the Lord Jesus Christ now the Church leans her self all upon her Husband she walked along with him but he bare all the burthen Cast all your care upon him saith Peter for he careth for you 1 Pet. 5. 7. the Original is Hurl your care upon the Lord The Lord will not thank you for carrying your cares and troubles about you he requires that you Hurl them upon him for he careth for you Fourthly it draws vertue and derives power from the Lord Jesus Christ for succor and supplies and here is the especial life of Faith it goes for mercy and grace and comfort in Christ he knows 't is to be had from him and therefore he fetcheth all from him With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation Isa. 12. 3. The fountain of Salvation is Christ and all the waters of life of grace and mercy are in Christ Jesus Now it is not enough to let down the bucket into the well but it must be drawn out also it is not enough to come to Christ but we must draw the water of grace from Christ to our selves They shall suck and be satisfied saith Isaiah with the breasts of her consolations that they may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory The Church is compared to a childe and the breasts are the Promises of the Gospel now the Elect must suck out and be satisfied with it the word in the Original is Exact upon the Promise and oppress the Promise as the Oppressor grindes the face of a poor man so with an holy kinde of oppression you should exact from the Promise and get what good you may from it Fifthly Faith leaves the soul with the Promise yea notwithstanding all delays denyals discouragements from God faith brings on the heart still it will be sure to lie at the gate and keep the soul with the promise whatever befalls it Excellent is that passage Gen. 32. 26. when the Lord and Jacob were wrestling Let me go saith the Lord I will leave thee to thy self I care not what becomes of thee No I will not let thee go until thou hast blessed me saith Jacob So the faithful soul lays hold upon the Lord for Mercy Pardon Power and Grace and though the Lord seem to give him up to the torment of Sin and Corruption yet the soul saith Though my soul go down to hell I will hold here for Mercy till the Lord comfort and pardon and subdue graciously these cursed corruptions which I am not able to master my self As it is with a Sun-dyal the needle is ever moving and a man may jog it this way and that way yet it will never stand still till it come to the North-point So when the Lord leaves off a believing heart with frowns and with the expression of displeasure and the soul turns to the Lord Christ and will never leave till it go God-ward and Christ-ward and Graceward and saith Let the Lord do what he please I will go no further till he be pleased to shew Mercy Thus the soul once come to Christ it will never away but ever cleaves to the Promise and is towards God and Christ whatsoever befalls it But poor soul art thou yet shut up in Unbelief do then as the Prisoners in New-gate what lamentable cryes do they utter to every Passenger by So do thou look out from the gates of Hell and from under the bars of Infidelity and cry that God would look on thee in mercy and say Spare Lord a poor unbelieving wretch lockt up under the bars of Vnbelief good Lord succor and deliver in thy due time David could say Let the sighing of prisoners come up before thee that indeed was meant of bodily imprisonment yet the argument prevails much in regard of the Spiritual Good Lord let the sighing of prisoners come up before thee let the sighing of poor distrustful souls come up before thy Majesty O send help from heaven and deliver the soul of thy servant from these wretched distempers of heart Is there no cause thus to pray He that believeth not saith our Savior is condemned already He is cast in heaven and earth by the Law and Gospel there is no relief for him abiding in this condition lay this under thy pillow and say How can I sleep and be a condemned man What if God should take away my life this night Alas I never knew what it was to be illightned or wounded for sin I can commit sin and play with sin but I never knew what it was to be wounded for sin I never knew what it was to be zealous in a good cause O I confess I have no faith at all Beloved would you yield this then were there some hopes that you might get out of this condition and state to have a sense of its want to go to the Lord by prayer and to ask hearty counsel of some faithful Minister are the first steps to obtain it And to help a poor wretch in this case O you that are gracious go your ways home and pray for him Brethren let us leave preaching and hearing and all of us fall to praying and mourning In truth I condemn my own soul because I have not an heart to mourn for him we reprove his sin and condemn him of his sin and we must do so but where are the heart-blood petitions that we put up for such a one Where are the tears that we make for the slain of our people You tender-hearted Mothers and you tender-hearted Wives if your children or husbands be in this woful case O mourn for them let your hearts break over them and say O wo is me for my children O wo is me for that poor husband of mine Or secondly hast thou gotten faith then labor to husband this grace well and to improve it for thy best good It is a marvellous shame to see those that are born to fair means I mean the poor Saints of God that have a Right and Title to Grace and Christ and yet to live at such an under-rate I would have you to live above the world for the Lord doth not grudge his people of comfort but would have them live chearfully and have strong consolations and mighty assurance of Gods love Is there not cause why faith if it be right will make the life of a Christian most easie most comfortable Unfaithful souls sink in their sorrows upon every occasion but faith gives ease to a man in all his conversation 1. Because faith hath a skill and a kinde of flight to put over all cares to another We take up the Cross but faith hurls all the care on Christ an easie matter it is to lie under the burthen when another bears all the weight of it Look how it is with two Ferry-men the one hales his Boat about the shore and cannot get off but tugs and pulls and never puts her forth to
am afraid therefore to approach near unto the Lords presence Is it so hear what the Lord saith Come unto me ye rebellious people and I will heal your rebellions You that never prayed never came to hear all Rebels come unto me and then the people answer Behold we come unto thee for thou art our God This is great encouragement to a poor sinner he begins now to wonder and say Lord shall all my sins be pardoned shall all my oathes and abominations be forgiven I that slighted so many mercies and committed so many follies shall I be entertained Yes saith the Lord come unto me and thou shalt be forgiven come I command you come 3. The Lord doth not onely command a poor sinner to come in but when he is nice in this case saying There is mercy with God but not for me the Lord then followeth him still and sends another cord after him that if it be possible he may win him and woo him to receive mercy of him If command therefore prevail not he intreats and beseeches him to come and receive mercy and this me thinks should move the hardest heart under heaven We saith the Apostle are embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be reconciled unto God rather then you should go away from Christ even Mercy it self will come and kneel down before you and beseech you and intreat you for the Lord Jesus sake to pity your poor souls and to receive pardon for your sins A sinner is not able to comprehend this but he begins to be at a stand and at amazement What that the Lord should beseech him O that thou wouldst receive pardon for thy sins and be blessed for ever Good Lord saith the Soul is this possible that the great King of Heaven should come and beseech such a Traytor such a Rebel as I am to take pardon That a King on Earth should proclaim a pardon to some notorious Traytor this were much but that the King of Heaven should lay down his Crown and come creeping to me and beseech me on his knee as it were to take mercy this is a thing beyond all expectation What shall Heaven stoop to earth shall Majesty stoop to misery shall the great God of Heaven and Earth that might have condemned my soul and if I had perished and been damned might have took glory by my destruction Is it possible is it credible that this God should not onely entertain me when I come and command me for to come but intreat and beseech me to come and receive mercy from him O the depth of the incomprehensible love of God! Imagine you saw God the Father intreating you and God the Son beseeching you as he doth this day Come now and forsake your sins and take mercy which is prepared for you and shall be bestowed upon you Would not this make a soul think thus with it self What for a Rebel not onely to have mercy offered but to be intreated to receive mercy it were pity if I will not take it but I should go to Hell and be damned for ever The Lord he complains Why will ye dye as I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of a sinner Turn ye turn ye why will ye dye ye sinful Sons of men Mercy is offered you the Lord Jesus reacheth out his hand to you fain would he pluck the Drunkard out of the Alehouse and the Adulterer from his Whore O if you break this cord I know not what to say to you this is able to break a Mountain in pieces Shake O Mountains saith the Prophet Why because God hath redeemed Jacob The Redemption of Jacob was enough to break a Mountain let his Mercy break our hearts it is God that begs the blessing is our own 4. If yet all this prevail nothing at all the Lord will then wait and stay in long patience and suffering to see if any time a sinner will turn unto him Our Savior follows poor sinners from Alehouse to Alehouse and says I beseech you Drunkards take mercy and have your sins pardoned The Lord as we may say tires himself and wearieth himself with waiting one day after another and one week after another It may be saith Christ this week this Sabbath this Sermon a sinner will turn unto me what will it never be Are you not ashamed my friends that the Lord Jesus should thus wait your leisure and follow you from house to house and from place to place nay that Christ should every morning appear to your understanding and every night come to your bed-side saying Let this be the last night of sinning and the next day the first day of your repentance O when will you be humbled when will you receive mercy that it may go well with you and with yours for ever If none of the other will move you yet for shame let this cord draw you to the Lord Hear hear his doleful pangs O Jerusalem Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean O when will it once be A woman that is in travel O how she expects and longs for her delivery I now a throb comes and then she cryes anon comes a second throb and then she cryes again O when comes deliverance Thus God the Father takes on him the person of a travelling woman he travels and travels until he bring forth a son until some soul be converted and brought home unto him O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean when will it once be I have waited one ten twenty thirty forty years long have I waited on this generation when will it once be The Lord thus travels in patience looking when we will receive mercy will never our proud hearts be humbled will never our stubborn hearts be softned will never our prophane hearts be sanctified when will it once be Christ hath waited this day this week this moneth this quarter this year these ten twenty thirty forty years on us You old sinners that are gray-headed in your wickedness how long hath the Lord waited on you O for shame let him wait no longer but turn turn ye unto him that ye may receive mercy from him Thirdly if bonds of love move not the Lord hath iron cords that will pluck in pieces to wit the cords of Conscience which thus disputes He that being often reproved doth still harden his heart shall perish everlastingly But thou being often reproved dost still harden thy heart therefore thou shalt perish everlastingly In this Syllogism are contained the Monition Accusation Condemnation of Conscience In the first Proposition Conscience gives the sinner a Monition to come from sin upon pain of the heaviest Judgement that can be inflicted It is the Lord that sends the Conscience on this errand Go to such a man and tell him You have blasphemed Gods Name and you have spoken against Gods Saints and you have broken Gods Sabbaths and you have contemned
through his heart and he is breathing out his sorrow as though he were going down to hell and he saith If there be any mercy any love any fellowship of the Spirit have mercy upon me a poor creature that am under the burthen of the Almighty O pray and pity these wounds and vexations of Spirit which no man findes nor feels but he that hath been thus wounded It is a sign of a soul wholly devoted to destruction that hath a desperate disdain against poor wounded creatures Is it possible there should harbor such a Spirit in any man if the Devil himself were incarnate I cannot conceive what he could do worse 2. If ever thou wouldst be comforted and receive mercy from God labor never to be quiet till thou dost bring thy heart to a right pitch of sorrow thou hast a little slight sorrow but Oh! labor to have thy heart truly touched that at last it may break in regard of thy many distempers remember the longer seed-time the greater harvest Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted but wo to you that are at ease in Zion Thou hadst better now be wounded then everlastingly tormented and therefore if thou desirest to see Gods face with comfort if thou wouldst hear Christ say Come thou poor heavy-hearted sinner I will ease thee Labor to lay load on thy heart with sorrow for thy sin O what a comfort shall a poor broken heart finde in that day SECT. 5. The extent of this Sorrow HItherto of Contrition the next work is Humiliation which differs from the other not in substance but circumstance For Humiliation as I take it is onely the extent of Sorrow for Sin of which we have spoken and it contains these two Duties 1. Submission 2. Contentedness to be at the Lords disposal The first part of Humiliation is Submission which is wrought thus The sinner having now had a Sight of his Sins and a Sorrow in some measure for Sin he seeks far and wide improves all means and takes up all Duties that if it were possible he might heal his wounded soul Thus seeking and seeking but finding no succor in what he hath or doth he is forced at last in his despairing condition to make tryal of the Lord It is true for the present he apprehends God to be just and to be incensed against him he hath no experience of Gods favor for the while no certainty how he shall speed if he go to the Lord yet because he sees he cannot be worse then he is and that none can help him but God if it would please him therefore he falls at the footstool of Mercy and he lies grovelling at the gate of Grace and submits himself to the Lord to do with him as pleaseth himself or as it seemeth good in his eyes This was the Ninevites case when Jonah had denounced that heavy Judgement and as it were thrown wilde fire about the streets saying Within forty days Niniveh shall be destroyed See what they resolved upon They fasted and prayed and put on sackcloth and ashes who can tell said they but God may turn and repent him of his fierce wrath that we perish not as if they had said We know not what God will do but this we know that we cannot oppose his Judgements nor succor our selves Thus it is with a sinner when he seeth hell fire to flash in his face and that he cannot succor himself then he saith This I know that all the means in the world cannot save me yet who can tell but the Lord may have mercy on me and cure his tdistressed Conscience and heal all these wounds that sin hath made in my soul This is the lively picture of the soul in this case Or for a further light this Subjection discovers it self in four particulars First he seeth and confesseth that the Lord for ought he knows will proceed in Justice against him and execute upon him those Plagues that God hath threatned and his Sins have deserved he seeth that Justice is not yet satisfied and those reckonings between God and him are not yet made up and therefore he cannot apprehend but that God will take vengeance on him What else when he hath done all he can he is unprofitable still Justice remains unsatisfied and saith Thou hast sinned and I am wronged and therefore thou shalt dye Secondly he conceives that what God will do that he will do and he cannot avoid it if the Lord will come and require the glory of his Justice against him there is no way to avoid it nor to bear it and this crusheth the heart and makes the soul to be beyond all shifts and evasions whereby it may seem to avoid the dint of the Lords blow Thirdly he casts away his weapons and falls down before the Lord and resigns himself into the soveraign power and command of God Thus David when the Lord cast him out of his Kingdom he said to Zadock Carry back the Ark of God into the City if I shall finde favor in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me back again and shew me both it and his Habitation But if he thus say to me I have no delight in thee behold here I am let him do with me as seemeth good in his eyes This is the frame of a poor soul when a poor sinner will stand upon his priviledges the Lord saith Bear my Justice and defend thy self by all thou hast or canst do and the soul answereth I am thy Servant Lord do what is good in thine eyes I cannot succor my self Fourthly the soul freely acknowledgeth That it is in Gods power to do with him and dispose of him as he will and therefore he lies and licks the dust and cryes Mercy mercy Lord he thinks not to purchase Mercy at the Lords hands but onely saith It is in Gods good pleasure to do with him as he will onely he looks for favor and cryes Mercy Lord mercy to this poor distressed soul of mine O replies the Lord dost thou need mercy Cannot thy Hearing and Praying and Fasting carry thee to heaven without hazard Gird up now thy loyns and make thy ferventest Prayers and let them meet my Justice and see if they can bear my Wrath or purchase any Mercy No no saith the sinner I know it by lamentable experience that all my prayers and performances will never procure peace to my soul nor give my satisfaction to thy Justice I onely pray for Mercy and I desire onely to hear some News of Mercy to relieve this miserable wretched soul of mine it is onely Mercy that must help me O Mercy if it be possible to this poor distressed soul of mine Me thinks the picture of those poor famished Lepers may â—itly resemble this poor sinner when the Famine was great in Samaria There were four leprous men sate in the gate of the City and they said Why sit we here until we dye if we enter into
step one step towards Heaven then go to him who is able to work this desire in thy soul It is the complaint of a Christian O they are troubled because they cannot fetch a good desire from their own souls and one falls another sinks a third shakes and they are overwhelmed with discouragement What a wretched heart have I faith one I grace No no the world I can desire the life of my childe I long for and I say with Rachel Let me have honor or else I dye but I cannot long for the unconceivable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ and will the Lord shew any mercy upon me Is it thus remember now desires grow not in thy garden they spring not from the root of thy abilities O seek unto God and confess In truth Lord it is thou from whom come all our desires it is thou must work them in us as thou hast promised them to us and therefore Lord quicken thou this soul and inlarge this heart of mine for thou onely art the God of this desire Thus hale down a desire from the Lord and from the Promise for there onely must thou have it The smoaking flax God will not quench flax will not smoak but a spark must come into it and that will make it catch fire and smoak thus lay your hearts before the Lord and say Good Lord here is onely flax here is onely a stubborn heart but strike thou by thy Promise one spark from heaven that I may have a smoaking desire after Christ and after grace SECT. 5. A Love of Christ VVE have run through two affections Hope Desire and the next is Love A possible good stirs up Hope a necessary excellency in that good setleth Desire and a rellish in that good setled kindles Love Thus is the order of Gods work If the good be absent the understanding saith It is to be desired O that I had it then it sends out Hope and that waits for that good and stays till it can see it and yet if that good cannot come then Desire hath another proper work and it goes up and down wandring and seeketh and sueth for Christ Jesus After this if the Lord Jesus be pleased to come himself into the view of the heart which longeth thus after him then Love leads him into the soul and tells the Will of him saying Lo here is Jesus Christ the Messiah that hath ordered these great things for his Saints and people The Motive or ground of this Love is Gods Spirit in the Promise letting in some intimation of Gods love into the soul thus Psal. 42. 8. The Lord will command his loving kindeness in the day time This is a phrase taken from Kings and Princes and great Commanders in the field whose words of Command stand for Laws so the Lord sends out his loving kindeness and saith Go out my everlasting love and kindeness take a Commission from me and to go that humble thirsty and hunger-bitten sinner and go and prosper and prevail and settle my love effectually upon him and fasten my mercy upon him I command my loving kindeness to do it Thus the Lord doth put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness that it shall do good to the poor soul yea though it withdraw it self saying What I mercy will Christ Jesus accept of me No no there is no hope of mercy for me indeed if I could pray thus hear thus and perform Duties with that enlargement and had those parts and abilities then there were some comfort but now there is no hope of mercy for me We demand Is this your case is it thus and thus are you thus humbled and have you thus longed for the riches of his Mercy in Christ Lo then the Lord hath put a Commission into the hands of his loving kindeness saying Go to that poor soul and break open the doors upon that weary weltering heart and break off all those bolts and rend off that veil of ignorance and carnal Reason and all those Arguments Go I say to that soul and chear it and warm it and tell it from me That his sins are pardoned and his soul shall be saved and his sighs and prayers are heard in heaven and I charge you do the work before you come again Here is the ground of Love Gods love affecting the heart and setled upon it it breeds a love to God again We love him because he loved us first The burning-glass must receive heat of the beams of the Sun before it burn any thing so there must be a beam of Gods love to fall upon the soul before it can love God again I drew them with the cords of a man even with the bands of love God lets in the cords of love into the soul and that draws love again to God He brought me into the banqueting-house and his banner over me was love stay me with flaggons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love When the banner of Christs love is spread over the soul the soul comes to be sick in love with Christ Now this love of God doth beget our love in three particulars First there is a sweetness and a rellish which Gods love lets into the soul and warms the heart with you shall see how the fire is kindled by and by As when a man is fainting we give him Aqua-vitae so a fainting sinner is cold at the heart and therefore the Lord lets in a drop of his loving kindeness and this warms the heart and the soul is even filled with the happiness of the mercy of God Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth saith the Spouse in the Canticles for his love is better then wine The kisses of his mouth are the comforts of his Word and Spirit the soul saith O let the Lord refresh me with the kisses of his mouth let the Lord speak comfort to my heart and this is better then wine Secondly as that sweetness warms the heart so the freeness of the love of God let in and intimated begins even to kindle this love in the soul that it sparkles again God setteth out his love towards us seeing that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us This commends the love of God the Lord sends to poor and miserable sinful broken-hearted sinners and saith Commend my mercy to such a one and tell him That though he hath been an enemy to me yet I am a friend to him and though he hath been rebellious against me yet I am a God and Father to him When the poor sinner considers this with himself he saith Is the Lord so merciful to me I that loved my sins and continued in them had it not been just that I should have perished in them but will the Lord not onely spare his enemy but give his Son for him O let my soul for ever rejoyce in this unconceiveable goodness of God! Be thy heart never so hard
if it have but the sense of this it cannot but stir thee to Humiliation Thirdly the greatness of the freeness of this mercy of God being setled upon the heart enflames it the sweetness warms the heart this freeness kindles the fire and when the greatness of the sweetness comes to be valued this sets the heart all on a flame the Apostle desires that the Ephesians being rooted and grounded in love might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and height of the love of God in Christ as if he had said The unmeasureablenes of Gods mercy will blow up the soul and enflame the heart with admirable love of God again and will make the soul say What I that have done all that I could against this good God O it breaks my heart to think of it there was no Name under heaven that I did blaspheme and tear in pieces more then this Name no Command under heaven I so much despised as the Command of God and of Christ no Spirit that I grieved so much as the good Spirit of God and therefore had the Lord onely given me a look or spoken a word to me it had been an infinite Mercy but to send a Son to save me it is incomparable I could not conceive to do so much evil against him as he hath done good to me O the breadth of that Mercy beyond all limits O the length of that Mercy beyond all time O the depth of that Mercy below a mans misery O the height of that Mercy above the height of my understanding If my hands were all love that I could work nothing but love if mine eyes were able to see nothing but love and my minde to think of nothing but love and if I had a thousand bodies they were all too little to love that God that hath thus unmeasureably loved me a poor sinful Hell-hound I will love the Lord dearly saith David O Lord my strength Have I gotten the Lord Jesus to be my comfort my buckler and my shield if I have any good he begins it if I have any comfort he blesseth it Therefore I will love thee dearly O Lord my strength O how should I but love thee Me thinks there is a poor sincere soul that saith My understanding are not so deep as others my tongue runs not so glib as such and such I cannot talk so freely of the things of grace and salvation I have meaner parts and cannot inlarge my self in holy Duties and holy Services I cannot dispute for a Savior or perform such Duties as others can do yet sweet soul canst thou love Christ Jesus and rejoyce in him O yes I bless the Name of the Lord that all I have all my friends and parts and means and abilities are but as dung and dross in comparison of Christ Jesus it were the comfort of my soul if I might be ever with him Say you so Go thy way and the God of heaven go with thee This is a work of God that will never leave thee it is a badge and proper livery that the Lord Jesus gives onely to his Saints never a meer Professor under heaven ever wore it never any Hypocrite under heaven to whom God did intend it but onely to those whom he hath effectually called and whom he will save therefore though thou wantst all thou hast this to comfort thee in the want of all and thou mayest say I can say little for Christ my tongue faulters and my memory is weak yet the Lord knows I love the Lord Jesus This is enough David desired no more but what God was wont to do to his children that loved his name Do to me saith the text as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name I know thou lovest them that love thee and wilt save and glorifie them in the end I desire no more but this do as thou usest to do to those that love thy name And doth David a King desire no more sure then if thou poor soul hast so much as he had it is enough be quiet with thy childes part Thy lot is faln into a marvellous fair ground Some may say this is all the difficult How may I know whether my love be a true love or a false love How may I know that my love is of the right stamp Let every man put his love upon the trial and examine thus Whether doest thou welcome Christ and grace according to the worth of them if thou doest it will appear in these particulars 1. Observe the root and rise from whence thy love came canst thou say I love the Lord because he hath loved me then thy love is of the right mettle and know it for ever that that God which cannot but love himself he cannot but like that love which came from himself is thy soul affected and enlarged in love to the Lord because thou hast felt and retained the relish and sweetness of his grace canst thou say The Lord hath let in a glimpse of his favor and the Lord hath said in his truth he looks to him that trembles at his word the Minister said it and the Spirit saith it that my mercy is registred in heaven Oh how should I love the Lord my sins are many which I have bewailed my sighs and sobs I have put up to heaven and at the last the Lord hath given me a gracious answer Oh how should I love the Lord my strength dearly If it be thus with thee thy love is sound and will never fail 2. If thou entertain thy Savior as it beseems him thou must entertain him as a King and that is thus give up all to him and entertain none with him upon terms of honor but such as retain to him or be attendants upon him love all in Christ and for Christ but express thy love and joy to Christ above all He is as a King and all the rest are but as retainers he that loves any thing equal with a Christ it is certain he did never love Christ to set up any thing cheek by jole with Christ it is all one as if a man did put a slave into the same Chamber with the King which is upon the point to drive him away 3. The soul that rightly entertains Christ and studies wholly to give him contentment he is marvellous wary and watchful that he may not sad that good Spirit of God to grieve him and cause him to go away as displeased See this Cant. 3. 4 5. the Spouse sought long for her beloved and at last brought him home and when she had welcomed him she gives a charge to all the house not to stir nor awaken her love till he please When a Prince comes unto the house of a great man what charge is there given to make no noise in the night lest such and such a man be awakened before his time the soul when it hath received the
the Tide the other puts his Boat upon the stream and sets up his sail and then he may sit still in his Boat and the wind will carry him whither he is to go Just thus it is with a faithful soul and an unbeliever all the care of the faithful soul is to put himself upon the stream of Gods Provividence and to set up the sail of Faith and to take the gale of Gods Mercy and Providence and so he goes on chearfully because it is not he that carries him but the Lord Jesus Christ whereas every unfaithful soul tugs and pulls at the business and can finde neither ease nor success Alas he thinks by his own wits and power to do what he would 2. Because faith sweetens all other afflictions even those that are most hard and full of tediousness and howsoever it apprehends all troubles and afflictions yet withal it apprehends the faithfulness of God ordering all for our good and that 's the reason why all our troubles are digested comfortably without any harshness at all When the Patient takes better Pills if they be well sugered they go down the easier and the bitterness never troubles him So it is with Faith it takes away the harshness of all inconveniencies which are bitter Pills in themselves but they are sweetned and sugered over by the faithfulness of God for the good of the soul and therefore it goes on cheerfully You will say if faith bring such ease how may a man that hath faith improve it to have such comfort by it I answer the rules are four 1. Labor to gain some evidence to thy own soul that thou hast a title to the promise The reason why poor Christians go drooping and are overwhelmed with their sins and miseries is because they see not their title to mercy nor their evidence of Gods love To the word and to the Testimonies Take one evidence from the word 't is as good as a thousand if thou hast but one promise for thee thou hast all in truth though all be not so fully and cleerly perceived 2. Labor to set an high price on the promises of God One promise and the sweetness of Gods mercy in Christ is better then all the honors or riches in the world Prize these at this rate and thou canst not choose but finde ease and be contented therewith 3. Labor to keep thy promises ever at hand what is it to me if I have a thing in the house if I have it not at my need If a man ready to sound and dye say I have as good cordial water as any in the world but I know not where it is he may sound and dye before he can finde it So when misery comes and thy heart is surcharged O then some promise some comfort to bear up a poor fainting drooping soul my troubles are many and I cannot bear them Why now Christ and a promise would have done it but thou hast thrown them in a corner and they are not to be found Now for the Lords sake let me intreat thee be wise for thy poor soul there is many a fainting and aguish fit and qualm comes over the heart of many a poor Christian persecutions without and sorrows and corruptions within therefore keep thy cordials about thee and be sure that thou hast them within reach take one and bring another and be refreshed by another and go singing to thy grave and to heaven for ever 4. Labor to drink in hearty draught of the promise bestow thy self upon the promise every hour whensoever thou dost finde the fit coming and this is the way to finde comfort Eat O friends and drink ye abundantly O welbeloved The Original is in drinking drink ye cannot be drunken with the Spirit as you may with wine drink abundantly were dainties prepared If an hunger-starved man comes in and takes onely a bit and away he must needs go away an hungred Think of it sadly you faithful Saints of God you may come now and then and take a snatch of the promise and then comes fear and temptation and persecution and all quiet is gone again it is your own fault brethren you come thirsty and go away thirsty you come discomforted and so you go away Many times it thus befals us Ministers when we preach of consolation and when we pray and confer we think we are beyond all trouble but by and by we are full of fears and troubles and sorrows because we take not full contentment in the promise we drink not a deep draught of it of this take heed too 1. Of Cavilling and Quarelling with carnal reason 2. Of attending to the parlies of Satans temptations if we listen to this chat he will make us forget all our comfort CHAP. VII The growing of the soul with Christ HItherto of the first part of the souls implantation to wit of the putting of the soul into Christ We are now come to the second which is The growing of the soul with Christ These two take up the nature of ingrafting a sinner into the stock Christ Jesus Now this growing together is accomplished by two means 1. By an union of the soul with Christ 2. By a conveyance of sap or sweetness all the treasures of grace and happiness that is in Christ to the soul First Every believer is joyned unto Christ and so joyned or knit that he becomes one spirit 1. He is joyned as a friend to a friend as a father to a childe as an husband to a wife as a graft to a tree as the soul to a body So is Christ to a believer I live not I but the Lord Jesus liveth in me Hence the body of the faithful is called Christ 1 Cor. 12. 12. 2. So joyned that the believer comes to be one spirit with Christ this mystery is great and beyond the reach of that little light I injoy Onely I shall communicate what I conceive in these three following Conclusions 1. That the Spirit of God the third person in the Trinity doth really accompany the whole Word but more especially the precious promises of the Gospel 2. The Spirit accompanying the promise of grace and salvation it doth therein and thereby leave a supernatural dint and power a spiritual and over-powering vertue upon the soul and thereby carries it and brings it unto Christ it is not so much any thing in the soul as a spiritual assisting and moving and working upon the soul by vertue whereof it is moved and carried to the Lord Jesus Christ 3. The Spirit of grace in the promise working thus upon the heart it causeth the heart to close with the promise and with it self in the promise and this is to be one spirit As it is with the Moon the Philosopher observes That the ebbing and flowing of the Sea is by vertue of the Moon she flings her beams into the sea and not being able to exhale as the Sun doth she leaves them
there and goes away and that draws them and when they grow wet they return back again Now the sea ebbs and flows not from any principle in it self but by vertue of the Moon so the heart of a poor creature is like the water unable to move towards heaven but the Spirit of the Lord doth bring in its beams and leaves a supernatural vertue by them upon the soul and thereby draws it to it self Hence an Use of Instruction This may shew us that the sins of the faithful are grievous to the blessed Spirit not onely because of mercies bonds and engagements which the believer hath received but because a man is come so neer to Christ and the Spirit to be one Spirit with Christ Should a wife not onely entertain a whoremonger into the house but also lodge him in the same bed with her husband this were not to be endured and wilt thou receive a company of base lusts and that in the very face and sight of the Lord Jesus Christ What lodge an unclean spirit with the clean Spirit of the Lord the holy Ghost cannot endure this Let no filthy communication come out of your mouth Ephes. 4. 29. What if there do you may say what a Christian and a Lyar a Christian and a Swearer O grieve not the holy Spirit of God because by it you are sealed unto the day of Redemption The good Spirit of the Lord hath sealed you unto Redemption and knit you unto himself and will you rend your selves from him and grieve him O grieve not the holy Spirit 2. For Examination If thy heart be therefore estranged from such as walk exactly before God because they are humble and faithful it is an ill sign when they are made one spirit with Christ wilt thou be of two spirits with them I confess a godly heart wil have his fits and excursions now and then but all this while this is poyson and the soul of a godly man sees this and is weary of it and is marvellously burthened with it and saith O vile wretch that I am what would I have and what is he that I cannot love him Is it because the good Spirit of the Lord is there shall I resist the good spirit of the Lord and so commit the sin against the holy Ghost away thou vile wretched heart I will love him Thus the soul labors and strives for that exactness and would fain have that goodness which he sees in another Secondly as there is an Vnion with Christ so there is a conveyance of all spiritual grace from Christ to all those that believe in him If you would know the Tenure of this Covenant and how Christ conveyeth these spiritual graces unto us it discovers it self in these Particulars 1. There is fully enough in the Lord Jesus Christ for every faithful soul 2. As there is enough in Christ so Christ doth supply or communicate whatsoever is most fit 3. As the Lord doth communicate what is fit so he doth preserve what he doth bestow and communicate 4. As the Lord doth preserve what he communicates so he quickens the grace that he now doth preserve 5. As the Lord quickens what he preserves so he never leaves till he perfects what he quickens 6. As the Lord perfects what he quickens so in the end he crowns all the grrace he hath perfected And now may I read your Feoffment to you You poor Saints of God you live beggarly and basely here Oh! if you have a Savior you are made for ever it is that which will maintain you not onely Christianly but Triumphantly what you want Christ hath and what is fit Christ will bestow if you cannot keep it he will preserve it for you if you be sluggish he will quicken it in you what would you have more he will perfect what he quickens and lastly he will crown that he perfects he will give you an immortal Crown of Glory for ever and ever Hence we see whether the Saints of God should go to fetch succor and supply of whatsoever grace they want yea increase and perfection of what they have already Christ is made all in all to his Servants why then away to the Lord Jesus he calls and invites I counsel thee to buy of me eye-salve if thou be an accursed man buy of Christ Justification if thou be a polluted creature buy of Christ Sanctification With thee is the well-spring of life saith David and in thy light we shall onely see light it is not with us but with thee it is not in our heads or hearts or performances 't is onely in Christ to be found onely from Christ to be fetched I deny not but we should improve all means and use all helps but in the use of all seek onely to a Christ with him is the well of life away to Christ wisdom righteousness c. all is in him and there we must have them You will say What are the means to obtain these graces from Christ I answer First eye the Promise daily and keep it within view Secondly yield thy self and give way to the stroak of the Promise and to the power of the Spirit for instance Imagine thy heart begins to be pestered with vain thoughts or with a proud haughty spirit or some base lusts and privy haunts of heart how would you be rid of these you must not quarrel and contend and be discouraged No but eye the promise and hold fast thereupon and say Lord Thou hast promised all grace unto thy Servants take therefore this heart and this minde and these affections and let thy spirit frame them aright according to thine own good will by that spirit of wisdom Lord inform me by that spirit of Sanctification Lord cleanse me from all my corruptions by that spirit of grace Lord quicken and inable me to the discharge of every holy service Thus carry thy self and convey thy soul by the power of the Spirit of the Lord and thou shalt finde thy heart strengthned and succoured by the vertue thereof upon all occasions For conclusion to dart this use deeper into your hearts If every believer be joyned with Christ and from Christ there be a conveyance of all spiritual graces unto every believer then above all labor for a Christ in all things Never let thy heart be quieted never let thy soul be contented until thou hast obtained Christ Take a Malefactor on whom Sentence is passed and execution to be administred suggest to him how to be rich or how to be pardoned how to be honored or how to be pardoned he will tell you Riches are good and honors are good but O a pardon or nothing Ah but then should you say he must leave all for a pardon he will answer again Take all and give me a pardon that I may live though in poverty that I may live though in misery So it is with a poor believing soul Every man that hath