though he damn'd the whole world and cast off Cain for ever Ninthly God makes some sharers in the same deliverance who share not in the same grace as the ten Lepers he gave them the same cure not the same grace he gave them all a cure only to one grace Were there not ten cleansed where are Luk. 17. 17. the nine There are not found that return'd to give glory to God save this stranger So the Sons of Noah were all saved in the same Ark and yet not all made partakers of the same Faith We shall now give you the Application of this Point And first Vse 1. See by what tenure the Saints hold and receive all their grace By gift 1. The first work of grace in the soul is a gift No man can come to me saith Christ except it were given him from John 6. 65. Rom. 5. 5. above and Romans 5. 5 All is given It is grace that we have grace the grace of God that we have grace from God 2. The addition and increase of grace is a gift every little degree of grace is a gift and when he gives more still it is more gift 3. Heaven it self is a gift The gift of God is eternal life Rom. 6. 27. mark the whole verse The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Eternal death is a wages eternal life is a gift men deserve it when they are damn'd but they deserve it not when they are saved their sins are worthy of Death but their graces are not worthy of Life And the reason is 1. Because mens sins are their own and therefore deserve death As Christ speaking of the Devil saith When he speaketh a John 8. 44. lye he speaketh of his own Our lyes and our sins are our own works but our graces are not our own we are beholden to God in that we have grace when we serve him with our graces we serve him but with his own 2. Because our sins being perfectly sinful are worthy of death but our graces being not perfectly gracious are not worthy of life Vse 2. Is grace a free gift then serve God freely We cannot be too free in serving him from whom every thing is a free-gift I may rightly apply that Text to the Saints Freely ye Math. 10. 8. have received freely give I am sure you have freely received grace serve him freely with your grace And therefore a Servant is in Greek called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 15. 17. a reward because servants serve not their Master freely as his Sons do meerly because he is their Father but for reward What is it to serve God freely 1. To count it a greater good to serve God than to be saved not as if a man should not serve God with an eye to his salvation for 't were a sin if he should not because the recompence of reward is the great Promise and 't were a sin not to prize and eye and look up to any promise of God I say we are bound to serve God with an eye to the recompence of reward because it is the Promise of God now we are to make the best of every promise to improve the promise and to make the best advantage of it for the quickning of our graces and the cheering up of our spirits The promises are helps and we are bound to use all Gods Helps And therefore Heb. 12. 2. we may set our salvation befor us and aim at it But yet still this we should do and if we serve God freely will do it count it a greater good to serve God than to be saved to glorifie God than to be glorified Indeed the Lord saith Them that honour me I will honour This is his goodness yet Gods Honour is a greater good than our honour It is a greater good that God be glorified than that we should be glorified because the Glory of God is the good of the Creator but our glory is but the good of the Creature 2. To serve God freely is to serve him willingly As we say of a man that doth a thing willingly he doth it freely for that is the very essence of the Will that which is not done freely is not done with the Will Oh observe thy self Thou Professor it may be prayest in thy closet but if thou durst omit it thou wouldest not pray thou art not drunk but if thou durst for shame thou wouldest not be so temperate now thou dost not pray nor abstain from sin willingly and freely 3. To serve God freely is to serve him abundantly to be liberal in his service He that is no niggard but is liberal in his gifts we call him free So he that serves God freely is no niggard of his service he is very liberal of his service to God As we say of a man that 's liberal of his Fare and liberal in his House he is free he cares not what he spends upon his friends he provides bountifully for them he calls for his Wines and Sweet-meats about him and thinks nothing too much for them we say this man hath a free and noble spirit so the Saints that serve God freely think they can never do enough for him he makes abundant Provision to entertain Christ and sets a long Table full of Services like so many dishes before him When Christ said to Zachaeus To day I must abide at thy Luk. 19. 5. house How did Zachaeus entertain him Wondrous liberally saith he Behold Lord half of my goods I give to the poor Verse 8. and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation I restore him four-fold Zachaeus was wondrous free Christ Jesus might have any thing of him without speaking A Saint cares not what he spends upon Christ wilt thou have me give away one lust yea saith Christ there it is another saith Christ there it is Lord another yet saith Christ there 't is Lord nay all saith Christ take all then Veniat veniat Verbum Domini saith one Et submittemus ei sexcenta si nobis essent Colla Let the Word of the Lord come let it come and wee 'l submit six hundred necks to it if we had them Nay but not thy lusts only but thy life too saith Christ take it then saith St. Paul I am ready not to be bound only Acts 21. 13. but also to dye at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Vse 3. Is grace a gift then count thy work a gift not a burden but a gift not a toyle but a gift look upon every labour and every service and obedience for God as a gift As a Woman though she travel in pain yet counts her Child a gift from God As the Text saith Lo Children are an heritage Psal 127. 3. of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward The mother counts her child a gift for who
of natural things leaves thee but a natural man a well-polished Phil. 3. 8 9. natural man but the Knowledg of Christ makes thee a Saint the Knowledg of Jesus saves thee from thy sins the most exquisite Knowledg of all natural things leaves thee in thy sins but the Knowledg of Jesus Christ saves thee from thy sins And therefore saith Paul I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified Because Paul knew that no Knowledg would save himself and no Knowledg 1 Cor. 2. 2. he made others know would save them but the Knowledg of Jesus Christ and him crucified If all the men in the World were wounded and lay at the point of Death and there were but one herb in all the World that would heal them How would they all send abroad to know that one Herb and to know the virtue of it and how to use it and apply it How happy would they count themselves in the Knowledg of it My Beloved All the Men and Women in the World are wounded they are wounded to death and lye gasping for life and there is but one Herb in all the World that can heal and save them and that is Jesus Christ whose Divine nature did grow out of the bosom of God the Father from all Eternity and whose humane Nature did grow out of the sanctified Womb of the Virgin Oh! how precious should be the Knowledg of Jesus Christ then unto you Surely it is the greatest priviledg to know him 3. Grace begins in Knowledg in the Knowledg of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven as the stream begins in the spring for Knowledg is the spring of Grace the Knowledg of God is the spring of our Love to God the Knowledg of the Power and Truth of God is the spring of our Trust in God They that know thy name will trust in thee Psal 9. 10. Knowledg that saves us is not a bare notion of God it knows his power and therefore fears him knows his justice and therefore serves him knows his mercy and therefore trusts him knows his goodness and therefore loves him Reas 4. Because it is a Knowledg above the reach of Nature to know the Mysteries of Heaven is beyond the sphear of Nature and Reason They are foolishness to the natural man 1 Cor. 2. 14. neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Natural men cannot know supernatural Mysteries Carnal reason cannot apprehend spiritual Objects Surely they are some rare and stately things that stand thus aloft above the reach of Reason For mans Reason is an Eagle and flieth high and therefore these Mysteries of Heaven must needs be some high and glorious things which mans reason soaring upon its loftiest wings cannot attain unto Reas 5. Because few do know them we count that a great Priviledg which is committed but to a few and that 's the signification of the word Privilegium Reas 6. Because they are Mysteries i. e. hidden and secret things Now to know not plain and common things but to know Mysteries we count it a great Priviledg How did the Philosophers study to know the Mysteries and secrets of Nature and in what Honour were they had because they knew them What a priviledg is it then to know the Mysteries of Heaven And because they are such deep and rare Mysteries the Angels themselves desire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to peep into them Reas 7. Because they are Mysteries of God and is it not a 1 Pet. 1. 1◠superlative priviledg to know the Mystiries of God A man counts it an high priviledg to be of a Kings Privy-Council and to know his Royal secrets What a point of Honour is it then to know the Mind and Mysteries of the great God and have his Divine secrets communicated to them God can do no more unless he should make us God They that know the Kings secrets are next unto the King himself So doth God make them that know his secrets next unto himself First God makes all his secrets immediately known to Christ and Christ is next to God and Christ made known his secrets to the Apostles and they are next to Christ Reas 8. Because the Mysteries of Heaven are lovely things to see to they are bright beauties and exquisite rarities to look upon God is a lovely and beauteous thing therefore saith David Psal 27. 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord. His beauty is such that if we could but see some little of it it would enamour and ravish our hearts 't would wrap us into such an Extasie and Admiration of him that all other even the most excellent things would appear to be but base to him For First God is the only satisfactory Object of mans Knowledg The Knowledg of all other things could you behold them all with one intuitive Act is but an hungry beggarly Knowledg a sick Knowledg till thou know him The soul of Man her Appetite is never filled nor satisfied till she know God When I read some Authors and view their Ignorance of God I cannot but sit down and say Oh! what a Priviledg is it to know God! I will give you an Instance Pliny A man of vast parts who writes the History of Nature Lib. 2. Cap. 7. Quisquis est Deus si modo est Alius c. Irridendum verò agere curam rerum humanarum illud quiequid est summum Ibidem Annè tam tristi atque multiplici Ministerio non pollui credamus Dubitemusvè Ibidem Verùm in his Deos agere curam rerum humanarum credi ex usu vitae est Ibidem Verùm in his Deos agere curam rerum humanarum credi ex usu vitae est Paenasquè Maleficiis aliquandò seras occupato Deo in tanta mole nunquam autem irritas esse Ibid. and you would think he had fathom'd the very bottom of Nature yet when he comes to speak of God saith he God whosoever he be if haply there be any other but the World Again saith he That the chiefest Power whatsoever it is meaning God hath care of mankind or of mens affairs is a thing to be derided or scorn'd at What dreadful darkness is this How uncomfortable to us that we have no God to mind our Conditions or manage our Events And his Reason is this as poor as his Assertion Can we believe that he should not be polluted with so sordid or base and so trouble some a service As if the Sun cannot shine upon a dunghil but it must be defiled And yet afterwards he saith Howbeit to believe that the Gods have care of mens Estates is useful and expedient for this life Whether he speaks this being forced by Conviction or out of Pollicy to keep men within Bounds rather than of Faith
saith What will it avail thee Tho. a Kempis to dispute profoundly of the Trinity if thou be void of grace and displease the Trinity High words surely make a man neither holy nor just but grace makes him dear to God It is vanity to seek after fading riches it is vanity to gape after withering honours vanity it is to wish to live long and to be careless to live well But now many will say grace doth increase in us we do reach after more grace and this many false hearts say they do My Beloved false grace may grow and doth lengthen out in desires and dimensions many that are Hypocrites glory in this that their graces grow I must therefore shew you the difference between the increase of true grace and counterfeit grace 1. The Hypocrite grows out of Emulation The true Saint grows out of love to goodness The Hypocrite is grieved that others go beyond him and over-match him not love to grace but a spirit of envy makes him to advance The true Saint grows out of Duty to God to bring in more glory to his Name The growth of others is matter of his joy not of his repining He is glad that God is better served though it be by another his only grief is that himself can serve him no better 2. The Hypocrite another sort of them groweth in Parts but not in the Power of godliness in gifts and curiosities but not in vital and Divine quicknings In Knowledg and Speculations but not in strength against sin and temptations Judas by conversing with Christ could not but grow in Knowledg but being not incorporate into Christ never grew in grace But the true Saint grows in his spiritual life in Union to Christ in Communion with God The Hypocrite may grow in quantity but not in quality the real Saint grows as much in quality as in quantity 3. The Hypocrite may grow more and more in hearing the word but the Saint grows in tasting the word and in tasting that most deliciously which is most spiritual The Hypocrite longs more after new truths but the Saint tastes old Promises with new affections and old truths with a new appetite The Knowledg of an Hypocrite may grow bigger but the Knowledg of a Saint grows more savoury and judicious The Hypocrite may know more Objects than he did before but the Saint relishes the things more sweetly which he knew before The Hypocrite may grow in enlargements and pour out longer Prayers but the Saint prays more spiritually The Hypocrites zeal may be a great fire but the Saints zeal is more heavenly and discreet there is more incense in his golden censer his love more solid and active more to God and less to himself and the world The hypocrite is like a tree that bears great Apples but they are sower but the Saint the fruit he bears it may be are not such big Apples but they are sweet Apples the juice is better that gives them a more pleasant relish in Gods palate There is a sweeter juice of love and kindness and godly sorrow and filial delight in God in a Saints duties and here the Saints growth chiefly lyes his fruit groweth more ripe and mellow and so more pleasant and sweet His Prayers are not bigger in quantity but better in quality he grows in choiceness of spirit he comes to the Throne of grace with a more precious esteem of Christ upon his heart He comes to the word with a dearer thirst upon his palate 't is the same Christ that is set still before him but he relisheth Christ more sweetly receiveth and tasteth the same promises more ravishingly trembleth at the same threatnings more tenderly and meltingly Whereas the hypocrite is cloyed with the word if it be not dish'd up to his palate but the Saints palate is spiritualized to the word The hypocrites tast of Sermons is flatted by reading of Books but the Saints taste is quickned by the sense of his wants For this is the true use of reading and the end of Knowledg To make VS more sensible of our wants and make Christ more excellent in our eyes Therefore in taking notes the hypocrite picks out matter here and there according to his nice and licquorish palate but the hungry Saint takes all and feeds upon all that comes before him feeling his need to be stirred up to consider what he knows Vse 9. Here 's a sweet ground to assure the Saints perseverance To him that hath grace he shall not lose it but more shall be given him he shall not lose what he hath but he shall have more than he hath he shall not fall away but stand faster They that fall away are those that have not truth of grace at all Whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath But the poor Saint that hath To him shall be given and he shall have more abundance He shall be so far from losing grace that he shall have more grace Dub. But my grace is but little I cannot stand Sol. God shall make thee stand Rom. 14. 4. Where disputing of him that is weak in the faith Vers 1. saith he Vers 4. HE shall be holden up for God is able to make him stand The more weak thou art the more tender God will be over thee if thou canst not stand he will make thee stand thou shalt stand in his arms In Christ you have not only the graces of Christ but the spirit of Christ I pray you mark it 1. If Adam had stood how long we know not it may be had he stood the first shock of Satans temptation all his Posterity should have had that assistance of the Spirit that they should have never fallen as the Holy Angels that were contented with their first station and abode in the truth when the other Angels fell this was their Obedience that they were loyal in the day of their great Tryal when the others their Fellow angels rebelled and their reward was That they are confirmed in their happy condition and secured in it so if Adam hemself in whom we were all one man had stood I say if he therefore had stood it out to the last both he and all his Posterity should have had the continual and constant assistance of the Spirit and been confirmed so as never to have fallen And the ground is the rule of Justice for if he falling all his Posterity are forsaken of God and put under the Reign of Sin and Death and Satan then he standing all his Posterity should have had the perpetual Presence of Gods Spirit and been under the everlasting Reign of the Spirit of grace and life 2. But now Jesus Christ the second Adam who was the Head of the new seed and family he stood and therefore propagates to all his Posterity the perennious Presence and constant assistance of the Spirit whereby being once begotten of him they live for ever and abide in him As in Adams fall
any one whoever he be that finds his own guiltiness and death and is affected with it in his heart Every burdened sinner hearing Christ propounded in the Covenant of Grace with this only condition of believing in him may come to him for life Christ and the Covenant of Grace is offered to unregeneraete Mr. Wilson Help to Faith 80 81. Ibid. men who being enabled by Gods Spirit to perform the condition which is to believe in Christ Christ is theirs A man must not stay to receive Christ till he first find in himself regeneration and repentance towards God which is wrought out of it but he must first believe that in Christ he may receive the promised Spirit unto his new creation or conversion unto God for Christ is given to give us these things he is sent to bless men in turning them from their sins And Act. 3. 26. Act. 5. 31. him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins And therefore we are not to look first to find Repentance and Conversion in our selves and then come to Christ to obtain forgiveness but we must seek both in him we must take Christ that we may have these from him as the woman that had an incurable Issue 1. Believed that she should be healed if she touch't the Hem of Christs garment 2. She ventured and resolved in her self to touch him 3. Upon the touch felt in her self that she was healed so poor sinners that feel loathsom diseases of sin in them are to go and venture to touch Christ and to expect pardon and ho liness from him And therefore see your error you who will not believe till you have first grace strengthening you to duty and subduing sin in you if you could clear up your Conversion and find these things in you then you could believe and not else and therefore thou must first believe in Christ before thou canst clear up thy Conversion to thee To answer this Branch how shall I believe till I clear up my Conversion Thirdly There is a double Act of Faith 1. There is indeed an act of Faith which cannot be had Mr. Arcker P. 30. till this be had which Divines call the reflect act where by a soul believes that it doth believe believes that it is in Christ bebelives that it is in a saved condition before this act can be there must be repentance and holiness and tryal of our graces Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own 2 Cor. 13. 5. selves know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates This act presupposeth Faith and is a knowing that we have Faith This is not the necessary means to salvation but to assurance and comfort 2. There is another act of Faith namely the direct act which is believing not a believing that I do believe nor a believing that Jesus Christ is mine but a believing on Christ that Christ may be mine and that I may be saved and sanctified by him and this must be before we can repent we must not stay from this act of Faith till we can clear up our Conversion to us but believe in Christ that we may love God and clear up our Conversion to our selves For mark you Faith is one part or grace of thy Conversion Thou canst not clear up thy conversion till thou dost believe surely then thou must first believe also in Christ as well as repent that thou mayst clear up thy conversion to thy soul And therefore when Satan shall tempt thee what hast thou to do to cast thy self upon Christ seeing thou knowest not that he is thine What right hast thou to put thy self on Christ and art not sure he is thine Oh saith a soul if I might trust my self on Christ I would Thou mayst cast thy soul upon Christ before thou knowest Note him to be thine Observe there is a twofold trusting and relying upon Christ 1. The one is at a venture without a perswasion Mr. Archer p. 20. of an Interest in him grounded on Gods free offer of him to all sorts of people This is the ground of our first believing on our first coming to him and entertaining of him for if this were not people would never receive him This seems to be no more than a confidence in his ability and willingness to save all that come to him Thus the man that had the leprosie came and cast himself on Christ at a venture he knew that Christ could heal him and therefore faith he Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean He is not sure that Christ would heal him only makes a venture upon the pleasure and goodness of Christ to heal him 2. The other is a more certain thing grounded on the Knowledg of an Interest in Christ Because a soul knows it hath Christ for its own therefore it rests on him confidently for salvation This trust follows the Knowledg of our believing and is a further act and degree of Faith and comes after our coming to him and receiving of him The Lord is my rock and my fortress Psalm 18. 2. and my deliverer My God my strength in whom I will trust my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my tower O my God I trust in thee let me not be ashamed let not mine Psalm 25. 2. enemies triumph over me And therefore poor sinners let me oh let me invite you to Jesus Christ I tell you Christ and Justification by Christ are free for any person whatsoever to obtain by believing See John 6. 35 I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst He that cometh he that believeth that is any one that cometh any one that believeth It is an indefinite proposition and is equivalent to an universal It is as much as to say whosoever comes as it is elsewhere expressed That whosoevrr believeth in him John 3. 16. should not perish but have everlasting life that is any person whosoever may upon believing obtain Christ and Life by him The meaning is not only that Christ is free for all sorts of people for all sorts of people shall actually have Christ because God hath his elect of all sorts both poor and rich bond and free Jews and Gentiles young and old men and women wise and foolish one nation and another but that there is no particular person in the world to whom the Gospel comes who may not by believing have Christ and Salvation by him Christ is so freely tendered to all comers to all receivers to all that believe in him that there is no person of any Countrey or Condition of any Age or Sex or Sins whatsoever but by believing he may have Christ and Grace and Holiness by him This was typified by the years of Jubilee In
appear admirable in beauty and comeliness That which Paul speaks to Timothy bidding him do the work of an 2 Tim. 2. 15. Evangelist bidding him shew himself a work-man that needs not to be ashamed is most true concerning the great God he will do all his works so that he needs not to be ashamed AN ACCOUNT OF GODS TEMPTATIONS Gen. XXII 1 2. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him Abraham And he said Behold here am I. And he said Take now thy Son thine only Son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of THIS Chapter presents you with a story that hath no parallel all ages have stood amazed at it not knowing whether they should more wonder at Gods Command or Abrahams Obedience Here is an admirable composure or mixture of joy and sadness sadness and joy you may so we do it with holy reverence liken it to a Comedy whose property as some have said is to begin with trouble and end in cheerfulness The subject-matter of this story is Abraham tempted to sacrifice his Son Isaac or if you please God tempting Abraham to sacrifice his only Son You have here 1. The Temptation 2. The effect of it First The temptation is that Abraham must sacrifice his Son Secondly The effect of it was an Obligation upon Abraham to perform this service and therefore you shall find at the third verse that Abraham rose up early in the morning and sadled his ass to dispatch quickly what he was commanded Gods Command and Mans Obligation are Relatum Correlatum Relatives Indeed Gods Command and the Creatures Obedience are not Relatives for where God commands obedience doth not always follow but his command and our obligation to obey are Relatives secundum esse the one doth necessarily put the other in being In the temptation you have 1. The efficient God 2. The act did tempt 3. The subject of the Temptation Abraham God did tempt Abraham 4. The means whereby God did tempt him by giving him an extraordinary command such as was never before nor since given to any man for the Father to sheath his sacrificing knife in the throat of his own son verse the second Where the Hebrew words are wondrous emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take now thy Son thine only one or thy only begotten one unigenitum so some render it whom thou lovest even Isaac Rabbi Salomon observes a Gradation thus Take thy Son but saith he that is Abraham I have two Sons therefore saith God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thine only son saith Abraham either of them is the only son of their mother therefore saith God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 him whom thou lovest saith Abraham I love both therefore saith God Isaac whom thou lovest so well But how was Isaac his only son when he had Ishmael also because he had Ishmael therefore the septuagint render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy beloved one so at the 12 and 16 verses the septuagint render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Isaac was his only Son remaining in his Family for Ishmael was gone Thy only son by thy wife thy legitimate Son as opposed to Ishmael begotten of the Bond-woman thy only son to whom the promise is made and of whom the Messiah is to come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 take him now do thou thy self take him and offer him for a burnt-offering do thou do it by thy self not by another by thy own hand not by anothers This Command of God was just and no ways contrary to that standing Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt not kill For though it be unjust and against that law for any man to take away the life of a party not guilty of a Capital Crime deserving death yet just it is and God may justly command man to take away the life of a person never so innocent for these reasons 1. Because that law thou shalt not kill did not bind God 2. And chiefly a potestate Dei from the Authority of God because God is the supream Lord and hath jus vitae necis in omnes an absolute Dominion of life and death over all which no creature hath or can have 3. A potentia Dei the power of God And that 1. Because God could restore life taken away and raise up Isaac again which man cannot do nay it is above the sphere of all created activity 2. God if he never restore the life on earth that he takes away yet he can give a better life an everlasting life in the room of it You see then the command was just and this was the Medium or the means whereby God tempted Abraham 5. The end of this Command was 1. To try Abraham and make proof of him whether he loved God or his Son Isaac more 2. And to manifest unto Abraham himself his faith and love to God 3. And to make him a rare example and pattern of both to all future generations 6. You have the circumstance of time when God tempted Abraham or if you will the order and succession of this temptation at the first verse After these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies words But that signification cannot stand here it signifies as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek also things and matters Which will give occasion to explain a Text to you Psal 65. 3. Iniquities prevail against me as for our transgressions thou shalt purge them away Where by iniquities you must by no means understand Davids iniquities or sins as if he had said My sins or iniquities prevail against me but the iniquities or unjust courses of his adversaries they prevailed against him But the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words of iniquity words put for things things or matters of iniquity not Davids own but his Adversaries practised by them against him that is their unjust courses prevailed against him to the trouble and vexation of him and of Gods People yet saith he as for our transgressions which had given their Adversaries such power against them thou upon our serious seeking of thee hast purged them away that is hast pardoned them Well then to return to my Text God tempted Abraham after these things that is those things that went before but how long this was after it appears not by the Text save only that Isaac was then of sufficient age and strength to carry a burden of wood for sacrifice being then as Josephus saith five Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 14. and twenty years old Abraham one hundred and twenty five and Sarah one hundred and fifteen though the Hebrews some of them say that Isaac was thirty seven years old After these things God tempted Abraham after all the preceding passages of his life more particularly after so many and so great promises made to him
temptations there 's never a temptation but it is from Divine ordination and therefore is managed by the reins of Divine moderation so that as the expert Rider rules the horse and the skilful Coach-man by his dexterity guides the Coach so the wise and merciful God governs the temptation he holds the temptation in his hand with Curb and Bridle he allots it its bounds and graciously prescribes its measure so that it shall not be upon you out of measure Oh! what a rare comfort is this to a poor soul that a God so good circumscribes temptation within limits it may flow in upon you but shall not over-flow you I say it shall not overflow the banks God himself will keep and bound it within its channel its Waves may drench you but they shall not drown you The Great God that saith to the Sea Hitherto shall thy proud waves go and no farther the same God sits upon the waters of every temptation 5. In all your trials and temptations act your faith upon this principle that God will extract good out of them this is the Royal prerogative of God to do so it is his peculiar and he will do so it is spoken of him as one of his incommunicable excellencies that God commanded light to shine out of darkness It is the property of the Devil to draw evil out of good and darkness out of light but it is the sweet property of a gracious God to draw good out of evil and light out of darkness he will turn the shadow of death into the morning tempted souls the Lord who tries you will extract good out of your trials and temptations Vse 3. Expect a perpetual succession of temptations Tota fidelium vita tentatio est all the life of Believers is a temptation When one leaves you look certainly for another In your new birth you are born to temptations this life is but a long chain of successive and continued temptations The temptations of Abraham were many some casting up the accounts of his temptations that are recorded reckon them to be ten it may be I may find more concerning his habitations he was to change them thrice 1. He left his own Native Country at Gods Command and quit all his kindred and dwelt in Charran Act. 7. 3 4. 2. From thence he went at the same command into Canaan whither must he go to a place he knew not to men that knew not him 3. And there God gave him no inheritance in it no not so Act. 7. 5. much as to set his foot on which seems to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a gift and no gift to promise to give him a land and then to give him not a foot of land in it a shrewd temptation 4. Then there was a famine in the land of Canaan and Abraham Gen. 12. 10. was fain to go down to Egypt Canaan doth not afford him bread which yet he must believe shall flow with milk and honey to his seed 5. In Egypt he was tempted about Sarah his wife and he said Gen. 12. 11. to 17. she was his sister And Pharaoh took her into his house he was under danger of his life and which was worse his wife was under danger of her chastity 6. Then when he came into Canaan again Lots Herdsmen Gen. 13. and his fell out where they should feed their cattel and they did separate from one another and Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan he had brought Lot along with him and nourished him as his child in his bosom and now to be used so unkindly by Lot here 's another temptation 7. Then Lot his kinsman is taken prisoner and Abraham is Gen. 14. fain to engage himself in a War against four Kings for the rescue of Lot taken Captive 8. Then he was afflicted for want of an heir and complains to God What wilt thou give me since I go childless Gen. 15. 2. 9. Then again as he is offering sacrifice and the Sun was going down an horrour of great darkness fell upon him and he Gen. 15. 12 13. received sad news from God that his seed should be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years 10. Then he is tempted with the delay of performance God Gen. 16. 1. promised him a Son but tries him sorely with delay of performance the execution of performance is put off And Sarai Abrahams wife bare him no children Abraham was old ere he had the promise and hope of a Son and still the older the more uncapable yet God makes him wait five and twenty years for performance 11. Then at his wifes perswasion he goes in to Hagar her Gen. 16. 5. maid and she brings him a Son called Ishmael and there falls out discord and contention between Sarai and Hagar and Sarai chides Abraham for it and lays the blame upon him 12. Then God commands him to be circumcised and to circumcise all his seed and all that were in his house And Gen. 17. 24. Abraham was ninety years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin Indeed circumcision was the sign of the Covenant and Abraham was not only content to wait for God but also to smart for him God bids him cut his own flesh and he is willing to carry this painful mark of the love of his Creator not regarding the soreness of his body for the confirmation of his soul 13. Then he is tempted again by Abimelech and saith that Gen. 20. 2. Sarai his wife was his sister and Abimelech takes Sarai his wife from him 14. Then he is sorely tempted again by the ejection of his Son Ishmael for Sarah said unto Abraham Cast out the bond-woman Gen. 21. 10 11. and her son for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son even with Isaac And the thing was very grievous in Abrahams sight because of his son 15. Then he is tempted here God commanded him to kill and sacrifice his Son all the former were but easie tasks of faith to this all ages have stood amazed at this to sacrifice his Son All the other were but mole-hills to this great Mountain Dost thou take pleasure in humane sacrifice or if thou wilt have it must I be the Monster of all parents to do it must my hands destroy the fruit of mine own loins If thou wilt have him must I my self do it what none else but I my self must do it A temptation most transcendent and yet this follows after all the rest Sirs What say you Do you think to live quiet you have been tempted and now you hope to be quiet mistake not look for more still and more yet and more continually Do you think at the end of a temptation there 's an end of temptations No no they must begin again God hath more work for you to do God will
Christ Jesus Christ doth all in us acting and referring all our actions to the glory of his Father as Christ did so must the Christian his center must be the bosom of God all his actions and sufferings must be pure and referred to the glory of God his intentions must look only upon God his desires must be only to please God his care only to follow God his contentment wholly in God Thus I say his thoughts his designs his works must bear the Image of Jesus Christ he must do all of God all to God and all for God 3. We must imitate Jesus Christ in self-denial 4. We must imitate Jesus Christ in accepting humiliations and sufferings If any man will be my disciple let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me The Apostle also who is but the eccho of Christ resounds the same lesson when he saith That Jesus Christ suffered for us and that 1 Pet. 2. 21. we must imitate him leaving us an example that we should follow his steps After this surely we cannot in reason find any thing hard for if Christ from his birth to his death hath espoused sufferings and embraced the cross Wherefore should we refuse being his Children to live and dye as he did For as the Christian must be the Image of Christ so he must bear with Jesus Christ all sorts of commotions and pains humiliations and sufferings that our life may be an express Image of his life which appeared always in desertions lowness and sufferings so ours must be but the same state of sufferings when he calls us thereunto 5. Imitate Jesus Christ in love the love of a Christian must be the same with that of Jesus Herein appears the great difference between Christian vertues and Moral or Humane For instance The love that God requires of a Christian must not be 1. That of a Pagan who loves them that love him 2. Nor that of a Politician who loves according to his humour or interest 3. Nor that of a Jew who loves not but out of an hope of reward promised or a fear of judgments The love of a Christian must be the same with that of Jesus Christ that is he must love with the same love wherewith Jesus loves he must love with the love of Jesus as he must live the life of Jesus Walk in love as Jesus Christ hath John 13. 34. loved you I give you saith Christ a new Commandment that ye love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOV To love is no new Commandment this law was imprinted in our hearts from the beginning of the world but the manner of loving is new that is to love by the same love wherewith Jesus loved us Now thus must we love we must love with a new love the new love of Jesus hath made it a new Commandment Oh! how great is this love how pure how free from all self-interest how strong and powerful since it is the same love that made Jesus to be born and dye for us even then when we were his enemies and sin reigning in us And therefore we must love our enemies with the love of Jesus Christ we must love our enemies with the same love wherewith Christ loved us when we were his enemies And therefore we must pray for enemies for so did Christ for his Father forgive them so did Steven Lord lay not this sin to their charge 3. Christians are in Christ Jesus as in the conserving and supporting cause of their graces The Saint is in Christ much like as the accident is in its subject for as Accidentis esse est inesse the Being of an accident consists in its being in the Subject so the very being of a Christian lyeth in his being in Christ he lives and his graces live while he is in Christ he is lost and all his graces are lost if he be once separated from Christ Abide in me and I in you as the branch John 15. 4. cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me Sirs Are ye in Christ be sure you keep in him then for out of him ye dye and give up the ghost as the fish dyes out of the water and the coal dyes out of the fire so grace dyes and expires out of Jesus Christ 4. This expression In Christ Jesus All that will live godly in Christ Jesus speaks subjection to Christ We cannot be in Christ but we must be in him as our Head and Sovereign we are in him as Regnum in Rege as the Commonwealth is in a King that is in the Power of a King and as the members are in the head under its Regency to be ruled by its Influence and Authority so are we in Christ we are in him that we may be under him to be ruled and guided by him The Son of God hath infinite rights to VS and we have infinite obligations to him which the shortness of our days will not give us leave sufficiently to admire nor the weakness of our spirits to comprehend The law of subjection to Christ is fundamental and belongs to the constitution of Gods spiritual Kingdom for government in the very essence of it is an order of superiority and subjection the constitution of government lyes in determining the person that shall govern and the parties that shall be governed so the constitution of this Divine and Spiritual Kingdom of God is in his appointment of the Soveraignty of Christ and the Subjection of Man to him Soveraign and Subjects are the essential or integral parts which give essence to government and constitute its being and existence to obey is the essence of Subjects this subjection is the very essence of the Church and so of the Christian Our subjection to Christ consists 1. In an act of Honour and Adoration 2. In an act of Oblation 1. In an act of honour and adoration The Lord Christ the Son of God is infinitely adorable and we are obliged to honour and adore him with so much necessity that the very Devils and Damned are forced in some way to do it To form this Act we must acknowledg Jesus Christ the Son of God both God and Man we must regard him as our Soveraign and Redeemer as the cause and principle of all our happiness we must annihilate our selves before him and humble our selves even to the bottom of our souls we must accept him as our God King and All. 2. Another act of subjection to Jesus Christ is an act of Oblation whereby the soul offers her self wholly to Jesus Christ and renouncing her self resigns into his hand all that she is all the power that she hath over her self over all her actions over all things and to make her self more the servant to Jesus in a perfect condition she renounceth her own liberty and all the use she can make thereof giving it up into the hands of the Son of God of whom she
live godly in Christ Jesus they derive it from him and direct it to him they breath for him and bring forth all their actions for him for this is essential to an Evangelical life to do all in the strength of Christ as their root and to do all for Christ as their end And if this be a godly life to live to Christ then let us so think of him and so do that from henceforth our hearts and mouths may neither speak nor think but of him that all things else may be of no savour to us that nothing enter our spirit which resenteth not the Spirit and Odour of Jesus Christ and respires not his honour and glory I say let us be vigilant and faithful to do and desire nothing but the honour of Christ to regard nothing but his pleasure and glory so as to have no eyes but for Jesus no more life but what is consecrated to the honour of his Soveraignty and Greatness Vse We have shewed you what a godly life is and how you may attain a godly life Let us now stir you up to attain this godly life 1. Let me take St. Pauls word to Timothy that which he recommends to him is Piety Exercise thy self unto godliness 1 Tim. 4. 7. Truly all virtues are good and all suitable to the state of a Christian the acquisition and practise of them all useful and necessary but he would have his prime and chief care be To exercise thy self unto godliness for godliness is the Ornament and Mistress of all other virtues it leads us to God and makes use of all virtues to conduct us thither and having no Object but God teaches us the worship and honour that we must render to him and like a good mistress puts us into a ready and easie practise of virtues and entertains us in the exercise of actions that honour God and are acceptable to him 2. Godliness is profitable as Paul saith in the same place Bodily exercise profiteth little but godliness is profitable to all 1 Tim. 4. 8. things having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come True godliness is one of the principal foundations on which Christian perfection stands and is supported In the conduct of men all actions and exercises of their life are ruled according to the Piety and as we commonly say according to the Devotion they have If their Piety be not well-laid the rest of the Christian life will be unconstant and its exercises very uncertain and superficial as we see in the devotion of many which is only in the exterior Who as the Apostle saith having the form of godliness deny and despise the power thereof In such souls we see nothing solid nothing but inconstancy in their lives imperfection in their actions disquiet disturbance and adherence to several creatures in their spirits a small blast of adversity over-turns them Object But it is an hard thing to be godly we have Satan opposing us and he is too hard for us besides our own corruptions and strong temptations Answ While we strive to be godly we may safely expect the Presence of God he is never wanting to those that seek after him and never fails those that engage in his quarrels As he who plots sin shall be sure to find Satan standing at his right hand so he that pursues after God and Holiness shall find God nearer to him than he is to himself God hath not forsaken the earth but as he sustains the whole universe much more those who are seeking grace and participation of himself Are you then striving to be godly and aiming at a Divine life His almighty arms will bear you up and he 'l cherish you with his own goodness Wheresoever God beholds any breathings after himself he gives life to them as those which are his own breath in them where there is any serious and sober resolution against sin any real motion towards God there 's the blessing of heaven in it He that planted it will also water it and make it to bud and blossom and bring forth fruit Object But a godly life is an afflicted life Answ You have heard that grace in us is the life of Jesus in us We ought then to know what his life was The life of Jesus is Divinely Humane and Humanely Divine he is God and Man and therefore lives a life Divine and a life Humane As God he lives the life of God in the bosom of his Father a life of Glory Power and Majesty As Man he lived the life of Man in lowness humiliation in impotence in sufferings so that at the same he is living in the bosom of his Father and dying on the arms of the Cross There he reigns and governs and judges all the world here he is accused and accursed condemned and crucified at the same instant he is in the exaltation and greatness of his Majesty and in the lowness and humiliation of our Humanity Such also ought the Christian life to be on the one side it is great seeing grace makes us the Children of God elevates and unites us to God On the other side the same life is obscured dejected wholly in the spirit of humiliations and privations for grace cannot reign in the soul without operating therein annihilation death and humility Again The Saint by his Union to the Son of God is raised Eph. 2. 6. up and made to sit in heavenly places in Jesus Christ And at the same time the life of a Christian is exposed here to Temptations derided by men and condemned by the world at the same time it is in the greatest cherishing of God and under the fiercest agitation of the Cross So that an afflicted godly life should be no wonder being compared with the life of Christ Besides God enlightens the soul by grace 't is granted but 't is in annihilation he upholds her but 't is in confounding her he unites her to him but it is in separating her sometimes from himself and she remains separated from God as long as she remains upon earth While we are in the body we are absent from the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 6. so she is at once united and separated Again This is the Conduct of God over his Church If we reflect upon the highest works we shall find he puts not on the Ornament of Grace he lays not the foundation of her estate but in lowness his grace his gifts his spirit and his communications When did he come down from heaven and give her his law with such appearance of glorious Majesty as never the like was but when he had brought her into a wilderness When the Lord Christ instituted the Sacraments which are Conduit-pipes to convey his graces to his Church he chose bread water such things as are mean little or nothing esteemed among men In the Birth of the Church he took the Cross for the Throne of his Empire a Calvary for his Seat-Royal he rejected an estate by Poverty Sufferings and Martyrdom and at this day he doth the same in the Regency of his Church And according to Gods proceedings in the Conduct of his Church is likewise his carriage in the sanctification and government of our souls he leads them by the Cross he retires from them he hides himself he leaves them in privations he humbles them annihilates them smites them overthrows them Whereby is discovered how they are as I think deceived who in their devotions and religious exercises seek resentments enjoyments content and satisfaction and would know and feel the excellency and elevations of grace I call it a deceit as I suppose for Christian grace consists chiefly in privations in lowness in rigours and that is it they stand most in fear of and avoid But as the life of Jesus began in poverty and ended on the Cross so a perfect Christian who would live a life of grace must resolve to walk among Thorns to bear privations and sustain desertions for the Cross and Thorns are things proper to Christian-grace and to the love of Jesus Let us not so much seek after assurance of heaven as a thing to come as after heaven it self present in us For where Heaven comes into a heart it will bring its own light comfort and assurance along with it Get Heaven into your soul and you will easily have the assurance of Heaven Let us have a fire in a room and we shall quickly have the light and warmth of it there also Men seek the assurance of Heaven as a thing to come but neglect the present power and possession of Heaven it self in their souls Oh! let us get the Sun it self into us and then we shall not be without its shine and smiles within us FINIS Books Printed for and are to be Sold by Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel PResent State of New-England Burges's Husbandmans Companion Burges's Englands Bond. Adams's Catechism Survey of Quakerism A view of Antiquity by J. Honner Abyssus Mali or Man's Corruption by Nature by W. G. England's present and most great incumbent Duty by Robert Perrott The Ark of the Covenant opened or a Treatise of the Covenant of Redemption Janewayes Life Meads Almost Christian Mr. Cawtons Funeral Sermon Preached by Mr. Vincent and Mr. Hurst Phelpes Caveat against Drunkenness Wadsworths last Warning unto secure Sinners Kidder on the Sacrament Wells Funeral Sermon by Mr. Tho. Watson Mr. Wadsworths Funeral Sermon Preached by Mr. Bragg Bishop Reynholds Meditations on the Fall and Rising of St. Peter Practical Divinity of the Papists proved to be destructive unto Christianity and Mens souls Burroughs's four Treatises Dr. Collins on the Canticles