if you read the Scripture from this place till you come to Chap. 42. you shall find that God is Manifesting himself there and Revealing himself in his Glory and Righteousness to Job Now in the 3d. verse Job takes up the very words to himself that God had before spoken Saith Job Who is he that hideth Counsel without Knowledge Therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not God he saith Who is this that uttereth words without knowledge And then he shews himself Look upon me is it not I that have done it Then Job saw that it was God that did it I have meddled with things that I understood not I have troubled my self like a Fool in things that I did not understand O foolish wretched heart that I have And then afterwards he saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes As if he should say I 'll never be Impatient more I 'll never have any risings of heart more against any of thy dealings towards me For Lord now I see that I heard of thee before I could have said All things come by the Providence of God I could have said so I but now mine Eyes see thee I have the sight of that Glorious Infinite Majesty of thine that art so infinitely Great Blessed and Holy and therefore now I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes Let become of me what will I have learned for ever to sanctifie that Holy Name of thine It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good And therefore by way of Exhortation O my Brethren I beseech you apply these things unto your selves In some of your Thoughts it seems I have been as Dead hear then somewhat that I am this day to say to you as you know Dives said If one come from the Dead they will hear him Here what I have to say to you from this Point First O let this sinck into your hearts as if one should come from the Dead to speak it to you namely this That God is so infinitely worthy of Honour from you that you should be at a point whether you Honour him either in the enjoyment of Mercy or suffering of Affliction it 's no great matter The Honour of God should be so dear to you and you should so much love him your hearts should be so much with God as you should leave it wholly to himself which way he would be Honoured by you Surely though we think we have a Love to God and we would Honour him yet our Love to God and desire to Honour him is very little If so be that we do not wholly resign up our selves to him to do in us and by us as he will then indeed is the heart right And this is Honouring God as a God when there is a full yielding up of the heart and when it is in a manner indifferent what way God will take Then your hearts are come to a right frame Secondly The second thing that I would say to you is this That there is so great evil in sin and O that God would make it take as great an Impression upon you as if one from the Dead spake it as the least stopping one in the way of sin the least abating the power of sin hath so much good in it as it 's enough to countervail the greatest evil in the greatest Afflictions in the World O this Principle would be of mighty use in the hearts of People when any Affliction doth befal them or their Family but doth God by this at least stop me in any way of sin Doth not God by this some way or other help me against some sin O then the Affliction is well paid for I have now a greater good abundantly than the evil of the Affliction comes to There was a little bitter but here 's a great deal more sweet Thirdly There is more good in any Exercise of any Grace than there is evil in the bearing of any Affliction If God doth bring an Affliction but for the Exercise of any Grace or for the stirring up thy heart but to look towards him there may be more good in that then there is evil in any Affliction Perhaps thou art going up and down muddling in the World and thy Thoughts were but little upon him before why if by Afflictions thou comest but to look after God his is a greater good than the evil of the Affliction comes to But if God Blesses thee so as thou comest to Exercise Grace in it Humility Patience Self-denial Faith O here thine Affliction is abundantly made up Oh! labour therefore upon the Consideration of this that It is the Lord to submit humbly to him this is acceptable to God Suppose you have two Children that were sick it may be one he riggles and keeps a stir and will take nothing that you give him but now you have another Child lies and he is sick too and he saith Father Mother I 'll do what you will have me I 'll take what you will give me do but tell me what you would have done I 'll presently do it though it be never so grievous and bitter I 'll take it Now would it not make your hearts relent towards such a Child that should be so yieldable will lie this way or that way take this thing or that thing and all because it comes from a Father If the Child should say to you It 's true I am Sick and Ill but I know you love me and know what 's better for me than I do and therefore I 'll take it Would not this be very acceptable O this it is which the Lord accepts when his Children do behave themselves so under his Afcting Hand And my Brethren This further helps against a great many Temptations When Job did but say this The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away let Him do what seemeth Him good The Devil saw his hopes gone then his hopes of doing that hurt and mischief that he intended was gone O the heart is in a safe condition that is thus submissive unto God Others that have Fretting Impatient hearts are subject to abundance of Temptations but the danger of Temptation is over when thy heart comes to this And this will make the Affliction very easie unto thee when thou bringest thy heart to this It may be others may think that 's very sore and hard with thee I but thou findest it very easie abundance of sweetness comes in with this Yea I appeal to the Experience of the Saints that knows but what this means Whether ever had you more Comfort in all your Lives than at that time when you have been most Afflicted and yet brought your hearts to this Temper and Disposition O therefore learn to work these things upon your hearts It 's an easie matter for Men and Women to speak
the Gospel in the Heart and for the Heart to keep it It is a very great and close Mercy a greater Mercy than to have Christ to be Born of the Body of a Woman in Luke 11. 27. And it came to pass as He spake these things a certain Woman lift up her voice and said unto Him Blessed is the Womb that Bare thee and the Paps which thou hast Sucked But He said Yea rather blessed are they which hear the Word of God and keep it Those that when they have heard the Word of the Gospel and shall keep it in their Hearts and not let it Vanish away from them but keep it I say in their Power and Life upon their Hearts they are rather Blessed than the Womb was Blessed that Bare Jesus Christ or than the Paps were Blessed that gave Jesus Christ Suck I suppose there is no Woman here but would account her self a blessed Woman if her Womb had Porn Jesus Christ and if her Paps had given Jesus Christ Suck Now here is a greater Blessedness than this for a Woman to hear the Word of the Gospel Preached unto her and to have this Word of the Gospel to rest in her Heart and for her to keep it in her heart in the Power and Life and Efficacy of it this Woman now hath a greater Blessing than if she had Born Jesus Christ in her Womb. Surely it is a great Blessing to have the blessed things of the Gospel to be kept in the Soul after the hearing of them And further A great Mercy because there is such a wonderful Power in the good things of the Gospel and therefore it must needs be a great Mercy to have those things abide upon the Heart They have such a mighty power to work good upon the Heart a mighty Convincing power they have to Convince any Soul in the World Let a Man or Woman be never so Wicked or Prophane yet there are such blessed Truth in the Gospel that is enough to Convince his Soul I say though it be never so vile and to take his Heart And we have little Cause to fear the working upon the Hearts of People only if we could but procure this that those things that we Speak might but abide upon their Hearts If we were but sure that what we Deliver in the Name of God would but abide upon their Spirits we need not fear the working upon any Soul Living let them be never so Vile there is such a mighty Power and Efficacy in those blessed things of the Gospel when they come to be Revealed And so there is a mighty Comforting power to Comfort the Soul with such Consolation as is Infinitely above all Consolation that ever it was Acquainted withal before There is a mighty Power to resist any Temptation If the Truths of God were but kept in the Soul we might make little of all Temptations in the World The Devil could have little hope to prevail with any Temptations if the Word of the Gospel did but abide upon the Heart of a Man or Woman that doth hear it This is the advantage that the Devil hath at any time when one hath been hearing of the Word if he knows that the Word is past from them and it doth not abide then he can come with Temptations and makes no question of prevailing But if the Devil knows that those Truths do abide and rest upon the Soul the Devil can have little hope to prevail The Peace of God shall keep your Hearts Fro Resi shall Guard your Hearts It shall be as a Troop of Horse to keep you from Temptations from the power and strength of Temptations You complain and say O that you would do better but Temptations are so strong that they prevail upon you Why are Temptations so strong It is because thy Soul is not acquainted with the Blessed and Glorious things of the Gospel and the Power and Life of them doth not abide upon thy Spirit And likewise the Truths of the Gospel O they have a mighty deal of Power to cleanse your Hearts 1 Pet. 2. 20. There you have mentioned the Power of the Knowledg of the Gospel when it abides in one that might be an Hypocrite and therefore not of that Efficasie that the true saving Knowledg is Yet Observe what is said there For if after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Now then If that Knowledg have such a cleansing Power O what Power then hath the true saving Power of the great things of the Gospel and the Glorious things of it to Cleanse the Heart Yea If those Truths do abide upon the Spirits they have a Transforming power they have a power to change the Heart into the same likeness According to that Scripture 2 Cor. 3. 18. But we all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now this Gospel of the Lord is nothing else but the good things of the Gospel We behold them and that as with open Face as we do behold the Gospel of the Lord. And what then We are changed into the same Image Oh! this is a Blessed abiding it is a Blessed thing for the things of the Gospel to rest upon the Soul Why Because they have such a Power in them to Change the Heart to Transform the Heart into the very Image of them and the Truths of the Gospel have the clearest Image of God upon them the Glory of God is Imprinted upon the Truths of the Gospel Now that these should rest upon the Spirit it must needs be a great Mercy Another is this It is that which makes them indeed to be Saving All those Blessed things of the Gospel that are Revealed they never come to be Saving until they come to rest upon the Soul to be got into the Heart and there to dwell and rest Mark that Scripture in James 1. 21. Wherefore lay a part all Filthiness and Superstuity of Naughtiness and receive with Meekness the Ingraffed Word which is able to save your Souls Mark Receive with Meekness the Word But how The Ingraffed Word which is able to save your Souls The Word of God can never save your Souls till it comes to be an Ingraffed Word Now these things I premise to shew you the Excellency of this that so I might have the more ground for an Exhortation by and by To labour to keep the Word of God I mean those Truths of the Gospel that at any times comes to be discovered to you Now by way of Application as brief as may be First In the First place Hence we see cause the Ministers of the Gospel especially see cause bitterly to Lament the want of this in their Auditory ordinarily It 's true There are few that are faithful Preachers of the Gospel but they do find that
Lord hath God made thy condition more comfortable than anothers Another he wants Bread and fares hardly lies hard and is in the cold and lives in a poor condition and thou hast all things full about thee and yet art thou worse Do'st thou thus requite the Lord O foolish heart And so you know it was the aggravation of the sin of David in 2. Sam. 12. after David had committed that great sin the Lord sends the Prophet to him to convince him of his sin and mark how he aggravates it ver 7. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel I annointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul and I gave thee thy Masters House and thy Masters Wives into thy bosome and gave thee the House of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the commandement of the Lord O this was that that struck the heart of David I have sinned saith David And in Nehem. 9. 25 26. you have a remarkable Scripture for that setting out there the mercy of God So they did eat and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in thy great goodness nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against thee and cast thy Law behind their backs and slew thy Prophets c. Here 's the aggravation they were filled with good things nevertheless they were disobedient O may not this Scripture be made good upon many of you The Lord hath filled your houses with abundance of mercy you cannot look into any of your Families but you see mercy yet nevertheless a carnal heart for all this nevertheless a Swearer a Company-keeper a Prophaner of Sabboths a Neglecter of the Worship of God in thy Family Notwithstanding an unclean wretch for all those mercies that the Lord would wooe thee to obedience by That 's the second thing that shews the necessity of learning to be full otherwise we shall be guilty of sinning against much mercy and likewise the mercy of God will serve for no other end but to aggravate our sin And Thirdly If men do not learn to be full they will grow extream wicked How our fulness doth afford fewel for lusts that we spoke to I onely now speak to it as to shew the necessity that we learn to be full lest we come to grow most abominably wicked Sin will come to be out of measure sinful if so be we learn not to be full As a man that hath a weak distempered body and lives at a full Table and hath a strong appetite and yet if he doth not learn how to order his diet he will grow full of Diseases so when thy heart is weak at least and thou comest to a full Diet and knowest not how to order thy self thou art like to grow extreamly diseased and therefore you find in Scripture that those that were in a full condition and yet had not grace to know how to be full they are described to be the most wicked people that are in the world Job 21. 14. Therefore they say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes And in Psal 73. there you may read at large of the prosperity of the wicked from the beginning and so on and in Isa 2. 7 8. Their land also is full of silver and gold neither is there any end of their treasures their land is also full of horses neither is there any end of their chariots then mark in the 8th verse Their land also is full of Idols These two are joyned together O so it is in many Families this Family is full of all outward good things and it 's a Family full of sin and here 's a man that hath a full Estate and a man that is full of sin as he is full of his Estate If thou do'st not learn to abound thou wilt certainly abound in sin and therefore it is an absolute necessary lesson for us to learn to abound And then Thirdly If thou dost not learn to abound thy portion will be in this life if there doth not go together with thy abundance the grace of God to teach thee how to abound this will prove to be thy condition to be a man or woman that God hath said shall have no other portion from him then in this world If the Lord gives a man an estate and doth not withal give him some proportionable measure of grace to know how to use it and abound in it that 's a man that God saith his portion shall be in this world it is as much as if God should say from heaven concerning this man Here 's one whose portion is in this world In the 17th Psalm at the latter end there the Psalmist speaks of men who have their portion in this world here 's their consolation Thou hast a full estate and doth God give thee nothing with thy full estate it is like to be thy All. You will say Is this so great a matter I a thousand thousand times better thou hadst never been born though thou hadst a thousand times more in the world then thou hast if this should prove to be thy portion thy All for thou art made for eternity and those creatures were not and therefore if thou should'st onely have hopes in this world thou art a wretched creature Shall St. Paul say if we have onely hopes in this life we were most miserable of all men O may I say concerning thee if thou hast onely hope in this life thou art most miserable of all creatures except the Devils themselves O it 's a dreadfull thing for a man or woman to have their portion in this world But now those have it that have a great deal in this world and yet know not how to use it for God O consider of this you that God hath given more portion to than others do you think thus in the night Lord thou hast indeed made my condition more comfortable then others I am full handed and have means coming in but Lord what if it should prove that my portion should be here I remember it 's reported of Gregory that was the Pope he did profess that there was no Scripture that did strike to his heart so much as that Scripture Wo to you here is your consolation fearing least his portion should be here And the truth is that Scripture and that other in the 17th Psalm should go to the hearts of rich men and of those that have a full estate in this world except their consciences tell them that through the grace of God they have learned in some measure to know how to use it for the glory of God as for their own comfort You account it an ill thing for a man to have an estate and knows not how to use it for himself As now If a man should be born to a great inheritance and should be a fool you
abundance of hurt in the place where he lives not onely to himself but to others O the evil he may do in a Town and in a Family and in a Kingdom One rich man if God doth not sanctifie his heart and his estate may do more mischief than an hundred other wicked men God doth not so much look at the hurt that base Drunkards that go up and down from one Alehouse to another can do They may destroy their own souls but now a man that is a man of an estate in the place where God hath set him if he spend nights in Chambering and Wantonness if he contemn the wayes of God and Religion O the hurt that comes by that man and the guiltiness that will come upon his Spirit that way O how is the Gospel hindered by such men as they that have outward prosperous estates and yet for all that have not hearts to make use of it whereas I shall shew presently the contrary will be in those that have learned to be full But onely now to shew the danger of a full condition If we have not learned to be full and all to put you upon this that you may beseech God to learn you to be full when God doth give you a fulness least you should contract the guilt of the sins of thousands of others upon you And then If thou do'st not learn to be full thy full estate will endanger thy salvation exceedingly It is easier for a Cammel saith Christ to go thorow the eye of a Needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Now Christ doth not interpret at first what is a rich man but at another time he doth those that trust in them Chrysostom hath this passage upon that to the Hebrews He wonders how any Governor can come to be saved The fulness of a mans condition doth much endanger his salvation if God doth not teach him how to be full And then it will make death to be more terrible O Death how terrible will it be to a man that hath not learned to be full When Death shall come and now he must be deprived of all bid an everlasting farewel to his House and Estate and Lands comming in Never such merry meetings as he was wont to have I but now they are gone there 's an end of those dayes he shall never have them more O then I say Death will gnaw upon a man and then a mans conscience indeed will terrifie him If he be afflicted they will come upon him to terrifie him But when he sees that he must bid an everlasting farewel to all those things then Death will terrifie him to purpose O conscience will tell him Now art thou going to give an account before the great God of all that thou didst enjoy in this world It 's a sad message that this will be to some that are full You think because you have money to pay for what you eat and drink and do enjoy you think you shall be called to no farther account O yes you must be called to an account for all the Creatures that you do enjoy Now if men can scarce count the mercies that they do enjoy O then how will you be able to give an account for them Well all this is but to awaken the hearts of people that have the comforts of this world that they may not satisfie themselves with what they enjoy but seek what they can to learn to be full And the Excellency of this Lesson of Learning to be full is very great For first It shews a great deal of ingenuity in the heart of a man Ingenuity in these two regards First Because hereby it appears that this man is not onely for his own turn It 's a sordid spirit for a man to seek to serve his own turn upon others and when his turn is served never to care for any body But now an ingenious spirit when that hath its own turn serv'd it is as careful again to return answerable respect to those that were useful to him as it was desirous to have its own turn serv'd before So it is in those that have learned to be full they have ingenuity they are as careful to return answerable respects to God as they are to receive any mercy from him And their Ingenuity is in this That they are thankful spirits An ingenious heart is a thankful heart and loves to acknowledge whence he had any mercy And then further That 's great ingenuity for one to be moved by good and be moved by mercy 'T is a slavish spirit that 's onely mov'd by necessity and force and violence That 's nothing for a man to be forced to do a duty The basest Slave by a Whip will be put to do that that is his duty I but for one to be wrought upon by love and by goodness this is ingenuity Now if the Lord hath given thee an estate and thou findest it doth draw thy heart to God more and works upon thy heart that thou art affected by Gods mercy O this is a sign of an ingenious heart And then what grace such a man hath is a great deal more conspicuous than others mens graces and more beautiful As a Diamond that is set in Gold there is a beauty in it A Diamond set in a Crown of Gold doth sparkle more gloriously than when it is wrapt up in a dirty Rag. So the graces of many that are poor and mean in the world are as it were wrapt up in a dirty rag as sometimes they wrap up their money But now a man that is eminent in the world and godly too his graces are like Diamonds upon a Crown as it were that are so conspicuous before the world that the world takes much notice of them and gives glory to God for them Thirdly It 's an excellency because it is so rare It 's a very rare thing for a man to be instructed in this Lesson of being full It 's a speech of Bernard Not to be lifted up when a man is put high that is very unusual now saith he the more unusual it is the more glorious thing it is It is a very rare blessing of God upon a man for him to learn to be full I remember the same learned man Bernard writing to Eugenius that was advanced to great favour he speaks of the grace of God towards him and blessing God for it his promotion did not succeed his former estate but was added to his former estate That 's thus The promotion of many men doth succeed their former estate that is the former ingenuity they had and ingenuity that they seem'd to have that 's gone and the promotion doth come and succeed it But the promotion of this Eugenius was not so he continued in the former estate that he was in before that is the former humility and heavenly-mindedness and holiness as he seem'd to have before so he had the same still so that
hath prospered me in my way and course in any kind now let me go to God and exercise Faith in his Word and seek unto him in prayer that I may have a sanctified use of all these things then that God hath granted to me In 1 Tim. 4. 4 5. Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer A little to open this Scripture That the Creature is sanctified by prayer that I suppose is easie for you to understand that is when I have any good in any Creature then I am to seek to God by prayer for a sanctified use of it unto me But how is it sanctified by the Word Now that that the Apostle doth intend here in sanctifying by the Word is this that he would shew to us That a godly man hath another kind of interest in the Creature than another man hath saith he All things are good but how shall they be good to me How shall I know that they are good to me That must be by the Word saith he I cannot know that they are good to me that I have a sanctified use of them that is that all the comforts I have I do enjoy them in order to eternal life for then a thing is sanctified when it is consecrated as it were and made holy that is when it is made useful to the highest and last end As a place is sanctified when it is separated from other things for God so when the blessing of God is upon my estate to make it to be to his glory and my last good then it is sanctified Now how comes this This is by the Word of God for we by our fall have lost all our interest in the creature unto our outward comfort Now God indeed out of his bounty doth give to some men abundance here in this world I he gives them those things that are in themselves good I but how shall they come to be good to him that must be by the Word saith he that is God by the Word of his Gospel the Covenant that he hath made with his poor servants in Christ revealed in his Word it is that that gives the godly man a sanctified use of what he hath If he hath it in a natural way it may prove a curse to him if he hath it onely by Gods general providence by the command of God in his works of providence that is no sanctified use But now if a man comes to enjoy what he hath by the word of the promise by the word of the Gospel that reveals Christ unto us and our renewed interest unto all we do enjoy by Jesus Christ This is the Word that sanctifies all to us Most men look upon what they enjoy onely but in a way of general providence Now a gracious heart looks upon what he enjoys by the word of the Promise the word of the Covenant that gives him a sanctified use and through the power of this word he comes to know how to be full and use all his abundance in a right way so that the way he takes for the making use of his fulness it is when God blesses him presently to exercise faith in the Word in the Promise to look into the Covenant Godliness hath the promise of the things of this life and of that which is to come And so he comes to make use of the promise and improve it by faith and so comes to have a sanctified use and improvement of all the good things that he doth enjoy in this world Is not this a mystery to most rich men Doth it put them upon prayer more than before and upon the exercise of Faith in the Word more than before One that is godly never prayes more than when God doth prosper him in this world It is usual for men to pray much in times of affliction In their affliction they will seek me early I but that 's a sign of a carnal heart But now a godly man when God prospers him he sees cause to pray most then I it is for poor people to live by faith that have nothing in the world You will think it 's fit for them to believe and trust in God I but a godly man uses the more faith when he hath the most in the world That 's a good way in the mystery of knowing how to be full And then a Fifth way in the mystery of knowing how to be full is this A godly heart by his fulness growes to increase his humility growes sensible of his unworthiness by his fulness Now this is a way of mystery too It is a good thing for a man to have humility together with his fulness but to have humility by his fulness this is a very great mystery it 's a rare thing to see humble prosperity but to see a man humble by his prosperity this is rare indeed Affliction will humble men that 's true every one can understand that but how prosperity should humble men that 's very hard to understand I 'll give you a clear Scripture for this how prosperity will humble a gracious heart it 's in the 2 Sam. 7. 18. The Lord there had told David of great things that he would do for him and spake to him of the honour that he had put upon him and that he would still put upon him and he would continue his House to be a great House and honourable like the great men of the earth Mark one would have thought that the heart of David should have been raised up when God told him not onely the great things that he had done but the great things he would do This would have pufft up a carnal heart But then mark in the 18 verse Then went King David in and sat before the Lord and he said who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto and this was yet a small thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken also of thy servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of men O Lord God and what can David say more unto tbee for thou Lord God knowest thy servant for thy words sake and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to make thy servants know them wherefore thou art great O Lord God He doth not bless himself O God hath made me great but wherefore thou art great and what am I and what is my house and it is according to thine own heart and not according to any thing in me saith David The larger God was in telling of him the great things he had and should have the more humble was the heart of David O this is a good sign of true humility when you find your comings in to be more then heretofore as if you have had a great voyage many hundreds coming in of clear gain then for
that have rich friends any of you you see what need you have here to pray for them It was the speech of a holy man once when he met an acquaintance of his that he had not seen a long time before and it seems he had a great estate befallen him as soon as he met him O Sir saith he I had never need to pray for you so much as now His friend stood amazed at it supposing that he had heard of some great evil that had befallen him He gives him this answer I hear you have a great estate befallen to you Certainly there 's no men in the world that have so much need of Prayer as those that are high in estate And then You who do abound be you exhorted to what you have heard and now to set upon the work To learn how to abound Learn this one Lesson farther that should have been spoken Learn throughly your dependance upon God in all your abundance To see as much need of God in the midst of your abundance as in the greatest depth of affliction That 's one thing that is of very great use A man hath attain'd to a good measure of Grace when he comes to this that he sees he hath as much need of mercy from God in his abundance as in the lowest afflicted estate in the world Many men and women they think that they have need of God in their affliction then they depend upon God I but you should depend upon God as much if you had all the world to possess as the poorest beggar in the world This you may either put into the mystery that there is in it or into the Lessons for indeed it is a mystery to the men of the world and therefore Christ teaches not onely poor people to come and say Lord give us this day our daily bread but the richest men in the world is to pray so the greatest Prince and Monarch in the World is every day to come to God to the Gates of Mercy to beg his bread Now if rich men would be so sensible of their condition that they depend upon God for the enjoyment of what they have every moment have as much need of mercy as the poorest wretch that lives upon the Face of the Earth This would be a mighty help for them to learn how to Abound I beseech you examine whether this be so in you or no When you have been poor and afflicted then you acknowledge you had need of Mercy I but now whether do you find that your Life is as much a Life of Dependance upon God now as ever it was If God should take away all you have then you would think O I must live altogether the Life of Dependance but certainly you should now live the Life of Dependance as if you knew not where to have your Dinner or Supper Man lives not by Bread only saith the Scripture or by Meat but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God he lives by it There is much in this that I am speaking But a little for the further putting of you on in this that you may learn this Lesson of Aboundance Consider but this What a great Mercy of God it is to you that your great Work that you are put now upon it is how to improve Mercy whereas the work of other Men it is how to get Mercy Other Men all their Care and Thoughts is how they should get Necessaries and now that that God calls you to it is to Improve what you have The Life of many Men and Women is this Nothing else but to Improve Mercy not to bear Affliction much or to seek to get but the whole Course of their Life is to be spent in Improving Mercy Think but of this one thing and it will make you Thankful when you are in your Families What have I to do in the Morning when I rise Nothing but to Improve the Mercy that God gives me Mercy meets with me when I rise Mercy goes forth with me Mercy comes in with me and I have nothing to do from the Beginning of the Year to the End of the Year but to make use of Mercy Why this is the Lives of many to receive in Mercy and make use of it for God O the comfortable Life that thou hast Therefore seeing that God puts thee upon such a Notable and Excellent Imployment thou hadst need be Faithful Thy work is a great deal better and more Comfortable than the works of others therefore often Examine thy Heart And O that I could but prevail thus far with Men and Women that have great Estates that there should never a Day pass but they would call themselves to Examination Have I learned to be full Do I enjoy my fulness for God yea or no Do not let the Reckoning between God and thy Soul run too long but keep thy Book even every day with God and then thou shalt have abundance of Comfort in thy Fulness And set before you the Example of those that have Miscarried in their Fulness and that will be a very good help unto you Such and such Men have Miscarried Lord help me that I may not Miscarry as they have done Yea thy most eminent Servants have Miscarried the Lord help me that I may not Miscary And for the Close of all O you that God hath given these Mercies to Bless Him for His Blessings but especially Bless Him that He hath Blessed His Blessings to you When we receive a Blessing we should Bless God I but when God hath Blest this Blessing then our Blessing of Him should be Double and Trebble too O think thus with thy self What all this and Heaven too such convenient Habitations and compassed round about with Mercy wheresoever you are All this and Heaven House and Estate and Friends and Health of Body and every Thing that I want O the greatest thing that I want is a thankful Heart for if I had but that then I were happy indeed Now for a Man to have all things in a Fulness and only Scantiness in Thankfulness every thing is full but only the Heart is empty The Heart of the Wicked is little worth Thy House is full and thy Estate but what 's thy Heart in the mean time But now If God gives thee so much Mercy in the World and all this but the beginning of Heaven to thee O then how sweet is thy Life made to thee by God! And all things that are the means of Undoing of others are the means to help thee to Honour God O by this the Mercies of God are raised indeed Bless God for so great a Blessing it is not an ordinary thing Only one thing more for the Close of all in my Text and that is the joyning of both these things together That I learn how to be content and how to be full There should have been that Note And that is That Grace wil help Men to carry
oftentimes far otherwise to us than they do to God God looks upon things otherwise than we do Then let Him do what seemeth Him good Not what seemeth good to me nor what seems good to others but unto God Then fourthly That this is a very Commendable and Acceptable work upon the first Manifestation of any Displeasure of God presently to yield and submit without any more adoe Not after a great deal of riggling and stir then to yield but to yield presently upon the first Manifestation against his Family he presently falls down and saith It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good These are the four Conclusions in the Text and I shall desire to go through them all and speak to mine own Heart and yours in them It is the Second that is the chief and main there we shall pitch most But briefly of the First That a gracious Heart in all Afflictions looks up to God It is the Lord. Not this Cause and the other Cause or this Accident or the other thing that takes up his Thoughts so much but God in it The truth is a Heart that is truly Gracious loves to Converse with God in every thing If it be a Mercy presently the Heart gets through the Creatures by which God bestows a Mercy and looks up to the God of that Mercy And so if it be Afflictions the Heart that is Gracious having some of the Divine Nature in it presently works it's self up to God in the 6th of Micah ver 9. there 's a famous Scripture for this Saith the Prophet there The Lords Voice crieth unto the City and the Man of Wisdom shall see thy Name hear ye the Rod and who hath appointed it The Man of Wisdom shall see thy Name The Name of God is written upon his Rod and where there is a Man of Wisdom he sees the Name of God that is there written It 's a special part of the Wisdom of a Christian to be able to see Gods Name and to read Gods Name written upon his Rod The Men of the World have not the skill to read the Name of God written upon his Rod but it 's a priviledge of the Saints that they see Gods Name written there It is a special part of the Worship that is due to God the Acknowledgment of God in all his Administrations That 's Worship when we acknowledge God in all his Providences towards us In all thy wayes acknowledge Him and in all His Wayes he must be acknowledged As we must acknowledge God in all our wayes so we must acknowledge God in all His Wayes and thereby we come to Worship Him Secondly It 's a means to compose the Heart to strike the Heart with awful Fears and Reverence of God when we look at Him in our Afflictions and beyond the Creature It is a Way to make us search and examine our Hearts what there is between God and us when once we take notice it's God that doth it this presently puts the Heart upon a Scrutiny What is there between God and my Soul What is there between God and my Family And then it is a special means to put the Soul on to seek God for Help for Assistance for Blessing for a Sanctified Use of what ever Affliction is upon it There 's a great deal of good in seeing the Lord in an Affliction in seeing that we have to deal with Him but the special good is that that we shall come to in the second Point The working of the humble submission of the Heart to God Only for the present let this Rebuke such who are of Carnal and Atheistical spirits That whatever befals them look no higher than the Creatures by which God works It 's an Argument that they have little to do with God that they know not what it is to Converse with God that will cry out of their Afflictions They howl upon their Beds as the Holy Ghost saith in the 7th of Hosea But they seek not to Me or turn not to Me. And such as have slight and vain hearts in the time of their Afflictions it 's a very ill thing that for Men to think to take Courage to themselves so as not at all to be sensible of the Hand of God God expects we should be so though we should not have dishonoured Hearts yet we should have precious Hearts For when one have to deal with God in any thing we had need be serious the Presence of God should work our Hearts to Seriousness And therefore slightness and vanity of Spirit in the day of Affliction it is very unbeseeming Thou doest not sanctifie the Name of God in that Administration of His towards thee who hastâ—â— vain and slight Spirit in the Day of thine Affliction And surely that 's an Argument that thou never sawest God in His Mercy when thou doest not see him in thine Afflictions but that thou didst enjoy Gods Mercy but in a Brutish way when thou doest behave thy self under thine Afflictions in a Brutish way But this shall suffice for the first The second and that 's the main That the sight of the Hand of the Lord is that that hath a great deal of Power in it to work the Heart that is Gracious to an humble submission to Him It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good That that 's here spoken of Ely we may find mentioned by divers of the Servants of God in Scripture I 'll give you but only two Scriptures for it and those are concerning David In this Book of Sam. 15. 25. If I shall flnd favour in the Eyes of the Lord he will bring me again and shew me both it that is the Ark and the City and his Habitation but if he should say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him do to me as seemeth good unto him So you see how David he looks up to God here If I find favour in the Eyes of the Lord he will bring me again and if he say I have no delight in thee behold here I am let Him do what seemeth good unto him And in the 39th Psal ver 9. I was dumb I opened not my Mouth because thou diddest it It was the sight of the Lord in it that made him Dumb and not open his Mouth And you know what He did in the case of Shimei when He Curst him The Lord hath bid him saith he Now this Point is very large I shall briefly propound unto you the several Considerations from the Hand of God in an Affliction for to quiet the Heart and to help the Heart to sanctifie his Name As first â—â—us It is the Lord It is he that is infinitely above me above us all and therefore He must be submitted to It is the Great and Blessed God that is infinitely above Angels and above all Creatures that hath done it and therefore He must be submitted to It may may be you could not tell how to bear a
Box on the Ear from an Inferiour or an Equal or from one a little above you But if so be a King should be near and strike you you could bear that you would not be so ready to rise against him as against an Inferiour mans striking of you Why 'T is the Lord that is Infinitely above us that is the Infinite Glorious and Blessed God He must be submitted to Yea secondly It is the Lord that hath the absolute Right to us and all that we have more than we have to our selves or any thing that we enjoy It is the Lord that hath the absolute Authority over us to do with us what He will you have not so much authority over a Worm under your feet as God hath over you and over all your Comforts you have not so much right to kill a Fly as the Lord hath to take away your Lives He hath more Right a thousand thousand times over your Lives Familie Comforts and all you have than you have over the meanest Creature He hath the absolute Right over you all If any thing be done amiss in a Family and the Servants be falling out one with another and one saith you did thus and thus and the other saith you did it and so are wrangling one with another now if the Master comes and saith Why It was I that did it He makes account that this should still them all because it was he that had right to do it Why It is the Lord and therefore it is not for us to stand Fretting against any means For it is the Great Soveraign Lord that hath the absolute Power and Dominion over us And then Thirdly It is the Lord we have sinn'd against and hath us at infinite Advantages that way It is the Lord that we are liable unto While we are here in this World and carry about with us so much sin we cannot have any serious Thoughts of God but we must needs have Thoughts how we have sinn'd against this God and what advantages this God hath us at in respect of our sins Oh! It is the Lord that we have offended and sinn'd against Fourthly Hence it follows It is the Lord and therefore it is He that if He hath brought a little Affliction He may bring abundantly more if He pleases It is He whose Power as it is not shortned in a way of Help so not in a way of Affliction Hath He afflicted in one kind He might in a hundred if he pleased Hath He afflicted thee in thy Estate He might have afflicted thee in thy Body Hath He afflicted thee in thy Body He might have afflicted thee in thy Soul Hath He afflicted thee in thy Soul here He might have sent thee down to Hell eternally Is it upon any within thy Dwelling-place it might have been upon thy self It is the Lord that hath us under His feet And if He bring the least evil He might have brought as much as He pleased He might have afflicted us abundantly more than He hath done And this is a mighty humbling Consideration to quiet the Heart under the Hand of God And then Fifthly It is the Lord. Why it is the Lord that hath done all the Good that ever we have enjoyed It is He that hath done all Good to us You have an Affliction but have you no Mercies Do you enjoy no Good Why from whence was it was it not from the Lord Shall I receive Good from the Hand of the Lord and not Evil saith Job Why even the Savage Beasts will bear strokes from them that feeds them The very Bears will suffer the Bearherd that brings them Meat to strike them they will not suffer a stranger so much but those that bring them Meat They receive good from them and therefore they will submit to them Now we receive infinite Good from God daily Good and that 's a very useful Meditation for us to consider of in times of Affliction There 's this Good or that particular Good taken from me but what do I enjoy or what have I enjoyed It 's a usual thing in Afflictions to keep the sight of God from us As the putting a thing but as big as a Two-pence upon the Eye it will keep the sight of all the Heavens from us and so a little Afflictions many times keeps the sight of all the Good that we do enjoy from us But when we consider it is the Lord the infinite Fountain of all Good this is a mighty quieting Consideration Sixthly It is the Lord He is Just and Righteous in all his Proceedings there 's nothing but Righteousness in Him in all His Wayes In very Faithfulness saith David hast thou afflicted me It may be some affliction may come from Men and we may think they deal Unrighteously and Unjustly but it is the Lord and there is nothing but Righteousness in all His Wayes If we should think Why these afflictions they fall upon me and such and such they escape You must not reason so It is the Lord and therefore it is Righteous You think it might be better thus and thus but it is the Lord that is Just and Righteous in all His Proceedings and in all His Wayes Yea Seventhly As Righteous so infinitely Wise He is Infinitely Wise and so knows how to Order things in the best way that may be He knows what 's fittest both for us and for His own Glory We are poor weak Creatures but it 's the Lord that sees Infinitely beyond us Eightly It is the Lord that hath alwayes very Holy ends in all His Dealings He hath Holy ends and Aims at Great and Holy things though perhaps we know them not and therefore He is to do whatsoever He will We use to say of a Man if we see him to be a Wise and Understanding man yea a Just man and to be a man that doth all things alwayes from good Principles and for good Ends let him alone though we do not understand what he is doing yet let him alone he knows what he doth It is the Lord let Him alone in His work let Him do what seemeth Him good Ninthly It is the Lord and He is able to bring good out of the greatest evils to bring light out of darkness yea to bring the greatest good out of the greatest evils I verily believe that many of the People of God have found it so That the greatest Blessings that ever they have had since they were born have been Ushered in by the greatest Afflictions Certainly as the Lord would not suffer sin in the World were it not for His Infinite Power to bring about Good from the sins of men so neither would He suffer Afflictions in the World to His Saints but that He knows He hath Power enough to bring good to them even out of their greatest Afflictions It is the Lord that hath this Power One would be loath to trust ones self with one in any Danger that cannot tell how to bring him
out again You would be loath to see your Child held over the Water by another little Child or over a Fire but if a strong Man hath your Child in his Arms and holds it over the Water and you know him to be your loving Friend it troubles you not at all Why Because you know he hath strength enough to keep your Child from the Danger Why It 's the Lord that though He holds his Children over Fire or Water and brings them into Fear and Afflictions yet He hath Power enough not only to preserve them but to bring a great deal of Good out of all and therefore let Him do what seemeth Him good Tenthly It is the Lord therefore submit to Him for His Counsel must stand and His Work must go on there 's no striving with the Almighty Are we greater than He No Instead of striving let there be submitting and yielding Eleventhly Yea and further It is the Lord and therefore He is worthy that His Designs should be brought about though we should be ruined There is such infinite Excellency in this God as I say He is worthy to have his own Designs brought about and his own Will fulfilled though it be to our Ruins Doth God think man so excellent a Creature as that He shall give thousands of other Creatures for to help him with the loss of their own Lives And shall not we think the Lord to be Infinitely worthy if He have use of our Lives or Liberties or Names or any thing that He should not have all to bring about his Designs withal O he is worthy and therefore let Him do what seemeth Him good If so be he will raise up any building of his in our ruins we should be willing to be serviceable to God in it we should be willing to lie down and let all that we have go that may be any way serviceable to God in his designs for the Lord is worthy These Considerations may be very useful to help you in the day of Affliction to meditate of God and so to work your hearts to an humble submission but especially if you add this one more Twelfthly When you do not onely see him to be Jehovah the Lord but if you can see that you have any interest in him as that he is the Lord your God this is of mighty power to quiet the heart as if he be your God why then he is in Covenant with you and if he be in Covenant with you then he hath engaged all his Wisdom and all his Power and all his Mercy for to be working eternally for your good and that 's more than a meer consideration that it is the Lord and that he is above us and just and holy and that it is in vain not to submit unto Him But it is the Lord that is in Covenant with me and in that Covenant he hath engaged all his Power and Wisdom and Mercy and Goodness for me Did we but understand what the Covenant of God in Jesus Christ was that he hath taken his Servants into O then this thought It is the Lord in Covenant with me would be enough to enable us to resign up our selves wholly to his dispose Thirteenthly Yea 'T is the Lord that is our Father You know what Christ saith Shall I not drink the Cup that my Father giveth me to drink That was the Argument of Christ O that this were in all our thoughts at all times when any thing though it be never so grievous befals us Shall I not drink the Cup that my Father giveth me to drink Whatsoever it be if it comes out of a Fathers hand why let Him do what seemeth him good You know when Christ came to the Disciples walking upon the waters and the Disciples were afraid Be not afraid 't is I saith Christ They were troubled at it and thought that one came as an Enemy to do them hurt but be not afraid 't is I saith Christ So my Brethren we should look in all afflictions to see who it is that comes we apprehend an Enemy coming but now those that are godly they may look upon him that comes as God Be not afraid saith the Lord it is I It 's I that am reconcil'd to you in my Son Upon this the soul may with abundance of sweetness and comfort go to God in Prayer and open it self to God having an interest in him You know If a great Dog should come with full mouth upon one why indeed if so be that he that comes to a house be a thief he hath cause to fear but if he be a Child he can call to his Father the Master of the house Take off your Dog So when afflictions come to the wicked they come with open devouring mouth and they have cause to be afraid but those that have interest in God may go with freedom unto God in prayer and cry to the Lord to take off the dog the affliction to keep it that it should do them no hurt at least It is the Lord. Object I but you will say That though it be the Lord yet it 's this indeed that rather makes my affliction the greater to consider it comes from God The thought that it's God in it strikes terror because I am conscious of sin against God It is an affliction that comes for my sin and therefore I see the displeasure of God in it and this makes it more grievous I would rather bear any thing from a creature than to bear the displeasure of God in a creature that 's that that is the greatest stick of all and therefore every time I think it is the Lord it rather adds to mine affliction Answ To that I answer First It 's true many men that think that all is well between God and them in the time of their health and prosperity yet when affliction comes God appears to them and they look upon God as an Enemy this is dreadful It 's a fearful thing when God is a terror to a man in the day of Calamity You know what Jeremy saith Jer. 17. 17. Be not thou a terror to me O Lord for thou art my hope in the day of evil If the soul may have God to be the hope of it in the day of evil there 's no evil terrible but if God be a terror then too and write bitter things against the soul in the time of affliction that 's dreadful But yet suppose thou seest God even as an Enemy coming against thee yet the consideration that it is the Lord should make thee submit at least For it is time for thee then to submit if so be that God as an Enemy appears against thee It 's time for thee to make haste to make thy peace with God yea and thou hast the more cause to bless God that he hath not destroyed thee What dost thou apprehend God as an Enemy O then it 's infinite Mercy thou art not destroyed Certainly if He be an Enemy
be enough to us that we hope that we have that Grace which possibly may bring us to Heaven at last but we should labour to have that Grace that may reign in the Heart now and bring all into a due Order As in a Family when the Governors are Wise you shall have them if there be but the least Disturbance speak but a word and all is quiet And you shall have other Families that where the Reins of Government are loose if there be but a little Disturbance it grows more and more and to such a height that it 's tedious for one that hath a quiet Spirit to be in the Family and so it is in the Heart though the best hath some Disturbance But now where Grace Rules and Governs it stills all presently without any great ado But now in other men though they have some Grace yet if the Heart begins to be in a Disturbance it 's a long time before it can be quieted My Brethren I have gone through these Points briefly and you will say 'T is a harder thing to do this than to speak it It 's true it is yet some of the Saints have done it They have through the Mercy of God been brought to these things that have been spoken and it 's possible to be done Some have attained it and there is strength enough in Christ for the weakest to attain it And He delights as much to Communicate His strength in helping of His poor Servants in the times of Affliction as at any time Consider what hath been said in these several Truths and lay them up against the Day of your Affliction that you may say It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good A Sermon Phil. 1. 21. For to me to Live is Christ and to Die is Gain THis blessed Apostle Paul had in the Course of his Life many things befel him that seem to be very Cross much Opposition great were his Sufferings even unto Bonds And much hard Usage he had not only from open Enemies but from false Brethren whose Spirits were full of Envy against him And who can stand before Envy They were vexed to see how his Ministery prevailed in the Hearts of People to see what great Esteem he had how precious his Name was among the Saints They knew not what course to take to Darken him and therefore among others some of them would set upon Preaching Christ as well as he and see what they could do that way they would be as forward as he Well saith Paul all this makes for my Good and I rejoyce in it so be it I may be any occasion that Christ may be Preached whether of Good-will or Envy I am glad Christ is made known by this and this shall turn saith he to my Salvation to the Glory that I expect from Christ and with Christ That shall be furthered by it so long saith he as Christ is Honoured I shall never be ashamed No matter what becomes of my Body of my Life so that Christ may be Magnified in my Body whether it be by Life or by Death For to me to Live is Christ and to Die is Gain And this is the Coherence of the Words Here then we have a Man of brave Resolution of a truly Noble raised Spirit while other men are Grovelling here in the World in seeking Contentment unto the Flesh Here 's the Spirit of Paul raised above Life and Death To me to Live is Christ to Die is Gain To me to Live is Christ You have it in your English only so To Live and to Die But those that understand the Original know that besides the Word that signifies To Live There 's an Article in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And besides that word there 's an Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that if you would have it Translated according to the Propriety and Elegancy of the Greek it is thus To me the thing that is to Live is Christ and the thing that is Death is Gain As if he should say That thing that you call Life is nothing but Christ If Christ may be Magnified in me if I may be of any Service for Him any way then I am content to Live but if so be that He may be no more Served by me here let me Die and I shall lose nothing by that neither For that same thing you call Death the thing that People keep such a stir about and are so scar'd withal That to Die it 's nothing to me but that which will be Gain So that the words they speak out the frame of Gracious Heart blessing it self in Jesus Christ both in Life and Death To me to Live I 'll not make any curious Definition nor raise more Points than I shall go through at this time and the Points will be nothing but the opening of the Text in both Parts First That a true Godly man accounts Christ to be his Life And Secondly To a Godly man Death is Gain For the First To me to Live is Christ That same thing that you call life It 's Christ all is wrapt up in him I account nothing Life but Jesus Christ As for my natural Life that 's no way considerable but so far as Christ is in it Christ is the life of the Saints It 's more indeed then if he should say Christ is my life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the thing that is to live is Christ It 's a greater Elegancy than to say Christ is my life Christ is the life of the Saints First in this That they are by him freed from a Legal death Every man by nature is under the Curse of the Law he is a dead man as we say of a man that is condemn'd he is a dead man dead by the Law But now the Saints in Christ are dead to the Law Gall. 2. 19. But they live to God they are freed from that Legal death and so Christ brings life to them Secondly Christ is the principle of Spiritual Life in them It 's Christ that brings me to the Fountain of Life that unites my Soul again to God and puts me in a principle of Life to inable me to live to God and to injoy communion with him I in my self am as a dead Carkass without Jesus Christ To me to live is Christ Thirdly Christ is the preserver of this life of mine Notwithstanding all the corrupt and silthy and dead stuff that is in me yet Jesus Christ preserves this life in me And then in the Fourth place which I take to be the chiefe meaning of what the Apostle intends To me to live is Christ that is the great comfort of my Life that 's Christ A man doth not live except he hath Comfort in his Life For so the Scripture calls Life when a man hath Comfort Joy and Contentment in his Life Psal 38. 19. But mine Enemies are lively so you have it in your Books Mine Enemies are living so you
Therefore surely it 's Gain to die for a Godly Man 7ly Further It 's Gain in this respect When they receive immediately they shall receive all United in one and all together They shall have such Influence from Christ as hath all Good united in one Beam of Excellency and so receive it all together As now a Man may take the Quintesence of several Herbs there 's this Herb hath this Virtue another another and a third a third but now if you Still all these Herbs together you will have the Virtue and Quintesence of all in one Drop So Christ here scatters His Excellencies one in one Creature another in another but when we come to enjoy Him immediately then we shall have all in one because all His Excellencies whatsoever is united in one in Him Eighthly Further all our Good shall be in continal Act. Here we have a great deal of Good in the Habit but now when we come to have this Immediate communion with Christ there all our Graces shall be Acted continually The Sun you know how it doth Act the Earth whatsoever there is in the Earth it draws it forth and makes it flourish So the Presence of the Sun of Righteousness Oh how Gloriously will it Act all our Graces In Numb 17. 7. We read of Aarons Rod it Blossom'd And the Text saith It Blossom'd before the Lord. When the Souls of the Saints shall be before the Lord and be in the Presence of the Lord Christ O they shall Blossom and Flourish and all their Graces shall Flourish in a most Glorious manner Ninthly And then lastly We shall enjoy what is in Christ without any Intermission What 's the reason of any Intermission here But something that comes between Christ and our Souls But now when there shall be nothing between Christ and the Soul then there will be no Intermission That Sweetness and Comfort thou hast in communion with Christ at any time thou shalt have it at all times And how good is that O saith many a Soul could I have but the communion with Christ at all times as I have at some times O that would be comfortable Now when the Soul hath Immediate communion with Christ it shall have it at all times What 's the reason of Ecclipses It is the Interposition between the Moon and the Sun or some Interposition between the Sun and us So our Ecclipses of the Light that we have from Christ it is some Interposition Take away the Interposition and then there will be no Intermission Now put all these together and is it not Gain to Die and to be with Christ Now by way of Use It is Gain thus to be with Christ Hence then If it be Gain for one that doth so much Service for Christ as Paul did surely than those that are Believers and are made little Use of in any Service for Christ they will get by their Death Paul was a Man that one would wonder how the Churches could spare him he did so much for Christ and yet Paul would get by Death If thou beest a Believer thou shalt have thy Immediate communion with Christ as Paul had Alas here while thou Livest thou hast but little communion between Christ and thee and doest Him but little Service in the World Then why should you so much desire to Live in the World that have nothing to Countervail the Trouble that you have and the Sin that is committed in the World O surely it will be gain for you Secondly Hence it follows That it is a Self-denial to a Believer to be willing to Live here in the World You will say If it be so much Gain why should any be so desirous to Live It 's this first Nature will have its work though in their Judgments they are convinc't that it 's better to be with Christ yet the Body will be working and the Affections will follow the Body very much Further Though they be convinc't that it is Gain yet God lays a Tie upon them to preserve their Lives as long as they can here in this World in Obedience to God They do desire to avoid Dangers and Preserve their Lives It is not for them to be where it is best for them to be but to be where God would have them to be and therefore God doth charge them to seek to Preserve their Lives and to go on till He Himself shall Dissolve the Body and Soul It 's God that is the Lord of our Life and as God gave us our Lives so it is He that must take them away and not any Body else But yet I say there is some Self-denial in it We must look upon our selves here as in a very Low and Mean condition in comparison of what we hope to be within a while after Therefore observe this one Note Those that do believe the Gain of Death they had need Labour what they can to countervail the Forbearance of the Gain by somewhat or other If a Man hath a great Gain and it comes not in his present Possession he thinks What shall I have for my Forbearance You will say What is it that any Believer can have in lieu of his Forbearance of that Gain Truly the most Excellent thing is this that he may do Christ Service while he Lives Now then Is that the main thing O learn from hence to be of as much use in your Lives as possibly you can for you have nothing else to speak of in Forbearance of that great Gain Why Lord I expect to enjoy Thee for ever before long but thou art pleased to Prolong my Life here for a while in the mean time I meet with many Temptations and Troubles and Vexations and much Sin I have But yet Lord thou knowest it 's my desire to Honour Thee and Serve Thee and through Thy Mercy I am some way or other Serviceable to Thee in the Place where Thou hast set me and Lord this is the thing contents me while I am absent from Thee Thirdly Hence we see the great Difference that there is between the death of a Believer and the death of a Wicked Man I shewed you I remember in the death of an Ungodly Man when the siery Serpent comes with his Sting and takes him in his Natural Estate Death is not Gain to such a one O no death takes away all his Gain But now death is the greatest Gain to the Saints That 's an excellent Scripture you have in 1 Cor. 3. the latter end Whether Paul or Appollos or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or Things present or Things to come all is yours In Christ Death comes to be made yours Death is part of the Possession of the Saints O the difference between the death of the Saints and the death of Wicked and Ungodly Men Do but put two Men a Wicked Man and a Godly Man lying both together upon their Death-Beds you must take a wicked Man that hath an enlightned
Conscience he lies beholding the Wrath of the Infinite God ready to swallow him up and his Conscience tearing and rending of him and so the black dismal bottomless Gulf ready to swallow him see the fiery Serpent sent from an Angry God twisting himself about his Middle with a Sting at his Heart ready to take away his Life that he might not Live any longer to Dishonour his God he lies cursing himself for his Wickedness and Folly and the Company that he hath Liv'd in and wishing that he had never been Born Now the Godly Man he lies blessing of the Name of God for His Goodness and in that God did shew to him in the time of his Life the things that concern his Eternal Peace He blesses God that ever he knew Him that ever he knew His Wayes He blesses God that the time of his departure is so near and he sees Jesus Christ ready to receive him and the Angels attending about him O the blessed day when I shall go to Enjoy an Immediate Full and Eternal Communion with Jesus Christ that is best of all And there he lies Encouraging all that comes to see him to know Christ and God betimes O here 's the difference between the death of the Godly and the death of the Wicked One is the greatest Terror and the other is the greatest Gain And my Brethren let these Things that I have now Spoken to you let them prepare you for Death and welcome Death whensoever it comes Do not think of what you must Leave in the World but what you are going to It is to go to Christ that is best of all And manifest the Power of those Things lay them up against such a time And let all that hath been said Teach you to be Godly to Prize Christ and the Gospel Here 's that will Recompence all Troubles and Afflictions you meet withal in the Wayes of God to be able upon your Death-Bed to say with Paul To me to Die is Gain It will Recompence whatever Pains you take in the Wayes of Religion And I appeal to you Do you think that there was ever any since the World began that was Sorry upon their Death-Bed that they had taken too much Pains in the Wayes of God There have been Thousands that have Cursed themselves for the neglecting of the day of Grace and Salvation but never sorry for taking so much Pains O no! When thou comest upon thy Death-Bed thou wilt have need of all and thou wilt bless God for any pains that thou hast taken for Christ Lay then this Sentence unto thy Heart it will Teach thee to Live and to Die And Certainly he must needs Live Joyfully whose Life is Christ And he must needs Die comfortably whose Death is Gain A Sermon Luke 10. 5 6. And into whatsoever House ye Enter first say Peace be to this House And if the Son of Peace be there your Peace shall Rest upon it If not it shall turn to you again THese Words are part of Christs Direction unto the Seventy Disciples that He sent forth to Preach the Gospel As Exod. 15. last We Read of Twelve Wells of Water and Threescore and Ten Palm Trees where Israel Encamped after their coming through the Red-Sea for their Refreshing So Christ sends forth His Twelve Apostles and Seventy Disciples for the Refreshing of the World with the glad Tidings of the Gospel There were Seventy I find many Interpreters keep much ado about the Number Austin and Jerom with others They say this Number hath Reference unto the Seventy several Languages of the World For they say That at the Confusion of Languages at Babel there were Seventy and so according in Proportion unto them Christ sends forth these Seventy These are but Surmises and many other such Guesses there are but particular Reason for the Number we have not Exprest in Scripture neither have we their Names We have the Apostles Names the Twelve but not these Seventy Some God is Pleased to make Men of Names Honourable in the World and leave their Names as Honourable Others the Lord Imploys in great Works and Services but their Names are Buried It is enough for these that Christ tells them in the 20th verse of this Chapter That their Names are Written in the Book of Life Let God Imploy us in His Work and Write our Names in the Book of Life it is no matter for to Name us in this World There are many remarkable things in Christs sending out of these Seventy As First He sends them forth by two and two so you have it in ver 1. of the Chap. to the end that they might be a mutual Support Comfort Encouragement Assistance one to another which is the Duty of all Ministers that God by His Providence shall Joyn together in any Service Secondly Christ tells them the great Work that they were sent about The Harvest truly is great saith He and the Labourers are but few I send you out into a Harvest which is a great Labour a useful Labour a joyful Work Isa 9. 3. Joy in the time of Harvest is the greatest Joy in the World It is a Harvest that you are sent into and it is a very great one and therefore you have Encouragement because there is so much Work to do In Mat. 9. latter end There it is said that Christ look'd upon the Multitude with Compassion and said The Harvest is great but the Labourers but few When Ministers look upon great Congregations Multitudes of People and especially such as come readily and willingly to hear the Word of God he should not look upon them without compassion as looking upon them as a great Harvest as much Work to be done there Yea in John 4. 34. After the Woman of Samaria and others were Converted as the first Fruits Christ tells the Disciples of the Regions that they were white unto Harvest As if He should say There are Multitudes here in this Place that are very ready to Entertain the Gospel A great Encouragement indeed it is when the Ministers of God shall see People so readily to attend upon the Word as they shall look upon the Regions as white unto Harvest that they are in a Preparation to receive the Word The Harvest is great saith Christ the Labourers are but few pray ye therefore the Lord of the Harvest that he will send forth Labourers into his Harvest There were Threescore and Ten sent out together and yet they were few and they must Pray for more It is the Duty of all People especially of Ministers to Pray to God that He will send forth more Painful Labourers And then Thirdly Christ tells them what Difficulties they are like to meet withal in their Work Go your wayes saith He in ver 3. Behold I send you forth as Lambs among Wolves you are to be as I am of Lamb-like Dispositions Innocent among People where you Live But know before-hand lest you be Discouraged with those Difficulties you
threaten sometimes in the Name of God Now therefore That they might convince people that they aim onely at good unto them in this therefore they must be of as loving and gentle and quiet and patient Spirits as possible may be especially in their own cause and that 's the tryal You sometimes prehaps hear a Minister preach hard things and you think they come with much harshness to you and your hearts are ready to rise against them But examine whether in all their dealings else and in things concerning themselves whether they be not of loving and gentle Spirits and full of Bowels of Compassion And they must be of such dispositions that they might win upon people and draw their hearts as in Hos 11. 4. I drew them with Cords of a Man and with the Bands of love And indeed this is one special reason why God sends Men to be the Ministers of the Gospel rather then Angels that there might not be any terror strook into the hearts of people If Angels should appear they would be exceeding dreadful and terrible but God doth rather choose Man to be a Minister that so he might sute himself to the dispositions of Men and draw with the Cords of Man And what 's that That 's with the Bands of love Mans Nature will rather be drawn then driven And my Brethren As it ought to be in Ministers to be of such dispositions so you that are the people should shew your selves to be of the like dispositions towards them again of Sweet and Loving and Gentle and Fair Dispositions towards them not of rugged and ridged tempers We read of the building of the Temple that there was not one whit of Iron us'd in it which is observable We do not read I say of Iron that was brought to the Building they made their Pinns of Wood and other things and Plates of Gold and Silver but brought no Iron God when he is about to build a Church and call a People home to himself he will call such as are of gentle Spirits or make them such God doth either refuse such ridged Spirits or else he doth change their natures that 's the First Note Say Peace be to this House The Second is this That Ministers ought to bless their People for so these words are to be considered not onely as to manifest their dispositions to give them a taste of their Spirits but as a Benediction to them Peace be to this place We in the Name of the Lord Bless you with Peace And this is more than to pray for them Ministers are to pray for People God forbâ—d saith Samuel That I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you But Ministers should do more They are in the Name of the Lord to Bless them Prayer it is a Speaking unto God but Blessing it is to Speak from God to Man and that with some kind of Authority Therefore we find in Scripture that The Lesser is Blessed of the Greater And That the Ministers were appointed to Bless the People in the Old Law Numb 6. 23. Speak unto Aaron and to his Sons saying On this wise ye shall bless the Children of Israel saying unto them The Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make His Face to shine upon thee and be Gracious unto thee the Lord lift up His Countenance upon thee and give thee Peace Here was Blessing in the Old Law And they retain'd some part of it in coming to any place when they said Peace be to this Place We read of Men of great Esteem among the People of the Jews that were wont to Bless those that they came unto As you find that of Boaz in Ruth 2. 4. He Prays for them and they Bless him Here was a sweet Salutation of a Man that did set other Men on work Boaz came into the Field and said unto the Keepers The Lord be with you And they answered him The Lord bless thee Many Men when they go among their Work-men they go with Raging and Cursing if things be not done according to their Mind Now what an unseemly thing is this among those who profess themselves Christians But on the other side this is Gracious-like to come among their Servants and Work-men and thus to Bless them The Lord be with you And they to pray for them And the Lord bless thee And so we read of pure Parents to Bless their Children And it hath been the Use of the Church to Bless the People Therefore in all Congregations where you meet with the Exercises of Religion you use to have a Blessing before you go and you are not to flight it And except God call you out by extraordinary Occasion you are to abide and stay the Blessing We read of some that were appointed by God to stand upon Mount Gerisim in Deut. 27. and their work was only to bless to Bless the People and there were some who stood upon Mount Ebal and they were to Curse But now Mark If we search who they are that are appointed to Bless you shall find them to be more Honourable than those that were appointed to Curse For those that were appointed to Curse there was Reuben he had lost his Birth-right and Gad and Ashur and Dan and Napthali they were Children of the Hand-Maid they were not begotten in the way of Marriage but only by the Hand-Maid or by a Concubine Most of these that were to stand upon Mount Ebal for Cursing they were of the meaner sort of the Tribes This notes thus much That Blessing is the chief work that Ministers should Rejoyce and Delight in Therefore though they do sometimes pronounce the Threats of God against you to awaken Secure Drowsie Sinners which is their work likewise yet certainly there is nothing more sutable unto the Heart of a Godly Minister than to be alwayes Blessing of his People and to be bringing of the Message of Blessing unto them And if this be so then certainly the Ministers of the Gospel they are a great Blessing in the World And you that are People you should Encourage your Ministers to Bless you and to Bless God for you your Carriage towards them should be such as they may with Chearfulness in the Name of God Bless you and they may in secret when they are between God and themselves Bless God for you O when as the Minister shall first look upon the People and Bless them in the Name of God and Bless God for them and the People shall look again upon the Minister and pray to God for a Blessing upon him and Bless God that ever they knew him I say happy is the Minister that thus Blesses and Blesses God for a People and happy likewise the People that do thus pray for a Blessing upon and Bless God for a Minister But more Blessed is that God that shall joyn such Ministers and People together And that 's the Second Note That Ministers are to bless People when they
at the Goodness of God whereas He might have Curst thee and sent thee long since down to thine own place yet He doth give His Ministers charge to offer peace to thy Soul Think thus The Lord in this hath done more to me than He hath done to all those Thousand Millions of Angels that sinn'd against Him Those that were once glorious Angels and did sin against God the Lord took Advantage against them for their first sin and upon that cast them down into Chains of eternal Darkness and did resolve that He would never so much as enter into a Plea about any Condition of Peace with them to all Eternity This was the Way of God towards the Angels that did sin against Him that are now Devils O you that think the Lord to be a God of Mercy altogether do but consider of this and consider to Tremble before Him that God should take Advantage against Millions of Angels for so they were For we read in Scripture that Legions of Devils were in one man and they were once Angels and they did but commit one sin against God and the Lord would not Plea with them about Terms of Peace But mark now The same God that was so severe against Angels that were His own Creatures as well as thou and were more glorious Creatures and committed but one sin yet would never enter into any Terms of peace with them this God is not only willing to Treat with thy Soul to be at peace with thee but He sends forth His Messengers unto thee to Treat in His Name and doth give them command that when they come to thee they should offer Terms of peace to thy Soul Admire at this thou that hast not been guilty of one sin but of Thousands thou that hast Liv'd like a Monster in the place where thou hast Liv'd and hast liv'd in Rebellion against the Lord yet He doth give Command to His Ministers to offer peace to thee I say stand and admire at this when thou goest Home lay it to thy Heart O that the Great God should so Condescend to me rather than to Angels He doth so this day and in His Name I say according to the Text Peace be to every Soul that shall yet come in and return yet come and repent whatsoever they have been whether thou mayst live to have any further offer of peace or no the Lord knows It is an Offer that thou hast this day Look to thy self come in for there are many things in the Text that might put you on For if there be not a Son of Peace this Peace will turn back again Observ 5. But the last Point of all is this That Ministers of the Gospel are when they come to a place to say First Peace be to this place It should be the first Message that they should declare they should begin with this And there is a great deal of Emphasis in this word First say First So we read of John Baptist his first Sermon was this Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand And likewise the First Sermon of Christ in Mat. 4. 16 17. And again the Apostles you shall read of them Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand The First Sermon of John Baptist of Christ and of the Apostles was this Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand And the First Sermon that the Seventy Disciples was to Preach was Peace And in this the Lord deals with sinners according to the Order He gave in Deut. 20. 10. The Lord required that the First thing the Children of Israel should do when they came against a City it was to proclaim peace And we read of Alexander the First thing that he did was to set up a Lamp and his White Colours and to Proclaim That whosoever did come in before that Lamp was out should have his Life and Peace So when the Lord sends Ministers of the Gospel to any place he sets up a Lamp in that place and the First thing that He would have done it is to Proclaim to all People to come in that so they might have Peace And it is to be done in the First place First Because the Bowels of Gods Compassions are very strong and Gods Mercy lies at His Heart uppermost and therefore that is most ready and He is most ready to vent it That 's the most proper Work of God that He doth delight to Vent His Mercy Jer. 9. 24. Secondly Because that when the Offer of Peace is that hath a great deal of power to work upon the hearts of People Now the Lord therefore would have that done at First that is like most to prevail We know that People at First when a Minister comes amongst them they are set upon Novelties now it is good to take advantage of that their Humour and when they are hearkning after Novelty that they should come to have some principal Doctrine of Salvation to be secretly Instill'd into them that they should Drink in that before they are aware So the Lord uses to work upon Mens Self-love Every Creature loves it self and therefore the Lord sees that it is a good advantage to work upon Mens self-love to offer terms of Peace And the truth is that is it that gains the Heart of a Sinner And God will out-bid the World and Devil and Flesh What do they offer any thing that may delight you saith God I will out-bid them all Christ out-bids the World and Devil in offering unto sinners a greater Good than World or Devil can possibly bring unto them And indeed this offer of Peace doth out-bid the World that is doth proffer a greater Good to a sinner than World or Devil can possibly proffer to them Nay then saith the Soul if I see that I may have a greater good by Repenting and Believing than by going on in my sin I will go that way I will rather attend upon the Word for I hear of great things that are there about Reconciliation between God and man Now this is the way to take the Hearts of men and it is the way to break them of their stoutness and stubbornness For certainly every man naturally hath a very stout and stubborn Heart against God Therefore if First he be opposed he will be ready to rise against God and against His Truths and against His Servants Therefore it is good to come First with those things that their Hearts may close with all that so they may be in a more preparation that they may hearken to what the Lord shall reveal after as necessary unto them But you will say If it be thus Why is it then that Ministers do Preach so much of our miserable Condition in which we are The answer is It 's true at First there should be a tender of peace and I make no question but you have had it so here But now it 's true before the full Doctrine of Reconciliation with God is to be opened
Now saith the Text And from the dayes of John the Baptist until now doth the Kingdom of Heaven suffer violence O the Hearts of People were mightily stirred ever since the dayes of John Baptist and why Because that he Preached that The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Now that consists of Peace and Joy and the Doctrine of Reconciliation between sinners and the Blessed God that indeed is the special part of the Kingdom of Heaven Now he Preaching this Kingdom of Heaven saith the Text from that day the Kingdom of Heaven suffered Violence and every one comes to know Lord what shall I do that I may enter into this Kingdom O what a Blessed thing is it for Congregations when the Lord shall send those amongst them to bring Peace between God and their Souls That it may said from such a Day from such a Time that the Lord did send such among them that opened this Doctrine of Peace That the Kingdom of Heaven hath suffered Violence There hath many poor Souls come in and said O Men and Brethren What shall I do to be saved And Blessed are they upon whom the Tender of the Gospel shall have this Effect Now if there be any Sons of Peace here that shall entertain this here 's the Blessing that is to be upon them That the Peace of the Gospel shall rest upon them upon that Parish upon that House upon that Soul Sermon II. Luke 10. 6. And if the Son of Peace be there your Peace shall rest upon it If not it shall turn to you again TO leave what was said in the former Verse and to proceed to what remains In this Verse you have First A Supposition If the Son of Peace Secondly A Description of a good Hearer of the Gospel He is a Son of Peace Thirdly The Blessing upon him Your Peace shall rest upon him We shall speak to no more only these Three things at present First The Supposition If the Son of Peace be there Here there is a Supposition That when the Lord sends the Ministry of the Gospel unto any place that there will be some Sons of peace it were a hard thing if we should come and find no Sons of Peace If the Son of Peace be there As if Christ should say It is hopeful you may find some Sons of Peace From whence the Point of Doctrine is this That when God doth send the Ministery of the Gospel to any place there is hopes that there is some Sons of Peace there There may be hope to Ministers and others that they shall find some that will entertain their Gospel In Acts 18. 9 10. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a Vision Be not afraid but speak and hold not thy peace For I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee For I have much People in this City When God sent Paul to Preach there was a great deal of Opposition Well saith God for all that Opposition you shall Preach in this place Why For I have much People in this City So that when God by His Providence shall order the Word to come to any place there is a hopeful Argument at least that God hath People in that City In Mat. 10. Where you have Christ sending of the Apostles to Preach He bids them in ver 5. Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into the Cities of the Samaritans enter ye not saith Christ But go rather to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel As if Christ should say As for the Gentiles and the Samaritans I have yet none to Call there the time is to come for the Gentiles to be Called I would not therefore have you go thither I would not have you lose your Labour But go unto the lost Sheep of the House of Israel There are many of the House of Israel that are as lost Sheep that are wandering from God and their own Happiness I would have you go thither saith Christ thereby Intimating that there were some to be Call'd there rather than in the other place The Ministry of the Gospel it is the great Gift of Jesus Christ that He gave when He Ascended on high And to what end did He give it Mark in Ephes 4. 11 12. to what end it is And He gave some Apostles And some Prophets And some Evangelists And some Pastours and Teachers For the perfecting of the Saints So it is Translated in your Books But the Word in the Original is For the Joynting of the Saints the putting of them into Joynt At first to put them into Christ and then that they may grow up For the Work of the Ministry for the Edifying of the Body of Christ For the Building up of the Body of Christ And this Text is quoted out of that Prophesie that we have in Psal 68. 18. Thou hast ascended on High Thou hast led Captivity Captive Thou hast received Gifts for men c. Here 's a Prophesie of Christ clearly And the Apostle doth apply it in Ephes 4. Christ received Gifts for men here it is And there it is That He hath Dispensed Gifts to Men. And mark Yea for the Rebellious also Those Men that are the most Rebellious yet Christ hath received Gifts for them What Gifts The Ministry of the Gospel is the great Gift that God the Father hath given to Christ and Jesus Christ hath given it unto His Ministers and sends them among the Rebellious And to what end That the Lord God might dwell among them So that by this it appears till God send the Ministry of the Word among a People the Lord God doth not dwell there for it is That the Lord God might dwell among them They are without God in the World but when that comes unto a place then the Lord God comes to Dwell among them So that then you see the Point clear by Scripture when the Lord sends the Ministry of the Gospel there is some hope that there is some good intended for some in that place And the Reasons are these 1. Because Christ sends His Ministers according as His Father sent Him Now thus we have it in John 20. 21. Then said Jesus to them again Peace be unto you as my Father hath sent me even so send I you Mark As God the Father sends Christ so Christ sends Ministers Well How doth God the Father send Christ Compare this Scripture with John 3. 17. Thus God the Father sends His Son He doth not send His Son into the World that He might Condemn the World That is not Gods primary End to Condemn the World but that that God doth Aim at in sending His Son into the World it is that by Him the World may be saved Now then compare this Scripture with that other saith Christ As my Father sent me so send I you Now my Father sent Me into the World not to Condemn the World though by accident the World shall be Condemned the
rather because of Christs comeing among them and they refusing Him But this is the Scope of my Fathers sending of Me into the World that by Me the World may be Saved and so do I send you I send you to Places not to Condemn them not to Aggravate their Sin and their Condemnation That is not my primary Intention though this may fall out but I send you to a place that through your Ministry Souls in that place may come to be Saved Reas 2. A second Reason is from the Promise of Christ unto His Ministers when they go to any place to Preach In the last words of the Gospel by Saint Matthew Christ sends them to Preach and saith He Lo I am with you alwayes even unto the end of the World I am with you to Assist you and to Bless you whithersoever you go even to the end of the World That is with you and with all that shall succeed you to Preach this Gospel in any place unto the end of the World Reas 3. Further We know that the Gospel it is the Arm of God Isa 53. 1. Who hath believed our Report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed And Rom. 1. 16. It is the Power of God unto Salvation And if God Arm and Gods Power unto Salvation come among a People there is hopes that there is an Intention of some Good unto some of them Reas 4. The Preaching of the Gospel It brings the Day of Grace and of Salvation to any place wheresoever it comes and so long as that doth continue to any place so long the day of Grace and Salvation continues to the place This you have clearly 2 Cor. 6. beginning We then as Workers together with Him beseech you also that ye receive not the Grace of God in vain For He saith I have heard thee in a time accepted and in the day of Salvation have I succoured thee Behold NOW is the accepted time behold NOW is the day of Salvation Now When was that Now That was when the Apostles came and Preached among them the Doctrine of Reconciliation Now is the accepted time Now is the day of Salvation Now if you come in you may be accepted Now is the time that if you be appointed to be Sav'd you must come in now Reas 5. And this Scripture doth put me upon a Fifth Reason of the Point and that is That when the Gospel comes to be Preached to a place it doth not only make an Accepted time and a day of Salvation But it is the Fruit of the Prayer of Jesus Christ even of that Prayer that Christ hath made to God the Father that He would in such a time send the Ministry of the Gospel to be clearly and powerfully Taught in that place And if you ask me where the place is that doth prove it it is in Isa 49. 8. You have there almost the very some words that you have here Thus saith the Lord In an acceptable time have I heard thee and in a day of Salvation have I helped thee Now this is clearly meant of Christ if you look both unto the Coherence of the words with what hath been before and that which follows after For saith He I will preserve thee and give thee for a Covenant of the People to Establish the Earth to cause to Inherit the desolate Heritages Now saith God concerning Christ Thus saith the Lord In an acceptable time have I heard thee What is that acceptable time It is that which the Apostle doth Interpret to be A day of Salvation The Apostle speaks of an acceptable Time and of a day of Salvation and saith he Now it is Now while we are Preaching the glad Tidings of the Gospel unto you And here saith the Holy Ghost The Lord hath heard thee in an acceptable time and in a day of Salvation That is When as Jesus Christ did Pray to God the Father for His Church that should be that God would send the Ministry of the Gospel unto those whom the Father had given unto Him from all Eternity I say Jesus Christ did Pray unto the Father for them Now saith God I have heard thy Prayer and I have granted what thou Prayest for And this hearing of thy Prayer it is an acceptable Time and it is a day of Salvation Thou hast a day of Salvation according to thy prayer and this very day the Apostle doth Interpret of sending the Gospel unto any place So that where the Gospel comes it is not to be lookt upon as a thing that comes meerly by Accident or by an ordinary Providence of God as other things but it is that that comes unto a place by Virtue of the Prayer of Jesus Christ of the Intercession of Jesus Christ unto the Father for that particular Place or Town or Parish And this is the Reason why the Lord leaves some places destitute of Help in Ignorance and Darkness that they scarce ever come to hear of Jesus Christ And others that it may be are in themselves as unworthy as the other they come to have the great things of the Gospel opened to them The reason of the difference is Jesus Christ hath Interceeded before the Father for the one and not for the other and one is the Fruit of the Prayer of Jesus Christ and the other Christ hath let go because they do not so belong unto Him He hath not those among them that are to be made the Sons of Peace Reas 6. Yet further When the Gospel comes to a place there is hope of Good because that the Gospel hath in it self so much power I say it is not only as an Ordinance to convey the Word of God But though Mans Words and Ministry hath little in it yet the Truths of the Gospel they have in them a mighty Strength there are such wonderful things that the Gospel doth Reveal wheresoever it comes that one would wonder that the Hearts of all People should not be taken with it Yea there are such things that are made known in the Gospel that one would think might break the Heart of any Devil in Hell That if God should send the Gospel unto the Devils if they were not gone Irrecoverably one would think that what is made known in the Gospel might break the heart of a Devil O that God should be Reconcil'd to Man To send His own Son to Die for base Worms upon whom the Lord might have Glorified His Infinite Justice upon to all Eternity There is that in the Gospel that it is to Admiration that all People do not come in unto it What doth Christ say If the Son of Peace It is a wonder that all do not come in to Imbrace the Blessed Gospel The Patience of God doth Lead to Repentance Then what might the Grace of God do that is held out in the Gospel The Lord doth reveal such Arguments to draw People that to speak after the manner of Men we may conceive That if the
Lord should have Studied and Contriv'd with His own Infinite Wisdom what strong Arguments He would use to work upon the Hearts of the Children of Men one would not have imagined how an Infinite Wisdom should have found out such to perswade Men to come in One may say of the Arguments of the Gospel as the Master of the Vineyard said when he had Let out his Vineyard to Husbandmen and sent for Fruit one Servant was beaten and the other was misused But at last saith he I will send my Son for surely they will reverence my Son Why now this may be said of other Arguments To compare those things that are in the Gospel with all other things that can be Preached unto People Indeed a Minister of God may come with many strong Arguments to draw the Hearts of People from their sin and to draw them unto Repentance But now this Argument will not do it nor the other Argument will not do it they stand out this and that Argument I but saith the Lord I will send the Ministry of my Gospel among them I 'll reveal my Son unto them Certainly they will Reverence this Argument and their Hearts will be taken with this Argument That 's another Reason why there is great hopes when the Ministry of the Gospel comes that there should be some Sons of Peace found there Reas 7. Further Another is this Because it is the Way of God with a People when He sends them the Gospel in the Power of it and the Clearness of it I say the Way of God then is not so much to have regard to any of their sins that ever were Committed before that time but now to go as it were upon a new Score I do not say but if they should perish then they must perish for their old sins too But I mean thus That when the Lord sends the Ministry of the Gospel to a place the Lord now doth not so much look at any sin that they liv'd in before in the dayes of their Ignorance there is none of those sins now that shall Damn them upon condition that they now do Imbrace the Gospel that is offered to them Therefore there is a great deal of hope that there may be some Sons of Peace For the Riches of Gods Mercy hath not yet had the Glory the Turn as it were of it towards this People that yet have not had the Gospel in the Clearness and in the Power of it brought amongst them Now God looks thus upon a People that He sends His Gospel unto It 's true they have liv'd in Blindness in Darkness in Prophaneness in Sabboth-breaking in Ungodliness Alas they did not know what the Councels of my Will were concerning the Eternal state of their Souls which is revealed in that Gospel of Mine They knew no better things that to Eat and Drink and make provision for the Flesh therefore for all that time of their Ignorance I will not regard I will Wink at it But now God Calls for Repentance So you find it in Acts 17. 30. And the times of this Ignorance God Winked at but now God Calleth all men every where to Repent As if the Lord should say As for the times of your Ignorance though you were very Prophane very Superstitious very Ungodly yet I am content to Wink at it but now I am content to go as it were upon a new Score Now come in and Repent and your Souls shall live Now my Brethren when Mercy comes to have a Turn towards a People who knows what may be done As thus Now suppose that a Man hath lain Sick a long time and his Sickness increases upon him and it is very dangerous If you should come to such a Man and say What means have you used What Phisicians have you had Now it appears that he hath not used such a Medicine that is Soveraign for such a Disease it hath not been tried now if that Medicine hath not been used you will have a great deal of hope concerning the Life of your Friend until it be tried and you see it doth no good that it makes no alteration upon the body of your Friend So it is here People that have liv'd Prophanely and Ungodlily and their Hearts have not been brought to God I but what hath God revealed his Grace in Christ unto their Souls Have they known the Blessed things of the Gospel If not there may be a great deal of hope For when Gods Mercy shall come to have its Turn upon this People it 's very like there are many whom God intends Everlasting good unto But now to wind up this Point in a word of Application If this be so O do not frustrate Hope There are hopes that God intends Mercy to a People when He sends the Gospel to be Preached to them at any time though they may say we have had it Preached to us before Yet if He sends it a-fresh it seems that Mercy must have the second Turn to this People I say now do not frustrate Hope First The Hope of God Himself You will say The Hope of God why God knows whether it will work upon People yea or no and that cannot be Frustrated But for the Answer to that We are to know that God is pleased in Scripture to Speak after the manner of Men and God Himself doth Speak after this manner as if He had some good hopes that People would be wrought upon when He sends His Ministers among them As that place which I named before I will send my Son surely they will reverence him I hope that will prevail And a suitable place we have of Gods expressing himself after this manner in Jer. 36. 2 3. Take thee a Roll of a Book and Write therein all the Words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel and against Judah c It may be saith God that the House of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose unto them Go your way and preach saith God unto the Prophet it may be they will hear and return every Man from his evil way This was not now the Ministery of the Gospel but of Threatings and yet God speaks with some expectation as if so be he did expect that they should it may be they will saith God And so in Zeph. 3. 7. I said surely thou wilt fear me thou wilt receive Instruction so their dwelling should not be cut off howsoever I punished them but they rose early and corrupted all their doings God was frustrated in his Expectation yet I said surely thou wilt fear me Thus the Lord though he knows all his works from all eternity yet he speaks after the manner of Men and saith surely such and such means may do good upon such and such people O therefore let not the Expectation of the Lord be frustrated and let not the expectatitions of the Ministers of the Gospel be frustrated Certainly when they come to any place they are to
If the Son of Peace be there They are sometimes called The Children of the Kingdom as in Mat. 13. there they have that Title given unto them Those that are good Hearers of the Word in the Parable that you have about the Seed Those that Imbrace the Gospel and are the good Hearers of it they are the Sons of Peace and that in a Five-fold regard First Because they are such as are ordained to Peace as the Son of Perdition one that is appointed to Perdition Secondly They are those that do attend upon the Gospel of Peace as in Mark 2. 19. The Children of the Bride-Chamber those that do attend upon the Gospel Thirdly Because they are Obedient unto the Gospel As the Sons of Belial are Sons of Wickedness so the Sons of Peace such as yield Obedience unto the Gospel of Peace Fourthly The Sons of Peace because they are Begotten by the Ministry of the Gospel Fifthly Because they are such as shall Inherit the Peace of the Gospel therefore Sons of Peace There is somewhat that every one of these may afford unto us but I take the first Three are principally meant therefore of the other I shall speak of but a little by the way The First is Because they are appointed unto that Benefit of the Gospel of Peace So that from thence the Point is this That all those that are good Hearers and Entertainers of the Ministry of the Gospel that comes to any place they are such as are appointed from all Eternity to enjoy the Peace of the Gospel Judas was not more a Son of Perdition than such a one is a Son of Peace That is There was no more Evidence that Judas was appointed to Eternal perdition than there is certain Evidence that such a one is appointed from all Eternity to enjoy the Benefit of the Gospel I shall give you these two Scriptures for it the first is in Acts 2. latter end And the Lord added to the Church that is Converted to Himself made His Gospel effectual daily such as should be saved such as were appointed to be Saved And another Scripture there is which saith That all those which were ordained to Eternal Life believed But above all I will give you this one Scripture in 1 Thes it is a most excellent Text for this purpose and a mighty Encouraging Text to all those that shall be found good Hearers of the Gospel Chap. 1. 4 5. Knowing Brethren beloved your Election of God We know that you are those whom God hath Eternally Elected How do you know that Were you in the Counsel of God in Gods Treasury to know what His Thoughts were How can you tell the Election of God Mark The Words following doth give you the Reason for what He saith knowing your Election of God For our Gospel came not unto you in Word only but also in Power Indeed when the Gospel comes to a place if it comes in Word only unto a Congregation they come indeed to hear and flock to hear what a Man can say This is no Argument of a Mans Election but when it comes not only in Word but in Power when you begin to feel the Power of the Word upon your Hearts Though you come it may be at first out of Curiosity and Novelty and took notice of nothing that would be done but when you came there the Gospel took hold upon your Spirits and over-powered your Hearts Now by that you may know that you are one that are appointed unto the Benefit of the Gospel of Peace that you are Elected of God Those Souls that feel the Power of the Gospel upon them may know certainly that they were Elected from all Eternity As if God should Speak from Heaven and say Such a Man or Woman they are Elected from all Eternity we may now as well doubt of that Voice as we may doubt of a Man or Woman that hath the power of the Gospel upon their Hearts So that is appears by this Text that where there are good Hearers of the Gospel they are the Sons of Peace that is appointed for all Eternity to have the benefit of Peace And there are these particulars in this First They may know that the Lord had Thoughts upon them in particular before the World was yea that the Lord when He saw the great Lump of Mankind before Him He set apart these for the Praise of His Grace in Christ for ever Left others and set apart these Yea They may know that there were Transactions between the Father and the Son about their Souls in particular from all Eternity Yea you may further know That God the Father did give them unto His Son from Everlasting For so Christ saith That those come to Him whom the Father hath given Him There are a certain Number that God the Father hath given to Jesus Christ to Redeem from all Eternity and said to Him Son take these Souls and do you undertake for them And He hath made Answer Father I do undertake to Satisfie Thy Wrath and Justice for them Now were it not a blessed thing to know that when there were such Transactions between the Father and the Son that thou wert mentioned in particular that God the Father did give thee by Name to His Son Certainly if thou beest an Entertainer of the Gospel thou mayest be certain of this thing Further Thou mayst know this As God the Father did give thee to His Son so He did make a Promise to save thee There was a Covenant between the Father and the Son for thy Salvation according to that Text in Tit. 1. 2. That Scripture speaks of a Promise of Eternal Life before the World began How could there be a Promise before the World began To whom could it be made When there is a Promise made there must be some body to receive it Surely it was The Promise was between the Father and the Son from all Eternity concerning thy Soul in particular Yea and further Thou may'st know That when God did send His Son to take Mans Nature upon Him He sent Him into the World to have a care of thy Soul as well as any others Yea and further That when God did from all Eternity appoint that at such a time and place such means should be for good that He did likewise Aim at thee And indeed many may see the Work of God wonderful this way Thus those that are good Hearers of the Gospel they are the Sons of Peace in this First regard because they are appointed by God unto the Benefit of the Peace of the Gospel from all Eternity And it may be a mighty Encouragement unto those who do begin to feel the Gospel to be powerful upon their Hearts Secondly The other is A Son of Peace that doth attend upon the Gospel That is when the Ministry of the Gospel doth come he doth make it his care to make preparation for it he doth come to hear the Gospel as a matter of
then the Blessedness you spake of For I bear you record that if it had been possible you would have plucked out your own Eyes and have given them to me The meaning is this When the Gospel came at first to be Preached among them generally they cried out O this Blessed Gospel O the Blessedness O these blessed Truths that is come among us such Truths as we were not acquainted withal O they are blessed Truths indeed Mark They were thus taken with the Truths of the Gospel when they were first Preached But now saith Paul Where is the Blessedness ye spake of Your Hearts are not now so taken with the Gospel as they were at first now you seem to be taken off from it Where is the Blessedness you spake of I make no Question but many Ministers in many Congregations have Cause to make Use of these words of the Apostle when God sent them at first The Hearts of People were taken with the Ministry of the Gospel but within a while they are off again And well may their Ministers say Where is the Blessedness you spake of The Peace of the Gospel it doth not abide upon them but one thing or other takes it off from them So in Heb. 6. There you read of some that yet were not Sav'd by the Gospel or were not in a Condition at least for the present to be Sav'd yet they had a taste of the Heavenly Gift They did not only hear the Word and understand it but they Had a taste of the good Word of God O they said It was the good Word of God And Mark Of the Powers of the World to come That is of those powerful Truths of those Truths that do concern the World to come that were powerful Truths For so certainly my Brethren the Truths that do concern the World to come as powerful Truths they have a mighty deal of Power to work upon the Heart And these had not only the Apprehensions but a taste of the Powers of the World to come and yet it appears that they had not those things that did accompany Salvation Many other Scriptures might be shewed that there are many that are Affected with the Gospel yea they are Convinc'd and they have some taste of it and their Spirits taken yea almost perswaded with him that we read of almost perswaded to become a Christian and yet for all this this Mercy that is here promised to the Sons of Peace is not their Portion the peace of the Gospel doth not rest upon their Spirits It is a Blessing beyond that which any Hypocrite in the World hath to have this peace of the Gospel to rest and abide upon his Spirit That is First To be set up as a constant Light before the Soul not to come as a meer flash of Lightning suddenly come and suddenly gone but then it may be said to rest when the Lord sets up those glorious Truths of the Gospel as a constant Light before the Soul And Secondly When as the Lord works those Truths by Meditation upon the Heart the Lord causes those Truths to follow the Thoughts of the Mind and so to work them upon the Heart yea into the Heart of the Thoughts of the Mind when the Lord gives a constant real Taste of those Truths and Savour of them that though they be not alwayes Hearing of them yet the Savour and Relish doth abide in a constant way upon their Hearts when the Lord causes those Truths of the Gospel to spread all over the Faculties of their Souls that it is as the Holy Ghost compares it in Scripture to Leven The Kingdom of God is like unto Leven which in a little time doth Leven the whole Lump So when the Lord causes the Truths of the Gospel not only to be in the Mind in the Understanding in the Conscience but to get into the Heart to get into the Affections and as it were to Leven in a good sense the whole Soul by the Sweetness and the Goodness and the Excellency of those Truths Yea when the Lord shall cause those Truths to be dearly Rooted in the Heart to take such Root as Temptations and Deducements any Provocations without shall never be able to take out those Truths which are upon the Heart When the Lord shall cause them to stick so fast to sinck so deep into the Heart let there come what will to take off the Heart from them or take them out of the Heart yet they shall never be able to take them out of the Heart As a Martyr said saith he You may take my Heart out of my Body but you shall never take the Belief of these things out of my Heart O the Blessing and the Truths of the Gospel did so rest upon his Soul and they had gotten so near into his Heart that nothing in the World could take it off Many People that are a little stirr'd upon the Hearing of the Gospel and they think it is good and the Truths are Blessed Truths and they had good Resolutions but perhaps when they come Home from Hearing of the Word they shall have a Fellow-servant Jearing of them or the Father or Mother Speaking against them or the Husband the Wife or the Wife the Husband and so perhaps they come to lose all those Truths which formerly they were so taken with But those that are the Sons of Peace they have the Peace of the Gospel resting upon them as hath been Opened to you and this is a very great Blessing of God O this is a Mercy indeed for the Lord to grant the Truths of the Gospel and the Good of it thus to rest upon the Heart that the Heart doth keep it as a Treasure within it it is a great Mercy First Because it is a special Fruit of the Covenant of Grace according to that Text in Jer. 31. where God promises as the Fruit of the Covenant that he will Write His Law in their Inwards parts Now certainly by the Law it is not meant the Letter of the Ten Commandments But when He saith I will Write my Law that is My Will The great Counsels of my Will And the saving Truths of God are there meant by the Law For when David Expresses his love to the Law he means also the Soul-saving Truths that are Revealed in the Word of God and certainly there because it was in the time under the Law the Language of the Holy Ghost was suitable to the Time But certainly It is meant in a more especial manner the Truths of the Gospel That look as the Law was Written in Adams Heart at first so now those that are received into the Covenant have the Law of the Gospel and the Truths of that Written in their Hearts That is When ever they shall come to hear the Truths of the Gospel Opened to them they shall find as it were a Counterpain of the blessed Truths of the Gospel in their Hearts Yea further To have the Word of
Doing Do not content thy self with Affections and Resolutions but fall a Doing and that doth mightily settle the Truth when it comes once to be Practised As now in a Temptation the Temptation is not settled until the Devil hath got something done according to the Temptation and when something is done then the Temptation settles So concerning the Truths of the Gospel a Man it may be hath some Resolutions and Desires but till there be somewhat done some Duties set upon some Reformation in thy Way and Life the Truth doth not settle but the doing somewhat according to what thou do'st hear that doth mightily settle the Truth upon thy Soul O think thus There is such and such a thing made known to me O it may do my Soul good for ever And if you did but keep those things that you hear they would do your Souls good they would do your Souls good in time of Affliction If the Truths of the Gospel did rest upon your Hearts they would Comfort you then So it was with David I had perished in mine Affliction but thy Word did Comfort me So if you would lay up that which you hear when you come upon your Sick-beds or in any Trouble it would mightily help you and comfort you O these Truths of the Gospel would be very good Companions when you are in your Journey or in your Business they would Commune with your Hearts And O what Comfort would they be unto your Souls So we read in Prov. 6. 21. Bind them continually upon thine Heart So I may say What Truths of the Gospel you hear bind them continually upon thy Heart and about thy Neck when thou goest it shall Lead thee when thou sleepest it shall Keep thee and when thou awakest it shall Talk with thee When you awake in the Night season you Toss up and down upon your Beds and know not what to think upon but had you kept the Truths of the Gospel they would Talk with you yea you might Converse with Jesus Christ even as you lie in your Beds And if they did rest in your Hearts then when Death did come they would be Comfortable then they will be sweet one day Ask a Dying Soul what Peace with God is worth How many have lain upon their Sick and Death-Beds and then remembred O the sweet Truths that once I heard I would give a Thousand Worlds I had them again O that they did but come now at this time to my Heart with as great a power as they did at such a time Now that you might have those Blessed things of the Gospel to Comfort your Hearts keep them now And besides They will be a Means to make you to be very useful to others What 's the Reason why Men and Women when they go to Visit their Sick Neighbours they are so Barren in their Conference they say How do you And God comfort you and so I but what have you of the Doctrine of Reconciliation with God and the way of Attonement with God What have you to help their troubled Consciences and to pacifie them Can you bring unto them any Truths you have heard You have Liv'd under the Ministry of the Gospel a long time what is become of them If you had been a Child of Peace then you would have been able to have carried these things unto your Sick Neighbours and to have done a great deal of good unto them But alas You go with a barren Heart and carry nothing at all And why Because the Truths of the Gospel have not abode with you O how full should our Hearts be with Jesus Christ if but one Truth every Sermon we heard did rest in our Hearts And take but this one Meditation along with you the Blessed things of the Peace of the Gospel are such as if ever I be Sav'd I must be Praising of the Name of God for unto all Eternity Now shall I not Labour that they should rest upon my Heart here seeing they must be the Matter that I must Bless the Name of God everlastingly for And thus though I have past some things over you have had the Substance of what I intended to Speak of And that is That those that are the Sons of Peace have this Blessing upon them They have not only the sudden apprehensions and flashes of Affection in being moved with the Glorious things of the Gospel but all the good things of the Gospel abides and rest upon them Sermon IV. Luke 10. 6. Your Peace shall rest upon it c. THe Third Note from the Blessing that here the Entertainers of the Gospel shall have is this That where there is but any one in a Place or in a Family that shall Entertain the Gospel the whole Family shall be the better for that one And the Note is Raised from this Particle It Your Peace shall rest upon it He doth not say Your Peace shall rest upon him only though that 's true It shall rest upon him principally But he saith Your Peace shall rest upon it That is If a Son of Peace be in the Family your Peace shall rest upon the Family that is there shall be some good come unto the Family by reason of any one Son of Peace that 's there If there be but one that doth Entertain the Gospel the Family may come to have a Blessing by that If it be but a poor Servant or poor Child that shall receive the Gospel there may come a great deal of good to the Family by such a Servant but if it be a Governour of the Family then the Blessing will be more For we find in the Gospel often where the Governour of the Family Believed it is said that the whole Houshold did believe and were Baptized And we find often in the Gospel of Believing Families and indeed there is a greater Blessing of God upon a Family where the Governours are Believers than we are aware of A Blessing I say upon the Family That let there be any Governour or any that is a Son of Peace the Family is the better for it God many times will spare them the rather because of them In Isa 65. 8. Thus saith the Lord as the new Wine is found in the Cluster and one saith Destroy it not for a Blessing is in it So will I do for my Servants sake that I may not Destroy them all Many times in a place where there are a great many Ungodly ones yet if there be but a few that are Godly as the new Wine in the Cluster the Lord saith Destroy it not for a Blessing is in it There are some good Grapes there though a great many Rotten ones and a Blessing is in it and therefore Destroy it not So saith God many times of a Family where there are some good ones Destroy it not saith God for a Blessing is in this Family It is very observable that which we read concerning the House of Jeroboam 1 Kings 14. 10.
and to do or Suffer any thing in the World though but upon this Supposition That if God shall be pleased but to Bless my Ministry then the Lord shall make me an Instrument to bring Peace to that place even Peace between God and their Souls to be the Means to Convey all the good unto them that Jesus Christ hath Purchased by His Blood This seem'd to be the Encouragement that God gave to Jeremiah in Chap. 36. And that was in another kind Jeremiah was to go and reveal the Threats of God but Mark what his Encouragement was in ver 3. It may be that the House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every man from his evil way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Saith the Lord to Jeremiah Go about this Work though it be a hard Work and let this be your Encouragement It may be Though but upon a may be The House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them that they may return every man from his evil way that I may forgive their Iniquity and their Sin Now if this were Jeremiah's Encouragement surely a greater Encouragement it is for a Minister to go and Preach the Gospel upon a meer May be that there are some that shall Entertain the Gospel And we find it was Paul's Encouragement in divers Scriptures as I might shew you but that 's most Notable in 2 Tim. 1. 10. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath Abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel Whereunto I am appointed a Preacher and an Apostle and a Teacher of the Gentiles Mark saith He The Gospel reveals Jesus Christ who hath Abolished Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to light And saith he God hath appointed me to be a Teacher of this For the which Cause I also suffer these things I am content to go on in this Work of the Gospel whatsoever I suffer What Is this the Errand that I am sent about to go and Preach the Gospel that brings Life and Immortality to light Let me Suffer what can be I am content to go on in this Work O It is a glorious Errand that I am sent about If it please God I speed but upon one Soul O it were worth my Life So the excellent Fruit that should come upon the Entertainment of the Gospel is here given to these Disciples for their Encouragement in the Ministry Now what is it that should Encourage the Heart of a Minister in his Work more than these Three things First That he shall be an Instrument to glorifie God Secondly An Instrument to do good to Souls Thirdly He shall have a Crown of Glory so much the more These Three things are the greatest Encouragements in the World to any gracious Heart First That he shall be an Instrument of the Glory of God For one to live to be Instrumental of the Glory of God must needs make his Life comfortable whatsoever he suffer Now there can be no such Glory that any Creature can be made a greater Instrument of than the Glory that God hath from Souls that are Sav'd by Jesus Christ It is the highest Glory that God hath from all His Creatures that there should be some Souls that should understand Jesus Christ that should admire at Him should glorifie God in Jesus Christ It is the highest Glory that God doth Injoy in Heaven next unto the Glory that He hath in Himself and in His Son that is in the Trinity But for the Glory that He hath Ab extra from His Creatures that is the highest Glory that ever God had or shall have Now for the Lord to make a Man to be an Instrument of this To bring some Souls to be Eternally Glorifying God for Jesus Christ O It is worth all a Mans Strength though he should shorten his Life Seven Years yet if there be but One or Two Souls brought by his Ministry that shall Injoy the good things in Christ this is well worth the Labour and Pains For indeed in this the Lord doth honour Men more than Angels The Lord hath not put the Angels in Heaven upon such an Honourable work as this to be the Embassadors of God and Christ for Reconciliation The Lord hath not committed the Word of Reconciliation to Angels to go and Preach that in an Ordinary way They are not Deputed by Christ to be as His Officers We never read of any such thing in the Word of God though they be sometimes Appointed to be Ministring Spirits for the good of Gods Elect to Help them to Comfort them to Avenge them of their Enemies but we never read that the Word of Reconciliation was Committed to them and to the Ministers of the Gospel And therefore there is no such Glory that they can bring to God as the Lord is Pleased to make Man to be an Instrument of In this the Lord doth Honour Man more than the Angels that he shall be Appointed to be the great Ordinance under Jesus Christ for the bringing of Souls unto Jesus Christ and so the bringing of them to Magnifie the Infinite Riches of the Grace of God in Christ to all Eternity Now Is not this worth any ones Labour and Life O what Encouragement is this whatsoever one suffers in it Secondly Can there be next unto this a greater Encouragement than to be an Instrument of good to our Brethren of good to Mankind Those are the most happy Men in the World that are the most Useful for Mankind that the Lord shall be Pleased to make Use of for the good of Mankind and therefore it should Teach all to be as Serviceable as they can to others For the Happiness and the true Comfort of a Mans Life it doth not depend in this That he can get an Estate and go Brave and Fine and Eat and Drink of the best but it is in this That the Lord will make him useful in his place an Instrument of good to others It is a very Comfortable thing for any that are Chief in a place where they Live that the Lord makes them Instruments of the Civil good of the places where they are Of the good of the People for their Bodies to keep them in Peace and Order But to be Appointed by God to be an Instrument of Soul-good of Eternal good this is a higher Priviledge that God doth grant in His Mercy to some And it might be a mighty Encouragement the Considering of this What saith Saint James speaking to Christians to Encourage them to Labour to do good to their Brethren Brethren If any of you do erre from the Truth and one Convert him Let him know that he which Converteth a sinner from the Errour of his Way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of sins Let him know saith he that he
God Intends them If you water your Gardens in these dry times you aim at the Herbs but yet the Water will fall among the Weeds So the Lord He Aims at His Herbs and Flowers though the Gospel be dispensed to others Thirdly Though God sees there be none for the present yet God layes in for time to come God will send His Gospel to a place though He sees this Generation will get no good by it and God may Intend the good of the Generation that is to come by sending His Ministry in this particular Generation though He sees that they will not Entertain it yet some that may come after them may Entertain it As they say in China they prepare Work for many Hundred years before The Parents they are preparing Work for their Children to enjoy And so the Lord layes In in one Generation for the Children that are coming after and therefore whether you Entertain it or no God notwithstanding will have His End accomplisht Fourthly Another Reason why God sends His Gospel where He knows it will not be Entertain'd by the Generallity it is this To leave Men wholly without Excuse I may put these two together To discover the Abominable sinfulness of the Hearts of Men and to leave them wholly without Excuse There is nothing in the World that doth discover the sinfulness of Mans Heart more than this That when the Lord sends this Gospel among them yet it is rejected The Preaching of any Moral Truths do nothing so much argue the sinfulness of Mans Heart in the rejection of them as when the Gospel is Preached and that is rejected That argues the Abominable wickedness of Mans Heart yea for ought we know more than is in the very Devil We do not know that there is so much Perversness in any of the Devils in Hell as there is in the Heart of that Man that doth reject the Ministry of the Gospel And why Because God never tried them God never put it to trial to offer any Terms of Peace to them and never told them that He would be Reconcil'd to them upon any Terms And therefore whether they have such perverseness of heart or no it is not discovered so as thine is But if thou Livest where the Ministry of the Gospel is Preached and yet continuest wicked and ungodly thou art discovered to have that wickedness in thy Heart that for ought thou knowest it is beyond the wickedness of any Devil in Hell The Devils might say Lord hadst thou offered Terms of Peace to us we would not have so rejected it And then it doth leave Men utterly without Excuse I do not say that this is Gods primary Intention but this comes in Why the Lord doth suffer the Gospel to be Preached to leave them wholly without Excuse And for that you have that Text in the fore-named place John 15. 22. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin But now have they no Cloak for their sin Sin Why are there any Men in the World that have no sin Why did Christ coming bring sin to them It did not add sin but it did Discover their sin and it took away their Cloak for their sin Now upon my coming to them and when they shall reject me and the offer of Grace that I bring from my Father now they have sin to purpose now their sin is of a Scarlet Colour now they have no Plea they cannot say Lord if thou hadst sent to us to Reveal to us thy Mercy and the danger of our sin The danger of your sin may God say Did not I send those to you that did Preach that nothing but the Heart Blood of my Son could pacifie for your sin Could there have been any thing more to reveal the evil of your sin than this was O now you have no Excuse at all for your sin Fifthly Another Reason is this which is one of the chief That the Lord might cause all those hereby that do not entertain the Gospel to see the Freeness of His Grace towards them A poor Soul that the Lord is pleased to work upon by the Gospel hath no cause to attribute any thing to himself There are others and such a Multitude of People more Learned than I and Men and Women that had greater parts than I they had the Gospel preached to them and they do not see those things that the Lord hath Revealed to me I can tell no Reason of this Difference only Free-grace And certainly Those People whom God is pleased to make the Gospel effectual upon the hearing of this Point and seeing how it is Verified in the Examples of others O they have cause to Cry out Grace Grace to the Lord. What is there in me rather than others as Proud and Stout and Vile Hearts as any and we see the Gospel is rejected by them and what reason is it that it is not so with me John 14. 22. It 's a speech of Judas not of him that betrayed Christ Lord How is it that thou Revealest thy Self unto us and not unto the World Lord We cannot devise how it should be that thou shouldst Manifest thy Self to us and not unto the World We see that the World rejects Thee O this is that we may have the more Cause to Bless the Name of God here and to Magnifie His Free-grace to all Eternity afterwards Sermon V. Luke 10. 6. Your Peace shall rest upon it c. APPLICATION First IS it so that even the Blessed Ministry of the Gospel the Opening of Jesus Christ and the Riches of Gods Grace may be Rejected by People and is often The Consideration on of this First should Teach us to bewail the horrible Wickedness of Mans Heart and the Dishonour that is done to God in this When those Riches of Gods Grace that glorious Work of God in Christ the Blessed Son of God coming to Ransom Souls and to Deliver them out of the neathermost Hell yet he Rejected There 's no Object that ever was in the World that is such an Object of Lamentation as this is When Christ came to Jerusalem He falls a Weeping Upon what ground O if thou hadst known saith He at least in this thy day those things that concern thy Peace Thou didst not know those things that did concern thy Peace Perhaps it may be meant outward Peace In great part it is But if that be such an Object of Lamentation as to draw Tears from Christ what an Object of Lamentation is it to Rend indeed the Hearts of those that understand what Christ is what the Offer of Christ means That Christ should be Preached in any place and yet rejected When Jeremiah went to Preach though not such a Message as this is that now we are Speaking of yet when he saw the People would not hear Chap. 13. ver 15. Hear ye and give ear be not Proud for the Lord hath Spoken But in ver 17. But if ye will not
hear it my Soul shall weep in secret places for your Pride and mine Eyes shall weep sore and run down with Tears because the Lords Flock is carried away Captive If ye will not hear That indeed should be the work of the Ministers of the Gospel when they are Rejected Not to be Careless and say I have done my Work and what need I care But they should take it to Heart and Lament it as the greatest Affliction that can befal them yea more than any Affliction whatsoever That the Blessed Message that they are sent withal is Rejected by Wretched and Sinful Men. Secondly If God in Christ be sometimes Rejected all the Mercy of God in His Son we should not think much though our love and kindness towards others be many times Slighted and Disregarded Indeed there 's nothing goes more to any Ingenuous Heart than to have his love and kindness to be Disregarded But when we find our Hearts troubled at this O that such a one that I have done so much for and yet that he should deal thus with me Lay thine hand upon thy Heart and consider what God hath done for thee in Christ and how ill thou hast requited Him Is it so much for thee a poor Worm not to have thy Love and Kindness imbrac'd What is it then for the Infinite God not to have that Infinite Love and Mercy of His to the Children of Men not Imbraced but Rejected Thirdly Let 's learn from hence never to trust our own Hearts We think often had we such means as others have then we should not do as they do surely we should do better Men are very ready to trust their own Hearts and in the use of Means But let us learn from hence never to trust in our own Hearts or in the use of any Means God may send you Means and Reveal glorious Truths unto you yet it may so fall out that you may never come to be partakers of the good of those things It hath been so with many and you must look to your own Hearts Do not Bless your selves in this Through Gods Mercy the Lord hath sent us His Word plentifully and the Gospel comes to be Opened clearly among us That 's not enough what God hath done but look you into your own Hearts how you Imbrace it otherwise the Gospel may come among you and yet you never come to be Saved by it But this indeed is a sad Condition wheresoever it is Fourthly Further Gods Ministers are to Learn from hence not to be Discouraged They come and Preach and with an Expectation to prevail with the Hearts of People to draw them to Christ When they have been in their Studies labouring to find out some Truths of the Gospel and to sit it to the Hearts of their Auditors and have been Praying over it They come now with Expectation that some good may be done that some Soul may be drawn in to Christ yet perhaps find it quite otherwise and the People to sit Dead under it it may be Slight it Contemn it Scorn it Disobey it But they must not be I say Discouraged in this as if so be a strange thing had befallen them What art thou more than Jesus Christ thy Master What art thou more than Paul and other of the Apostles They have been rejected all in their Ministry and what art thou that thou canst not bear any Rejection Indeed it is the hardest thing to be Born by a Minister of the Gospel that possibly may be But consider That it is not a new thing for the Gospel to be Rejected I remember I have read of Melancthon he had such thoughts that when he began to Preach he should Convert all that heard him He thought there was so much Reason in what he Spake and so much Evidence and Power to prevail with the Hearts of People that he thought he should prevail with every one but he found it otherwise by Experience And though indeed when any Minister that is acquainted with the Glorious things of God and Christ come to open them to People they are ready to think such things will surely prevail with the Hearts of People but the Lord teaches him to know that the Blessing depends upon Himself That though the things be never so Excellent and Moving yet all will not do except the Lord comes in by His Almighty Power Fifthly Let all those with whom the Ministry of the Gospel doth prevail in any measure Bless God that makes such a difference between them and any others It is Preached unto many but doth them no good But the Lord hath Called thee out and it hath struck thy Heart converted thy Spirit Thou seest cause to stand and admire at the Glory of God in Christ and thou wonderest perhaps that all People are not taken with the Riches of the Glory of Gods Grace in Christ Well Bless God that hath made a difference between thee and others It may be in the same Family another Scorns it and Contemns it perhaps one that came out of the same Womb despises it and God hath taken thee and revealed Himself to thee it may be thy rich Neighbour Contemns it but God looks upon thee a poor Creature and makes Himself known to thee It may be a Learned Man he slights it and makes nothing of it and thou who art but a Babe hast those things Revealed Thou hast cause to thank God for it For Christ doth He thanks His Father for this thing That He should be pleased to pass by the Wise and great ones of the World and chuse Babes Mat. 11. 25. At that time Jesus Answered and said I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hist revealed them unto Babes Now this Scripture that I bring not only to shew you that God doth sometimes Reveal the great Mysteries of the Gospel to Babes and hide them from the Wise but as a Text to stir up your Hearts to Bless God if He hath done so for any of you Upon this ground Jesus Christ doth thank His Father for it then surely thou hast cause to thank God the Father for this great Mercy of His to put such a difference between thee and others For indeed it is one of the most glorious Works of God This Work of the Lord making known the Great and High Mysteries of the Gospel to poor weak ones when as the Great and Rich and Mighty and Learned of the World do not come to understand it It is one of the great Miracles by which the Lord doth Confirm the Gospel to be His own as great a Miracle as other Miracles that were Wrought by Christ And for that this is very observable that we have in the place where John sends to Christ to know whether He were the Messias or no. Now mark the Answer that Christ gives unto John's Messengers Jesus Answered and said unto them Go and
before the great God to answer for all unto the Infinite Justice and this the Gospel would have delivered you from had you entertained it Doth it return from you Why then you stand before the Lord under the sentence of Condemnation a Condemned Creature even to Eternal Death and this the Gospel would have freed you from Doth the Gospel return again Why then you stand a Child of Wrath before the great God under all the Viols of his Infinite Wrath ready every moment for ought thou knowest to be poured out upon thee and this the Gospel would have freed thee from Doth the Gospel go away from thee Why then thou standest under the Curse of the Law and all those dreadful Threatnings that are Written in the Book of God they are all thy Portion and this the Gospel would have freed thee from Is the Gospel returned from thee Then thou standest before God as an Enemy unto him he looks upon thee as one that is an Enemy to him and thou canst expect no other but to be dealt withal as an Enemy to have God in all his Attributes to come out against thee to have all his Creatures to come out against thee to Avenge Gods Quarrel upon thee and this the Gospel would have freed thee from And so we might further name Infinite Evils no peace to the wicked no peace to those who are so Wicked as to reject the glorious Gospel and therefore thy Case is Dreadful Secondly If the Blessing of the Gospel be returned from thee then know thou hast lost the most Happy opportunity of good that ever Creature had Never can a Creature be made capable of a Happier opportunity of good than the Creature hath when Jesus Christ comes to be preached to it Here 's the most Blessed opportunity of good I say that a Creature can have to have Jesus Christ come to be offered to him Now when the Gospel is returned thou hast lost this opportunity of Mercy the tender of Salvation that 's worth ten thousand thousand Worlds such an opportunity as the Devils and Damned in Hell would give 10000 Worlds to have it and yet that is come to thee and is gone and lost and therefore it is a sad thing for the Blessing of the Gospel to return Thirdly If it doth Return from thee thou dost not know whether it will ever return back again upon thee whether ever it will come any more When God offers Grace and it is rejected many times he doth cause the Offer to pass away and it never comes more again Thou mayest perhaps lye hereafter in the distress of thy Conscience and think of former dayes that thou hadst and cry out O that I had such dayes again O that I had Jesus Christ preached to me again as I had at such a time O that I had such stirrings of the Spirit of God as I had at such a time but now no Friend Time was when thou hadst them and thou didst reject them and therefore they are gone and thousands of Worlds will not purchase them again I do not now speak only of taking away the Ministery of it but of the Blessing of the Gospel perhaps thou mayst live under the Ministery of it and yet the Blessing of the Gospel may be returned Fourthly If the Gospel come and return with the Blessing of it thou art now in a far worse condition than any Heathen whatsoever a Heathen is not in so sad a condition Some times you will speak in way of Indignation What do you think me a Heathen a Turk Thou art in a worse case than any Heathen whatsoever because they never had the offer of Jesus Christ and the course of Mercy hath never come to them but to thee and left thee there 's hope before God makes a tryal as it were before Mercy hath as it were her turn upon the Creature that it may belong to Gods Election but now when Mercy hath had her turn and left the Soul then it is a sad condition it hath not done so to the Heathens and therefore it is worse with thee than with the Heathens in that regard Yea Fifthly Hence follows that there is the greatest Judgment except being sent to Hell it self immediatly as a punishment of the greatest Sin that ever Creature committed but only the unpardonable Sin the Sin against the Holy Ghost For God to take away the Gospel from us the Blessing of it to return it is the greatest Judgment that can befall a man in this World except God should send him quick to Hell presently A greater Judgment than if thy House were fired or thy Body diseased and tormented that were no such Judgment as this and this is the fruit of the greatest sin the sin of the rejection of the Gospel except the sin against the Holy Ghost Now that Man or Woman is in a sad condition that hath the greatest Judgment that God can inflict in this World but only that one Excepted I say this is an exceeding sad condition Fifthly Yea further Then it is to be feared lest Christ should dye in vain as for thee though Christ hath come into the World and shed his Blood to save Souls yet all should be in vain as for thee O this Thought will pierce thy heart one day if it doth not now for the present the very thought that there should be so great Salvation and I not be made partaker of it it is a Soul-wounding Thought Yea and Lastly Hereafter it shall be to thy extream Torment when thou shalt see others that have embrac'd the Gospel and Sav'd Eternally and thou thy self cast out I heard the same Sermon that Converted such and such a one and they are now Saved in Heaven for ever O I was at the same Sermon and rejecting of it am now cast down here to be sweltering under the wrath of God Will not these be sad thoughts another day If not your peace shall return and you see the dreadful Fruit of the returning of Peace Wherefore then a word by way of Application For indeed the Point it self is enough to strike our Consciences The very naming of these things and the opening of them hath power to stir and awaken the Heart and therefore I will only say thus much Learn to know that when you come to hear the preaching of the Gospel you do not come to a matter of Indifferency it being no great matter whether you received it or received it not Many people they come to hear Sermons and look upon them as a very indifferent matter whether their Hearts be taken with what they hear or no whether they yield and submit to what they hear or not but learn to know that it is not a matter of Indifferency I may well make use of that Speech of Moses to the people in Deut. 32. 46 47. And he said unto them set your hearts unto all the words which I testifie among you this day which ye
shall command your Children to observe to do all the words of this Law Mark it Why what 's the matter v. 47. For it is not a vain thing for you because it is your life It may be some of them when they heard Moses declaring the Law of God they would be ready to think it is a good Law and Moses doth well in telling of us the Law but there is no great consequence of it how our Hearts be taken with it O but saith Moses do not you come to hear the Law upon such tearms but set your Hearts upon what you hear Why because it is your life Much more cause have the Ministers of the Gospel thus to say when they come to preach Jesus Christ to a people Set your hearts to what is delivered When they come and say Peace be to this place to this People the Doctrine of the Gospel be preached to them O set your hearts to what is delivered Why for it is your life When you come to Hear a Sermon you should come so as to consider that your Life may lye upon that Sermon for ought you know and the rather look to it because the Lord with whom you have to deal is a great God and a God that will not be dallyed withal and trisled withal but if you disobey the Message of the Gospel the Lord may deal very quick with you and that let 's me into the Last Point which now we are to finish this Text in and that is this That those that shall not Entertain the Gospel the Lord will deal very quick with them Your Peace shall return again the Lord will not stand long about the matter I in the naming of the point have already spoken of a Scripture or two Now is the Axe lay'd to the root of the Trees when John Baptist came to Preach the Kingdom of God And that in the Last of Mark v. 16. Go and Preach saith Christ to his Disciples he that believes shall be Saved he that believes not shall be Damned The Lord Christ tells how quick the Lord will be with those that shall not entertain the Gospel and there are many Texts that are very full for this purpose and because it is a great Point and that it should strike much upon your Consciences therefore I will present it in the fulness of the Evidence of Scripture That place that you have in Matth. 10. it is just parallel to this in Luke 10. there where Christ sends his Apostles forth as he doth the 70. he gives the same Directions in effect but mark here Saint Matthew goes farther than Saint Luke Let your Peace Return to you and whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words when you depart out of that House or City shake off the dust of your feet Verily I say unto you it shall be more tollerable for the Land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgment than for that City See here the quickness of God with those that do reject the Gospel So in John 3. that is very famous for this in ver 18. He that believeth on him is not Condemned but he that believeth not is Condemned already You will say he is Condemned already because his Natural Condition is such that he is under Condemnation No but I take it the Scripture doth aim at something further He is not only Condemned by reason of his sins against the Law but he is condemned already because he hath not believed on the Name of the only Begotten Son of God How could he Believe in the Name of the Only Begotten Son of God before ever he heard it but here it is spoken of Light that is come into the World for so it follows in ver 19. And this is the Condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil That is when Christ shall come to be preached to any People and they will not believe presently there is a sentence of Condemnation that 's the meaning of the Text he is Condemned already the Lord is very quick with such And in Acts 17. 30. a place famous And the Times of this Ignorance God winked at He saw and would not see as it were he overpast that but Now saith he that is Now when Christ comes to be Preached Now he Commandeth all men every where to Repeent as if he should say Look to your selves that you Repent now whatsoever you did before though you could prophane Sabbaths before look to your selves now though you were vain and superstitious and carnal take heed now to your selves as if the Holy Ghost should say The Lord is willing to pass by all that was before but for rejection of his Son look to that he will not pass by that so easily that One sin so easily as he will pass by all the other All the sins that men have Committed all their Lives before may more easily be past by than that one sin of Rejection of the offer of Grace by Jesus Christ Now he calls all men to Repentance And then a third Text is that in 2 Cor. 2. a Text that I made use of the last Day for another purpose For we are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish to the one we are the savour of Death unto Death What 's the meaning of that It is somewhat a strange phrase and expression we are the savour of death unto death Savour of death I take the meaning of the phrase to be thus he compares his Ministery that was the Ministry of the Gospel unto those things that had a mighty efficacy in them a strong vertue so strong as their very savour was enough either to kill or to make alive As there are some things so strong as the very sent of them can kill a man or even raise a man from a Sound so saith the Apostle our Ministry to sin is the savour of death unto death it is a deadly savour to them Thus you may see that the Ministry of the Word it hath a mighty quickness in it one way or other either from Heaven or Hell to Save or to Destroy And another Scripture we have in Heb. 4. there the Apostle speaking of the Word the Word of the Gospel for certainly that 's that that he speaks of v. 12. For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the Heart The Word of the Gospel whensoever it comes to any Congregation it is no dull matter you may not look to sit dully under that but it is a quick Word it will either slay thy sin or slay thy Soul one of the two it must slay one and that quickly And in Heb. 6. there the Apostle compares
an Offer to them of the Blessed things of Christ to enter into his Rest for so it is apparent that the Apostle doth apply it to the Blessed things of the Gospel If I say when the Lord shall discover these things unto them they shall not Enter into this Rest but they shall pretend a great many difficulties O the Way is so strict and hard and they shall suffer so much and upon this do refuse the Land of Canaan the Blessed things of Jesus Christ then is the time if ever to Swear against a Soul that it shall never be made partaker of Jesus Christ Now then I had thought to have opened the Point further in three Particulars First to shew what the dealings of God doth use to be with such in what way he deals so quick with them Secondly the Reasons of it and Thirdly to have Answered some Objections about this but I shall give you but a Word or two of each and so come to the Application For the First The way of Gods dealing with such it is either as you heard the last Day to take away the Ministry from them that he doth sometimes or if not so the Lord passes a sentence against them They shall not taste of my Supper and so a man may live a long time under the Ministry of the Word under a Sentence Or further That sometimes the Lord gives him up to himself to his own hearts lusts for this the Gospel is the Counsel of God for so it is called in one of the Evangelists Now mark what Gods dealings was with those that rejected but his Counsels in Psalm 81. I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels And that famous place in Rom. 1. from the middle of it there the Apostle shews that those that did reject but the very light of Nature God gave them up to a Reprobate sense much more those that shall reject the light of the Gospel that 's the way of God to give them up sometimes to the power of their sin as if God should say they will have none of Christ nor of my Grace and Mercy their Hearts are set upon their Lusts Lust take them such a lust of uncleanness take them such an earthly Lust take full possession of them The Lord gives them up to their own Hearts Lusts the Lord saith of them He that will be filthy let him be filthy still as you have it in Revelations the last he that will be filthy let him be filthy and let him have the satisfying of his Lusts to the uttermost And sometimes it is to cut them off by some extraordinary and fearful Judgment the Lord many times appears most dreadfully against them The Reasons that should have spent me a great part of the time and it might very well require a whole Exercise to have Opened to you why the Lord is so provok'd against this Sin rather than another Sin whatsoever it be For the Opening of the great Evil that there is in the Sin of Unbelief and Rejection of the Gospel you that understand any thing must needs know that it must require a very large time to open it all But in a very few Particulars take them thus You that reject the Gospel you sin against the greatest Mercy that ever God tendred to Creatures he never tendred such a Mercy to the Angels that sinned against him as to you Indeed here are the bowels of Gods mercy as the Scripture calls them the tender bowels of Gods mercy Now to sin against the Gospel it is to spurn at the very Bowels of God Many men speak of Mercy and desire to hear much of Mercy O but you had need look to your selves when you hear much of Mercy for when you hear of Mercy your Souls lye at the stake one way or other God deals more quick with those that hear much of Mercy than he doth with others One Sermon of Mercy rejected may send a man nearer to Hell by far than ten Sermons of Judgment Though you should not reform after many Sermons of Judgment yet they do not make your condition so dangerous as one Sermon of Mercy and therefore you had need at any time when you hear Mercy Opened to you you had need have your Hearts shake the more and tremble to think thus Lord here 's a Sermon upon which my Soul doth more lye than it may be Ten Sermons before yea perhaps than any that ever I heard in all my life Thou comest to hear a Sermon of Mercy and goest away and sayest O what an Excellent Sermon is this it was a Sermon of the most Mercy that ever I heard in my life I say Was it so then thy Soul lay more upon that Sermon than upon any that ever thou heardest in thy life Mercy is such an Attribute which God doth put such a price upon that it is resolved he will revenge the Wrong done to his Mercy Whatsoever God doth bear with he is resolved he will not bear the Abuse of his Mercy and therefore you had need look to it when you come to hear of Mercy especially the Mercy of the Gospel There is a great deal of Mercy in Gods Works I but when he comes to Preach Jesus Christ to thee there 's Mercy of another Nature there look to thy self If thou dost dally and trifle with Gods Mercy then thy condition will be most Dreadful I 'll name these one or two Arguments to thee because when thou sinnest against the Offer of the Gospel then thou sinnest against the help of thy Soul the means to do thee good The preaching of the Gospel it is as a Board after Shipwrack for every poor Soul is as a man that hath suffered Shipwrack and he is in the midst of the Sea upon a Board of the Ship and there 's all his help Now were it not a mad thing for this man to put off this Plank from him when he hath no other help Now we are ready to be swallowed up of the Sea of Gods Wrath and now God casts in a Plank to waft us to the Shore if possibly may be Or rather thus The Offer of the Gospel it is like the casting of a Rope into a River unto a man that is in danger of Drowning There is a man that is fallen into the Thames and you cannot get him up but you will get a line and throw it into the place where he sunk and there is no way for him to be Sav'd but only that Now if such a man put off the time from him what help can there be of that man Thus it is all Men and Women naturally they are even ready to sink into the Bottomless Gulf of Eternal Misery this is thy condition Now the Lord in Mercy sends his Ministers to come and make an Offer of the Gospel and cast a line to Congregations and make this Proclamation In the Name of God every Soul that will