going backward he is declining Now a Christian ought to run that is he ought to make a farther progress Add to your Faith vertue and to your vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance Pet. 2.15 and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity So likewise Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before Phil. 3.13 Nothing hinders our spiritual growth more than a vain conceit in us that we know as much already as need to be known and that we have attained already as much as we need to attain unto Paul was of another temper when he saies Not as if I had already attained either were already perfect but I press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.12 14. To run therefore is to make a progress not to take up with any measures of grace already received but to press forwards to that which we have not attained unto 3. Running notes diligence and activity in the waies of God 1 Cor. 9.24 So run that ye may obtain that is run with care and diligence put forth your utmost vigour and activity in the waies of God Psal 119.32 I will run the waies of thy Commandments when thou shalt inlarge my heart that is I shall be diligent and active in thy waies when I have derived grace from thee 4. Running notes strength and courage in him that runs Dan. 8.6 The He-goat is said to run to the Ram in the fury of his power Running therefore notes strength and courage so the Saints running in the waies of God notes their strength and courage in the waies of God Isa 40.31 They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint 5. And lastly Running notes perseverance in our Christian course to the end Heb. 12.1 Let us run with patience the race that is set before us The second thing to be spoken to is this How it is that the Saints have their hearts carryed out after God The end why they desire divine grace is That they may run in a spiritual manner and that their hearts may be carryed after God Now how is it that the Saints have their hearts carryed out after God 1. The Saints have their hearts carryed out after God by desires and longings after him Psal 63.1 My soul thirsteth after thee my flesh longeth for thee Isa 26.8 9. The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee and in the next Verse With my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Whilest other men do mainly and principally thirst and cover after the creature holy souls do mainly and principally thirst after God himself Psal 42.1 As the Hart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God The Hart is a thirsty creature by nature and when it is hunted its thirst is greater such is the thirst of holy souls after God But it may be said What is that thirst that holy souls have after God It lies eminently in two things and it will be good for us to observe them because we may know much what the measure of our grace is by these two things Holy souls thirst after Gods gracious presence here on earth and they thirst after Gods glorious presence in Heaven 1. Holy souls thirst after Gods gracious presence here on earth Psal 42.2 My soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God When shall I come and appear before God that is when shall I see the face of God in his Ordinances Psal 101.2 When wilt thou come unto me Nothing more proper to grace than this to carry out the soul in longings after communion with God If you feel nothing of this in your selves if you do not find ardent strong breathings and longings in your souls after God you have reason to suspect your selves that all is not well with you Unless the soul be under Temptation or under the prevalency of some corruption at the present or under the withdrawings of the influences of the Spirit of God in some time of Desertion I say unless it be in such cases as these the pulse of the soul will beat this way viz. in ardent breathings after God and communion with him and if we do not find it to be thus with us we have reason to fear the state of our own souls for thus it will be if grace act like it self in our hearts 2. The Saints have great longings after the sight of God and the glorious presence of God in Heaven Come come is the language of the Church in general The Spirit and the Bride say come Revel 22.17 Being confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Come Lord Jesus come quickly is the language of particular Saints Certainly the pulse of grace if I may so express it beats mainly these two waies In longing after a sense of Gods presence in our souls here on earth and in longing after the perfect injoyment of God in Heaven 2. The Saints have their hearts carryed out to God by Love Love is the motion of the soul to the thing beloved The soul naturally moves towards that it loves Love is the weight or ballance of the soul Amor meus est pondus meum eò feror quò amo the soul is carryed where it loves Now the souls of the Saints are carryed towards God by Love Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee And I will love thee O Lord my strength Psal 18.1 God himself is the great thing in the eye of holy souls though friends be dear relations dear yet God himself is most dear O Lord saith Austin thou art not only dearer to me than this earth and all things that are in it but thou art more acceptable to me than Heaven it self and all the things that are in it Hence is that of David in Psal 43.4 I will go to God my exceeding joy The joy of my joy Laetitia â—etitiarum that is the top of my joy Though other things may be amiable to a godly man in their place yet God himself is most amiable to an holy soul 3. The Saints have their hearts carryed out to God by Admiration that which we call admiration is the fixing or staying of the mind upon some excellent object the minds fixing or staying it self with delight upon some object which it is pleased with Admiration takes in a double act of the soul 1. It takes in an act of the mind or understanding what we admire the mind fixeth and dwells upon admiration detains and holds the mind fixt in the contemplation of a thing what we
of Christ is the food and nourishment of souls An Eagle-eyed Christian can perceive that it was in that flesh of his that the Law was fulfilled that the penalty of it was undergone that divine justice was fatisfied and everlasting righteousness brought in this attracts a believing soul to a Crucified Christ Christ Crucified is to some a stumbling-block and to others foolishness 1 Cor. 1. but to those that understand the mysterie of his death and suffierings Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God Hence is that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2.2 I determine to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him Crucified so likewife Phil. 3. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ Nothing will attract the heart more than the confideration of what Christ is and the contemplation of what Christ hath done and suffered for us the name of Christ is as oyntment poured forth therefore do the Virgins love him Cant. 1.4 The more we know Christ in his personal excellency and are acquainted with his grace as Mediator the more will our hearts be attracted and drawn to him 3. Christ draws us by the discovery of his love to us Hos 11.4 I drew them with the cords of a man with bands of love Love is the loadstone of Love we Love him because he first loved us 1 Joh. 4.19 Nothing so powersul to draw our hearts to the love of God as the apprehension of Gods Love to us Now God doth sometimes drop and distill the sense of his love into the hearts of his people and that draws them to Love him Observe it in your selves when the heart hath been very low flat and dead before let the Lord but infinuate a little of his Love to the Soul by some especial act of kindness that will raise and quicken it immediately Love is powerful and attractive it melts and dissolves the soul if the soul be but in an ill frame before let the Lord but manifest a little of his Love and it is soon overcome by it and put into a better frame 4. God draw the souls of his people to himself by giving them new and fresh tastes of the excellencie of spiritual things The Saints themselves do not alwaies relish that savour that is in the Word nor taste that sweetness that is in the Promises I say they do not alwaies taste a like sweetness in the Word nor relish a like savour in it as sometimes they have done and when they have lost that taste and relish that they had of spiritual things this is that which makes their affections flat If we had as lively tastes of spiritual things as we have sometimes our affections would not so often flag as they do 1 Pet. 2.2 As new born Babes desire the sincere milk of the word If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious Those that have once tasted of the sweetness and goodness of the word cannot but still desire it as long as that taste remains with them Consider O Christian what glory doth there appear in the Word at some times What excellency and heavenly sweetness in the promises at one time over and above what there doth at another Now God allures and draws the hearts of his people by giving in those tastes and relishes of spiritual things at some times which they are not sensible of at other times No man saith our Saviour having drunk old Wine straightway desireth new for he saith the old is better Luk. 5.39 So when the soul hath newly tasted of the sweetness that is in God and Christ when it hath tasted of the sweetness that is in the Promises and in divine grace and heavenly consolations it doth not presently grow fond of the world and worldly comforts the sweetness the soul hath tasted and experienced in heavenly and spiritual things attracts the soul to Love and defire these things above all others And we shall find it true in experience That when we grow fond of other things it is because we have lost those tastes of God and Christ and spiritual things which sometimes we have had 5. And lastly The last thing I shall mention at present is this God attracts and draws the hearts of his people by giving them a little sight and prospect of that glory which is above 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him but saith the Apostle God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit that is God hath revealed them to us in part by his Spirit It is not possible that we should take in the Glory that is above in our minds and conceptions as it is in it self but God gives some little prelibations and foretastes of it unto his people Hence is it that we read of the tasting of the good Word of God and tasting of the power of the world to come Heb. 6.4 5. It is possible that a man that is under a common work of the Spirit for it is of such the Apostle there speaks may have some tastes of the glory and happiness of heaven I do not think that those that are meerly under a common work and are said here to taste of the heavenly gifts and of the powers of the world to come that they have or can have such tastes of the sweetness glory and blessedness of heaven as those have who are truly regencrate and are under a saving work but some apprehensions they may have of it they may apprehend it to be a state of bliss and happiness A man that is under the common work of the Spirit may apprehend Heaven to be a place of freedom from all misery and trouble and where he shall enjoy happiness and perfect bliss and have all joy peace comfort and satisfaction such like general apprehensions of Heaven is all I conceive that a man under a common work doth usually attain unto Now if a man that hath but a common work may go so far then the Saints who have more than a common work they that have divine and saving illumination may apprehend much more of the glory of Heaven The Saints who are savingly enlightened may apprehend something of this state as it consists in the clear sight and vision of God in intimate fellowship and communion with God in perfect holiness and the like Nothing doth more powerfully attract the soul than when something of the glory of the other world is set before it Now God doth sometimes let down a corner of Heaven as it were into the souls of his people and gives them in transitu a little glimpse and glance of the glory that is above and this makes all present things seem to be but little things to them We look not saith
cause God to suspend divine grace This is certain That David by his fall had lost that presence and familiarity of the Spirit of God with him which he had before his fall and therefore he prayes Psal 51.11 Take not thy holy Spirit from me The Spirit of God was so far departed from him that he was afraid of losing the Spirit of God quite and clean so in the twelfth Verse Uphold me with thy free Spirit He did not feel that power and presence and energy of the Spirit of God in his heart as he was wont to do If the Spirit of God have taken any offence and distast at us by reason of any miscarriage of ours that offence must be removed and the Spirit of God treated very kindly before he will return again Ezek. 39. last Verse the Lord promiseth there that he will no more hide his face from the house of Israel for he had poured out his Spirit upon them Neither will I hide my face any more from them for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel saith the Lord God Observe it Gods pouring out of his Spirit is a sign that he is reconciled to us it is a sign of reconciliation and we cannot expect that God should pour out his Spirit upon us so as that we should find that free and familiar operation of the Spirit of God in our hearts till all things be clear between God and us therefore the guilt of any sin lying on the conscience unpardoned may obstruct the communications of Divine Grace and may hinder that intimate familiar presence of the Spirit of God which sometimes we have had 5. Another Obstruction of divine grace is some corruption or sin indulged and continued in The Saints are said to be an habitation of God by the Spirit Eph. 2.22 Now the Spirit of God loves a pure and chast habitation If we sully and defile our souls by the love of any sin by indulging our selves in any corruption we render our hearts a very unfit habitation for that pure and holy Spirit to dwell in Know you not saith the Apostle that your bodyes are the Temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you 1 Cor. 6.19 Our Souls and Bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost and certainly if we defile this Temple of the Holy Ghost we cannot expect that the Spirit of God will make his residence in it Prov. 1.23 Turn you at my reproof behold I will pour out my Spirit upon you If the Spirit of God rebuke us for any sin we ought presently to take this rebuke If the Spirit of God give us a secret hint and intimation that such a thing is amiss we ought to reform that thing we ought to take such a hint and what then then God will pour out his Spirit upon us But if we retain the love of sin and persist and go on in sin after God hath rebuked and check'd us for it we cannot expect that God will pour out his Spirit upon us For the Promise runs Turn ye at my reproof and I will pour out my Spirit upon you not otherwise so that if we retain the love of sin after God hath check'd and rebuked us for it we cannot expect the communication of divine grace Lastly The last impediment of divine grace that I shall mention is security and presumption of our own strength and sufficiency If we think we have a stock in our own hand and have quickening and inlargement at command and can act at our own pleasure in the waies of God without Divine Assistance nothing provokes God sooner to withdraw his grace from us These are the impediments and obstructions of divine grace Now if we would have constant supplies of grace we must take heed of all those things that obstruct the passage of grace and do hinder the communication of it to our souls The end of the Eighteenth Sermon SERMON XIX Solomon's Song 1.4 Draw me we will run after thee THere is one Doctrine more which lies in the words which yet remains to be spoken to and that is this Doct. 3. The end why we should desire the drawings of divine grace it is that our hearts may be the more carryed forth after God Draw me saith the Church and we will run after thee The end why the Church desires to be drawn is that her heart may be carryed forth the more after Christ Here we have two things to speak unto 1. What the import of the phrase is what this running doth imply Draw me we will run after thee 2. How it is that the Saints have their hearts carryed out after God 1. What this phrase of running doth import Running notes several things 1. It notes quickness and liveliness of affection Draw me we will run after thee that is our affections shall then be elevated and inlarged towards thee Amâ—â— est Pes Aninae Love is the foot of the soul The feet are the instruments of motion the feet are they that carry us from one place to another thus the soul by its affections is carryed forth to the object that it loves Running therefore notes the raisedness of the affections Thus we read how Elisha run after Elijah 1 Kings 19.20 He left the Oxen and run after Elijah that is his affections were now up and he must needs follow Elijah So that running notes the elevation of the affections when the affections that were dead and lumpish before begin to move and spring afresh towards God Cant. 6.12 Or ever I was aware my soul made me like the Chariots of Aminadab Many make these to be the words of Christ to the Church But some there are that make these to be the words of the Church to Christ Or ever I was aware my soul made me like the Chariots of Aminadab And if so then it notes the spiritual motion and affection that was in the Church towards Christ Her soul made her as the Chariots of Aminadab that is her affections did move swiftly towards Christ Draw me we will run after thee Running here in the Text is opposed to deadness the Church found her affections flat and dead before therefore she prays to be drawn by divine grace Now when she is drawn she saith she will run that is she shall have new affections Her affections that were dead and flat before shall now be quick and lively towards God and Christ 2. Running notes progress in Faith and Holiness Gal. 5.7 Ye did run well who did hinder you the meaning is you once did make a good progress in the Faith but now ye are slidden back A Christian ought alwaies to make a progress Col. 1.10 Increasing in the knowledge of God 2 Pet. 3.18 Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Non progredi â—st regredi Not to go forward is to go backward A Christian is seldom at a stand if he be not going forward he is