presence of God Isa 49.9 So that as the gift of Election so also of our vocation which is of God is without repentance Rom. 11.29 For whom he called them he also justified and glorified 8.30 III. A third Argument of Comfort against all the Scruples aforesaid Gods Covenant and Promises which are irrevocable irrefragable or invincible and unchangeable as the water of Noah c. Isa 54.6 7 to 11. Nay the mountains may be removed c. But the kindness of God and the Covenant of his peace shall never be removed from his people but he will have mercy upon them So Jer. 31.33 to 38. God doth covenant with his people to write his law in their hearts and to fill them with knowledge and to shew how unchangable he is in his Covenant and Promises He compares them with the ordinances of heaven So that as sure as the course which God hath established in nature for the constant motion and intercourse of the celestial Creatures the Sun Moon and Stars to give light by day and by night and for confining that vast body of the Sea to the place and limits assigned to it as sure I say as these things shall without interruption or intermission persist in their course unto the end of the world so sure is his Covenant with his people nor shall it be changed till the heavens above can be exactly measured or the foundation of the earth searched out by us men which can never be So unchangable is his Covenant with his people As for those words in the Covenant They shall no more teach every man his Neighbour c. It is not to be conceived as if they should have no need of teaching at all in those times or that the Office of Teachers should then cease as superfluous For while men live in this world they know but in part 1 Cor. 8.2 13.19 Nor can any be so perfect in knowledge or grace whilst they live here but that they may grow further Phil. 3.12 I have not yet attained c. 2 Pet. 3.18 And the Office of teaching is to continue to the end of the world Mat. 28.20 Ephes 4.11 12 13. But to pass by the different conceits and interpretations of many This form of speech may very well intimate the great measure of clear light that should in those times be revealed 2 Cor. 4.3 6. If our Gospel be hid c. For God who commanded the light to shine out darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ The great measure of knowledge that should by reason thereof abound Isa 11.9 As the waters cover the sea So Hab. 2.14 The clearness of understanding that many should be so possessed with as if taught by irradiation rather than by any means of instruction Cal. 1.12 I received not the Gospel of man c. but by the revelation of Jesus Christ The numerosity of knowing persons then above former times yea and amongst the meaner sort of people Acts 18.25 26. And thus much by the way for Explanation of that phrase in the Covenant Now as the Covenant of God is unchangeable to his people so for our constancy in cleaving to him wherein lieth all the doubt we have a most gracious promise Jer. 32.40 That as God will not turn away from us to do us good so he will put his fear into our hearts that we shall not depart from him whence conclude that when a people are really brought home to Christ they shall never fall off from him again Isa 59.20 21. The Redeemer shall come to Zion and unto them that turn from transgression c. Thus saith the Lord My spirit is upon thee and the words that I have put in thy mouth shall not depart c. from henceforth and for ever IV. Christs fulness and Al-sufficiency his Potency and Prevalency 1. In satisfaction For by him alone we have received the atonement Rom. 5.11 He only hath wrought reconciliation betwixt God and us Col. 1.20 He is our High Priest who once for all hath offered up one sacrifice for sins for ever by which one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctifi'd Heb. 10 10 11 12 14. 2. In supplication for all Believers and his prayers are prevalent and were never denyed See John 17. per totum and Vers 20. to 25. V. The Seal and earnest of the holy Spirit in our hearts 2 Cor. 1.22 that ratifieth in us his Vocation and Election by the grace of regeneration which is a Seal-signing or marking us for himself as 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal the Lord knoweth them that are his and let him that nameth the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ depart from iniquity This is the Lords seal and his Earnest is much to the same effect for as an Earnest is a pledge whereby we confirm a bargain or a piece of money whereby we assure the payment of the whole sum remaining Ap. So the Seal and Eearnest of our Regeneration and the renewing of Gods image within us is the pledge of our whole Inheritance and doth assure us more and more of the accomplishment of all Gods gracious promises towards us Ephes 1.13 14. And as a deed after sealing is unchangable and a Bargain after Earnest given is irreversible So is the Sealing and Earnest of Gods Spirit like the Laws of the Medes and Persians which altered not Dan. 6.8 unalterable For true Believers are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time at Christs appearance 1 Pet. 1.4 when we shall be made partakers of that inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us 1 Pet. 1.3 For when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory Col. 3.4 Thus the comfort of a true though weak Christian doth spring from our Election which is of God 1 Thes 1.4 Our Vocation which is heavenly Heb. 3.1 Gods Covenant and Promises which are unchangable Christs sulness and Al-sufficiency in satisfaction and supplication The Seal and Earnest of the holy Spirit in our hearts so that though it may so befal that as sometimes we our selves do not see our own safety yet others may when we cannot not and though Grace be but small and of slender growth in us yet if it be true it will receive a blessing from God and make way to eternal Glory The hinderances of our comfort shall be removed such as Acts 26.18 Darkness and the power of Satan c. from whom we are called Furtherance to duty is afforded Titus 2.11 12 13. For the Grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts c. looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who at his coming shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body c. Phil. 3.20 21. And thus doth he induct his servants into heavenly glory God will own and crown all his own works and graces in us to our everlasting felicity Amen Lord Jesus Thus I have done further speaking of the Apostles farewell but I trust you will never have done practising what this Scripture hath suggested and accordingly hath been taught unto you which will be of singular use to preserve you from Atheism Papism and Phanaticism and to direct you in the way that is truly Christian where you may walk and please God and abound in good till you may attain to glory which the good Lord grant unto us FINIS
nor an exquisite Image or picture perfected in one day but with many Reiterated strokes cuts or carvings So the old Adam in us is not so soon slain Nor the new man so soon made up to perfection in us I have done with the substantials of devout Prayers Now as to the Circumstances of Voyce Gesture Place Time Formes of prayer and Order briefly 1. For Voyce I say publick prayer must be Vocal for the Minister is the mouth of the people Psalm 116.18 1 Cor. 4. But private prayer need not be so alwayes as we do see in the Examples of Moses and Hannah Yet the Voice is often used to very good purpose even in private prayers though not to advertise God of any thing or before to whom desires are manifest Yet to excite our Devotion as Austin and to consecrate our tongues to the praise of God to which purpose they were made Jam. 3.9 To lend our tongues to the holy Ghost in praising God and to restrain the motion of our wandring minds But in all our prayers let us be sure that our hearts do lead the way in our Vocal expressions and petitions least that be objected againstus as Esiay 29.19 Mat. 15.8 For God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit leads us in prayer to God Tertullian Non orat clamor sed pectoris intimus ardor c. 2. Avoid Battologie which is more for ostentation then intention of mind short prayers are most effectual if from the heart 3. Groans Sighs and Tears have their use Fletus Deus citius audit quam preces For the Gesture of the body in prayer this hath been very various in the prayers of holy and devout men Nor doth the Scripture confine us by any certain Rule all Gesture being sanctified hereunto For we finde some kneeling upon their Knees in prayer with Solomon and David and Christ St. Stephen St. Peter St. Paul 1 Kings 8.54 2 Chron. 6.13 Dan. 6.10 Luke 23.41 Acts 7.60 Acts 9.40 See Psalm 95.6 O come let us c. Falling prostrate upon their faces with Elijah and our Saviour Christ 1 Kings 18.42 Mat. 26.30 Standing upright as Christ and the penitent Publican as well as the proud Pharisee John 11.41 Luke 18.13 See Mark 11.25 Sitting with Elijah and David 1 Kings 19.4 2 Sam. 7.18 Lying on bed with old Jacob David Hezekiah and all sick persons confined to the Bed Psalm 6.6 2 Kings 20.2 3. Lifting up their eyes with Confidence in God as Christ did Matth. 14.19 Mark 7.34 John 11.41 Not daring to look up but rather casting them down with smiting upon the breast out of the serious sense of sinnes as the Publican did Luke 18.13 Spreading abroad their hands with Moses Solomon and those of Judah and Jerusalem Exod. 9.29 1 Kings 8.22 54. 2 Chron. 6.13 29. Esay 1.15 Walking in the field or in flight from Enemies as Isaac and David from Sauls fury and Martyrs from cruel and bloody persecutors Gen. 24.63 2 Sam. 15.31 32. Jehosaphat riding in his Chariot in a Battel 2 Chron. 18.31 Yet although there by not a set-Rule prescribed in Scripture for the Gesture Yet Right Reason will teach us to use such Grave and Reverend Gestures as may best expresse our fear of God and excite and suit with our affections in several cases as to lift up our Eyes in hope of Gods mercie and cast them down in bewailing our sinnes c. that our Bodies may conform with our Minds In publick Assemblies let us conjoin with the Church and in private prayers use such gestures as the zeal of our souls doth suggest Such Gestures Quos ardor animi imperat Being ever mindful of St. Augustines Rule That what things are not against Faith nor good Manners and have something in them conducing to better Life wheresoever we find them we do not only not disallow of them but do commend and imitate them August III. For Place for private prayers All places are warranted for private prayers John 4.21 1 Tim. 2.8 I will that men pray every where lifting up holy hands c. But that place is fittest that is freest from distraction farthest from suspition of hypocrysie For publick prayers before the Law the Patriarchs found out places where they built Altars c. which were for the convenience of the place or upon some special manifestation of God Gen 8.20 and 13.18 and 28.16 17 18. Under the Law the Tabernacle the Temple both for the Ark of the Covenant and a Type of the Messias 1 King 8.48 Dan. 6.10 11. Besides they had many Synagogues for prayer in the cities of the Levites Under the Gospel Religion is not bound to a place For our Saviour prayed in the wilderness Mount in the Temple and Synagogues Peter on the house top Paul on the sea shore The primitive Christians in the Cemeteries under better Emperours holy Houses till driven out by persecution which Decius and Dioclesian did demolish and destroy Then sumptuous Temples were raised in and after Constantines time by divers Emperours and Bishops c. True it is that in After-times divers superstitions crept in but these being purged and removed we may make use of the places as they did in the time of Constantine c. make use of Temples abused to Idolatry when the Idols were cast out and the Idolatry purged away And such places and Sumptuous Fabricks we now make use of for Order and Decency and Conveniency not for the holiness of the place per se sed tantum relative as it is imployed and used in the worship and service of God IV. For Time Non adsemper Times have turns for several business are occasional or ordinary We are not tyed to any one set hour for private prayers 1. It is not for us to err with the Euchytae the Euchites that would only pray but contemned all other Ordinances He that will do nothing else but pray as they did shall pray nothing at all to purpose They might as well conclude eating alway from that place 2 Sam. 9.10 where David said of Mephibosheth He shall cat c. as so to pray contiinually 2. Nor with the worlding that can find a time for all things but for Prayer and Devotions can spare no time at all For Prayers as they are 1. Occasional 2. Ordinary as daily Prayer like the morning and evening sacrifice of old 3. Or Extraordinary in extraordinary times of danger and distress c. And in such cases eminent men have prayed three times a day as did David Psal 55.17 and Daniel Dan. 6.10 However it is for us Non segnescere not to be dull and slothful and negligent in prayer The Ingress and Entrance of the morning our refreshings at our meals and the close of the evening do all invite us to be mindful of this duty of Prayer 5. And lastly Touching forms of Prayer you must still distinguish betwixt private and publick 1. In private prayer it is impossible for any form to answer
Devil c. and so it is used in the Text. 4. Divine and so God himself is a Shield to the godly To protect them as Gen. 15.1 to Abraham Deut. 33.29 To Israel Psalm 3.3 and 84.9 11. To David and to all that walk uprightly 3. Of Faith This is the main grace the suctject of the Text here compared to a Shield Of which I shall speak at large as I handle the main Doctrine of this Verse 4. Wherewith ye shall be able to quench i.e. not only to repel and keep off but also to extinguish and utterly to destroy all their venemous power of hurting you 5. All the fiery darts that is all the Temptations of the Devil whereby he doth provoke us to sin against which we pray in the Lords Prayer And these are said to be fiery darts and destructive because if admitted once and allowed of they do easily kindle the heart to multitudes of sins which like links in a chain draw in one another successively and here we might observe by the way Doct. Satan hath his fiery darts to do us mischief with Quest If any do enquire what these fiery darts are I answer Answ Concupiscence and evil Lusts which do kindle the soul with Covetousness Ambition Self-seeking Revenge c. As also all Incentives to sin and dangerous temptations of incredulity distrust despair all which I may meet with in the main point and now pass them 6. Of the wicked or that wicked one i. e. of Satan and his instruments wicked men habits of sin corruption of heart c. These things premised and the Text thus explained it doth afford us Doct. Faith is a Christians Shield or Buckler to withstand repel and extinguish all the fiery darts and destructive temptations and seducements of the Devil Ergo we are commanded to resist him herewith and we have a promise of Conquest for he will flee if we give no place to him So also for the world This is the Victory c. and this we may the more easily be perswaded of if we consider 1. The promises of God made to Believers which are abundant 2. The Grace of Faith this Shield in it self which is evidence of our sonship union to Christ as the Anchor c. to the Root Foundation Head 3. That it justifieth us by possessing us of Christ of his Riches and Merits Rom. 3.28 and 5.1 as in marriage a woman possessing the mans means and here you are to consider what Justification is and how by faith we do obtain it Of which see my Notes at large on Rom. 13.11 only thus here Justification is an act of Gods imputing Christs Righteousness to a believing sinner absolving him from sin accepting him as righteous in Christ and as an Heir of Eternal life Bishop Downam de Just l. 2.1 Papists make Justification Justification and so confound Justification and Sanctification whereas the Hebrew Hitzdik and the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are verba forensia judicial words taken from Courts of Justice and do not signifie to make just but to absolve See Proverbs 17.15 Isa 5 23. Marzdik Rom. 3.24 26 28 30. By Faith in Christ only we are justified we exclude not God the Author nor the Holy Ghost and Ministers the Workers nor good Works the evidence of Justification But that as the matter nothing but Christ and his Righteousness which is the Object of Faith doth justifie Ergo we say Fides sola justificat oculus solus vidit as the only instruments to apprehend the Object but not Solitaria solo is joyn'd with the Predicat justificat solus sed non separatus ab anima cerebro c. 4. Faith gives Assurance Heb. 10.22 as to Job David Hezekiah Paul where yet note that the 1 Acts of Faith are 1. Direct 2. Reflect 2. Courts in which Pardon is sealed 1. In Heaven 2. In Conscience 3 Assurance is either of 1. Adherence 2. In Evidence 5 Faith sanctifieth and purifieth the heart Acts 15.9 Purifie c. Gal. 2.20 Christs lives in us Col. 2.12 Risen with Christ by faith An heavenly Conversation here is a good evidence of a heavenly condition hereafter as the Spirit put into upon Saul David Jehu were a good earnest of the future dignity of a Kingdom which befel them 6. And lastly Faith is an evidence of heaven and all good hoped for Heb. 11.1 Hab. 2.4 Ephes 2.8 Ye are saved 1 Pet. 1.9 Receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls Ap Now sum up all these together and apply them to the point then that Faith this Shield by which we have Son-ship Union with Christ Justification Assurance Sanctification and Salvation doth evidently conclude a full and final Conquest over all the fiery darts and destructive temptations of the wicked and so you may add them all as an Illustration of the Reason annexed in this Text-in the praise of this Faith drawn from the admirable and wonderful effects of the same viz. In quenching all the fiery darts Quest If any ask how these darts can be thus quenched I answer Answ By Faith I have interest into all the promises of God to Believers I am his Son I have Union with Christ am justified by his Righteousness have Assurance of his Favour am sanctified by his Grace and have evidence of heaven and final Salvation Now apply these to any Dart or Temptation and resist them with these and say to Satan c. Should I yield to be or do what thou suggest to defile and undo my self with wicked lustss forfeit all my honour and happiness for thy transitory pleasures profits and preferments And say in this case as the Lord Jesus our Saviour said to the Devil upon his great proffer of the power and glory of all the Kingdoms of the world Mat. 4.10 Luke 4.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abi abscede retro me Satana Arias Montan. Get thee hence depart avoid be gone I defie thee in such a case as this then draw the sword of the Spirit upon him and adjoyn Supplications and Prayer to God to defend thee and to subdue him under thy feet Ap. Thus resist and he will flee and thou shalt conquer Thus you see how you may improve this Shield of Faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked in every kind I have done with the proof of the point I do now descend to Use Uses of this point are of Reproof Examination and Comfort I. The first Use is of Reproof and Terrour to all that want this shield or neglect it either in defect or excess either by Unbelief or Presumption 1. Vnbelief is a sin against Faith in the way of defect and Vnbelievers are such as either know not the Word of God through ignorance and want of the means of Faith as Pagans Psalm 147.19 20. which yet excuseth them not but a tanto John 15.22 Or Obstinacy and Wilfulness against means as many Christians 2 Pet. 3.5 And this is the mother of Errours and