or the like the aime of him that takes him is not to take away his life but to make him deny his colours and commander and if hee can make him doe this then he conquers him but if hee dye under the hand of the tyrant if he be more able to stand for his commander and countrie than he is to drive him from it if he can beare misery better than hee can inflict it then hee is not conquered but conquers so it is here a Saint of God is never mastered before his patience bee mastered and his holinesse crushed but when a man is more able to beare misery than the enemy to lay misery upon him if his patience hold and his courage hold and his uprightnesse hold he is not conquered in this case but he is a conquerer therefore the place is excellent Esay 58.8 see how the Lord preserves his people hee is said to be the whole army of his servants however there bee many storms yet the rivers of water make glad the people of God the text saith Thy righteousnesse shall goe before thee and the glory of the Lord shall bee thy rearward when a man doth walke uprightly and sincerly wee must presume that a man is in a combat for why doth hee speake of the rearward else there are two parts in a battell first the vant-gard which is the former part of the battell Secondly the rear ward which is the hinder part of the battell now Christ is both these you shall have enemies before you in the vant-gard and you shall have enemies behinde you to smite you in the rear-ward now righteousnesse shall goe before thee that is the vant-gard and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear-ward that is God is all about his servants the vant-gard before them to succour them and the rear-ward behinde them to releeve them so that he doth not onely give grace but he maintaines and preserves that grace he gives to the soules of his servants The fourth part of the tenure and conveyance of grace to the faithfull soule is this and I speake but only in the generall the Lord doth not onely preserve what grace hee gives but hee quickens that grace he maintains he drawes forth that ability hee bestowes hee puts life unto that strength and succour which hee vouchsafeth to worke in the hearts of his children hence all those places are marvellous pregnant God giveth the will and the deed so that it is not onely the having but the doing that wee have need of from God and Paul professeth that hee hath not onely grace from Christ but he lives not but Christ liveth in him if Christ did all in him and this is that wee shall observe Luke 1.74 That hee would grant us saith the text that being redeemed from the hand of our enemies we might serve him without feare take notice of two things here First that the Saints of God are redeemed and justified by Christ and now one would thinke a man that is justified and hath Christ â—ght trade for himselfe no but that he would grant us that being redeemed from the hand of our enemies wee might serve him without feare it is one grant to be redeemed and it is a new grant to serve him without feare as it is a mercie for God to bestow ability before wee have it so it is a mercy to quicken that abilitie which hee vouchsafes that wee may honour him by it and he may honour himselfe by us therefore it is a most pregnant place Colos 1. last verse when Paul was there labouring what hee could yet as though hee had nothing as though hee did nothing he gives all to God for marke the manner of the sense of the words Whereunto saith he I also labour and strive the word in the originall signifies I sweat at it and take great paines according to his working which worketh in me mightily Paul laboured and strived but how comes this about his striving is by the working of Christ and by his working he works as who should say It is grace I have any grace it is hee assisting it is he co-operating it is he accompanying I know not what to say it is his worke works and hee works mightily in them that worke and strive to advance the glory of God so then we have those foure particulars that in reason almost might satisfie any man what you want Christ hath what is fit Christ will bestow if you cannot keepe it hee will preserve it for you if you bee sluggish hee will quicken it in you what would you have more one would thinke this were enough but that nothing might be wanting take a passage or two more Fiftly therefore as he quickens what hee maintains so hee perfects what hee quickens hee doth not only inable us to doe what we should but he makes us make worke of it and he brings to perfection what he bestowes Heb. 12.23 there the text speaks of the spirits of just and perfect men hee begins the worke and never leaves till hee makes the worke perfect it is Christ that puts a mans weapons into his hands it is Christ that teacheth him to fight with those weapons and it is Christ that gives him the victory in that fight 1 Corin. 15.55 O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victorie the sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the law but blessed be God that hath given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ the weapons are Christs and the fight is Christs and the victory is Christs he will not onely bring you into the field and put weapons into your hands but give you the victory and all you Saints of God that sinke under the fiercenesse of temptations without and corruptions within hee will give you grace hee will give you weapons and you shall triumph over all your enemies therefore Ephes 4.13 it is said Hee will bring his body to a perfect stature all the Saints of God are compared to members now looke as it is in the body every member doth increase according to its measure till it come to its full bignesse so it is in the body of Christ all the members thereof shall increase till they come to be perfect hath God given thee a heart to looke towards Zion and hast thou any intimation of his love then though the word and meanes may faile he will provide help and meanes he will never leave thee till thou art a perfect man and woman till thou hast attained to bee a perfect member in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ there is no withered bow in this stock of the Lord Jesus Christ but as he gives grace so he will bring it to perfection in its measure God will never leave thee till hee hath brought thee to that perfection he hath appointed now a man would think here were enough but yet a little further and then I am as farre as I can goe
justified him Now the ground of this comfort lieth in three particulars or it affords a threefold consolation First because God the Father hath all things to doe with the soule of a beleever all the suits that are to bee made against a poore soule they come from God and if hee will cease the suit who can follow it if he will say hee is satisfied and well apaid then who can take any advantage against the soule Looke as it is with the Lord of a manour haply hee hath an ill neighbour lives under him and doth him much damage many wayes and the Noble man at last is resolved to follow the law against him therefore the poore man comes in and desires pardon of all that hee hath done amisse and promiseth never to doe the like and the Gentleman out of his noble disposition acquits him and forgives all now imagine some of the servants come in and raise clamours and complaints against him and all the servants of the family are against him well the poore man makes them this answer I have wronged none of you therefore if your Lord bee contented to acquit me I care not what you say I have not wronged you neither doe I feare you this is that which should chear up our hearts infinitely that God the Father is the Lord of the mannour even the Lord of the whole world and if there be any transgression done against thy neighbour whatsoever hee is the Lord of the manour it were no offence to steale but that he hath forbidden it and it were no offence to be disobedient to Parents but that hee hath said Honour thy father and mother c. The goods of thy neighbour are the Lords and the dammage that is done is against the Lord Now if God the Father doe mercifully acquit you and saith hee will pardon the breach of all his Commandements if God acquit us what need wee feare or care what the Devill sayes against us it may bee the Devill will come in and commence a suit against us and say what you be saved yes that 's a likely matter are you not guiltie of this and that well brethren we have done the Devill no wrong against thee onely have I sinned saith David it was against the commands of my good God and his holy Spirit it was against my Father and my Redeemer and they will pardon my sinne God saith I will forgive all that wrong done to me then let the Devill goe and shake his ears looke as it is with a creditor if he hath gotten the suretie in suit he will acquit the debtor and if the debtor be acquitted all the bailiffes in the world can doe him no hurt and hee saith I am out of your debt and danger so it is here God the Father is the Creditor wee have wronged God most infinitely wee owe unto God all that wee have but yet hee hath blotted out all our iniquities therefore if the Devill follow the suit it matters not The Lord saith I will remember his sinnes no more therefore the Devill can pursue him no further Secondly there can bee no court in the world can alter our justification if a man be righted in a lower court a higher court may call it over againe and overthrow it but this is admirable consolation doth God the Father acquit us in Heaven then let the Devill goe and appeale where he will A man never appeals from a higher court to a lower but from a lower court to a higher now all your sinnes are pardoned and you are acquitted in Heaven therefore goe your way comforted and let the Devill appeale where he will no man can reverse it The mercy of the Lord and his sentence endureth for ever you know it was Saint Pauls plea when hee saw that the Jewes were maliciously bent against him to have his life he said No man may deliver me unto them I appeale unto Cesar he saw hee should have hard dealing there if hee were committed to them therefore he appeals unto Cesar so we we have had our case tried in Heaven wee have Cesars judgement seat to goe unto the first person of the Trinitie is our Father the Creditor hath made it good unto us by the witnesse of the Spirit that our iniquities are pardoned and that he will heare no more of them therefore goe away for ever cheared and comforted Vse 2 Again in the second place we have here a word of direction Is God the Father the Judge of the Court then let me speak a word to all hūble broken hearted sinners when you have many Judges to sit upon you in your owne heart bee sure that you bee not judged by them but repaire unto God the Father and get his sentence upon them and whatsoever hee speakes submit unto it and bee contented to judge your selves and your estates answerable by it This is the great misery of many poore creatures that as many miseries as they have so many Judges they have sometimes their feare sits upon them and then they are damped sometimes their suspition sits upon them and then they are marvellously disquieted and sometimes hope sits upon them and then they are a little comforted Oh brethren and beloved in the Lord bee wise now for your soules and put your case to be tried onely by the Lord and not by every one Wee would count him a mad man that having a case of weight to bee tried should commit it to an enemy that hates him or else to an ignorant man that hath no skill at all in the businesse no wise man will doe it but hee appeales to the Judge of the court and lets him cast the cause just so it is here there are many of you some there are I am sure that have a sight of your sinnes and sometimes you thinke that God will certainly commence the suit against you what so many sinnes within mee and so many corruptions to follow mee and oppresse mee certainly my heart is naught are you so ignorant to commit your cause to bee judged by them your carnall reason is an enemie and your owne hearts are weake and not able to understand therefore go to a higher court and say with your selves I care not what the world saith and what carnall reason saith I passe not speake thou Lord a word of comfort to my soule and if his word bee for you then bee for ever comforted and quieted and looke onely to the judgement of the Lord and to none other it is in his hands onely to passe sentence and to condemne as hee seeth fit in his righteous judgement therefore stand to the sentence of him whose Word must stand and shall stand for ever as mount Zion If a plaintiffe have a case to be tried in the court of justice he cares not what the dispute of the lawyers be One man thinkes thus another thinkes thus another would be passing sentēce and saith thus it must be he cares not
if they will take the guilt of your sinnes upon them they say we have too many inabilities to procure pardon for any one sinne and never a Saint in the world dares to meddle with the guilt of anothers sinnes and therefore they dare not meddle with them but they say as the wise virgins did to the foolish ones Matth. 25.9 When the foolish virgins said give us of your oyle for our lamps are gone out not so said they lest there bee not enough for you and us too but rather goe unto them that sell and buy for your selves Even so if you goe to the Saints and say I pray you undertake the pardon of my sinnes and rebellions and beare you the guilt of my sinnes because you are holy and righteous no say they we cannot so all the creatures cannot succour you If all the creatures in heaven and earth should conspire together to save you from the burthen of any one sinne they could not doe it nay the creatures become your accusers the bed whereupon thou hast committed so many abominations and the alehouse where thou hast beene drunke and hast blasphemed and the habitation where thou dwellest and all the creatures groane against thee under the burthen of thy abominations as Rom. 8.22 Therefore they wil take no more guilt upon them than what they have already they are too weary of the weight of what they fele already but though the saints dare not and the creatures cannot save you yet there is hope in heaven there is help to be had in Christ well were it with thee if thou hadst any share in that Christ but this is that which will sinke thy heart that there is no hope for thee there what dost thou talke of grace and of mercy when thou hast opposed the Gospell of grace and of mercy and thou continuest in unbeleefe this is the height and depth of the misery of all unbeleevers that there is no hope for them in heaven This was that which the wicked said when they insulted against David in Psalme â— 2 There is no helpe for him in his God what they said of David falsly God saith it truly of thee there is no help for thee in God there is mercy in Christ but that 's thy misery for there is none for thee being an unbeleever Psalme 18.41 David there expresseth the miserie of the wicked Because the Lord leaves them in their troubles they cried but there was none to save them yea even unto the Lord but he answered them not That 's thy estate right though thou callest to heaven and to Christ and to the God of mercy and to the merits of Christ yet they will not helpe thee thou hast many sinnes and thou shalt beare them every one Now thinke what your sinnes have deserved and how you will be able to beare them when all flesh shall appeare before God then the Lord will charge all thy sinnes upon thy soule and thou must beare and if every sinne deserves condemnation then how wilt thou be able to beare all those condemnations that are due to all thy sins which thou canst not number even the dregs of vengeance and the bottome of the cup of the Lords indignation Christ in Iohn 17.9 speaking of the faithfull and how hee praies to the Father for them he saith I pray not for them of the world but for these whom thou hast given mee out of the world When a poore unbeleever shall come to Jesus Christ and shall intreat him to speake a good word for him when hee hath never regarded his person not accepted of his gracious offers of mercy and shall intreat Christ to pray for him no saith Christ I never prayed for the obstinately wicked now if Christ will not speake a good word for thee dost thou thinke that hee will pardon the guilt of thy sinnes upon him nay he only pardons the guilt of the sinnes of the faithfull but as for thee thou must beare thy sinnes and suffer for them for evermore Vse 3 The third use is a word of exhortation and instruction to all the saints and faithfull of God if Christ were content to bee made sin for all the faithfull then what must you be contented to doe for your Saviour was he made sinne for thee then be thou content to be made shame for him be thou willing to beare the shame and disgrace and reproach that comes unto thee for the Name of Christ be content to be accounted the such and off-scouring of the earth bee not evill doers but be contented to bee counted as evill doers 1 Cor. 4.13 Wee are persecuted and yet wee pray we are reviled and yet we blesse we are accounted as the off-scouring of the earth untill this time So doe you bee content to beare any shame that is unjustly laid upon thee for thy Saviour which was accounted a sinner for thee Acts 24.14 S. Paul was resolute in it and said after the way that ye call heresie worship I the Lord God of my Fathers nay hee presseth this upon the hearts of Gods Children Hebrewes 13.12 13. speaking in the 12. verse that Christ tooke our sinnes upon him and went out of the citie and was slaine without the gate he saith in the 13. verse Let us therefore goe out of the Camp to him bearing our reproach be not afraid to be seene in a Christian cause nor to be disgraced for it goe out boldly and resolutely harden your faces and steel your hearts against all such things and let the dogs barke and the winds blow and the waves roare goe you out of the Campe for his honour bearing his reproach comfortably he hath borne sinne for thee beare thou shame for him Vse 4 Fourthly it is a word of comfort and consolation to all the faithfull be thy sinnes never so many and the guilt of them never so great yet learne this skill to cast it all on the Lord Jesus Christ ease thy owne soule of it and hurle thy care on him that careth for thee This is that which I would have all the faithfull wary of not to make their miseries more than they should Now Christ not onely tooke our sinnes by imputation but also the payment of the debt was really discharged by our Saviour he laid downe the payment of the debt and suffered the punishment really though I doe not conceive this to be directly intended yet it may be inferred from the words of the Text in the former point Christ was charged with the sinnes of all the faithfull and now Christ did suffer their pains and underwent the whole punishments which their sinnes required so the point of Doctrine from hence is this Doctrine The Lord Jesus Christ suffered fully whatsoever punishments divine justice required or were deserved by the sinnes of the faithfull I ground this Doctrine out of the Text thus the text saith Christ was made sinne that is he had our sinnes imputed to him and therefore hee must
the soule with his indignation his heart would sinke but that a little leane starved hope supports him and he sees than Gods will is not yet fully revealed but that he may be saved and he saith this conscience may bee quieted and this soule may be saved and these sins may bee pardoned now despaire is the quite contrary when the soule hath no good in expectation and that which cuts the heart strings of a mans consolation and plucke a mans comforts up by the roots as hee hath nothing for the present so all means and wayes of getting any good are cut off and then he casts off hope and never lookes to God more because he never lookes for mercy from God and then hope goes out and saith Oh when will it once be cannot these sinnes bee pardoned c And at last hee sees there is no way of getting any good and therefore hee never lookes for mercy more but expects hell and damnation and cries out I am damned I am damned This is despaire and this is the nature of it Secondly this despaire is not any part or essentiall property appertaining to the pains of the second death whether we looke at the withdrawing of the sweetnesse of Gods love or whether wee looke at the inflicting of the wrath of God upon the soule this is no part of them for besides that which Divines will observe namely that all punishments are passions and they suffer them but despaire is a worke of the creature and it issues from himselfe and the creature doth it and therefore it cannot properly bee a punishment nor any part of the second death but besides all this which they observe this desperation so opened it is so farre from being any part of the second death as that it is not a consequent which nextly followes from the second death but from the weaknesse and sinfulnesse of the creature Desperation is not any effect flowing immediatly from the wrath of God upon the creature but it proceeds and comes directly and immediatly from the weaknesse and sinfulnes of the creature Imagine that yee saw the Lord Iesus Christ comming in the clouds with thousand thousands of his holy Angels and the thrones were set up and all flesh appeared the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left hand and the Lord Iesus Christ passeth the doome and the sentence against them saying Goe yee cursed into everlasting fire Now when a poore damned creature seeth that the sentence is gone and seeth the good wil of God pass'd upon him and the power of his wrath now to bee exprest to the full against him and he apprehends the will of God now fulfild never to be crost more and the decree of God is now exprest never to bee altered more and hee seeth the gates of hell now sealed upon him and that the Lord hath cast upon him the tombstone of his wrath and that he is buried under the power of the second death and now he seeth the time is gone and the justice of God can never bee satisfied more and this power of the Lords wrath can never be removed Oh the time was that I had the word and the power of into quicken me and to informe me and the Spirit of God to strive with me and then there was some hope but now the decree of God is maâ—e unrevokable and this wrath I shall never beare nor never remove There is now to word no praying no hearing no conference no mercy nor salvation to bee hoped for and so the soule lookes no more for any good because the Lord hath so peremptorily set downe his doâ—me thus the soule breaks under the wrath of God and is not able to satisfie and the wrath of God can never bee removed the fire will ever burne and the worme will ever gnaw and now the soule casts off all hope and this is the meaning of those phrases 2 Pet. 3.7 and in the 6. verse of the Epistle of Iude where speaking of the devils the text saith They are reserved in everlasting chains under darknes to the judgement of the great day the devill is hopelesse he hath no hope of good nor shall never receive any good but our Saviour Christ that was able by the power of his God-head to suffer this wrath of God and to satisfie justice and to support himselfe under this wrath and to come out from it he hath a certaine hope to please God the Father and to have everlasting blisse and happinesse with him there is hope with our Saviour because he can beare and satisfie and come from under this wrath Take a bason of water and cast it upon a few coales of fire and it will put them clean out but throw the same boson full upon a great fire and though it may damp it a little at first yet it cannot quench it but rather increaseth the flame and makes it burne the faster what 's the reason of this that it quenched the little fire and not the great fâ—re it was not firstly and nextly because of the coldnesse and crosnesse of the water to the fire for the same water was as cold upon the great fire and as crosseâ— the nature of the great fire but the little fire was rob weake of it selfe to beare the coldnesse of the water and therefore it was quenched but the great fire was able to beare the coldnesse of the water and therefore it was not quenched so it is here the wrath of God is like this water as David saith All thy waves and billowes have passed over me that is the waves of Gods indignation and the ocean sea of Gods wrath â—hen this fals upon a poore weake sinfull creature that cannot beare this but breakes under this wrath and cannot take off the vengeance of the Lord but sinkes under it this creature despaires of all helpe not because of the wrath of the Lord firstly but because of the weaknesse and the sinfulnesse of the creature that could not beare the wrath of the Lord and hence he despaires and the soule saith alas I am weake and a poore sinne creature and this wrath of the Lord is of an infinite vigour I shall never be able to beare it nor to get from under it therefore I despair and cast away all hope of helpe but the Lord Jesus Christ being perfect God and perfect man having a great flame of holy affections kindled in him by the spirit of the Father this did assist him hereby to beare the wrath of God in his soule and not onely was hee able to beare it but to overcome it and although hee were tossed up and downe in the sea of Gods wrath yet he was not drowned and though hee sipped of the poyson yet he was not poysoned therefore he bore the paines of the second death and overcame them and did not despaire he expected to receive good because he knew he should have good thus our Saviour Iohn 19.30 when
he had so deeply drunke of the cup of affliction he said now it is finished that is now the fierce indignation of the Lord is over Take a little childe or infant new borne and lay it in a little streame if no man come to succour it there can be no hope that it will live not properly because of the water but because the childe is weake and not able to keepe it selfe from being overpowred by the water and therefore there is no hope to have reliefe for it but let a strong man come and he will not be drowned by the streame for hee is of height and strength either to wade thorow it or else to save himselfe by swimming so there is the streame of the indignation of the Lord Now God will not help a poore sinfull creature and he cannot help himselfe therefore the streame will destroy him and there is no hope for he is never able to free himselfe because God will not and he himselfe cannot but the Lord Jesus Christ that hath skill and power because he is God as well as man therefore though he beare the wrath of God yet because hee is able to wade thorow it and to beare it therefore it is that he will deliver himselfe and all us with him Thus ye see that desperation is a consequent that followes from the sinfulnesse and weaknes of the creature and that it is no part of the second death The second part of this conclusion followes and I desire it may bee attended to by all you that are weake ones for this objection doth put many Divines themselves to a stand and yet the case is very cleere so farre as my light and line serves me Secondly the eternitie of the punishments say they for if Christ suffered the pains of the second death then hee must be in hell for ever It is a weake and a sinfull plea I say our Saviour might and did suffer the second death and yet not the eternitie of it I beseech you to take notice of two things herein First you must take notice of the difference betweene the death threatned and the death denounced and betweene the torments of hell also betweene the eternitie of time and the circumstances of time that may bee altered and changed as the debt or punishment is fully suffered or not suffered As for example the time of a mans lying in prison is no part of the payment but he doth lie in prison because hee cannot pay the debt as thus A man is in prison for a thousand pound he must lie in prison ten years because he can pay but a hundreth pound a year but now let a rich man come that can discharge the payment within ten moneths or ten dayes or ten houres it is as well if he doe it in ten houres as if he did it in ten years nay it is better done Just so it is here the debt is this In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death the punishment is death and every poore creature must die the first and second death Now because a poore creature cannot satisfie Gods justice 〈◊〉 this life for if God should but let in the power of his wrath in this life into the soule and fill the soule with his fierce indignation it would kill a man even in this life therefore the Lord by death takes away a poore creature and drags him downe to hell he doth arrest him by conscience here and saith Thou hast sinned and deserved wrath and thou canst not beare my wrath here therefore thou shalt die and be made immortall that thou maist beare it for evermore because a man cannot pay it now therefore he is paying of it to all eternitie for hee is never able to pay and satisfie for the whole summe but now the Lord Jesus Christ hath cash ready at hand and is able to lay downe the payment for all the faithfull to the full hee layes downe the life naturall and hee also suffers the paines of the second death therefore hee is able to deliver himselfe and all those that are his First of all Vse 1. hath our Saviour thus suffered and hath he stepped in betweene the wrath of God the Father and the faithfull Justice saith that foule hath sinned and must be damned and anger saith I must breake out against that poore soule then the Lord Jesus Christ steps in and saith I will beare all and undertake the satisfiing of all I will beare all those punishments due unto them you that are beleevers and have a share in Christ unto you I speake labour thou from hence to see the hainousnesse of sinne and to hate it because it hath brought all this evill upon thy Saviour and would have brought the same upon thee had not the Lord Jesus Christ stepped in betweene thee and the wrath of the Father Oh looke what thy sin hath done unto the Lord Jesus Christ and see if you can love it take contentment in the cōmission of it Let me teach you how to do it send your thoughts afar off and see our Saviour in the garden crying out and saying My soule is exceeding heavie unto the death my soule is even beset with sorrowes oh watch and pray And also when he was in that bitter agonie in the garden And he prayed yet more earnestly and hee stretched out his prayers that it broke his heart almost behold the teares in his eyes and the clodded blood that came from him and his soule was almost broken within him under the fierce indignation of the Lord and he fell upon the ground and yet all this would not doe the deed follow him to the crosse and seeing him attended with the souldiers and pierced thorow with a speare see then if thou canst love thy sinnes that have done all this and further when you have seene him thus nailed to the crosse and pierced thorow with a speare then if you have any hearts of men I doe not say of Christians listen a while and here those hideous cries My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Oh brethren it went very heavy with our Saviour Now imagine that you heard those heart breaking sighes which broke the heavens and let them breake thy heart too Oh goe your wayes home I charge you in the Name of Jesus Christ and answer your owne hearts or rather answer the petitions of our Saviour and say Lord why hast thou forsaken Oh Lord it was for my pride and my contempt of thy word and my despising of holy duties and for the rest of my sinnes I should have beene forsaken and thou wast contented to bee forsaken for me Oh can you consider of this and love your sinnes still which have brought all this misery upon a Saviour if you can love your sins now doe and if you can harbour that pride and stubbornnesse in your hearts which would have pluckt the heart out of Christs body and his soule from
whole heavens as I may say and did darken all the Sunne-shine of Gods favour as it is with the Sun in the firmament when a little cloud growes greater and greater untill it cover the whole heaven then we thinke it is almost night so all the sinnes of all the faithfull did overspread all the whole heavens that even the star-light of Gods compassion and the lightning of Gods love and favour appeared not Now I come to the reasons of our Saviours grievous sufferings in his soule and the reasons are these First from the cause Secondly from the place to which our Saviour was called Thirdly from the love of the Lord Jesus Christ which makes it most plaine of all Reason 1 First from the cause it cannot bee that it was the Jewes and Herod and Pilate that made him crie out in this manner but the justice of God the Father came against him and the devill entred the combate with the Lord Jesus Christ upon the crosse Luke 22.53 This is your houre and the power of darknesse hell gates were set open and the devils were all let loose upon our Saviour and therefore as Divines doe wisely and judiciously observe in Coloss 2.15 Hee led captivity captive and spoyled principalities and powers and tooke the hand writing of ordinances that was against us and fastned them to his crosse hee was now in the maine combat with all the powers of sinne hell and death These were they that did make the combat with the Lord of life Reason 2 The second reason is taken from the place which he underwent he was to be a Priest and he was to offer up himselfe for a sacrifice not his body alone but also his soule as Hebrewes 9.20.24 Christ offered up himselfe for a sacrifice Reason 3 Thirdly the love of the Lord Jesus was such that of necessitie it must bee so and those that thinke that the Lord Jesus suffered nothing else but onely the death of the body they wonderfully wrong the love of the Lord Jesus Christ the like love was never seene for had he suffered only the death naturall then some of Gods people had shewed greater love than ever Christ did as Paul Romans 9.3 I could bee content to want the sense of the love of Christ for the people of the Iewes c. Now if our Saviour had onely suffered the death naturall then Paul could have beene content to doe more than Christ did Thus you see the nature of this forsaking of Christ Secondly there was also a curse which befell our Saviour which here is intimated but is fully exprest Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law why because he was made a curse for us how doth he prove that because it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree He proves the truth by the Type the curse lay in this that Christ did suffer whatsoever was due unto us So the Apostle reasons that whatsoever curse was due unto us that our Saviour did suffer the curse was this the Father did not only withdraw the sense and sweetnesse of his love and favour from the Lord Jesus Christ but hee also let in his heavie indignation and wrath into his soule and that seized upon and fild the soule of our Saviour brim full and this was the curses The Scripture doth expresse it in two particulars or there are two degrees of it First the justice of God had a single combat with our Saviour in the garden and there it had three bouts with him the Lord dealt very roughly with him and the blowes were very heavie that hee laid upon our Saviour there for they went to the heart of him and yet that was but a little skirmish Esay 53.4 5. God smote him and bruised him insomuch that there was clodded blood seene to come dropping from him these heavie bouts that hee had wounded him and went to the very heart of him but now patience and forbearance and longsuffering and mercy and compassion they all come into rescue our Saviour and they afford him a little breathing and refreshing so that though the blowes were heavie and the thrusts were sore yet he did breathe and live and it was not the maine stroke of all and the reason was because patience mercy and goodnesse and bountie came in to rescue him but then the second part was this Not only Gods anger had a single combat with him but at last the justice of God gathered up all the powers of it and the wrath of God drew up all the forces together and they marched in furiously against Christ and whereas before the Father smote at him and did thrust at him now hee slew him When our Saviour came to the crosse and the heat of the battle lay upon him then all the sense and sweetnesse of Gods countenance and favour they all left our Saviour in the open field for in the garden hee had some refreshings and some breathing times and mercy and goodnesse did step in and say slay him not but let him have some refreshings but now the sense and the feeling of all these was gone Vse The use of this last branch it is a word of terrour and it is able to shake the hearts of the proudest wretches under heaven they that let themselves against God and Heaven and make nothing of the sinnes they have committed nor of the wrath of God threatned and when the Minister saith Oh the end of those sins will be bitternesse this contempt of God and grace and holy services and these oaths will be bitter in the latter end How can you beare the wrath of God and you cannot possibly avoid it tusâ— say they come let us talke of other matters and not busie our selves with these matters well saith the Minister but the word is true and the word saith it well then saith the soule and I will beare it as well as I can If I sinne I will beare it and if I come into hell I shall beare it as well as another and I shall make a shift for one Oh poore sinfull creature wilt thou beare it and make thy part good as well as another dost thou know what thou saist ler all those stouthearted men that sit in the feat of the scornfull and make nothing of God nor his wrath nor of hell nor of the sinnes that they have committed let them know that they shall never bee able to beare the indignation of the Lord see here and behold a little all you that make nothing of the withdrawing of Gods favour Psalme 97.4 5. and Revelation â— 14 15 16 17. The heavens departed away as a scrowle when it is rowled and every mountaine and Isle were removed out of their places and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe captaines and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and rocks and in the mountaines and said to
the mountaines fall on us and to the hils cover us from the presence of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand If any man could beare up himselfe then it were the great ones of the world now take a scantling of your owne strength if any were able to beare the wrath of the Lord it were the kings and the mightie men and the captaines and the rich men of the world but faith the text The day of the Lords wrath is come and who shall bee able to stand It is not the soveraigntie of the king nor the skill and courage of the captaine or the libertie of the freeman or the slavery of the bondman that can deliver them but they all crie to the rocks fall on us and cover us from the presence of the Lord nay that you may yet see the vildnesse and wretchednesse of your hearts and the miserablenesse of your condition when the presence of the Lord appeares see what the text saith Psalme 114.5 7. The sea fled and the earth trembled the hils melted at the presence of the Lord nay the devils themselves tremble as in the 6. and 8. verses of the epistle of Saint Iude The Angels which kept not their first love he hath reserved in everlasting chaines under darknesse to be kept for the judgement of the last day they have their portion for the while but there is a great deale of wrath to come and there are many plagues comming and they know Gods wrath and they shake and tremble in the apprehension of it now when you see this goe home to your owne soules and let every man that would heretofore as his owne conscience can tell him flout God to his face and make a scorn of hell and of judgement and condeÌ„nation go home I say lay this to your owne hearts and say is it so that the mountains shak and the sea shrinks and the devils tremble at the wrath of the Lord good Lord then how shall I be able to beare it that am not able to coÌ„ceive of it nay if any man think that hee is able to undergoe the wrath of God and to bear it off with head and shoulders look but here upon the Lord Jesus Christ that was perfect God and perfect man he that created heaven and earth and bote up the foundation of heaven and earth yet when hee came to beaâ—t the wrath of God it forced teares from his eyes and clodded blood from his body and made him crie out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Doe but now compare your selves with Christ and say did my Saviour buckle under the wrath of God then certainly it will breake you therefore say thou if hee that was the Creator of heaven and earth could not beare it then how shall I be able to beare it when he comes against me for my siâ— and corruption committed by me therefore heart and feare all you stout hearted of the world rather now tremble while you may be comforted than hereafter when you shall never be eased thinke but with your selves how dreadfull that day will be when all the glorious attributes of God shall take their leaves of you he that before had a great deale of mercy and patience and the Lord hath wooed him saying Oh once at last heare and see the things that belong to thy peace there is not one of you all in this congregation but that you have beene compast about with mercies and the justice of God it would have broken out against you had not mercy stepped in to rescue you how easie were it for the Lord to dash us all into the bottomlesse pit every creature of us therefore thanke mercy and patience and forbearance that still you breathe and say blessed bee God that I have to deale with a gracious mercifull and compassionate God that hath kept mee from judgement that I have not ere now perished in it Now thinke with your selves what a day it wil be when mercy shal weep over you take his leave of you say remeÌ„ber thou poore creature how I met thee in thy walkes and kneeled downe before thee and besought thee to take mercy and to be saved and pardoned but thou wouldst not adem therefore this is the last time of asking I will never see thy face more and with that patience as it were buckles under the burthen and saith I have bond with their thus longe I have borne twenty years with some thirtie years with some fortie years with others and all this which I have borne with thee in thy pride and stubbornesse and loosenesse and uncleannesse but now adew never more patience to beare with you what no more mercy nor no more goodnesse saith the soule and they all say no and stake their hands and say adew thou rebellious heart for ever it will make thy heart shake within thee and thou wilt say I shall sinke downe suddenly there is nothing but wrath to bee expected they are all gone to heaven and you must be forever packing to hell Oh feare and feare all you whom it doth concerne this day if so bee Christ cannot beare it then you cannot suffer it but you will sinke under the same for ever Now I come to the reasons of the point in generall why our Saviour suffered paines both in body and in soule then the reasons of it are three and they are all of speciall use Reason 1 First it is taken from the divine justice of God which required this by way of satisfaction as being onely surable and agreeable to the divine justice of God by reason of sinne whereby Adam had intrenched upon the privilege of God the Father every breach of the Law of God intrencheth neerly upon God himselfe and therefore every sinne is of a provoking nature because it is committed against an infinite majestie therefore that divine justice may not be a loser there must be a punishment not onely corporall but also spirituall for justice abates not any thing of the satisfaction God is just and this is justice to give every one his due honour to whom honour belongs and punishment to whom punishment belongs therefore that justice may bee preserved she must inflict these punishments upon our Saviour being in our roome the Jesuites have devised a cavill against this reason say they it needed not that Christ should suffer these for the dignitie of the person of our Saviour may dispence with some part of the punishment and if he beare death it is sufficient he may bee freed from the other paines in his soule Now that this conceit of theirs is a thing marvellous injurious to the justice of God the Father and to the wisedome of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the death of Christ I prove it thus for by the same right that the dignitie of the person of our
and apprehension of the minde for what ever a man conceives his understanding closeth with it as whatever I apprehend I close with that there is a conveyance of the thing into my minde and I close with it now the union of a beleevers soule with Christ is more than this it is not a bare apprehension a wicked man will goe farre in the apprehension of Christ but this union is somewhat more and I call it a reall union because there is a knitting and a closing not onely of the apprehension with a Saviour but a closing of a soule with a Saviour Secondly I say this is a totall union the whole nature of a Saviour and the whole nature of a beleever are knit together first that it is a reall union all the places of Scripture doe intimate as much what the branch is to the vine the soule is to Christ now they are more than imagination so what the husband is to the wife the soule is to Christ Now they are more than in understanding for a man may conceive of another woman as well as of his wife but this is another union whereby the person of the one is knit unto another the bond of matrimony knits these two together This is the frame and guise of knitting the soule to Christ it is no bare apprehension but wee feed upon Christ and grow upon Christ and are married to Christ Hosea 2.20 I have married thee to my selfe in truth in judgement and in righteousnesse Secondly I say it is totall in so much that Christ is the head and a beleever a member in both these regards they are joyned Christ is the head of the Church not onely according as he is God but as hee is God and man and a beleever is a member not onely according to his body but according to his body and soule now whole Christ being the head and the whole beleever being a member therefore a whole Christ and a whole beleever must be joyned together The third is this this union is inseparable Ieremie 32.40 The Lord promiseth to make an everlasting covenant with the house of Israel and I will never part away from them to doe them good so Psalme 89.33.34 It is spoken there concerning Salomon as I conceive the Psalmist saith If he sinne against mee I will scourge him and I will visit him with stripes neverthelesse my loving kindnesse I will not take away from him nor suffer my faithfulnesse to faile my covenant I will not breake nor alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth marke that the Lord out of faithfulnesse doth establish thee to him in vocation the Lord hath made a covenant with the soule in vocation the hand of the Lord layes hold upon the soule and brings it home now though the Lord correct the soule sharply yet will be not leave it totally and finally it is inseparably knit to Christ what can it be what shall it be that can separate a poore sinner from Christ if Satan could have hindered him from comming to a Saviour hee would have then hindered him from comming to a Christ when he had his greatest dominion over him if sinne could have let him when a man had nothing else but sin he would not have forsaken that and have beene brought home to Christ If the world could have prevailed Christ should never have pluckt him from it but when Satan had his greatest power over him when a man was nothing else but sinne by nature when the world most prevailed yet then God by his good Spirit pluckt thy heart from sinne and selfe that soule is mine saith Christ Satan must give way and shall not hinder it that soule is mine saith Christ sinne shall not let it from comming to mee that soule is mine saith Christ and the world shall not stop the worke of a Saviour and if Satan in the height of his malice and the world in the top of its force could not prevaile to keepe the soule from Christ then much lesse shall these be able to pluck us from a Saviour the point then is undeniable that the soule is really totally and inseparably knit to the Lord Jesus Christ Vse 1 We may here take notice of the high and happy privilege of poore creatures how ever the poore Saints of God are despised and contemned of the world yet they are received into covenant with the Lord they are made one with Christ and are of the blood royall and this is the greatest privilege that can bee this should beare up the hearts of poore Christians yee are now in the very gate of Heaven nay let mee say as the Apostle speakes and I see no reason why a man may not say that hee is in Heaven in truth though not in that measure and largenesse of glory he shall be afterwards 1 Thess 1.17 The happinesse that a Christian shall have in Heaven is this Hee shall be ever with the Lord Iesus Heaven were not Heaven unlesse a man might bee with Christ there the place doth not make a man happy but the union with a Saviour that makes him happy and to be joyned to Father Sonne and holy Ghost that makes him happy and the beleever is now knit to them and therefore must needs be happy Deut. 33. the last verse as he said of the people of Israel so may I say of all faithfull soules Happy are thou oh Israel saith the text who is like unto thee saved by the Lord the shield of thy helpe and the sword of thy excellency so may I say Happy are ye oh beleeving soules who is like unto you yee are saved by God and are married to the Lord Jesus Christ and are the spouses of the Saviour of the world and he that is the Judge of the world is your Husband your beloved and you are his let nothing therefore dismay your hearts Vse 2 The second use is that of terrour and it is like a thunder-bolt able to breake the hearts of all those that are opposite to them that beleeve in Christ that which I would have all consider on is this that the persecution of the Saints is a sin of a high nature it is a most hainous abominable sinne in the sight of God how ever the world thinkes not so of it yet they shall bee sure one day to finde I know men thinke not then because haply the law of man provides not in this case to punish those that oppose the Lord Iesus Christ and the power of his grace because haply the Magistrate doth not or haply cannot smite those that set themselves against those that feare God and trample upon them therefore wicked men make the Saints of God the marke of their malice and the aime of their rage and all these indignation is bent that way they glory in what they have done and threaten what they will doe they will hang and draw and quarter within themselves this is that which the proud spirits of
the world make their maine prize and they thinke thereby to procure praise unto themselves and great preferment in their owne eyes this way let me speake a little to these you that are guilty of this sinne see the compasse of it take notice of the reach how farre this rebellion goeth I would wish these men that persecute the Saints I would have them underst the compasse of their course how farre their wicked practice extendeth it is not against a despised Christian no let them know it their rage and malice ascends up to Heaven and offers violence to the Lord Iesus Christ and the labour what they can to plucke Christ from the right hand of his Father and they endevour what in them lies to shed his blood and take away his life let all know that have beene professed opposers and dead haters of the Saints of God let them know they are melted of light treason and that in a most hainous manner against the Lord of Heaven and Earth against the Lord Iesus Christ the Redeemer of the world I would that these men would not cozen themselves for God will not bee mocked they professe they love Christ with all their hearts and they will doe any thing for him but those nice fellowes those spruce fellowes it is those that they hate to the death doe you so indeed thou hast said enough then for thou hatest Christ in hating them and thou persecutest Christ in persecuting them Esay 37.23.28 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed saith the text and against whom hast thou exalted thy voyce and lifted up thine eyes on high even against the Holy one of Israel and in the 28. verse I know thy abode and thy going out and thy comming in and thy rage against me so that how ever Senacherib aymed at Hezekia onely and those that professe the truth yet the Lord takes it at done to himselfe he that knew their hearts and their malice hee saith I know thy rage against me it was against the holy One of Israel that they rayled Wicked men persecute the lives of beleevers now Christ lives in them and thou hatest the life of Christ and persecutest the life of Christ Acts 9. Paul had gotten letters from the Synagogue and hee would have haled to prison all the Saints of God that professed the Name of Christ now if a man had come to Paul and asked him Paul why doe you persecute Christ hee would have beene in great indignation what reverenced Paul learned Paul zealous Paul what hee persecute the Lord of life why Christ proclaimes it he doth so and hee puts it to an upshot and ends the controversie and puts the question out of doubt I am Iesus saith he whom thou persecutest as if he had said Poore foole thou knowest not and I perceive thou thinkest it not but I receive the wound the foot is prickt and the head complaines I would have a man make the case his owne and be his owne Judge If any man should pretend friendship to you and professe hee loves you and tells you hee tenders your person but yet hee will torment your body and hee loves your head but yet he will cut off your arme there is no man so weake but he would loath such cursed kinde of dissimulation a man cannot love the head and hate the member love the person and torment the body just so these men deale with the Lord Iesus Christ Gods faithfull beleeving servants are his eyes Zacharie 2.8 He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye they are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone thou that pretendest to love Christ and to tender the head and in the mean time loathest his members and his poore Saints know that thou dost not persecute the Saints so much but thou persecutest Christ much more but haply thou wilt say I am no drunkard nor no whore-monger I tell thee this sinne is worse than drunkennesse or whoredome the text saith Luke 13. that Herod was an incestuous person and married his brother Philips wife but he added this sinne above all the rest hee put Iohn in prison therefore all that heare the Word of God if a man did see an incestuous wretch in the congregation whom humanity and reason and nature doth loath we would abhorre and detest him nay every man knowes that it deserves death Looke upon thy owne soule and lay thy hand upon thy heart thou that persecutest the Saints thy sinne is greater and thy condemnation shall be farre sorer than such a mans hence it is that God threatens such men with the heaviest judgements Psalme 82.5 it is spoken there concerning Doeg we may see the story 1 Samuel 22. When Abimelech gave David shew-bread and Goliahs sword Doeg saw it and told Saul and afterwards slew eighty five persons of the Priests now this Psalmist made this Psalme against this man and he saith Thy tongue deviseth mischiefe lik a sharp razor working deceitfully and God shall likewise destroy thee for ever He shal take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and out of the land of the living because he did oppose himselfe against Abimelech therefore the Lord would not let him go without a punishment nay as God threatens the sorest punishment against such person so the Saints of God by their prayers set themselves most against them Psalme 129.5 Let them all he confounded and turned backe that have ill will at Sion neither doe they that goe by say The blessing of the Lord bee upon you the poorest man that lives that is in the meanest place if he walkes in an honest calling the Saints wish a blessing to him but they that oppose the Saints of God the Saints curse them in the name of the Lord it is true I confesse wee must bee wary and wise but being wise and wary it is a thing wee may and should doe David by way of Revelation knew who were implacable and obdurate though wee know not this yet aiming at none in particular but onely in the generall at those who bee incorragible the Saints of God curse them and that bitterly in all their desires that they put up to God nay the greatest indirement at the day of judgement proceeds against sinners because of the persecution of his Saints because in them they persecute Christ himselfe they teare out the very eyes of Christ and rend his heart in peeces Iud. 14. The Lord commeth with thousands of his Angels to execute judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly amongst them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him Matthew 25. the latter end Depart from mee ye cursed I know ye not I was in prison and ye visited mee not I was naked and ye cloathed me not why Jesus Christ is gone to Heaven and haply they never saw him bâ—â— faith hee in that you did it not
course of profession in the way of life and salvation but they never come to bee opposers and resisters of God and his grace till there comes some to bee wiser and stricter in a Christian course than they and then hee fals away Vse 4 Is it so that the faithfull soule is thus neerly knitted to Christ as the member to the body or the branch to the vine then all you that beleeve in Christ observe from hence a ground of strong consolation against all the contempt of the world and the misery that can betide and against all the temptations that Sathan can lay against you to cause you to fall finally or totally First it is a ground of great comfort and consolation to carry up the soule and lift up the heart against all the contempt and disgrace against all the troubles and miseries and persecutions that can betide or befall you or can be cast upon you in this wandring pilgrimage of yours when a Christian begins to turne his face heaven-ward and goe home to the Lord then all his friends flie away and depart from him David complaines that his honours stood afarre off and hee was a mocking to the enemie and a contempt to those that were before neere unto him so it will bee with you nay it is so with most that live in the bosome of the Church how often can many of you speake of it when the Lord hath given you a heart to walke with him and depend upon him how often are you made the off-scouring of the world your carnall friends detest your persons and scorne your societies why raise up your hearts with the consideration of the former truth yee that doe endure it or may feare it comfort your selves doth man cast you off doth man cast you out Christ will receive you why then are you discouraged what though the servant frowne if the Master welcome what though we be not with the wicked if we be with Christ and Christ with us why are we then discontented it is that which comforts a party that matcheth against her parents minde when her parents frowne this comforts her heart though she hath not their love and society yet she hath the love and company of her husband and that contents her so it is with every beleeving soule you have matched against the minde of your carnall friends they would not have you take that course Oh then they tell you Woe and beggerie will befall you well though you have matched contrarie to the mindes of your carnall friends or master or husband yet comfort thy selfe though thou hast the ill will of an earthly husband yet now God will be a husband in heaven thou maist sing care away and bee for ever comforted and refreshed it was that which God himselfe gave for a cordiall to cheare up Iacob in that long and tedious journey of his when hee was going into a farre countrie Genes 28.14 15. when he was going from his owne countrie and had no friends to succour him the Lord met him and said I will goe with thee and keepe thee in all places whither thou goest and I will bring thee back into this land and I will never leave thee untill I have done that which I spake unto thee of this was that which lifted and bare up the heart of the good man though hee could not but expect hard dealing why yet saith the Lord I will goe with thee and never leave thee thinke of it and consider of it seriously what a ground of consolation may it be when we shall wander up and downe and goe into caves and holes and dens of the earth when wee shall goe into prison or banishment and friends may not nor will not goe with us yet Christ will goe Esay 43.2 When thou passest thorow the waters I will be with thee and thorow the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest thorow the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee a man cannot save his wife sometimes in the water though shee bee ready to be drowned a man cannot goe into the fire to helpe her though she be ready to be burnt but Christ will be with thee in the water and in the fire that is in the heaviest trials and forest troubles what can come to us if Christ be with us if miserie and sorrow and trouble bee with us if Christ our husband be with us what matter he is the husband of his spouse and the Saviour of his people why should wee then bee discouraged or disquieted Secondly as it is a ground of comfort against all opposition and troubles of the world so it is a ground of comfort to stay our soules against the fiercenesse of all temptations whereby Satan labours to plucke us from the Lord Iesus Christ and our hearts sinke within us and we shall wee say one day perish by the hands of Saul by the hand of the enemy attempting and corruptions prevailing cleare your hearts and know though temptations may outbid your weaknesses and corruptions may outbid your abilities and when you would doe good evill is present with you and sinne cleaves and sticks close to you why cheare your hearts with this consideration that you have Christ that sticks closer to you than your sinnes and this should cheere up weake and feeble ones I know what troubles you were I as strong as such a christian had I such parts and such strength of faith and shall such a poore little one as I am beare the brunt of persecution and indure in the time of perplexitie Why consider though thou canst not helpe thy selfe yet Christ can and know this that Christ will not lose the least member he is a perfect Saviour the Lord will not suffer Satan to take thee away from him nor suffer his love to bee taken from thee Rom. 8. the two last verses it was the triumph of the holy Apostle Paul I am perswaded saith he that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which it in Christ Iesus our Lord when health is separated from thy body and light from thy eyes and strength from thy feeble nature yet remember that when thy body is separated from thy soule the Lord will not separated his love from thee neither from thy body in the grave nor from thy 〈…〉 it is departed out of thy body he will love thy body in the grave he loves the dust of his Saints and he will take thy soule up into heaven therefore cheare up thy heart and comfort thy soule in the consideration of Gods goodnesse Vse 5 Lastly are the Saints knit to Christ thus firmly then it shews us our dutie we ought to take notice of the goodnesse of the Lord vouchsafed unto us hath the Lord advanced you thus highly then walke
the union drawes somewhat neerer so that wee see first there is a holy Ghost in the promise and secondly wee see that the Holy Ghost leaves a supernaturall worke upon the soule and brings it home to Christ Conclus 3 The third conclusion is this the Spirit of grace in the promise working thus upon the heart it causeth the heart to close with it selfe in the promise the Spirit of God by the promise so works upon the soule that it makes the soule close with the promise and with it selfe in the promise and this is to be one Spirit and this I take to bee the meaning of that place Philippians 3.12 Paul saith that he was apprehended of Christ as if he should say I was not so much apprehending as apprehended not so much that he did it but Christ in him and upon him and by him for I told you the worke of the Lord in the worke of conversion is upon us by us to bring us to himselfe The Spirit of the Lord is in heaven and it is in the promise and that Spirit in the promise comes to the soule of a beleever and leaves a spirituall worke upon the soule of a beleever and the soule is moved by vertue of that Spirit to close with that promise and with that Spirit that is in the promise I would expresse my selfe by these two comparisons looke as it is with the moone the naturall Philosopher observes that the ebbing and flowing of the sea is by vertue of the moone she flings her beames into the sea and not being able to exhale as the sunne doth shee leaves them there and goes away and that drawes them and when they grow wet they returne backe againe now the sea ebs and flowes not from any principle in it selfe but by vertue of the moone being moved it goes being drawne it comes the moone casting her beames upon the waters it moves the sea and so drawes it selfe unto it selfe and the sea with it so the heart of a poore creature is like the water unable to move towards heaven but the Spirit of the Lord doth bring in its beames and leaves a supernaturall vertue by them upon the soule and thereby drawes it to it selfe or looke as it is with a claspe and a keeper take a great claspe put it thorow the keeper and being brought thorow it closeth with it selfe so it is with an humble broken heart it is like this keeper the good Spirit of the Lord is like this claspe the Spirit workes upon the soule and leaves a supernaturall vertue upon the soule and goeth with that vertue and puls the soule by the power of it selfe and knits it to its selfe it workes upon the heart in this manner and clasps the humbled sinner and brings him home and holds him to the promise and to it selfe in the promise Now I would contract these three conclusions in the former sermons into three questions to make them so familiar that weake ones which have any spirituall grace may be able to come to aprehend and understand them Quest 1 I aske therefore what is there in the promise of the Gospell or what is there in the Word of God is there nothing but letters and sillables and sentences Answ I answer Yes humane Authours have words and sentences but oh the glorious God the third person of the Trinitie the blessed Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is inseparably present with and accompanying of the promises of God the words are but the shell but the substance is the Spirit of grace how were your hearts comforted in the time of trouble and how were your hearts broken and brought out from your lusts Oh it was the Spirit for man was never able to doe it but Lord thy almighty hand came downe from heaven and broke this heart of mine and if Christ that Lion of the tribe of Judah had not come downe from heaven this lion-like heart of mine would never have yeelded nor come downe this is the answer to the first question Quest 2 What doth the beleever doe aske your owne hearts doe your hearts close and meet with the good Word of the Lord and doe you say Oh it is the good Word of the Lord my heart consented to it and closed with it thus Answ Oh yes saith the soule me thought I was even knit to the Word then I aske againe was thy heart knit to the Word onely and the sillable only and did thy heart close with the sentences only the soule answers No the truth is my eare did receive the sound and my minde the sense but my soule received the Lord Jesus Christ To as many as received him to them he gave power to become the sonnes of God 1 Iohn 12. the words are but only as the conduit to convey the water of life and the Spirit of grace but they lay hold upon Christ there and that it is so I prove it thus did not you finde your hearts comforted at such a time Oh yes saith the soule me thinks I see the Ministers face still and when he came to such a point and such a passage good Lord mee thought I was in heaven could words and reasons and sentences have done it No surely the Spirit of grace was there and my heart did close with the same the stomack receives not meat as the dish or vessell doth but the stomack doth receive it and is fastned to it and hath the sweetnesse of it and is made one with it Iohn 6.63 The words that I speake they are Spirit and life and this is the excellencie of the Word when all the learned Doctors and Schoolemasters shall have the tongues but shall never humble one soule nor purge nor convert one heart yet the Word and the Spirit in it will doe that which is usefull and helpfull for thee in this kinde the Words that I speake they are Spirit and they are life saith our Saviour so then you see you that are ignorant and weake you say to your selfe how shall I come to be knit to the Lord Jesus Christ seeing hee is in heaven and I am on earth Oh but quiet thy selfe in this he is in a most speciall manner in the preaching of the Word and if thou cleavest to the Word aright then thou cleavest to the Spirit of Christ Quest 3 In the third place I aske how doth the Spirit of man come to close and to be one with the Spirit of Christ in the promise Answ I answer are your owne hearts able to doe this or is nature or your wits or parts able to doe this for you No the good Spirit of the Lord wrought upon and fitted and framed the hearâ— hereunto and put this temper upon it as the workman gives a temper to the knife and another makes iron draw iron and he doth it thus he drawes the magnet or load-stone over the iron and the vertue thereof makes it able to draw iron to it selfe so the soule saith
Alas I doe it not it was the Lord that wrought this heart in mee I have seene the day when I could have beene as well content to heare the Minister preach plainly as to have a knife run to my heart but the Lord wrought my heart to it therefore the Spirit puts that magnet stone of the mercie and grace of Christ upon my heart hee puts this temper upon my heart and makes it able to close with it selfe in the promise in 2 Corin. 5.5 when Paul there had disputed of his desire to lay downe his life for the Gospell and to put his body upon suffering for the Gospels sake he was even weary of the world and would faine have beene gone how gat he this temper why the text saith Now he that hath wrought us for the same thing if God who also hath given us the earnest of his Spirit it is a great while before wee can bee brought to this temper when all the Ministers tongues are even worne to the stumps and the wicked will bee wicked still yet the Lord doth worke it so then you see that the Spirit of God by the promise works upon the soule and leaves a dint upon the heart and so brings the soule by the Spirit to close with it selfe in the promise and hence you may collect two things for your information in this kinde Colect 1 First that the beleever being moved by the stroke of the Spirit of the Father is made able to close with the Father and the Sonne because the Spirit of the Lord doth fasten fit and frame the heart hereunto in this manner and hence it is that the soule can close with the Father and the Sonne too why because the Spirit which proceeds and comes from the Father and the Sonne is able to frame the soule to close with both for the Spirit hath something of the Father and something of the Sonne and therefore is able to make the soule to close with both 1 Iohn 1.3 These things have I written unto you that you may have fellowship with us holy Iohn was a spirituall father unto them and hee writes to them that thereby they might have fellowship with the Saints and he saith Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Iesus Christ why doth he not say our fellowship is with the Father as well as to say our fellowship is with the Father and the Sonne because it is presumed before hand that a man must have fellowship with the Spirit before hee can have fellowship with the Father and the Sonne because it is the Spirit that hath fitted the heart and framed it to close with both Colect 2 Secondly hence it comes to passe that the person of the beleever may bee knit to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ the foot is knit to the head by the continuance of the order of the body and the members thereof as the foot is knit to the leg and the leg to the thigh and the thigh to the body and so to the head this is the meaning of that phrase Iohn 6.56 our Saviour presseth this hard upon the Disciples and saith My flesh is meat indeed and my bloud is drinke indeed hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and in him then they begun to wonder at it and to say How can this be and yet Christ saith what if you see the the Sonne of man carrying the body of his flesh into heaven you will thinke it more hard to eat my flesh then yet you must eat my flesh then too how it is the Spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak they are Spirit and life as if he had said my good Spirit is in the word and promise close you with my Spirit and then you draw my Spirit my flesh and my blood downe into your whole natures the words that I speake they are Spirit and Life that is my Spirit is in the Word of the promise though my body be gone up into heaven therefore close you with my Spirit in the promise and then you close with my flesh spiritually Thus much for the manner of the union Now for the order of this union how this is done and there the question will be this Whether the beleever is knit first to the humane nature of Christ or to the Divine nature Quest. 2 I am not greatly willing to meddle with this point in this popular congregation because there are many wise and orthodox Divines and godly too which are of contrary opinion they confesse both but they differ about the order but that I may bring no prejudice to the judgement of any I will shortly shew you the summe of those arguments Answ which either side hold and will shew to which I doe incline and so leave the point to the judgement of those that heare it to incline to which side they thinke best and thus I shall wrong none at all First some Divines wise holy and orthodox and many too doe goe that way all of them have it from that root they that hold that the soule is knit to the humane nature of Christ first have two reasons for it First say they as the Scripture reveales Christ to us so also our hearts embrace him and close with him but the Scripture reveales the Lord Christ more often and frequently in regard of his Manhood than in regard of his Godhead as in that place The seed of the Woman shall breake the Serpents head and such like therefore the understanding first closeth with this and the heart first receives it the second reason why they hold this is thus much If say they all the great works of our redemption both sanctification and justification and redemption were wrought in the humane nature of Christ and as by a channell conveyed to us by his humane nature then it is reason that the soule should first close with the humane nature but it is so that all the great workes of justification sanctification c. were all accomplished in the humane nature of Christ for as the text saith He died for our sins and triumphed over sin and hell and death therefore say they it is fit that the soule should first close with the humane nature of Christ and this is the life and pith of all their arguments Againe other Divines and they are wise and orthodox they hold this and though all hold the maine substantiall truths of eternall life yet they differ in this they say the beleever is first knit to the Deity and they have also two arguments and the first is this That which is the maine and the proper object of faith to that the soule first lookes and to that the soule is first united for all union comes by operation in this kinde but the Godhead is the first object of faith in beleeving the Godhead and the third person of Trinity they are the first objects of
faith therefore say they in the whole course of Scripture faith is cast upon the Godhead as Esay 50.10 Who so is wise amongst you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voyce of his servant he that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay himselfe upon his God all the phrase of Scripture runs thus Trust and hope and rely upon the Lord. So Iohn 14.1 2. vers Let not your hearts be troubled yee beleeve in God beleeve also in mee marke this Now did a man beleeve upon the Father as Father onely then hee did not beleeve upon the Sonne or did he beleeve onely upon the Sonne as Sonne then he did not beleeve upon the Father but in that hee beleeves upon the Father and the Sonne It is therefore plaine that he fals first upon the Godhead and seeing it is so that wee must beleeve upon the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost therefore we are not to beleeve upon one of them only but upon the whole Deity and the divine nature and all the three Persons in the divine nature for as the Schoolemen say that which doth appertaine to this as this belongs to this and to none other Now we beleeve in all the whole Trinitie and therefore wee close with all three the Father Sonne and holy Ghost and hence it is that these Divines observe that when we are said to beleeve in the Scriptures and in the promise not that any doe it properly but so farre as the promise that God in Christ revealing and promising and communicating himselfe so farre we beleeve in the promise that is in his faithfulnesse truth and mercy revealed in the promise The second reason which they alleage is this say they that which in reason must stay satisfie the soule of a beleever it is that in reason to which the soule must first betake it selfe and upon which it most first stay it selfe for faith goes out for succour and for good therefore that which only can satisfie faith to that onely it must first goe the beleever is dead in sinnes because of the commission of them but there is life in God therefore to an infinite God the soule comes to worke an infinite satisfaction for him which all creatures cannot doe in this case the Godhead prepares the humane nature and workes by the humane nature and gives power to the humane nature and makes it able to suffer and to satisfie faith sees that he hath offended an infinite God and deserved punishment of an infinite value therefore hee must repaire to him that can onely repaire in mercy to his soule therefore saith the Prophet David Psalme 130.7 verse Hope in the Lord for ever for with the Lord is plenteous redemption and in Esay 26.4 Trust in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Iehovah is everlasting strength wee have everlasting miseries and troubles and distempers but with the Lord Iehovah is everlasting strength therefore trust in him for ever nay hence it is that our Saviour saith Iohn 17.3 This is life eternall that they know thee to bee the very God and whom thou hast sent even Iesou Christ Now if you aske me which of these judgements I follow I answer because I love not to bee as a man that is here and there and no where in truth but I love to bee as a man that dwels at home for I am not ignorant that many Divines wise and learned whose parts and gifts I reverence they follow the former opinions and for my part I leave a judicious hearer to take which side he will but in truth the two last arguments have prevailed with me that the heart of a poor sinner beleeves and stayes it selfe firstly upon the Godhead and Deity and afterwards upon the Humanitie and mee thinkes the two former arguments seeme not to compell any mans understanding for bee it granted that the former Scriptures doe reveale the Lord Jesus Christ and mention him often as man yet it is as true they reveale him to bee God and mention his Godhead not mentioning at all his humanitie but whensoever they doe mention his humanitie firstly it is for good reason partly by way of prophecie to foretell of Christ what hee should be and partly by way of story and relation to relate of Christ what he was yet this reason inferres not that faith must therefore firstly lay hold upon the humanitie before the deitie but when the Lord is pleased to reveale Jesus Christ to the soule in the way of conversion then wee must apprehend Christ as God and Man in the point of conversion and then let the question be this whither the soule shall goe for that which it wants Now I see no reason why the soule should firstly goe to the humanity for what it wants and seekes hence it is that when the Scripture comes to speake in the way of conversion the Godhead is set first as in the 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe as God in Christ reconciles the world unto himselfe so God reveales himselfe to his faithfull Ministers and so they reveale him to the people it was the Godhead that was offended and must first of all be pleased and unto that God we must first goe for what we want so Ieremy 33.16 In those dayes Iudah shall be saved and Israel shall bee saved and this is the Name whereby they shall call him the Lord our righteousnesse so said the Angell they shall call his Name Emanuel which is by interpretation God with us this is to the first reason now to the second argument I answer thus If it bee good in reason that wee must first goe to the humane nature for these reasons propounded and if this be sufficient to call my faith that way because all the great workes are wrought that way then much more seeing the humane nature was inabled to the worke by the divine nature therefore my faith must first looke that way because the weight of the worke lies upon the Deitie the humane nature cannot assume to take to it selfe this glory not bee any way available to satisfie divine justice but that the Deitie enabled it and therefore faith must first of all looke unto that Thus it is confessed that the soule of a beleever is advanced to a marvellous high privilege now the use of it is referred to these three heads Vse 1 First are the soules of the faithfull come thus neere to Christ not onely to beleeve in him and to embrace him but to bee one Spirit with him then this may bee a use of instruction and it shewes to us that the sinnes of the faithfull are marvellous hainous in Gods account and exceeding grievous to his blessed Spirit that hath come so neere to us and brought us so neere unto himselfe every sinne is as a mountaine or as a wall of separation but the sinnes of the faithfull are no lesse than rebellion not
save me another clambring upon the trees all floting and crying and dying there there was no saving but for those only that were gotten into the arke Oh so it will be you poore foolish beleevers the world is like this sea wherein are many floods of water many troubles much persecution Oh get you into the arke the Lord Iesus and when one is roring and yelling Oh the devill the devill another is ready to hang himselfe or to cut his owne throat another sends for a Minister and hee crieth Oh there is no mercy for me I have opposed it get you into Christ I say and you shall bee safe enough I will warrant you your soules shall bee transported with consolation to the end of your hopes This was that which comforted Saint Paul and made him bid defiance to all the world Rom. 8. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect as who should say shall all the angels in Heaven shall all the devils in Hell shall all the men upon the earth shall sinne within shall actions without it is God onely that justifieth not for anything we have or doe but for Christs sake This is that I conclude withall this one doctrine affords supply in all wants and courage in all trials I know what troubleth you will this blinde minde never bee inlightned I thinke I shall never be able to conceive of the truths of God aright how can the Lord accept of mee when I condemne my selfe how can the Lord shew any favour to mee when I fall out with my selfe and wonder that I am not in the bottomlesse pit such a base heart I carry about with me and such a polluted conversation and yet live and not in hell I have thought sometimes God cannot be Iust if he doe not condemne me why I say art thou burthened with thy sinnes and dost thou goe out of thy selfe for the pardon of them why goe away comforted the Lord will justifie thee not for thy workes but for Christs merits thou hast committed all iniquitie Christ hath performed all righteousnesse thou hast nothing of thy selfe Christ hath enough for thee and thou art not justified for what thou hast or dost but for the Lord Iesus sake looke up to him therefore and bring him to Gods tribunall to answer for thee that when Satan shall bring in his bils of inditement against thee and say what doe you hope to goe to Heaven doe you not consider the sinnes which you have committed doe you not remember the base courses which heretofore you have taken up and practized doe you not know that every sinner must die why answer Satan again all this is true Ay but remember the Lord Iesus it is true I can doe nothing but Christ hath done all for me what canst thou say to the Lord Iesus though I have offended hee hath never offended though I have sinned yet Christ hath fully satisfied I have deserved the wrath of God why Christ hath bore the wrath of God My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee He was once forsaken of God that I might bee for ever accepted of God goe thy wayes therefore comforted and refreshed the place is admirable Isaiah 43.25 Thou hast made mee serve with thy sinnes and wearied mee with thy rebellions but I even I am hee that blotteth out all thine iniquities and will remember thy transgressions no more The Lord takes notice of this are there any wicked they are as bad are there any vile they are as sinnefull they tired God with their wickednesse All you poore drunkards you trie God with your drunkennesse you prophaners of the Lords day you tire God with your prophanations and you swearers you trie Christ Iesus with your oaths and hidious blasphemies that you belch forth against him upon all occasions you would wonder that God should save such as you and truly so you may well enough for it is a wonder it is a miracle indeed but if you can goe out of your selves and sinnes and goe unto Christ and rest upon him the Lord saith I will blot out all those abominations of yours and Ezekiel 33.32 compare both those places together I will forget all your sinnes even for mine owne names sake as who should say it is not for your sakes no no bee it knowne to those stout hearts of yours it is not for your parts or gifts or graces no nor it is not for all the services wee can discharge but it is onely for mine owne Names sake that I will pardon you and remember your sinnes no more remember thy pride and stubbornnesse no more remember thy prophanenesse no more remember thy vanitie and loosenesse no more remember thou to bee humbled and the Lord will never remember thy sinnes any more Satan it may bee will come in and accuse thee here is a Sabbath-breaker Lord condemne him no more of that Satan saith God Christ hath suffered and satisfied for him no more therefore of that let mee heare no more of those things I have forgotten them saith God this will cheere a mans heart at that great day This also is a ground of incouragement to us against all the trials that can befall us in the course of the world we see that innocencie goeth to the wals no man can stand against envie and hatred and backbiting why though you finde hard dealing here at the hands of wicked men though you be accused here with false surmises and false accusations and slanderous speeches yet set one against the other you shall never bee condemned hereafter There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ there may bee persecutions there may bee accusations there may be oppositions here upon earth raised against thee why yet goe on cheerily there is no condemnation in Heaven if God acquit let men condemne if God approve let men disallow nay lastly here is consolation even in death also what though your bodies bee deprived of your soules and you leave all when you returne again it is but onely thus Come yee blessed of my Father you that are beleevers you shall bee for ever blessed Vse 3 The third use is of exhortation will nothing doe the deed but a Christ why Oh then above all labour for a Christ more than all labour to prize a Christ never let thy heart bee quieted never let thy soule bee contented untill thou hast obtained Christ Take now a malefactor sentence is passed execution to bee administered upon him suggest any thing to him how to be rich or how to bee pardoned how to bee honoured or how to be pardoned Ay saith hee riches are good and honours are good but oh a pardon or nothing ay but then you must leave all for a pardon why take all saith he and give me a pardon that I may live thought in povertie that I may live though in misery though in beggary this is the nature of such a poore creature So it is with a poore beleeving
and the Son have wrought Hence it is that actions are given especially to the Father though not excluding the Sonne nor the holy Ghost but yet howsoever they are all equall in their working in regard of time yet the Father is first in regard of order A malefactor is now arraigned and condemned and the pardon is to be begged and none but the Kings sonne the young Prince can have a pardon his abilities are onely able to carry him through the worke the Prince begs it the Favorite brings it but the King onely grants it so it is here the Lord Iesus Christ is the Sonne of the everlasting Father and the Prince of peace and hee it is that begs the pardon of his Father hee sends it to us by the hands of the holy Ghost but only the Father grants the pardon When the soule hath long beene humbled and selfe denying and said Lord forgive the trespasses of thy servant and yeelds and layes downe the weapons of deflance and falls at the footstoole of the Lord Iesus Christ and rowles it selfe upon his merits then the Spirit comes and saith thy sinnes are pardoned thy person is accepted I bring thee this newes from God the Father God is now reconciled to thee in and by the Lord Iesus Christ now the Father is the King that grants this pardon the Sonne is he that begs it and the Spirit is the messenger that brings it Now you see how it is an act of God the Father Quest. 2 Secondly I come to shew why it is an act of God the Father upon the beleever Answer The reasons of the question are these we must understand that the actions of God are of two sorts First there are some actions which doe remain in God which are confined within the compasse of his owne Councell and goe no further and they are immanent actions they stay in God and goe no further A man may conceive in his mind what heresolves to doe in his heart whether hee will doe such a thing or no and no man can tell what he intends to doe but himselfe but if a man will practise answerably according to his purpose then he doth expresse the worke outwardly which he intended inwardly and now hee workes upon the creature and makes it to receive some impression of that good which hee kept secretly in himselfe There are some actions which remaine in God as the decrees and purposes of God before the foundation of the world and they are confined within the high Councell table of Heaven Father Sonne and holy Ghost and these never appeared to the eye of the world Secondly there are actions also which passe from God upon the creature and doe worke a change and an alteration upon the creature and these wee call transient actions or actions that passe which are not onely in God but passe from God and doe frame and order and dispose of the creature as God sees fit and of this sort are all the actions that belong to a Christian except predestination for the Lord doth not reveale those secrets unto any by the worke of vocation which is wrought upon the creature for there the Lord quickens desire and stirres up hope and kindles love and joy and the Lord turnes the face of the soule God-ward and in adoption regeneration and all the workes of grace and salvation and of this kinde is justification and this is the reason why I call it a transient action because it passeth upon the creature but that must be warily understood with a graine of salt as the Proverbe is now what change is this I answer the Lord workes a change upon the creature two wayes First the Lord is said to passe a worke or an action upon the creature when he puts some kind of abilitie upon the creature either spirituall or naturall as when the Lord makes a wicked man a good man an adulterous man a chaste man and of an envious proud malicious man a patient meeke and holy man and this we call a naturall change because there is a gracious frame put into the heart and soule which overpowers the creature and all things are become new new affections new desires but this is not all for here is the difficultie Secondly the Lord is said to make a change upon the creature when he takes off some relations and respects which the creature had and puts upon it some other respects hee doth not put them into the soule but puts the soule into another roome and they are not naturally qualities but onely relations which are imprinted upon the soule of man and these are called morall and of this kinde is justification as thus Take a Prentice that is bound by covenant and Indenture for so many yeeres and he is now fallen into an ague or a burning fever hee hath two relations First he is an apprentice Secondly hee hath a weake sickly distempered body now there may bee a double change wrought in this man according to this double disposition first the master burnes the Indentures and gives him his time and sets him free from his service and hee that was an apprentice before is now a freeman this is a morall change for all this while he is as sicke as he was before but the former relation is quite gone and the master cannot now command him to his service now the fellow servants cannot dominere over him because he is not now a servant but now the wise Physitian he comes and he by good means helps the man of his disease and brings him to a faire sweet and wholsome temper of body and now there is a change in the very nature of this servant before he was distempered but now he is well ordered before hot but now finely coole here is something wrought in the nature of this man Just so it is in this change of the soule there is a morall change in justification a man is bound to the Law and liable to the penaltie of it and guiltie of the breach of it now God the Father in Jesus Christ acquits a man of this guilt and delivers him from this revenging power of the Law and that 's not all but withall hee puts holinesse into the heart and wisedome into the minde and puritie into the affections this is called a naturall change because there are new spiritual abilities put into the heart not because of the nature of it but because of the thing which it works as to take the example of Scripture 1 Iohn 3.14 Wee are translated from death to life As it is with a man taken prisoner in Turkie or some other place haply a Christian of England he is accounted a Traitor there and is condemned as a Traitor the man being weake of himselfe and not able to deliver himselfe he must bee dealt by as a Traitor but now if this man bee rescued and finde some way of escape and bee set upon some other shore whereby he may be conveyed
marke thou feest then the sonne concludes with the father and they enter into agreement and the son saith I will feed and keep those sheep so it is with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ God the Father gives all the names of all the faithfull from the beginning of the world to the end of it and saith all these are my children there is a poor creature in such a blinde corner of the countrie which I must have saved and in another place there is another base drunkard which I must have saved that I may make the world to wonder at it the foundation of the Lord standeth sure and hath this seale the Lord knoweth who are his the Lord hath elected and called them that 's his marke and therefore our Saviour Christ undertakes the care of them and God the Father looks that all those that are committed to the care of Christ should bee saved as in Iohn 17.12 Of all that thou hast given me have I lost none but the childe of perdition that is he was a wolfe and no sheep and a lion and a cunning fox and none of my charge but of all that thou hast given mee hove I lost none all you poore ignorant and weake Christians little lambes that cannot helpe your selves Christ will not lose one of you but though you are never so mean and poore the Lord will carry you in his armes and bring you to everlasting life 1 Cor. 15.24 Then shall the end be when the Lord Iesus hath delivered up the Kingdome to the Father and shal say Father thou hast given me the charge of so many in England so many in Spain so many in Asia so many in the Palatinate the Lord Jesus Christ shall deliver up the whole number to God the Father Secondly our Saviour having undertaken to keepe these he addresseth himselfe to the worke to use those means by which hee may keepe and save them and that he doth thus he puts himselfe into the roome and place of all those poore lost sheepe of his and this is the difficultie to open this to you that are weake Now what is it to be put in the roome and place of another Christ doth willingly submit himselfe to the power of the revenging justice of the Father that whatsoever the Law and Justice of God required at the hands of the faithfull that doth Christ stand unto and will answer it all as thus the debter is taken and imprisoned and they that are his friends desire some releasment for him how upon consultation and conference with the creditor it is agreed that such a man shall undertake to help him and to free him from all the extremitie that he lies in for the debt and hee must doe it by one of these two wayes either hee must breake the prison and so rescue him by strong hand or else he must yeeld and submit to what the Law requires and is due to the creditor and the creditor saith if you will bee content to become debtor and acquit him of the debt if you will enter bond with me to become a pay-master of the whole debt due to me then I am content to free him Now the man that thus yeelds himselfe to what the power of Law and Justice can do against the debtor that man becomes a suretie for him he will bee as one that owes the money and that must pay and the Law proceeds as fully against him as against the debtor the debtor did personally owe the money and lay in prison for it but the suretie is as one that hath forfeited and must pay hee submits himselfe to the power of Law and Justice that looke what the Law requires of a man forfeiting and owing hee is content that the Law require it of him Just so it is here the sinner is this debtor and Christ undertakes for him by a mutuall consent betweene the Father and him and hee yeelds and submits himselfe to all the power of Justice that looke how the Law accounts of a sinner it should account of him Now the Law of God accounts of this man as one that hath broken the Law and deserved eternall death and Christ submits himselfe to these the Law requires doing and suffering and Christ is contented to undergoe all these for all that shall beleeve as Gal. 4.4 5. When the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his onely Sonne made of a woman and made under the Law that he might redeeme them which were under the Law the meaning is this looke how we were under the Law so was Christ under the Law for us that so he might redeeme those that were under the Law the Law laid guilt to our charge and the Law did condemne us and the Lord Christ was content to be under all that commanding revenging authority which the Law had over us so that now Christ is come into the roome of all the faithfull hence is that speech of Luther which the Papists so much cavill at hee saith our Saviour was the greatest sinner of all the faithfull that ever was upon the face of the earth not that he had any sin of his owne inherent in him or committed by him but because all the sins of all the world were charged upon him and Christ put himselfe into the roome of all the world that looke whatsoever the Law required of any the same it required of him and what the Law accounted of any it accounted the same of him Thirdly our Saviour having put himselfe into the roome of a sinner the Law now proceeds with full scope against him and God the Father may justly proceed according to rule and may justly expresse the power of his revenging Justice upon him and hence it is that God the Father accounts of Jesus Christ as a sinner and proceeds against him and condemnes him as a sinner and doth require of him whatsoever hee requires of a sinner a sinner must doe or die and so must the Lord Christ because hee hath put himselfe into the roome of a sinner As it is with a creditor haply the debtor growes a bankrupt and flies his countrie the creditor cares not for saith hee I will lay the debt upon the sureries backe such a man was bound for him I have him still in my chest and it is as good to mee as if the debtor himselfe were able to pay me so it is here when poore sinners wrong God and wound his Spirit and dishonour his Name and transgresse his Lawes and they are not able to answer him one of a thousand though they should goe to bell for it now God the Father saith I must be righteous I will lay all their sinnes upon the Lord Jesus Christ he became a debtor and undertook for them and therefore I will require it of him as well as of them Thus much of the first part of the discovery of this point that God the Father charged our sinnes upon our Saviour and
against him and to take all the advantages against him and howsoever the Lord will not condemne him yet to let out his wrath against him though not to condemne him yet to distract him This is that which Iob makes to be the ground of that bitter complaint of his and made him sit downe in distractednesse of heart under the heavy displeasure of the Lords wrath that though God would not damne him yet when the Lord takes away his loving countenance and lets in his indignation into his soule to his humiliation terrour and vexation this sunke him infinitely and this God might doe to every beleever under Heaven Iob 13.24 26. Why hidest thou away thy face and takest mee for thine enemie God seemed to bee displeased with him and to frowne upon him and carried himselfe to Iob as an enemy and in the 26. verse Thou writest bitter things against me and makest mee to inherit the sinnes of my youth The old lusts and the old bruses of his youth whereby he had dishonoured God though these were pardoned before yet God renewes them and puts in the suit against him the second time and makes the sinnes of his youth to bee inherited by him that looke as the land descends to the heire so the Lord made the sinnes and vanities of his soule to be possessed by him and brought out all his abominations out of record Thou writest bitter things against me that is the Lord tooke all the advantages against him that might be and said Remember the old lusts of thy heart and the vanities of thy youth and this made him like a drie leafe tossed too and fro as verse 25. Oh how easie were it for God if hee should but report to a mans conscience any little sinne that was committed the night before and set it on and seale it to the heart it would drive the stoutest heart under heaven to despaire Psalme 88.15 Thy terrours have I suffered from my youth upwards and I have beene distracted with them Lord why castest thou off my soule I am afflicted and ready to die It is certaine and I have knowne it that the most stoutest heart and rebellious lion-like disposition that sets himselfe against God and his grace if God let him but see his sinne and say this is thy pride and thy stubbornnesse and rebellion it would drive the stoutest heart under heaven beyond it selfe nay to utter distraction of minde Psalme 40.12 Innumerable troubles have taken hold upon me they have so compassed me about that I am not able to looke up Every sinne is like a great bandog that is muzzeld and if hee bee once let loose he will teare all in peeces so the Lord sometimes muzzels a mans corruptions and keeps them under and if the Lord doe but now and then let them loose then they pull a man downe and hence comes all those pale lookes and discouragements of soule these are they that will thus worry a man Thus every beleever must acknowledge that it were just with the Lord to let loose his sinne howsoever not to condemne him yet to make him live at little peace or quiet and hence it is that the Prophet David praies so against it Psalme 51.9 when he had committed those two great sins of adultery and murther though God after his confession had sealed to his soule the pardon of them yet hee went with broken bones and therefore he saith Hide away thy face from my sinnes and put away all mine iniquities as if he had said looke not upon my sinnes as a judge doe not follow the Law against me let not my sinnes or my person bee once brought into the Court or bee once named but looke upon the Lord Jesus Christ for mee and for his sake blot out all mine iniquities Thirdly every beleever accepted and justified in and through Christ by the Father yet hee is bound thus farre to charge his sinne upon his owne soule and lay them so much upon himselfe as to maintain in his owne heart a sense of the need that he hath of Christ as well as to continue our respect and acceptation with God as to bring us at first into the love and favour of God Indeed if we could quit our selves and cleare our hands of any sin committed by us it were something then we would be ready to say as the people to Ieremie We are holy we are lords we will come no more at thee No it is necessary seeing Christ is yet in the worke of the mediatourship that we should see a dayly need of him this is the reason of that great complaint of David Psal 51.1.2 a man would thinke that hee would have beene comforted and gone away cheerfully having the pardon of his sinnes but marke how hee cries Have mercy upon me oh God according to the multitude of thy compassions wash away all my transgressons wash mee throughly from all my transgressions and purge mee from my sinne Hee had not onely need of Christ before his conversion to justifie him but he had need of Christ now to continue the assurance of his justification it is not a drop but a bucket full of mercy not a little mercy but a whole ocean Lord I have had a great deale of mercy for the sinnes of my youth and I have need of a great deale of mercy still to wash away the guilt of my sinnes this the Law required of every man that did offer sacrifice as they were to offer their dayly sacrifice so wee have dayly need of Christ and therefore wee must have a dayly recourse to Christ therefore the sacrificer was to lay his hands upon the head of the sacrifice Even so doe thou lay thine hands upon the Lord Jesus Christ and rest upon him and thou shalt finde acceptance with him this is that which sometimes chears up the drooping heart and bears it up in the midst of all the waves of wickednesse when he sees the vanitie of his mind and the deadnesse of his heart and frothinesse of his speech and now sinne and then sinne and in every thing sinne as you cannot but see and confesse it this stands the poore sinner in stead when hee considers this and saith though I am dayly sinning yet there is a Saviour in Heaven and mercy and grace in him that I may be comforted therein for ever Hebrewes 7.25 Hee is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him It implies these two things not onely from all sinne but also at all times not onely from the sinnes of your youth but also to the uttermost of your dayes the reason is hee lives for ever to doe it this is the chearing of a poore sinner and this wee should labour to maintain and to keepe the sight and sense of our sinne though our sinnes endure for ever our living and sinning goe together and we still continue to be as sinfull and lazy and idle as ever yet see a need of a
them yet they shall never be able to fasten any guilt upon thee to condemne thee Looke as it was with the three children the fire in its owne nature was able to burne them therefore they that put them in were consumed by the flame but the three children had no hurt the Lord stopped the power of the flames that it burnt onely their bonds but not one haire of their head was sienged nor there was no smell of fire upon them it was not because the fire would not or could not but the Lord stopt the acting of the fire So every sinne is able to fasten guilt upon thee and to condemne thee but upon thy repentance the Lord hinders it in the act and therefore though sinne doth send the wicked and impenitent downe to hell to frie in torments yet it shall never send thee downe nor fasten guilt upon thee Thus it was likewise with Daniel Chap. 6.22 23 24. when he was put into the Lions denne the Princes of the king Darius had a spleene against Daniel because he was a holy man and had gotten some interest in the kings favour and they could get no hold against him but in the matter of his God now hee that loved God better than himselfe He opens his window boldly towards Ierusalem professing Gods truth when hee was called to it therefore they went to the king to have him to be cast into the den of Lions according to the decree now he was cast into it and though the Lions were hungrie yet God shut the mouth of the Lions they had power and were able to hurt him if they had not beene restrained but God had shut up their mouthes that they could not hurt him but when the enemies of Daniel were cast into the denne the Lions did teare them all to peeces before they came at the bottome of the denne they rent them in peeces suddenly what 's the reason of it they had as much power before and were as able and as hungry before but the Lord stopt their mouths that they could not devour Daniel Just so it is with the sinnes of the penitent and the sinnes of the impenitent the sinnes of the one though they are of a killing and a Lion-like nature for the wages of every sinne is death and there is condemnation in it yet the Lord stops the mouth of the Lion hee takes off the guilt and condemning power of sinne that though it hath power in it selfe to condemne yet it cannot doe it but now when it meets with an impenitent unbeleever the malice of the malicious shall kill him and the pride of the ambitious shall one day rend his heart but it is not so with the sins of the penitent beleevers their sinnes have teeth indeed and power to make a man worthy of condemnation but they shall never fasten condemnation upon him this is the meaning of that place Romans 8.3 That which was impossible to the Law to doe in as much as it was weake because of the flesh God sending his onely Sonne in the similitude of sinfull flesh and for sinne condemned sinne in the flesh It is an excellent place and hath much weight in it and howsoever there are many interpretations of the place yet I will follow that interpretation which I now expresse that it was impossible for the Law to acquit a man of sinne because he cannot keepe the Law and therefore he cannot bee justified by it but how comes it to passe then that the Saints of God are delivered The text saith Christ tooke flesh on him and it was sinfull flesh by similitude or imputation not actually by commission the nature of our Saviour had no evill inherent in him nor committed by him but hee was only a sinner by imputation and then he condemned sinne in the flesh what is that it is a law case and Master Calvin hath it excellently he damned sinne as a man will say when he loseth the suit hee fell from his cause and from his plea which he made he lost it utterly so Christ taking upon him our nature by imputation he made sinne lose its claime which it would make to the soule in this case hee that breaketh the Law of God is guiltie and shall be condemned by it but this man hath broken the Law of God and therefore is guiltie of condemnation thereby Now Christ takes off these and saith It is true hee is guiltie of sinne and worthy of condemnation unlesse another be contented to be guilty for him but I have undertaken the guilt for him and have paid the debt for him and therefore this soule is free from sinne thou hast nothing to doe with this soule neither shalt thou condemne him Observe it when all your sinnes shall muster in upon you and come from East to West saying thou art guiltie of pride guiltie of malice c. and shalt be condemned for them make answer and say it is true Lord I am so but Christ hath taken away the guilt and condemnation and I have repented of my sinnes therefore sinne thou hast nothing to doe with this soule of mine Christ hath taken it and redeemed it and therefore I leave it with him This is the first conclusion Vse 2 In the second place wee heare what the Doctrine saith that God the Father charged all our sinnes upon Christ and that they shall never condemne the penitent and faithfull then what will become of the faithlesse and unbeleevers thinke ye This truth is like a thunder-bolt and it is able to shake the hearts of all unbeleevers and to dash them all in peeces Hence it is evident that every obstinate unbeleever is destitute of all hope of succour and pardon of his sinne consider of this all you that are unbeleevers you must pay your owne debts and beare your owne burthens I know your hearts cannot but testifie that the condition of such poore soules is very miserable it is that which sometimes comforts a man that either hee hath good friends that will helpe him or else hee hath means of his owne by which he is able to relieve himselfe but he that hath no reliefe of himselfe nor cannot expect noâ— hope for any this man sinks downe in sorrow because hee knowes there is no way in the world to help him This is thy condition right thou that art an unbeleever what to be cast out of heaven and earth too this is miserable to be for saken of God and man too that no means in heaven nor earth will stand him in steed for his good whilest hee thus continues Consider of this you that make nothing of the sinne of unbeleefe though you have some care of other sinnes whither will you goe for succour in that great day of accounts will you goe to the Saint they dare not will you goe to the Creatures they cannot will you goe to the Lord Jesus Christ he will not succour you If you goe to any of the Saints to see
have a title to it and that have great parts and abilities and answerable obedience let those take it and blesse God that ever they saw the day but what I have I any share in the death of Christ and what did Christ suffer the death of the crosse for me my sinnes so many and my condition so bad and I cannot tell whether I have any faith or no it is so weake and feeble are all punishments removed I cannot thinke it This is your owne fault for this mercy is for thee for every faithfull beleeving soule bee his estate never so low be thy saith never so weake Hast thou faith but as a grain of mustard seed that thou canst scarcely know whether thou hast faith or no yet if it bee true faith there is grace and mercy enough for thee in the Lord Jesus therefore come and draw the water of life and comfort out of the wels of salvation that is out of the sufferings and obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ You have heard that the heart of our Saviour was amazed and astonished it was for thee therefore bee thou cheared Christ suffered the wrath of the Father and came from under it and that is thy victory be thou for ever cheared Our Saviour was imprisoned that thou mightest bee delivered hee was accused that thou mightest be acquitted he was condemned and therefore there is no condemnation to thy soule he suffered death that thou mightest live for evermore therefore goe your way and goe chearily and the God of Heaven goe with you feare not any punishment now for why should you feare them when you shall not feele them You may here have a ground of double comfort in the time of thy greatest distresse whether it be in horrour of heart within or trouble without in both these the Lord Jesus Christ will pittie you and will rescue you from all in his owne season therefore lift up your heads in the middest of all troubles whatsoever First in all outward troubles and in the heaviest trials thou shalt be pittied in them though Christ be gone up to heaven yet hee hath his bowels of pitty and of mercy with him and his bowels of mercy in heaven earne over a poore dismaid creature that is dismaid either because of thy sinnes or because of those punishments which thou fearest for sinne Hebrews 4.15 Wee have not an high Priest that cannot bee touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all things tempted in like sort wee have not an high Priest that is a stranger to crosses and troubles neither have wee an high Priest like Gallio that cared nothing for those things that is he was not troubled with the persecutions of others as their cups are full and they are not troubled with the poverty of others they are at rest and ease and they are not troubled with those that are in misery but hee was tempted in all things like unto us and so Hebrewes 2.13 wherefore in all things it behoved him to bee made like unto his brethren that he might be mercifull and a faithfull high Priest because he suffered and was tempted hee is also able to succour those that are tempted When the poore doe crie oh pittie and compassion for the Lords sake oh you know not what belongs to a hungry belly nor to a naked backe so I say you know not what it is to have a distressed conscience and therefore you have no remorse to them that are such but you must not think that Christ was not touched with our infirmities though hee sit at the right hand of the Father yet he hath not forgotten his people but he hath left his love and his compassion with us and he is touched when we are troubled Paul persecuted the Church and Christ saith Saul Saul why persecutest thou me the foot is pricked in earth and the head complaineth of it in Heaven he felt the rage and malice of Pauls persecutions though haply poore goodman such a one and poore goody such a one was persecuted yet our Saviour was touched and troubled with it therefore let me tell you how to succour your selves when you finde the wrath of God lie heavie upon you and the anguish of soule lies sore upon you I might also speake of the rage and malice of the wicked but when the arrowes of Gods wrath seize upon the soule and God seemes to bee displeased and to goe away from the soule and mercy and love and the sweetnesse of compassion is going as it was with Christ when he cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Hee findes not that sweetnesse of mercies that formerly hee had done these are troubles indeed Now learne you to looke up to Christ and looke to bee pittied by the Lord Jesus Christ It may be thy husband or thy wife or thy friends will not pittie thee but will say he is turned a precise fellow and see now what good hee hath gotten by running to Sermons thus they adde sorrow to sorrow and persecution to persecution because God hath smitten thee therefore they smite thee too but yet notwithstanding all this looke thou up to the Lord Jesus Christ and know that thou shalt finde favour he will have a fellow-feeling with thee in all thy miseries therefore plead with the Lord Jesus Christ and say Lord in thy estate of humiliation thou wert a man full of sorrowes and thou sufferedst much perplexity thou knowest what it is to suffer the wrath of a displeased Father and thou didst crie out Father is mercy and love and goodnes and all gone Oh blessed redeemer heare those cries of them that crie to thee for mercy thou that didst suffer for poore sinners doe thou succour poore sinners and Jesus Christ will certainly pitie you and will send his good Spirit from heaven to comfort you and he will command loving kindnesse to comfort and refresh thee You that groane under your burthens hee will command loving kindnesse to come to such a mans house and to visite such a one and will say such a man is troubled I command thee to comfort him and salvation I charge thee goe to such a house and tell such a man that I love him tell him that I suffered for him and was forsaken that he might not be forsaken I was condemned that he might be redeemed It is a great comfort that the Lord Jesus Christ is touched and knowes how to deliver such as are tempted He that bore up the frame of the heavens and never groaned under the pillars of the earth yet when he was to beare the wrath of God he shrunke at it and said Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me he that bore the wrath of God for thee he will certainly pity thee Secondly you shall not be pittied in outward sorrowes onely but goe your way for ever cheared you shall bee free from all inward miseries and troubles you shall bee delivered from
hell and condemnation every beleeving soule of you Do not think that God will passe by poore little ones no he will not lose one of you but he will in his appointed time helpe and deliver you therfore be not troubled not dismaied but resolve of this and say I shall bee delivered therefore let my soule be for ever cheared what would you have and what doe you feare Is it your sinnes doe you think that they beare you an old grudge and they will bee clamouring up to heaven against you and complaining of you at the throne of grace doe you feare them so you may justly because of that secret sliding off from the truth Oh saist thou my errand is done in heaven before this time and my sins knocke at heaven gates and say Justice Lord I have taken them in their sinnes and therefore as thou art a God of justice execute justice upon a rebellious soule Now therefore remember that Jesus Christ hath suffered he hath taken thy sinnes upon him and hath suffered the punishments of them 1 Iohn 2.1 Little children sinne not at all It were to be wished that a man might be alwayes humble and poore in spirit and doe all good against the evill done to him and it were to be wished that a man could walke exactly before God but it is not possible so long as we have this body of death it will shew it selfe but if we doe sinne we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the just he is gone to heaven to tell the Father that all is fully answered and he saith Father save all those poore soules whom thou hast given mee I have paid all and answered all for them and therefore Father I will that all that thou hast given mee may be with me where I am that they may behold my glory thus he plead for he doth not plead as we doe but he saith Father I will now if there be any crie against the soule by reason of sinne Christ stops it sinne pleads and Christ pleads and who will prevaile thinke you therefore be not discouraged we have an Advocate with the Father the sinnes of your dreames this last night they have done your errands in heaven before you did awake but let them plead what they can wee have an Advocate with the Father in Heaven and he pleads our cause in heaven and he will prevail in whatsoever he pleads for he will be heard all the pleas of sin shal be fully answered Heb. 12.22 23 24. ye are not come to the mount that might not be touched nor unto burning fire c. But ye are come unto the mount Zion to the citie of the living God and to the Spirits of just and perfect men and to Iesus Christ the Mediatour of the new Testament and to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel what did the blood of Abel speake see that in Gen. 3.9 10. where is Abel thy brother said the Lord and he answered I cannot tell am I my brothers keeper Oh thou wretch saith the Lord the voyce of thy brothers blood crieth to me from the earth for vengeance against thee thus all our sinnes doe speake but there are some sinnes that crie and say Lord this soule is taken to bee a Christian and a Professer and one that hath some grace but Lord against knowledge and conscience and the directions of the Ministers hee hath sinned thus and this therefore good Lord execute judgement upon him but now here is your comfort you poore Saints I confesse these wretched corruptions of your hearts play the backe friends with you many times but we have the blood of Christ that cries for mercy and pardon and refreshing and forgivenesse sinne pleads and saith Lord doe me justice against such a soule but the blood of Christ saith I am abased and humbled and I have answered all Christ shall be heard and if he plead the cause the day is certainly yours and hee pleads without any fees and his blood speaketh on your behalfe and your sinnes shall never be heard against you but what sticks upon your stomackes Object Oh you have heard that the Lord is a just God hee is so hee is holy and blessed and of pure eyes that cannot endure to behold any polluted or uncleane thing and if God be strict to marke what is done amisse who can abide it Oh then say you you have these sinnes and corruptions and God is pure and you are polluted and you have many secret windings and turnings and devices and you say God knowes all the crevices of my heart and sees all the frame of my soule and if the Lord marke what is done amisse nay hee will marke what is done amisse Who then shall be able to stand How shall I be able to answer it especially considering that Satan saith I have sinned and why should I not be cast out as well as others have beene cast out that have sinned Lord execute justice upon them as they have deserved how shall wee helpe ourselves herein yes admirably for then the blood of Christ comes in and that satisfies all Gal. 5.22.23 The fruits of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse meeknesse temperance faith against such there is no law so it is here there is no law nor no condemnation to beleevers truly penitent for their sins there is no punishment to them nor no wrath to execute judgement upon them because the debt is paid and the Lord is just and cannot and righteous and will not doe it but saith the Devill thou hast sinned and why shalt thou not bee condemned for it but saith justice hold thy tongue Satan for there is no law against them that repent what troubles you now Answer Why the very truth is the thoughts of Hell astonish my heart me thinkes I see a little peep-hole downe into hell and the devils roaring there being reserved in chaines under darknesse untill the judgement of the great day and me thinkes I see the damned flaming and Iudas and all the wicked of the world and they of Sodome and Gomorah there they lie roaring and damnation takes hold upon them and the wrath of God finks them downe to hell Now I have sinned and therefore why should not I be damned and why should not the wrath of God bee executed against mee I answer the death of Christ acquits thee of all and although the wrath of God be of admirable power and force yet you shall bee acquitted by the death of the Lord Jesus Revelations 20. â—â— Blessed and holy is he that hath a part in the first resurrection for on such the second death shall have no power that is wicked men and the ruffians of the world that scorne all commands and despise all the ordinances of God and the lawes of men and neither of them can take place in their hearts they breake all bonds and cast away all commands and the