in this manner and yet this was not the saving grace that the Saints have and that the Saints only have Nay farther he may have many acts of humiliation 3 He may doe acts of humiliation or as it were that that is like it he may expresse humiliation he may hang downe his head as a bulrush for a day he may keepe monethly Fasts as constantly as any and be sorrowfull and heavy and yet he hath not true humiliation But as the Prophet saith of the Hypocrites they hang downe their heads for a day as a bulrush but the Lord abhors them and their Service But the likest thing that I know to true humiliation is that that wicked men shall have at the day judgement Then I finde that there will be somwhat like it I find then that the wicked man his mouth shall be stopped he shall be so farre humbled that he shall have no argument to plead for himselfe he shall have no cloake for his sinne then the pride of wicked men will be pulled downe in a great measure in a sort notwithstanding it is not true humiliation for even then and for ever in Hell the wicked will be grumbling against God and a man is not said to be humbled truly till he submit to God in any thing Therefore it is said in Mat. 22. in hell there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth There is gnashing of teeth for vexation and anguish There is no true humiliation or shall be in Hell world without end Nor there is no carnall man upon earth that is truly humbled Therfore to conclude do not wonder I say cease Not to wonder that the wicked grow worse wondring for indeed a man cannot choose but wonder but endeavour to cease wondring when you see carnall men and Hypocrites notwithstanding all those meanes wherein you see God comes clearly in the eyes of them yet notwithstanding they grow worse and worse prowder prowder and more hardened and more coveteous and more carnall wonder not at it because in all these though you see God and are bettered and more humbled as now in the carriage of things in these times every honest heart makes a holy use of it and God will discover himself to many of his people through that they shal be better for it But wonder not at worldly people that they are worse they never had a sight of God wonder not that sinners and wicked men under the meanes of grace are nothing better as I feare there are many in this and in other congregations that notwithstanding all the meanes of grace notwithstanding all the teaching and preaching and beseeching and exhorting yet they sometimes in secret can laugh and jeere at religion and persecute those that embrace it A man would wonder at this how men should be so sottish as to learne nothing how men should be so prophane under such meanes and ministerie and amend nothing I say a man would wonder but only that it comes from this God hath not shewed himselfe to them if they had but one sight of God as thou that art a Saint hast it were a wonderfull Carnall men see not God in Ordinances thing indeed but it is because the Lord never revealed himselfe to them they only see a poore weake creature weaker then themselves and they heare the Word read in the Bible or they read a Chapter but there is not one jot of the sight of God in it So the other Nor in mercies day we had abundance of Victories and strangely God came into the hearts of his Saints by it how gloriously did the Lord appeare in them and ravish their soules that their hearts are yet nearer to God and they walke more humbly and closely and thankfully But we see the gang of the world Magistrates and Ministers and all carnal people are more proud and wicked and carnall and ready to beat their Fellow Servants they are worse and worse and no wonder because God hath not discovered himself in these mercies they will not learne And then for corrections a man would think that Nor in corrections God did deale with us more palpably then he did with Aegypt they had ten plagues we had twenty or thirty God hath punished us and then God stops his hand and then we break out into mischeif and cruelty and oppression And then God turnes the scale another way and then we begin to amend a little The other day the Lord did begin very fairly the Lord turned the Scales divers wayes you know how it was with Scotland and with the King One would thinke that there were no Magistrate nor Minister nor no man that hath the name of a Professor but he would learne somewhat by all this yet how many are bettered nothing in the World Wonder not because God hath never shewed himselfe in mercy in any ordinance in any correction or affliction or judgement to any carnall man I conclude with this word carnall wicked men wicked men shall one day be humbled are never humbled in this world that is certaine unlesse the Lord change them and reveale himself to them but there is no wicked man in the world but he shall have a Humiliation such as it will be There will be a day when the worst man in the world shall in some part be humbled you shall read in Luke 2â— how men shall be at their wits ends for feare of what shall come upon them And in Revel 6 when the Lord Jesus shall come to judgement they shall runne to the Rocks and to the Caves and to the Mountains to hide them from the presence of God their pride shall be pulled downe there shall be a kinde of Humiliation but no true humiliation but even in hell they shall be there grumbling against God for evermore Be pleased to learn from these few broken words that it is the will and way of God that you get your soules humbled which is the thing that I and you principally it may be want you see it is by seeing of God in Jesus Christ therfore labour to see him and study this blessed skill of seeing him and though we know not how it is yet you shall finde that that grace and every other grace will come more and more into your Soules SERMON 5. Isaiah 6. 5. For mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts THe last lesson or doctrine that we were upon from these words was this that A saving sight of God in Christ is the right and ready way to true Gospell humiliation Woe is me for I am undone because I have seene the King the Lord of Hosts First I shewed you that Every true Saint hath a peculiar sight of God That was necessary to make way for this that every such peculiar sight is the meanes or way to true Gospell humiliation I proved it and gave you the Reasons and made some short Use of it The next Use that
and when peace comes there will then be a discovery of rotten hearts then much more then in these times yet in these times there are abundance of rotten hearts discovered that were not knowne before The Lord comes near the quick of our profession in these times there are abundance that have been professors that now jeere the Saints and dishonour God and imbrace the VVorld but in times of mercie there will be more the sun makes the Traveller put off his cloake when the wind cannot But to open it to you as I did the former that which I shall doe shall be to discover to you what the carriage of a humble heart is and what our carriage should be when God shewes mercie to us when the Lord deales kindly with us in the way of his mercy What is the posture of a humble heart then I answer First of all a humble heart he can be 1. A humble heart content to be denyed any mercy content that the Lord should denie him any mercie let it be never so deare or pretious to him though he prize it high and pray earnestly for it and wayt long for it yet if God come at last and say thou shalt not have it he can be content patiently and meekly to take a denyall from God and goe away contented if it must be so Indeed there is a kind of earnestnesse that should be in us and in a sence we should take no deniall from God we should not be easily put off As we see in Mat. 15. That Woman of Canaan when Christ put her off shee comes again and again and again But if God say say no more it shall not be so rhen a man should quietly submit himselfe to God though like Hannah he desire Children and pray earnestly and seek God againe and againe and seeme to be near towards it sometimes but at last if God come and say thou shalt never have a child then sayth a proud heart Give me children or I die I will give you an instance or two of this in 2 Sam 15. 25. David there was in a poore condition he was pursued by his enemy by Absalom his owne son and David David had the Arke and Zadock the Preist But sayth the King to Zadock carry back the Arke of God into the City if I shall finde favour in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me again and shew me both it and his habitation But if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here I am let him doe to me as seemeth good unto him As if he had said I am in a miserable condition but I will not trouble thee or indanger the Arke if I have found favour in the eyes of God he will bring me again to my house and to his but sayth he if he thus say I have no delight in him Behold here I am let him doe to me as seemeth good in his eyes God will bring me back to Jerusalem if I have found favour with him but if God say David I have no delight in thee thou shalt never see my house more Loe here I am let him doe as seemeth best to him This is the posture of a humble soule that desireth this and that and the other mercy yet if God say I have no delight in thee I will doe none of these things he can say here I am doe as it seemeth good in thine eyes I will give you one instance more in Deut. 3. 24. You have Moses there praying and he desires a great request and that earnestly of God Moses O Lord thou hast begun to shew thy seruant thy greatnesse and thy mighty hand for what God is there in Heaven or in Earth that can doe according to thy might I pray thee I pray thee Lord see how familiar he is with him Let me goe over and see that good land that is beyond Jordan and that goodly Mountaine and Lebanon Moses was going towards Canaan that was a type of the Kingdome of grace under the Gospell and a type of Heaven and they had travelled forty yeares in the VVildernesse I pray thee sayth he let me goe over and see that good land and see Lebanon that goodly forrest But sayth he the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes and would not heare me and the Lord said unto me let it suffice thee speak no more unto me of this matter Let it suffice I will heare no more concerning this thing Get thee up into the top of Pisgah I will give thee leave to looke on it but thou shalt not goe over Now in the Chapter following Deut. 4. 21. Sayth he The Lord was angrie with me for your sakes It was for their sakes that God denyed him And he sware that I should not goe over Jordan and that I should not goe in unto that good land which the Lord thy God hath given thee for an inheritance but I must die in this Land It is a broken speech I must die he doth not say it in passion must I die must I lead this people forty yeares and when there is any good to be had I must be cut off he spake it not on that fashion but sayth he I must not goe over but you shall goe over and possesse it He submits to Gods will and rejoyceth that they should goe over though it was for their sakes that he was crossed And he shewes them how they should carry themselves there A proud heart would have sayd you may get you over if you will and if it had not been for you I might have gone too but I may thanke you that I must stay and die here But sayth he God hath sayd I shall speake no more of that matter it is my lot I submit So in all the mercies of God to thee if thou canst quietly as Moses and David submit in silence when he denies thee any mercy though it be never so deare it is a signe thou hast a humble heart Truely some godly men are of opinion that a Saint can come to this to be content that God should deny him everlasting Salvation for his soul I have read of one and I have spoken with another I have knowne two godly men in that posture the one was so and the other seemed to be so by his writing that if after all the meanes used he cannot come to beleive as others doe that he can have no assurance or hope of life from God but that God almost in every Ordinance doth as much as tell him thou shalt be damned yet he can be content to goe to Hell it selfe I have seen a glorious Saint that hath said that if God should tell him he should be damned yet he could submit without murmuring Such a thing may be but I think it is not ordinary neyther Grace crosseth not principles of nature doth God expect it because grace never crosseth the ground principles of nature and of all this
and are damned it is said they tasted of the heavenly gift and were enlightened for there is the very word Compare that with 2 Pet. 2. 20. In the one we read they were enlightned and after fell off In the other wee read that by the knowledge of Christ they were cleansed and after fell with the Dog to his Vomit I say there is a Gospell sight of God that hath some resemblance of this peculier priviledge but is not it Men may have a sight to know abundance of things of the Kingdome of God and so in a sort be said to know and to see God yet this is not the peculiar sight I am to speak of Fourthly there is a sight of God which is not peculiar 4. At the day of Judgement to the Saints and that is at the day of Judgment there wicked people shall see God Only they shall see him clothed with wrath they shall see the Lord coming out to judgement against them they shall see that Man that they thought to be but a man and no more whom they crucified they shall then see him God comming to judge the world they shal see him whom they have pierced And this is not that sight that is the priviledge of Saints It is not a corporeall sight as the Jews had nor it is not a common sight as the Heathens have by the creation or as Hypocrites have in the Gospell by illumination or as Reprobates shall have one day to their condemnation It is none of these sights But Fiftly and lastly there is a seeing of God in the A peculiar Gospell sight only to Saints Gospell by the Spirit of God which is peculiar only to the People of God There was no Saint that ever was in the world but had this sight more or lesse There were few Saints in the old Testament but somwhere or other it is mentioned and said of them that they saw God either directly or by consequence As In the old Testament for instance in the old Testament in the beginning of it though in a different manner you read of divers men that are said to be walkers with God As Noah Noah Henoch Abraham walked with God and Henoch walked with God and Abraham walked with God Now it is impossible in a spirituall right sence that you can conceive of men to walk with God hand in hand but it must necessarily imply that they did see God how shall two walk together unlesse they be agreed much lesse unlesse they see one another for a man will not walk with one which he sees not Therefore it is said of Abraham Joh. 8. 58. Abraham saw my day and rejoyced .. He did not only see the time for that is not all but he saw the glory of God in Jesus Christ though he were not yet manifested Moses So Moses also had this sight as we read Heb. 11. 27. It is said by faith he forsook Aegypt not fearing the wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him who is invisible Moses saw him who is invisible God is said to be invisible two wayes he is invisible in respect of any corporeall shape And God is said to be invisible in respect of all mankind besides the Saints he saw him who is invisible he saw him whom never man saw or shall see but only those that are in Christ as Moses was Of Solomon it is said Solomon God appeared twice to him God appeared often to Saul therefore Saul thought it strange when the Lord appeared not unto him But God did not appeare to Saul in all his dayes with such an apparition Isaiah and in that fashion as he did to Solomon So Isaiah in the Text he had a peculiar sight that made him cry out Woe is me I am undone for mine eyes have seene the King the Lord of Hosts It was common in the old Testament and in the new Testament it is every where spoken of you shall read of it more fully in the New Testament than in the Old In Isaiah 52. 8. it was prophesied concerning the new Testament In the new Testament Thy watchmen shall lift up their voyce for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring againe Zion as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 3. We all behold with open face There was a kind of vaile over the best of them in the old though it were a peculiar thing to the S t s Paul then to see God yet now in the new Testament though the sight be the same yet it is a great deale clearer and brighter and nearer and more glorious As to give you a few instances as that of Paul 2 Cor. 12. He was wrapped up into the third heaven into Paradice where he heard wonders that were not to be uttered What were those glorious things that he saw that he could not utter Without controversie the same that Stephen saw Act. 7. The Heavens were opened Stephen and he saw Christ at the right hand of God the glory of God in Jesus Christ. And least you should think it was a thing peculiar to Paul or Stephen it is a thing commonly spoken of in the new testament of all the Saints and when Christ on the Mount saith And al the Saints blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Mat. 5. without holines none shall see God Heb. 12. As if he should say any man that is holy shall see God In 1. Joh. 3. A man that lives in sin hath not seene God And he that loves not his Brother hath not seene God It is a common thing it is it hath been and it shall be the Saints and all the Saints have a peculiar sight of God that the world knowes not of To open it a little further that hearing that there is such a glorious thing you may look after it and set your minds to consider it I shall indeavour it as far as I may according to Scripture because there is nothing but the light of the word and Spirit that can discover this You will say what is this sight Or how is it Or how shall we understand it This sight of God which only Saints have is I will lay before you these 4 or 5 propositions in generall that you may have a little light of it out of the scriptures The first is this that the sight of God which the Sâ—â— 1 Imperfect have in this world it is but imperfect it is but in part it is not ful compleat until they be in heaven Not that I meane that they see some part of God in this world and they shall see him all in the other world No a Saint seeth God wholly here he sees all that is in God he sees his love he sees his power he sees his strength he sees his righteousnesse he sees his mercy he sees his all Attributes far otherwise then a carnall man can and that
not beleive in Judea and that my service for Jerusalem may be accepted of the Saints For Jesus Christs sake pray for me VVhy He was going to Jerusalem to carry money to the poore A man would think that they should be beholding to him that Paul a Preacher would come and bring it himself but I beseech you for Christs sake pray that the Saints may accept of my service O God give Parliament men and great ones that they may be Willing to doe for the Saints and to pray to God for the Saints acceptance It is a great matter for the Saints to accept the service of the Saints The Thirteenth thing to know a humble heart 13. He rejoyceth at the growth of grace in others by in his demeanour to the Saints is this he rejoyceth much that grace grows in others though it doe not in himselfe and he rejoyceth in the good that is done by others though he can doe none himselfe Paul 2 Cor. 4. 13. I rejoyce that ye be honourable though we be beggars A humble heart rejoyceth though he be the least of Saints yet to see such people grow and to have full grace and to thrive accordingly a proud heart will murmur and it is a signe of a cursed heart that doth not rejoyce in the good that is done by another it is a cursed hellish disposition in Numb 11. We read how diverse did Prophesie in the Campe and they come to Moses and desire him to forbid them O say they looke yonder he is turned Preacher now O sayth Moses I would that all Gods people did prophesie Now there are such a generation of men among us that will not indure that any good should be done but by themselves and if a poore man goe out of my Parish to another place for the good of his soul I must envie the man because he would get more good and others that have been trades-men though they be men of parts and breeding in the Army and elsewhere yet if they have not the languages though they teach the people gloriously yet we must crie them downe as Aereticks whereas if God will doe good by using such we should rejoyce if I rejoyce not in the good that is done by another in this Congregation or in the Armie or any where as much as if it were done by my selfe I am a cursed proud man Let us think of that Another thing which I spake of before is that 14. He can love though he be not loved a humble heart he can love though he be not loved As Paul sayth Though the more I love you the lesse â— be loved of you There is none but a humble heart that can love when it is not loved Lastly and so to make an end of this text the 15. He measures not himselfe by himselfe demeanour of a humble heart to the Saints it is seen in this he dares not measure himself by himself nor compare himself with himself You shall find that word 2 Cor 10. 12. VVe dare not make our selves of the number or compare our selves with some that commend themselves but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise Man naturally is the best judge of himselfe only every man hath abundance of self-love whereby every man thinks in every poynt better of himself then he is and they think themselves the wisest people in the World and that other people have no braines and so measure themselves with themselves Or rather thus I have observed in proud hearted professors to their ruyne unlesse God work a myracle that doe not approove their hearts to God nor to the generality of the Saints but measure themselves by themselves they are good because they think they are good or else they will have two or three fawning flatterers by them that shall commend them though all the VVorld condemne them yet if they approove them and commend them they care not Thereupon I have knowne some that have lost all their reputation with all the Saints excepting only two or three that would call black white and white black You shall have a great man when he hath done an action he will goe to his Chaplaine and say is not this well done and it may be he will flatter him in it We are all subject to this it is not peculiar to one alone We should make use of some friends when we have done an action that should be joynt judges in it and if they entertaine it for good we should account it so or else not for a World and if these condemne us we should hold our selves condemned but beware of setting a few creatures like our selves to be judges but to approve our selves before the Lord and before the Generation of Saints And so you have heard the demeanour of the Saints that they are humble in their carriage towards God and towards sinners and towards Saints And so much for this text Mount Sion OR The Priviledge and Practice OF THE SAINTS By WALTER CRADOCK late Preacher at ALHALLOWS Great in LONDON HEB. 12.22 But yee are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living GOD c. GAL. 4.26 But Jerusalem which is above is free which is the Mother of us all LONDON Printed in the Yeare 1649. SERMON I. Rom. 8. 4. That the righteousnesse of the law might be fullfilled in us who walke not after the flesh but after the spirit THE maine drift of the Apostle in this Epistle is to hold forth justification by faith or by free grace without the works of the law And in Chap. 7. The Apostle doth answer an objection For they might say what then shall we doe with the law if it cannot justifie us There the Apostle tells us that though the law cannot justifie us yet there are many blessed uses both for sinners and Saints to make of the law of which I shall not now speake Now in this 8th Chapter the Apostle drawes this conclusion from what he had said before There is therefore from what I have sayd it is evident that there is no condemnation there is no damnation there is no danger of hell to them which are in Christ Jesus Now he opens who those are he sayth they are those Who walke not after the flesh but after the spirit And he gives a reason of it in Vers 2. why there is no damnation to those people For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and of death Now he amplifies that in Vers 3. For what the law could not doe in that it was weake through the flesh God sending his owne son in the likenesse of sinfull flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh As if he should have sayd thus it comes about that we are now free from the law and that there is no damnation to us because sayth he that God hath sent his son in the