of the good treasure of his Heart bringeth forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil Matth. 12.35 The most glorious Works of Piety or Charity that come not from a right Principle within please God no more then the offering of Swines bloud yea God counts himself mocked when our Prayers Praises or any Duties we doe come not from the Heart Heartless Service is no Service of God but a Derision of him He that is a Spirit must be served with the Spirit or else the Service is abhorred Nor must God's Law be kept with a part but with the whole Heart Blessed are they that keep his Testimonies and that seek him with the whole Heart Psal 119.2 He that keeps some of God's Commands and neglects others yea he that shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point since the Authority is the same in all is guilty of all Jam. 2.10 He must keep them in all his Faculties in his Mind by considering them in his Memory by retaining them in his Purposes by chusing them and in his Affections by adhering to them He must keep them with all his Might with the utmost degree of Observance that he can and wherein he is defective he must bewail himself He must not keep any man's Precepts that consist not with God's not the Statutes of Omri or the Ordinances of the house of Ahab Mic. 6.16 A divided Heart a double Heart an Heart and an Heart are monstrous Psal 12.2 We cannot serve God and Mammon No man can serve two opposite Masters no nor two co-ordinate As we cannot serve God while we observe the Traditions of men that evacuate God's Commands so neither while we observe the Traditions of men which are imposed as God's Commands In vain do they worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men saith our Saviour Matth. 15.9 Yea all the just Commands of Men must be observed with subordination to God's they must give place to them and must be observed because of his Commands Whatever Servants doe in Obedience to their Masters they must doe it heartily as to the Lord and not to men Col. 3.23 Our Obedience must be de omni per se quatenus ipsum In a word all that we doe in Obedience to God we must doe for God There must be Integrity without Partiality and Sincerity without Hypocrisie Whatsoever we doe we must doe all not for our own Praise or sinister Ends but to his Glory 1 Cor. 10.31 without magnifying our selves or aiming at our own carnal Advantage And this is to keep his Law with our whole Heart APPLICATION You have heard how valuable a thing the Understanding of God's Law is whence it is derived to what End it should tend with what Sincerity that End should be prosecuted I hope hereby you discern the genuine and true Reason why there is so little Wisedom in the world And I wish you would apply your minds to get that Understanding which will make you truly wise It is the common Complaint That the World is full of Fools and no marvel it should be so since each man loves to be his own Guide and even generally all sorts of men affect to follow that Darkness which they miss-name the Light within them and are unwilling to be undeceived from their Errours Quis intelligit Delicta is in this sense true Though all are Children in Knowledge yet are they loth to abide under the tuition and conduct of their Overseers Some miss-lead themselves by their Lusts some by their Opinions few move in the direct Line of God's Law and no marvel then they suffer eclipses of their innate Light Earthly-mindedness like the Earth interposing keeps the Light of God's Word from them Love of transitory Pleasures hinders the Light of the Spirit from shining on them Nor do they lift up their Eyes and Hearts unto the Sun of Righteousness that he may arise with brightness in his Rays upon them It would be infinite to reckon up the Fooleries of Philosophers Jewish Rabbins Hereticks Papists and all sorts of Fanaticks who have declined from God's Precepts Let their Errours their Follies their Miscarriages make you inquisitive into God's Law wary how you turn aside from it diligent to observe it constant in adhering to it instant with the Father of Lights to direct your Steps in it They that sail at Sea count it safest to be in a Ship that hath a good Pilot They that live in a State think it happy to live where there are good Laws and good Governours Sure no Pilot is better then he that steers the Course of the Heavens no Laws better then the Laws of the Most high no Government equal to the Government of God If you leave his Guidance if you forsake his Laws you will suffer Shipwreck and be cast on those barbarous Coasts where Tyrants and Devils domineer Oh then what-ever ye doe prefer the Understanding of God's Will before all Knowledge beg earnestly of God that he would teach you forget not what ye learn of him let your whole Heart be sound in his Precepts Doe as Christ did whose meat and drink it was to doe the will of his Father and you shall eat and drink with him in his Kingdom Which he grant who loved us and gave himself for us To whom c. Amen LAVS DEO UPRIGHT WALKING Part I. The Twenty-seventh SERMON PROVERBS xiv 2. He that walketh in his Vprightness feareth the Lord but he that is perverse in his Ways despiseth him AMong the Variety of Holy Writings whereby the Wisedom and Goodness of God hath made provision for the Instruction and Guidance of Man who is born as a wild Asse's Colt Job 11.12 this Book of Proverbs is a Star not of the least magnitude having the Quintessence of Solomon's Wisedom in it who is said to have a Heart as large as the Sand upon the Sea-shore in respect of his Understanding in things both Divine and Humane in which he exceeded all the Wise men of his own and other Generations And among all the Sayings of this Book this is one of the most considerable as directing what way we may demonstrate our Fear of God which is the beginning of Wisedom and shun the chiefest of Follies in despising him the one by walking in our Vprightness the other by avoiding Perverseness in our ways as it is expressed in my Text He that walketh in his Vprightness feareth the Lord but he that is perverse in his Ways despiseth him The Words consist of two Propositions characterizing the Wisest of men and the veriest Fools The first have two Marks whereby they are discernible They fear the Lord and that appears by their walking in their Vprightness The other appear to be Fools by their despising of the Lord and that is manifested by their Perverseness in their Ways I shall begin with the I. PROPOSITION He that walketh in his Vprightness feareth the Lord. And herein I
XXXI SERMONS Preached to the PARISHIONERS of Stanford-Rivers in Essex Upon several Subjects and Occasions BY CHARLES GIBBES D. D. Rectour of that Church and Prebendary of Saint Peter's at Westminster Never before made publick QVI SEQVITUR ME NON AMBULAT IN TENEBRIS LOâ—â—â—â— Printed by E. Flesher 〈…〉 most Sacred MAJESâ—◠〈…〉 To the well-beloved the PARISHIONERS Of Stanford-Rivers in the County of Essex Grace and Peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied IN this Age and Nation abounding with Learned Men and Books of all sorts especially in Points of Sacred Theology I should not have thought any thing of Mine worth the Press being conscious to my self of mine own Unfitness for that Employment by reason of Age and other Imperfections had not your Importunity extorted these Papers from me which I now exhibit to you But that I might not be wanting in what I am able for your Edification in the Doctrine of Christ I have yielded to adventure an Impression of them whereunto I have been induced by a like Consideration with that of Saint Peter 2 Epist ch 1. vers 12 13 14. where his writing is declared to be out of an apprehension of his approaching Dissolution that after his Decease there might be that extant which might keep in their Remembrance that which he had taught them and wherein they were established It is part of my Rejoycing that I have had so much Ability as to hold forth the Word of God to you in any measure and that it hath found so ready Reception with you It is that which I pray for and earnestly exhort you to that you will never forget the Saving Truths you have been taught though I be buried in oblivion nor backslide to Errour or Profaneness But that you be still constant in the true Faith of Christ and the right Worship of God in publick and in your private Families seeking the Divine Benediction on your selves and Families and living in mutual Love and Helpfulness towards all as knowing that the saving Grace of God hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World looking for that blessed Hope and the glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of Good works Whereunto if this Writing or any Labour of mine may conduce I have my Desire who recommending both you and this Work to the Almighty's Blessing do yet remain Your truly loving and faithfull Servant in Christ CHARLES GIBBES A TABLE of the several TEXTS discoursed upon PSAL. VI. 6. I Am weary of my Groaning every night wash I my Bed and water my Couch with my Tears Three Sermons pag. 1 19 37. PSAL. LI. 1 2. Have mercy upon me O God according to thy Loving-kindness according to the multitude of thy tender Mercies blot out my Transgressions Wash me throughly from mine Iniquity and cleanse me from my Sin 57. PSAL. LI. 3. I acknowledge my Transgression and my Sin is ever before me 75. PSAL. LI. 11. Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me Two Sermons 87 99. PROV XVIII 14. The Spirit of a man will sustain his Infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear Two Sermons 111 121. PSAL. CXXX 4. But there is Mercy or Forgiveness with thee that thou maist be feared 131. PSAL. LXXIX 8. O remember not against us former Iniquities let thy tender Mercies speedily prevent us for we are brought very low 153. HEBR. IV. 7. To Day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts 173. ROM VI. 1. and part of 2. What shall we say then shall we continue in Sin that Grace may abound God forbid 185. LAMENT III. 22. It is of the Lord's Mercies that we are not consumed because his Compassions fail not 197. PSAL. LVI 13. For thou hast delivered my Soul from Death wilt thou not deliver my Feet from Falling that I may walk before God in the Light of the living Two Sermons 217 235. PSAL. CXIX 15. I will meditate in thy Precepts and have respect unto thy Ways 251. PSAL. CXXII 1. I was glad when they said unto me Let us goe into the House of the Lord. 263. PSAL. XXXVII 4. Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee thy Heart's desire 275. 1 PET. III. 13. And who is he that will harm you if ye be Followers of that which is Good 287. PSAL. XVI 11. Thou wilt shew me the Path of life In thy Presence is fulness of Joy at thy right hand there are Pleasures for evermore Two Sermons 305 325. PSAL. LXXIII 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy Counsel and afterwards receive me to Glory 345. PSAL. XL. 8. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord onely makest me dwell in Safety 357. 1 JOHN III. 1. Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 371. PSAL. CXIX 34. Give me Vnderstanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall observe it with my whole Heart 383. PROV XIV 2. He that walketh in his Vprightness feareth the Lord but he that is perverse in his Ways despiseth him Two Sermons 399 411. REVEL VII 15. Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them 421. JOHN VIII 56. Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my Day and he saw it and was glad 435. GEN. XII 1. Now the Lord had said unto Abraham Get thee out of thy Country and from thy Kindred and from thy Father's House unto a Land that I shall shew thee 449. Imprimatur Febr. 27. 1676 7. Guil. Sill R. P. D. Henr. Episc Lond. à Sacris Domesticis DAVID's GROANS Part I. The First SERMON PSALM vi 6. I am weary of my Groaning every night wash I my Bed and water my Couch with my Tears THIS Psalm is intituled to David and is styled by many One or the First of his Penitentiall Psalms And it is true it expresseth his Agony and dolour of mind for his Sickness undoubtedly for his Sins as the Cause of it in likelihood and so for both as in a Psalm parallel to this he complains Psal 38.4 which two make a heavy Burthen too heavy for any man to bear The Burthen of one onely to wit of Sin though not his own made the Mighty One the Mighty God to stoop under it when he bare the Sins of Men in his own body on the Tree insomuch that as in the Garden he told his Disciples Matth. 26.38 My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull unto death so on the Cross he cried out in the Anguish of his spirit Matth. 27.46 O God my God why hast thou forsaken me No marvel then that
in his Bloud to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God Rom. 3.25 that God doth forgive any Sins of any persons Eph. 4.32 Not for any Saint's or Martyr's Intercession or any Surplusage of Merits in the Treasury of the Church distributed by the Pope's Indulgence or for the bare Work done of saying Mass singing Dirges or other Offices for a person deceased or merely for the Priest's Absolution upon Auricular Confession in the Sacrament of Penance or for any humane Satisfaction whatsoever but by the Expiation of Christ's Bloud and his Intercession for them to whom Sins are forgiven though not without their due Qualifications which are next to be considered III. The Persons to whom God forgives Sins are not all whatsoever There are that after their hardness and impenitent Heart treasure up unto themselves Wrath against the day of Wrath and revelation of the righteous Judgment of God Rom. 2.5 Nor all that are in the visible Church that have been baptized into the Name of Christ Notwithstanding Simon Magus believed was baptized continued with Philip and wondered beholding the Miracles and Signs which were done yet when by his offer of Money for the power of bestowing the Holy Ghost his Heart appeared not right in the sight of God S. Peter admonisheth him to repent of that his Wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thoughts of his Heart might be forgiven him Act. 8.13 21 22. But 1. They to whom God forgives Sins must be real and unfeigned Penitents such as are sensible of their Sins and the Desert of them such as are humbled in their own eyes yea so as to loath themselves for their Iniquities such as have that Sorrow which is after God that worketh Repentance not to be repented of Such a Repentance as is not for some Sins onely but for all not onely for Sins open and notorious but also for Sins secret and known to themselves and God alone not onely for Sins of outward Action or Words but also for Sins of Thought of evil Concupiscence not onely for Sins of Commission but also for Sins of Omission and according to the degrees of them with a proportionable degree of Sorrow so as to mourn much where the Sin hath been very hainous as David's was And that not onely by reason of the Affliction consequent Danger of Hell or Infamy but also for the Dishonouring of God and the Offending of him not onely as a severe Judge but also an indulgent Father Against thee thee onely have I sinned and done this Evil in thy sight saith David Psalm 51.4 And Father saith the prodigal Son Luk. 15.21 I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Thus S. John Baptist preached the Baptism of Repentance for the Remission of Sins Mark 1.4 S. Peter Act. 2.38 Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of Sins And Repent and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out Act. 3.19 To them that thus Repent there is Forgiveness of Sins not to the Impenitent and unrelenting 2. To Repentance must be joyned Confession of Sin If we say that we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us If we confess our Sins God is faithfull and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness If we say that we have not sinned we make him a Liar and his word is not in us 1 Joh. 1.8 9 10. How full is the Scripture against all Self-justitiaries Pharisees Philosophers Votaries Pelagians Quakers and other Perfectionists that boast of their own Good works and their being free from Sin No marvel that they that think they have no need of Pardon should find none God filleth the Hungry with good things the Rich he sendeth empty away The proud Pharisee that talked of his own Well-doings the boasting Papist that is confident of his own good Merits from God are not capable of Justification It is the poor Publican that is sensible of his Sin that stands afar off that will not lift up so much as his eyes to Heaven as being dejected by the sense of his Sins but smites on his breast saying God be mercifull to me a Sinner that goes home justified rather then the other as Christ himself hath determined Luk. 18.13 14. When I kept silence day and night saith David to God Psal 32.3 4 5. thy Hand was heavy upon me I acknowledged my Sin unto thee and mine Iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my Transgression unto the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin There was no necessity of Auricular Popish Confession to a Priest his purpose of doing it to God seriously and with true Compunction and Contrition of Soul was sufficient for his Pardon David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan without injoyning him Penance for Satisfaction tells him immediately The Lord also hath put away thy Sin A free and unfeigned Confession of Sins to God never goes without Pardon if it be with real Sorrow and giving to God the Glory of his Justice if other Qualifications be withall added which are also to be considered whereof the next and third is That there be a Forsaking of the Sin in Heart and in Act. 3. That Sin that shall be pardoned must be hated must be left He that covereth his Sins shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have Mercy Prov. 28.13 While we love and cherish Sin we bid defiance to God and shew our selves Enemies to him and therefore can expect no Favour from him for he is not a God that hath pleasure in Wickedness neither shall Evil dwell with him saith the Psalmist Psal 5.4 For a man to say he is sorry for his Sin as often men do and yet to commit it customarily again is indeed to belie himself True Sorrow would make men fearfull and wary how they fall into that for which they say they are sorry Piscator ictus sapit If they were sensible of the Evil of Sin they would dread a Relapse into it And besides it is no better then a mocking of God to confess Sin and pray him to forgive it and yet to continue in the practice of it It is all one as if thou shouldst beg of God to give thee a Licence or Dispensation to sin as if thou shouldst tell him thou hast sinned indeed but thou hopest he will not be angry though thou doe so again as if thou shouldst ask of God that he would make void his Law for thy sake let thee live as if thou owedst no Subjection to him It is to declare thy self a professed Rebell against him to tell him that he shall not rule over thee and in effect to say Depart from me for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways Much more evil is it when men
his Property of Mercifulness He is very pitifull and of tender Mercy Jam. 5.11 He is not like a cruel Tyrant that delights to destroy but like a gracious King that is glad to save Est piger ad poenam Princeps ad praemia velox Quique dolet quoties cogitur esse ferox It is for a Sicilian Tyrant to invent Torments or rather for a Fiend of Hell to rejoyce in doing hurt I am the Lord which exercise Loving-kindness Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord Jer. 9.24 Who is a God like unto thee saith the Prophet Micah 7.18 19. that pardoneth Iniquity and passeth by the Transgression of the remnant of his Heritage he retaineth not his Anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy He will turn again he will have Compassion on us he will subdue our Iniquities and thou wilt cast all their Sins into the depth of the Sea And then the Prophet adds vers 20. that which is my Second Reason why God forgives 2. Thou wilt perform the Truth to Jacob and the Mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our Fathers from the days of old This is the Reason why he hath raised up a Horn of Salvation and gives the knowledge of Salvation for or by the Remission of Sins to perform the Mercy promised to our Fathers and to remember his holy Covenant the Oath which he sware to our Father Abraham Luk. 1.69 72 73 77. And for this Reason the Bloud of Christ is termed by himself the bloud of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins Matth. 26.28 And the Covenant of God is alleged as witnessing the effect of Christ's Sacrifice wherein God said Their Sins and Iniquities will I remember no more Heb. 10.16 17. For which reason S. John saith that God is faithfull and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness 1 Joh. 1.9 His Mercifull nature prompts him to forgive Sins his Wisedom hath directed him to doe it by the Bloud of Christ his Truth to keep his Covenant and the End is that he may be feared Which brings me to the Second Point in my Text. II. OBSERVATION That God's Forgiveness engageth and encourageth men to fear him It is objected against the Jews Jer. 5.23 24. that they had a revolting and a rebellious Heart because they said not in their hearts Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth Rain both the former and the latter in his season he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the Harvest Which evinceth this to be an Evil That men fear not God notwithstanding his Providences to them for good and therefore God's Care of us should engage us to fear him And it is prophesied that the Children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his Goodness in the latter days Hos 3.5 Which intimates that God's Goodness is to be feared and that it is both an engagement and encouragement to fear him that he is good O fear the Lord ye his Saints for there is no want to them that fear him Psal 34.9 Now of all parts of his Goodness this is the chief his Forgiving Sins It is that which shews the greatest Kindness and Condescension in God Therefore when David blesseth God he puts this in the first place Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits Who forgiveth all thine Iniquities Psal 103.2 3. And it is the greatest Blessing to us Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven and whose Sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity Psal 32.1 2. This Favour then requires Fear in the greatest degree Not a tormenting Fear which consisteth not with Love and which is expelled by Love 1 Joh. 4.18 such as is in Devils that fear and tremble Jam. 2.19 but a dutifull Fear which makes us wary how we offend God and studious how to please him makes us fear him not as an Enemy or Tyrant from whom we expect nothing but hard Usage and sore Tasks but as a good Master or a loving Father whom we fear as our Superiour that may punish us yet love for his Goodness Bounty and Indulgence to us This Fear is usually termed a filial or reverentiall Fear which is manifested 1. in our Worship of him with reverence and godly fear Heb. 12.28 where the Fear of God is put for his Worship as Isa 29.13 2. in our Obedience to him both active in doing his Will and passive in submitting to his Correction Now to this Fear God's Forgiveness engageth us 1. Because such Forgiveness should and doth beget Love To whom many Sins were forgiven she loved much saith Christ Luk. 7.47 What Rebel is so hard-hearted as not to love his Prince that hath forgiven his manifold Treasons We have been more treacherous to God and yet he forgives us and shall we not then love him and fear to offend him 2. There is no greater Security can be given to draw our Hearts to God then the Forgiveness of Sins This is that Loving-kindness that draws us to God Jer. 31.3 the Chords of a man the Bands of Love that tie us fast to God Hos 11.4 And therefore there is no more expedite more rationall more sure way to maintain perpetuall Amity between us and God to devote us to his Service to bring us into Communion with him then the Preaching and Believing the rich Grace of the Gospel in the Remission of Sins by Jesus Christ according to the New Covenant in his Bloud But I see the time will not permit me to enlarge on this precious Subject I shall now apply that which hath been said in some necessary Uses and so end APPLICATION 1. First then If there be Forgiveness with God and that of the greatest Sins let no drooping Soul sink under the sense of his Sins though they have been Scarlet or Crimson Sins yet there is Pardon to be had It is true as now-a-days things go the greatest Sinners are most hardened in Security there is an Atheistical Spirit that makes men bold in Sinning Whether it be from the subtle Insinuations of some Seducers who like Balaam of old instill into mens minds those Principles which make them as audacious as Zimri and Cozbi of old were so that they declare their Sins as Sodom and hide them not ungodly men crept in among us turning the Grace of God into wantonness or from their doting so much on Nature as they call it that they forget the God of Nature so magnifying Naturam naturatam that they heed not Naturam naturantem as they barbarously speak in the Schools or that the Miscarriages of hypocriticall Professours of Religion induce them to think all Zeal in Religion is but from Fancy not God's Spirit and that all zealous persons are Fanaticks or men not in their right wits not soberly wise
their words and misusing their persons which stirred up the Wrath of God against his people so as there was no Remedy 2 Chron. 36.16 These were the Sins that Daniel meant in his Supplication which either symbolized or was contemporary with this Dan. 9.5 6. Now God is said to remember Sins when he doth actually punish persons for them and this is deprecated here simple Forgetfulness being a thing impossible to befall God who is uncapable of any defect but hath all things past present and to come in his view throughout all Eternity 2. Here is a Petition for Help Let thy tender Mercies speedily prevent us Wherein the thing desired is the coming of Aid for their Deliverance from their Captivity and the restoring of their City and Temple and that to be hastened the time seeming long to them in which they were oppressed by the Babylonian Kings and kept from the Land of their desires And this is begged as a product of God's tender Mercies or Bowels of Mercies by which Expression such Mercy as is wont to be in Mothers towards the Children of their womb whose Bowells earn towards them is attributed to God Though to speak exactly as the Schoolmen say Mercy is not in God secundùm Affectum he hath not any formal Dolour or Sympathy so as to be grieved with our Evills as we are when we pity others but secundùm Effectum in respect of the Effect because God in our Misery doth as we doe when we have Compassion on others afford Succour and Relief to those whom he is said to be mercifull to 3. The Petition is enforced with the mention of their low Condition For we are brought very low impoverished or made thin that is we are poor in Purse thin of People much diminished every way spoiled debarred of our Liberty of our Religion of our Peace burthened with imperious Commands heavy Yokes of the Lordly Tyrants of Babylon persecuted with a fiery Furnace for not adoring their Idol in danger of casting into a Den of Lions for calling upon the Name of our God destined to a Panolethry or a total Slaughter by wicked Courtiers proud Haman and his Complices and have none to help us but our God and therefore we pray Let thy tender Mercies speedily prevent us or as in the Verse next my Text Help us O God of our Salvation for the Glory of thy Name and deliver us and purge away our Sins for thy Name 's sake From whence though the occasion of the present business be somewhat different we may deduce these Observations usefull for this Day 's work 1. That it is God's Remembring of Sins which is the reason of the Calamities that befall a people 2. That the Removing of them is an effect of his tender Mercies 3. That God's Time of Help is the low Condition of Supplicants 4. That Bewailing of Sins and humble Supplication for Mercy are the proper and effectual Remedies against the Calamities which are incumbent on God's people Of these in their order I. OBSERVATION That it is God's Remembrance of Sins which is the reason of the Calamities that befall a people It is the Maxim of the Apostle Rom. 6.23 That the Wages or Stipend of Sin is Death Death and all the Evils tending to it were at first the adjudged Pay for Sin against God and Sin is still the Egge out of which all the venomous brood of Mischiefs incident to mankind are hatched By one man Sin entred into the world and Death by Sin and so Death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 Adam opened the Floud-gate whereby a Deluge of all sorts of Miseries hath drowned the world But though his Sin were the Fountain of all Calamities yet as Rivers swell by much Rain and overflowing cause particular Inundations of some places so it is with Man by reason of Sin besides the First man's Transgression there is such an increase of Sin in his Posterity that it provokes God sometimes to inflict such remarkable Plagues and Vengeance as are different from the common Death of all men The Uncleanness and Cruelty of the Old world in Noah's days brought the universal Floud on the world of the Vngodly The excessive Pride Filthiness Riot Bestiality of the Sodomites brought down on them from Heaven Fire and Brimstone to consume them The Oppressing of Israel with the Hardness of Pharaoh's Heart caused the drowning of him and his Army in the Red sea Yea the remarkable Sins of those who have been owned as God's own People have caused particular Judgments Achan's Sin made Israel fly before the Canaanites Saul's Sin caused three years Famine Hophni and Phineas by their profaning the Offering of the Lord brought on Eli's House the Loss of his Sons the Loss of the Ark and the Deprivation of his Posterity from the Priesthood Yea David's Sin in numbring of the people moved God to send a Plague on Israel which swept away seventy thousand men But when Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with Witchcraft Idolatry Cruelty and added an obdurate Heart against God's Messengers the Desolation by Nebuchadnezzar seized on them in a far greater measure But worst of all when the Jews killed the Lord Jesus and their own Prophets and persecuted the Apostles of Christ not pleasing God and being contrary to all men forbidding the Apostles to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their Sins always then Wrath came upon them to the uttermost as S. Paul speaks 1 Thess 2.15 16. Yea were there no words of Holy Scripture to inform us whence wasting Wars Inundations of water great Famines consuming Pestilence and other effects of Divine Vengeance come on a Nation yet the Histories of such people as knew not God the Observations of considerate men the extorted or free Confession of notorious Sinners in all Ages were abundant evidence to inferrre that it is God's Remembrance of Sin that is the Source of Calamities it being usual for all sorts of Sinners to accuse themselves their own Consciences bearing witness against them when Evils are upon them Adonibezek could remember his Cruelty when the Lex talionis took hold on him Judg. 1.7 And Joseph's Brethren could then acknowledge that God had found out their Iniquity when they were in Distress themselves Gen. 42.21 and 44.16 Any remarkable Affliction that is not ordinary and common wrings out from guilty Consciences such expressions as that of the Widow of Sarepta 1 King 17.18 O thou man of God art thou come to call my Sin to Remembrance and to slay my Son Consonant hereto are God's Declarations of himself Isa 59.1 2. Behold the Lord's Hand is not shortned that it cannot save neither is his Ear heavy that it cannot hear But your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you Perditio tua ex te Israel O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self Hos 13.9 Your Iniquities have turned away these things and your
and Power of God in his proceedings concerning it S. Paul in this Epistle written to the greatest and most intelligent People of the Gentiles declares both the extreme Corruptions of the whole World and the Wrath of God impendent on them for that reason as also the unparallel'd Longanimity of God in bearing with such a provoking Generation whom Hell had long waited for and especially the incomprehensible Philanthropy or Loving-kindness of God towards men whom though Enemies though weak to resist him he not onely spareth but also reconcileth to himself by the Bloud of his own Son and proclaimeth his free Pardon to all that receive him by his Apostles But lest Mercy abused should inflame the Wrath of God so much the more lest the sweetest Meat undigested through a Surfeit should be putrefied in the Stomach and turn to the most deadly Poison he in this and the following Chapters warns us of the ill Inference which men may make from so great Goodness and he begins at the words now read unto you What shall we say then shall we continue in Sin that Grace may abound God forbid In which words are two Questions the former whereof is onely a form of Transition propounding it to the consideration of those to whom he writes that they with him should bethink themselves what Determination to make upon his former Declaration What shall we say then If this be the state of affairs between God and us it concerns us to heed what thereupon we resolve to doe The other Question is more particular Shall we continue in Sin that Grace may abound Shall this be the Inference we make from it The Answer is negative Absit God forbid Let no so absurd so unworthy an Abuse of so rich Mercy be yielded to though it be never so plausibly urged by our carnal Reason and our corrupt Affections would incline us to embrace the Motion In this passage of Scripture these following Conclusions are couched 1. That God's dealing with Sinners according to the Gospel of Christ is out of his abundant Grace 2. That the corrupt Heart of man is apt thereupon to harden it self by Continuance in Sin 3. That such a Determination is a most foolish and pernicious Abuse of God's superabundant Grace Of these in their order I. OBSERVATION That God's dealing with Sinners according to the Gospel of Christ is out of his abundant Grace That abundant Grace which is here supposed is the same with that which he speaks of Rom. 5.20 21. Moreover the Law entred that the Offence might abound but where Sin abounded Grace did much more abound That as Sin hath reigned unto Death even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Which elsewhere Ephes 1.7 he terms the Riches of his Grace In whom we have Redemption through his bloud the forgiveness of Sins according to the Riches of his Grace And Eph. 2.4 5 7. God who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in Sins hath quickened us together with Christ That in the Ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his Kindness towards us through Christ Jesus And Eph. 3.8 it is termed the unsearchable Riches of Christ All which Expressions are true without an Excess of speech if we consider either the State of mankind antecedent to the exhibition of this Grace or the Effects thereof or the Means of exhibiting it For what more deplorable Condition except that of Devils could the World be in then it was in before the exhibiting of the Divine Evangelical Grace of Christ to the sons of men They had all sinned and came short of the Glory of God they were concluded as Malefactours condemned under Sin under the Curse of the Law dead in Trespasses and Sins they were alienated from the Life that is in God Enemies in their minds by wicked works foolish disobedient serving divers Lusts hatefull and hating one another children of Disobedience of Darkness who walked after the course of the Prince of the power of the Air they were carried away after dumb Idols were Vassals of Satan and children of Wrath by nature And yet even to such did the Loving-kindness of God towards Man appear so as to reconcile the world unto himself not imputing their Trespasses to them He made him to be Sin for us who knew no Sin that we might be made his Righteousness in him and committed the Ministry of Reconciliation to chosen Vessels which might bear his Name to the Gentiles and bring Light and Salvation to such persons It was no small Testimony of his Goodness that even then when they were such when they walked in their own ways he gave them Rain from Heaven and fruitfull seasons filling their hearts with food and gladness that he caused his Sun to shine upon such unjust people as were both Jews and Gentiles The former of which were degenerated from the Integrity of Abraham and though claiming the privilege of his Children yet in reality were of their Father the Devil whose works they did except a few names that waited for the Consolation of Israel the rest of them were a Generation of Vipers full of Hypocrisie and Cruelty Unpeaceable Ambitious seeking the Praise of men not the Honour that cometh of God such as would compass sea and land to make one Proselyte and having wone him to them made him twofold more the child of Hell then themselves The other were filled with all Vnrighteousness Fornication Wickedness Covetousness Maliciousness full of Envy Murther Debate Deceit Malignity Whisperers Backbiters Haters of God despightfull proud Boasters Inventers of evil things disobedient to Parents without Vnderstanding Covenant-breakers without natural Affection implacable unmercifull Rom. 1.29 30 31. Yet even such as these he washed he sanctified he justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by his Spirit It might rather have been expected that he should have repented that he had made them and have executed his Wrath on them as he did on the world of the ungodly in Noah's time by a Deluge of water to wash away from the Earth that Dunghill and filth of evil Imaginations and wicked Works that had polluted the whole Earth or should have rained Fire and brimstone from Heaven to burn up and so to take away those unclean Sodomites those brutish Dogs and Swine which filled the World He might justly have caused the Earth to open its mouth and swallow up the Inhabitants of the world so as that they should go down quick into Hell as it did the Families of Korah Dathan and Abiram He might have sworn in his Wrath as he did concerning the Rebellious Israelites that they should never enter into his Rest They and we in all Generations succeeding might have expected to suffer the Vengeance of eternal fire But O Altitudo O the depth of the riches both of the Wisedom and Knowledge and Love of God! how
entitative Presence or his Tuition or beholding him but also his pleasing God in his Conversation having a regard to his Approbation out of desire to obtain his Favour as well as to his Power to avoid his Anger As S. Paul saith of himself 2 Cor. 2.17 We are not as many which corrupt the Word of God but as of Sincerity but as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ and Chap. 4.2 commending our selves to every man's Conscience in the sight of God There is somewhat more also I think in this Expression viz. That his Aim was to walk before God by worshipping at the Tabernacle for that place he means sometimes when he speaks of appearing before God as Psal 42.2 When shall I come and appear before God the meaning of which longing is thus expressed Psal 43.3 O send out thy Light and thy Truth let them lead me and bring me unto thy holy Hill and to thy Tabernacle and Psal 84.2 My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God And so it hath the same sense with that of Hezekiah Isa 38.20 The Lord was ready to save me therefore we will sing my Songs to the stringed Instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. And then in the light of the living is all one with all the time of his Life or among the living opposite to that which Hezekiah said vers 18 19. The Grave cannot praise thee Death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the Pit cannot hope for thy truth The Living the Living he shall praise thee as I do this day the Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth And to this sense is it which the Psalmist here saith I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living So that hence ariseth this OBSERVATION That a Godly man when God delivers his Soul from Death and his Feet from falling aims at walking before God in the light of the living as counting himself thereto engaged Indeed every Holy Christian counts his Life due to God Rom. 14.7 8. None of us saith the Apostle liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord 's Every one that hath found God gracious to him doeth as Enoch Noah Abraham and all the Saints of old did he walks before God as counting his Life onely Vitam vitalem a Life indeed while he imploys it for God otherwise while he lives without God in the world he counts himself to live a liveless Life to be dead while he lives Now walking before God may be understood either Materially and so all men walk before God his Eye is upon them he knows their down-sitting and their uprising he understandeth their Thoughts afar off he compasseth their path and their lying down and is acquainted with all their ways There is not a word in their Tongue but he knows it altogether as it is Psal 139.2 3 4. or Formally and reciprocally so as that God is eyed by us his Omnipresence Omniscience Omnipotency are apprehended and observed by us as the Psalmist speaks Psal 16.8 I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved This may be done either Speculatively so as to contemplate his Being to enquire after him to have some Apprehensions of God or Affectively either so as to hate God as the Devils and damned Spirits that acknowledge God to be but with trembling and horrour of Spirit and against their wills James 2.19 or so as to love God If any love God the same is known of him or Practically so as not onely to acknowledge him to be God and to love him but also relatively to own him as our God as the Psalmist Psal 48.14 This God is our God for ever and ever he will be our Guide unto death This Walking before God comprehends the constant ordering the frame of our Actions for God A man is not said to walk who makes but one Step Walking imports a Continuation of Steps and Walking before God a Multiplication of Actions and those in God's way as they said Mic. 4.2 He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths For though all the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings yet he counts no Walking to be before him but that which is in Holiness and Righteousness as it is Luk. 1.75 There must be a removing from the opposite term to wit Satan Some are already turned aside after Satan saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 5.15 Those cannot walk before God that hold Intelligence with Satan When Eve held Parley with the old Serpent she departed from God and so did Saul when he went after the Witch of Endor And in like manner doe all that are conformed to this World that are fashioned after their own Lusts that adhere to their own Reason Familiarity with Satan Conformity to this World Reasoning with flesh and bloud are inconsistent with walking before God There must be a turning from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan unto God as the words are Act. 26.18 God must be the Terminus ad quem he to whom we come as it is Heb. 11.6 He that cometh unto God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him And this Walking is not when we onely doe some Actions in God's way A man is not said to walk before God that sometimes is in God's way and then skips out of it again such Going in and out is not Walking but running counter like the way of a Serpent upon a Stone dancing leaping and frisking Then a man is said to walk to a place or person not when he doth make a Vagarie or two but keeps on in an uniform settled even pace hath his eye upon the Mark and follows after it wittingly willingly constantly when he doth as the Apostle speaks Phil. 3.16 go on gradually orderly by the same Rule that the Apostles and other Holy persons have heretofore gone by A man cannot come to God per Saltum by a Leap but by a constant regular Course of actions propounding to himself God as the Object unto whom he directs his Actions and his Motive for what he doeth And herein there must be two things especally eyed by us to wit 1. God's Sovereignty and Almightiness I am the Almighty God saith God to Abraham Gen. 17.1 walk before me and be thou perfect The Fear and Reverence of God as the Supreme Majesty as he that is Maximus the Greatest should attract our Eyes and our Hearts towards him with Awfulness as Subjects compose and order their Carriage with Awe and Respect to their Sovereign because he is their Lord attiring
that I desire besides thee My Flesh and my Heart faileth but God is the strength of my Heart and my portion for ever It is good for me to draw near to God I have put my Trust in the Lord God Such Apprehensions as these do affect the Spirits of a man as the breaking out of the Sun doth the Eyes after it hath been overcast with thick Clouds in the day or concealed by the Darkness of the night Then the Light is sweet and it is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun So it is with the Soul after such Perplexities and Affrightments and Disconsolations of Spirit as are incident to the most holy Saint by reason of the seeming Disorders and dismall Occurrences in the world which are obvious to him When he recollects himself and determines against all Arguings ad oppositum that the Lord God is a Sun and a Shield the Lord will give Grace and Glory no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly O Lord of hoasts blessed is the man that trusteth in thee Psal 84.11 12. then he delights himself in the Lord as the most pleasant and eligible Good thing as his Sun and his Shield and accordingly fixes his Contemplations on God quickens chears confirms raises up his Spirits in the remembrance of him expresses himself in holy Hymns in devout Prayers in wise Observations of his Doings in commemorating of his Works and his Word in holy Conferences and such like ways as shew that none is so amiable to him as God none to be adhered to in comparison of him none to be glorified like unto God Conformably hereto he delights in the Consideration of God's most excellent Being that he is not like the Vanities of the Nations that he is the living God and an everlasting King that in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting Strength that there is none holy as the Lord no Rock like unto our God that great is our Lord and of great Power his Vnderstanding is infinite that he is mercifull and gracious abundant in Goodness and Truth He delights also in the beholding and observation of his Works which however they are not minded by them who are alienated from the Life that is in God yet to the Godly enlightned Soul they appear Great so that in Admiration of them he is affected like the Psalmist Psal 8.1 O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth who hast set thy Glory above the Heavens Psal 104.24 In wisedom hast thou made them all and rulest all He is holy in all his Ways and righteous in all his Works and therefore are they sought out of all them that have pleasure therein His Work is honourable and glorious and his Righteousness endureth for ever And hereupon the Psalmist resolves Psal 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. Nor is his Delight less in God's Word then in his Works I will praise thy Name saith David Psal 138.2 for thy Loving-kindness and for thy Truth for thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name And thus he often professeth that the Word of God his Judgments were more to be desired then Gold yea then much fine Gold sweeter then Hony and the Hony-comb that not onely his Word of Promise was his Comfort in his Affliction for by it he was quickened but that he greatly delighted in God's Commands they were the Joy of his heart And Holy Job 23.12 I have esteemed the Word of his mouth more then my necessary Food But Holy mens greatest Delight in God is when by Faith in Christ they apprehend God to be their God and they his People that he dwells in them they are his Temple that they are made by him Kings and Priests to him by his Spirit that he is their Father through Christ they his Children that they have access to him by the Faith of Christ and are assured of an Inheritance above with him When they understand this that Christ is All to them they delight in the Almighty and lift up their face unto God with Joy as it is Job 22.26 Now this indeed is best for the Godly thus to delight themselves in the Lord even in their own lowest Conditions and their Oppressours highest because the greatest Good that Evil men have is but vain Be it Plenty Peace Honour Liberty Power Pleasure or what-ever else is valued by men that have their Portion in this life it is but an imperfect fading vexing Good much of it is such as Beasts injoy more fully then they who have more Delight in their Food and sensitive Pleasure then Men have Applause Honours Wealth are but Toys such as Childish persons delight in rather then wise Men. Philosophers by the Light of Nature have censured them as empty of reall Worth not good because they made not the Possessours of them good Wisedom and Vertue are by them preferred before them Yea they bring often much Vexation in stead of Delight In acquiring and Using them is much Vanity In the midst of Laughter the Heart is sorrowfull Solomon styles it Madness But Delight in the Lord is the most rationall exquisite durable Delight far above not onely Epicurus his Pleasure and Zeno's Vertue and Seneca's Tranquillity of mind but also Solomon's Glory his Wisedom his Knowledge of the Properties of Natural bodies and what-ever Excellency short of Acquaintance with God he was endued with He confesseth as much in the close of his Penitentialls and before him his Father David Psal 4.6 7. There be many that say Who will shew us any Good Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us Thou hast put Gladness in my Heart more then in the time that their Corn and their Wine increased This makes the Saints delight in Prayer and Praise and other Worship of God it being their Privilege as well as their Duty to delight themselves in the Lord Isa 58.14 and according to the Desire of their Heart Which brings me to the II. OBSERVATION That they who delight themselves in the Lord shall have their Hearts Desire and in fine speed better then they who are in the most illustrious estate of Wicked men The principal Desire of one that delights himself in God is to glorifie God that is the main End of such as glory in God that they may doe all to his Glory Therefore are they taught to make this their first Petition Hallowed be thy Name and to that end to pray Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Even in God's most severe Dealings with them they say with those Isa 26.8 Yea in the way of thy Judgments O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our Soul is to thy Name and to the Remembrance of thee To which that of the Apostle Phil. 1.20 is consonant According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always
so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death That which is said by David but most truly verified of our Lord Christ is true of all that delight in the Lord Psal 40.8 I delight to doe thy Will O my God yea thy Law is within my Heart And this their Desire God always grants so that however he that delights in the Lord be assaulted with Temptations be benighted in his Apprehensions of God's Favour though Heaviness may endure for a night Joy shall come in the morning though he miss of his Way yet he shall find his Errour and return into it again The Steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand Psal 37.23 34. Next unto these ultimate and supreme Ends the Desire of his Soul who delights in the Lord is to see God How earnestly did Moses beg the sight of God's Face How often doth David bemoan his Absence from God's Worship at his Temple As the Hart saith he panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God Psal 42.1 2. And in the next Psalm vers 3. O send out thy Light and thy Truth let them lead me let them bring me unto thy holy Hill and to thy Tabernacles So Saint Paul Phil. 1.23 I desire to depart and to be with Christ which is best of all And this Desire God will give them at last who delight in him Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Matth. 5.8 Now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 Manutenentia Divina God's supporting Grace here and Visio beatifica the Fruition of God hereafter are two grand Desires of Souls that delight in God these they petition for and he will grant them both There are other Desires which they have as the Prosperity of God's Church the Downfall of their Enemies which the Lord will also at last accomplish though not without much Contention and long Waiting They shall overcome the Powers of darkness and the World they shall see the people of God above their Enemies by the bloud of the Lamb and by the word of their Testimony though they lay down their Lives for it Other Desires of outward Blessings God grants not always in the kind but often in some Equivalent He repairs that which they lose for Christ and his Gospell by inward Comfort and Spirituall Strength Though they be in Want or under Persecution yet they know how to abound in that they have learned in whatsoever estate therewith to be content They can doe all things through Christ that strengtheneth them If they have a Thorn in the Flesh a Messenger of Satan to buffet them and it still molest them yet the Grace of God is not denied them and it is sufficient for them his Strength is perfected in their Weakness Many Desires of particular Blessings are granted them and this one comprehensive Privilege belongs to them that all things work together for good to them who love God Rom. 8.28 APPLICATION It remains then that we learn this way of Thriving by delighting our selves in the Lord. Self-love is naturall every man desires his own Good but all take not the right way to attain it God made Man upright or simple but he hath sought out many Inventions Many ways are devised by men for the attaining their Ends and many Ends propounded by them The Desires of men are almost as various as their Faces and their Designs and Courses are almost as manifold as their Heads So many Men so many Minds Among you who are my present Auditours though you meet here about the same Business the Serving of God yet how few in truth do desire to know him aright or to serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind Even in this very Action how few mind God's Glory How many observe onely the Custom in coming to Church or perhaps some worser Motives bring them hither and sinfull Thoughts possess them here And no marvell then if they grow not in Knowledge and holy Obedience are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth yea grow worse and worse because they delight not themselves in the Lord but aim onely at the feeding their Eyes or the tickling their Ears or some other sinister Ends of their own As these mens Hearts are not towards God so neither is God's towards them they have no Pleasure in God nor God in them How many of you are there of whom those things are verified which we reade Isa 58.2 They seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a Nation that did Righteousness and forsook not the Ordinance of their God they ask for the Ordinances of Justice they take Delight in approaching to God and yet for want of reall Delighting in God it may be your lot at last to hear Christ say to you I know you not depart from me you workers of Iniquity Is it not true of you which the Prophet said of his Hearers that they came and sate before the Prophet as God s People and they heard his words but they would not doe them for with their Mouth they shewed much Love but their Hearts went after their Covetousness The Prophet was unto them as a very lovely Song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an Instrument for they heard his words but did them not Ezek. 33.31 32. A Sermon is to most but as an Oration in Schools the Delivery the Composure is observed and perhaps censured but the Matter is not learned their Hearts not bettered their Ways not amended God not glorified After Dismission yet neither the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ nor the Love of God nor the Communion of the Holy Spirit remains in them but worldly Projects earthly Designs carnall Practices are still prosecuted Yea their Hearts are more hardened more estranged from God and the Life that is in him and their Wisedom remains earthly sensuall and devillish No marvell if such find no Incomes of Grace no Consolation in Christ no spirituall growth in Godliness Oh that you would ask your selves whether this Guilt lie not on you and that you would now at last apply your selves throughly to delight your selves in God especially in these great Duties of Prayer and Hearing his Word lest when you would have your great Desire of seeing God's Face in the great Day of Christ's appearing ye be shut out of his Presence and be cast into outer Darkness where is nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Delight in the Lord now that he
Creatures are good God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good Gen. 1.31 Another in genere Moris a Good which makes the person truly good Such is the Goodness of God who is good and doeth good Psal 119.68 even by communicating Good to all Act. 14.17 And indeed He is the chiefest Good He is most transcendently perfectly originally Good from whom every good and every perfect Gift cometh James 1.17 And therefore rightly is it said by our Lord Christ Matth. 19.17 There is none good but one that is God And this Good we are to be Followers of Be ye Followers of God There is also a derivative Goodness from him which is communicated primitively to his Son concerning whom it is the Father's pleasure that in him should all Fulness dwell Col. 1.19 The Spirit is given him without measure Joh. 3.34 While he was upon Earth he went about doing good Act. 10.38 He might truly say I am the good Shepherd Joh. 10.11 And from him Good is redundant to us He hath plenitudinem Fontis and not onely Vasis With him is the fountain of Life and in his Light we see light Psal 36.9 Now the Good we are to be Followers of is also this Good which is in and from Christ the Good of his Word to know it the Good of his Example to imitate it the Good of his Gifts the Gifts of his Spirit to be zealous after them 1 Cor. 12.31 the Good of Righteousness and eternall Life which is from God by Jesus Christ to injoy it the Good of God's Favour in Christ to obtain it the Good of Communion with the Father and the Son to embrace it But though these sorts of Good are to be followed yet that which we are here required more specially to be Followers of is not so much Bonum Beatitudinis the Good of Blessedness for our selves as Bonum Sanctitatis the Good of Holiness whereby we may be like unto God be holy as he is holy 1 Pet. 1.15 16. and Bonum Justitiae the Good of Righteousness towards our selves and others such as may consist with a good Conscience and a good Conversation in Christ the Good of Innocency that we may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke Phil. 2.15 the Good of Benevolence and Beneficence willing and procuring good unto all Gal. 6.10 as we have opportunity doing good to all especially unto them that are of the houshold of Faith We must endeavour after the good Heart that may out of its Treasure bring forth good things Matth. 12.35 after the good Tongue that speaketh Wisedom and talketh of Judgment Psal 37.30 that uttereth that which is good to the use of Edifying that it may minister Grace to the hearers Eph. 4.29 after the good Hand that may work the thing that is good that it may have to give to him that needeth v. 28. In summe we must labour to become Vessels unto honour sanctified and meet for the Master's use and prepared to every good work 2 Tim. 2.21 created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them Eph. 2.10 II. How this Good is to be followed 1. Universally all the Kinds of it are to be pursued not onely the Good of Religion towards God but also of Love towards Man The End of our Deliverance from the hands of our Enemies is that we might serve God in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the days of our life as it is in the Benedictus Luk. 1.74 75. The Grace of God hath appeared to all men teaching them that denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts they should live righteously soberly and godly in this present world Tit. 2.11 12. We know it is S. James his determination 2.10 Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all Vertues are chained together the Law is copulative Bonum non nist ex integra causa He that is not intirely good is not good at all He that is all for the practice of Religious Ordinances but no whit for Charity he that is devout at Church but proud vain wanton uncharitable unrighteous intemperate at home is no Follower of that which is Good but an Hypocrite a meer Pharisee or painted Sepulchre And he that is much for Alms and Abstinence from Excess or prohibited Pleasures yet careless of Prayer Reading Hearing God's Word in publick and in private is a profane person be he never so much esteemed by men yet is he abominable before God 2. Nor must we be Followers of all Sorts of Good onely but also of all kinds of Good in the most eminent Degree What the Apostle prays for in the behalf of the Colossians Col. 1.9 10. should be the aim of every sincere Christian that he may be filled with the knowledge of God's Will in all wisedom and spiritual understanding that he may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being faithfull in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God So what he prays for in behalf of the Philippians Phil. 1.11 that he may be filled with the Fruits of Righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God that he may be abundant in the work of the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 As he is unjust that lets not the Buier have his full Measure so is he that doth not afford God the utmost of his Service that doth not love him with all his Mind with all his Soul and with all his Strength In this an Emulation is good which is implied in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some Copies have it in my Text and it is so rendred by Beza We should vie one with another as desirous to outstrip each other like Runners in a Race that strive who shall run fastest Yea in this it is good to be singular If ye salute your Brethren onely saith Christ Matth. 5.47 what singular thing or more then others doe ye intimating that a Christian that exceeds not a Philosopher or a Jew is not worthy of that name He must not onely doe good to them that love him but even to them that hate him vers 44. Though we own no Popish Evangelical Counsels no Monkish Vows as putting a man into a state of Perfection no Merit or Works of Supererogation yet he that will approve himself to God must endeavour to doe those Good works that are commanded to the utmost Extensivè Works of all Kinds and Intensivè in all their Degrees according to his ability 3. And this we are to doe sincerely as before God not as pleasing Men but God that trieth the heart 1 Thess 2.4 Not like the Pharisees who gave Alms Fasted Prayed that they might be seen of Men and therefore did all with Ostentation but in secret and private as well as in publick we should be Followers of that which is Good looking onely at God's Glory our Obedience to him
in Christ In God's Favour and Presence are the real Joys though obscured from the World by the mean Condition upon Earth of those that possess them 2. Oh then you who have heard what Joys there are in God be persuaded to quicken and comfort your selves by them Let not the Scoffs or Censures of the profane Carnalist affright you from your Choice Place your Hope in the pursuance of those Joys that are Spiritual that are Heavenly David Moses S. Paul and He who was the wisest of men our Lord Christ slighted all the Contents on Earth and patiently underwent all Afflictions all the Reproaches and Persecutions of men that they might attain the Fulness of Joys in God's Presence Surely should all your days on Earth be spent with never so much Mirth yet you would be great Losers should you lose the Joys of Heaven Yea the want of the Peace of Conscience and Joy in the Spirit on Earth will so damp the Joys of the most Atheistical Voluptuaries on Earth that they will find them to be far short of that Sweetness they imagine in them and in the end to be as Gall and Wormwood in their Bowells On the other side the Joys of Christ and Christians in present fruition and future hope will countervail all those bitter Potions they drink here and fill them with endless and unmeasurable Satisfaction hereafter Let then the Joy of the Lord be your strength Nehem. 8.10 your Encouragement to follow all the Holy ones of God chiefly our Lord Christ running with patience the Race set before you and looking unto Jesus the Authour and Finisher of your Faith Amen LAVS DEO MAN'S Guide to Glory The Twenty-third SERMON PSAL. lxxiij 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy Counsell and afterwards receive me to Glory WE have in this Psalm whether composed by or for Asaph to sing a Skirmish between the Flesh and the Spirit with the Victory of the Spirit thereby strengthened to stand for God and to adhere to his Party The Combat arose from the Quarrel that humane Reason had against Divine Providence as either unequall or impotent in that the Wicked prospered in the world when the Godly as poor Abjects were depressed and trampled upon by the Nimrods of the Earth As if this did argue either that God was ignorant of humane Affairs that he saw not through the thick Clouds that according to the Epicurean Fancy he followed his Pleasure in Heaven and let things below run at randome leaving them to Chance or that he would not or could not remedy such Irregularities as fell out in the Government of this lower World To which the Spirit opposeth after some Staggering this Defence That the Prosperity of the Wicked was but for a moment an empty Bitter-sweet a fansied Dream a meer Vanity ending in Terrours which suddenly and irresistibly cast them down like a Hurricane and so carry them away to Destruction and Consumption That on the other side the Godly are preserved and guided to Glory And thence is the Spirit 's Io Paean its triumphant Song ascribing Happiness to men of pure Hearts and expressing a Resolution to hold fast to God as being well assured of Divine Guidance and Advancement in the words read to you Thou shalt guide me with thy Counsell and afterwards receive me to Glory In which words the Psalmist expresseth the Foundation of his future Happiness as in the Verse before he declares the Cause of his present Standing notwithstanding the Storm of Temptation that was upon him upon what Bottom he secures his Soul notwithstanding such Onsets and Perills of wandering out of his way to Blessedness For attaining of which Felicity he ascribes nothing to a fansied Light within him or power of Free will but to that special efficacious Grace which is preventing and sustaining that worketh in God's people both to will and to doe of his good pleasure Phil. 2.13 His Tuition and his Guidance is the entire and onely Cause of a Saint's assured Beatitude And this the Authour of the Psalm doth acknowledge whilst he expresses the sense he had of his own nearness to Ruine when as it is vers 2. he found that as for him his Feet were almost gone his Steps had well-nigh slipt had not God been with him continually and held him by the right hand guided him with his Counsell and led him to Glory From whence these Observations offer themselves 1. That when God leaves a person to his own Counsell it is a Forerunner of his Perdition 2. That it is the Safety of God's Servants that they are guided by his Counsell 3. That those whom God guides by his Counsell he doth bring to Glory I. OBSERVATION That when God leaves a person to his own Counsell it is a Forerunner of his Perdition That which is said Psal 81.12 that God gave the people of Israel up unto their own hearts Lust and they walked in their own Counsells and therefore he did not subdue their Enemies nor turn his hand against their Adversaries vers 14. doth sufficiently intimate that the Cause of their wasting and spoiling by their Enemies was God's leaving them to their own Hearts Lusts and their walking in their own Counsells The like Speech we have in the New Testament in that Sermon which was made by S. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra when to take them off from their intention of sacrificing to themselves they told them of the Evil of their doings and of the pernicious Consequence of their practices in sacrificing to them that were but Vanities and how that God in times past suffered all Nations to walk in their own Ways Which Passages do evince that the reason why both Jews and Gentiles were under Sin all the World were become guilty before God all had sinned and came short of the Glory of God Rom. 3.9 19 23. were under Wrath and Condemnation was because they were left to their own Counsells For in that case as it is Rom. 1.18 they held the Truth in Vnrighteousness vers 22. professing themselves wise they became fools Wherefore God also gave them up to Vncleanness through the Lusts of their own Hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves Who changed the Truth of God into a Lie and worshipped and served the Creature more then the Creatour who is blessed for ever Amen vers 24 25. For this cause God gave them up unto vile Affections And even as they did not like to retain God in their Knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to doe those things which are not convenient vers 26 28. which brought upon them the Judgment of God And to like purpose is that Prediction which is upon cogent reason conceived to be verified in the Roman Apostasie 2 Thess 2.10 11 12. Because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lie That they all might be damned who believed
not the Truth but had pleasure in Vnrighteousness And it is indeed just with God that they who forsake him should be forsaken by him which must of necessity be their Downfall for mens own Counsells are but as rotten Posts which if they be shaken the House will fall of it self All the Thoughts and Devices of man are but vain even the Wisedom of the world is Foolishness with God for it is written He taketh the wise in their own Craftiness and again The Lord knoweth the Thoughts of the wise that they are vain 1 Cor. 3.19 20. It is with Men as with Sheep that wander from their Pasture and Shepherd they are caught and made a Prey to Wolves and Foxes so those who leave God's Counsell and chuse their own Ways are easily beguiled and enslaved by Satan to their Destruction But which is the II. OBSERVATION It is the Safety of God's Servants that they are guided by his Counsell There is a twofold Counsell of God The first is that Counsell by which he guides himself of which the Apostle speaketh Ephes 1.11 that God worketh all things after the Counsell of his own Will and of which the Psalmist saith Psal 33.10 11. that The Lord bringeth the Counsell of the Heathen to nought he maketh the Devices of the people of none effect The Counsell of the Lord standeth for ever the Thoughts of his Heart to all generations And this Counsell of God is oft times contrary to Man's and clean different from Man's Imaginations For though there are many Devices in man's heart nevertheless the Counsell of the Lord that shall stand Prov. 19.21 Hereby he asserts his own Singularity Independency and Sovereign Dominion as Isa 46.9 10. Remember the former things of old for I am God and there is none else I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying My Counsell shall stand and I will doe all my Pleasure This is not that Counsell of God by which he guides his Servants to Glory this being the Secret which belongs onely to the Lord. But it is the Thing revealed which belongs to us that we may hear it and doe it it is this Counsell of God whereby he guides his people and brings them to Glory And though it be true that even this is a Secret in respect of the World the Great things of God's Law are strange things to them the Mystery of Godliness is so profound so confessedly great as that none of the Princes of the world knew it yea when it was in Christ opened it was the hidden Wisedom of God in a mystery containing such things as Eye had not seen nor Ear heard nor had entred into the Heart of man to conceive even the things which God hath prepared for them that love him Yet it was ordained by God before the world to our Glory and revealed to his people by his Spirit who have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that they might know the things which are freely given them of God as it is 1 Cor. 2.12 This Secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant This is not either an imaginary Light in every man conceived by deluded Quakers as sufficient to guide them to God nor is it any peculiar Enthusiasm such as Fanatick spirits have been deceived by nor any such Dreams and Apparitions as Friers and Monks have themselves been abused by and miss-led other persons in times of Ignorance nor any such vain Raptures or Conceits as those whereby men have been so lifted up as to despise others as Pygmies in Knowledge in respect of themselves or to fansie as if they were of God's Privy Councill But the Counsell of God by which he guides his Servants is his Word containing his Precepts his Promises and what-ever Revelations in Holy Scripture he hath delivered for our learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scripture might have hope especially the word of the Truth of the Gospell such as S. Paul meant Act. 20.20 21 24 26 27. when he said to the Ephesians that he kept nothing back that was profitable to them but testified to Jews and Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ the Gospell of the Grace of God so that he was pure from the bloud of all men in that he had not shunned to declare unto them the whole Counsell of God This is that Counsell of God which makes men wise unto Salvation or brings to Glory And with this Counsell of his he guides his Servants 1. By the Preaching of it in the Ministry of the Gospell of Christ which is the Power of God unto Salvation Rom. 1.16 2. By the Operation of his Spirit by which they with open face behold as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord and are changed into the same Image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 Hereby they have the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2.16 To which may be added such speciall Guidance as either by joynt or solitary Prayer Christian Conference Self-examinations particular Experiments secret Motions Illuminations and Warnings remarkable Providences God vouchsafes some of his Children in Temptations against fears of Persecution attempts of Corrupters apprehension of Divine Desertion against all such Scandalls and other Evils as become Precipices into which Souls are cast or Snares and Stumbling-blocks by which they are apt to be overthrown And by this Counsell of God their Feet are guided into the way of Peace and Safety and they after brought to Glory Which is my III. OBSERVATION That those whom God guides by his Counsell he doth at last bring to Glory The Glory which the Psalmist may here mean especially if David were the Penner of this Psalm is not unlikely to be the Glory which he expected in being made King of Israel it being probable that this Psalm was composed in the time of his Persecution under Saul during which he complained that his Enemies did live and were mighty and they that hated him wrongfully were many in number Psal 38.19 Yet no doubt he also had an eye to the Glory which he expected after this Life So Psalm 17. having prayed to the Lord vers 14 15. to deliver his Soul from the Wicked which were his Sword from the men of this world which had their portion in this Life whose bellies God filled with his hid treasures so as that they were full of Children and left the rest of their Substance to their Babes he declares his expectation to be of a higher kind vers 18. As for me I will behold thy face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness And this the phrase of receiving him to Glory after his guiding him by his Counsell doth most clearly intimate And indeed this is the thing which
that Wisedom excelleth Folly as far as Light excelleth Darkness The Wise man's eyes are in his head he avoideth many Dangers takes prosperous Courses by reason of his Prudence in discerning between things hurtfull and things helpfull to him for want of which the Fool walketh in Darkness stumbles often and falls into Pits and Precipices Yet as he saith vers 15 16. as it happeneth to the Fool so to the Wise as the Fool dieth so dieth the Wise Neither doth Wisedom in Sciences Arts Policy Cunning in Trading or any such Skill as men are most applauded for Civil or Military secure a man from Dangers without or Fears within common Calamities or particular Miseries Death or Damnation But the Wisedom that is from above whereby we know God's Will know the things of the Spirit of God which are freely given us of God arms us against Temptations Fear of Death and Judgment to come and comforts us in Tribulation It is that which is able to make us wise unto Salvation as the Holy Scriptures did Timothy It brings us to God as it comes from God Which leads us to the II. OBSERVATION That the Vnderstanding of God's Law and Will is the Gift of God and to be sought from him Every good and every perfect Gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights with whom is no Variableness neither shadow of turning And therefore if any lack Wisedom he is to ask it of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not James 1.5 17. Job after his inquiry Where shall Wisedom be found and where is the place of Vnderstanding resolves The Depth saith It is not in me and the Sea saith It is not in me Destruction and Death say We have heard the fame thereof with our ears God understandeth the way thereof and he knoweth the place thereof He declareth it prepareth it and searcheth it out Job 28.12 14 22 23 27. And indeed it is he onely that gives it and in such a measure as pleaseth him All Understanding is God's Gift he makes the wise and the foolish He can give Solomon Wisedom turn Achitophel's Counsel into Folly make foolish the Wisedom of the wise As they that trust to their own Wisedom lean to their own Vnderstanding do follow an Ignis fatuus that will lead them into Bogs and Precipices so they that seek Counsel of God Wisedom from him in all their Undertakings that fear themselves and work out their Salvation with fear and trembling are most prosperous It was Solomon 's Happiness that he asked Wisedom of God and it was his Unhappiness that he gave his Heart to injoy Pleasure and Mirth and so doted on his Wives that they turned away his Heart from God to set up Idol-service And therefore by Solomon 's Example we should beware of abusing our Knowledge by turning God's Grace into Wantonness and perverting our Understanding to the Service of our Lusts But which is the III. OBSERVATION When we understand God's Laws we should observe them The Observation of God's Law consisteth in two things 1. In Considering what it requires or makes known The word we translate keep signifies the Observance of a Watch-man who is intent on what he sees and attentive to what he hears And this should be the disposition and exercise of every one to whom God speaks I will hear what God the Lord will speak saith the Psalmist Psal 85.8 There is nothing more concerns a man then to have his Ear for God and his Eye on God All our Happiness is from him and therefore all our Thoughts should be towards him As a Servant that depends on his Master will have his eye on him and his ear open to him so should it be with us our Ear should hear and our Heart should consider what God speaks or acts The Blessed man's Delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate day and night Psal 1.2 And what-ever God does in the world especially towards us whereby he either answers our Prayers or rebukes us for our Sins either warns us of our evil Doings or encourages us in doing well should be observed by us for by so doing we shew we have an Heart to please God and cause him to take pleasure in us 2. In Doing of God's Law according to what we understand whether it be by departing from Evil or doing Good Vnto Man he said Behold the Fear of the Lord that is Wisedom and to depart from Evil that is Vnderstanding Job 28.28 As God's Precepts cannot be observed without learning them so are they not well learned unless they be observed Theology is a practical Science for Action as well as Speculation If ye know these things saith Christ happy are ye if ye doe them Joh. 13.17 Practice is the end of Knowledge and increase of Knowledge is the fruit of Practice If any man will doe the will of God he shall know of the Doctrine of Christ whether it be of God Joh. 7.17 A good Vnderstanding have all they that doe his Commandments Psal 111.10 Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doeth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven He that heareth these Sayings of mine and doeth them I will liken him to a wise man that built his house on a Rock And the Rain descended and the Flouds came and the Winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a Rock And every one that heareth these Sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened to a foolish man which built his house upon the Sand And the Rain descended and the Flouds came and the Winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it Matth. 7.21 24 25 26 27. That Servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes Luk. 12.47 To him that knoweth to doe good and doeth it not to him it is Sin James 4.17 Sin in a higher degree Majoris est Criminis Legem spernere quà m nescire said Salvian In Ignorance there is Sin in Contempt of God's Law in Stubbornness much more in Hypocrisie most of all Which brings us to our IV. OBSERVATION That God's Laws are to be kept by us with our whole Heart And indeed God's Law is not kept unless the Heart keep it as well as the Tongue His Service requires the Inward parts as well as the Outward Apply thine Heart to Instruction and thine Ears to the word of Knowledge My Son give me thy Heart and let thine Eyes observe my ways Prov. 23.12 26. The Mouth of the Righteous speaketh Wisedom and his Tongue talketh of Judgment The Law of his God is in his Heart none of his steps shall slide Psal 37.30 31. It is the Heart that is the Principle or Fountain of good or bad A good man out
Desire of all Nations and that he was the Person whom the Godly did delight in and expect for what Reason appears by the III. OBSERVATION That the Certainty of the coming of Christ's Day was the Spring of Joy the Basis of Comfort the Stay and Support of their Spirits to Believers of old in the days of their Pilgrimage on Earth For this we have the words of S. Peter Act. 2.25 26 30. That David being a Prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an Oath to him that of the fruit of his Loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his Throne spake concerning Christ that therefore did his Heart rejoyce and his Tongue was glad and his Flesh did rest in hope And Heb. 11.26 it is said that by Faith Moses esteemed the Reproach of Christ greater Riches then the Treasures in Egypt And of Simeon it is said that he waited for his coming in the Flesh as the Consolation of Israel and accordingly when he had seen him he took him up in his Arms and blessed God and said his Nunc dimittis Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation Luk. 2.25 28 29 30. And conformable to these was also the frame of Spirit in all the Holy Believers when he appeared in the Flesh As persons over-joyed they were in a Rapture of Comfort so as that they could not contain themselves but must break out into holy Hymns of Praise My Soul doth magnifie the Lord said his Mother and my Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour For he hath regarded the low estate of his Handmaiden And Blessed be the Lord God of Israel said Zacharias for he hath visited and redeemed his People and hath raised up an Horn of Salvation for us in the House of his Servant David When the Wise men of the East saw his Star they rejoyced with exceeding great Joy Matth. 2.10 And when the Angel had told the Shepherds that he brought them good Tidings of great Joy which should be to all People of the Birth of Christ in the City of David upon which there were with the Angel suddenly a multitude of the Heavenly Hoast praising God and saying Glory be to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Good will towards men the Shepherds in hast went to view Christ in the Manger and upon their Return glorified and praised God Hallelujahs were then the Exercise of all that knew of his Birth and so they were of all the Holy Patriarchs and Prophets when they did by Divine Revelation foresee and by Faith wait for his Coming And the same spirit of Joy shewed it self after in all those that saw his Day either with their bodily Eyes or by the Eye of Faith When Andrew finds Peter as over-joyed he tells him We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted the Christ When Philip finds Nathanael he is in the same tune We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth the Son of Joseph Joh. 1.41 45. And of succeeding Believers S. Peter saith 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory So that I may by an Induction of Particulars raising the Observation from the Hypothesis to the Thesis conclude universally That the Day of Christ is to all Believers the Spring of their Joy the Basis of their Comfort the Stay and Support of their Spirits in the days of their Pilgrimage upon Earth The Reasons whereof are common to all Believers Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to day and for ever Though the Mystery of the Gospell was not so clearly nor so fully revealed before as it was by the Apostles Preaching but from the beginning of the world was in a sort hid in God yet in no Age was there Salvation in any other none other Name under Heaven given among men whereby they must be saved He onely hath been the Way the Truth and the Life so that none come to the Father but by him Abel Enoch Noah Abraham Moses David and all the rest of the Holy Saints in foregoing Generations had Salvation by Faith in Christ as really as S. Peter and S. Paul or any of the Holy Martyrs and Confessours in the Catholick Church It is true the Knowledge of Christ was not so clearly revealed to the sons of men before his Coming in the Flesh as it was after when the Day-spring from on high visited us to give Light to them that sit in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death to guide our feet into the way of Peace And therefore John Baptist exceeded all the Prophets foregoing he being the man that could say Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World Yet the Apostles yea the least in the Kingdom of Heaven that can preach Christ Born Baptized Preaching Dying Rising Ascended into Heaven is greater then John the Baptist as having seen and heard that which many Prophets and Kings desired to hear and see but did not The Knowledge the Patriarchs had was Vespertine the Apostles and ours comparatively Meridian Besides before Christ's Ascension the Knowledge of him was not so amply revealed for though a few of the Gentiles found Christ yet the Way of Salvation was not prepared before the face of all People so as that Christ became a Light to lighten the Gentiles as well as to be the Glory of his people Israel But when S. Paul was made the Apostle of the Gentiles Christ was set to be a Light to the Gentiles that he might be for Salvation unto the ends of the Earth Act. 13.47 S. Peter was taught to call none common or unclean but to preach to the Gentiles as being those to whom also God had granted Repentance unto Lefe Act. 11.18 Whence the same way of Salvation was vouchsafed to Cornelius that was to Abraham Cornelius had his Faith imputed to him for Righteousness as well as Abraham God put no difference between them and us having purified their Hearts by Faith saith S. Peter Act. 15.9 He was the God not onely of the Jews but also of the Gentiles seeing it was one God which should justifie the Circumcision by Faith and Vncircumcision through Faith Rom. 3.29 30. And hence as Abraham rejoyced to see Christ's Day so did the Wise men of the East and in all that were made Holy Converts by the preaching of the Gospel there was the same Joy for the kind which was in Abraham all with the same Spirit of Faith glorified Christ though some with more enlarged Hearts then others In the Effects of this Joy Praising God Loving Christ and Adhering to him there is the same Mind in all the same Hope the same Expressions though not to the same degree in all In some Ages the Joy was more extensive then in others in