be compared to the Lord they are but as dust blowne away with his breath If our eyes were but opened to see as Gehazies were the host that was about him so ours to see the Lord we should desire him alone and seeke him and then a man would be ready for all varieties of changes put him where you will he will be content to have Gods favour whilest he lives and heaven when he dyes and till this be wrought he doth not seeke God with a perfect heart till a man comes to this choyce I have many things in the world but the LORD is my portion and he is my exceeding great reward and I can live on him alone it being as impossible for me to have him without comfort as to have the Sunne without light so as whatever becomes of him he is able to say I have lost nothing I am not driven out of my inheritance and portion I have Gods presence and that will be a direction and a protection to us in hard times so that we may say The Lords Name is my strong Tower and though others fly to other refuges yet Thither fly the righteous and are safe Thou must seeke Gods presence in time of peace if thou wouldest have it for thy refuge in time of danger Both these we may see Isai. 4. the two last verses The Lord will create upon every place of Mount Sion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoake by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night verse 5. that is as the People of Israel comming out of Egypt had a pillar of fire to guide them by night and a cloudy pillar by day so God promiseth there to his people I will walke before you and direct your way in all your actions in difficult cases God guides them by an immediate enlightning of his Spirit into those wayes that shall be most safe for them 1 Sam. 18. 14. The Lord was with David and hee walked wisely God directed him and was his Counsellor when as the Lord departed from Saul and he erred in all he did As the Israelites if their two pillars had beene taken away they had beene lost in the wildernesse So was Saul when the Lord departed from him he was as a man wildred in a darke night whereas a godly man shall have a voyce behinde him saying this is the way walke in it whereas if hee went another way he should breake his necke and what a great privilege is this But that is not all the benefit which the presence of God doth afford us but it gives protection also as that place in Isay shewes for it followes upon all the glory shall bee a defence and there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heate and for a place of refuge and for a covert from the storme and from the raine that is looke what a shadow is to a poore traveller in the time of scorching heate in those hot Countries that will the Lords presence be to all his Saints and it shall be a covert also they shall be under it as under a roofe stand like one in an house dry that looks out and sees others in a storme as when the Aegyptians were beaten with haile and perisht in it the Israelites were safe And lastly he will be a refuge to them when they are persecuted by any whether it be by their owne sinnes which follow them as the avenger of bloud or by evill men or the power and malice of Sathan if they run to him he will be their Asylum their Sanctuary See this different priviledge of the Saints from others in Mordecai and Haman both were in distresse Mordecai was persecuted he flew to the Lord by prayer and had him for a refuge but Haman had none when he was out with the King So both Peter and Iudas fell into sinne but Peter had a refuge to fly to even God whom he had been formerly acquainted withall but Iudas had none and so the storme fell on him so Saul being to fight with the Philistimes had no refuge God was departed from him and therefore he fled to a witch but David when hee was in as great a streight and the people talkt of stoning him he had a refuge he encouraged himselfe in his God and therfore you find it so often repeated by him God is my shield and the rocke of my defence In faire weather men care for no such shelter because they thinke they need it not but remember a storme may come and it is good to provide against a rainy day 2 Rev. 5. when the Church was falne from her first love he threatneth to remove the Candlesticke whereby he meanes not the ministry onely as appeares by the last verse of the first Chapter The seven Candlestickes thou sawest are the seven Churches and therefore Captivity is thereby threatned a removall from that Citty which was a place of ease and safety into a barren land where they should live more hardly And this is threatned not because they had utterly forsaken but were fallen from their first love and some degrees of it What cause have we then to feare and if so what cause is there wee should now seek the Lords presence and then we shall be sure to find him a refuge for go whither thou wilt He is there Psal. 139. Whether into the furthermost parts of the earth or the heart of the Sea thou art there sayes David and as nothing is so terrible to the wicked as that go whither they can God is there so nothing is more comfortable to the Godly Now we are come to the last condition which the Lord requires before he will heare prayers and forgive their sinnes or heale the land of his people and that is If my people turne from their evill wayes Whence you may observe this Doctrine That except a man doe turne from his evill wayes hee can have no interest in the promises of the Gospell Now this poynt as the rest hath a double office The one is to shut out those to whom the promises belong not If you turne not from your evill wayes your prayers shall not be heard Another to open a doore of comfort to them that doe it their prayers shall be heard But first for matter of terror to those without and herein our method shall be first to know what it is to turne from our evill waies for when the Lord shall hang all his promises upon these conditions we have reason to examine them narrowly Wherfore for the conceiving of this we must know that every man is borne backward into the world with his backe turned upon God and his face toward sinne and hell and so continues till he heare some call from God to the contrary saying That is not the way c. So that this conversion of the soule is called a turning because it is from one
learne therefore to feare the Lord nothing brings a Iudgement so much as the want of feare security is the next doore to a Iudgement Lâ—â—hish was a secure people and when the Army came against them they and their City fell as Figgs from a tree that are ripe so did they fall in their enemies mouths security is a fore-runner to every mans Iudgement Esay 66. 2. To him that feares mee saith God and trembles at my words to him will I looke to keepe him safe if not I will neglect him as much as hee mee I will have no eye to save him as hee hath no eye to mee to cause him to feare and tremble But you wil say how may I bring my heart to feare the Lord I answer first pray to the Lord to strike your hearts with a feare of him it is the the worke of God to bring the feare of himselfe upon us for it is hee that brings the feare of one man upon another hee brought a feare upon all the Nations of the Land when the people of Israel entered Canaan much more the feare of himselfe for the affections are such things as the Lord onely can meddle with and therefore the Apostle saith You are taught of the Lord to love one another It must be the Lord that must put in such an affection into you for his teaching is planting the affections and so he is said to teach other creatures that is to give this or that inclination and so the Lord is said to fashion the hearts of men and then they cannot chuse but feare him therefore goe to the Lord and say Lord I am not able to feare thee and say Lord thou hast promised to give the Holy Ghost to those that aske it of thee that worketh every grace if you would seeke him so and seeke him importunately though you had the securest hardest heart of any in the world hee would at length teach you to feare him Ier. 40. I will plant my feare in your hearts that they shal not depart from me Thus you see that God takes the doing of this to himselfe it must be of his planting and he hath promised also you see to doe it This is not all but there is something we must doe our selves Therefore secondly observe the Lords dealing with his learne to know him in his wayes and that will be a meanes to cause thee to feare him if any of his children sin he never lets them goe for then should they thrive in evill and prosper in sinne but if they will bee medling they shall be sure to finde some bitternesse in the end When a mans heart is set upon the creatures there being thornes in them all and therefore if hee will graspe too much of them or too hard hee shall finde it Gods children are trained up so to it that God will not let them goe away with a sinne if they bee too adulterously affected they shall finde a crosse in such a thing you may observe this in the 30. Psalme there you may see the circle God goes in with his children David had many afflictions as appeareth by the 5 verse I cryed and then God returned to me and joy came what did David then I said in my heart I shall never bee removed his heart grew wanton but God would not let him goe away so God turned away his face againe and I was troubled At the 7 verse he is you see in trouble againe well David cryes againe at the 8 and 10 verses and then God turned his mourning into joy againe And this to be his dealing you shall finde it in all the Scriptures but because we find this his dealing set so close together in this Psalme therefore I name it Therefore observe the wayes of the Lord to you and they that are not acquainted with these his wayes as yet in themselves see what hee hath done to others in all the world in our neighbour Churches when hee had given a bill of divorce to Israel yet Iudah had not feared now when God hath stricken our neighbour Churches doe you thinke hee will take it well if we be idle spectators therefore when he hath stricken another place learne to feare If hee afflicts his owne children thus sharply let them looke to themselves that are not his whether they be grosse sinners prophane persons of whom there is no question or mere civill men and formal professors in whom there is no power of grace if he bee thus hot against his owne Church his anger will be seventimes hotter against you it may bee longer deferred as his manner is yet when hee strikes hee will strike you in the roote not in the branches and that so as he will not Strike the second time Consider that in the 50 Psalme that hee will teare you in peeces and you that are prophane ones let me say to you as 1 Cor. 10. 22. Doe you provoke the Lord to anger are you stronger than hee Those that lye in open prophanenes and doe fight openly against the Lord and have not so much as a shew of turning yea and those that are meerely civill and yet lye in secret sinnes that yet are in health wealth and credit in the world it is a signe that God meanes them no good hee would not let his owne Garden goe so long unplowed And in the second place for professors that doe not answer their profession in their lives take heed for he that is not with me is against me it may be thou art no enemy not very stirring in any evill way but because thou art not with GOD in good earnest because your hearts are not perfect at the last day you will be found against him CHRIST will come against you in good earnest as an enemy and whereas all your hope lies that GOD is mercifull and CHRIST a Saviour learne to know that this JESUS whome you hope to bee saved by will prove the sharpest enemy against you Kisse the Son lest he bee angry the Son may be angry as he who Rev. 2. hath his eyes like a flame of fire and his feete like fi ne brasse to tread you to powder he shall come against you that are formall and know that JESUS CHRIST is not only a Saviour but a Lord that he came into the world to be a Prince and the government is upon his shoulders you forget that part of his office halfe the end for which CHRIST came into the World and if you would know what kind of Governor he is Ex. 23. 21. I will send my Angel with you saith God that is Christ beware of him and obey his voyce and provoke him not for my name is in him he is of the same spirit and disposition with his father and they are both alike affected to sin beware of him he goes along with you and he will not spare you for the LORD hath put all the
heart is hard still It may be so indeed and your heart not softned but yet this I say First for thy comfort that if thou continue doing this the Lord accepteth it but if thou dost it not thy bloud shall bee upon thine own head we require that thou shouldst only labour to doe it and the Lord will accept it though thou art not able to soften thine heart And secondly know for thy comfort also that God will joyne with thee if thou labour thus with thy heart and send the spirit of humiliation on thee as the Disciples though they rowed all night yet CHRIST came at the last so though thou toilest many dayes and makest no proficiency as thou thinkest yet know that God at length will come and help thee and that because he hath commanded thee to doe this he will not suffer you to be doing that alwayes in vaine which he commandeth and therefore hee will come but that you may have the more ground for this remember that you have many promises made of Gods helpe as in Luk 11. 13. If yee then being evill know how to give good gifts unto your chil dren c. You shall never alone of your selves bee able to soften your hearts without the Holy Ghost but continue knocking and the Lord will give you the Holy Ghost though you bee but strangers So that every man may come to God and say Lord thou hast made such a promise thou canst not goe from thy word and therefore deny me not and bee earnest with God and hee cannot deny thee The woman of Canaan was not a Iew yet shee having this ground that hee was the Messias she would not bee put off therefore doe thou so and thou shalt in the end finde that thy heart is softned and the longer thou waitest the greater measure thou shalt have of the spirit and when thou hast him hee shall humble thy heart as in Zach. 12. 10. I will poure upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and supplications and they shall looke upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourne for him as one mourneth for an onely sonne The people of Israel were here exhorted to mourne and to separate themselves and to doe it every family apart The businesse was the same that you are to doe every fast-day Now sayes GOD if you seeke me aright you must have the spirit and sayes GOD I will doe my part I will poure on you the spirit of bowells for so the word may be translated The meaning of it is this that when the Spirit of God is thus upon you you will bee tenderly affected to the Lord even as a mother toward her child then saith hee they shall looke upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourne for him as one mourneth for his only sonne and be in bitternesse for him that is you shall then remember your rebellions and the remembrance of them shal be bitter to your soules as bitter things are to your tast so it was with Iosiah the reason why his heart melted and he wept when he heard the booke of the Law read was because he had the spirit of bowells which every one of us should have So Iob Now I have seene thee I abhorre my selfe Iob 42. he was not thus before he was a holy man but this was a new worke for says he I have heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now my eye sees thee He was enlightened anew as it were the spirit shined into his heart with a new light I have beene in a myst all this while in comparison but now mine eye hath seene thee and I have an experimentall feeling of thee now I abhor my selfe It is a hard thing to abhorre a mans selfe thus which then a man doth when Gods Spirit with a new light enableth a man to see Gods love and kindnesse and his owne unkindnesse in their colours If the Lords Name be called upon us we should learne hence to keepe his Name faire to keepe it pure and unspotted As it was said of Saint Paul he was a chosen vessell to carry Gods Name and therefore it behooves them to take heed how it bee polluted by them or they give occasion that it be blasphemed for the evill committed by you reflects vpon the Name of the Lord. A small thing is a great matter in you one fly corrupts a box of oyntment but many flies in a barrell of Pitch or Tarre are counted nothing so many sinnes in a wicked man redound not so much to the dishonour of Gods Name as one in the Saints When a Saint doth a thing that is uncomely hee polluteth the Name of the Lord not that it can be polluted in it self but it seemes so to other men Before men are regenerate their sinnes are as blots upon a table before a Picture be drawne upon it which are not regarded of any but after it is drawne the least blot is seene of every one So it is when men are but strangers to God the sinnes which they commit reflect not to the disgrace of God but when Gods Image is renewed in a man then these sinnes are more taken notice of and cause the Name of God to be blasphemed of his enemies This should teach us not to be ashamed of God and the profession of his Name for shall the Lord not be ashamed of us as he shewes he is not when he is willing to put his Name upon us and shall we be ashamed of him it is an unreasonable and an unequall thing for a child to be ashamed of his father for a wife to bee ashamed of her husband and so for us to be ashamed of the Lord whose Name we beare This is the rather to bee spoken of because it is a fault very common amongst us that we doe not take notice of But the most will say we are not ashamed of religion but wee account it rather a glory to bee accounted Christians Give mee leave to examine you by these two Questions First are you not ashamed of the strictest ways of religion There is a common course of Religion that you need not be ashamed of because all are for it and commend it but yet there are some speciall acts of Religion that men cast shame upon such was that act of David when he daunced before the Arke which seemed absurd in Michals eyes for a King to doe yet he said I will be yes more vile some of the wayes of God give a more peculiar distaste to wicked men and there is a shame cast upon the power of Religion by reason that the multitude goeth another way Now what is singular that shame is cast upon as in any thing let the multitude have never so ill favoured a fashion it is no shame whereas if a few others weare a garment farre more
not in so great a point turne it every way and mould it for your use and to your apprehensions as also that you may not thinke it harder then it is by which the Divell keeps many off Now you may know what it is by the expressions of those who have humbled themselves David having numbred the people when he humbled himselfe he said Lord I have sinned and done exceeding foolishly Iosiah his heart melted before the Lord. And Dan. 9. Lord we have done very wickedly c. and shame belongs to us hee was ashamed And Ioâ— when he humbled himselfe said Lord I abhor my selfe in dust and ashes And the Prodigall I have sinned against heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to bee called thy sonne And so they are said to bee weary and heavy laden Many other expressions there are but I will digest all into two heads to humble a mans selfe is but to bring his heart and minde unto these two acts Is out of a sence of a mans unworthinesse to say thus unto the Lord Oh Lord I haâ—e done exceeding wickedly and am worthy to be destroyed I have beene in the wrong way and done exceeding foolishly but thy wayes are righteous and thou art just yea I have dealt unthankfully and unequally with thee who hast beene so good to me That was it melted the heart of Iosiah and made Iob abhorre himselfe as vile as the dust I tread upon as ashes that are good for nothing or but as sackloth in which they used to humble themselves the worst of garments I am ashamed and confounded This is the first act which is a sence and an acknowledgement of our owne unworthinesse and vilenesse And the second a sight of a mans worthinesse to be destroyed unability to helpe himselfe and of the vanity of all things else A man must further say that I am not onely unworthy but guilty of death my sinnes will breake my backe I am not able to stand under them and I am utterly undone and when I looke upon all the props of my life my health and riches c. I see they are but vaine things reeds and feathers and as hollow ground whereon I can set no footing Therefore LORD bee thou a rocke to mee on whom I may pitch and build my selfe And that this sight of our owne unability is also necessary we see by that 1 Tim. 6. 17. Charge them that are rich that they bee not high minded nor trust in uncertaine riches they are both joyned together For so farre as a man doth trust in them he is high minded and the soule of man doth trust in them so long as it apprehends substance in them and that they are not vanity so farre the heart beares it selfe upon them and so is carelesse of the LORD and why else do afflictions humble men as Manasses but because a man then sees the emptinesse of all things it brings him to say with the Prodigall I die for hunger and these cannot feed mee and so to hold fast to the LORD which a man must needs doe when he hath but one thing to hold to Now when thou art wrought on so as to expresse this unfainedly this is it to humble thy selfe We should hence learne to strengthen our faith if we have done this if thou hast thus humbled thy selfe confessed thy sinnes taken up a full resolution to forsake them thou shalt have mercy according to that promise Prov. 28. 13. He that confesseth and for saketh shall have mercy But here we find those who have humbled themselves come in with two objections that hinder their comfort 1. That they cannot mourne for their sins 2 That they fall into the same sinnes againe and againe and that therefore they have not humbled themselves Now as we would not have the false deceived with false evidences so nor the true discomforted and therefore wee will answer these objections To the first If thou beest so farre convinced in thy Judgement of thy sin and misery and unability to helpe thy selfe as it hath turned the bent and rudder of thy will so as thou sayest I will goe and humble my selfe to my Father change my course confesse and forsake my sins though thy affections seeme to thee not stirred yet this is enough to translate thee into the estate of grace for I aske to what end is mourning and weeping required but to awaken a man to come home to God in this manner mentioned when therefore thou findest these effects thou maiest be sure thou hast the end of these and that is enough to save thee Suppose a man carries about him a deadly disease so as upon the discovery and knowledge of it he is content to part with all he hath to the Physicians and is wary of medling with any meate that will hurt him and increase it if he know this that it is deadly though he hath no sence of paine it is all one and there are some diseases you know wherein a man feeles not so much paine that yet are mortall it may make him as carefull to use the meanes and so is it here if the conviction of the sinfulnesse and deadlinesse of sinne worke those dispositions mentioned in thee then thou hast the end which mourning tends to and that is all one Though thy affections be not so stirred consider the promises are made to ones comming in and taking Christ and beleeving in him they are not made to the commotion of the affections and here in the words the promise is made to humbling thy selfe out of a solidity of Iudgement It is no matter by what meanes you are brought to take hold on Christ so you come to him It is all one whether I come to my journeys end by land or by water on horse backe or on foote so I bee come thither If thou findest thou doest the things that an humble man should doe then though thy affections seeme not to be moved yet in very deed they are moved and changed as if thou art fearefull to returne to thy sinnes art resolved to please God in all things to thy power For what are affections but divers positions and scituations of the will and the feete it walkes upon they are but the divers motions and inclinations whereby the will shoots it selfe into the objects of it Now looke which way thy will is resolved and set that way are thy affections set also if thou seest one ro rise up soone and goe to bed late to avoyde poverty and to get riches a wise man will assure himselfe that his ayme is such and his heart set upon riches his actions shew that his affections doe move strongly that way though he sayes he feeles no such stirradge Therefore though thou findest this stilnesse of affections yet if thou doest the same things that they use to do who mourne and weepe more thou mayest assure thy selfe thy
glasse with open face v. 18. that is we see the amiablenesse of his face the happinesse of communion with him and when the light breakes through the cloudes thus and the Lord gives a glimpse of himselfe then they see him and never give over seeking his face more and more till they have found him And because that other sort I spake of if they see him they yet see but an angry face onely and that makes men flie from the Lord as we see in distresse and at death many will do any thing rather than goe to God they tremble at his presence and no way desire it as Adam did not but fled from it and thus would all doe if no word were revealed Therefore the Spirit of revelation takes away the vaile and breakes the clouds that his owne Elect may have a glimpse of his face and the Spirit of adoption who is sent downe into their hearts shewes God as mercifull full of kindnesse and love they see not onely his face but his face shining in all gracious willingnesse to receive them hee presenteth him as a loving father ready to admit of them and graciously to forgive and receive them They see Gods face that is both his excellency and beautie and also his love and graciousnesse towards them and this makes them seeke his presence and reconciliation with him and never to be at rest without it as Moses Lord we will not stirre a foot without thy presence Exodus 34. 18. A right suitor eare for nothing but the love and presence of the person sued to so they desire nothing can bee content with nothing but the presence of God communion with God The light of his countenance The second thing whereby I expresse what it is to seeke Gods face is to seeke the Lord alone as sequestred from punishments and rewards in his owne person as considered in himselfe in his Attributes in his holinesse and purity so as not to seeke the things hee brings with him but to seeke himselfe and the things which are in him But you will say this is very hard to set aside all respects to rewards and punishments It is an errour to thinke that you may not make use of rewards and punishments for First punishments and the threatnings of the Lord are the true object of feare and a faculty and an habit may lawfully bee exercised about their proper object and so rewards are the subject of desire and so may lawfully bee sought after and desired The Lord himselfe in Scripture useth these motives of Iudgements on the one side and of rewards on the other and therefore wee may make use of them to our owne hearts for to that end hath God propounded them Therefore I will set downe two conclusions to cleare this to you what use there may be made of rewards and threatnings 1 Conclusion the propounding of and the respect unto rewards and punishments is a good beginning to draw us on to seeke the Lords face they are a good introduction A man that hath not as yet seene Gods face the feare of hell may cause him to reflect on his owne heart and wayes and to bee sensible of the evill of them and so the happinesse of heaven may draw him on but all this while he is but in beginning A spouse that is considering with her selfe whether shee should marry such an husband or no beginneth to consider at first what shee shall be without him and what shee shall have with him shee considers him perhaps as one that wil pay all her debts and make her honourable c. and yet it may be yet she considers not the man all this while and yet these considerations are good preparatives to draw her on to give entertainement to him but after converse and acquaintance with the person she likes the person himselfe so wel that she is content to have him though she should have nothing with him and so she gives her full and free consent to him and the match comes to be made up betweene them out of true and sincere free love and liking So it is here men begin at first to consider their owne misery most and that if they should apply themselves to other things as remedies they should bee still to seeke for there is a vanity in all things and if to themselves that they cannot helpe themselves in trouble therefore they judge they must goe to the mighty GOD who is able to doe more than all to rid them out of misery and they consider that going to him they shall have heaven besides and yet all this while they consider not the LORDS person yet this consideration makes way that GOD and wee may meete and speake together it brings our hearts to give way that the LORD may come to us that I may so speake for before we are not to be spoken with it causeth us to attend to him to looke upon him to converse with him to admit him as a suitor and to be acquainted with him and whilst wee are thus conversing with him GOD reveales himselfe and then being come to the knowledge of him in himselfe by that his speciall light spoken of afore we love him for himselfe then wee are willing to seeke his presence to seeke him for our husband though all other things were removed from him And now the match is made and not till now and then wee so looke upon him that if all those other advantages were taken away we should yet still love him and not leave him for all the world and so as if wee should imagine hee would give us never so much and yet with-draw his face wee could not bee at rest Before if a man could but be assured he should not go to hell and should have creatures and comforts about him it would bee enough to him but now it is not so Now if Gods countenance bee but clouded if any breach bee betwixt a man and God he cannot rest till it bee made up and he see his face againe Yet still after the match is made there is a second use of punishments and rewards they are usefull not onely to bring us in but to confirme us also in our choyce they serve both as an introduction and as an helpe when we are come in to confirme us in our choyce As when a woman is married shee having this husband I live in an house well furnished and I have many conveniences I enjoy not onely my husbands person but with many additions So it is with us though the LORD alone be sufficient reward so as if wee had nothing else wee would never goe backe of our choice yet wee having many good things with him it helpeth us in our love to him and confirmes us in our choice These are then good additions but not good principles and foundations and encourage us much if added and put to seeke the LORD for himselfe as the principall
So then to seeke Gods face containes these three things in it First to have his face revealed to you and to see him as a father To seeke him as sequestred from punishments and rewards To seeke him alone in opposition to your selves And that all this ought to be done we will give you one reason and so come to the uses And that reason is drawne from the holinesse of the Lord Esay 6. 3. One Angell cryed to another holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole earth is full of his glory this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the proclamation of Angels and that upon this occasion The Lord sends Esay the Prophet to pronounce a Iudgement to his people and that a great one the rejection of the Iewes and at the same time the Angels are sent to proclame Gods holinesse now holinesse is the appropriation of a thing to the Lords use and a sequestration of it from common use and so the holinesse of God himselfe which is the rule of all other holinesse is an appropriation of his actions to himselfe as his end he is then said to be holy when he doth things for himselfe therefore being about to doe so great a worke peculiarly for himselfe and his glory as when he would destroy his owne people and destroy Kingdomes for his owne best advantage and ends the glory of himselfe then he lets them know this as the only reason because he is holy for if he should not respect himselfe he should not be holy So Rom. 11. 33. to the end The Apostle having spoken of this rejection here prophecied concludes with this His Iudgements are unsearchable and his wayes past finding out c. of him and to him and through him are all things and to him bee glory for ever As if he should have said God hath done all this but I know not the reason of it nor any one else onely God is for himselfe for he being of no cause but himselfe therefore he may doe all for himselfe if he were of another he might doe all for another yea else he were not holy Now if this be Gods holinesse then the holinesse of man is to do all for God which he is therefore to doe because he is of another cause above himselfe and therefore is to seeke another end above himselfe namely the Lord and then he is said to be holy when he hath no eye to himselfe but to God when in his recreations the use of riches c. and in his whole course he hath his eye and ayme at God and not himselfe The nature of holinesse is expressed in two things First in purenesse Secondly sequestration to God so that holinesse purity and chastity are much alike as it were as there is also much affinity between the Greeke words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chastity in a Wife stands in keeping close to her husband and being sequestred from all other and Gods holinesse consists first in the purenesse of his nature and secondly in a sequestration of all things to himselfe Now our holinesse is not so but wee being of another cause wee must doe all for another end our holinesse stands therefore in giving up our selves to the Lord therefore sayes Esay Sanctifie the Lord and make him your dread as if he had said if you make any thing else your dread you doe not sanctifie the Lord. What he says of feare is true of all our affections and actions holinesse dedicates all unto the Lord and some actions are holy for the substance of them as Prayer keeping the Lords day c. and all such immediate duties of his worship some by putting a right end upon them and so all actions may be holy of what kind soever as recreations which are common actions and eating and drinking all which when done to the Lord doe become holy It is the nature of morall actions to take their specification from their circumstances especially their end more then from the substance it selfe and so all such common actions may bee holy to the LORD and so that place of Saint Peter is to be understood bee holy in manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1. in all the turnings of your lives even in common actions this being the nature of holinesse in the generall both as in God and in our actions There is a double holinesse required in every man A giving up a mans selfe to the Lord as 2 Cor. 8. 5. They first it is said gave themselves up to the Lord. To give a mans selfe up as a Sacrifice to the Lord that is the holinesse of a man and when any thing is sacrificed it is given up to the use of that Lord to whom it is sacrificed The second is a giving up all things with himselfe his understanding will thoughts affections life liberty credit goods all his power might whereby he is able to doe any thing to resigne all these to the Lord and by this hee sanctifies the Lord and this is the holinesse of a man to doe all for the Lord onely So that the reason is cleare let a man doe what he will keepe the Sabbath pray c. If there be not this holinesse in his heart all his labour is lost as you all grant for without holinesse no man shall see God Now it is not holy except it be given up to the Lord alone excluding himselfe and the creature Is all our labour lost except we seeke Gods face though otherwise a man goe never so farre then there is great reason to examine our selves whether we seeke the Lord for himselfe or no for otherwise all your labour is lost for then you doe not set up God for your God in your hearts but something else namely that which you seeke besides him as in marriage we say when a man marries a woman not out of love to her person but for riches that hee marries not the woman but her wealth so it is here And then secondly you will never hold out in seeking the Lord and if you doe not hold out then all your labour will be lost Ezek. 18. though a man hath beene righteous all his dayes yet if he fall from God all his righteousnesse shall be forgotten and such a man as seekes not the Lord for himselfe will fall away as appeares by that Hos. 7. 16. They returne but not to the most High they are like a deceitfull bowe that is when a man turnes to the LORD but not for himselfe he will returne againe and start aside like a broken bowe for if hee attaine those ends for which he sought the Lord his seeking is at an end See this in Amaziah 2 Chron. 25. he went farre in obedience but yet he did not seeke the Lord in it he was content to lose an hundred talents and to send backe the Israelites he
is you make your utmost end we are now upon a poynt that admits of very narrow differences for as we have said a man may performe many duties go therein as farre as another and yet lose all his labour and all because he seekes not the Lords presence And the tryall of that lyeth especially upon this what you make your utmost end for though the actions be good yet if the end be your selves or Gods glory be made by you but as a bridge all is lost Now that you may not mistake here you must know there is a double end the one of the worke the other of the workeman now the end of the worke it selfe may be good even in hypocrites the action being in it selfe a holy action ordinabile in se and tending to Gods service when yet the end of the workeman is not the Lord but himselfe this difference runnes along through all actions Two men that go together in the same way may have a different journeys end Zach. 7. he speaking both of the Feasts and Fasts of the Iewes two as holy duties as any other verse 5 6 7. sayes but did yee them at all to mee sayes God but to returne out of Captivity So Hos. 10. 1. there was much fruit found in Israel yet because they brought it sorth to themselves not to the Lord therefore Israel is called an empty Vine A carnall man and a regenerate man differ mainely in this that a carnall man when hee is to doe any thing askes what good will this bring to me what profit what credit shall I have by doing it if none he layes it a side but a godly man so farre as he is godly asketh this question whether it is commanded by God is it for his glory and advantage When therefore thou commest to preach the Gospell or studiest consider thine end whether for God or no consider also what thy end is in thy trade or any civil action and judge by that But is a man bound to seeke God in every thing may he have no respect to himselfe The end must still bee better then that which tends to it and that therefore which is the chiefest good must bee the chiefest end and unlesse thou makest God better then all things else thou doest not make him thy end nor thy God Againe the end commands all is most perfect and comprehends all the rest and that also is proper to the Lord alone this cannot be said of any man or creature and therefore God alone is to be made thy end But may not a man make his owne happinesse his end and doe what hee doth for his owne perfection A man may and alwaies doth so and that upon necessity as hath beene sayd only this there is a double end the one is the thing it selfe which a man makes his end the other is the benefit or fruit commeth by the attaining it So that happinesse is that sweetnesse that followes all ends even as the shadow doth the body so then the question is what that thing is which thou seekest this happinesse from for that is it which is thy maine end whether doest thou thinke thou canst make thy selfe happy by those riches and pleasures which for thy selfe thou aymest at or doest thou looke for all thy happinesse from the Lord alone That which a man lookes for his happinesse from that a man makes his chiefest end if from God then a man makes God his utmost end so as his owne happinesse is but the fruit that ariseth out and accompanies his seeking him But may not a man provide for himselfe True but thus whereas all that a mans minde is to be taken up about is either worke or wages if it be worke thou must do it to God alone whose servant thou art if it be matter of wages as are the things belonging to thy name estate these in like manner thou art to looke for from God alone All a mans imployment is taken up either in doing all for God or receiving all from God and if any man were a perfect servant to another man he then oúght to have an ey only to his Master in matter of worke and to no other and also to take what wages his master will allow him for that worke and no other he ought to resolve all into his master But no creature is a perfect servant unto another creature but wee are so to God and therefore wee ought both to doe all the worke wee doe for God and also for matter of wages to take all from him and to depend upon his providence so that this provision for a man is but to cast a mans self upon the Lord. It being not our work to provide for our selves but the Lords let us do al for him and it belongs to him to give us wages and he wil do it But may not a man in his actions have an eye to God and himselfe also For answer to this looke to that place Mat. 6. 22. 23. The light of the body is the eye if therefore the eye bee single the whole body shall be full of light It is a single eye which lookes on a single subject upon one object onely and therefore then a man is said to have a single eye when he lookes upon the Lord alone when nothing else is made his God hee lookes not on riches nor nothing else as his God and then all the body is light that is all the conversation is good and hee sees whither hee goes but if the eye be evill that is by the rule of opposition if it bee double for that is a rule of interpreting Scripture to open the meaning of phrases by what is opposed to them A double eye is a wicked eye that is if it bee partly set upon GOD partly on a mans selfe it is wicked And so Saint Iames hath it hee calls such an one a double minded man who is unstable in all his wayes When a man hath partly an eye to the world and himselfe partly to GOD hee is as one distracted betweene two wayes hee knowes not which to take he is unstable like a drunken man that staggers in all he doth being now on one side now for GOD and now on another side for himselfe and so his whole body is darke that is his whole conversation is wicked as being out of his way hee sees not a right path to walke in hee hath not a right scope whither he should tend hee is not able to see a right object but goes hither and thither from one thing to another is unstable in all his wayes But you will say the holiest man that is hath some eye to himselfe in his actions It is one thing when a man hath chosen the LORD as his end and that way that leades to him though hee wavers in it and misseth somewhat of the evennesse of his wayes and hath
terme or object to another that is from sinne to righteousnesse from Sathan to God And because there are many false turnings and many men that wheele about and never turne truly who yet suppose that they are converted therefore we will endeavour to open to you this true turning Now it may be found out foure wayes First by the causes of it or motives upon which Secondly by the termes from which and to which we turne Thirdly by the manner Fourthly by the effects First for the causes of this solid true turning and the motives which worke upon a mans heart to turne him you must know that there are many things may cause a man to leave his evill ways for a while As it may be some present affliction for the avoyding of which a man may seeme to turne unto God Therefore God still complaines of the Iewes that they turned but fainedly unto him and not with the whole heart because when hee slew them then they sought to him and then they would turne from their evill wayes but when they were delivered they turned to their old Bias againe So Pharaoh when as he was plagued with any new Iudgement then hee would let the Israelites goe but as soone as that was off hee hardened his heart and would not let them goe As also a second cause to move men to turne may be some present commodity This doth appeare in many of those that applied themselves to Christ some did it for the loaves and some for their convenient living some for the hope of an earthly Kingdome which they thought hee would have brought but these all left him afterwards There bee many such false motives but the onely true motives are taken from the apprehension of eternall life and eternall death the conversion is not right till then and the reason is because all other motives may be over ballanced But the motives of life and death cannot be over topped by any thing If preferment be offered or what ever the world can offer but these exceed all that Sathan or the world or the flesh can suggest Therefore a man is then turned when the Lord shall enlarge his thoughts to see the greatnesse and the vastnesse of these two for then all those other things appeare but as Candles in the Sunshine So that if Sathan come with earthly honours and pleasures in his hand the answer will be easie but what are these to eternall death and everlasting life and these are not thought of nor considered by carnall men though they talke of heaven and hell yet they see not the immense vastnesse and latitude of them and therefore goe on so confidently hence Christ in Marke 16. when he sends forth his Disciples to convert men he bids them use these two arguments Tell every man if hee beleeve hee shall bee saved if not hee shall bee damned Where wee see the motives that Ministers are to use by Christs direction are eternall life and death And Saint Paul endeavouring to convert Felix told him of the Iudgement to come which made him to tremble And Christ told the woman of Samaria of that water and spring that flowes up to eternall life Consider therefore whether ever thou hadst a true apprehension of these without which a man cannot be throughly wrought upon which apprehension if true hath these conditions in it First it must be an apprehension of them as present for happily a man may have a slight thought of eternall life and death he may looke upon them as things absent and afarre off but when they are set on by God a man is pursued and brought into streights by the apprehensions of them so as he hath no rest till he be translated into another condition A carnall man on his death bed having an actuall apprehension of hell as present is strangely affected Now at conversion the apprehension of these seizeth upon a man by a work of the Spirit and compasses him about so as he cannot shake it off till he turnes to God The wise man sees the plague before hand even as present and therfore stayes not till it comes but turnes in the time of youth health and strength Secondly it must be a deepe fix'd and setled apprehension for sometimes a man that shall never be saved may be moved with the present apprehension of eternall death and life but it is as a storme soone blowne over but in him that shall be saved it is set on by the spirit of bondage and such an impression made as will never out but he still remembers it and this is that true apprehension which moves to repentance But some will say can a man be wrought upon by the meere apprehensions of eternall life and death to turne from his evill wayes without an apprehension of sin and grace When a man hath a true apprehension of eternall life and death he comes to know what sin and Grace is and never before till a man knowes eternall death he looks on sin as a trifle as a thing of nought therefore the wise man saith they despise their waies but this apprehension is it which helpes to present sin in its lâ—vely colours and so also the price of grace is then understood when it is apprehended as drawing with it everlasting happinesse as the needle drawes the threed The second thing is the consideration of the termes for there is no turning without going from one terme to another and there is no true turning except it be from Sathan and the creature and your owne selves to God Of this you reade in Acts 26. 18. that Saint Paul was sent to open their eyes and to turne them from darkenesse to light and from the power of Sathan unto God c. You see these the termes of true turning and this is especially to be marked for if there be no more then a turning from misery to happinesse it is not sound for if you look upon sinne and misery grace and happinesse as in themselves without respect to God you doe but turne upon your owne hinges as axle-trees you goe but different wayes to the same center that o ther wicked men goe unto so long as you looke only at the misery and the happinesse of your selves alone which is the center of all mankinde Therefore in a true conversion these motives are lookt upon in relation to God as thus if I follow my selfe and the creature they are never able to save me but if I apply my selfe to him that hath the keyes of life and death I shall be happy in him for ever therefore henceforth I will forsake Satan and every creature and apply my selfe onely to the Lord. And upon this ground a man makes this resolution with himselfe I will forsake Sathan and subject my selfe to God for he only is the author of true happinesse so that now God is made a tearme to which thou turnest and appliest
thy selfe Hos. 7. 16. They returned but not to the most High c. There is a turning made mention of and one would thinke in a speciall manner for they fasted they prayed but this was no turning to God and why because yee have turned but from misery and sought your owne happinesse and ye have forgotten me saith the Lord who am the most High and only able to deliver and save you and therefore their turning was counterfeit not true this will not hold such will start aside like a broken bow Thirdly for the manner of turning as it is exprest in Scripture you must turne to the Lord with all your heart and all your soule though it be not exprest here yet it is to be understood If my people turne from their evill waies with their whole hearts But what is this turning with a mans whole heart A man is then said to turne with his whole heart when hee is fully enlightned and convinced in his understanding of the evill of a thing and thereupon doth take a full resolution to forsake it As if a man bee going out of the way and another man come and tell him he is not in the right way which will leade him to his journeys end if he be fully perswaded of this he will returne and that with all his heart as we use to say when we doe a thing willingly So it is here if a man be fully perswaded that sinne is the cause of all misery and God of happinesse hee turnes to GOD with his whole heart Now unlesse it be with the whole heart this turning is but fained as appeares by that in Ier. 3. 10. And yet for all this her trecherous sister Iudah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but fainedly saith the Lord which falls out when men have some motives to move them but not enow they are not fully convinced and so they turne but by halves When therefore the illumination is perfect and full that these wayes wherein he walkes will bring him to misery and the contrary to happines then a man perfectly turnes and with his whole heart and because turning thus with the whole heart followes full conviction therefore the Apostle doth expresse this turning by the phrase of opening the eyes Acts 26. 18. To open their eyes and to turne them c. that is every man goes on in his wayes of sinning till his eyes be opened to see the thing which he saw not before and GOD many times meetes men in the midst of their wayes and gives them some light and meanes as some exhortations and motions to good some checks for their evill wayes and if those admonitions be so farre effectuall as to open their eyes that is to convince and perswade them that the way they goe in leades to eternall misery then doe they turne and are willing to do it And therefore also on the contrary when GOD will not heale and convert a people hee suffers not their eyes to be opened as in Esay 16 10. Make the heart of this people fatt and make their eares heavie and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and heare with their cares and understand with their hearts and convert to be healed Where we see that the first chaine of our conversion is the opening of the eyes the second chaine is the opening of the heart the third is to be converted and healed and the two former will draw on the last and because the Lord is resolved not to heale them therfore their eyes must be shut up But at conversion mens eyes are opened to see sin comming against them even as an enemy with a sword in his hand and to see the riches of the inheritance of the Saints which neither the eys of natural men have seene nor their eares heard nor their hearts understood And then is a man turned from his evill wayes and not before A man goes on in a course of sinning as Balaam did in his way he met an Angell with a drawne sword but saw him not at the first so soone as his eyes were opened there needed no more perswasions to move him to turne So a wicked man goes on in a way wherein hee runnes upon the swords point and he sees it not but when his eyes are opened to see it then hee turnes backe and when they are thus turning back like Gehazi 2 Kings 6. 15 16 17. who seeing an army comming against him and his master Elisha he cries out Alas what shall we doe if we goe on and Elisha answered feare not for they are more that be with us then they that be with them and so Gehazi saw when God opened his eyes So do men when they set upon a new course they meete with many oppositions and dangers in the way which makes them cry alas what shall wee doe then God openeth their eyes and they see also more with them then against them they see the glorious priviledges that they have and the strength that they received from God these things encourage them that they goe on resolutely because that the latter are farre greater than the former Lastly to finde out what this true turning unto God is we must consider the effects of it Now a man is then turned when he finds these three effects wrought in him First he findeth that those evill wayes of sinne and those corruptions which before did dwell in his heart and had the rule there are now put out of possession and the contrary grace is made master of the house so that he can say with the Apostle Rom. 7. It is not I but sinne in mee that is sinne sometimes was the master of the house and that which I now call my selfe as then was not had no existence in mee but now the case is altered the regenerate part that is in me is master and though sinne thrusts in and dwells there also yet it is but an intruder no lust but is thrust out and if it creepes in it is by one of these wayes First either stealing in as a thiefe by night when they doe not watch and see it or secondly it breakes in by violence as rebells taking the advantage of some strange passion so as they are not able to resist it yet sinne dwells not there as master for it is expeld as soone as the rebell is found as soone as strength is recovered so as possession is still kept by grace that as it is said of peace Let the peace of God rule in your hearts that is though you be ready to fall out with your brethren yet let not malice rule but peace Now what is said of one grace is true of all so then examine thy selfe how comes sinne in into thee comes it in by stealth or by violence onely and when it is come in does it continue master then thou art not turned to GOD for
the particulars first The utmost end is as the Rudder to the ship as the bridle to the horse which turnes all going about particulars only is as if one should set his shoulder to the side of the ship when one touch of the Rudder would doe it Therefore Rehoboam 2 Chron. 10. 14. erred because his heart was not prepared to seeke the Lord and his failing in that particular is ascribed to his want in the generall Iob 17. 9. It is said the righteous shall hold on his way and he that is of pure hands shall waxe stronger and stronger he that hath his heart once changed holds on but till that is done all is in vaine to strive with particulars As put the case a Gardener takes paines to dresse a Thorne it may have as much paines taken with it in manuring and pruning it as any plant in the garden yet it remaines a Thorne still for all the mouldes put to it So though thou prayest and fastest and humblest thy selfe yet if thy nature be not changed all will doe no good Cast up a stone a thousand times it comes downe againe because it remaines a stone but if it were turned into a meteor c. or the like it would not Therefore get a generall change of thy heart and then a change in particular would follow Goe to CHRIST and beseech him to worke this chang in thee let this be more in your practise this wee formally confesse that the LORD only can change us yet it is not throughly considered When thy nature is strongly inclined to any evill way so as thou art almost out of hope to overcome yet goe to GOD. That place may encourage us Iames 4 5 6. doe you thinke the Scripture sayes in vaine The spirit that is in us lusteth after envie but he giveth more grace hee had told them vers 1. of lusts fighting in their members they might aske him how they should get the victory true saith the Apostle it is hard to overcome and indeed impossible to nature the spirit that is in us lusteth after envy and will doe so but consider the Scripture offers more grace then nature is able to doe it tells you not in vaine that the grace therein offered is able to heale though the disease be hereditary and is past natures cure yet it is not past the cure of grace Acts 10. 31. It is said of CHRIST Him hath God raised up to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgivenesse of sinnes When lusts are too strong for a man Christ comes as a Prince and overcomes them for he gives repentance and the end of his comming was not onely to give salvation but repentance Though Physitians could not cure Naaman the Prophet could though the Disciples could not cast out Divells yet Christ could And therefore say not it is an hereditary lust and it hung long upon me and I have made many resolutions and yet I cannot overcome it Take a man that is borne blind hee is past all cure by man all Physitians will give him over and say he is borne blind yet remember that Christ did cure those that were borne blinde and lame This course Paul tooke 2 Cor. 1. 2. he had a strange lust which he could not overcome he beseecheth the Lord to remove for this I besought the Lord thrise that it might depart so David also Psal. 51. 10. finding the remainder of his old disease and sinfull dispositions he goes to GOD for a new heart when he could not make cleane his heart he prayes to the Lord Create a cleane heart in me So he in the Gospell I beseech thee helpe my unbeliefe Thinke not that all is done when thou hast taken up a resolution against thy sinne to take up a resolution belongs to thee but to cure it belongs alone to GOD Goe to him therfore for he hath undertaken to circumcise thy heart Ephes. 3. he having prayed v. 16. that they should be strengthened in the inward man c. then vers 20. concludes Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all wee are able to aske or thinke according to the power that worketh in us c. as if he had sayd you may finde many weaknesses in your selves and then doe as I doe for you goe to the Lord to heale them and know that he is able to doe above all thou canst thinke to subdue that lust which thou thoughtest could never have beene overcome But how will he do it According to that mighty power that worketh in us that power is as strong as Christ himselfe for it is the power of his death the power that raised him up from death to glory able to worke out all infirmities and to worke into you all the graces you want Give not over therfore have faith in the promises of Sanctification as well as in those of Iustification Is he not bound by promise to performe these to you that believe as well as the other Where ever God hath a mouth to speake faith hath an eare to heare an hand to lay hold as God sayd to Ioshua I will conquer those Gyants for thee I will pull downe those walls which they say are built up to heaven onely bee thou couragious and doe but trust mee bee not discouraged upon any occasion give not over saying it is a thing will never be done and had not Ioshua trusted the Lord he would quickly have set downe and given over So I say to you concerning your lusts be couragious and so none are but those that put their confidence in the LORD faint not nor be weary doe but believe thou shalt overcome and thou shalt see them all conquered in the end One word of his mouth was enough to still the raging windes and is as able to still thy lusts But here many will be ready to object I have striven long and praied long and taken much paines and I have not gotten the victory this must necessarily be answered for this is the case of many and it is the scope of Sathan to discourage men and therby to give over the combate First consider whether thy striving be right or no for there is a false resistance of sin and the promise is not made to that and then no wonder if they be not performed for example 1 First it may be it is not the sin thou strivest against but the disprofit the discredit in thy name and estate or sicknesse in thy body that followes upon it so as if these were removed thou shouldest be willing enough to keepe the sin This is not a right striving that will be accepted 2 It may be it is but a faint resistance and a faint denyall doth but make the begger the more importunate Balaam gave the messengers a denyall but it was a faint one they perceived his lingring which made them the more importunate It may be thou art content still to parly with