by a Candle if you bring a Candle into a Room you may search in corners secret corners under every bench hole and see filâ—h in many places that perhaps the light of the Sun may not come to the light of the Sun may not come into some secret places in a House where is a great deal of filth but a Candle may discover it Now the Spirit of man is the Candle of the Lord That is a man by the help of his own Spirit may be able to search into the secret corners of his own Heart but no other light can discover it we are to labor to look into our selves and to make use of our own Spirits as a Candle to be searching into every corner of our own hearts that we may know our own meanness our own wretchedness a man that hath a proud spirit is satisfied that others have a high esteem of him though he knows himself to be vile As mark the difference between an humble Spirit and a proud spirit in this one that â—s a proud man he is dejected if others think ill of him whereas an humble heart takes advantage from the vile thoughts that others have of him to make himself more vile thinks thus Lord do I thus thus to make others think vilely of me Oh! What a deal of filth do I see more then they see and so likewise takes an advantage the more he finds that others honor him and respect him to be the more low in his own Eyes because he sees such a difference between what he knows of himself and what others know of him Yea And further because a proud heart rather cares for the credit he hath by what others think of him then takes care to make gâ—od what others think of him but an humble heart rather ingageth himself to make good what others think of him then look after the credit he hath by what others think of him Oh! Let me labor to attain unto it that they may not be deceived in the esteem they have of me this is the work of an humble heart not to rest in it but according to what esteem he hath of himself a right esteem he hath of his own meanness and sence of his own vileness but that must be added too not only Esteem but sence of his own vileness There must be such a cleer light as must convince him what a wretched creature he is in himselfe notwithstanding al the excellencies that God bestowes upon him and al gifts and parts yet still he keeps a right esteem of what he is in himselfe and he hath the sence of al he doth feel the Load burden and weight of this and his Heart is willing to acknowledg this for so it comes beyond the understanding it comes to the Heart that the Heart is willing to owne it as I am convinced that my Heart is vile and mean so Lord I am willing to acknowledg this in whâ—t ever way thou wouldest have it discovered It is true I am not bound to discover my own vileness and wretchedness to every one except in such a way as God may have glory and others may receive good but stil an humble Heart keeps this principle that though God doth not yet cal me forth to discover my own vileness yet I have this in my heart I am willing to do it when God calls me to it if God may have glory and good may be done to others I am willing to have all opened before men as wel as opened before God Many are willing to open all their vileness before God in Prayer what abundance can they speak in the presence of God of their own vileness but to be willing as wel that it should be opened before men so as it should be for the glory of God the heart to be willing to this I judg my self to be thus and I am willing to be dealt with as a Creature that thus judgeth it self to be though few come to have a right judgment of their own vileness but for a man to lie under this judgment and that willingly not to oppose it but let the truth of God that discovers my vileness let that have rule and câ—mmand and shine more and more I will not turne away mine Eyes from it but I will look to it and take it and apply it to my self in what I can and I will be content to be dealt withal according to what vileness I see in my self here is a sence of his own vileness For there are many that know much evil of themselves and yet have proud hearts Why Because they have not the sence of their own vileness that they are conscious to themselves of it may be said to them in this case as Daniel spake to Belshazar in Dan. 5. 22. And thou Oh Belshazar hast not humbled thy Heart though thou knewest all this These words may be very well applied to many men and Women God knows and thy conscience knows a great deal of vileness in thy self that that might make thee Low and humble thy Heart before the Lord but this may be said of thee That thou hast not humbled thy self before the Lord though thou knowest all this though thou knowest all this wretchedness and vileness of thy self that might have abased thee to the very dust yet thou hast not humbled thy self before the Lord therefore there must be those two CHAP. CXXIII Of the behavior of humility before God in ten Particulars 1. It acknowledgeth the infinite distance between God and a sinner 2. It hath a trembling Heart before God 3. A Relenting Spirit 4. It makes Gods will its Rule 5. It is willing God should choose its condition 6. It is willing God should be advanced in all his waies 7. It admires the least mercy 8. It is willing to be put in a mean and bard imployment 9. It is willing to waite upon God 10. It is willing to do what it can to honor God NOw these two being laid as the ground of Humility the proportion upon which an humble Soul goes Let us come to the Particulars It is that vertue whereby the Heart behaves it self towards God and it self and others according to the right low esteem that it hath of it self and the sence of its own vileness Having laid that first as the ground The right low esteem of it self and sence of its own vileness Now let us come to open the behavior of this humble Heart You will say it is a behavior answerable to this It is First in respect of God Secondly It self Thirdly Others First I should shew you what is in an humble Heart in this respect and then come to shew the great excellencies of a Lowly Heart First In regard of God as God hath a special Eye to a Lovvly Heart so a Lovvly Heart hath a special Eye to God there is no object that God Eyes more then an humble heart and there is no object that an humble
the Lesson that Christ would have us indeed learn Come if you would be my Disciples you must deny your self and take up my Cross The word in the Greek is more than deny your selves you must throughly deny your self deny your self to purpose indeed if you will be the Disciples of Christ and indeed this Humility is the proper Christian Humility Your Heathens they were altogether for men to know their own excellencies and to seek themselves altogether but for such a Lesson as this to deny themselves you never read of any such thing in Heathen Authors never such a Lesson that they would teach them that they would deny themselves 8. An humble heart keeps down it self that is he would be no higher except he be worthier one that hath a vain proud Spirit stil would fain be higher and higher and is not so solicitous to be worthier of a higher place but one that is humble thinks thus I am unworthy of what place I am in and I would not be higher except I be worthier I would not be in a higher condition except God give me a heart to improve that condition that he shall put me into and though God keep me in a low condition in respect of outwards yet the truth is I have as much as I have Grace to manage and therefore when there is any rising thoughts within it about a higher condition an humble heart is willing to beat down it self and is ready to speak to it self as Jeremy to Baruch in Jerem. 45. Dost thou seek great things for thy self Seek them not So saith an humble Spirit to it self What! art thou rising in thy Spirit and seekest great things for thy self Seek them not it is well thou hast thy life for a prey it is well thy Soul may be saved in the day of Jesus Christ And so David it is said of him in Psal 131. As a weaned Child he quieted himself and behaved himself restraining himself and keeping down himself whereas his Spirit would have been froward against God he did keep down his Spirit that was ready even to rise against God One that hath a lowly heart yet whilst it remains in this world hath much to do to keep dovvn it self 9. An humble lovvly Spirit hides it self is vvilling to hide it self and doth much hide it self it doth therefore good in secret more than in publique though such a one vvhen God cals him to publique service is vvilling to serve God publiquely yet especially is vvilling to do good in secret vvhere none knows vvhat it doth and vvhere none is conscious to it self but it self and God The ful ears of Corn hang down vvhereas the blasted ears vvil stand bolt upright So it is vvith a heart that is humble the more excellency it hath the more it hangs dovvn it self and is lovv vvhereas the blasted Spirits of Men and women that have a little in them they stand bolt upright Or rather as the Violet the Violet doth hide it self with its own Leaves So the Fig Tree and the Violet grows low in the ground you can hardly perceive it but only it discovers it self by its sweet smel you may many times smel it before you can see it it grows so low and the discovery of it is from the sweet savor of it and so it is with an humble heart the discovery of the excellency that is in an humble heart is from the sweet savor it hath rather than from any comendations of it self by speaking of it self No it is that which is abhorred by a lowly humble heart to be speaking high things of it self and it doth not love to hear others commending of it and doth not deny them in a modesty because they would have them to confirm it the more strongly as many others will do but unfeignedly is willing to have them hidden any futher than God is pleased to draw them forth It doth a great deal of good when no body can know it as it was the similitude of an Antient saith he An humble heart in this is like to the Lightening that may work strong effects on a suddain and goes away and no body takes notice of it somtimes it may be melts the Sword in the Scabbard and is gone and no body knows who did it So it is with an humble heart it wil not make a noise in what it doth whereas a proud heart wil be brought to no good exercise except every one take notice of what it doth an humble Spirit is willing to hide it self when God may nay have Glory by an action though I may have disgrace yet I am content 10. An humble Spirit goes out of it self being conscious of its own weakness I say it goes out of it self for a principle to act by and for strength for assistance for help it goes out of it self and empties it self we may put both together it is unbottomed of it self is one that is willing to live upon Alms upon Gods Alms continually upon a continued influence of the Grace of God being sensible of its own weakness iâ— goes out to catch hold of strength without it self Like the Vine though a fruitful Creature yet a weak Creature therefore God in nature hath made it ful of little strings to catch hold of any thing that is next it to support it self So it is with an humble Spirit though very fruitfull yet weak and therefore is catching hold of strength without it self supports it self upon God and therefore it dares not go forth in its own strength â—n any business that God sets it about but is unbotomed of it self depends upon a strength beyond its self and looks for assistance in all actions that it doth from another it lives upon a principle that is without it self continually whereas a proud heart lives altogether upon its own principles But there is nothing more discovers our humilty than this than to live upon nothing in our selves but to go out to strength without our selves 11 This is the true behavior of an humble Spirit in respect of it self a lowly and humble Spirit is often bemoaning it self alone for its own wretchedness and vileness in Jerem. 31. 13. I have heard of Ephraim bemoaning himself before the Lord I have heard him bemoaning himself Is not Ephraim my dear Child saith God Oh! how frequently doth the Lord hear lowly hearts bemoaning of themselves before the Lord. It may be it doth not pine so much before others in complaints but gets into the presence of the Lord and there it is often bemoaning it self and pouring forth it self before the Lord. 12. The last is this an humble heart doth afflict it self is willing to afflict it self you know that the Lord requires in the day of a Fast especially that there should be an afflicting of our selves In Levit. 23. 26. The Text saith That every Soul should afflict it self and that Soul that doth not afflict it self in the day of a fast shouldbe cut
that God should be glorified in his own way this is hard now let this and the other fal out I but yet saith a Lowly heart it is fit God should have his Glory which way he pleaseth and therefore he is not troubled Fifthly Humility brings a great deal of quiet because it freeth us from opposition or if it come it makes us yeild to the opposition it freeth us from opposition of men for so I told you in the opening of it an humble heart is afraid to give any offence and so it is not likely that others will offend him but if opposition do come a Lowly heart yeilds to it and when there is a yeilding in time of opposition when a blustring wind comes yet if there be a yeilding to it it doth no great hurt and so the heart that yeilds to opposition it hath quiet and Rest Sixthly Humility brings a great deal of quiet because it makes us rejoyce in the prosperity of others the great trouble and disquiet of the spirits of men in the world is that others are above them now an humble heart blesseth God that any are above it Seventhly An humble heart is under a great many of promises and there must needs be Rest and quiet to that Soul Eightly All crosses are smal to an humble Soul because he is smal in his own Eyes according to what proportion a man bears to his own Eye so his crosses are if his Crosses be great in his own eye then they are great crosses to him and therefore you account your afflictions great if you account your affliction in your own Eye I but now if you were smal in your own Eyes you would count your afflictions smaller But we cannot open the particulars of these except we go further in the opening of the Grace of humility and therefore as ever you would have Rest and quiet in these troublesome and restless times labor for humble and quiet spirits CHAP. CXXXI Exhortation to humility with five several means to get it 1. Labor to see the Excellency of it 2. Convince the Soul of its emptiness 3. Get the knowledg of God 4. Of Christ 5. Of our selves NOw then we come to the Use and Application some time might be spent in speaking about Examination to shew whether we are humble or not and then to shew the difference between being humble and humbled many are humbled by affliction brought low or by Terror Tormented but their hearts are not humble there is a great deal of difference between Humiliation and Humility but I shal refer that as a seasonable point to be handled at another time Certainly God hath made many people to be humbled and yet not humble in their Spirits And then another use may be to humble our Souls for the want of humility and indeed that is a good Humiliation to be humble for the want of humility to be humbled for our pride is an argument of the truth of humility as much as any thing whatsoever and certainly if I should go back and open the Particulars of the behavior of an humble Soul towards God its self and others Certainly never a Man and Woman but may lay his hand upon his Mouth and say Lord have mercy upon me how have I failed in the behavior of my spirit towards God my self and others Lord my heart hath not answered to that that hath been spoken in the word the truth is the best of us all have cause to be humbled before God because they are not humble as they ought To be proud of heart one compares it to an Onion that if you pill off one part of it there is another pil afterwards pill off that and there is another still and another and another til you come to the end so when there is some pride take off one and under that pride there lies more take off that and under it there lies more and take off that and under it lies more continually more and more pride there lies in the heart of Men and Women and that man and woman that thinks they have not proud hearts I dare challenge them in the Name of God that they have proud hearts As John saith 1 John 1. and last vers If we say we have not sin we Lie so if we say we have not pride it is an evident Argument we Lie and it is an evident Argument we have pride Pride is like the Garment the first that is put on and the last that is put off and it is that that the heart sticks more in then any thing else and therefore Christ saith of his Disciples that were humbled they denyed al for Christ and yet mark what Christ saith concerning them In Matth. 18. There they inquired who should be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus takes a little Child and sets him in the midst of them and saith Verily Verily I say unto you except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shal not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Now were not they become as little Children Had not they humility They were gracious and godly I but this is true of one that is gracious and humble he hath a great deal of pride stil and he had need be converted and become as little Children to be humbled more and more It is an excellent frame of Spirit that we read of in Hezekiah he had an humble Spirit and yet lifted up in Pride yet mark what the Text saith in 2 Chron. 32. 25. 26. Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the Pride of his heart it is said in ver 25. But Hezekiah rendred not according to the benefit done to him for his heart was lifted up Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the Pride of his heart It is true the best of all have Pride in their hearts But can you say I have humbled my self for the Pride of my heart that you are jealous of your own hearts You are afraid of the Pride of your hearts and you watch over your hearts that upon the first stirring of your heart you labor to keep it down that you find your heart humbled for your Pride if you have this you have that that an Hypocrite hath not the least of either to be jealous over his heart or to keep down his heart or to watch over his heart or to observe the stirrings of his heart An Hypocrite hath not the least of this Now if you find this perhaps you find temptation prevails with you to commit a great sin for that you are humble and to neglect your Duty for that you are humble I but are you humbled for the Pride of your own hearts when you can charge your Souls for the Pride of your hearts between God and your Soul when you can search your heart and find it out and go lament it in the bitterness of your heart this is a good sign Perhaps when the pride of your heart breaks out and shames you before
in my Conscience well but now here is the case of Conscience whether is this quiet that I have in my Conscience from the hope I have of Gods mercy from presumption in me or from true Faith It concerns every one to get this case of Conscience answered Now I know no greater help for the answering this case of Conscience than this one thing that I have spoken of Hast thou quiet and ease and hast thou hope of Gods mercy and doth that bring thee quiet if it be but presumption it makes thee secure it makes thee barren and sluggish but on the other side if thou hast ease and quiet in thy Spirit and thou findest that the more that ease and quiet encreaseth the more fruitfull thou art in all good works it makes thee the more active and stirring in all good works this is a sign that it comes from Faith as you heard before a gracious heart hath the more activeness in it the more ease it hath now as his activeness in goodness causeth easiness in his heart so the easiness in his heart causeth activeness in goodness there is a mutuallness in these two and indeed this latter is the more facile for people to exam in themselves by perhaps every one cannot group to that activeness of heart but now hath it this power upon your hearts that you are more fruitfull than before This is the ease of a gracious heart if it doth so Ninthly And then the ease that a carnall heart hath in the waies of God is from hence because he hath but only one principle in his heart when he is in the waies of God and when he is in the waies of the world he is acted but by the same principle in both there is not a contrary principle in his heart one that carries him one way and another that carries him another way but the ease of a gracious heart is this that he finds a stronger principle that overcomes a contrary principle of corruption in him there lies his ease a carnall heart goes on and performes Duties and hath not divers principles in his heart to cary him this way or that way but hath only one principle a carnal principle that carries him on to serve his own ends and somtimes he can serve his ends in one thing somtimes in another thing but one that is Godly finds ease from hence from the power of Gods Grace that doth overcome his corruption I find a stirring in my heart but I thank God I can get the victory the ease of a Godly heart comes from the victory that it gets but it is not so with a carnall heart your civill men do not find ease from their victory because what they do is not suitable to them but a Godly man finds that there is a principle of Grace that opposeth the principle of lust and corruption and therefore can say since I set my heart towards God and his waies I have found more corruption than before stirring but I thank God I have got victory over them I find a conquest gotten over the corruption that is stirring in my Soul and that is my ease another man he finds no corruption stirring in his heart and therefore no marvell if he find ease but now a Godly man finds a contrary principle to that which is good stirring in his heart and then finds Gods Grace coming in upon his heart to help him against that corruption and this brings ease and quiet to him Tenthly And then the last is this That the ease the one hath comes from this that all that he doth he preformes in his own strength and he doth not see any need of any further strength than that which he hath in himselelf to enable him to perform Duties and so he finds ease As a man finds his Trade to be easie if he trades with his own stock and hath nothing but his own stock to trade with and trades in no higher things then what himself can reach unto whereas another man that must have the stocks of other men to trade with finds a great deal more trouble that sees his trade requires more stock than his own It is so with a Gracious heart he sets upon duty so as needs he finds he more stock than his own his trade is beyond his own strength but now a Godly heart when he comes to want strength he fetcheth strength from Christ he fetcheth strength from the Covenant of Grace he fetcheth strength from the Promise and when he hath got strength from Christ from the Covenant of Grace from the Promise Oh now he finds rest and ease in his Duty and you shall see the reason of it in the next Point why the Sants finds difficulties many times they will think to be trading with their own strength and their own stocks whenas the things they trade about is beyond their own strength but now when they can look higher and see a fulness in Jesus Christ in the Mediator of the new Covenant and of his fulness we must receive Grace for Grace and fetcheth strength from this Oh! then here is quiet and ease when the Soul comes to trade with another stock Observe this you will find it as certain as can be all those that are meer civill People that find it so easie to go on in the waies of God they were never sensible of any need they have of any more strength than their own whereas the Yoke of Christ is heavier than any naturall strength is able to bear and therefore if you find ease in that you have strength of your own to perform it Certainly it is not the Yoke of Christ But now when you find your own strength too short when you go to perform any Duty and find a great deal of difficulty you can go to Christ and to the Covenant of Grace and to the Promise and there fetch in strength you have ease and quiet Oh that you were acquainted with this Mystery of Godliness that when you go out to perform Duties and you find them difficult and hard that then you can go out to Christ and the Covenannt of Grace and the Promise and fetch strength from them to perform Duties this is the ease of a Godly heart when it finds ease in Gods waies after this manner and all you that are acquainted with this Mystery of Godliness know that whatsoever ease you have found hitherto it is not the ease of a Gracious heart but rather of a carnal heart CHAP. CXXXIX Divers Objections answered The easiness of the waies of Christ which is the third particular mentioned in Chap. 139. QUEST BUT do we not find that Christ hath said in his word that the way to Heaven is difficult and the Gate to Heaven is strait and narrow and do we not find Preachers ordinarily speaking so that the way to Heaven is difficult and strait according to what is in Scripture yea do we not find that the People of
they never knew the difference between the comforts of the world and the comforts of God so much as then when they suffered Saith Ignatius when the wild beasts crusht his bones between their teeth Now I begin to be a Christian And another profest he had rather be a Martyr than work miracles and therefore there is no such difficulty or heavy burden in suffering for Christ as ye are afraid of Many poor Christians when they hear what things others have suffered they think Oh if I should be called to suffer such things I should never go through them Be not discouraged the more sensible thou art of thy weakness the better Poor women and children that have been afraid to suffer as well as you when they have come to suffer it hath been given to them to suffer a mighty presence hath come from Jesus Christ upon them and it hath been easie to them indeed the thing that is difficult to one that is weak is easie to one that is strong Now when you come to suffer for Christ there comes in a great deal of strength from Christ and therein you will find ease for certainly Christ never calls us to do hard things but he will give us strength proportionable and then that which appeared more difficult will appear more easie than before CHAP. CXLII What the things are that makes the waies of Christ easie which is the fourth point in Chap. 139. opened in five particulars 1. They are such as a gracious Soul wil impose upon himself 2. He comes freely off to them 3. The waies of Christ are even and not contrary one to another 4. They bring Strength with them 5. In them all there is good Success 6. In them a gracious heart is alwaies receiving his wages 7. He hath all the passages of Gods providence to help him 8. They bring ease to the Conscience 9. They free the Soul from cares 10. They make all other things easie BUt now we are to proceed to a further thing to shew you what there is in the way of Christ that makes it easie which wil be a further manifestation of the ease that there is in the waies of Christ that it is so that hath been shewed you before but now that it must needs be so and how it comes to be so how it comes to pass that the waies of Christ should have such ease to a gracious heart Certainly there is a great many Grounds for it First They are such waies as have much in them that if a gracious heart were put to it freely that he may either impose them upon himself or not he would rather impose them upon himself than otherwise supposing him to be himself that is his mind enlightened and his heart in a good frame he would take them upon himself and certainly this is no hard thing that if a man were left to his liberty he will take it upon himself rather than not Let any Christian lay this to his heart and consider what way of Jesus Christ he would be without every gracious heart is a Law to himself that Law is not a very hard Law that a man would make to himself so the Scripture saith of the Godly that they are a Law to themselves a Godly heart chooseth the waies of Christ not as one chooseth the less evil of the two so you may say he may chuse them as the less evil for he may be put to chuse â— but I say if he were left free not put to it of necessity if there were neither Hel nor Heaven I do not know any thing in the waies of Jesus Christ and dare challenge any one to tel me that if there were no Hel oâ— Heaven that any thing is in the waies of Christ but he would choose them What is there that Christ requires of any Soul but without any such consideration such a heart would chuse Would not he go rather according to the rules of equity and righteousness than iniquity and injustice Is it not better to walk according to the rules of right reason than to walk in irrational waies But then a Beleever one that hath Faith acts from a Principle above Reason a Principle that is supernatural and look as one that is a rational creature would chuse those things that have the most agreement with the rules of right reason so one that hath a higher principle a divine Principle he would chuse that that is according to the Principles of Divinity according to the Divinity as I may so say that he hath in his heart Yea Afflictions when we bring our hearts to Gods will have no great burden in them but are easie but they are not so easie as Gods waies are for Afflictions though they come to be easie yet they are such as if a Godly heart were put to it he would and he ought rather to choose to be without them Here is the difference between Afflictions and Duties that if God would set a gracious heart free he should choose rather to be without afflictions though it is true in regard of the good that God brings about in them so they are good but in themselves they are evil and so a Godly man should rather desire to be without them but now for the duties of religion Godliness there we are not to desire wish to be without them or that they were otherwise then they are A gracious heart is not to wish any command of Jesus Christ to be otherwise then it is and when at any time you find such a rising in your hearts as to wish that such a thing were not a duty know that now temptation comes and corruption stirrs You may not do it perhaps but you may have a corruption stir so farr as to wish it were otherwise certainly this is a great temptation when the heart is in a right frame it would not wish any thing in the waies of Christ otherwise then they are if he were left to himself he would himself choose them That is the first Secondly When he hath chose them this makes them easy because they are such waies as himself comes freely on unto what a man comes freely on unto that is easy and all the people of God are a willing people in Psal 110. Now when he comes freely on perhaps you will say a man may come freely on to a thing yet when he is come on he may find more difficulty then he thought of Therefore in the second place they are easy in this respect because they are suitable unto the temper and disposition of a gracious heart such a one finds the waies of Christ very suitable and agreeable to him Now Similis Simili gaudet every like thing doth rejoyce in that which is like a Godly heart finds the counterpane as I may so speak of the Lord Jesus Christ written in his own heart that as it was in the first creation there the Law of God the Morral Law
of God very much the experience of this is very much I do not know how it comes to pass but certainly now there is a great deal less communion between Gods people than formerly the times have been when some that have been alone have bin striving and tugging and could not get their hearts into any good frame they have come buâ— into the company of Gods people laid their experiences together and warmed themselves together and then they have gone away and they have thought nothing too hard that God should require of them to do or to suffer they would go into their closets and pour out their hearts if there were trouble in the Family between Wife and Husband in regard of passion when they have been amongst Gods people they could carry themselves in a gracious manner Oh! communion much communion with the Saints of God it is that that facilitates the waies of Religion We know in travelling if a man be travelling a journey all alone especially if he have wind and weather against him his way is tedious to him very hard and grievous and he is tired in his journey but now if he travel and have good company and good discourse and is joyfull and cheerful when he is going his journey is nothing when he comes to the Inn he saith I thank God I am not weary at al Why is it so the journey is long I but the company is good the dâ—scourse is good and that makes it easie So it is in our journey to Heaven we complain of tediousness in our journy Why is it because we love to be alone As many that are of a dumpish disposition loving alwaies to be alone there is a time indeed that people should be alone they have sweet refreshings from God that way but there is a time to have Society with the Saints and it is an ordinance appointed by God for the facilitating of Gods waies while we are passing in the wilderness in our way to Heaven and therefore make Conscience of that to have Communion with the people of God to spiritualize your Communion and make what use you can of them to help you in your Christian course 13. Another Rule is this Exercise much Faith Faith doth facilitate every action as Unbelief makes every thing difficult let a man be put upon any duty if he have an unbelieving heart it is difficult Why because before he comes to it he saith I shal never go through with it and therefore comes heavily to it all the while his unbelief prevails his work goes heavily on but let a man come to a work and come to purpose A man of confidence and of spirit he saith let me take such a thing another man he is toyling laboring and he saith I shal never bring it to any thing but now another man that is of a lively constitution faith he let me come to it and he carries it on with ease and the truth is when Christians see Gods call to any work they should not pore upon the difficulty but exercise Faith and come with courage to the duty and God will carry you through God that cals me to a work he will give me strength in the work and therefore let me go to the work as if I were carried through it already go on with confidence and resolution and take heed of Unbelief up and be doing and the Lord wil be with you so do you say to your souls when you are discouraged in the work Oh such and such have miscarried and how shall so weak a soul as I do Wel up and be doing and the Lord will be with you 14. Lastly Do not satisfie your selves that you have grace but labor to have strength of grace that is easie to a strong man that is hard to a weak now Christians should not satisfie themselves with Gods grace God hath begun grace in thee you will say he that hath the least dram of grace it will carry him to Heaven I but it is a great deal of grace that must make the waies of Religion easie and delightful to thee Therefore look into the word and when thou dost exercise Faith or make use of any Ordinance Do it for the encrease of grace for strengthening thy self strengthen those weak things that are in thee that thou maist go on steadily in the waies of Religion and know to that end that though thou beest never so weak yet there is strength enough to be had Look into the word of God and you shall find there that there is a most glorious strength that is possibly to be attained unto by Christians in Ephes 1. 18 19. that place that we have often made use of What is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward which beleeve according to the working of his mighty power Mark this Text it is not only meant of the greatness of Gods power in working Faith in us but the greatness of his power toward us who do now beleeve God doth put forth power greatness of power and exceeding greatness of mighty power and the same that he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at the right hand of God Thou mai'st come to have by the exercise of Faith the power of God put forth his almighty power to give thee Faith so now by the exercise of Faith thou mai'st have the power of God the greatness of his Power the mighty power of God and the exceeding greatness of the mighty power of God and the same that God put forth when he raised Christ from the dead set him at the right hand of the Father Thou sai'st thou hast a dead heart but wil not the power of God that raised Christ from the dead raise thy heart exercise Faith Lord I go about such a business it is difficult because of the hardness of my heart But Lord wil not the power that raised Christ from the Grave raise my dead heart And so Lord I have a heart sunk down to the things of the world I but Lord hast thou not promised to put forth the same power into the hearts of thy people that set Jesus Christ at thy right hand Wil not that power raise up my heart to Heaven and give me an heavenly heart Now here is strengthening of thy Faith from the word of God and that strength that the Scripture holds forth that God himself wil put forth into the heart of his people upon the exercise of Faith And so in Ephes 3. 16. That he will grant unto you according to the Riches of his Glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man what a heap of expressions are here therefore I put you upon this not to content your selves with weak grace for there is abundance of strength not only the strength in Christ but the strength that is conveyed into the heart by the Spirit of Jesus Christ it is one thing for
of his Coat And so when Diogenes came to Plato and he had a rich Bed and Diogenes in his Cinickness and pride tramples upon Platoes rich Bed saying I tread and trample upon the pride of Plato I saith Plato but it is with thy pride it is pride that tramples upon this pride it was the pride of his heart that did so disdain that another should have that he had not himself There may be much vanity and pride and height of spirit in lowliness of Garb and outward habit But yet stil we shall come further to open the nature of Humility and the evil of pride that is contrary to it and we shall come to discover the pride in Habits and speech and the like but only now to make way to what we shall come to now to get in a little into the point that we may not mistake what Christ would have us learn of him when he saith he would have us learn to be lowly in heart Fifthly There may be a kind of lowliness of spirit which Christ disavows and which Christ would not have us learn of him not only a lowliness of words habit but a lowliness of heart that they must take heed of a base fordid spirit that is as uncomely for a Christian as any thing in the world A Christian though he must have the lowliness of the heart of Christ yet there is the lowliness of a base fordid spirit that is infinitly unbecoming the excellency of a Christian What is that base drossy low spirit of many people First thus It is a base fordid spirit to imploy themselves in things beneath their Condition in which God hath set them As for instance suppose a Magistrate or a Minister should fill a Dung-cart and he should plead thus it is true others are so proud they will not do it but I am content to do the meanest thing Is this a lowly heart No it is a base fordid heart for men that are of any quality to mingle themselves with poor mean things to be in the Ditches in places that are beneath them to imploy themselves in things that are beneath the condition that God hath set them in this is not Humility but fordid and base spiritedness And then when men likewise shall seek low and mean things and bless themselves in things that are very low and mean and allow themselves in them as if so be they were enough to make them happy when they shall feed upon others as the Scripture speaks of that Idolatry And so wicked men when they shall feed upon ashes this is a base thing for a man to have his belly cleave to the earth to seek to scrape for a little of the world and bless himself in this and think himself a happy man if he can get a little money and if he have a little applause in the world this is that he placeth his happiness in and seeks after no higher good and this he would be content should be his portion if he can get a little money together and have House and Lands this is a low spirit for one that professeth himself a Child of God for him to seek after the things of the world and satisfie himselfe in them it is as if a Prince should leave the Throne of his Father and go and scrape in the Kennels Wil you say it is the Humility of a Prince Were it the Humility of a Prince to leave the Court and all the Glory there and those excellent imployments about State affairs and scrape in the Kennels Were this the lowliness of a Prince No it were a base spirit As I have heard of some great Heirs when they have been yong and stolen by Beggars afterwards when they have been taken away from Beggars and put into good Cloaths yet they have got such a base spirit that they would leave off all to put on Rags again and go a begging Thus the greatest men that seem to be lofty in their aims and designs they have low spirits for they do but scrape Kennels in this world and with the Prodigall feed upon Husks and Swil whereas the People of God though they are to be lowly in heart yet do aim at high things to seek after eternity of Glory to seek after a Crown after Heaven to seek after God himself to live for ever with God in Glory and though they are to acknowledg themselves unworthy of the least crumb of Bread yet they are not to be satisfied with all the world for their portion they are to have such high Spirits as not to satisfie themselves with all the world for their portion You will say here is a high Spirit indeed thus it is nothing will satisfie him except he have the infinite God to be his portion Your proud men that are esteemed to be the highest spirited they will be satisfied with a little Muck in the world but the Child of God hath such a generous Spirit that if God should offer him the possession of Heaven and Earth for his portion he wouâ—d count a little pittance and he would say Lord there are higher things that I look for to be my portion and God is very well pleased that his people should have such high Spirits in that sence to seek after a Kingdome to seek after Glory and to think themselves too good for a Lust for sin to rule over them to think themselves in a higher Condition than that these poor mean things should be enough to be their portion and their happiness Thus I have only shewed you the Negative what it is that Christ doth not mean when he saith Learn of me for I am Meek and lowly in heart he means none of these five things CHAP. CXX Lowliness of heart what it is positively and what it is in Christ in six particulars 1. He became Mediator 2. Man 3. Born of a poor Virgin 4. A Servant 5. A Curse Yea Sin 6. He was lowly in his carriage to men QUEST YOU will say What is the lowliness of heart that Christ would have us learn of him Answ It is to be considered two waies The first is this That disposition of spirit whereby one that is in a high and excellent condition yet is content to become low for God and for the good of his Brethren though he be in an excellent estate yet is content to be in a Lovv condition so it be for God and the good of others and this is that Lovvliness that belongs only to Christ himself he vvas thus Lovvly And also God the Father is lovvly that God is of a Lovvly Spirit thus to be content to be lovv for his ovvn Glory and for the good of others Ye have it in Psalm 113. 5. and 6. Who is like unto thee Lord our God who dwelleth on high who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the Earth God is on high and yet God humbleth himself to behold to have regard
to things that are in Heaven and Earth Observe the Phrase I beseech you it is Gods humbling himself if it be but to behold the things that are in Heaven God is so high that if he doth but vouchsafe to look upon the things in Heaven he doth humble himself he bâ—ings himself Lovv to behold them much more upon the things in Earth Oh! Hovv doth God humble himself then to regard the things on Earth as he hath done And so Christ that vvas from all eternity infinitly blessed vvith the Father yet for the Salvation of mankind vvas vvilling to bring himself into a Lovv condition and so Lovvliness belongs to the Father and Jesus Christ But the lowlines that is most proper unto us that we may yet learn of Christ that we may gather from Christs Example arguments to further it in our own hearts I would describe it thus It is that grace whereby the Soul doth behave it selfe towards God and towards it selfe and towards others according or answerable unto that right esteem and sence that he hath of his own vileness and meanness Formally this was not in Christ but only thus far Christ being once willing to take upon him that low condition of being a Mediator for mankind so there was a meanness that was in Jesus Christ and Christs demeanour of himselfe walking answerably unto God and to others suitable unto that mean condition that he knew himself was in through his willingness to be a Mediator for mankind that was Christs lowliness though Christ as the second person in the Trinity cannot have the Rule of his Low liness to be the esteem of his own meanness and so of God and therefore I gave you such a description of Lowliness that may belong to the Father and the Son but now this only belongs to Christ as Mediator and that Lowliness that should be in our hearts that vve may gather abundance of Arguments from Christs low condition to further it in our own Soul The measure of our humility it doth consist in the right esteem of our own meanness when a man or Woman hath a right esteem that is come to know themselves in that mean condition that they are in and to be truly sensible of that mean condition that they are in and accordingly come to behave themselves towards God and towards themselves and towards others these are such as indeed have lowly hearts Now in this description that I have made of Lowliness or of humility you wil find when we come to open it and to shew the workings of an humble heart that ought to be in Christians there will be very much discovered that nearly concerns us but all that I shal do now is to shew how Jesus Christ was lowly in heart himself And then what Arguments may be drawn from the Lowliness of Christ for the furtherance of Lowliness in our hearts There is one thing in the Point that I am spared from speaking off to handle this Lowliness of Chirst as Christ is a Teacher that we have spoken of Learn of me for I am Meek and Lowly That is be willing to Learn of me for I am a Meek Teacher and a Lowly Teacher and therefore be willing to be my Schollers Now that I have already spoke of when I spake of being taught by Jesus Christ and shewed you what a fit Teacher he was and I think this hath reference unto him that he is not scornful but he will Teach the meanest and suite himself to all but now we are to speak of what Lowliness was in Christ and how we should Learn to be Lowly as he was Now for the Lowliness of Christ that you have in divers Scriptures in Psalm 22. is a Prophetical Scripture concerning Christ and mark what is said of Christ there verse 6. But I am a Worm and no man a Reproach of Men and despised of the people But I am a Worm They are even the speeches of Christ concerning himself it is apparent it is a prophetical Psalme concerning Christ In the beginning of the Psalme you have the very same words that Christ spake upon the Cross My God My God why hast thou forsaken me And here I am a Worm and no Man Oh! How Lowly was Christ that was God blessed for ever it were lowly enough one would think to be a Man but to be a Worm and no Man in his own apprehension Oh what Lowliness was this And then in Isai 53. 2. There you may see the Lowliness of Christ that likewise is prophetical concerning Christ that he should grow up before him as a tender plant and as a Root out of a dry ground he hath no form nor comliness and when we shall see him there is no Beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our Faces from hi … he was despised and we esteemed him not I y … will say this shews the Lowness of his condition but how doth this argue the Lowliness of his Heart For you told us even now that a man may be in a low condition that is not Lowly in Heart For Answer Christ was not compelled to it but freely took upon him to be in this condition for the Glory of his Father and the good of Poor Sâ—uls surely it is a lowly heart that was willing to be put into such a condition as this was But above all Scriptures that is remarkable to this purpose in Phillip 2. 5. Let this mind be in you which also was in Jesus Christ What mind was that There is not only the condition of Christ but the mind of Christ a lowly Heart and let that Lowly heart be in you What was that verse 6. Who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no Reputation He made himself he did eâ—pty himself as the word hath it in the original empty himself of the Excellency that was in him And took upon him the form of a Servant and made himself in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross Here is the Lowliness of the Heart of Christ set out unto us and that as a pattern unto al Christians to have the same mind that was in Christ Now to stand upon things largely to open the Lovvliness of Christ that vvil not be needful but to speak generally of it for that is necessary forvve cannot bring it home vvith povver to our Point if we do not open it in general for it vvould ask many exercises to open the Lovvliness of Heart that vvas in Jesus Christ You knovv in opening his Meekness vve shevved you vvhat Meekness vvas in him And novv for Lovvliness As thus First There was Lowliness in him to undertake to be Mediator between God and mankind it was a great Lowening
words but he answered him nothing And the chief Priests and Scribes stood and vehemently accused him and Herod with his men of war set him at naught and mocked him and arrayed him in a gorgeous Robe and sent him again to Pilate As if Herod should say What a poor silly man do you bring before me I had thought you would have brought me a man that would have wrought Miracles but I see he is a poor silly Fellow Now Christ he was tempted to have sought Glory at Herods Court and of men Christ might have shewed himself to have had that excellency in him that Herod should have had more regard to him than to the Scribes and Pharisees but Christ would not do this but suffered himself to be accounted a poor sleight mean Person and to be scoffed and mocked at and puts up all But further That that I would observe for the lowliness of Christs Spirit it was when he was among Proud Ones many men will seem lowly when they are among Christians that are lowly When they are amongst a company of Christians that are broken in heart their hearts wil be broken too and vvhen a company of Christians are bemoaning their condition and lamenting their state they vvil do so too this is nothing but to be of a lovvly self denying yeilding Spirit vvhen a man is among proud ones when a man converseth with those that are proud in the world than still to manifest lowliness this is to be like Christ Yea and further that is another circumstance that is very observable to be lowly and humble when our lowliness and humility shall be contemned it is an ordinary thing for Men and Women to manifest humility vvhen their Humility shal bring credit to them for there is a great deal of humility that brings credit to them and they knovv it well enough and therefore they will seem to be humble when they are among them that will honor them and prize them the more for that humility but if they be in a place where the more humble they appear the more they shal be scorned and they shall not be honoured for their humility not esteemed the better for it this is the tryall of thy Grace and of others Grace to manifest Grace in such a place and among such company that no body wil take notice of it so as to prize it and prize you for it but on the contrary wil contemn you contemn you for it you shal be scorned the more becaus you are humble yet than to be humble at that time in that Company Here is the Glory of a Christian indeed In these three or four things especially consists Humility To be humble towards our Inferiors and when you are tempted to the contrary many are humble many times when they have no temptation but set a Beggar a Horse back if he have any temptation and then they will not be humble Christ had the greatest temptation and yet was humble And then to be in company where they will scorn you and contemn you for your Humility and yet to be Humble consists in this Humility And al this in the constant course of your Life to be humble at a fit and a start there is but few men and Women in the world but take them in some fit or start and they will be humble but at other fits they will be proud but Christ had a constant Lowliness of Spirit what ever the variety of his condition was that he was put into yet stil his Heart was low if the people did cry Hosanna to him yet he carried himself with a Lowly Spirit so for a man or Woman to have such a strength of Spirit that though they be put into varieties of conditions somtimes one way and somtimes another way yet to keep a constant Lowliness of heart in all conditions this is to Learn of Christ and this is but to set forth the Lowliness of Christs Spirit Learn of me for I am Meek and Lowly Well may Christ say of himself that he was Lowly in Heart Yea and to add this one more He was lowly for others Christ was lowly for the good of others we may be lowly and crouch perhaps for some design of our own but Christs Lowliness His Emptying of himself was for the advantage of others and therefore as for himself in John 17. the beginning saith Christ there unto his father in his praier Father Glorifie me with the Glory that I had with thee before the beginning of the world It seems Christ is content with the same Glory he had before the vvorld vvas What should become of all that Glory that he had purchased by his lovvliness It is as if Christ should say Let my people have all that vvhatever Glory is purchased by my lovvliness by my humbling of my self I am content that they should have that Glory but as for me Father The hour is come Glorifie thy Son I have Glorified thee on Earth O Father Glorifie me vvith thine ovvn self vvith the Glory I had with thee before the world was I will be content with the same Glory I had from thee before the world was Surely there should be a great deal of Glory purchased by his Humility yet saith he Let me but have that and as for the other Let my people have that thus Christ is lowly for us to teach us to be lowly and deny our selves for others as well as for our selves But of this more when vve come to shevv hovv vve should be lowly as Christ was in the opening of our Lovvliness CHAP. CXXI Six Arguments from the Lowliness of Christ to work Lowliness of spirit in our hearts 1. It was one speciall end of his coming into the world 2. His Humility makes pride in man a desperate Evill 3. The greatest Excellency stands with the greatest Humility 4. His Lowliness stands with the greatest Wisdom 5. It is infinitly pleasing to God 6. It may stand with doing of great things BUt novv to shevv vvhat Arguments might be dravvn from the lovvliness of Christs Spirit so as to work Lowlines in our hearts Austin hath a Speech concerning the Lowliness of Christ saith he Are ye ashamed to imitate an humble Man Imitate then an humble God Imitate God that was content to be Humble but take these three or four things First Consider in this As if Christ should call upon you Learn of me for I am Lowly I am sent by God the Father into the world this is one speciall end that I am sent into the world for to hold forth unto all the world a pattern of humility there were these two things that were the errand of Christ First he was sent into the world to be made a Sacrifice and satisfaction to Gods Justice And then to be made a Pattern of Holiness and especially of this Grace of Holinâ—ss namely of Humility I am appointed as a great Ordinance of God the Father to hold forth
doth order the heart according to this knovvledg therefore the Scripture speaks of humbleness of mind in Collos 3. 12. To be low in our mind First the mind must be lovv before the Heart be lovv in the judging of our selves vve must judg of our selves right before the heart can lie lovv vve must judg of our selves by the right rule by no false rule but by examining of our selves according unto the vvord according to vvhat the vvord of God doth reveal concerning us after Serious Faithfull and strict examination of our selves then follovvs the vvork of Humiliation a right judging of our selves first A Heathen Phylosopher being ask'd What is the hardest thing in the World He ansvvers Noscere teipsum to knovv thy self the bravest thing in the World for a man to knovv himself and indeed vve that profess our selves to be Christians vve may find it by experience to be so the hardest thing in the World to know our selves The heart of man is deceitfull above all things and who can know it The heart of man is Grande profundum a very great depth there 's not one of ten thousand that knovvs himself there is a great Art and Skil in being able to know ones self and that is the reason that there is so little Humility in the World because we do not knovv our selves every proud man is a Fool a Fool in this Because he knovvs not himself he doth not give a right judgment of himself Now for the way of knowing our selves and what the word of God doth help us to know our selves in that we shal not speak of in this place but only to shew the ground of Humility it is the knowledg of our own vileness and the judging of our selves according to what we know of our selves not according to what others think of us A humble man doth not much go according to what any body else knows of him or esteems of him but according to what he knows and esteems of himself It was a Speech of another Heathen Do not beleeve others of thy self more than thy self of thy self It is a Foolish thing for any man to go by the esteem that others have of him and not by the esteem that he hath of himself upon right examination it may be other men may in Charity judg that thou hast this and this such and such Graces and such excellencies while in the mean time thou mai'st know thy self to be a vile mean wretched base Creature Novv a proud heart will rather go according to what others think of him than indeed according to what he knovvs of himself it may be other men that live vvith thee that see but the outside they give a good report of thee But vvhat report doth thy ovvn Conscience give of thee What dost thou knovv of thy self That thou should'st look most after While our friends do rejoyce in those excellencies they esteem us to have in the mean time thou mai'st see the cause to be confounded in thine ovvn thoughts and to be ashamed before the Lord and to have such thoughts of thy self that if the Lord should discover unto thy friends that now esteem highly of thee what thou knowest of thy self thou would'st think that they would kick and spurn thee out of their Company and be ready to spit in thy face I make no question but those that look into their own hearts and observe the workings of their own spirit those that know what is within and are acquainted with themselves many times when others have high esteems of them they see cause to look upon themselves with such shame as to beleeve that if others should but see the inside if God should turn their insides outward all their friends that have such esteems of them now would be ready to abhor them and be ready to loath them if they did but know what they are of themselves And indeed it is a great Argument for to make those that have any acquaintance with their own hearts to be humble to suffer any outward meanness to be willing to suffer any thing that might make them low outwardly Why Because of the great mercy of God to conceal from men what evill is in them Thou art loth to suffer some outward affliction but if God should discover to all the world all that evill that is in thee and that thou art conscious to thy self of Yea take the best Man and Woman that is if all the evill that they themselves are conscious to themselves of were discovered it would make them more vile than any mean condition that ever God put them into Yea than any outward affliction can possibly put them into God rather doth esteem of us wil rather judg us according to what we esteem of our selves than according to what others think of us And therefore in 1 John 3. 20. that place that is well known If our Consciences condemn us God is greater than our Consciences and knoweth all things It is no matter what others say others may justifie us others may think we have excellent Gifts and exccellent Graces and we perform duties in an excellent manner but in the mean time our own Consciences may condemn us Now the behavior of a proud heart is rather according at what others think of him then what he thinks of himself though he knows never such vileness in his own heart as now in Duty he joyns with us in Prayer perhaps he hath excellent expressions in Duty in Prayer that the hearts of those that are with him are taken with him and bless God for the Gift of God in him and what Graces he exerciseth in Prayer and so others are blessing God for him and highly esteeming of him and themselves happy that they joyn with him now upon that he hath a proud heart and blesseth himself in that and rejoyceth in that while in the mean time his Conscience tels him that he hath a base heart a proud spirit an empty heart and a dead heart and that all this while there hath been a mighty unsutableness between his heart and the expressions Now if his heart be humble he will not look what others speak of him in this kind but be ashamed and confounded in his ovvn spirit because of vvhat he knovvs of himself Certainly vve may see some ground vvhy others should think vvell of us and yeâ— vve may be most vvretched and abominable and loathsome in the eyes of God at that present vvhen other Godly people have high thoughts of us Do not rest in that not only others but vvise men and Godly men have high thoughts of us and yet in the mean time we may be wretched abominable in the sight of God and our ovvn Consciences may condemn us We read of the spirit of Man in Prov. 20. 27. it is said of the spirit of Man That it is the Candle of the Lord searching all the the inward parts of the Belly Now you know that
us be suspicious least God should not have the Glory we should lift up Gods Name as one that lifts up another upon the wall he that is lifted up sees but the other sees not so we should lift up God so as God should be alone seen though we be hidden our selves and if at any time there should any pride arise to take part of the Glory from him for we wil be ready to be fingring and filching of the glory of God from him then humility takes an advantage by pride as somtimes pride will take the rise from humility a man may be proud of his own humility so humility will take the rise from pride a gracious heart wil be humble for his pride and for this we have a notable example too in 2 Chron. 32. 25. It is the Example of Hezekiah But Hezekiah rendred not according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up verse 26. Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his Heart If at any time an humble gracious Heart whom God is pleased to imploy in any great Service shal find his heart rising up to be filching any of Gods glory from him presently it beates down it self so much the lower and nothing will more humble him then to consider the vileness of his heart that would râ—b God of his Glory I but this is not al to be humble to have the Lord advanced every one wil say so but this makes the behavior of an humble heart indeed to be willing that God should be advanced his own way for God to chuse his own way to be advanced this goes hard we would fain have God advanced in our liberty in our comfort and our blessings But what if God wil have al our comforts Wil have himself advanced by our estates and by our liberty What if God wil have al our comforts and al we have to be but as a footstool to get up unto his glory And indeed an humble spirit appears not only in this because he submits to what is Gods due but if the Lord at any time cross him in any thing yet an humble heart will think al his crosses is made up in this that God may have any glory by it here is the genuine humble Spirit there is such and such a thing that I am crossed in that I have a mind unto yet it yields to this now that though I am crost yet God hath Glory and I can see this that God hath glory in my affliction Now when I can account that my afflicton is made up if any glory can come to God hereby here is the true Genuine and humble spirit when a man is called to any hard Service it may be he finds the Service harder then he thought of I but saith he God is glorified in this Service and whatever hardship I endure it matters not I account al is made up in Gods glory and now God is glorified by me in this way let God be advanced his own way Somtimes you think if you should be put into such and such a condition God may have more glory if you had more in largement and more comfort but what if God will chuse to glorifie himself in your affliction your low condition An humble heart wil be content that God should advance himself in his own own way 7. Another form of an humble spirit is this that it admires â—t the least mercy that it is so much and wonders at the greatest affliction that it is no more I wil give you one Scripture for it because it hath reference to what I named Last and this both together and it is a notable Scripture to shew the form of an humble Spirit it is that of David in Sam. 2. 7. in this Chapter God promiseth mercy to David and the first that I wil observe is that which concerns the former of advancing of God in whatsoever we have if you read this Chapter you shal find how God promiseth that he should be magnified and his name and house Magnified but now we find David he is more affected with Gods name being magnified than his own as if he should say Lord I bless thee for what thou hast done for me but this is that that rejoyceth me more that thy name is magnified Now is it thus with thee Art thou sollicitous that Gods name should be Magnified then rejoycest that thy Name is magnified I put this to thee when God bestows great things upon thee art thou Sollicitous that Gods name should be glorified rather then thine own And then for the other he admires Gods mercies that we have likewise in David in 2 Sam. 7. 18 19. When the Lord tels him what great things he would do Then went David in and sate before the Lord and said who am I O! Lord God and what is my House that thou hast brought me hitherto And this was yet a smal thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken also of thy Servants House for a great while to come and is this the manner of man O Lord God What am I I bring this Scripture to this end to shew that the mercies of God will humble an humble Heart the more God bestowes any mercy upon an humble heart the more low wil it grow in admiring that God should deal thus and thus with it Whereas a proud heart when God bestows mercies presently his heart swels but novv if the higher that God raiseth you in your estates or othervvise the lovver you are here is true humility Let the Brother of high degree be so much the lower in Heart Because his degree is made higher So it vvas vvith David and Lord saith David Who am I That thou shouldest do these things And so Jacob you have him admiring Gods mercy to him in Genesis 32. 9 10. There you have the good man vvhen the Lord had manifested his goodness to him in his journey I am not worthy saith he of the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth that thou hast shewed unto thy Servant for with my staffe I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies that thou hast shewed to thy Servant He stands admiring at the mercies of God tovvards him and doth look upon himself as vile because Gods mercies were so great There is nothing more proper to Christian humility then this therefore to look upon our selves as vile because God bestowes great mercies upon us Many men they seem to be low in time of affliction O then they are humble and low but when God raisth them in prosperity then their hearts are high now a Christian in affliction he is low too but in prosperity he is more humble humility takes as much advantage upon Gods mercies to be humble as in affliction and when it is thus with you then you have Christian humility in your hearts Humility doth not say
stand upon thy tearms But know that thou art infinitly bound to God and God is not at all bound to thee and therefore if thy heart be brought humble before the Lord thou wilt resolve whatever God doth with thee yet thou wilt do what thou Canst to Honor Him And these are the principal things of the behavior of an humble heart towards God and indeed the special work of Humility it is the work of the heart towards God which people little look upon People look upon pride in respect of others habit in their carriage towards others in their vanity of Cloaths and outward demeanors but the main work of Pride is in the behavior of the heart towards God and then we Sanctifie the name of God when we Sanctifie our hearts in an humble manner and the Reason why the hearts of sinners are not lowly before the Lord it is because they know not this God they know not that infinite distance that there is between the Lord and their Souls and here is the Reason why the Spirit of bondage lies so long many times upon sinners Why the Lord doth terrifie their Consciences It is that he might bring their hearts to be low before him that there might be the right behavior of a lowly Spirit before God himself CHAP. CXXIIII Twelve Properties of a Lowly heart in respect of it self 1. It is very suspicious of it self 2. It is willing to know the worst of it self 3. It is willing to look to his beginning 4. It is ashamed of it self 5. It loaths it self 6. It judgeth it self unworthy 7. It denies it self 8. It keeps down it self 9. It hides it self 10. Goes out of it self 11. Bemoans it self 12. Afflicts it self BUt now the second thing that hath been propounded is The behavior of a Lowly Humble heart in respect of it self and there are many things in this and they are of very great use for us for the ordering of our conversations before the Lord and the ordering of the behavior of our spirits in respect of our selves As 1. An Humble heart is very suspicious of it self I speak of that Humility that may concern our present condition here it is afraid lest there should be some secret evill in it self that yet it doth not know it is very fearful of the deceitfulness of its own heart though it doth not know for the present much evil by it self yet stil fears there is much lies hid that is not yet discovered It is a good thing for us to be jealous of our selves knowing how deceitful our hearts are the proud heart is ready to run away vvith all is content and thinks it self better than it is vvhereas the humble heart fears the worst of it self if it sees an evil in another Man or Woman it begins to reflect upon it self and is not this my heart too I am afraid that this evill is in my heart It is reported of Plato that vvhen he saw other men doing evil he vvould say to himself Nonne ego talis And am not I such a one have not I that evil in my heart So it is reporâ—ed of Bradford that vvhen he saw others commit sin he vvould fal a vveeping and a lamenting because he was afraid that there vvas that evil in himself that he saw in others though it did not break forth An humble heart vvhen it hears the threatnings of the vvord against any sin it begins to think thus And doth not this belong to me I am afraid that it may belong to me as vvel as to any others very suspicious and jealous of it self That is the first 2. An humble heart is unfeignedly vvilling to know the vvorst of it self and therefore it makes much of any truth that comes the nearest to its heart and that discovers it self unto it self it is glad of those truths vvhen there is a truth comes home to it to discover any evil that it did not see before it is glad of those truths and blesseth God that it comes to know any thing of it self more than formerly whereas a proud heart vvil rather vex vvhen any truth comes to discover any evil that it did not see before As some being deformed are not vvilling to have a Glass to present their true Image to them but an humble heart cries to God Lord try me Lord discover to me vvhat evil is in my heart And an humble heart loves that Company that vvil help it to see vvhat evil there is in it self or any vvay may discover vvhat evil there is in it and it vvil be meditating upon those things that may further discover it self unfeignedly vvaiting to know the vvorst of it self for vvant of this many a Soul goes on in an unsound false vvay and miscarries to all eternity because it is not willing to know the vvorst of it self That is the second 3. An humble Spirit doth often look back to its poor beginnings it loves to do it one that is lowly in heart doth love to be often looking back to its poor beginnings what once he was If God hath made an alteration in my condition let me consider what once I was what a vile wretch once I was loves to be often meditating upon that and so to be working upon it self to humble its own heart with such thoughts as those are Oh! what a poor condition was I not long since in both in regard of my outward condition and my inward spirituall condition An humble heart is not unwilling to be put in mind of both If God hath raised him from the Dunghil to a higher condition he puts himself in mind of what he was once is not willing to have the record of his own Parentage to be razed out but is willing to have it known what he was what poor breeding he had my Father a poor Man and my Mother a poor Woman and how poorly they lived notwithstanding God hath raised my estate he is willing to put himself in mind of it that he may get his proud heart to be humbled Agathacles that was raised to be a Prince he would be served in Earthen Vessels to put him in mind of his low condition that once he was in And that is very famous that we have of Jacob in Gen. 32. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant for with my staff have I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands I had nothing but even the poor Staff to pass over this Jordan withall but now I am become two bands so for men that perhaps came up to the City and that are come to live wel they were poor Boyes and had little at first and God hath blest their Estates and they are not unwilling to look back to what they were it may be some of you were poor ship Boyes and God hath in some Voyages raised you up to what you are
much evil And so that other place in Job that I named about the Souls behavior before God when he saw the Glory of God In Job 42. 5. I have hâ—ard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eyes see thee wherefore I abhor my self in dust and ashes this is the work of an humble heart to loath and abhor it self before the Lord. 6. The behavior of a Lowly heart in respect of it self it is to judg it selfe judgeth it self First Unworthy of any imployment unworthy of any service that ever God should imploy him in So you have it in that of Gideon in Judges 6. 15. when the Lord had revealed to Gideon what imployment he would use him in Who am I saith he or my Fathers House He judgeth himself unworthy of any such imployment one lowly in Heart doth think it a great mercy of God to be imployed in any work it judgeth it self unworthy of suâ—h a mercy as this May be you may think that God should be beholding to you to imploy you in any work or service for him but if your heart were Lowly you would judg your selves unworthy to be imployed in any work of God Secondly It judgeth it self unworthy of the least of the Creatures of God I am less then the least of all thy mercies saith Jacob unworthy of the to bread that it Eates and the Air that it breathes in it doth not think much that it hath not what others have but judgeth it self before God unworthy of what it hath acknowledging that it hath forfeited all the comforts that God hath vouchsafed to it Yea Thirdly It is ready to charge it self with any evil even that which comes in somtimes by temptation an humble heart is ready charge it self to be the only cause of it as other men Hipocrites they are ready to charge temptation with what comes from their own corruption So an humble heart rather chargeth its own corruption with what comes from temptation You shal have vaine and carnal Spirits think to excuse the evil that comes from them with this the Devil tempted them this was a temptation the strength and violence of a temptation and they were led to it by the Devil and so judg the Devil for it and not themselves whereas the truth is it was not thy temptation so much as thy corruption the heart that is lowly and humble chargeth himself with all this is my corruption this is my wretched and wicked heart it is true the Devil might tempt me but were it not for my corruption the Devil could never prevaile Yea Lastly It judgeth it self worthy to be destroyed So that place in Ezek. 36 31. Whereas some Books have it You shall loath your selves The old Translation hath it And shall judg your selves worthy to be destroyed A Lowly heart is willing to pass sentence upon it self to accuse it self before the Lord and therefore passeth the sentence of eternal death upon it self so as to justifie God God is clear when he judgeth whatever the judgment of God is against the sin that I have committed I joyn with it I close with the judgment and I judg my self as God doth judg in his word it takes the sentence of Gods word and laies it to it self and judgeth it self If you judg your selves you shall not be judged saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. 32. This is the work of a Lowly Spirit it judgeth it self before the Lord. That is the Sixth Seventhly An Humble Spirit denies it self First It denies its own Reason if the truth of God be revealed in his word he wil not set his own Reason against the evidence of the truth but though I cannot see a Reason of what is in the word it is fit that I should yeild to what the Lord reveales in his wodr it is willing to deny his Reason in matters of Faith and there is a great deal in this and a special ground why the Lord batters the Heart of sinners many times it is to bring them down to deny their own reason So I remember Luther hath a speech concerning Reason in matters of Faith Reason it is a most bitter enemy to God and of Faith he means unsanctified Reason now an humble heart can deny its own Reason Yea Secondly He is much in denyal of his own will though my will be set strong to have such and such a thing yet what great matter is it saith a Lowly heart for the will of such a wretched Creature as I am to be crossed What if my will be crossed and that for ever I that have been guilty of crossing God so much an humble heart never thinks much to have its will to be crossed whereas there is nothing more todious and grievous to a proud Spirit then to have its will crossed but now when we can get that power over our selves as to be willing to deny our own wils then our hearts are indeed broken and we are brought to be lowly in heart before the Lord the heart of a sinner is never broken and humble til it can deny its own will many of you would know when you are humble enough if you find this that whereas before you thought it very much to have your wils crossed you find now that it is a very little matter to you to have your wills crossed this is a sign that your heart is humble And Thirdly An Humble spirit can deny his own ends whatever my ends were wont to be what plottings contrivings what designes I was wont to aime at now I find I can deny them I can renounce mine own ends and am not for my self an humble Spirit is not a selfish Spirit not aiming at his own ends Yea Further An humble heart can deny its own lawful contentments for God even those things that are in themselves lawful contentments that it might have much liberty in yet if I see that God may have more honor by my being abridged of such lawful contentments and my Brethren may have more good I am willing to deny my self in them to let them go it is not fit I should look after my self such a wretched Creature as I am that might have been in Hell long ago it is not so much for me to look at my self but if God may have any Glory and my Brethren any good I am willing to deny my own lawfull contentments so that an humble Spirit denies not only its sinful self but its lawful self denies all its own excellencies whatever they be willing that they should be buried denies his own honor cares not for his own disgrace I have been perhaps of such an opinion and if I should alter I should be dishonored and disgraced but if the truth of God may come up let my honor lie in the dust let the truth of God be advanced he is willing to deny himself This is the behavior of a lowly Spirit in regard of it self it doth deny it self and that is
it in himself In 1 Corin. 15. 9 For I am the least of the Apostles that am not meet to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the the Church of God I am the least of the Apostles Saith Paul and yet as somtimes I have said upon other occasions there was no man since the begining of the world that ever did God more Service then Paul We may safely say it no man upon the Face of the Earth that was a meer man that ever did God more service then this man did and yet he was the least of the Apostles Well But though he may be the least of the Apostles yet he may have high thoughts of himself enough Mark then the 1 of Tim. 1. 15. This is a Faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am chief The least of the Apostles but chief of Sinners he looks upon himself as Chief of Sinners Yea yet one diminution to be the chiefest of sinners it shewes he was low in his own Eyes and that is in Ephes 3. 8. Vnto me who am less then the least of all Saints Mark to be the least of the Apostles was somwhat but to be the Least of Saints is more but to be less then the least of al Saints here Paul would Teach Gramarians a new Grammar Lesson Gramarians know but three degrees of Comparison but Paul had a fourth here he had one beyond the superlative the least Minimus it is the superlative you know to be the least of al but here beyond the superlative less then the least or I am the worst So it is in the Greek Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the superlative in the Greek Tongue but here is a comparison beyond the superlative less then the least less then the least of all Saints thus you see it was with Paul one that did God more Service then thousands and ten thousands of the best that we know and never are like to do God that Service as this Paul and yet he is the least of all Saints in his own Eyes here is a lowly heart In Judges 8. 2. We have Gideon likewise an example of Lowliness of Spirit in his own Eyes we might name a great many others when some were provoked and Angry with him he said unto them what have I done now in comparison of you is not the gleaning of the Grapes of Ephraim better then the vintage of Abiezer By this means he pacified his angry Brethren saith he we account our selves but as the Gleanings of the Grapes of Ephraim to the vintage of Abiezer And by that means he quieted his Brethren that were provoked Well but for the opening of this the Lowly heart doth judg others better then himself First If so be that there appear any evil in others if the evil be not apparent in other men a Lowly heart wil be ready to judg the best of any one and think there is more good secretly If there appear but a little good yet it will be ready to think that others have more good in secret then he hath himself I know how little good I have in secret in mine own heart saith a lowly Soul Well but I do not know but such and such may have a great deal more good in secret then I have their thoughts may be more holy more spiritual then mine not so wandring in Duties as mine are I have no Reason to think any in the world have so many wandring thoughts and such uncleanness and filthiness in their thoughts as I have It is ready to think that the affections of others are a great deal more cleane then his and more Heavenly and spiritual and prepared more for holy duties and that their hearts are in a better temper in holy Duties then his is And if so be that there be any good done by others he is ready to think that surely there is in them better principles that acts better in their minds then there is in me they do such and such good things I and their hearts are more sincere and are carried on by divine principles in what they do I am conscious to my self of a great many of base and vile principles that act in me I know no such evil in others and therefore I am to hope that there is not the like in them as there is in me If he sees any good in another a lowly heart is ready to think that there are other things correspondent to the good that doth appear unto him as there appears such a good thing so there is all other things answerable unto that good that doth appeare but as for it self it saies I find though I do somthing that is good Yet I am conscious to my self that there is a great deal of non-correspondency in me that though there be such and such particular good things yet other things are not answerable unto that that doth appear Thus because one that is lowly knows much evil of it self and knows more evil of it self then it doth of any other therefore it sees cause to judg of others better then it self I do not know that such have such secret evils as my self I do not know that they have such base principles that act them as in my self that there is such a non-correspondency to good as in my self upon this ground because it knows more evil of it self then others know therefore it is ready to think better of others then of it self Object I but you wil say Suppose I see a great deal of Evil in others that I know and am conscious to my self that I am not guilty of shall I think better of others then of my self then Answ I Answer stil for all this I am to think of others better then my self First Because though I see others outwardly evil yet I do not know whether there be such inward evil in them as in my self it is true they do break into outward evils more then I do I but there may be swarmes of evils within me that I know I am guilty of now because I know more evil inwardly in my self then I can know in any in the world therefore I am bound to judg of others better then of my self Secondly And further Though I see some evil in others that I am not guilty of yet how do I know what temptations they have and how can I tel but that if I had as great temptations as they I might commit as great evils and greater then they and therefore though they do commit greater evils then I do yet I am bound to judg of them better then my self because I do not know but if I had as strong temptations as they I might commit greater evils Yea Thirdly Though they do commit evils greater then I do yet I know that it is the restraining hand of God upon me and that if God should but leave me to my self a
thou maiest go like a Fool or a mad man I remember one Albertus Magnus who was one of the greatest scorners in the world yet was many years before he died a very Fool the parts of a man are very poor things to lift up any man considering how they depend upon a little temper of the brain and a little sickness may make thee as mad a man as any in Bedlam therefore there is no Reason to look upon thy self above others in that respect Fourthly Another thing in an humble Spirit in reference unto others is this which is somewhat more then the other he not only gives respect but rejoyceth in the good of others in whatever excellency God hath bestowed upon others in what success God gives to others what esteem God hath of others an humble heart will rejoyce in all you know Paul he rejoyced that the Gospel was Preached though he was nothing There are two Cases in which we are to rejoyce in respect of others to be glad that others are above us As first If God raiseth any in spirituall Grace Doth God give any spirituall Grace more than to thee I say thou art bound not only to be content but to rejoyce in it and it is a wickedness in the hearts of Men and Women that because their Glory shall be somewhat eclipsed by the Graces of others they could even almost wish that they did somewhat to darken their Graces because then they should not shine so bright and they should be some body as well as they if there be this wickedness in thy heart know that this is as cursed a wickedness as the heart of man is capable of in the world next to the sin against the Holy Ghost there is as cursed an evil in this distemper of thine as can almost be imagined to be in the heart of a man or woman What! shal thy eye be evil because thy Brothers is good because thy name must suffer a little what is thy name or thy Glory in comparison of the Glory that God may have by the Grace of thy Brother And so for the gifts of others not only the Graces but the gifts of others the Scripture saith When the wicked are exalted the People mourn and may not we mourn because the wicked are lifted up Therefore that is the second case when God gives any gifts so as to make another more instrumentall for good than he doth our selves we are to rejoyce in that though it be not true Grace yet if he give any gifts whereby they come to be more instrumental for God and his Glory than our selves we are bound to rejoyce in this and to bless God for it this many times comes very neer the hearts of men yet there is infinite reason for what is my name my credit my estate in comparison of the work that is done for God If I be sincere for God certainly if the work do go on though not by me I may rejoyce if my heart be upright and be not damnable proud I am bound to rejoyce in it and bless God though I can do but little for God yet blessed be God that there be any can do more than I can this indeed would be a great deal of comfort in your hearts you complain of your own weakness O! you say you cannot pray when you go to prayer you have a dead heart I but can you say though I have a strait heart and cannot pray Oh I bless God that others have a heart enlarged in prayer you are not I hope wishing that others had as straitned hearts as you And so thou hast a weak memory and canst not remember good things I but blessed be God that hath given gifts to others that they can remember and that God hath a great deal of Glory by them and thus when I am in secret in my Closet to be blessing of God that he hath given gifts to others whereby he hath more Glory than by my self And so I might name many particulars that are to be objects of an envious heart but humility rejoyceth in other respects and if there be any lifted up above me God sees that he is like to do him more service than I if I should be lifted up as they are God sees that I am not able to bear it It is the speech of old Mr. Dod he wished himself to be the worst Preacher in al the world I would to God saith he that I were the worst Preacher in all the Kingdom not that he thought himself worse than he was but this that he would have all in the Kingdom better than he You know Moses when they told him of Eldad and Medad that prophesied in the Camp he answered Why dost thou envy them for my sake I would to God all the Lords People were so An humble heart never is troubled that any credit is gotten from him so God may have Gloty When as God chose Moses to go to the People of Israel he would have Aaron to be â—he mouth but Moses should be the chief Exod. 4. 14. Behold Aaron he cometh forth to meet thee and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart no question but God made known to Aaron what his work should be that made him glad at the heart and though Aaron knew Moses should be above him and Aaron was the elder brother yet when he met with Moses he was glad at the heart As if he should say blessed be God though he be my younger Brother yet I am willing to further the service that God hath called my younger Brother to So though thou maiest think thou hast other gifts than other men have and act above other men yet if Gods Glory goes on thou shouldest bless God that his Glory comes about by any others I remember Plutarch tels of one Philertus that was in election for a place and it was a place that three hundred were in nomination and were chosen before him he should have been but one of them and he goes away rejoycing and was glad with this expression I am glad that there is three hundred in this City better deserving than my self not fretting and fuming but was glad that there was three hundred better than himself fit for such a place So should we knowing how God casts things in providence rejoyce upon this that others are found better than our selves Fifthly An humble Spirit in reference unto others is willing to receive good from the meanest iâ— there be any one though never so mean yet he is willing to receive good from him he doth not scorn it because it comes from a mean man but on the contrary saith Hath God bestowed any Grace upon others though not so much as upon me yet I may get some good by them it may be they have not so great gifts as I I but I may get some good by the meanest and the weakest as I have said sometimes little Chips will kindle great
Logs so an humble heart will get somthing from the meanest he will go away blessing God for the comfort he hath by the company of those that are meaner than himself Mark Paul saith he in Jesus Christ that you would strive together with God for me What! this Apostle that was so much above them for them to strive together with God for him Yes thus it is with a true gracious heart I remember I have read of a German Divine when he lay sick and some of his friends came to him and would be speaking to him and they thought it would be grievous to him because he was so weak Oh saith he though they were but those that you cal Lay-people if so be that when I die I shall learn any thing of any body I should account my departure more sweet to me And so it was the Speech of Oecolampadius If a truth come though by a Child by the meanest we must not refuse But know sometimes that God may speak by a poor body when he doth deny to speak by those of greater abilities and therefore we do not know what we lose by contemning those that are under us for God I say many times may speak that to our hearts by those that are beneath us when he denies to speak it by those that are above us Now an humble Spirit is willing to learn of every body of the meanest Oh if there were such a temper in the hearts of Men Women what abundance of sweetness and peace might we have Now by that we have said you may see how the promise may be fulfilled if we had but an humble heart there would be abundance of rest that we should have in this Oh the abundance of peaceableness that there would be in the world were it not for this pride of heart it is Pride of heart that makes all this ado and combustion in the world and were we thus carrying our selves lowly in heart one towards another Oh! the rest that there would be in the world and in our own Spirits Sixthly Another is this An humble heart is a tender heart towards others a lowly heart is a melting heart In Colos 3. 12. you have those two put together Put on therefore as the elect of God Holy and beloved bowels of mercies and kindness humbleness of mind Bowels of mercies and humbleness of mind are put together an humble Spirit is merciful towards others is of a tender heart either to forgive others or to give unto others he readily passeth by the offences done by others he forgives others he reasons with himself What am I that I should think it so great a matter for me to be offended that hath sinned so much against God as I have done Who am I to take so much upon me against my Brother that hath offended when I deserve to be roaring and yelling in Hell I that have so many talents forgiven me Why should not I forgive to others And then for giving unto others he considers Who hath made the difference between me and others Why is it that I should be able to give and not to have need of others Why should my Brother be in such a poor condition and I have such accomodations An humble hearâ— loves such reasoning hath his bowels yern towards the necessities of his Brethren whereas a proud Spirâ—t thinks all is for himself Shall I give my bread and my flesh and my Beer that I have provided for my Servants saith Nabal but an humble heart thinks all that he hath is mercy and therefore gives to others That which makes men and women stand so much upon it that they will not forgive wrongs and makes them so merciless towards others in misery it is from the pide of their Spirits an humble heart is a heart tender and melting towards others Seventhly And then the last that I shall name is this That an humble heart is not needlessly singular from others abundance of pride appears in singularity there is a singularity that is of necessity that is we must do our Duty what Conscience requires in Duty towards God though none in the world should do the like So we should be singular What singular thing do you but I say an humble heart is not needlesly singular from others and that you have in Rom. 12. 16. it is a notable Scripture for this Be of the same mind one towards another mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate Now the words I confess as they are in your Books do not seem to hold forth that I bring it for yet if it be examined as the learned know in the originall it is thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So it is translated Go the same way with those that are of a low estate go on in the same way together with them Do not go in a singular way by your selves there is the danger of Pride for men to go in the way of those that are not mean they will go on in the way of those that have credit and esteem in the world they will not be singular from them here is the Pride of singularity for men to be singular from poor Godly Gracious People thou Professest thy self to be a Christian and thou canst comply with men that are full of Pomp and Glory of the world and wilt not be singular from them but thou wilt be singular from those that are mean Godly and gracious souls that is Pride we must go on in the way with those that are most Godly and most Holy and most Gracious Now there is a great deal of Pride in singularity in going in waies from them that are Holy Godly in matter of things that are indifferent and you your selves acknowledg it and yet you must have a peculiar Garb by your selves as some have a singular tone of speech and an affected gate and strange kind of fashion and a sullen kind of way of keeping what they have had heretofore many yeers though there be no body else have the same thing yet they think it is humility when indeed there is a sullenness of Spirit and a proud singularity in it and wilfulness when they wil go in a different way even from the way of Godly Holy and Gracious Christians and would have somwhat peculiar to themselves For any man to affect singularity in things wherein he may lawfully suit himself with others this is Pride wherever it is and especially those that are Godly they should suit themselves with others wherein they can because there is something wherein their Conscience will not give them leave to suit with others being bound in Conscience they have not that liberty that other men have to do this or that to go this way or that way that other men can do or go in for their own ends that which they apprehend to be according to the Rule they must go on to the utmost in every thing whatever men do that they
further sence in it God gives a Grace to that God puts a Beauty and Ornament upon the Humble for Humility doth so beautifie a Christian that whatever they do they do it with a Grace there is no Christian that doth things with such a Grace as the Humble and it is that that doth adorn all Graces Humility Graceth all Graces whatsoever Tenthly And then it is that that preserves all Graces too and so some take the word there to come from a word that signifies a knot because it ties all Graces as it were with fast knots together as I find some Interpreters carry the word it unites and knits and strengthens all Graces Paul walked humbly with God walked constantly with him whatever fell out it did not hinder them from serving God As in Acts 20 the place I named before when he called together the Elders of Ephesus at verse 19. when they were come he speaks to them thus Serving the Lord with all Humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews whatever temptations did befall Paul yet he was able to go through them for he served the Lord with all Humility it is the proud swollen heart that is the backsliding heart but the humble heart is the heart that keeps constant with God it preserves all the Graces of the Spirit of God in vigor and in strength uniting of them together and uniting the Soul to the Fountain of all Grace it is the preservative of all Grace Eleventhly And again Humility it is that that makes all Duties and all Afflictions to be easie therefore this follows that I shall speak to afterwards Learn of me and be lowly in heart and then My Yoak is easie and my Burden is light it is an easie thing for a man to do any thing that God sets him about if he be once humble there is no difficulty that a man finds in the service of God but it is through pride of heart And so there is an ease in all Afflictions in being humble that that yeilds you know can bear opposition without any great noise indeed the tall Cedars are broken with winds but the poor shrubs below they do not suffer so much but these two will fall more seasonably in when we come to shew how humility gives quiet and rest unto the Soul Twelfthly Again There is nothing that makes the life of a man and woman more joyful and more comfortable than Humility You think the proud have the jolly lives and the comfortable lives No but the humble have most comfortableness because it makes them to prize the least mercy Chrisostome upon Acts 7. hath this expression None saith he live so comfortably as the humble and he gives the reason for it Because the least thing he enjoyes he sets such a price upon the mercy and therefore rejoyceth in it you shall observe it come to a poor Godly Family and you hear nothing but blessing and praising of Gods mercy and wondring at Gods mercy you that have great Houses and great Tables furnished you are wrangling and snarling at this and the other thing but an humble heart is praising and blessing God for his mercy and enjoy more of the mercies of Gods that they have than you do in all your abundance If a man have his flesh swollen he will not be able to bear it but it will be mighty toublesome to him So when the heart is swollen it will bring trouble to thee but this likewise will come more fully in when we come to speak of the Promise I will give you rest But now there is only one thing more for opening the excellency of this Grace and that is the many gracious Promises in Scripture that are made to humble hearts as now to name a few That God will guide the humble in their way Psal 25. 9. I confess your Books have it Meek and so I made use of it in opening Meekness but the word in the Hebrew is Humble and you may take it both waies and therefore in Prov. 11. 2. you have an excellent Scripture there With the Lowly there is Wisdom No man or woman hath that Wisdom for the guiding and governing of their waies as the Lowly Proud men will run on upon their own heads rashly because they be conceited of their own waies but the Lowly will examin and wait and suspect themselves they wil try and examin their waies and go in an humble way With the Lowly there is Wisdom Oh! into what Labyrinths straits aed extremities do proud people hurry themselves but now the Lowly they have the guidance of the Spirit of God carrying them on in their way and therefore they can quiet their hearts and listen to know what the mind of God is And another Promise is That God will revive the Humble the humble is ready to be trod under foot but in Isay 57. 15. The Lord saith he will revive the humble And another is that in Peter He will give Grace to the Humble And that same Promise that you have in Prov. 3. That he will give Grace to the Lowly Thou wouldest have more Grace it is taken for the Graces of Gods Spirit you would fain have more Grace to subdue your corruptions Are you thankful for what you have An humble heart will take notice of every little it hath wait upon God for more Make use of this Promise true Lord I have not such Grace as I would have but I have my heart subdued to this condition then here is the Promise The Lord will give Grace to the Humble And then there is the Promise of Exaltation in Prov. 15. 33. and Math. 23. 12. Those that do most abase themselves shall be most exalted by God It was an Answer that a Phylosopher gave to one that asked him What God did in Heaven he gives this Answer He is beating down the Proud and lifting up the Humble that is the thing that he is doing in Heaven and therefore those in Scripture that have been lowest you see how afterwards God hath exalted them Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God and he shall exalt you in due time in 1 Pet. 5. 6. speaking there of Humility there is but one word in the Greek there for due time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the opportunity of time God will exalt you when a fit opportunity comes And then there is the Promise of safety also to the humble in Job 22. 29. God makes a Promise there to keep those that are humble in a safe condition whatever danger is abroad the Lord will preserve them When men are cast down then thou shalt say there is a lifting up and he shall save the humble Person the Lord wil save the humble Person in time of trouble He shall find mercy frrom God in troublesom times And so in Zeph. 3. 12. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor People and
so long under the Spirit of bondage because God would be weakening the pride of their hearts You think that a poor Soul that hath horror and trouble of conscience hath little pride in him one that is ready to despair and to conclude of it self that it shall go to Hell is that Soul proude Certainly there is a great deal of pride in it then you will say how will that appear that it is pride Because it would fain find somwhat in it self to present unto God for its mercy though it do not think to merit yet it would present somthing to God for its mercy and here is pride the heart hath not denied it self thus as to venture it self upon Christ though it have nothing to present to God it is not brought to this to go to Jesus Christ as a meer beggar that hath nothing to live upon now because the Soul is not brought to this therefore it is that the Soul is many months and years without comfort the Lord hath not humbled and emptied the Soul yet but now when the Lord comes to empty the Soul perhaps by the work of his Spirit though not by Gods Sanctifying Grace though there is not a Sanctifying principle put into the Soul yet it is that that is very like it and it is that whereby the Soul doth act by as it doth when a principle of Sanctification is put into it but this Grace is very useful for that is one special aime that God hath in the Covenant of grace though he wil glorifie his creature yet he wil debase it in such a way that the Creature shal have nothing to boast of what should we Boast of Saith Paul if it were of works then we might boast but because it is of Faith we have nothing to boast of Thus much for the Excellency of the grace of Humility CHAP. CXXX Humility brings Rest unto the Soul in Eight Particulars 1. It ventures upon nothing before it sees Gods call 2. The Head of such is lower then their condition 3. He is never disappointed in the World 4. He would have God have his Glory 5. It freeth from opposition oâ— maketh the Heart yeild to it 6. It makes the Heart rejoyce in the property of others 7. It is under many promises 8. All Crosses are smal to an Humble Heart BUt now we come to open the promise and then we will apply altogether the promise here made to those that are lowly in Heart I will give you Rest Now I shal not need to open the Rest that a Christians heart hath that comes to Christ that hath been done at large in the former verse Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy Laden and I will give you Rest Therefore here I shall only shew how Humility and Lowliness of heart gives Rest unto the Soul There is I confess a great correspondency between those two Graces and therefore I shal speak the less now of the Rest of the Soul in humility because there is a great affinity between this and Meekness now one that is Lowly in heart must needs live at Rest First Because such a one dares not venture upon any thing before he sees Gods cal a bold spirit will venture upon any thing when he hath not Gods cal and there he meets with trouble but now a Lowly Spirit thinks thus is this Gods way Have I a word for it And a cal for it If I have Let me go on whatever comes of it if he meet with trouble in such a business if he can say I undertook it thus I had Gods cal what abundance of Rest hath he What is the Reason that men are disquieted in the world and troubled It is because they rush upon things without Gods cal When the Soul can appeal to God Lord I would not undertake such a thing nor such a thing though I say there might be some preferment by it and somewhat got by it yet Lord thou seest the uprightness of my heart that I would not venture upon it without thy cal and then when I saw that I ventured upon it such a Soul must needs have a great deal of quiet Secondly One that is humble hath Rest because he can never be in so low a condition but his heart is lower then his condition This is an excellent frame of Spirit though my Estate is low yet my heart is lower if you be able to say so you that have low Estates your care is how you can raise your Estates if I could raise my Estate as high as others Then I should have a great deal of Peace and comfort No thy way must be to lowen thy Heart that is the way to raise thy Estate If a mans affliction be above his Heart and his heart beneath the affliction if the fire he under the fewel then the fire quickly catcheth the fewel but now if the Fire be above the fewel it will not so soon kinkle it so I say in a mans affliction if a mans heart be above his affliction I mean in a sinful way he hath lifted up his heart and he would have higher things then these things are and these things are beneath his spirit he hath a higher design and plot and aimes at greater things and these things are beneath what he would have Oh! Then the affliction troubles the Spirit but when a mans spirit is beneath his afflictions then a man hath a great deal of Rest and quiet he is lower then his afflictions and therefore he is quiet Thirdly Another thing in the Lowliness of heart that doth bring quietness and hath affinity with it is this One that is Lowly in heart hath never any disappointments in the world nothing is more troublesome and disquieting to a mans spirit then disappointment now one that is Lowly in Heart he expects no great matters in this world and therefore he cannot be much disappointed in any thing that befals and so he is quiet you that have great plots and designes in your heads and make account of great things in the world there will follow many Crosses that wil disappoint you and how do they disquiet you you may account of such a voyage and when it is lost how unquiet are you Whereas one that is Lowly in heart he is quiet and goes on in obedience to God and that is that he looks to most to go on in his calling in obedience to God and leaves the issue to God and therefore if there be any thing coming in he receives it thankfully because he is most unworthy if he be crossed he is not much disappointed because he looks for no high things Fourthly An humble heart must needs bring Rest because this is the guise and frame of it it would have God to have his glory his own way and this one principle Oh What abundance of quiet and Rest would it bring to a mans spirit That God should have his Glory we all yeild to that I but
time but what you are in a constant way those that are the vilest of all yet they have some good moods and fits sometimes stirred by the word and when they are above some good motions and yet be vile and abominable for all this but you must judg what the frame of your Spirits are in reference to God and especially what you are in time of temptation how you find your hearts work ordinarily in times of temptation when you are put to it There is many a man when there is no temptation he seems to be as fair and as humble a man as lowly a man as can be but when temptation comes then he flies out And so many men and women think they trust in God and have Faith in God but when temptation comes then they find such distrust and such shifting unto unlawfull means to help themselves Thus you must see what you are in an ordinary way I do not say that a man should judg his condition or his heart for any particular but what he is in an ordinary way as thus you may know you have a froward Spirit if you are froward in an ordinary way When a temptation comes you may know you are unclean and sensuall though you are not unclean and drunk every week but when a temptation comes in an ordinary way and when a temptation comes you fal upon that which is evil and it is not the trouble of your spirit but you say it is the strength of temptation and we are all sinners and you can pass it over so Take these two Considerations with you First If that in an ordinary way when temptation comes you find your heart taken And Secondly If that you can pass over a sin without any trouble in Spirit I say then what you are in your temptation that you are in the sight of God and not what you are in some good mood and some good fit but there is the guise and the frame of your heart that that doth appear then were you otherwise in your temptation then you would complain of your heart and you would say O! here is a temptation that makes me see that corruption I never saw before and Oh! how doth this trouble you but if you vent your corruption in a temptation then you are to judg of your selves according to what you find your selves in a temptation and God will so judg you if there be not an alteration and if men must come to judg of themselves this way Oh! what abundance of filth and vileness and matter is there that men may come to know themselves by that they may loath themselves in their own eyes for ever Oh! it is a wonder that we should have any high thoughts of our selves at all when we consider what we are in our selves CHAP. CXXXII The knowledg of our selves further prosecuted with Six Means to get it 1. Consider what once we were 2. What we might have been 3. What it cost God to bring us out of that condition 4. What we are 5. What we would be if God should leave us a little to our selves 6. In what case we shall certainly be in one day FIrst Consider what ye were once I speak to those that are best of all of the Disciples of Christ consider what once you were Secondly What you might have been Thirdly What great cost God was at in bringing you out of that condition Fourthly What now you are Fifthly What you would be if God should but leave you a little to your selves Sixthly In what case ye all one day shall certainly be in These are the Heads to meditate upon to know your own vileness and so to humble your selves before God these are the meditations that may serve to prick the bladders of Pride and beat down the heart when it is lifted up As First Meditate what once you were consider that there is never a one of you whatever your condition is now but you were a Child of wrath and that as wel as others as well as the vilest basest wretch in the world as you were by nature you you were such as lost God had departed from him were deprived of the Image of God your excellency was departed from you you were under the curse of the Law you were enemies unto God your life was a continuall enmity unto God all your daies you did nothing else but fight against him you were guilty condemned Creatures you were ful of sin of the Seeds of all kinds of sin there is no sin in Hell it self but the Seeds of it were in your hearts your hearts and lives were full of sin all the faculties of your Souls were full of sin and all the members of your bodies instruments of sin all the good things you had was defiled Soul and Body was polluted and al loathsome you were even cast out in your blood and even lived in filthiness for al the time of your natural condition al the Creatures that you had use of you defiled with sin and all Ordinances were polluted all things were unclean to you Now these are some certain Heads to meditate upon to work upon us the knowledg of our selves what we were in that naturall state Besides add to this you were succorless helpless shiftless in your selves you could never deliver your selves you were wandring from God and would have wandred eternally if God had not looked upon you in mercy you were in such a condition that all the Angels in Heaven and all the Creatures in the world could not have helped you there was such a dreadfull breach between God and your Souls that if all the Angels in Heaven and men on earth would have been content to have died to have made up our breach it could not have been this is your condition Is there not cause then you should be low in your own eyes look back to this condition you see many vile Creatures going on in waies of wickedness provoking the infinite wrath of God against them and hanging over the pit of Hell by a twined Thred and every moment are ready to be plunged into the bottomless Gulf you were once thus you were in as vile a condition as they And consider further What you might have been you that are now in such a condition that have perhaps excellent parts I have spoken now only of our condition in regard of our spirituall Estate you may consider of your condition in your rise and beginning that what you find your selves made of was but Dust what poor matter you were made of at first and so many of you have great estates that now you are proud of but you were low enough look back to what you were So the Holy Ghost in Ezek. 16. when he would humble the People he bids them look back to what they were Your Father an Amorite and your Mother an Hitite and you were cast out into the Streets These things if we intended to speak of them
the righteous have a plain path to Heaven but the wicked they are upon the stones they are upon the dirt when one comes upon the stones and it be dirty too that is more difficult But the way of righteousness is plain And there is one Scripture more remarkable than these and that is in 1 John 5. 3. And his commandments are not grievous the commands of God have no grievousness in them there is nothing in Gods Commandments to be so much as grieving to a Gracious Soul It is said in the Scripture that God delights not to grieve the Children of Men certainly there is nâ—thing that God requires of thee if thou understandest it aright that will grieve thee when you tender a Child or a Friend you wil not require of them any thing that may grieve them now Christ hath so tender regard unto you that are the Servants of God that he will require nothing of you that wil grieve you and therfore if nothing be grievous in Gods Commandments surely his Yoke is eâ—sie and his Burden is light But now for the opening of this Point for there is a great deal that had need to be said to it for the opening of it and making it usefull and profitable I shall cast what my meditations have been about this Point into these Six heads The first is To give you some Evidences of it that this is so And then the second thing is The differences that there are between the ease that a carnall heart finds in the waies of Religion and the ease that a true Gracious heart finds in the waies of Religion those that are carnall and take up but a meer formality of Religion they find not ease but those that are truly religious they find rest And the third is this If the waies of God be easie How comes it to pass that many that we hope are truly Gracious and Godly yet make such complaints of so much difficulty as they do find in Gods waies And then fourthly We are to open which is the principal of all in the explication wherein the easiness of Gods waies appears what are those things that do make the waies of God so easie and in what particulars doth consist the easiness that there is in the waies of Religion And then fifthly Some Consequences that are to be drawn from this which is by way of Application And sixthly and lastly Some Directions what we should do to make the waies of God easie These are the six Heads that I cast the handling of this Point into CHAP. CXXXV Six Evidences of the former Doctrine in the last Chapter 1. Because the word that injoyns these waies is Sweet 2. A Gracious Soul counts his Duties his priviledges 3. He would rather come under any other Burden than cast off the Yoke of Christ 4. Because Christ whose Yoke it is is Gentle 5. Never any truly that put their neck under this Yoke would willingly take it out again 6. The Experience of all the Saints of God prove the Point FOr the first then The Evidences that do demonstrate that certainly the waies of God are easie and his Burden is very light unto those that have indeed submitted their necks unto the Yoke of Jesus Christ Evidence 1. First The first Evidence is this Surely Gods waies are easie unto them for there is none that is truly Gracious but they account the word of God that doth require them to walk in those waies very sweet unto them and they prize it highly now if there were difficulty and a harshness in Gods waies Certainly though the word of God may be accounted just and righteous yet it would not be sweet and comfortable unto the Soul but there is nothing more sweet and comfortable unto a Gracious heart than the word of God that doth require such waies of him Ye know the expression of David that It is sweeter than the Hony and the Hony Comb more precious than Silver or Gold or any riches of the world read but Psal 119. and there in every verse almost you find such expressions of much sweetness that David did find in the word of God if the word be sweet and delightful certainly the waies of God must needs be sweet and delightfull that are required in the word that is the first Evidence 2. Secondly Surely they are sweet and delightful for those that are in Gods waies do not account what they do only to be Duties but Priviledges they look upon every thing that Christian Religion requires of them not only as Duties but as Mercies as that wherein their happiness consists I have received mercy from the Lord that I may be faithful saith Paul I do not say I have received mercy from the Lord that I may go to Heaven that I may be rewarded and have such and such blessings but I count it mercy from the Lord that he makes me faithfull in this way not only dutifull but faithfull The Saints of God do not account the bonds of obedience to be fetters to them they account them chains of Gold about their necks for Ornament not bonds of necessity to tie them to obedience because otherwise they would not obey them but I say every Law of God is counted by the Saints of God to be as chains of Gold Ornaments to them that they account their Glory as wel as their Duty therefore in the Revelation we find the new City is described thus that her streets is paved with Gold that is the very way path of the Saints it is a Golden way it is paved with Gold it is a glorious way now that which a man accounts his Priviledg and Dignity Glory that must needs be easie their suffering actively and passively Paul counts his sufferings Glorious and Moses counts his sufferings more than the riches of Egypt If so be that you had given unto you as much Gold as you could carry the weightier the bag the lighter would your heart be you would count the burden so much the more lighter by so much the more was in it Certainly the suffering for Christ and dying for Christ is riches it is so to a Gracious heart may be this may be a Riddle to carnal hearts many carnall hearts think they must do such good things and if they do not they must perish and go to Hell and therefore they force themselves upon Duty I but it is otherwise with a Godly heart he doth not think I must do this but his work is wages every work that a Child of God doth is wages to him the man works hard I but he expects the more he expects wages So an Hypocrite may work he may do somthing but he expects wages but a Gracious heart his work is wages Receiving the end of your Faith the Salvation of your Souls there is receiving continually while we are working Saith Christ in Joh. 17. 4. Father I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do So the
what is it that is in thee amiss What is it that thou wouldest fain have the word come close unto to help thee against What is the speciall corruption thou wouldest have the word to mortifie in thee If now you set your selves before you come to the word to examin your hearts and when you are there to attend to the word as that which is your life upon which your eternall estate depends and so to sanctifie the name of God in his word and not to dare to cast off any truth knowing that your Soul may lie upon that very truth and to drink in the word of God in every thing that is revealed according to Gods mind this will be a very hard thing you will complain of almost an intolerable Burden But now a gracious heart finds more ease when it Sanctifies God in the power of Godliness in hearing the word than in a formall Duty Alas when such a one comes in a formall way and goes away and gets nothing such a one is troubled at such a Sermon it brings more Burden and grief to such a heart to come to the word and not find profit by the word than any other thing can do almost nothing can be more difficult than this You find no difference you come to the word and you get nothing and you go away with as much comfort as at other times it is as easie to you but now a Gracious heart cannot find ease except he finds Christ in the Duty but you can find ease in holy Duties though you never find Jesus Christ in holy Duties I appeal to you if this thing God would be pleased to settle upon the hearts of Men and Women it might be a very great settlement to their hearts you perform holy Duties What is the ease in holy Duties meerly the performance of the Duty but now if your ease were that which is the ease of a true Gracious heart it comes from the meeting with Jesus Christ in holy Duties And so for the Sabboth how easie is it to keep the Sabboth to do as the most it is easie Why Because you do not now work in your calling as other daies you do and you put on your best Cloaths and come and meet with your Neighbors and so you come to Church and home again and have better fare at your Tables than other daies and somtimes walk up and down the Fields this is easie But now the Saints find the ease of the Sabboth to be this that whereas upon the week day I am busied about other things and so have not that immediate Communion with Jesus Christ as at other times now upon the Sabboth my Soul comes to enjoy more immediate communion with Jesus Christ when I awake I am put upon it more to mind spirituall things to prepare my heart for him And now this whol day is dedicated for my converse with Jesus Christ and it is no more to me but the very Type and forerunner of that eternall Sabboth that I hope to enjoy in the highest Heavens hereafter and so it is easie to me Now methinks whatever trouble I have in the week time in my business in my calling the Sabboth day that refresheth me again and makes me fit for my calling and my heart that was so perplexed with outward crosses and with the troubles of the world that did so dead and dul my Spirit the Sabboth quickens me again and adds new strength again for I have found Christ refreshing my Soul Now is there not a wide difference between the ease of a carnall heart and a Gracious heart in holy Duties The one meerly mistakes the Yoke of Christ And so for the Sacrament It is an easie thing for a man to come in his best Cloaths and take a piece of Bread and a cup of Wine but he knows not what is the power of Godliness in such a holy Duty he thinks that the outward coming to the Sacrament makes amends for all though he hath been a wicked carnall wretch the week before now if he comes to the Sacrament the meer performing the Duty that makes amends though there be no preparation before no spiritualness in the Sacrament no discerning of the Body of Jesus Christ and the Mysteries of Jesus Christ no closing of his heart with Jesus Christ in the Sacrament no engaging his Soul to God no renewing his Covenant with God as he comes to receive the Seal of Gods Covenant with him no such things But now a Gracious heart cannot find ease in taking the Sacrament except it find Christ the ease it hath in the Sacrament it is in preparing the Soul for communion with Jesus Christ it is in the exercise of Faith and repentance the more Faith is exercised and the more Repentance exercised the more the heart is broken in the Sacrament the more ease a man hath and the more he gets his heart engaged to God in the Sacrament and the more he hath renewed his Covenant the more ease he hath I when a man can go to the Sacrament and do this O! this is a good day indeed And indeed this I am speaking upon is as great a point of Religion for the helping of you to know the frame disposition of your hearts how things stand between God and your Souls as any thing I know What it is in holy Duties that brings most ease to your Souls whether it be the bare externall performance of them or the spirituall performance of them is the power of Godliness in them that holy Duties for the matter of them cannot satisfie your heart except you find your hearts sanctified by them and Gods name sanctified â—n them that is the second note of difference between the ease a carnall heart finds in the waies of God and the ease a gracious heart finds CHAP. CXXXVII Containeth a third and fourth Difierence between the ease of a Hypocrite and true Beleever in the waies of God For 1. They are easie even to the Corruptions of a Hypocrite 2. He takes up the waies God partially THirdly Another Difference is this The ease a carnall heart finds it may not only stand with the ease under the Yoke of sin to the Flesh but the truth is even the Duties of Religion are easie to their corruptions to their very corruptions not only may stand with their corrupt waies but are easie to the very corruption it self to the very sinfull distemper of their hearts this is a very evill and vile ease for to perform holy Duties so as to be easie to the very flesh to the fleshly part Indeed the Yoke of Christ is easie unto the Saints but it is not easie unto the flesh I mean to the corrupt part it is not easie to that I but the waies of Religion to carnall hearts is easie to their very corruption to their corrupt part For First There is agreement enough between any Duty they perform and their secret sins they can
in the waies of God it is that ease that he hath in taking up the waies of God but by holiness it is in partial obedience it is but in part of the yoke of Christ it is not in all the yoke of Christ he can take up some part some pieces of the yoke of Christ but if you come to urge him to take up all the ways of God then he crys out what must we make Conscience of all our thoughts of al our words and all our actions must we answer for every action before the judgment seat of Christ Oh! this he counts to be hard greivous to him he could be content with somthing but to take up the ful yoke and all the yoke of Jesus Christ that he thinks an intollerable burden that he must have the scripture the word of God to be the rule of all his actions that is somwhat hard But now a gracious heart finds the greatest ease when he comes up unto all Gods commands It is true indeed saith he I cannot come to that pitch as to obey them perfectly but yet my heart is so far brought off as to subject my self to all the commands of God if at somtimes he yields to some and then at other times unto others that brings more trouble to his spirit but now when he can find his heart submitting to all the precepts of God then he finds most rest all the waies of wisdom are pleasant A Child of God finds no one thing in the waies of God that is not easy and the more it comes to an universal obedience in every thing the more ease it hath when indeed it doth but begin to make some enterance upon Gods waies and takes up some duties and not all then it finds trouble but when it comes to take up all and comes to yeild universal obedience then it finds ease Now examin your hearts in this you find it may be some ease in the waies of religion O! but it is but partial obedience you take this and leave that observe this a partial obedience is an easy obedience to a carnal heart but an universal obedience is the most easy obedience to any Gracious heart CHAP. CXXXVIII Containeth Six differences more of the former Point 5 A Carnal heart can take up and lay down duties when he will 6 He hath ease in the remissness of his Spirit 7 His ease is al alike 8 The more ease he hath the more sluggish he is 9 He hath but one principle in the heart that acteth him both in the waies of God and the waies of the world 10. His ease comes from the performance of duties in his own Strength Fiftly Another is this A carnal heart finds ease from the liberty of taking up and laying down the duty it is easy because he can take it up and lay it down when he will if a beast have a yoke that he can shift the collar when he wil it is easy when he can put in his head when he will and slip out his head when he please this is no grievousness to the beast so it is with carnal hearts the waies of God are easy to them why because somtimes they can take up duties and somtimes lay them down when they are in a good mood then they can take up duties and read and pray and the like if any thing vex and trouble them then they can lay them down again and somtimes when they list they can come and heare Sermons and when they list they can go into bad company go into the Tavern and the like but now a gracious heart finds the greatest ease when it can be constant in the waies of God when I can bring my heart to this that there is an evenness and proportion between what I do at one time and what I do at another time there is the greatest ease to a gracious heart and indeed there can be no true comfort in any holy duty where the heart is not constant the constancy and the evenness of spirit and the proportion that there is between one thing and another is that that makes the waies of God easy unto the Saints As in going in any way or common path if a man have one ledg long and another short or if the way be uneven somtimes plain somtimes rugged somtimes down hill and somtimes uphil that is hard to a man in his walking and so it is with the work of a Christian that that makes it difficult is this Oh I cannot find my heart in a constant evenness were my heart so then I should find ease but that which makes it most difficult it is the unevenness of my heart on the contrary put now a carnal heart to this to a constancy in any duty or work for God O! it will cry out of weariness in Gods waies perhaps he wil be content to be a while in holy duties to hear a short Sermon and go away again but to spend the whol Sabboth that is wearisom to him Nay perhaps he could be content to keep one Sabboth but to keep Sabboth after Sabboth that is burdensom to him and perhaps he could be content to pray one morning in his family but to pray every morning and every night and to go on from morning to morning and from day to day and from week to week and from yeare to yeare Oh! this is wearisom truly we have no reason to grudge God any service all our daies but thus it is with a carnal heart Sixtly The ease that a carnal heart hath it is in his remissness in duty in the remissness of his spirit in his moderation that he pleads for there lyes his ease but for the other the extension of duty that he pleads not for you shal have a carnal heart plead for holy duties but with moderation we must be moderate and if we do somthing that God requires though we be not so hot and fiery as others I hope it is wel enough doth not vertue consist in the middle way As I like not the profaneness of some men that are Swearers and drunkards whoremongers on the one side so I do not like your precise men on the other side so that his ease lyes in the remissness in the lukewarmness of his spirit in holy duties But now the ease of a gracious heart lyes in the exactness of his spirit to come to the very top of holy duties It is with a gracious heart as it is with many fowls you shall have many fowls that fly when they are low they flutter and it is a trouble to them to get on high but when they are aloft then it is no trouble to them so it is with a gracious heart to get up his heart is some trouble to him but now when he hath got up his heart then he is in his element there he can fly swiftly when he hath got up into the highest region there he gets the most ease It is
would take care for to help you it is taken care for you there Luther hath such an expression I remember A Christian may keep a perpetual Sabbath all his life and all the week long any thing that you would have to help you otherwise God himself wil take care for you that you shal have it in himself you shal have all in himself We have a place in Isaiah for the encouragement of the people of God in Isa 30. 7. For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose therefore have I cryed concerning this their strength is to sit still Here they did depend much upâ—n the Egyptians for help I but saith God you need not trouble your selves about this the Egyptians to help Their strength is to sit still The word Strength here in the Original is Egypt their Egypt is to sit still as in another place in Isaiah 51. 9. Awake Awake put on strangth O Arm of the Lord awake as in the ancient daies in the Generations of old Art thou not it that cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon Rahab that by most Interpreters is used as a word that comes of Egypt and so in some other Scriptures the word Rahab comes of Egypt and so in this place too The Egyptians shal help in vain and to no purpose therefore have I cried concerning this their Rahab or their Egypt is to sit still that is look what help others would have from Egypt you need not care how Egypt shal come to help you you shal sit stil you shal have help in me in your sitting stil you shal have an Egypt all the strength you should have in Egypt you shal have in me Be quiet and sit stil and whatever strength you think may be otherwaies I will supply in my self O! the holy security that there is in the waies of God and if there be a holy security in those waies there must needs be abundance of ease in them Tenthly There is abundance of ease in the waies of Christ in this respect because they make other things easie that which will make other things easie that must needs be easie as thus The waies of Christ wil make hard things easie afflictions easie for afflictions come to let out thy sin and thy corruption And is there not a great deal of ease in that When a man hath a sore and there is a great deal of corruption in that sore if one come and prick the sore and the corruption comes out there is a great deal of ease So here afflictions to Gods people they are but as that which comes to prick their corruptions and to let out their sins and their corruptions and that gives ease to the soul A mans calâ—ing is easie to him if he have grace the going on in ones calling in a gracious mâ—nner is easie and the going about any thing that a man sets himself about it is easie O! with what abundance of sweetness doth Godly Men and Women go about their business more then those that have corrupt hearts You shall have many that have wicked and corrupt hearts go about their business with such fretting and vexing if any thing fall amiss they are so vexed I but now one that is Godly sets about his business in obedience to God and commits all to God and leaves the success to God and so he is at ease A Servant now if he have not grace in his or her heart if the Master or Mistress do not please them they go about their works and fret and vex themselves But now those that have grace and know that they are in the way that Christ would have them and that they obey Christ and serve Christ in that way they can find abundance of ease for I am serving Christ in this work though the work is a low work a poor work yet I am about Christs work I am serving Jesus Christ and so they go about it with ease And thus the waies of Religion make every thing easie our lives easie and our death easie our passage out of this world wil be easie too But there are two or three things more to be added the yoke of Christ is easie in regard of the yoke of the Law therefore saith Christ in the Text Take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easie the yoke and bondage you were under in respect of the Law that was a burden but my yoke is easie And it is easie in respect of Antichrist that was spoken prophetically indeed but now we may open the yoke of Christ in respect to that But then compare it with the yoke of sin then it is easie too the yoke of Christ not only in regard of all the former yokes but if you compare it with the yoke of the Law the yoke of sin and the yoke of Antichrist their yokes are far harder than the yokes of Jesus Christ I conâ—ess I need not spend much time upon those two of the yoke of the Law and the yoke of sin somwhat I would speak of either of them to open the difference between the yokes in them and the yoke of Christ though there hath been a great deal said in opening of the Text Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest there we spake of the rest from the Law and the rest from the burden of sin only I shal in this but a little compare the difference betwen the burden that there is in the yoke of the Law and the yoke of Christ and see which is easiest and so compare the yoke of sin with the yoke of Christ and then you shal see when I have set them both together that one is a great deal easier than the other CHAP. CXLIII The Yoke of Christ easier than the Yoke of the Law For 1. The Ceremoniall Law required abstinence from the comfort of the Creature 2. It s Service was chargeable 3. The Ceremonies were beggarly Rudiments THE waies of Christ are easie First In regard of the yoke of the Law Secondly In regard of the yoke and burden of sin For the easiness of Christs waies in comparison of the yoke of the Law you know what the Scripture saith in Acts 15. 10. That the Law it was a Yoke which our Fathers nor we were neither able to bear Even the Ceremonial Law the way of Christ is easie in respect of that For First The Ceremonial part of the Law required abstaining from the comforts of the Creature the People of the Jews in the times of the Law were forbidden the use of many Creatures that we have a great deal of use of now this is one ease that we have by Jesus Christ that we are to make use of all the Creatures we need make no question for Conscience sake of the use of any Creature in the world that is somwhat easier than to be restrained from this Creature and the other Creature And then Secondly We have a great
them you would say as much We cannot compare two things together to know which is heavier then the other except we understand both of them you that are beleevers and are got under the Yoke of Christ yet through temptation you are brought to some service of sin now though sin do reign over you yet you are brought under the service of sin in a great measure but now if you would compare when you keep closesâ— to Christ and the waies of holiness whether you do not find more ease to your spirit then when you have liberty to sin You think it is fine to go abroad and be merry with your friends and abuse your selves you think this is a fine thing I but when you come home your hearts ake upon it and your bodies are worse two or three daies after O! but when you walk with God in a holy manner and walk with God in your calling and pray morning and evening and walk close with God and ever and anon have ejaculations to God and have the face of God shining upon you and so when you go to rest and lie down in the bosom of a reconciled Father to have for your pillow the bosom of a reconciled Father eat your food as that which comes from the fruit of your labor and the blessing of God and sitting with your yoke fellow blessing God for those good things he grants unto you and looking upon your children as the blessings of God unto you and seeing the grace of God in them and in all these things expecting that after a while you shal be taken from the world that you shall never sin more nor sorrow more nor never be troubled more nor never tempted more when you shall see the face of God and enjoy his presence everlastingly Is not here a better life than to be under the bondage and drudgery of the Devil to swear and rail and vex and fret and contend one with another Is not here a great deal more ease Certainly if you will make triall you shall find abundance of ease and it is a good means to draw the heart of any one to repentance when they hear O! what a difference is there between my state now and that whenas I walked close with God What a deal of vexation and trouble have I now whereas when I kept close with God how much better was it then with me then it is now one day then was better then ten thousand worlds now If I should live a thousand years to live â—ne day as I did before when I walked close with God O! this is far better and the thoughts of this makes them to returne to God and say with them in Hoseâ— let me returne again for then it was better with me then now thus for the yoke of sin And then to name one thing more the yoke of Christ is easier then the yoke of Antichrist for so Christ speaks not only for what is for the present but what is afterwards and this scripture is an exhortation to us now aswell as to the Disciples in Christs Time now saith Christ it is easyer then the yoke of Antichrist he saith so to you now suppose Christ were here in this time among you and should say take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy and my burden light you have heard somwhat of the yoke of Antichrist my yoke is easier you will say what is the yoke of Antichrist I opened it a little in Christs discipline and you shall see it here in the yoke of Antichrist First Take my yoke upon you and I require you to be under no kind of government but what you shal appoint your own officers Antichrist he will appoinâ— hiâ— officers but Christ he allows you to chuse your own officers And Secondly No law that you shal be under for your spiritual estate as a Church that which is properly ecclesiastical and spiritual no law but what I appoint in my word I will not give liberty to men to make what laws they will make no law enjoyned for your spiritual estate but what I appoint if there be a company of men and women that meet in a congregation and meet not only as Christians but as men and women there is somwhat common to them as men and women and there indeed the lawes of men may take hold of them in those actions that are but humane and civill but now in those things that are properly ecclesiastial and spiritual that concerns the spiritual man such things as I must expect for spiritual efficacy upon my Soul to work upon my heart to draw me to God or to bring God to me in these things I am under no law but the law of Jesus Christ no men in the world have power no not Church officers nor civil officers neither Magistrates nor Ministers have any power to put any Law upon a church in regard of the spiritual estate of it in regard of any spiritual ordinance but such as are in the word of God Christ is the great Law-giver and hath made them already and and they are to look that those Lawes be kept but they are to make no new ones there is no new act no new Statute for the ordering of men in their spiritual estate Those things that are properly spiritual to work upon the inward man that concernes the worship of God to draw their hearts to Christ or Christ to them to work upon their hearts there can be no new act no new Law made by Magistrates or any church officers in the world but only such as you find in the Scripture now this is a great ease to a Christian to think Lord thou tenderest my Soul so much that none can command any thing but what thou hast set down in the word and what thou hast commanded indeed Lawyers are to shew men the Lawes of the state and Ministers are bound to shew the people if there be any Law and to teach it the church but there is no law that Ministers are bound to open but only the commands of Jesus Christ they may be made use of as men as publick men and as opportunity serves be helpful in the civil State but as Ministers they have nothing to do but to open the Laws of Jesus Christ and this is a great ease whereas this is the bondage of Antichrist he will make laws to bind conscience and so though a man should keep all Gods laws yet he may be damned to eternity by breaking his laws and therefore he makes it a bondage in this regard that a man should be not only in danger of eternal damnation by disobedience to Christs laws but a thousand laws that he never knows And that is the second ease of the yoke of Christ that there shall be no Laws to govern the Church but the laws of Jesus Christ Thirdly The difference between the yoke of Antichrist and the yoke of Christ is this Antichrist requires submission
humbled for our sins in an evangelical way as wel as performe duty in an evangelical way Now evangelical humiliation it is a sorrow for sin not that we might purchase pâ—â—don for that sorrow as we must not perform a duty to think to purchase Heaven neither must we sorrow for sin to think to satisfie for sin and to purchase pardon for our sin but our very sorrow for sin must have a sweetness from Christ in it it must be out of love our very mourning must be a fruit of love and not come from the fear of being destroyed eternally for such sins that is legal sorrow I have sinned against God and therefore am afraid that God will destroy me eternally and therefore I am sorry No but I have sinned against the Lord a gracious and a merciful Father and the Lord yet hath made a Covenant with me that he will not take advantage of my sin that he will not destroy me and therefore my soul mourns and laments the rather for my sin that I have sinned so much against the grace of the Gospel as I have done Sorrow evangelically and then your sorrow wil have more sweetness in it then all the joy that the men of the world have when all their Corn and Wine and Oyl is encreased not only when God lifts up the light of his countenance but even the very sorrow of your heart for sin may have more sweetness in it then all the men of the world have when their Corn and Wine and Oyl encreaseth Many Christians have much bitterness in their sorrow but certainly Evangelical sorow the tears of it is Rose water that hath a great deal of sweetness it is sweet both unto God and sweet unto the soul even while the soul is sorrowing there is sweetness in the heart and this is the difference between legal terror and Evangelical sorrow the one hath nothing but bitterness and gal in it and the other nothing but sweetness That is the first thing Secondly Another way to facilitate and make easie that we do is this Labor to keep our hearts in a constant readiness and preparation to every duty Duties are very hard because we fall upon them unprepared we are not in a readiness continually unto every good work you know when you are set about any work and if you have many things to prepare and to look for when you should go about your work it will go off but heavily and it will be more troublesom but now when every thing is prepared in a readiness then how soon and how easie doth the work go on when you are going to Sea there is making a great deal of preparation aforehand now when the Ship is rigged and trimmed every thing ready then you are at an instant able to put off and set saii and go away when al things are ready you go off with ease If you would entertain Guests if they come upon you suddenly and you have nothing ready what a deal of stir is in the house what running up and down this way and that way but now if things be ready when they come they are entertained with a great deal of delight and all things in the house are in order and things go off very easily and there is no trouble in it Truly thus it should be with a Christian he should not only perform duties now and then but his life should be a constant walking with God so that he should be alwaies in readiness for every duty that God requires of him so it comes to be easie As now for the duty of Prayer you should keep your hearts in a praying frame continually and then prayer would be easie it would be an easie thing for you to pour forth your souls to God when you keep your hearts in a praying frame all the day long It may be when you go to prayer you find a great deal of trouble within you your thoughts wander and your affections are dead and dul and you rise up discouraged But what is the reason you do not keep your heart all the day long in a praying frame in a heavenly temper and frame in the day time and therefore when you come to pray at night there is no readiness in your hearts to the duty but you are altogether indisposed to it And so to come unto the Sacrament you find it a great labor and toyl to prepare for the Sacrament as you should I speak of those that make conscience of preparation many times they find it a mighty toyl a hard work I but Christians should keep themselves alwaies in a Sacramental disposition a Sacramental frame alwaies having their spirits savoring of the meditation of the death of Jesus Christ that nothing should be more familiar to a Christians Soul than the meditation of the death of Christ and of discerning the Lords Body and the Covenant of grace and giving it self likewise to God in a Covenant of grace this should be continually and then if you should receive the Sacrament every day you might be fit for it or every week you would be fit for it Now People think it a great matter and make a great deal of do about receiving of it often whereas the truth is the Saints of God they should be in as great a readiness to receive the Sacrament as to hear the word or to pray and that would be a mighty ease unto them therefore if things were as they should certainly it would be more convenient to have it more ordinary and constant every Lords day the Sacrament The Christians in the primitive times would receive it every day in the year and they kept their heart in readiness to such kind of duties let it be what work it wil be You should be patient in affliction if affliction come upon you and your heart is not in a readiness to alter your condition Oh! it wil be a grievous burden to exercise patience it wil be a hard thing for you now you should keep your hearts ready for every condition that is the true work of grace in the Soul to keep the soul in a constant bent Godward and that Soul wil do things very easily Somtimes you have much ado with your children when strangers come to keep them in good order the reason is you neglect them at other times and that is the reason that they trouble you when strangers come but keep them in a good order at all times and then you wil have them right at those times So it is with the heart keep the heart prepared and ready to every good work and then every work wil be easie Object But you wil say That is a great deal of toyl and labor to keep our hearts alwaies bent and ready to good works To that I answer at first it may be some labor and toyl but those that have once got their hearts into a readiness find it not so hard but have a great deal
of ease As now it is a great deale of toyl for one that neglects his accounts he is not ready but his accounts are intangled if he be called to give a perfect account it is a great deal of toyl to him but now let a man get over the difficulty and make all his accounts cleer now for him every day to keep his Books streight and cleer this wil not be so great a trouble This is the difference between one Christian and another for all the world one that shall take his pleasure all the week long and ride this way and the other way and neglects his Books and but one day in the week will look them over he wil have a great deal of trouble and it wil break his head somtimes when he hath multitude of business But now the other Merchant looks into his Books every day spends half an hour or a quarter of an hour every day and he goes on with a great deal of cheerfulness So it is with many Christians they think on the Lords day they must have their hearts in a good frame and temper but all the week they have no thoughts of God and of the word and now when the Sabbath comes or Sacrament and holy duties come they are burdensome to them whereas another that keeps his heart in a holy frame he rejoyceth in the Sabbath for he hath had a Sabbath day frame of heart all the week long Luther saith a Christians life should be a perpetuall Sabbath And that is the second means to facilitate every good work 3. Another is this Labor to inflame your hearts with love unto the Duty Do not do duties because you must do them but use all the means that you can for to kindle in you a love unto the duty never satisfie your selves with this I see I must do duty Conscience puts me upon duty therefore I must do it so it may be burdensom but labor to use all arguments you can to make you in love with the duty A Schollar that is in love with his Book will not cry when he goes to the School and especially if he delight in it and be in love with his Master there is many that are put to go to School that dare not go Oh their Father will be angry and their Master wil be severe if they should not learn and so they learn but with much ado they had rather do any thing in the world than go to School neither love their Books nor love their Master and so seldom come to any eminence of learning Love takes away all difficulty love is ashamed to complain of difficulty at any time as now take a man that loves recreation that loves that kind of sport of hunting or hawking if he love it he wil be running in the dirt all the day long though it be a hot day run over hedg and ditch whereas now if such a man had not a love to such a thing but were injoyned to such a thing that you must all the day from morning to night eate not a bit of bread but all the day long run after doggs over hedg and ditch and through waters it would take away the love that such a one should have in his sports and what a miserable bondage would this be so it is in the waies of God let there be love to the waies of God then whatever difficulty there may seem to be in them it is taken away presently love to the person of Jesus Christ will take away the difficulty of the waies of Christ you know when Jacob loved Rachel he cared not how long he served for her the hard nights were not hard to him Love God and love Christ and then his waies will not be difficult 4. Another rule is this do not loose your incouragements that that you have had from what good God doth bestow upon you and inable you to do take heed of loosing that incouragement many Christians are altogether looking upon what they ought to do what God requires of them to do and because they have had not yet attained unto what they ought to do and what is required of them to do therefore they find no incouragement from what the Lord hath already bestowed upon them what the Lord hath already inabled them to do they wholly neglect that and never think of it they think of what they want and what they should have and what they should do and so they are labouring to get what they should have and to do what they should do but for what God hath inabled them to do already or what God hath given them already that they do not think of and for want of those incouragements they make their endeavours for the getting of more to be burdensome to them but now when we are endeavouring to do more we should go on in the strength of this incouragement Oh blessed be God for any little You shal have Christians thinking of what they should do and therefore they think all the grace they have is nothing Oh! say they that which I have done what is it It is true if we were looked upon in the way of the Covenant of works it is nothing but in the way of the Covenant of Grace it is a great deal now that wil be a great ease to your souls labour to get more and do more for God but stil carry along with you the incouragement of what God hath done for you when you pray for any grace bless God for any grace you have Take notice of al the incouragement that God doth give you and that will help you to go on in any further work that God calls you unto and the want of this makes the lives of many Christians to be very greivous and burdensome unto them because they neglect those incouragements they might have from what God hath inabled them to do and from what God hath done already for them 5. Take heed of lying in the guilt of any sin I meane though in respect of God the guilt is taken away from beleevers but of lying so in any sin as not to cleer up all between God and your soul for the discharge of it of having any thing not cleered up in your own consciences take heed of lying in any sin unrepented of that is my meaning every sin that a man commits excepting those daily incursions and infirmities of the Saints which they cannot while they are here in the flesh be altogether without but every other sin it is as a thorne at least a thorn â—n the foot every sin that a man hath committed by strength of temptation it is a thorn in the foot and if it be a greater sin it is a gash in his flesh Now a man that hath a thorn in his foot he cannot go very fast but especially if he have a gash in his flesh when thou hast been overcome with a great sin thou hast given a great gash unto
will prove to be a snare to you God requires it not it may be that day that you would observe for one duty God may require it for another duty may be you will keep a day of fast for such a great deliverance for such a great mercy certainly it may prove a snare unto you God may call you to another duty on that day to the duty of thanksgiving Many will vow to keep such a day and when they have vowed it they know not how to go back And so many will vow they will do so much every morning and so much that day this may bring a snare upon you labor to do all what you can for Christ all the day long consider your duties and lay the word upon you but to put upon your selves that which Christ puts you not upon it is that that makes the duties of Religion very tedious and many have done it that way not foreseeing the inconveniences that may come upon it and yet they dare not go back Therefore I would rather advise Christians to take heed of such things as those are but to walk in the way of Christ according to that the Lord requires for the present and not to bring themselves into a snare and so they shal make the way of God more easie 9. Another Rule is this Take all advantages take all opportunities and advantages all the gales of Gods Spirit do not neglect the opportunities you have the neglect of opportunities may bring us to woful difficulties As in voyages if a â—arriner neglect the opportunity of the gale of wind it is a difficult voyage and then he cries out I may thank my self for all this had I taken such an opportunity such a wind then I had been freed from this hardship that now I meet withall So it is with a Christian many times the spirit of God comes with a gracious gale and gives them opportunity to go on with cheerfulness in the waies of God hadst thou taken the opportunity the gale of the spirit Oh what a deal of trouble mightest thou have avoided Those that are watchful for al opportunities find the waies of God easie It was the speech of Alexander because he carried things so easie as he did in a little time conquered al the world when it was asked him how he could do so great things and carry on things with so great ease his answer was by neglecting nothing he meant by neglecting no advantage There are many men that when God helps them a little they carry the work on with ease but then they do not follow on their work and so they bring themselves into streights As now we cry out of these wars what a great deal of trouble they put the Nation to and one main thing is for want of taking advantages and following advantages We say somtimes Oh if such a victory had been followed such a victory that we had at Brainford and York and other places we might have delivered our selves from abundance of trouble and tediousness of war but when God gives advantages and we do not follow them no marvel that we find trouble So it is with many Christians you find many troubles in Religion Oh it is because you do not follow your advantages if you had ever since you were young and ever since God revealed himself to you followed the gale of Gods spirit your old age might have been spent in nothing but gales of joy comfort and the like but now no marvel you act with so much difficulty in the waies of God 10. Another Rule is this Preserve all your experiences that you have had of the goodness of Gods waies when your hearts have been most enlarged and you have walked most close with God and God hath come in to your soul Preserve those experiences keep them by that they may help you against an il day it may there be may be a time a coming that you may be in spirituall desertion and that may be grievous to you but if you had kept the experiences you had of God when your heart kept close to God it would much help you sweeten your hearts to think of the daies of old As David when he was in desertion he would many times be thinking of the daies of old So if Christians would be very careful to observe and lay up all the experiences that they have of God and his waies the sweet and good of them it would mightily facilitate them in holy duties and be a continuall Cordial to them and put spirits into them to make them go on with ease in any duty God requires of them 11. Another Rule is this Take heed in any duty of disturbing passion the disturbance of passion puts people ouâ— of frame that they are fit for nothing when they are passionate passionate with God passionate with men because they cannot have what they would have fling up all As Children that when they cannot have their desires fling a way all this makes every thing hard but if you could but keep your selves in a constant quietness you should have every condition and every duty delightful but I have spoken of that you know of the evil effects of it and of meekness the gracious effects of that but I bring it only now as a rule that you may present all these rules together As now suppose a company that are in a Boat and there cometh a strong wind and tosseth the Boat you shall have some silly people that wil be shriking out and mightily troubled and through their passion will be rising up in the Boat and be ready to tumble down all through their passionate carriage in the Boat whereas those that have skil wil sit stil and be quiet and give up themselves to the stream and that is the best way to come with the greatest ease you make the Boatmans labor so much the more dâ—fficult by your unquietness in the Boat So certainly you make the work of God more difficult when your hearts are unquiet Let the thing be what it wil you wil say Oh no bodies condition is so as mine Certainly your unquietness will not help you you wil not come the sooner to your landing place if people toss from one side of the Boat to the other and be unruly in their carriage they wil not come the sooner to their landing place the quieter they sit in the Boat the sooner they will come to land So it is in a Christians course he must not think to come to have his desires satisfied by his froward carriage to be angry with God or man or the means that they do not work as they would have them but the quieter they sit and give up themselves to God the sooner they come to their desires 12. Another Rule is this Communion with the Saints spirituall Communion Heavenly Communion not frothy Communion but a spiritual holy gracious communion with the Saints wil facilitate the waies
the divine nature hypostatically joyned to the humane nature I that was one that God intended to make use of for the greatest purposes that ever he did in the world I did not enjoy the world I had no honor in the world I had no honor nor esteem among men I had no riches no hole to hide my head and yet I have that that hath more excellency than all the things in the world and therefore Children of men you may see by this that God intends humane nature for higher things than these below and therefore it should humble thee that the Son of God should be so low and thou so lifted up And for this example take this one thing that is of great use to help us to lowliness of heart Do but consider the way of God towards Jesus Christ and how Jesus Christ submitted himself unto the way of God towards him as in this one thing especially when God manifested himself in the fullest way to him yet Jesus Christ presently comes into a low condition as in that famous example in Math. 3. 4. when God manifested so much of his Glory then presently Jesus Christ was content to be low to come down And I will give you another thaâ— is as famous as this and that is in the transfiguration that you heard lately opened to you in Math. 17. there his Glory was let forth His face did shine like the Sun and it came through his rayment a great deal of Glory appeared but now observe presently upon this Jesus Christ is not lifted up but begins to talk of his Sufferings and Death that he must die and suffer and fall into the hands of men of sinners see twice this Moses and Elias talked with him and his Disciples being afraid he comes to them at the 7. verse and said arise and be not afraid and when they had liftâ—d up their Eyes they saw no man but Jesus only and as he came down from the Mountain Jesus charged them saying tel the Vision to no man til the Son of man be risen again from the dead and his Disciples asked him saying why then say the Scribes that Elias must first come He speaks of his Death and they wondred why Elias must first come Jesus Answered at the 11. verse And said unto them Elias truly shall first come and restore all things But I say unto you that Elias is come already and they knew him not but have done unto him whatsoever they listed likewise shal also the Son of man suffer of of them as they did to Elias so the Son of man shall suffer of them They wil deal with me as they did with him presently he talks with his disciples of his sufferings The Son of man must suffer And further at verse 22. And while they abode in Galilee Jesus said unto them the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men and they shal kill him Presently you find the discourse of Christ was about his low condition after any glory put upon him you when you have any glory put upon you and God hath lifted you up more then your brethren you talk of that and live upon that but Christ when he had been transfigured he talked of his sufferings and if we did but know what Christ is and his sufferings that such a one being so high yet was brought so low it would make us to be humble But now compare this with that you have in Mark 14. And there you shall find that when Christ was in an Agony and when he was in trouble of Spirit then in his Agony in the Garden when the hand of his Father was upon his spirit who did Christ take with him into the Garden Only these three Peter James and John at verse 33. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John and began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy and saith unto them my Soul is exceeding sorrowful unto Death Now the thing I would note from hence is this the Reason why Christ would take only those three that had seen him in his glory to see him in his Agony it was because they were the fittest of all those that saw Christ in his Glory to see him in his Agony they would make the best use of this more then any If the other disciples had seen him only in his Agony and not in his Glory they might have been offended to have seen their master so when he came to die to be so amazed they might say Lord is this he we have trusted so long unto that now when he comes to die he sweats blood I but these that saw him in his Glory they would rather think Oh How willing should we be to suffer for Jesus Christ that he that is so glorious as we saw him but the other day now we see him in such a case if God should alter our condition and bring us never so low we have cause to humble our selves because he was so Low And that he might prepare their hearts also to suffer for James was the first of the Apostles that suffered for him Steven indeed suffered before but of the Apostles James was the first and Peter you know what he was to suffer and John he was the beloved disciple and one of an humble Spirit and of a loving spirit therefore he was taken in now the sight of these two together was a special means to help the humility of the spirits of these three Disciples that they saw him in his glory and Agony And so for us to meditate first on his Glory and then of his condition in his Agony it is a mighty means to humble our spirits 5. But now the last thing is The right knowledg of our selves this is another Means to make us humble now the right knowledg of our selves is that which should bring our hearts low it was that that the Heathen did admire Sotrates was accounted the famous man for this sentence I know nothing because I know my self you may conclude it a man or woman that is lifted up in pride it is a sign thou dost not know thy self if thou knewest all the Mysteries in nature the nature of the Sun Moon and Stars and Arts and Sciences all is nothing to the knowing of thine own heart Dost thou know thine own heart prize this as a choice thing it is such a thing thou shouldest spend much time to read many of you perhaps cannot read in a book I but you must be learned in the books of your own heart read that well and you will know enough there Further For the knowledg of our selves take pains in frequent examining and observing of thy heart and examin it by the holiness and justice of God set Gods infinite holiness and justice even with thine own heart and that wil make thee know thy heart And if you would know your selves you must not judg of your selves by what you are in a fit at a