crying and tears c. how much more we who are involv'd in sin c. R. 7. Because the great price which hath been given to purchase and procure them no less than the precious bloud of Christ the precious life of Christ John 6. 51. and the bread that I will give is my flesh that I will give for the life of the world 1 Thes 5. 10. who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him the life of grace here and the life of glory hereafter Ephes 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his bloud the forgiveness of sins Math. 26. 28. This is my bloud which is shed for many for the remission of sins and Hebr. 9. 22. and without shedding of bloud is no remission So we read of being justified by his bloud and reconciled by Rom. 5. 9 10. 1 Pet. 3. 18. his death and of his suffering for our sins that he might bring us unto God And shall not we cry for what Jesus Christ was pleas'd todye shall not we earnestly beg for what he bled shall not we lay out our strength for what he laid down his life and lift up our voice for what he yeilded up the Ghost O how unworthy then should we shew our selves of them R. 8. Because this is all that the Lord requires of us for the obtaining of them that we should ask them seek them beg them intreat them and should not we do this to purpose earnestly and with all our might when he requires no more as Math. 7. 7. Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall he opened unto you v. 8. For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened So in Ezek. 36. when God had made there those exceeding great and precious promises of blessings and mercies more worth than many worlds as v. 25. that he would sprinkle clean water upon them c. and v. 26. give them a new heart and put within them a new spirit and take away the stony heart out of their flesh and give them an heart of flesh and v. 27. put his spirit within them which is more than many worlds without them and cause them to walk in his statutes and keep his judgments and do them and v. 28. and they should be his people and he their God c. Now after all hear what the Lord says v. 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquir'd of by the house of Israel to do it for them or be sought to and is this all and should not this be done earnestly Surely he that can't find in his heart to do this for such mercies deserves to go without them O consider God required a great deal more of his Son that we might partake of them What could he indeed require more he requires of him that he should come down John 6. 38. from Heaven to Earth from the Throne to the Footstool and become man be made flesh yea in the likeness of sinful flesh that though he was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God yet that he should make himself of no reputation and take upon him the form of a Servant and be made in the likeness of Philip. 5. 6 7 8. men and being found in fashion as a man should humble himself and become obedient unto death even the death of the Cross that he should lay down his life shed his precious bloud one drop of whose bloud is more worth than ten thousand thousand worlds and than all the bloud of all the men that ever lived upon the face of the Earth yea that he should be made a curse ☞ undergo his wrath make his very Soul an offering for sin and be for a while as it was forsaken of his Father and all this and infinitely more than can be conceived much less exprest that we might obtain such mercies yea and Jesus Christ willingly and readily obeyed his father in all these Hebr. 10. 7. Then said I lo I come to do thy will O God and I delight to do thy will and as the Father gave me Psalm 40. 8. commandment so I do though to do that did John 14 31. as it was amaze him and make his soul exceeding sorrowful even unto death and brought Mark 14. 33 34. Math. 26. 38. him into such an agony that his sweat was as it were great drops of bloud falling down to the Luke 22. 44. Math. 26. 39. and Mark 14. 35 36 39. ground So that as man he could not but recoile as it were and pray and that three times O my Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me that is this bitter passion but if it may not pass but I must drink it or otherwise such choice mercies such inestimable benefits cannot be procured for poor sinners but they must come swimming to them in my bloud and be purchas'd by my undergoing of thy wrath thy will be done seeing thou wilt have it so that I must undergo all this to procure them I am willing I am content rather than poor sinners should go without them I am willing to purchase them at any rate This now God requires of his Son that we might partake of these mercies and all this his Son obeyed him in but to us that we might obtain them he says onely ask seek knock and let me be enquired of by you and should not we do this and do it to purpose surely else it must needs argue fearful ingratitude and strange disingenuity and we deserve to go without them You know what Naaman's servant said to him 2 Kings 5. 13. My Father if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it how much rather then when he saith unto thee wash and be clean So what could God have said unto us do for such mercies more worth than many worlds but we should have been ready and willing to have done it how much more then when he says onely ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find and Rom 10. 13. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved and seek the Lord and ye shall live Amos 5. 6. But Jesus Christ dies that we may live 1 Thes 5. 9 10. and shall not we cry that we may live Was a malefactor condemned to dye and was there procured for him upon some great price paid by another a pardon of his Prince which he should have upon asking and begging O how importunately would he beg it and ask it When God said to David Seek ye my face O how readily does David's heart eccho back Psalm 27. 8. again thy face Lord will I seek Lord thy face thy favour makes heaven and may I have that for seeking for asking which Jesus Christ
Story converted of his Atheism so though repentance seem never so difficult at first to corrupt nature yet frequently occasioning your hearts that way might much help you if you would but be still haunting your hearts with what might further it as with precepts promises threatnings judgments mercies Law Gospel c. and never giving over 'till something comes of it for occasions are to be prest and urg'd to the utmost and throughly to be improv'd as it is said of those Jews I do but allude to it that they said unto Nehemiah and the Premenda est occâsio rest that were building ten times that is very often in all ways that ye passe to and again the Nehem. 4. 12. enemy will be upon you and thus still haunting them with warnings at length they looked about and set guards in every place And so deal with your hearts and warn them often again and again tell them O! if you do not repent the enemy will be upon you the wrath and curse of God will be upon you hardness of heart will be upon you all those judgments threatened will be upon you but if you repent the blessing and favour of God will be upon you grace and mercy and peace will be upon you all the good promised will be upon you yea God himself will dwell in you and his Angels will guard you and minister unto you c. and tell your hearts such and such things often yea never give over 'till you have brought it to some good issue Thus as others occasion their hearts sin-ward hell-ward vanity-ward world-ward so do you grace-ward heaven-ward repentanceward conversion-ward and so salvation-ward 7. Remember God of his promises and in your prayers plead and press and urge the same Lord hast thou not in thy Word of free grace made promises not only to grace but of grace and do Lord as thou hast said be as good as thy word O remember thy promise Thus turn promises into prayers as these and the like Turn you at my reproof behold I Prov. 1. 23. Is 44. 3. will pour out my Spirit unto you c. and I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and not onely so but floods upon the dry ground that is my Spirit upon barren and fruitless hearts that have neither saving knowledg nor are able to perform any good work I will pour my Spirit upon thy Is 35. 5 6 7. seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened c. and in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desart that is the Spirit shall be abundantly poured out upon all sorts even upon such as were as a wilderness and as a dry and barren heath And the parched ground shall become Ezek. 36. 25 26 27. a poole and the thirstly land springs of water in the habitation of Dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I clense you A new heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments Jer. 3. 19. and do them But I said how shall I put thee among the children and give thee a pleasant land c. that is being spoken of God after the manner of men I thus thought and considered with my self how shall I put thee among the children c. How shall I make such as you my people who are so vile and unworthy and adopt you to be my children and so make you heirs of that heavenly and glorious Canaan of which the other was but a type Now to this God himself makes answer within himself and the more to express the greatness of his mercy and the riches of his free grace against their unworthiness he says Thou shalt call me my father and shalt not turn away from me that is I will by my Spirit being a Spirit of conversion and adoption cause thee to return and to cry unto me in faith Abba father and thou shalt not depart from me Now remember God of these and the like promises and press them and plead them and urge them turn them into prayers 'till God turn them into performances So I might mention others I will heal their back-sliding I will love them freely and they shall return to me with their whole heart and Hos 14. 4. Jer. 24. 7. Psalm 22. 27. all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord c. And because knowledg and understanding is as I said initial and so influential as to conversion urge the promises thereof as these and the like For the earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters Is 11. 9. cover the Sea and They shall all know me from Jer. 31. 34. the least of them to the greatest c. and they shall be all taught of God Is 54. 13. Joh. 6. 45. c. 8. Follow after faith labour to believe for Non rectè possit agere poenitentiam nsi qui speraverit indulgentiam true kindly Evangelical repentance and saving conversion does as I said arise and flow from faith and is an happy effect and fruit thereof and faith at least in some measure must go before it as the ground and root thereof A true repenting sinner is a believing sinner that hath had some apprehensions and perswasions of the mercy of God in Christ and of forgiveness of sin in and through him to such as are penitent And without the root how should you partake of the fruit or without the cause of the effect it is said A great number believed and turned to Acts 11. 21. the Lord if ever we would turn to the Lord indeed we must first believe which should make us therefore the more to study and endeavour by all possible ways and means to obtain that precious grace of faith as the Apostle Peter calls 2 Pet. 1. 1. it precious indeed for what is there that is precious but faith brings us to obtain it and this we must in some measure have if ever we repent and turn to God to purpose for an unbelieving Conversio ad Deum complectitur praecipuè fidem quâ homo in solo vero Deo fiduciam collocat c. Winckelm heart is ever an hard evil and impenitent heart Paul speaking of such as live godly and so are true converts he speaks of them as being in Christ Jesus that is interested in him united to him by faith as branches into the Vine members to the head and such must all be that Joh. 15. 5. live godly for
the joy and comfort of them more than countervail the other there being no comparison between them but the one exceedingly transcending the other As the sufferings of this present Rom. 8. 18. time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed hereafter so neither are they to be compared with spiritual mercies here as for God to turn us again to himself to pardon our sins to cause his face to shine to vouchsafe us his favour and his comforts and consolations What sufferings or afflictions will not these comfort and support under or what other wants will they not more than countervail what are the world's frowns to God's smiles the world's troubles to God's peace the world's sorrows to God's joyes the world's afflictions to God's consolations the world's pressures to the pleasures of God's presence or its burdens to the rest which that affords what are its Bitters to God's Sweets its Gall and Wormwood to the Wine of his Love Cant. 1. 2. Let him kiss me with the Kisses of his mouth for thy love is better than wine and v. 4. we will remember thy love more than wine yea 't is better than life and in it even in death it self there is life And hence is it that the Apostle speaks what is a Paradox to the men of the world troubled but not distressed as sorrowful yet always rejoycing as having nothing and yet possessing all things as dying and yet behold we live live in the light of God's countenance in his sight as Hosea 6. 2. and we shall live in his sight where indeed only the Soul truly lives and there it may live even in death and have light arise to it even in darkness and see light in the greatest obscurity and this light I mean the light of God's countenance it giveth Songs even in the night as it did to Paul and Silas when thrust into the inner prison and their feet made fast in the Stocks yet God's gracious presence did so cheer their spirits and put such joy into their hearts that even at midnight they brake forth in praises to God Acts 16. 25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God and the prisoners heard them they did not onely pray but sing prayses and sung so loud that others heard them the prisoners heard them they were awaken'd by them And what did they think of them surely they thought they were not well in their wits to sing at such a time and in such a place and in such a condition who having been beaten and many stripes laid upon them were cast into prison yea thrust into the inner prison and their feet made fast in the stocks and yet now to sing O if God cause but his face to shine if he lift but up the light of his countenance it will make a man sing at any time in any place in any condition it will turn a prison into a Pallace and a dungeon into a Paradise This made David to have his Psalms yea Michtams i. his golden Psalms or as the Dutch render it his golden Jewels Aureum ornamentum aut insigne exputissimo auro factum it signifies what is made of the best and finest gold so called because of their singular preciousness and excellency in the saddest places and in the saddest outward condition as when the Philistins took him in Gath when he fled from Saul in the Cave when Saul sent and they watcht the house to kill him c. See Psalm 56 57 59 the Titles Moses Psalm 90. 14. prays O satisfie us early with thy mercy i. e. with thy loving kindness vouchsafe us thy favour that we may rejoyce and be glad all our dayes This is enough to make the people of God rejoice and be glad all their dayes be they never so dark and gloomy evil and perillous As we have received mercy sayes the Apostle we faint not 2 Cor. 4. 1. The Lord tels Moses Exod. 33. 14. My presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest Though Moses was to go through a wearisome wilderness and amidst a wearisom people yet the Lord's presence should give him rest We may go any where with him he will be an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isa 32. 2. Vse 1. Of Reproof to those who when miseries and calamities are upon themselves or the Nation look after the removal of them but not after Spiritual mereies they are very earnest and sollicitous that God would take away their ourward plagues remove his judgments but not that God would take away their sins and turn them again to himself and cause his face to shine But so God will but do the other free them of their miseries let the latter do what they will Psalm 4. 6. There be many that say who will shew us any good i. e. any outward good how to compasse any earthly worldly gain or advantage O that we might have peace and plenty or how shall we once get out of these troubles and afflictions but few say with David lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us and then all shall be well if thou do but this Many when they are in pain and sick and weak they cry out indeed but for what for ease and health and recovery not that they may be turned from their sins and recover God's favour as Pharaoh he calls to have other plagues taken away but never begs to have the plague of his own heart taken away which was the greatest of all and far worse than all the other but this is the voice onely of nature and argues a graceless heart and that which the Lord as I said complains of Hos 6. 14. Vse 2. Of Exhortation Then when miseries and calamities do abide us let this be our Prayer let us with the Church and people of God here more especially and most earnestly beg and implore spiritual mercies that God would turn us again and cause his face to shine lift up upon us the light of his countenance vouchsafe us his grace and favour bless us in turning us from our iniquities let us be importunate for these ask them again and again and whatever outward evils or distresses may abide us these as you have heard will not only comfort and support us under them but more than countervail them When he giveth quietness who then can make trouble c if God be for us who can be against us Rom. 8. 31. You know what Philip said to our Saviour John 14. 8. Lord shew us the father and it sufficeth us So let but the Father shew us himself shine on us with his face vouchsafe us his favour and it sufficeth As the Lord said unto Paul and says to all his people 2 Corinth 12. 9. my grace is sufficient for thee though then Paul was in
the world especially if they be of consequence and must there onely be delays here were a mans house on fire would he delay to seek to quench it or was his estate much more his life in danger to be lost would he delay to seek to save it But is not the loss of the Soul ten thousand times sadder If ever you mean to turn from your sins to the Lord are there not the same reasons for it now as hereafter Is not sin evil bitter and destructive now as well as afterward and does it not now dishonour God thwart oppose provoke offend burden yea weary him and debase defile and wrong your own souls and threaten your ruine and hinder your own happiness comfort and peace separate between you and Is 59. 2. God the chief good and his favour which is better than life and is not God you should turn to as full lovely desireable soveraign excellent and all-sufficient a Good now as he will be afterward or what other reasons are there for turning from your sins to God that are not now and the reasons being the same now as hereafter why should you defer and go on still to adde further to your own shame trouble and grief O how much more peace and comfort Castigemus igitur mores moras nostras might sinners have did they sooner break off from their sins and turn to God and were they but betimes converted and brought home to him in their younger days how much more honour might they bring to him and how much more service might they do for him which they are not capable of till they come to be converted for till then they are in the flesh that is in Rom. 8. 8. the state of corrupt nature and so cannot please God nor serve nor honour him and yet what is our end or what were we made for but this or what is it worth the while to live for but in reference to this which makes our life to be life indeed without which it is no better than death that being the very end and business of our living and though we be we do not properly Fuit non vixit live 'till then For she that liveth in pleasure 1 Tim. 5. 6. is dead while she liveth And what an honour is it to please honour and serve the great God which is the honour of Angels and of those blessed Heroes above Thousand thousands Dan. 7. 10. Rev. 22. 3. ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him c. And his servants shall serve him c. But 'till you are turned again you neither do nor can serve God but serve sin Satan your lusts instead of the Lord of life and glory And who would not hasten out of such an estate O how good is it to bear the yoke in our youth and feel the bitterness of sin and abandon it betimes and not defer what is so infinitely for our own happiness and good and yet this is that people are exceeding prone unto still to put off and procrastinate their turning to God They deny not but it is to be done and they say they purpose and resolve to do it but not yet all in good time and so never set upon it and this is occasioned partly from their sloath and idleness partly from their excessive love of their lusts and sins and vanities as also from their hearts being so much glued to the world and the cares and incumbrances they have about the same and their still continuing in a prosperous estate in health and strength and not being in those troubles as Psal 73. 5. Jer. 22. 21. others are I spake to thee in thy prosperity but thou saidst I will not hear c. But what contempt do these delays cast upon God and his favour and so upon the soul and upon heaven and salvation as if these were not worthy the minding and regarding presently But the vain things of the world which cannot profit nor deliver were to be preferred before them and therefore the more to put you upon speed and expedition herein I shall leave with you these following considerations 1. Consider Repentance is not in your power nor at your command to repent when you please no it is God that gives it and the Spirit that works it which is a free agent and Qui poenitentiae indulgentiam promisit secure in peccatis pergenti poenitentiam non promittit works when and where he pleases and is not at thy beck and God who promises pardon to such as repent does not promise repentance to the secure thou mayest have time but want power have space but want grace to repent If God peradventure will give them repentance 2 Tim. 2. 25. c. and therefore put it not off 2. It is a great work even the work of thy whole man and thy whole life and thy whole strength and will you still put it off when as so much of thy time and life and strength is spent already does it need all and shall it yet have less 3. The longer it is deferr'd the greater it will be It may be as yet thou hast some meltings some relentings but sin the longer it is liv'd in the more it hardens and the hardlier it is left lest any of you be heardened through the deceitfulness Heb. 3. 13. of sin There is an inbred natural hardness Ezek. 36. 26. that is in all by nature we have all stony hearts but sinners by going on still in sin and refusing to turn adde acquired hardness and the heart becomes more stony and less capable of the impressions of God's Spirit and so the sinners condition less hopeful continuance in sin taking away the sense and feeling of it and becomes as a milstone about the sinners neck He Qui non est hodie cras minùs aptus erit that is not fit to repent and turn to God to day will be more unfit to morrow and the less time he will have to do it in and the less strength to do it with there will be one day more to repent of and one day less to repent in The further any go on in the ways of sin the further off still they go from God and so their turning again is the more difficult and therefore it is good to stop betimes else it will be the harder task and seldom is it seen that such as have been long in travel from God in the ways of sin do bethink themselves of returning Can the Jer. 13. 23. Principiis obsta c. Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Wounds are presently to be healed else their cure will be harder and how much easier might this work be would sinners but set upon it betimes 4. The time is short It is as the Apostle expresses 1 Cor. 7.
step further in those dangerous ways in which while you go on hell is gaping for you and utter destruction is ready to come upon you yea and which unless you turn from you cannot escape O seek ye the Lord while he Is 55. 6. may be found and call ye upon him while he is near and Give glory to the Lord before he Jer. 13 16. 2 Cor. 6. 2. cause darkness c. Behold now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation Remember the watchman's answer when he was enquired of as concerning the night Watchman what of the night watchman what of the night The Is 21. 11 12. watchman said the morning cometh and also the night yea it hastens and it will quickly come upon you and therefore says he if ye will enquire enquire ye return come that is do it speedily least the night surprize you O to day and while it is called to day as the holy Ghost saith hearken to his voice else know if you shall still despise the grace and mercy of God inviting you to repent you will be sure to find and feel too his power in punishing you for refusing to repent Thus though you cannot convert your selves nor of your selves turn again to God yet there are several things you see which you may yea and ought for to do as in reference to this turn and which if you do not do you will be found wholly without excuse and self-destroyers and your bloud will be upon your own heads because you did not do what you might For you must not think God should do all and you do nothing hence in Scripture conversion is spoken of not onely as Acts 11. 18. 2 Tim. 2. 25. c. God's work as most truly and properly it is but in some sense as man's he really indeavouring it and making use of all ways and means Ezek. 33. 18. Zach 1. 3. c. prescribed to further it not that we can turn our selves but that we to our utmost use the best means and take the most effectual course for to do that in some sense we may be said to do And thus though the work of conversion be properly God's work yet as one well observes it is sometimes ascribed to our selves that we should not be negligent sometimes to Ministers and instruments to shew we must not contemn their help and sometimes to God that we may not be self-confident or unthankful And the great reason indeed why sinners do not repent nor turn from their sins to God is not because they cannot though they cannot but because they will not for they think they can and yet will not nay they will not try whither they can or no nor use the power which God hath given them they can do more than they do but will not do it they are slothful and negligent and will not set themselves to use all the means they might and besides they are content with their Cannots and therefore they may thank themselves that they perish and do not repent nor turn to God But for farther satisfaction as to this great point I shall refer the Reader to that excellent Tract of Mr. William Fenner called Wilful impenitency the greatest self-murder and shall here answer an objection that may arise in our way viz. this that if we cannot convert our selves nor turn again to the Lord why are we then so often called upon and exhorted to this as if it was in our power To this I answer 1. It is true indeed we cannot turn our selves no we may as soon create a world as do it the work of Conversion is a greater work than the work of Creation and man that cannot so much as make one hair of his head black or white nor adde one cubit to his stature nor do the less how should he do the greater And therefore for any to interpret those Texts that call upon man to turn to God as if it was in man's power to convert himself as the Papists Arminians and some others do it is to misinterpret and pervert the true sense and meaning of them But 2. though we cannot convert our selves yet that we are so often exhorted and called upon to do that which is not in our power to do viz. to turn to God it is not in vain For 1. these mind us and shew us our duty not our ability what we are and ought to do A praecepto ad posse non valet consequentia sed docet quid fieri debeat c. not what we are able to do what must be done not what we can do they are a measure not of our power but point out to us our duty which we once had ability to but wilfully depriv'd our selves of but that does not hinder but that God may yet require his own 2. They are to convince us of our impotency Si in manu nostra positum esset quicquid Deus requirit supervacua esset gratia Spiritûs sancti and inability that so in and under the sense thereof we might be humbled and laid low and look out for ability and help elsewhere which had we of our selves the grace of the Spirit would be in vain and of no use 3. Though we cannot convert our selves yet these exhortations calls and commands are not in vain for God many times works in them and by them and makes them effectual as to the work as to turn sinners again they are ways and instruments in and by which the Spirit putteth forth his power and comes into the heart As when God at first said Let there be light there was light and when Christ said to Lazarus come forth he came forth thus God many times by his Spirit and grace and the secret virtue and power thereof is pleased so effectually to operate in and by those means as to make them effectual as to that great work so that while a man speaks to the ear he many times speaks to the heart and does so accompany what is spoken with his own power as to make it the power of God to conversion and salvation as while Peter spake the holy Ghost Acts 10. 44. 16. 14. fell on them which heard the word and as Paul was preaching and Lydia hearing the Lord opened her heart Thus such as are dead attending on the means of life come to be quickened and live according to that Hear and your Is 55. 3. soul shall live c. and God in speaking does at once both direct what to do as also inable for to do it calls and converts counsels and makes to obey and comply c. says turn and he turns and be converted and converts 4. Though we cannot convert our selves yet Deus jubet quae non possumus ut noverimus quid ab eo petere debeamus Aug. there are several things as you have heard that we may do as in reference to conversion for God does not exhort
THE Sole and Soveraign Way OF ENGLAND'S being saved Humbly proposed By R. P. Minister of the Gospel O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou may'st be saved how long shall thy vain thoughts lodg within thee Jer. 4. 14. In his favour is life Psal 30. 5. Poenitentia amara est quidem ad tolerandum saluberrima autem ad convalescendum Bern in Serm. de verbis Sapient Ut malorum omnium haec causa est quod Deus offensus faciem abscondit ita plena salus ab unico favore ejusdem est expectanda Moller LONDON Printed by W. G. and are to be sold by J. Hancock at the three Bibles in Popes-head Alley N. Ponder at the Peacock in Chancery-lane and W. Adderton at the three Falcons in Duck-lane 1671. TO The Right Worshipful Sir THOMAS ALSTON Baronet Much Honoured SIR THE Treatise here ensuing being calculated not onely for the weal of greater Communities as Nations Cities Towns but also of lesser Societies as Families yea and particular persons In tenders of my service to your Self and your so worthily Honoured Lady I make bold here what it is to present it and the rather because it pleases the Lord by a distemper which so often renews its onsets upon you to give you so frequent memento's of that Turn which Moses declares to be the inevitable fate of all indefinitely Thou turnest man to destruction and sayest Psal 90. 3. return ye children of men Thus we run here a short round and soon come to our races end fetch but a turn as it Comparat oursum vitae nostrae gyro c. Calv. in loc were and then return back again Now may the Lord be pleas'd so to sanctifie those frequent memento's of your bodies turn to destruction as to advance more and more thereby that happy turn of conversion here treated of and so thereby bring you more and more under the shines of his face and comfortable displayes and refreshing beams of his favour I have often thought and sometimes upon occasion declar'd that however things appear to common sense yet certainly that is best for us here that state that condition those dispensations be they what they will though never so afflicting that are most effectual and have the fairest and most essential influence as to the advancing of our spiritual good here and our eternal happiness hereafter that is best for us in our way and where we take up onely for a while that doth advantage us most at our journeys end and where we must stay and abide by it for ever that not which pleases us best for a moment but profits us most for ever for things are here and are so to be counted of here as they relate to eternity and as to what is spiritual and everlasting which being the main and chief and that which is of greatest concern is in every thing to be the rule of the rest And because afflictions many times are most conducing here hence the Lord is pleas'd often to afflict those most here which he intends most good to hereafter And truly let our present condition be what it will here if the Lord does but please to mould it for our eternal weal hereafter it is an act of infinite mercy Lord lance here sear Domine hîc ure hîc seca modâ— in aeternum parcas here cry'd Austin so thou spare but hereafter so truly it matters not much what God does with us here so he spare but hereafter And by what he does with us or to us here does but the more fit us and the better mould us for Feliciter infelices infeliciter felices himself and glory hereafter How many are happy in being seemingly miserable while others are miserable in being seemingly happy because their seeming happiness hinders their real for having Psal 55. 19. no changes therefore they fear not God so that to live still in prosperity as is said of Nabal and not to experience those 1 Sam. 25. 6. changes as others do nor be in those troubles as others are as is said of the foolish Psal 75. 5. and the wicked is no such desireable state as many deem but dangerous It is said of our Edward the fourth Never lived Prince whom adversity more hardened Difficile est in honore esse sine tumore in praelatione sine elatione in dignitate sine vanitate Bern. to action nor prosperity softened to voluptuousness Edward the sixth was wont to say No danger to the godly unless by wealth prosperity And we see David himself though a man after God's own Psal 30. 5. heart yet in his prosperity he grew secure It is said of Moab He hath been Jer. 48. 11. at ease from his youth and he hath settled on his lees and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel neither hath he gone into captivity that is he hath not been hurried up and down from place to place Non immutavit habitationem non suit â—edibus suis pulsus c. nullam adversitatem expertus est Theodoret. iâ—s locum as Israel was c. and what follows therefore his tast remained in him and his sent is not changed his pride impiety and impurity still continued for it is said he magnified himself against the Lord and we have heard of the pride of â— 26. 29. Moab c. Even as Wines not being drawn off their lees and put into other vessels are not meliorated but retain their first tast and sent So we read of others who being settled on their lees Zeph. 1. 12. and not being emptied from vessel to vessel they say in their hearts The Lord will not do good neither will he do evill that is they grew stark Atheists boldly scorn God and men deny God's providence and make as if he was a very Idol and regarded not nor took notice of the affairs of men and others because God kept silence and did not punish them Ps 50. 21. they thought God such a one as themselves Now certainly it was better our lives were made up of nothing but changes than to come to such a pass and not to have our souls blest and enrich'd with so great a good as the fear of God which is said to be the treasure of Kings and Is 33. 6. which the Lord hath declar'd to man from heaven to be his wisdom and which Job 28. 28. issuing forth into obedience to God's commandements Solomon the wisest King that ever was and one inspir'd by God hath concluded and left upon record Eccles 12. 13. to be the whole and all of man Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia hoc omnis homo vel hoc omne homo est Fear God and keep his commandements for this is the whole duty of man It is in the Hebrew onely this all man that is as it may be rendered this is all
an ill case there was given to him a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet him c. v. 7. yet says the Lord to him my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness Let our condition be what it will let it seem never so sad let our tryals and afflictions be never so many and great yet God's grace i. e. his favour his accepting grace is sufficient to comfort us yea and his sanctifying strengthning and supporting grace to uphold us When says David I said my foot slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my Soul Psalm 94. 18 19. The Lord alone and his favour is a full compleat and more than sufficient counter-comfort to all troubles and calamities whatsoever and the light of his countenance does not onely put more joy and gladness into their hearts upon whom it is lift up than in the time when others Corn and Wine increases but it puts more joy than the greatest decrease of them can occasion sorrow Habuk. 3. 17 18. Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the Vines c. yet I will rejoyce in the Lord c. yea it alters the very nature of the evils themselves that they are not what they were that sickness is not sickness as it were hence it is said Is 33. 24. And the Inhabitants shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity And hence Matth. 9. 2. our Saviour there bids the man sick of the Palsie be of good cheer his sins being forgiven though his sickness was not yet cured and so had he cause had it never been cured In six yea in seven troubles this keeps all evil from touching us Job 5. 19. And therefore how earnestly how importunately at all times but more especially in evil times should we implore these mercies CHAP. IV. The second Doctrine observable as more general LOoking upon these words as being the burden of the Psalm and that which the Church and people of God do so often and earnestly beg and intreat again and again no less than three times v. 3 7 19 in this one Psalm thence we observe Doct. 2. Spiritual blessings special Ter repetitur haec precatio ut fieri solet quando animus in invocatione ardet Strigelius peculiar mercies are to be prayed for with all earnestness not onely simply to be asked to be sought but in such a way and after such a manner viz. frequently and fervently often and earnestly again and again with ardency and ut most importunity For thus the Church and people of God seek them here for God to turn them again and cause his face to shine these were Spiritual blessings choice special and peculiar mercies Soul-benefits and they are earnest and importunate for them they beg them once and again and again as if they would not be denied them and as if they were resolv'd not to be put off without them But what are we to understand by Spiritual blessings by special peculiar mercies By these we are to understand in a word such as these here specified and such like as for God to turn us from our sins to himself to take away our iniquities and receive us graciously for him to be our God and for us to be his people and vouchsafe us his favour Spirit grace his accepting grace and his sanctifying and renewing grace pardon of sin and power against sin the blessings of the Covenant the sure mercies of David such as we find recorded in these and the like places Jer. 31. 33 34. 32. 38 39 40. Ezek. 36. 25 26 27 c. Micah 7. 19. c. And such blessings such mercies are thus to be prayed for thus to be sought R. 1. Because God thus commands us to seek them and unless we thus seek them we do not seek them as he enjoyns Psal 105. 4. Seek the Lord and his strength seek his face evermore Math. 6. 33. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness c. first not onely in regard of order of time but earnestness of endevours we are commanded to seek these not onely before other things but more than other things As these must be first so chief and most in our pursuits So Joh 6. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for the meat which endureth to everlasting life which the son of man shall give unto you for him hath God the father sealed not that we are forbidden to labour for things necessary to this life for that we are and ought to do but the meaning is that we must mainly and chiefly labour for that meat that endures to everlasting life that is for Christ and his benefits those things appointed by God for refreshing and sustaining the soul to eternity So that this is to be understood comparatively rather for the meat c. preferring the one before the other as when it 's said Matth. 9. 13. I will have mercy and not sacrifice he excludes not sacrifice but preferreth mercy So Luke 11. 9. And I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you By these expressions Christ enjoyns earnestness and perseverance in prayer for it is not a bare simple repetition of the same thing but a gradation and it is meant of things necessary to salvation and the whole scope of the place is to stir up to earnestness Ask and Scopus est oportere nos constanter orare cum ardore do not onely ask but seek yea and not onely seek but knock Thus when the Lord prescribes unto Aaron and his Sons to bless the children of Israel which was by supplicating his face and favour this they were to implore again and again as in that form Numbers 6. 25. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee v. 26. The Lord lift up his Countenance upon thee and give thee peace R. 2. Because others have thus sought them even with all earnestness as the Church and people of God here and so others elsewhere The Prophet David tels us Psalm 119. 58. he intreated the favour of God but how with his whole heart I intreated thy favour with my whole heart So how often in the same Psalm does he beg of God to quicken him and to teach him his statutes nine or ten times the one and seven or eight times the other So how importunate is he for pardon Psalm 51. 6. according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my trnsgressions v. 2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity clense me from my sin v. 7. Purge me with hysop and I shall be clean wash me c. v. 9. Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities c. And how importunate was Jacob for the
being nothing that we are more concern'd in than this and though we cannot turn our selves yet let 's set upon it and earnestly beg of God to do it as these here do Turn us again c. Doctr. 2. Such as are already turn'd to God and brought home to him are yet very prone to turn again aside from him And this is observable from the words as they refer to those who had been turn'd to God but had in some measure declin'd and made defection and therefore they pray that God would turn them again which shews that this is that which the people of God themselves are very subject to Hos 11. 7. My people are bent to backsliding from me c. Exod. 32. 8. They have turned aside quickly out of the way I have Ps 119. 176. gone astray says David like a lost sheep seek thy servant c. Indeed such as are truly and really turn'd again to God and brought home to him such never do nor can totally nor finally fall away from him because his seed remains in them 1 Joh. 3. 9. and he hath by an everlasting covenant which he hath made with them undertaken for the contrary I will put my fear in their hearts that Jer. 32. 40. they shall not depart from me c. But they may in some measure and for a season they may fall foully though not finally partially though not totally It is that they are prone and of themselves inclin'd to as appears 1. From our own sad experience Have we not all too too sad experience of this that we have all revolting hearts that though we are through grace turn'd to God and brought home to him yet we are very ready to decline again 2. It appears from the examples of some of the most eminent of Saints as David a man after God's own heart Solomon Peter and others 3. From those many caveats and admonitions in Scripture given to Psal 85. 8. the contrary I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people and to his Saints but let them not turn again to Heb. 3. 12. folly Take heed brethren lest there be in any of 4. 14. 10. 23. you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God let us hold fast our profession c. Ye therefore beloved seeing ye know these 2 Pet. 3 17. things before beware lest ye also being led away with the errour of the wicked fall from your own stedfastness And how often does our Saviour himself call upon his Disciples to take heed and so his Apostles after him call upon others but whence is it it is 1. from the remainers of inbred corruption and a deceitful heart yet within and 2. from a subtle Devil without and 3. an enticing deceitful world James 1. 14. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his Is 44. 20. Jer. 17. 9. 2 Cor. 6. 11. Eph. 6 11. own lusts and enticed A deceived heart hath turned him aside and the heart is deceitful above all things c. And the Devil is all for turning us aside and perverting our wayes he is full of his wiles and devices to this purpose And 4. the world either by its smiles or its frowns is furthering of this 2 Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world c. Vse 1. Let us then bewail and be exceedingly humbled in the sight and sense of this O that there should be yet such a principle within us of Apostacy from God and such a God the living God and our God and father in Jesus Christ O how should we bewail this 2. Let us not then be high-minded but fear with a godly fear oppos'd to pride as the Apostle exhorts Rom. 11. 20. Well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith be not high minded but fear For thou also art inclined to unbelief and it is not for any worth nor from any strength of thy own that thou standest and therefore be not high minded this is a notable help against Apostacy for 1. Yn honore qui demissus est non ideo indignum se honore praebet quia ea ratio solaest alendorum honorum honore mediocriter uti temperanter omnia nihil fastuosè agere God hath a great deal of respect for such Ps 138. 6. 2. Dwels with such Isaiah 57. 15. 3. Guides such Ps 25. 9. 4. Saves such Job 22. 29. 5. Hears such Psalm 10. 17. and 6. Gives grace to such more grace 1 Pet. 5. 5. Prov. 3. 34. A man's pride says Solomon shall bring him low but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit Prov. 29. 23. that is that which is his grace and honour and ornament shall uphold him The Dutch read it the humble in spirit shall hold honour fast that is he shall surely get and retain it in the sight of God and good Nonvult timere nos eo timore qui contrarius fidei sed piae sollicitudinis nos ad perseverantiam ad preces ad reverentiam Dei stimulante Tossan men and he is likeliest to hold God fast and Religion fast and his profession fast and his ways fast And let us therefore fear says the Apostle Hebr. 4. 1. lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it with a fear of care not of diffidence of caution not of vexation with a fear oppos'd to presumption high-mindedness and hardness of heart not to consolation and courage of heart and this is a holy and blessed fear indeed and happy is the man that thus feareth alway but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief Prov. 28. 14. Vse 3. Let us make that use hereof that the Apostle puts us upon Gal. 6. 1. Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiriritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness why considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Use 4. Being so prone and ready to turn again aside from God let us so much the more labour and endeavour to keep with him and to help us herein let me propound these five or six things As 1. let us press upon our hearts these following considerations 1. The neer and dear relation that we stand in to God I mean of us as are true believers indeed and let that prevail with us the more to keep with him and not to turn away from him why because he is our God and Father and husband and friend c. we are as it were espoused and married to him And should a people go from their God children from their father Is 54. 5. Jer. 31. 32. Prov. 27. 10. the wife from her husband a man forsake his friend Thine own friend and thy fathers friend forsake not c. 2. That there is no just cause nor ground why we should go
from him 1. There being no iniquity in him nor ever any injury done unto us by him What iniquity have your fathers Jer. 2. 5. Micah 6. 3. found in me O my people what have I done unto thee wherein have I wearied thee c. 2. There being no want of any good in him so that there is no need to go from him he being all-sufficient hence the Lord reasons the case with David when he had revolted and tels him I did so and so for thee and I gave such and such things to thee and if that had been too little 2 Sam. 12. 7. says the Lord I would moreover have given thee such and such things and wherefore then hast thou despised the commandement of the Lord c. what cause or ground was there for it what hast thou to say or what canst thou alledge So we find that the children of Israel disobeying the voice of the Lord the Angel of the Lord that is the Son of God he pleads with them I have done so and so for you why then Judges 2. 4. have ye done this and there being no true cause nor ground for it they answer with tears for it is said that they lift up their voice and wept 3. Can we mend or better our selves and who would change but for the better But to be sure if we go from God it will be for the worse When many that profest themselves the disciples of Christ went back and Christ said to John 6. 68. the twelve Will ye also go away you know what Simon Peter answered the Lord To whom should we go thou hast the words of eternal life As if he had said Lord where can we mend our selves to whom shall we go to be better This was the Argument that Samuel made use of to keep the people from turning aside to follow the Lord. And turn ye not aside for then should you go after 1 Sam. 12. 21. vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for they are vain It is as if a man for warmth should go from the Sun to the shade or for water from the fountain to the broken cistern or from the spring to the puddle or as if a man for fresh air should leave the open field and sweet refreshing gales in a garden to go to a smoaky cottage But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit and they Jer. 2. 11. are gone far from me and walked after vanity Will a man leave the pleasant cooling snow of Jer. 18. 14. mount Lebanon for a dry bare rock of of the field or shall the cool flowing waters be forsaken 4. Let 's consider what respect God has for such as abide with him and turn not aside from him Noah was upright in his generation and Gen. 6. 8. walked with God when all flesh had corrupted their way and it is said Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So my servant Caleb because Numb 14. 24 he had another spirit with him and hath followed me fully him will I bring into the Land c. And ye are they says Christ which have continued Luke 22. 28 29. with me in my temptations and I appoint unto you a kingdom c. Rev. 3. 5. 5. What a comfort will this be in the evil day and at the hour of death if we have not turned back from God as it has been to the people of God formerly Ps 44. 17 18 19. Job 23. 11 12. and Is 38. 3. c. 6. The Lord doth not turn away our prayers nor himself nor his mercy from us and why Psal 66. 20. Jer. 32. 40. should we turn away from him yea he hath made an everlasting covenant with us that he will not turn away from us to do us good c. 7. If ever he do turn away from us for a time it is not till we first turn away from him He is first in coming but last in going he is ever with us while we are with him as the Prophet told Asa 2 Chron. 15. 2. but if we forsake him and turn away from him he will turn away from us yea against us as the Church complains Lam. 3. 3. Surely against me is he turned he turneth his hand against me all the day 2. Let us be 1. vigilant and very circumspect else if we be careless negligent and secure we shall be in great danger to miscarry 1 Cor. 10. 12. wherefore let him that thinketh he stands take heed lest he fall None are likelier to fall than such as are most self confident and secure and therefore let us carry a holy jealousie continually over our selves how many caveats have we in Scripture to this purpose Matth. 26. 41. Luke 21. 36. Heb. 3. 12. c. 3. Let us be much in prayer that the Lord would keep us for if he leave us we shall soon Jude 24. leave him Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling c. he alone is able and therefore we must watch and pray both c. 4. Let us remember and urge the Lord with his promise viz. that he will put his fear in our Jer. 32. 40. 3. 19. hearts that we shall not depart from him and that we shall not turn away from him 5. Let us exhort one another daily c. This the Apostle prescribes as a good help to keep us from departing from God Take heed brethren Hebr. 3. 12 13. lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God but exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin and Heb. 10. 25. Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together but exhorting one another c. 6. Let us in the strength of Christ and begging help of God take up strong settled and sincere resolutions of heart to cleave to the Lord and to continue and abide with him who ever turn aside from him as Joshua but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord this that Joshua 24. 15. good man Barnabas exhorted those to that believed and turned to the Lord that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. And when Acts 11. 23. at any time we have or do turn aside as we are very prone to do let us never rest till we return again as these here how earnest are they upon this they thrice importune Turn us again c. O should not a people return to their God the spouse to her husband children to their father The Prodigal as soon as ever he came to himself Luke 15. 17 18. he resolves I will arise and go to my father Turn O back-sliding children saith the Lord Jer. 3. 14. why for I am married unto you And it can never be well with us indeed till we do this he being the rest
Ephraim Surely after that I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote on my thigh c. Jer. 31. 19. So Lam. 5. 21. Turn thou us unto thee O Lord and we shall be turned c. Use 1. See what folly then it is to procrastinate and put off repentance as if it was in our own power to repent and turn when we pleased whereas it is in God's power alone and therefore as the holy Ghost saith to day if you Heb. â— 7 8. will hear his voice harden not your hearts c. Vse 2. Let this make us the more careful how we turn aside from God because though we of our selves can turn away from him he onely can turn us again to him Use 3. As ever then we would that our selves or ours should be turn'd again let us apply our selves to him as these do here turn us again O Lord God of Hosts I have gone astray says Ps 119. 176. David like a lost sheep seek thy servant c. We can lose our selves but we must have recourse to God to reduce us and fetch us home O Lord I know the way of man is not in himself it is not Jer. 10. 23. in man that walketh to direct his steps and therefore let us cry with Ephraim Turn thou me O Jer. 3. 18. Lord and I shall be turned c. Vse 4. Then when we are turned again see here to whom to ascribe it and to whom to give the praise and glory of it even to the Lord God of hosts It is his work he has done it and none else but he could do it and therefore let him have the glory of it alone Doctr. 5. When the Lord turns a people again to himself he causes his face to shine He manifests his favour and shews himself gracious and propitious for these two are here joyned together Turn us again O Lord God of Hosts cause thy face to shine And this latter may be considered either as the efficient or as that which as an effect follows upon the former or as both So that when the Lord turns a people or a person to himself 1. he does cause his face to shine and 2. when he has turn'd a people again to himself he will cause his face to shine that is he will more and more cause it to shine more and more manifest his favour and to both these I shall speak something briefly 1. He then does cause his face to shine when he turns them again to himself he then remembers them with the favour that he bears Cùm convertit faciem suam Deus ad nos nos respiciâ— tum ad eum convertimur to his people and lifts up upon them the light of his countenance saving conversion being a blessed effect and happy fruit thereof and it being his special favour and grace that puts him upon it I will heal saith the Lord their back-slidings Hosea 14. 4. and whence will he do it what puts him Poenitentia est effectus gratiae fluentis à dilectione Dei in filio Dei fundatâ Pareus in locum upon it his love I will love them freely for his anger is turned away from him We are bid to seek God's face to seek his favour and such have found it and the Lord hath dealt very graciously with them but it is not thus as to the things of the world they in their very quintessence and though in their greatest confluence do not simply of themselves speak God's love and favour no but for all them though in never so great abundance men may be under God's frowns and have none of his favour but hatred and abhorrence for God's heart here does not always go along with his hand God's giving hand and his gracious favourable accepting hand are two distinct things and so is his permissive and his promissive approving Providence Men Ex largitate non ex promisso may have Quails and wrath the daintiest viands and vengeance coin and the curse heap Num. 11. 33. Psalm 33. 7. up wealth and worldly treasures have more than heart could wish and yet be under God's sorest Zach. 1. 15. displeasure I am very sore displeased with the Irâ magnâ irascor heathen that are at ease God's bringing these things abundantly into mens hands is no argument nor intimation of the love of his heart The tabernacles of Robbers prosper and they that Job 12. 6. provoke God are secure into whose hand God bringeth abundantly Ps 73. 12. Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world they increase in riches c. and yet such whom God hates and abhors Psalm 12. 5. But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth and Psalm 5. 5. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity and God is angry with the wicked every day Ps 7. 11. So that these things are no sign of God's favour neither in any or all of them does his face shine or is the light of his countenance lift up but now saving conversion and God's turning of a man again to himself this ever speaks God's favour and the shine of his face and the lifting up upon him the light of his countenance and though such a one may have but little of these things in his hand this is a sure intimation to him of the love of God's heart and this makes the little though it be never so little that such a one hath better than Boni nunquam in statu malo nam illis vel ipsa mala vertuntur in bonum mali contra nunquam in statu bono quia iis vel ipsa bona vertuntur in malum Gryâ—â—ous the riches of many wicked Ps 37. 16. for better says Solomon is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled Oxe and hatred therewith Prov. 15. 17. And this makes it that it can never be ill with a godly man how little soever he have of these things because he has still God's love and that it can never be well with a wikced man how much soever he has of these things because he has ever God's hatred therewith and the evil things of the one being turn'd into good and the good things of the other being turn'd into evil Ps 25. 10. Rom. 8. 28. Ps 69. 22. Pro. 1. 32. 2. The Lord will cause his face to shine yea more and more to shine on a people or person that he turns again to himself For 1. it is his promise so to do to be gracious and to manifest his favour to such Job 33. 23. If there be a messenger with him an interpreter one of a thousand to shew unto man his uprightness the Hebrew his rectitude that is what is right and straight viz. to repent and turn to God Dutch read it to declare unto man his right duty as indeed conversion and true turning to God it is our duty and it is a right
with other ways and means then of my appointing instead of repenting and turning to me the onely true way of her weal and means of her cure and which I have so often call'd for and invited her to with much patience and forbearance by my Prophets she hath betaken her self to other ways and means run to carnal helps and all manner of worldly shifts and devices and here she hath been very industrious taken a great deal of pains so as even to weary her self running up and down one while this way and another while another way and all to underprop her ruinous condition and to keep off the threatned destruction but in vain for they are all but lies and vanities and so she shall experience them And why it follows because her scum went not out of her that is her sin and wickedness so call'd for its vileness and filthiness she still retain'd that and therefore she and her scum shall be in the fire that is she neglecting the onely true way of her weal and means of her deliverance which was true repentance and conversion all her other worldly and carnal ways and meanes which she had with so much care and toil sought out shall all prove false and unfaithful to her and deceive her And hence does the Lord so earnestly and pathetically as being very desirous and sollicitous of Jerusalems weal invite her to the right way thereof and to avert that heavy destruction threatned against her and coming upon her O Jerusalem Jer. 4. 14. wash thine heart from wickedness that Officii nostri est poenitentiam agere ut servemur qui quidem poenitentiae fructus est Pisc thou may'st be saved that is repent and turn from thy wickedness reform thy heart and life There is indeed the washing of justification from the guilt of sin by the bloud of Christ and of sanctification from the filth of sin by the Spirit of Christ but by this washing here we are to understand that of true serious and sound repentance and conversion and reformation of heart and life from wickedness when the heart is turn'd from it and engag'd against it And of this washing we read elsewhere and it is called Isaiah 1. 16. James 4. 8. v. 1. returning to the Lord and putting away their abominations out of Gods sight v. 3. Jer. 4. 1. breaking up their fallow-ground v. 4. circumcising themselves to the Lord and taking away the foreskins of their hearts and it is the same with that in Acts 8. 22. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness c. And this the Lord here invites Jerusalem to as her onely way of being saved O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved As if the Lord had said thou cryest indeed wo unto us for we are spoiled v. 13. but yet there is a way of thy being saved and it is the onely way and therefore if yet at last thou hast any mind to be saved and to have it well with thee as I have and to prevent that utter ruine that is coming upon thee betake thy self to it wash thine heart from wickedness how long shall thy vain thoughts lodg within thee Thus the Lord calls all their thoughts and hopes of safety elsewhere and from other means as forraign forces and the like vain such as however they fed themselves with them should never effect their weal nor be able to relieve them but in relying on them they relyed but upon vanity and falshood And hence it is that the Church and people of God here are so intent upon this and so earnest for this they importune it no less than three times as if they would have no denial because they knew full well as this was the right way and a sure way for their weal so it was the onely way and there was no other and God must do this or they could not be saved neither could it be well with them whatever else they betook themselves to CHAP. VII NOw in the further prosecution of this point of so great importance and infinite concern as to our own and the Nations weal I shall do these three things in general 1. I shall shew you what kind and what manner of turn that is and must be that is thus effectual as to a peoples being saved for it is not every turn that does or can effect this 2. I shall give you the reasons of the point 3. I shall apply it and endeavour several ways to improve it As concerning the first truly there are so many excellent Treatises already extant and that both formerly and of late and that by more able pens that it might seem needless to adde more and indeed for substance what more almost can be written that is not written already Yet because variety of gifts may please and I hope profit as to the promoting of so blessed a work wherein not onely our own but the whole Nations weal is so infinitely concern'd and that I may not seem to build without a foundation somewhat I shall say but be the briefer at least as to some things and as concerning this Turn you must 1. know in general that there are several sorts of Turns or Changes As 1. in substance which is called generation 2. In place called local mutation 3. In quality called alteration when things are turn'd and chang'd from one quality and one manner and fashion to another when the present property frame and disposition of a thing is quite turn'd and alter'd from what it was before and of this latter we are to understand this turn or mutation here For 1. there is no In resipiscentia homines adeò immutantur ut quales antea fuerant tales esse desinant non tamen in mole substantia corporis sed in animi inclinationibus appetitionibus c. Dent. d◠resipisc turn or change in substance the person sinning and turning being still the same in substance body and soul the same and all the parts powers and faculties of both the same thus in this sense Manasseh Mary Magdalene Paul c. were the same before and after their conversion Nor 2. in place for the sinner is or may be still in the same place where he was before or if he do change his place it does not avail any thing here for sin as one well observes like a man's sickness is carried with him where ever he goes and change of place no more than change of beds does free him or make him whole No it is not change of place but an effectual work of grace that turns the heart Cain was the same in the land of Nod as he was where he dwelt before and the Israelites which came evil out of Egypt remained the same in the wilderness Thus Moses tels them They provoked the Lord their God to wrath in the Deut. 9. 7 8 22 23 24. wilderness yea from the day that they did depart out of the land
7. 21. 6. of joy I hou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time when their corn and wine increased for thou hast made him most blessed for ever thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance it makes exceeding happy and exceeding glad It is the greatest cheerer the choicest cordial for thy love is better and we Cant. 1. 2 4. will be glad and rejoyce in thee we will remember thy love more than wine 8. It is glory it is our honour and exaltaion For thou art the glory of their strength and Psalm 89. 17. 148. 14. in thy favour our horn shall be exalted he also exalteth the horn of his people he and his favour whose name alone is excellent and whose v. 13. glory is above the earth and heaven And who should or what should exalt his people if not God and his favour It is a crowning mercy who crowneth thee with loving kindness and Psalm 103. 4. tender mercies the favour of God the loving kindness of God and those special peculiar tender mercies which flow from his very bowels as it were from his tender intimate and affectionate love these crown these are our honour and ornament With favour wilt thou compass 5. 12. him as with a shield the Hebrew is crown him And so the Dutch and others read it thou shalt crown him with thy favourableness or well Ut scuto voluntate coronabis eum pleasing complacency as with a target as with a buckler with favourable acceptation thou wilt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Coronabis crown him Not only does glory life and immortality crown hereafter but the love and favour of God crowns here yea all the Gold and Gems and Rubies and richest and preciousest stones in the world set and compos'd together can never make such a Crown for the head as the favour of God puts upon the soul With favour wilt thou crown him In the 2 Sam. 12. 30. we read there of a Crown the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones which according to the weight of the Sanctuary weighed above an hundred pound but according to the ordinary talent above fifty four pound but the Crown of Gods favour exceeds it and excels it Thus the favour of God is not only Shield and Buckler but Crown also yea 't is any thing every thing that is truly excellent comfortable and commodious and that his people stand in need for it to be unto them But thou O Lord art a shield for me my glory Psalm 3. 3. Isa 28. 5. and the lifter up of my head In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people c. As he said to Paul his grace is sufficient 2 Cor. 12. 9. Favor Dei auxilium spiritus sancti á favore isto proveniens for us or enough for us and is all in all to us his accepting grace and his helping and sustaining grace his favour and what flows therefrom 4. It covers and silences all that God has against his people So that though his people may have many failings which oppose their weal and might be matter of plea against them yet God shining on them with his face he passes them by and silences all in his love for love even in us covers multitudes of sins how much more 1 Pet. 4. 8. Prov. 10. 12. Zeph. 3. 17. God's love The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoice over thee with joy he will rest in his love that is as some render it he will take satisfaction and contentment in loving thee in the affection he bears to thee But the Hebrew is as is noted in the Silebit propter dilectionem suam obmutescet in amore suo Margent he will be silent in his love or because of his love that is he will bear with thy infirmities and pass them by without manifesting any displeasure for them his love shall answer all objections against thee so that thy frailties shall not be charged upon thee but born with The Hebrew signifies also to be dumb or deaf and some render it he shall be dumb in his love or deaf that is to speak after the manner of men his ear shall not hear nor his mouth utter any accusations against thee so as to reject thee though he may humble thee he will quiet himself in his love when his anger is ready to be stirr'd he will pass over many things and as it were wink at them because he loves thee as the tender-hearted loving husband does as to his dear wife the loving father or mother as to her dear child So Hosea 14. 4. I will heal their back-sliding and whence I will love them freely for my anger is turn'd away from him and Micah 7. 19. He will turn again i. e. in mercy and loving kindness he will manifest his love he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the Sea drown them in the ocean of his love Psalm 85. 1 Thou hast been favourable unto thy Land and then v. 2. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people thou hast covered all their sin CHAP. IX The Application of the point and first in general by way of Information or inference IS it the onely way for a people to be saved for Use 1. of Information or inference God to turn them again and cause his face to shine as hath been abundantly made good then there are several truths that this point doth inform us of and instruct us in and several things from hence are deducible and may be inferr'd As 1. That then there is a way for a people to be saved and that let their present state and condition be what it will be it never so sad though as sad as this peoples was here whose prayer God had seemed to be angry with a great while v. 4 5 6 12 13 yea and had fed them with bred of tears and given them tears to drink in great measure made them a strife unto their neighbours and their enemies laught among themselves yea though God had planted them as his vine yet now he had broken down her hedges so that all they who passed by the way did pluck her The bore out of the wood did wast it and the wild beast out of the field devoured it yea all God's former mercies were now turned into judgments and yet were a peoples condition as sad as theirs here yea sadder yet there is a way for them to be saved yea let God but turn them again and cause his face to shine and they shall be saved Thus whatever are a peoples sicknesses or sores there is a salve whatever their maladies there is a remedy whatever is their case there is a way of
their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will Is 41. 17. 1 King 8. 38 39. hear them c. and what prayer or supplication soever be made though never so weak though but a sigh and by any man that shall know the the plague of his own heart then hear thou in Ps 34. 6. Heaven c. This poor man cryed and the Lord heard him c. And this is as I said a choice mercy a singular priviledg and in this God much favours and honours a poor creature and thus the Lord promises it and thus the Saints speak of it I will set him on high and how 91. 14 15. he shall call upon me and I will answer him and The Lord will hear when I call unto him and 4. 3. 116. 1. 102. 18. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice c. And hence it is said This shall be written for the generation to come that God shall hear the prayer of the destitute it shall be set down in a book and recorded and so published 5. Upon this follows a fitness and aptness to receive the Word and the impressions thereof for upon Ezek. 36. 26. true conversion the stony heart is taken away and there is given a heart of flesh that is a soft or tender heart easily admitting or receiving the Word it being like Wax to the Seal and like Gideon's fleece drinking in the dew thereof or like soft earth to the rain whereas the hearts of such as are impenitent and unconverted are as rocks and steep stony places which shoot off all without any impression Josiah humbling himself and his heart being tender what an impression had the words of the Law upon his 2 Chr. 34. 27. heart the hearts of such open and the Word goes in and there it comes to be ingraffed which is a choice mercy whereas the contrary is the greatest judgment as a stony heart an hard heart and such is every impenitent heart it receives no impression of God's Word nor works it yeilds neither to precepts nor promises nor threatnings nor admonitions nor reprehensions nor perswasions neither to judgments nor mercies But they refused to hearken c. Let favour Zach. 7. 11. Is 26. 10. 1. 5. be shewn to the wicked yet will not he learn righteousness and why should ye be stricken any more c. The natural man receives not the things of God he neither believes them nor yeilds to them There may be some slight superficial Non credit nec cedit reception for a little while as is said of the stony ground but it is not solid nor deep so as to enter root and abide The Word may have place among them but it has not as Christ told the Scribes and Pharisees place within them and therefore they sought to kill him Joh. 8. 37. That which is observ'd in Printing is very appliable and considerable here viz that the Paper which is to be printed upon is not of it self as it is dry and stiff and stubborn fit to receive impression and therefore to render it fit it is several times drawn through the water and so being throughly moisten'd mellowed and made soft it becomes fit and truely so it is with our hearts as they are by nature and of themselves and much more by custom in sin they are hard and stiff and stubborn very unfit to receive any impression of God's truth but being drawn as it were through the waters of repentance and so mellowed and made soft and tender they become fit Thus the repenting Corinthians became 2 Cor. 3. 3. Christ's Epistle for their hearts being made tender the Gospel was wrot upon them with ease and so the hearts of the Romans Rom. 6. 17. were cast into the Word as into a Mould bearing the stamp and figure of it Solomon says A reproof Prov. 17. 10. enters more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool his heart opens and yeilds to reproof Salt enters not into a Stone but it does into flesh and seasons it and makes it savoury and so do reproofs which are as Salt unto hearts of flesh such sit down as it were at God's feet and hear his words and they are willing and pliable and their language is Lord what wilt thou have me to do and Speak Lord for thy servant heareth c. 6. Upon this follows inheritance among them which are sanctified To open Acts 26. 18. their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance c. What an excellent thing is repentance here describ'd to be an opening of the eyes and a turning as you have heard the sinner from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God and then what inestimable benefits do follow thereupon not onely forgiveness of sin as you have heard but inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ that is a lot in the heavenly inheritance in that inheritance of the Saints in light which now they are made meet for being delivered from the power of darkness and translated into Col. 1. 12 13. the Kingdom of God's dear son an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fades not away reserv'd in heaven of which such glorious things are spoken which is of God's own preparing Christ's purchasing and that by no less price than his bloud which has the glory of God and where not onely Angels but God himself dwels and resides for ever and into this all true converts have entrance ministred unto them but no other shall or can but are without Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who Psal 24. 3 4. shall stand in his holy place he that hath clean hands and a pure heart c. The wise shall inherit glory but shame shall be the promotion of Prov. 3. 35. fools And thus some interpret that in the Acts 3. 19. That your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord that is that your sins being blotted Ut remissis peccatis vestris recipiamini in coelum ad fruendum aeternis gaudiis c. Pisc out or forgiven you may be received into heaven to partake of those eternal joys c. And hence true repentance is said to be repentance unto life and repentance unto salvation and therefore not to be repented of not as if it was the cause or did in the least merit life or salvation Acts 11. 18. 2 Cor. 7. 10. for ipsae lachrymae lachrymabiles sunt our very tears need washing and our repentance pardon Non agit de causa salutis sed eventu poenitentiae ordinem ostendit quòd nimirum conversis donetur remissio non securis impoenitentibus Tossan but as the end of it and the way and means
houses and England shall be set as a pattern of blessing and blessings as is said of David For thou hast made him most blessed for ever the Hebrew is set him blessings i. e. as some beset him with blessings as Psal 5. 12. 32. 10. replenished him c. or as others put him to be blessings that is to impart them or to be a blessing as is said of Abraham and others Gen. 12. 2. Is 19. 24. Ezek. 34. 26. c. or Psal 21. 6. rather as others to be an example of blessing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pones eum benedictiones Hac loquendi formulâ exprimitur tam uberem bonorum copiam affluere ei ut meritò benevolentiae divinae exemplar esse possit c Calv. and blessings that is so blessed and replenished with blessings as to become worthily an example to others thereof And so shall England become upon its return to God as it is said of Ephraim and Manasseh In thee shall Israel bless saying God make thee as Ephriam c. so as England the Lord bless thee as he hath blessed his people there whereas others have been an example of God's curse as Zedekiah and Ahab The Lord make thee as Zedekiah c. and then from that very time that we do indeed Gen 48. 20. Jer. 29. 22. turn again to God and are reform'd the name of the City and Countrey too shall be the name of that City Ezek. 48. 35. as that wherein our chief good and happiness shall consist Jehovah Shammah the Lord is there CHAP. XVII Motives to seek the face or favour of God COnsider 1. how excellent it is so as David Psal 36. 7. admires it How excellent is thy loving kindness O God c. It cannot be exprest what is there in heaven it self that exceeds it whom have I in heaven but thee And they shall see 73. 25. Rev. 22. 4. his face c. Life is precious the preciousest thing in Nature but the favour of God as has been hinted is more precious it is life even in Ps 63. 3. death it self as that blessed Martyr Mr. Bradford answered when profer'd life if he would recant Life said he with God's displeasure is worse than death and death in his favour is true life 2. How honourable what indeed more honours Since thou wast precious in my sight thou Is 43. 4. hast been honourable From that very time that a soul finds favour with God you may write it down as happy so truly honourable but there is no true honour 'till then it being God alone and his favour and grace that creates that this as I hinted before is the crowning mercy with favour wilt thou crown him It is observed of Ps 5. 12. the Rainbow that of it self it is but a common vapour but that which gilds it and as it were enamels it with so many radiant colours it is the Sun by shining upon it and so all the gildings all the beauty glory and lustre that is upon any it is from the shines of God's face from the beams of his favour and grace and without this man though in honour is yet but vile and like Psal 49. 20. the beasts that perish And the earth shined with his glory It is the grace and favour of Ezek. 43. 2. God which he counts his glory that makes to shine such lumps of earth as we are It is spoken as the great honour of the seven Princes of Persia and Media that were next to the King Hest 1. 14. that they saw his face those Persian Monarchs were seldom seen of any it was a piece of state they took upon themselves and if it was so much honour to see the face of an earthly Monarch what honour is it to behold the face of God! As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness Psal 17. 15. This is that badg of honour that differences the Saints from all others and is not onely the happiness but glory of heaven it self and of those Angels and blessed Heroes that reside there I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and I say unto you that in heaven Luk. 1. 19. Matth. 18. 10. the Angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven This is spoken of as the grearest honour the creature can be advanced to in heaven and what greater honour then can there be on earth 3. How comfortable nothing comforts like it nor any thing truly without it It s better than wine yea turns even water into wine it giveth songs in the night and in the grossest darkness causeth to arise light and this alone in all troubles is the choicest cordial no Bezoar Pearl Alkermes nor other cordial can comfort like it hence the Prophet David a man inspired by God of all cordials makes choice of this Let I pray thee thy merciful kindness Ps 119. 76. be for my comfort c. or let it be for to comfort me where should it be O let it be by Ad consolandum me me let it be with me as my cordial to cheer and revive me Such as are subject to faint use to have their cordials by them now Lord says David let me have this and none indeed to Ostendit nihil esse quod dolorem abstergat donec propitium sibi Deum sentiat Calvin this this was it made Oecolampadius when he was near death putting his hand upon his heart to say hic sat lucis here is abundance of light that is of unspeakable joy and Mr. Bolâ—on I am by the wonderful mercies of God as full of comfort as my heart can hold and another to cry out O the joy the unspeakable joy I find in my soul and another my cup runs over c. this will comfort when other the choicest cordials cannot nor will not and that in the most disconsolate estate but nothing in times of distress can comfort without it because nothing can supply the want of it It is said In the light of the Kings countenance is life and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain and as dew upon the grass and what then is the light of Gods countenance his favour how much more comfortable and refreshing must that needs be Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance O one cast of that is more comforting than the wealth of a whole world When Cyrus had once given a cup of Gold to one and a Kiss in token of special favour to another he to whom the King had given the Cup told him that the Cup he gave him was not so good gold as the Kiss he gave to the other c. 4. How profitable nothing makes more for our profit it being the main and that which is the very root and well-spring of all good but of this I have occasionally spoken something before and shall be the briefer therefore now what will or