doth sweetly relish and take pleasure in as we would do to hear an Angel speak of the Holy things of the invisible Glory 3 And Relative Holiness it self though the lowest must be H 〈…〉 ured by us Holy offices and persons in them must be Re 〈…〉 d for their Relative Holiness Holy dayes must be holily 〈…〉 rved Holy Ordinances which also participate of the 〈…〉 of the Law as significative must be reverently used Due reverence must be given even to that which is lawfully by men â—â—voted to a Holy use as are Temples and Utensils of worship and the maintenance dedicated to the service of God That which is Holy must not be devoured Prov. 20. 25. nor used as we do things common and unclean â— Gods Holiness must make us Holy we must fall in Love with it and wholly conform our selves unto it Every part of Sanctifying grace must be entertained and cherished and excited and used by us Sin must be loathsome to us because it is contrary to the Holiness of God No Toad or Snake should seem to us so ugly A dead carkass is an unpleasant sight because it sheweth us a privation of natural life But an unholy soul is incomparably a more loathsome ghastly sight because it sheweth us the privation of the life of Holiness No man can well know the odiousness of sin and the misery and loathsomeness of the unholy soul that knoweth not the Holiness of God Speak unto all the Congregation of Israel and say unto them Ye shall be Holy for I the Lord your God am Holy Lev. 19. 2. Sanctifie your selves therefore and be ye Holy for I am the Lord your God Lev. 20. 7 8. As be that hath called us is Holy so must we be holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1. 25. It is an holy calling wherewith we are called 2 Tâ—â— 1. 9. We are sanctified to be a peculiar people to Christ Tit. 2. 14. That denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world ver 12. We are made an Holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2. 5. Rom. 12. 1 2. We must therefore present our bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable to God our reasonable service For we are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be Holy and without blame Ephes. 1. 4. and are Redeemed and Sanctified by Christ that we may be presented Glorious Holy and without blemish Ephes. 5. 26 27. See therefore that you follow Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12. 14. For Blessed are the Pure in heart for they shall see him Mat. 5. 8. 3. The Holiness of God must be to us a standing unanswerable Argument to shun all temptations that would draw us to be unholy and to confound all the words of wicded men that are spoken against Holiness Remember but that God is Holy and if thou like that which is spoken against God thou art his Enemy Think on the Prophesie of Henoch Jude 14. 15. Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him God will not hold him guiltless that taketh his holy Name in vain much less that blasphemeth Holiness which is the perfection of his blessed nature 4. The Holiness of God must possess us with a sense of our Uncleanness and further our Humiliation When Isaiah heard the Seraphims cry Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory Isa. 6. 3 He said Woe is mee for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts v. 5. 5. The Holiness of God must cause us to walk continually in his Fear and to take heed to all the affections of our souls and even to the manner of our behaviour when we come near to him in his Holy Worship What suffered the Beâ—shemiâ—es for unreverent looking into the Holy Ark 1 Sam 6. 19. and Uzzah but for touching it And what a dreadful example is that of the two Sons of Aaron that were slain by a devouâ—ing fire from the Lord for offering strange fire which he commanded not Lev. 10. 1 2. And Aaron was awed into silence by this account from God I will be sanctified in them that come nigh mee and before all the people I will be glorified v. 3. Take heed lest unreverence or deadness or customary heartless wordy services should be brought before a Holy God Take heed of hypocritical carnal worship The Holy God will not be mocked with complements and shews CHAP. XIX 18. THe next Attribute of God to be spoken of is His Veracity Truth and Faithfulness This is the result of his perfect Wisdome Goodness and Omnipotency For because he is most Wise and Powerful he cannot be Necessitated to Lye And because he is most Good he will not Lye Though God speaketh by none but a Created Voice and signifie his Will to us by men that in themselves considered are defectible yet what he maketh his Voice shall speak Truth and what he chooseth to signifie his Will shall truly signifie it He therefore condemneth Lying in man because it is contrary to his own Veracity For if any should say that God is under no Law and therefore is not bound to speak Ttuth or not deceive a Prophet or Apostle by his Inspirations I answer that he hateth Lying as contrary to his Perfect Nature and is himself against it and cannot possibly be guilty of it because of his own Perfection and not because he is under a Law Lying comes from some Imperfection either of Knowledge Power or Goodness which can none of them befall the Lord. The Goodness of the Creature is a Goodness of Conformity to an Obliging Law and the Goodness of the Law is a Goodness of Conformity to and expression of the Good Will of God But the Goodness of God is a Perfection of Essence the Primitive Goodness which is the Fountain and Standard and End of all other Good and not a Goodness of Conformity to another And this Attribute of God is of very great use to his servants 1. From hence we must be Resolved for Duty and for a holy heavenly life because the Commands of God are serious and his Promises and Threatnings True If God were not True that tells us of these great Eternal things then might we excuse our selves from Godliness and justifie the worldling in his sensual way There is nothing of common sense and reason that can be said against a Holy life by a man that denieth not the Truth of God or of his Word And to deny Gods Truth
This they preferred or ventured on before a holy heavenly life And this is it that Believers are labouring to escape in all their holy care and diligence It is an Infinite value that is put upon the blood of Christ the promises of God the ordinances and means of Grace and grace it self and the poorest duties of the poorest Saints because they are for an Infinite Eternal glory No Mercy is small that tasts of Heaven as all doth or should do to the Believer No action is low that aims at Heaven And O how lively should the Resolutions and courage of those men be that are travelling sighting and watching for Eternity How full should be their Comforts that are fetcht from the foresight of Infinite Eternal Comforts As all things will presently be swallowed up in Eternity so methinks the present apprehension of Eternity should now swallow up all things else in the soul. Object But saith the Unbeliever if God have made man for Eternity it is a wonder that there are no more lively Impressions of so Infinite a thing upon the souls of all Our sense of it is so small that it makes me doubt whether we are made for it Answ. Consider 1. That benummedness and sleep and death is the very state of an unholy soul Hast thou cast thy self into a sleepy senseless disease and wilt thou argue thence against Eternity This is as if the blind should conclude that there is no Sun or that the eye of man was not made to see it because he hath no sight himself Or as if you should think that man hath not any life or feeling because your palsie limbs do not feel Or that the stomack was not made for meat because the stomacks of the sick abhor it 2. And for believers 1. You may see by their lives that they have some apprehensions of Eternity why else do they differ from you and deny themselves and displease the world and the flesh it self why do they set their hearts above if they have not lively thoughts of an Eternity 2. But if you aske me Why their apprehensions are not a thousand times more lively about so Infinite a thing I answer 1. Their Apprehensions must be suitable to their State Our state here is a state of Imperfection and so will our apprehensions be But a perfect state will have perfect apprehensions It is no proof that the Infant in the womb is not made to come into this world and see the Sun and converse with men because he hath no apprehensions of it Our state here is a conjunction of the soul to a frail distempered body and so neer a conjunction that the actions of the soul must have great dependance on the Body And therefore our Apprehensions are limited by its frailty and the soul can go no higher then the capacity of the Body will allow 2. And our Apprehensions now are fitted to our Use and benefit We are now Believers and must live by faith And therefore must not be Beholders and live by sense If Eternity were open to mens Natural sight or we had here as clear and lively apprehensions of it as those have that are there then it were not thanks no praise to us to be believers or to obey and live as Saints And then God should not Govern man as man here in the way by a Law but as a beast by sense or as the glorified that have possession Where there are perfect Apprehensions of God and Glory there will be also perfect Love and Joy and Praise and consequently perfect Happiness and this were to make Earth and Heaven the way and the end to be all one Perfect apprehensions are kept for a perfect state of Happiness But here it is well if we have such Apprehensions as are fitted to the use of travellers and soldiers as will carry us on and prevail against the difficulties of our course If you had never been at London you could not have any such clear Apprehensions of the place as those that see it have And yet your imperfect Apprehensions might be sufficient to make you take a journey thither and you may come as safely and certainly to it as if you had seen it Moreover the body the brain which the soul in Apprehending now makes use of cannot bear such Apprehensions as are suitable to the thousandth part of the greatness of the object without distraction The smallest eye may see the sun but the greatest cannot endure to gaze upon its Glory much less if it were at the neerest approach It s a mercy oâ— mercies to give us such Apprehensions of Eternity as are meet for passengers to bring us thither and it is part of our Mercy that those Apprehensions are not so great as to distract and over whelm us 4. Lastly The Eternity of God must teach the soul contentedness and patience under all labours changes sufferings and dangers that are here below Believing Soul draw neer look seriously on Eternity and try whether it will not make such Impressions as these upon thee Art thou weary of Labours either of the mind or body Is not Eternity long enough for thy Rest Canst thou not afford to work out the day light of this life when thou must Rest with Christ to all Eternity Canst thou not run with patience so short a race when thou lookest to so long a Rest Canst thou not watch one hour with Christ that must Reign with him to all Eternity Dost thou begin to shrinke at sufferings for Christ when thou must be in Glory with him for ever How short is the suffering how long is the Reward Dost thou begin to think hatdly of the dealing of the Lord because his people are here afflicted and made the scorn and by-word of the world why is not Eternity long enough for God to shew his Love and bounty to his people in Is not the day at hand when Lazarus and the Rich worldling both must hear But now he is comforted and thâ—n art tormented Luk. 16. 25. Did not that Now câ—me â—â—me enough which was the entrance of Eternity Even Jesus the Author and perfecter of our saith for the Joy that was â—â—t before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God! consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lâ—st yâ—â— be wâ—â—â—ied and saint in your minds Heb. 12. 2 3. Dâ—st 〈…〉 the prosperity of the wicked and prevalency of the Churches Enemies Look then unto Eternity and 〈…〉 e whether that be not long enough for the 〈…〉 aâ—d the wicked to be tormented Wouldst 〈…〉 their time Dost thou begin to 〈…〉 of Christ oâ— the truth of his promises because he doth 〈…〉 O what is a thousand years to Eternity is there not yet time enough before thee for Christ to make good all his promises in Were not those Disciples sharply but justly rebuked as Fools and slow of heart to believe that when
wilt thou distrust him O how great is the goodness that he hath laid up for them that fear him which he hath wrought for them that Trust in him before the sons of men Psal. 31. 19. The Lord redeemeth the souls of his servants and none of them that Trust in him shall be desolate Psla. 34. 22 Are thy straits too great thy work too hard Commit thy way unto the Lord Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass Psal. 37. 5. In thy lowest state look up to the Almighty and say What time I am afaid I will Trust in thee In God have I put my Trust I will not fear what man can do unto me Psal. 56. 3 4. The Lord is my Rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my strength in whom I will put my Trust my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower Psal. 18. 2. He is a buckler to all that Trust in him Some Trust in Chariots and some in Horses but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God Psal. 20. 7. Trust not in the Creature that is in vanity and infirmity There is not Almightiness in man or any Creature It is better therefore to Trust in the Lord then to put confidence in man It is better to Trust in the Lord then to put confidence in Princes Psal. 118. 7 8. what a working passage is that Jer. 17. 5 6 7. Thus saith the Lord Cursed be man that Trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord For he shall be like the heath in the deserts and shall not see when good cometh Blessed is the man that Trusteth in the Lord whose Hope the Lord is For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh 2. Trust also in God as one that is assured that no Enemy is too strong for the Almighty Alas what is an Army of Dust to Omnipotency If the Lord do but arise his Enemies will be scattered and they that hate him will flee before him as smoak is driven away and as wax melteth before the fire the wicked shall perish at the presence of the Lord Psal. 68. 1 2. while the Lord of Hosts is for us we need not fear if hosts come against us As worst they can but Kill our bodies And Greater is he that is in us then he that is in the world 1 Joh. 4. 4. Oh what a match have the miserable Enemies of the Church what a work do they undertake what a desperate attempt do they enterprise to strive against Heaven and overcome Omnipotency 3. Trust in the Lord as one that believeth that no Means or Instruments are too small or weak for Almightness successfully to use No matter who the Instrument be how mean and weak and despicable if it be but an Almighty hand that uses it A few poor fishermen and despised people shall pull down Satans Kingdom in the world and conquer the greatest and bring in the Nations to the faith if Omnipotency be with them 4. The Almightiness of God must fill our hearts with Courage and Resolueion in his Cause and make us go on with greatest alacrity in his work Though we must be Doves and Lambs for innocency and meekness yet must we be souldiers for valour and stability Shall we flag or shrink that have Omnipotency on our side who ever scorneth thee hateth thee threatneth thee imprisoneth thee is not the Almighty enough to set against them all for thy encouragement 5. The Almightiness of God must be the Comfort of all that have Interest in him O did the blind world but see him that is Omnipotent or know the strength that is engaged for the weakest Saint they would soon see which is the stronger side and which to cleave to for their security O Blessed people that have the Almighty on their side and engaged with them against their enemies and to do their works and answer their desires How can any of them perish when the Almighty is engaged for their salvation The Father is Greater then all and none shall take them out of his hands Joh. 10. 29. How glad would men be in the beginning of a war to know which side will prove the stronger that they may joyn with that Can the side that God is on be conquered If you are wise observe what cause is his and let that be yours It s hard to Kick against the Pricks Woe to those souls that the Almighty is against and that dash themselves on the Rock that they should build on CHAP. VIII 7. THe next Attribute that must work upon us is the Infinite Wisdom or Omniscience of God Psal. 147. 5. His understandig is Infinite And the Impressions that this should make upon our souls are these 1. Delight in Wisdom that you may in your places be like to God The New man is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that Created him Col. 3. 10. If God be infinitely Wise those then are the most excellent that are the Wisest Ignorance is the souls blindness and the privation of the Image of God on the understanding Wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness Eccles. 2. 13. To desire as Adam did any of that Knowledge that God hath reserved to himself or is unnecessary for us is not indeed to be Wise in our desires Unnecessary Knowledge is but a trouble But to Know the Lord and his revealed Will and the way of life is the light and glory of our minds He that hath lost his eye sight hath lost his principal natural delight and is as out of the world while he is in it And the ignorant souls that are void of the heavenly Illumination must needs be void of the delights of Grace and though they live in the visible Church where the beauty of Holiness is the excellency of the Saints yet they do not see this beauty but are like the Infidels that are out of the Church while they are in it The Blind are in continual danger They know not where they set their feet And they know not when to be confident nor when to fear sometimes they are afraid where there is no cause because there may be cause for ought they know And sometime they are fearless at the very brink of death and little think of the evil that they are neer Why do our poor deluded people so boldly live in an unconverted state but because they Know not where they are Why do they so carelesly lie down and rise in an unsanctified condition unpardoned unready for death and judgement and under the condemnation of the Law but because they know not the misery or danger in which they stand Why do they go on so carelesly and wilfully in sin and despise the counsel of their Teachers and of the Lord and take a holy life as needless but because
it is a more sweet and excellent state of life to be the Spouse of Christ and his members and serve God as friends and children with Love and Thankfulness then to serve him meerly as the most loyal subjects or with an obedience that hath less of Love 9. In the way of Redemption Holiness is more admirably exemplified in Christ then it was or would have been in Adam Adam would never have declared it in that eminency of Charity to others submission to God contempt of the world self-denyal and conquest of Satan as Christ hath done 10. And in the way of Redemption there is a double obligation laid upon man for every duty To the obligations of Creation all the obligations of Redemption and the new Creation are superadded And this threefold cord should not so easily be broken Here are moral means more powerfully to hold the soul to God 11. And in this way there is a clearer discovery of the everlasting state of man and life and immortality are more fully brought to light by the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 10 then for ought we find in Scripture they were to innocent man himself No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son that is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him Joh. 1. 18. For no man hath ascended up into heaven but he that came down from heaven even the son of man which is in heaven Joh 3. 13. 12. Man will be advanced to the judging of the ungodly and of the conquered Angels even by the good will of the Father and a participation in the honour of Christ our head and by a participation in his Victories and by our own Victories in his strength by the right of Conquest we shall judge with Christ both Devils and men that were enemies to him and our salvation as you may see 1 Cor. 6. 2 3. And there is more in that promise then we yet well understand Rev. 2. 26 27. He that overcometh and keepeth my words unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of Iron as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my Father 13. And that which Augustine so much insisteth on I think is also plain in Scripture that the Salvation of the Elect is better secured in the hands of Christ then his own or any of his posterities was in the hands of Adam We know that Adam lost that which was committed to him But we know whom we have believed and are perswaded that he is able to keep that which we commit to him against that day 1 Tim. 1. 12. Force not these Scriptures against our own Consolation and the glory of our Redeemer and then judge Joh. 7. 2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him Joh. 6. 3. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Ver. 39. And this is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day Joh. 10. 26 27 28 29. But yee believe not because yee are not of my sheep as I said unto you My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish and none shall take them out of my hands My Father which gave them me is greater then all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hands Eph. 1. 3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in Love Having predestinated us to the adoption of his children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved Being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh all things after the counsel of his own will Ver. 11. And if Faith and Repentance and the right disposition of the will it self be his resolved gift to his Elect and not things left meerly to our uncertain wills then the case is past all question 2 Tim. 2. 25 26. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves our of the snare of the Devil Eph. 2. 8. By grace yee are saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God Gal. 5. 22. The fruit of the spirit is Love Faith Phil. 1. 29. To you it is given on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him Act. 13. 48. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed Jer. 24. 7. And I will give them an heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shall return unto me with their whole heart Ezek. 11. 19 20. And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them and they shall be my people and I will be their God Ezek. 36. 26 27. 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 give you an heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes See also Heb. 8. 6 7 8 9 10. where this is called the new and better Covenant I will put my Laws in their minds and write them in their hearts Jer. 31. 33. And Jer. 32. 39 40. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them and I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me 1 Cor. 4. 7. Who makes thee to differ and what hast thou that thou didst not receive Much more may be produced from which it is evident that Christ is the Author and finisher of our Faith and that the certainty of the salvation of his Elect doth lie more on his undertaking and resolution infallibly to accomplish their salvation then upon our wisdom or the stability of our mutable free-wills and that thus we are better in the hands of the second Adam then we were in the hands of the first
14. To conclude Vindictive Justice will be doubly honoured upon them that are final rejecters of this grace Though conscience would have had matter enough to work upon for the torment of the sinner and the justifying of God upon the meer violation of the Law of nature or works yet nothing to what it now will have on them that are the despisers of this great salvation For of how much sorer punishment suppose yee shall he be thought worthy that hath trodden under foot the Son of God when it is willful impenitency against most excellent means and mercies that is to be charged upon sinners and when they perish because they would not be saved Justice will be most fully glorified before all and in the conscience of the sinner himself All this considered you may see that besides what reasons of the counsel of God are unknown to us there is abundant reason open to our sight from the great advantages of this way why God would rather save us by a Redeemer then in a way of Innocency as our meer Creator But for the answering of all objections against this I must desire you to observe these two things following 1. That we here suppose man a terrestrial inhabitant cloathed with flesh otherwise it is confessed that if he were perfect in heaven where he had the Beatifical Vision to confirm him many of these forementioned advantages to him would be none 2. And it is supposed that God will work on man by Moral means and where he never so infallibly produceth the good of man he doth it in a way agreeable to his nature and present state and that his work of Grace is Sapiential magnifying the contrivance and conduct of his Wisdom as well as his Power otherwise indeed God might have done all without these or any other means 3. The knowledge of God in Christ as our Redeemer must imprint upon the soul those Holy Affections which the design and nature of our Redemption do bespeak and which answer these forementioned ends As 1. It must keep the soul in a sense of the odiousness of sin that must have such a remedy to pardon and destroy it 2. It must raise us to most high and honourable thoughts of our Redeemer the Captain of our Salvation that bringeth back lâ—st sinners unto God and we must study to advance the Glory of our Lord whom the Father hath advanced and set over all 3. It must drive us out of our selves and bring us to be nothing in our own eyes and cause us to have humble penitent self condemning thoughts as men that have been our own undoers and deserved so ill of God and man 4. It must drive us to a full and constant dependance on Christ our Redeemer and on the Father by him As our life is now in the Son as its root and fountain so in him must be our faith and confidence and to him we must daily have recourse and seek to him and to the Father in his Name for all that we need for daily pardon strength protection provision and consolation 5. It must cause us the more to admire the Holiness of God which is so admirably declared in our Redemption and still be sensible how he hateth sin and loveth Purity 6. It must invite and encourage us to draw near to God who hath condescended to come so near to us and as sons we must cry Abba Father and though with reverence yet with holy confidence must set our selves continually before him 7. It must cause us to make it our daily imployment to study the Riches of the Love of God and his abundant mercy manifested in Christ so that above all books in the world we should most diligently and delightfully peruse the Son of God incarnate and in him behold the Power and Wisdom and Goodness of the Father And with Paul we should desire to know nothing but Christ crucified and all things should be counted but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord Phil. 3. 8. That we may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the bredth and length and depth and heighth and to know the Love of Christ which passeth knowledge that we may be filled with all the fulness of God 8. Above all if we know God as our Redeemer we must Live in the Power of holy Love and Gratitude His Manifested Love must prevail with us so far that unfeigned Love to him may be the predominant affection of our souls And being free from the spirit of bondage and slavish fear we must make Love and Thankfulness the sum of our Religion and think not any thing will prove us Christians without prevailing Love to Christ nor that any duty is accepted that proceedeth not from it 9. Redemption must teach us to apply our selves to the holy Laws and Example of our Redeemer for the forming and ordering of our hearts and lives 10. And it must quicken us to Love the Lord with a redoubled vigour and to obey with double resolution and diligence because we are under a double obligation What should a people so Redeemed esteem too much or too dear for God 11. Redemption must make us a more Heavenly people as being Redeemed to the incorruptible inheritance in Heaven The blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1. 3. 12. Lastly Redemption must cause us to walk the more carefully and with a greater care to avoid all sin and to avoid the threatned wrath of God because sin against such unspeakable Mercy is unspeakably great and condemnation by a Redeemer for despising his grace will be a double condemnation Joh. 3. 19. 36. CHAP. XII 11. THE third Relation in which God is to be Known by us is as he is our Sanctifier and Comforter which is specially ascribed to the Holy Ghost And doubtless as the Dispensation of the Holy Ghost is the Perfecting dispensation without which Creation and Redemption would not attain their ends and as the sin against the Holy Ghost is the great and dangerous sin so our Belief in the Holy Ghost and Knowledge of God as our Sanctifier by the Spirit is not the least or lowest act of our faith or Knowledge And it implieth or containeth these things following 1. We must hence take notice of the certainty of our common original sin The necessity of sanctification proveth the corruption as the necessity of a Redeemer proveth the guilt It is not one but all that are Baptized that must be Baptized into the Name of the Son and Holy Ghost as well as of the Father which is an entering into Covenant with the Son as our Redeemer and with the
6. Submit your selves to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake For so is the will of God 1 Pet. 2. 13 15. Deut. 1. 16 17. Judge righteously between every man and his brother ye shall not respect persons in judgement but shall hear the small as well as the great you shall not be afraid of the face of man for the judgement is Gods 2 Chron. 19 5 6 7. And he said to the Judges Take heed what ye do for you judge not for man but for the Lord who is with you in the judgement wherefore let the fear of the Lord be upon you But our Atheistical Politicians would teach Rulers that they are none of the Ministers of God and that they judge for man only and not for him The nature of all true obedience is such as Paul describeth in children and servants Eph. 6. 1 6 7 8. that setcheth its rise and motives from the Lord Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Servants be obedient to them that are your Masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto Christ not with eye-service as men-pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good-will doing service as to the Lord and not to men So Colos. 3. 22 23. 7. Hence also you must learn that Gods authority is the highest authority and there is indeed no such thing in the world as true authority that is against him or not subordinate unto him And therefore if men command us to disobey God by neglecting that which is hic nunc a duty or by sinning against him their commands are from a disobedient will of their own but from no Authority and it is better in such cases to obey God then man Act. 5. 29. so many Prophets Apostles and other Martyrs would not have been sacrificed by the fury of Persecutors if they had thought it just to obey them before God God never gave any man Authority against him Nor to nullifie his laws The acts of a Justice or Constable against the King or beyond their power are private or rebellious acts and not Authoritative And so are the Laws of men that are against God Yet note well that though we must rather disobey men then God yet we may not forcibly Resist when we may not obey them And in some cases as if a King would ravish a woman or the like when it is lawful to Resist his fact it is not lawful to Resist his State and disturb the Government of the Commonwealth Obey men chearfully when God forbids it not but see that God be your Absolute Soveraign whose Laws can be dispensed with by none If Parents or Masters command you to break the Laws of God obey them not Despise them not but humbly deprecate their displeasure and obey them in all other things but in the unlawful thing obey them not no not if they were the greatest Princes upon earth But say as the three witnesses of God Dan. 3. 16 17. We are not careful to answer thee in this matter If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thy hands O King But if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy Gods nor worship thy golden Image which thou hast set up What I have said of Magistrates in the two last cases I mean also of Pastours of the Church They must be obeyed in and for the Lord but not against the Lord. Saith Paul of the Churches of Maceâ—onia 2 Cor. 8. 5. They gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God See Act. 20. 28. 1 Thes. 5. 12. Luk. 10. 16. He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me And yet the leaven of the Pharisees must be avoided and an Angel from Heaven be held as accursed if he should preach another Gospel Gal. 1. 8. And I would not have flatterers to set either Princes or Pastours above the Angels of Heaven Though yet in other respects we may be still obliged as I said before to hear and to obey them 8. And the Knowledge of Gods soveraignty must teach us to fear his righteous Threatnings and reverence his Justice and prepare our selves to be judged by him He ruleth by his Laws and so by Threatnings and Promises which he will make good It is not a painted fire that he Threatneth Judgement is a part of Government Laws are but shadows if there be no execution O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness fear before him all the earth Say among the Heathen that the Lord reigneth Psal. 96. 9 10 As his promises so his peremptory threatnings shall be fulfilled He will not revoke his stablished Laws for fear of hurting willful sinners that will not fear his judgements till they feel them Psal. 33. 8. Let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the world stand in aw of him for he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast Mark also the present judgements of the Lord and rush not on his indignation For the Lord is known by the judgements which he executeth the wicked is oft snared in the work of his own hands Psal. 9. 16. Though the wicked contemn God and say in his heart Thou wilt not require it Psal. 10. 13. yet they shall find that he beholdeth mischief to requite it with his hand and that he is the helper of the fatherless and poor that commit themselves unto him ver 14. The Lords throne is in heaven his eyes behold his eyelids try the children of men the Lord tryeth the Righteous but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth Psal. 11. 4 5. 9. The Soveraignty of God is a comfort to his loyal subjects They may be sure that he will protect them and make good his word Behold he cometh and his reward is with him Rev. 22. 12. The righteous Judge at his appearing will give the Crown of Righteousness to all them that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4. 18 7 8. O let the Nations be glad and sing for joy for thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the Nations upon earth Psal. 67. 4. Let the Heavens rejoyce and the earth be glad before the Lord for he cometh for he cometh to judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth Psal. 69. 11. 13. 10. Lastly the Knowledge of God as our Soveraign King must cause us to desire and pray for and promote the glory of his Kingdome and the obedience of his subjects in the world that his Name may be hallowed by the coming of his Kingdom and the doing of his will on earth as it is in Heaven must be the matter of our daily requests to God It must be the grief of every subject of the Lord to
as Grace inclineth a renewed soul to every holy Truth and duty and yet such a soul in its infancy of Grace hath not a sufficient immediate aptitude or promptitude to the receiving of every holy truth or the doing of every holy duty but must grow up to it by degrees But the addition of these degrees is no specifical alteration of the nature of man or of that grace which was before received Having been so long upon this first Consideration that Walking with God is most agreeable to humane nature I shall be briefer in the rest that follow II. TO Walk with God and live to him is incomparably the Highest and Noblest life To converse with men only is to converse with Worms whether they be Princes or poor men they differ but as the bigger vermine from the lesser If they be Wise and Good their Converse may be profitable and delightful because they have a beam of excellency from the face of God And O how unspeakable is the distance between his Wisdom and Goodness and theirs But if they be foolish ungodly and dishonest how loathsome is their conversation What stinking breath is in their profane and filthy language in their lies and slanders of the just in their sottish jears and scorns of those that Walk with God which expose at once their folly and misery to the pitty of all that are truly understanding When they are gravely speaking evil of the things which they understand not or with a fleering confidence deriding merrily the holy commands and waies of God they are much more lamentably expressing their infatuation than any that are kept in chains in Bedlam Though indeed with the most they scape the reputation which they deserve because they are attended with persons of their own proportion of wisdom that alwayes reverence a silken coat and judge them wise that wear gold lace and have the greatest satisfaction of their wills and lusts and are able to do most mischief in the world and because good men have learnt to honour the worst of their superiours and not to call them as they are But God is bold to call them as they are and give them in his word such names and characters by which they might come to know themselves And is it not a Higher Nobler life to Walk with God then to Converse in Bedlam or with intoxicated sensualists that live in a constant deliration Yea worse then so ungodly men are children of the Devil so called by Jesus Christ himself Joh. 8. 44. because they have much of the nature of the Devil and the lusts of their father they will do yea they are taken captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2. 26. They are the servants of sin and do the drudgery that so vile a Master sets them on Joh. 8. 34. Certainly as the spirits of the just are so like to Angels that Christ saith we shall be as they and equal to them so the wicked are nearer kin to Devils then they themselves will easily believe They are as like him as children to their Father He is a lyar and so are they He is a hater of God and godliness and godly men and so are they He is a murderer and would fain devour the holy seed and such are they He envyeth the progress of the Gospel and the prosperity of the Church and the increase of Holiness and so do they He hath a special malice against the most powerful and successful Preachers of the Word of God and against the most zealous and eminent Saints and so have they He cares not by what lyes and fictions he disgraceth them nor how cruelly he useth them No more do they or some of them at least He cherisheth licentiousness sensuality and impiety and so do they If they do seem better in their adversity and restraint yet try them but with prosperity and power and you shall see quickly how like they are to devils And shall we delight more to converse with brutes and incarnate devils than with God Is it not a more high and excellent conversation to Walk with God and live to Him then to be companions of such degenerate men that have almost forfeited the reputation of humanity Alas they are companions so deluded and ignorant and yet so wilfull so miserable and yet so confident and secure that they are to a believing eye the most lamentable sight that the whole world can shew us out of hell And how sad a life must it then needs be to converse with such were it not for the hope that we have of furthering their recovery and Salvation But to Walk with God is a word so high that I should have feared the guilt of arrogance in using it if I had not found it in the holy Scriptures It is a word that importeth so high and holy a frame of soul and expresseth such high and holy actions that the naming of it striketh my heart with reverence as if I had heard the voice to Moses Put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground Exod. 3. 5. Methinks he that shall say to me Come see a man that walks with God doth call me to see one that is next unto an Angel or glorified soul It is a far more reverend object in mine eye then ten thousand Lords or Princes considered only in their fleshly glory It is a wiser action for people to run and crowd together to see a man that Walks with God then to see the pompous train of Princes their entertainments or their triumphs O happy man that Walks with God though neglected and contemned by all about him What blessed sights doth he daily see What ravishing tydings what pleasant melody doth he daily hear unless it be in his swoons or sickness what delectable food doth he daily tast He seeth by faith the God the Glory which the blessed Spirits see at hand by nearest intuition He seeth that in a glass and darkly which they behold with open face He seeth the glorious Majesty of his Creatour the Eternal King the Cause of Causes the composer upholder preserver and governour of all the worlds He beholdeth the wonderful methods of his providence And what he cannot reach to see he admireth and waiteth for the time when that also shall be open to his view He seeth by Faith the world of Spirits the hosts that attend the throne of God their perfect righteousnesse their full devotednesse to God their ardent love their flaming zeal their ready and chearful obedience their dignity and shining glory in which the lowest of them exceedeth that which the Disciples saw on Moses and Elias when they appeared on the holy Mount and talkt with Christ. They hear by faith the heavenly consort the high and harmonious Songs of praise the joyful triumphs of crowned Saints the sweet commemorations of the things that were done and suffered on earth with the praises of him that redeemed them by his
no connaturality with the things above for such a soul to be surprized with the tydings of death alas how dreadful must it be And thus I have shewed you the Benefits that come by walking with God which if you Love your selves with a rational love me thinks should resolve every impartial considerate Reader to give up himself without delay to so desirable a course of life or if he have begun it to follow it more chearfully and faithfully than he had done CHAP. VII I Am next to shew you that Believers have special obligations to this holy course of life and therefore are doubly faulty if they neglect it Though indeed to neglect it totally or in the main drift of their lives is a thing inconsistent with a living Faith Consider 1 If you are true Christians your Relations engage you to walk with God Is he not your Reconciled Father and you his Children in a special sense And whom should Children dwell with but with their Father You were glad when he received you into his Covenant that he would enter into so near a Relation to you as he expresseth 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. I will receive you and will be a Father to you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord Almighty And do you draw back as if you repented of your Covenant and were not only weary of the Duty but of the Priviledges and Benefits of your Relation You may have access to God when others are shut out Your Prayers may be heard when the prayers of the wicked are abominable You may be welcome when the worldling and ambitious and carnal are despised He that dwelleth in the highest Heaven is willing to look to you with respect and dwell with you when he beholdeth the proud afar off Isa. 66. 1 2. 57. 15 16. And yet will you not come that may be welcome Doth he put such a difference between you and others as to feed you as his Children at his table while others are called Dogs and are without the doors and have but your crums and leavings and yet will you be so foolish and unthankful as to run out of your Fathers presence and choose to be without among the Dogs How came your Fathers presence to be so grievous to you and the priviledges of his family to seem so vile Is it not some unchild-like carriage the guilt of some disobedience or contempt that hath first caused this Or have you faln again in love with fleshly pleasures and some vanity of the world Or have you had enough of God and Godliness till you begin to grow aweary of him If so you never truly knew him However it be if you grow indifferent as to God do not wonder if shortly you find him set as light by you And believe it the day is not far off in which the Fatherly Relation of God and the priviledges of Children will be more esteemed by you when all things else forsake you in your last distress you will be loth that God should then forsake you or seem as a stranger to hide his face Then you will cry out as the afflicted Church Isa. 63. 15 16. Look down from Heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory Where is thy zeal and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies towards me are they restrained Doubtless thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer thy name is from everlasting Nothing but God and his Fatherly Relation will then support you Attend him therefore and with reverent obedient chearfulness and delight converse with him as with your dearest Father For since the beginning of the world men have not known by sensible evidence either the ear or the eye besides God himself what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him Isa. 64. 4. Though he be wroth with us because we have sinned yet doth he meet him that rejoyceth and worketh rightcousness that remembreth him in his waies vers 5. Say not I have played abroad so long that I dare not now go home I have sinned so greatly that I dare not speak to him or look him in the face Come yet but with a penitent returning heart and thou mayest be accepted through the Prince of Peace Prodigals find better entertainment than they did expect when once they do but resolve for home If he allow us to begin with Our Father which art in Heaven we may boldly proceed to ask forgiveness of our trespasses and whatever else is truly good for us But alas as our iniquities seduce us away from God so the guilt of them affrighteth some from returning to him and the love of them corrupteth the hearts of others and makes them too indifferent as to their communion with him so that too many of his children live as if they did not know their Father or had forgotten him We may say as Isa. 64. 6 7 8 9. But we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away and there is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee for thou hast hid thy face from us and hast consumed us because of our iniquities But now O Lord thou art our Father we are the Clay and thou our Potter and we are all the work of thy hand Be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever Behold see we beseech thee we are all thy people O do not provoke your Father to disown you or to withdraw his help or hide his face or to send the Rod to call you home for if you do you will wish you had known the priviledges of his presence and had kept nearer to him Be not so unnatural so unthankful so unkind as to be weary of your Fathers presence and such a Father 's too and to take more delight in any others Moreover you are related to God in Christ as a Wife unto a Husband as to Covenant union and nearness and dearness of affection and as to his tender care of you for your good And is it seemly is it wisely or gratefully done of you to desire rather the company of others and delight in creatures more than him Isa. 54. 5 6. How affectionately doth thy Maker call himself the Husband of his people And can thy heart commit adultery and forsake him My Covenant they brake though I was an Husband to thee saith the Lord Jer. 31. 32. O put not God to exercise his jealousie It is one of his terrible attributes to be a jealous God And can he be otherwise to thee when thou lovest not his converse or company and carest not how long thou art from him in the world Woe to thee if he once say as Hos. 2. 2. She is not