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A03617 The vnbeleevers preparing for Christ. By T.H. Hooker, Thomas, 1586-1647. 1638 (1638) STC 13740; ESTC S104192 190,402 342

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thou able to doe this No thou must aske thy sin leave first So take a covetous man art thou able to set open thy house if thou hast wronged any man or griped or co●ened any man art thou able to say I will restore him fourefold art thou able to doe this No no thou must aske thy covetousnesse leave first now whether you thinke that the divell will suffer you to goe out of his clutches when hee hath power over you if you thinke sinne will give you leave to forsake your lusts when you are servants to it I appea●e to your owne consciences and therefore whosoever he be that is a naturall man let him not co●●n himselfe he hath no power in himselfe to forsake finne if heaven were layd downe before him and offered him for the leaving of one lust hee could as well make a world as part with one lust for heaven and therefore every man should labour to see this and say Lord heretofore I have beene deluded I thought if I would have grace at any time I might have grace when I would if I would not have grace I might choose and therefore I thought I would have profit now and pleasures now and corruptions and hereafter I will repent hereafter I will have Christ but Lord I was deluded what was it in my power then to entertaine the Lord Iesus then it was in my power to goe to heaven to make a world and to create a soule also I will assure you it is the almighty power of God that must doe this in the first of Ephesians 19. Ephes 1.19 there the Apostle giveth us to understand how God worketh in our conversion What is the exceeding greatnesse of his power saith hee to us ward that beleeve according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when hee raised him from the dead and set him at his owne right hand in the heavenly places When the Lords body had lien in the grave three dayes the selfe same power that raised Christ from the dead this is the very same almighty power that workes in the heart of a man that is converted in this case canst thou raise Christ from the dead if thou canst doe this then thou mayst repent if not then of thy selfe thou canst not repent for the very same power that raised Christ from the dead the same power must worke repentance in the heart of a man be not therefore deceived but now looke to it ●●●ny Christians have thought that they might have grace and salvation when they would at commend but when God opened their eyes O then they saw no hope of this they then knew that the same power that raised Christ out of the grave the same power must raise them out of the grave of their sinner I beseech you therefore to be informed to yeel● to to be convinced of this truth the Text saith● naturall man cannot receive the things of God you say you can who shall we beleeve now What will you be Atheists the Lord saith the word saith a naturall doth not receive the things of God nay he cannot now whether thy word or the word of God will stand thou wilt one day know it to thy everlasting woe and therefore now be perswaded to see your owne follies and abandon this foolish conceit The second use is an use of examination namely from the former doctrine delivered every soule that heareth the word this day if they will de●● plainely with their soules may understand what their condition is you may reade your owne estates whether you bee naturall men or spirituall whether gracious or gracelesse men what wouldst thou know then whether thou art a naturall man 〈◊〉 no and if thou beest so woe be unto thee The triall is easie in this kind observe what disposition thou hast to the things of God observe whether thy soule be affected with them whether thy soule can give entertainement to them the 〈◊〉 man cannot receive the things of God if thou beest a naturall man thou then canst not receive grace nor entertaine Christ and salvation so then canst thou finde that if pleasures come then thy heart giveth way to them if profits come then thy heart is transported with the love thereof Is thy soule inlarged to these things dost thou love and desire them canst thou swallow downe all entertaine all digest all very willingly in this kind never too much riches never too much honour never too much profit never too much pleasure is thy soule thus disposed But when the word calleth for repentance when the Gospell calleth for selfe deniall at thy hand the Lord Iesus would rule in thy heart when the Lord would take away all thy sinnes and all thy corruptions is it so now that thy heart is weary to heare the se● is it so that thou canst not give way to these then the case is cleare thou art in a naturall estate for the Lords sake take notice of it naturall things please thee profits and pleasures sinnes and corruptions please thee but thou canst not away with the things of the Spirit thou art therefore a naturall man there is therefore no roome for Christ in thy soule therefore there is no true grace yet wrought in thy soule In the 8. of the Rom. 5. 〈◊〉 saith the Text They that are after the flesh doe mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the Spirit Now observe therefore what rellish thou findest in the things 〈◊〉 ●●●●low canst thou rellish base courses and ill ●●●●pany is any course or advice taken that may adduce thee unto wickednesse canst thou sweare with the blasphemer and swagger with the drunkard canst thou rellish and appove of these courses but when the Gospell comes and when a man checkes thee for drinking and swearing and tells thee that these things stand not with the kingdome of God the kingdome of Christ consists in righteousnesse and joy and peace in the holy Ghost and thou must deny thy selfe before thou canst receive the Lord Iesus if a man shall tell thee that thou must be pure as Christ himselfe is pure that the Lord Christ Iesus did not come into the world to make men loose and carelesse but holy and righteous to live soberly in this present world and deny all ungodly and worldly lusts to renounce and abhorre these when thou hearest that thou must become a foole that thou mayst 〈◊〉 made wise and that the Lord came to refesh those onely that where laden with the burthen of 〈◊〉 firmes when thou hearest these things how 〈◊〉 thou take them most men may give this answer wee thinke not so wee beleeve it not nay we cannot be perswaded of it is it thus with thee why then the case is ended the tryall is do●● whoever doth not nay cannot receive the thing● of God the Gospell of God and the things revealed therein why the Text saith and the
Vse III. It is of Exhortation to labour to get out of thy naturall estate p. 119. The meanes p. 121 EZECH 11.19 Doct. THe taking away of the indisposition of the soule to any good duty and the fitting of a soule to performe any spirituall service is the alone worke of God p. 132 The Reasons why the Lord onely can doe it vid. p. 135 Vse I. It is an use of Instruction to shew you that this worke of preparing a sinner to entertaine Christ it is a worke of marvellous difficultie p. 145 Vse II. It is a ground of comfort to support the hearts of those that are hard hearted p. 147 Vse III. It is of exhortation to those that carry a stonie heart about them to have recourse to God p. 149 LVKE 19.42 Doct. THat while life is continued and the meanes of grace afforded to a people is the season wherein God meaneth to worke the heart to receive life and salvation p. 160 Vse I. Instruction to be thankefull to the Lord for the enjoyment of the meanes of salvation p. 168 Vse II. Exhortation to pitty the estate of such men that neglect the meanes of salvation p. 185 MATTH 20.3 4 5 6. Doct. THat God can and doth call in all ages some in their younger some in their riper some in their old age p. 192 FINIS PREPARING FOR CHRIST Iohn 6.44 No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day FOr the application of the merits and obedience of Christ Iesus to the soule of a poore sinner and for the enjoying of the same there are two things mainly observable First the soule must be prepared for the Lord Iesus and secondly it must be ingrafted and implanted into Christ Iesus before it can be made partaker of the saving grace and salvation in Christ contained and from Christ communicated to those that love and feare his name Now concerning this great work of preparation wherein is the 〈◊〉 of a Christian for if the heart bee but prepared the Lord will then suddenly come into his Temple as the Prophet Malachy speakes Now this preparation consists of two parts First the dispensation of Gods gracious work upon the soule of a poore sinner Secondly the frame and disposition that God works upon the soule in converting it to himselfe Vpon these two hangs the maine work of preparation and herein lyeth the great drift of a Christian for the mercy of God is very free but we cannot make men fit to receive this mercy And therefore in preparation hereunto wee must apprehend two things somewhat must prepare secondly somewhat must be prepared he that doth prepare is the Lord he that doth receive the work and is prepared is the soules of those whom God hath elected to salvation So that as I said before something on Gods part must bee observed something on mans part must be considered on Gods part the dispensation of his work and on mans part the disposition that is wrought in the soule I come ●o the first thing which is the maine thing to be 〈◊〉 out of the Text namely the manner 〈◊〉 God worketh upon the soule when hee prepares 〈…〉 himselfe and this discovereth it selfe in two particulars we will handle them both together 〈◊〉 God doth pluck a poore sinner from his corruptions and darling sinnes to which he was glued and fastned and secondly as he draweth the soule from sinne so he draweth it to himselfe to beleeve in him and to receive mercy from him First God plucks the soule from sinne secondly he drawes it to the Lord Iesus And for this purpose wee have chosen this text that so we may have some footing for that which we speak out of Scripture and my purpose is not to handle all particulars in the Text which are many but to choose those that do concerne our present purpose and best fit us in our proceeding And the two maine points which I meane to discover out of the Text are these First that every man in his naturall condition is fastened and settled in the state of sinne and corruption Secondly that the Lord by a holy kind of violence plucks off the soule from sin and draweth it to himselfe These are the two things which in the Text I aime at but the second is the main thing I look at we must handle them both because the drawing of a thing from another implyeth that the thing which is drawn was fastned to some thing from whence it is to be drawne and therefore when the Lord saith he will draw a poore sinner to himselfe it implyes that wee were stuck fast and glued to our corruptions from whence we must be drawne and when this is once done then the face is towards heaven towards Zion then it is fitted to receive mercy from the Lord Iesus and because this drawing unto God doth imply a fastning of the soule unto sinne from whence it must be drawne the point therefore is this namely that every mans naturall estate and condition is fastned and settled and riveted to his sinnes and corruptions a poore creature by nature is not onely ingrafted into sinne but he is rooted into the rebellions of Adam and is growne strong with sinfull corruptions and distempers of his owne soule nay a man is not able to expresse the strong combination betweene sinne and the soule it is scrued into sinne and riveted into corruptions which have beene convaied thereunto and derived from our first parents and that the so●●le is thus fastned and settled and glued to sinne wee may observe it in two particulars Partly in the dominion that sinne and Satan hath over the soule Partly in the amity that the soule hath to sinne First then consider the dominion that sinne hath over the soule that soveraigne and uncontroulable command which sinne exerciseth over the soule of every poore creature under heaven which is in a naturall estate in the bond of iniquity and under the power of Satan and we shall see that the soule is fastened to sinne Acts 26.18 the text saith that they are under the power of Satan To open their eyes saith the text that they may turne from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan to God If you aske me how the Devill hath power over poore sinners the Apostle telleth you That he catcheth them at his pleasure the proud man must go no further than he will and the covetous man must do nothing but that which he list but this is not all neither though this be sufficient to discover the power that Satan hath over the soule of a sinner but when hee hath thus taken a poore soule and fettered him in this case he then shuts him up in prison Tim. 2.2.26 there the next saith that the divell takes poore sinners prisoners at his will Gal. 3.22 it is said that all men by nature are under the law shut up under sinne it