediatory Office only in Heaven Now it is the Mediatorship of Christ alone that makes all our Prayers and Duties acceptable to God himself therefore it concerns us still to pray Lord hear us in Heaven It is in vain that thou hearest me on Earth unless thou hearest in Heaven too My Prayers cannot be heard acceptably unless thou hearest them twice thou hearest my Prayers on Earth not a Word of my Tongue but thou hearest but what will it avail thy Servant unless thou hearest my Prayers a second time repeated over to thee in the Intercession and Mediation of Jesus Christ in Heaven And therefore saith Solomon 1 Kings 8.34 Hear thou in Heaven and forgive When God shall only hear on Earth he will be so far from forgiving that he will be avenged but when he hears our Prayers in Heaven through the Mediation of Christ then he is inclined to forgive and pardon us Hence we find that the Jews prayed towards the Temple which was a Type of Heaven and the Altar and Incense and Mercy-seat in this Temple were Types of Christ who is now
Consciences have not these been the foolish Reasonings of your own Hearts Have you not often thus promised God and your own Consciences And doth not all this imply that you thought you had a Power to do it Why did you delay and put it off if you thought you had no Power to do it at last Wherefore thou art inexcusable O Man whoever thou art that wilt not work it is in Vain to plead thou wantedst Power God will confute thee by thy self and out of thy own Mouth What wilt thou say thou hadst no Power Why thou thoughtest that thou hadst Power and yet wouldst not work nor endeavour so to do and therefore thy Ruin if thou perishest is as wilful and thy Condemnation will be as Just as if thou hadst Power and wouldest not work And this is the Fourth Answer to this Objection Men do really believe that they have Power to work and therefore they are inexcusable if they will not endeavour to put it forth Fifthly Men will not plead so Foolishly no not in matters of far lower concernment than the Salvation of their Souls is Would a Master when he Commands his Servant to work take this as a sufficient Excuse for his Sloth and Idleness that he hath no Power to work till God Acts and Moves him Why this is a Truth that he cannot do it unless God inable him and it may as well be Objected by your Servants to you and with more Reason too than by you unto God Pray tell me what Power have I to Speak one Word or you to Hear one Word more unless God concurs to it Nay we are not sufficient to think as of our selves yet we do not make this an Excuse to forbear those Actions that are necessary Do we therefore resolve to do nothing because it is impossible for us to do any thing unless God concur What Stupid and dull Folly is this No but we put it plainly and hourly to the Trial and never could any one produce that Man that could ever say God was wanting to him in his concurrence when he would have done an Action What a miserable ridiculous Task would it be if in every Action of our Lives wherein we can do nothing without God we should still be questioning Gods concurrence with us When you Sit do you dispute whether God will inable you to Arise When you Walk do you every Step you take question whether God will concur to another Step No Men put these things to the Trial and though it be impossible that they should live move or stir till God act and move them yet this hinders not Mens endeavours no nor is it any matter of discouragment to them Now why should we not do so in Spirituals as well as in Temporals Are they not of greater Concernment Do they not more deserve the Trial It is true we can do nothing without God's concurrence yet let us put it to the trial whether or no God will not concur when we endeavour Certainly that Man must be for ever nameless that can say he was truly willing and did sincerely endeavour to do any good Thing and God did not inable him Sixthly Consider this altho' wicked Men had Power to work out their Salvation yet they would never do it and therefore it is a vain and most unreasonable pretence for Sloth to plead want of Power for had wicked Men Power they would never Obey But how can any one tell that What not obey if we had Power Why no and the Reason is this because there is no wicked Man in the World that hath done so much or that doth so much as he is able to do no not so much as he is able to do without special Grace and Assistance and therefore it is not Inability but wilful Sloth that destroys Men. Sinners ask your own Consciences this Question Was there not one Duty more that you could have performed Was there not one Temptation nor one Corruption more that you could have resisted Could you not have prayed and read and heard and meditated more upon Heavenly Things even then when your Hearts and Thoughts have been vain and worldly yea sinful and devilish Might not that time have been spent in holy Converse that you have trifled away in Idleness and in doing nothing or that which is worse than nothing What Force or Restraint is laid upon you Is there any Violence used to you Can you not think And if you can can you not think of God as well as of the Things of the World or think upon your Lusts Can you not Speak And if you can can you not speak of God of Heaven and the Concernments of another Life as well as of your Trade and Bargainings and other trivial Matters which are below a Man much more below a Christian What force is there put upon Sinners Doth the Devil screw open the Drunkards Mouth and pour down his intemperate Cups whether he will or no Doth the Devil violently move the black Tongue of the Blasphemer and Swearer to rend and tear the holy Name of God by horrid Oaths and Blasphemies Doth the Devil strike Men dumb when they should Pray or Deaf when they should Hear or Senseless when they should understand and ponder Is there any such force or violence used unto any Can you not avoid the one And can you not do the other if you will Yes you can but you will not and therefore neither would you work out your own Salvation if you could do it Is there any hopes that you would ever willingly do the greater who will not do the less Let your Impotency and Weakness be what it will your Damnation lies not upon it but upon your Wilfulness so long as your Wilfulness is greater than your Weakness No it is not upon your Impotency that your precious and immortal Souls perish eternally but it is only for lack of a Will to pity them and to save them Sinners wherefore then will you perish Why will you sleep away your Souls into Hell Will you go on drowsily to Destruction Shall your Souls be ready to burn as a Brand in unquenchable Fire and will you not stretch forth your Hand to snatch it out Is it more painful for you to Work than to be Damned Endeavour therefore to do what you can labour and sweat at Salvation rather than fail of it Let it not grate and fret your Consciences in Hell that you lie there for a wilful Neglect Object But should I labour should I endeavour should I work to my utmost should I do all that I am able to do I cannot work Grace in my self by all this to what purpose then should I work Answ However try God in this particular Did you ever know any who thus laboured and thus wrought that did not give very good Evidence of a Work of Grace wrought upon their Hearts And why then should you suspect that you should be the first What reason have you
careful flight and aversion of it 1. There is in Fear a doubtfulness and uncertainiy of the Event Three things in Fear and this is a Torment when a Man is wrackt in Suspense and Doubt what to expect 1. A doubtfulness of the Event whether or no the Vengeance of God will not fall heavy upon him whether or no he be not Fuel on which this consuming Fire will for ever prey Now this is not that Fear to which the Apostle in this Text exhorts us to serve God withal no to Serve God with Reverence and godly Fear is not to serve him with a doubtful anxious and solicitous Fear of what the Event may prove nay such a Fear as this is is inconsistent with actual Assurance and those who are perplexed with it cannot say we have a Kingdom nor cannot fear their God as a consuming Fire There may be a genuine awful Fear of God as a consuming Fire where there is not the least doubt remaining concerning our final State where the Soul is fully assured that God will be to him not a Fire to consume him but a Sun to cherish him for ever I will give you one or two remarkable Scriptures to this purpose Heb. 4.1 In Heb. 4.1 Let us fear says the Apostle lest a Promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it Here the Apostle quickens them to the exercise of Holiness from the fear of falling short of Heaven yea though they had assurance by Gods Promise of it lest a Promise being left us of entring into his Rest yet you should fall short of it And so the Apostle triumphs in his Assurance 2 Cor. 5.1 in 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that we have an House eternal in the Heavens and yet in Verse 11. he quickens himself to the discharge of his Ministerial Office from the Fear of Gods Wrath Knowing the Terrors of the Lord we persuade Men. Though he was assured of Glory yet he quickens himself to the discharge of his Ministeral Function by the Fear of Gods Wrath. So that it is evident there may be a Fear of Gods Wrath exciting unto Duty where yet there is a full Assurance beyond all doubting and hesitation of escaping Wrath. So that this is not that Fear that the Apostle excites them that have assurance unto 2. There is a Fear of Terrour 2. There is in Fear a Terror arising from the Evil feared a shivering in the Soul upon the apprehension of the greatness of the Evil feared but avoided too and this is consistent with full Assurance Thus the Terror of past Dangers sometimes causeth as much Terror as if we were again to encounter with them So when Believers look back upon that Wrath and fiery Indignation that they have narrowly escaped upon that Lake of Brimstone that boils and burns behind them wherein thousands of others are for ever swallowed up this cannot but affect them with a holy Horror and Fear of Gods Wrath against Sinners though they have full assurance of his Love 3. There is also in Fear a flight and aversation from the Evil feared 3. There is in Fear a flight and aversation of the Evil feared and this also is consistent with full assurance Noah had full assurance from the Promise of God for his preservation from the Deluge and yet it is said That Noah being moved with fear built him an Ark. Full assurance to escape Evil is far from hindring as some calumniate it the use of means to prevent that Evil yea the assurance that we have to escape Hell and Wrath is of the greatest and most effectual influence to make us careful to use those means whereby we may escape it See this in 2 Cor. 7.1 Having these promises 2 Cor. 7.1 let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God So in Tit. 2.11 12. The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation teacheth us to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ So in 1 John 3.3 Every one that hath this Hope in him purifieth himself as God is pure Thus you see what Fear it is the Apostle exhorts Believers to who have a Kingdom not a Fear of perplexing Doubtfulness but such as is consistent with their full assurance that is so to fear the Wrath of God as to have our Hearts affected with Terror at the greatness and insupportableness of that Wrath though they have escaped it and to fear so as to avoid all Sin and all that exposeth to that Wrath in these two Senses they that are assured that God is their God ought to fear him as a consuming Fire Secondly 2. Why Believers who are assured of Gods love ought to fear him as a consuming Fire Let us now see upon what Grounds and Considerations a Believer who is assured of Gods love and favour to him ought yet to fear him as a consuming Fire And First The consideration of that mighty and dreadful Power that God puts forth in the punishing and afflicting of the damned 1. Because of that Power that he puts forth in punishing of the damned this may strike Fear into the Hearts of those that are fully assured of Gods love and favour to them Such a Fear as this is the holy Angels themselves have tho' they are secured by Christ in that blessed State and Condition that they enjoy yet to see God stripping and making bare his Arm to lay on weighty strokes of everlasting Vengeance upon their Fellow Angels that are fallen makes them to tremble and stand astonished at the Almighty Power of God and this keeps them at a due distance in their Thoughts and Apprehensions of his dreadful Majesty And should it not much more make us to tremble with an awful respect of the Power of God to consider how he crusheth and breaks the Damned in Hell by his own Almighty Arm stretched out in the full Power of his Wrath to their everlasting Destruction It is from this Power of God that Christ himself enforceth the Fear of God Mat. 20.28 Fear him who is able to destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Though God should assure you that he would never destroy you in Hell yet because he is able to do it therefore you should fear him 2. Because of Gods Wrath and Severity Secondly This Fear may arise in the Hearts of the Children of God who are most assured of his Love from the consideration of the Wrath and dreadful Severity of God as well as of his Power If a Father corrects his Slave in his Wrath this will cause Fear and Dread in the Son though he knows that Wrath shall never fall upon him So when a Child of God who is assured of the tender love and favour of God to himself yet when he sadly considers that Wrath and Indignation that is in
them from the sorest Torments that others shall for ever suffer 4. Slavish Fear is preparatory to and inductive of filial Fear Fourthly This slavish Fear is Isagogical that is it is preparatory to and inductive of a filial and holy Fear of God We usually fear God first as a revenging Judge before we come to fear him with a reverential filial Fear as a reconciled Father As the Poet of Old fabulously fansied that the Giants heaped Mountain upon Mountain that they might scale Heaven This is true in Christianity the way to climb Heaven is by laying one Mountain upon another even Mount Sion upon Mount Sinai Those commonly prove the most stable and stayed Christians that have been most harrassed by legal Terrors before they enjoy the sense of Comfort for the Structure of Grace in the Heart is quite contrary to other Buildings it stands firmest when it is laid upon a shaking and trembling Foundation It is a Seed that never thrives so well as where the Heart is most broken up and where the Wrath of God hath made long and deep Furrows in it Well now to conclude this methinks what hath already been spoken should fill the Heart of every carnal Wretch with Fear methinks this should make them cry out with those Sinners in Sion Isa 33.14 Isa 33.14 Who among us shall dwell with devouring Fire Who among us shall dwell with everlasting Burnings Can the Drunkard hear these things and yet put his intemperate Cups to his Mouth with a steady Hand Can the Swearer hear these things and yet his Tongue move steady in his Mouth and not tremble when he raps out Oaths Certainly how secure and confident soever Men may now be yet there is a time coming when the Wrath of God shall melt down their Hearts like Wax in the midst of their Bowels Death is a thundring Preacher and it will make you fear the dreadful Representations of that fiery Indignation that shortly it will display before your Eyes in all its Terrors Oh! when your Eyes shall swim in the Night and in the Dark and it cannot be long first when you shall meet with those dreadful Shapes and Visions of a flaming Hell and a more flaming God it will be too late then to Fear and alas it will be too late then to Hope God will then laugh at your Calamity and mock at you when this unseasonable Fear cometh Be persuaded therefore to entertain a Fear of God at last though but a slavish Fear this is the preparation that the Holy Ghost works in the Heart in order to a filial and a holy Fear of God Use 2 Secondly Another Use that we may make of this Point is this If God be a consuming Fire how highly doth it concern us to look out for a Screen that may fence us from those everlasting Burnings We are Stubble and Fuel fully prepared our Sins have made us so and for us to stand it out against God is no other than for dried Stubble to challenge the devouring Fire Now God that he might not break forth upon us and destroy us hath himself prepared a Screen to hide and shelter us from this flaming Wrath and that is Christ the Mediator We have a lively Type of this in Aaron Numb 16.48 Numb 16.48 when the rebellious Israelites mutined against Moses God did suddenly break forth upon them and slew almost fifteen hundred thousand of them Dead upon the Place As Fire runs on a Train of Powder so did this Wrath of God pass swiftly from one to another till Aaron interposed and stopt it there stood that mighty Priest as a Bulwark betwixt the living and the dead and intercepted the rest from this destroying Wrath and though it overwhelmed so many Thousands yet it could not bear down his powerful Intercession he alone was the Fence and Safeguard of a perishing People Christ upon the Cross maintains the same Station interposing betwixt the Living and the Dead the Wrath of God consumes all before it that is not under the Protection of that Screen there it stops and though it seized fiercely upon him too yet it never burnt through him to reach those that fled for Security to that Refuge set before them In a general Conflagration even Chaff and Stubble may be secure under the Covert of an Adamantine Wall Though all the Wicked of the World shall burn together and all Believers be in themselves as combustible Matter as they yet Christ interposeth as a Wall of Adamant betwixt Stubble and Stubble and when the Wrath of God hath consumed the one he stands and keeps off the Impressions of it from the other Indeed there is a Wall that stands betwixt God and every wicked Man but it is a Wall of Partition as the Apostle calls it Ephes 2.14 Eph. 2.14 it is a Wall that separates them from the Love and Favour of God and hides his Face from them A Partition of dry and rotten Boards may keep off the Light and kindly Influences of the Sun but it is no Fence against the Rage of Fire but rather encreaseth and augments it So wicked Men are separated from the Love and Favour of God by their Sins Isa 59.2 Your Iniquities have separated betwixt you and your God yea and they keep off his cherishing Influences but they contribute to his fiery Wrath. Why now Christ is a Wall of Defence that separates his from the Wrath and Indignation of God A Wall of Crystal is a safe Defence against the force of Fire yet is it no obstruction to the warm Beams and cherishing Light of the Sun Such a Crystal Wall is Christ that keeps off God's fiery Indignation from us but yet conveys to us the cherishing and reviving Influences of his Love Let me now persuade and prevail with you to betake your selves to this shelter The same Storm of Fire and Brimstone that destroyed Sodom hovers over all the Wicked of the World and we are as Lot still lingring behind let me therefore hasten you as the Angel did him to your Zoar to get under the Protection of Christ whether the fiery Indignation of God cannot pursue you In the former Instance when the Israelites saw so many of their Fellows slain by an un-perceived Stroke what running and crowding was there think you to get behind the Priest Why we are all in the same Danger but we have a more prevalent High-Priest There are Thousands dying and perishing under the Wrath of God and shall not we then with Fear and Trembling press close behind our High Priest that by him we may be hid from this consuming Fire Use 3 Thirdly The next Vse shall be to exhort you to a holy Fear and Reverence of this great and terrible God I lately gave you several Considerations enough to daunt the boldest Sinners and to bring them at least to a slavish Fear Be persuaded now to advance it a Degree higher and to over-awe your Hearts with a holy filial
of Love and Sweetness the Soul is ready to faint away and dissolve with Joy This is that continual Feast as the wise Man calls it that a good Conscience entertains a Christian with where all is transacted with a still and noiseless Mirth 5. It is the best Comfort and Support in the midst of Dangers Fifthly A clear Conscience is the best comfort and support when Fears Troubles and Dangers are on every side encompassing us about It is a blessed Thing when we have Trouble without to have Peace within in our own Bosoms then to have Peace with God and Peace with our selves And therefore says Christ John 16.33 These Things have I spoken unto you that in me ye might have Peace in the World you shall have Tribulation A strange Paradox but indeed a Christian is made up of such strange Paradoxes as Sorrowful yet always Rejoycing as Poor himself yet making many Rich as having Nothing and yet Possessing all Things as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 6.10 Here is Tribulation in the World and yet here is Peace also When once the great and bloody Quarrel betwixt God and the Soul is taken up and compounded when we are reconciled to God and thereby our Consciences become reconciled to us all the Enmity and Persecution of the World are but little peltring Differences that cannot disturb that solid and inviolable Peace that a Christian enjoys This is that Peace that as the Friendship of the World cannot give so neither can the Enmity of the World ever take away My Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you let not your Hearts be troubled It is observable of Josiah 2 Kings 22.20 God promised there by the Mouth of Huldah the Prophetess that he should be gathered to his Grave in Peace and yet in the next Chapter Verse 29. it is said there That he was slain in the War which he undertook against Pharoah Necho King of Egypt he was slain in War and yet died in Peace and no wonder for whosoever dies in Peace with God and in Peace with his own Conscience dies peaceably though he dies in the midst of Wars and Tumults Sixthly 6. It is an unspeakable Comfort in a dying hour A clear Conscience affords sweet and unspeakable Comfort in a dying hour When all Things must take their leave of us and we of them when Death is setting all its Terrors in Array against us O what a blessed Support will it then be to the departing Soul standing on Tip-toe ready to take its Flight into Eternity to be able to make that Appeal which Hezekiah doth Isa 38.3 Isa 38.3 Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth with a perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Such a Testimony as this is at such a time as this is is worth Heaven and Glory it self this is to have Heaven let down into us one hour and to be our selves taken up into Heaven the next hour Now possibly Men may frolick away their Days in Sin and Vanity and live as if they should never give an account but believe it the Day and Hour is coming and it will come wherein Conscience will begin to open its Eyes when it may be their Friends stand round about them to close theirs and then it will see these horrid Shapes of Death and Hell and Wrath eternal such as while they were secure Sinners they never imagined and now that they are awakned Sinners and possibly awakned too late too they can never escape If therefore you would enjoy Peace and Serenity in your Death and â—ave the Testimony of your Consciences to carry with you to shew to your Judge for your Acquittance be sure then to cherish a good Conscience in your Life-time Now it may be Conscience may be bribed to give in a false and flattering Testimony but when Eternity is in its view it will then speak Truth and O thrice happy are they to whom a true Conscience becomes then an excusing Conscience And so much for the third Thing propounded namely of what concernment it is to labour to keep Consciences void of Offence Fourthly the next Thing propounded was To give you some Rules and Directions how you may get and also how you may keep clear and inoffensive Consciences Object But you will say It is in vain to give Rules for that which is impossible to be done Doth not the wise Man challenge all the World upon this Point Prov. 20.9 Who can say I have made my Heart clean I am pure from my Sins Never did the raging Sea cast up more Mire and Filth than the Heart of Man doth and as soon may we empty the vast Waters of the great Deep and scour the bottom of it from all its Dirt and Mud as attempt to keep Conscience clear into which a sinful Heart is continually emptying and pouring out its Filth and Mire Answ To this I Answer Were it impossible yet there is no release to our Obligation We are commanded To be holy even as God is holy whose infinite Purity is such as stains the Heavens themselves and puts the glorious Angels out of Countenance This Perfection is much more impossible for us who are but Lumps of Dirt mingled and kneaded together with Sin than for a thick Clod of Earth to be as transparent as the Sun that shines but yet these accessive Commands have a use in them even to raise up our Endeavors to a higher pitch and strain than if we were commanded only somewhat that were within our own Power as he that aims at a Star is like to shoot higher than he that aims only at a Turf Thus though it were impossible to keep clean Consciences void of Offence both towards God and Men according to the exactness of God's Command yet he that is careful to avoid all Pollutions both of Flesh and Spirit shall certainly have a much cleaner Conscience by far than he that wallows in those Sins In a foul way it is perhaps impossible to keep our selves from being bespatered with Dirt yet he that walks warily and carefully comes cleaner home than he that tumbles and rolls himself in it But yet this Duty is not impossible it is indeed difficult to keep a clear Conscience but yet it is a thing that is faesible And in general there are two ways to keep our Consciences clear either by preserving them from being defiled or else by cleansing them when they are defiled First We may keep our Consciences clear by preserving them from being defiled You will say How can this be Is there any Man living says the wise Man that doth good and sinneth not And doth not every Sin leave behind it a spot and stain upon the Face of Conscience How then can we keep them clear I Answer Sins are of two sorts there are Sins that are Crimes and there are Sins that are but Faults Crimes I call those Sins