have thereby As namely that Jesus of Nazareth was God manifest in the Flesh the Son of God as well as the Son of man that he is that Saviour that was foretold and promised should come into the World to save lost man that he dyed for our sins and rose again for our justification and ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God tomake intercession for us that God hath made him both Lord and Christ and exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour c. Now then we recieve his Testimony when we believe the truth of those things which are revealed in the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ Joh. 3.33 He that hath received his Testimony hath set to his Seal that he is true Thus we receive Christ when we believe the Doctrine of the Gospel and continue therein And this is necessary to our enjoying an Interest in Christ 2 Joh. 9. He that abideth in the Doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son 2. We recieve Jesus Christ by the consent of our Wills When our Wills consent to take this Jesus for our Lord and Saviour as he is offered to us in the Gospel and we are willing to be ruled by him and to be saved by him in his own way Rev. 22.17 Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely The great work is to porswade and bring over the will to Christ to make a man willing to have Christ for his Lord and Saviour and to be willing to to be saved by him in Life and Death in his own way The averseness of the will to accept of Christ for our Lord and Saviour we may see from such Scriptures as these Ps 81.11 Israel would none of me Luk. 19.14 We will not have this man reign over us Joh. 5.40 Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life It is the work of God yea the power of God that is required to make a man willing to have Christ for his Lord and Saviour Phil. 2.13 It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure Ps 110.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power When our wills consent to take Christ as he offers himself to us he becomes ours As the consenting to the enticeing of Sinners makes us one with them and makes us partakers of their evil deeds Ps 51.18 2 John ver 11. And therefore Solomon adviseth Pro. 1.10 My Son if sinners entice thee consent thou not So by our consenting to receive Christ when he offers himself to us and wooeth and intreateth us to accept him we become one with and are made partakers of his benefits As 't is in Marriage it is not wooing and waiting but consenting that makes up the Match So it is in the mystical Marriage it is not inviting and calling and waiting but consenting makes up the Match 3. We receive Christ for our Saviour when we rely upon him and trust in him for Salvation and all things requisite unto Salvation When we look upon him as the only Saviour and as an all-sufficient Saviour and do trust in him for our eternal Salvation Eph. 1.13 In whom ye trusted after ye heard the word of truth the Gospel of your Salvation Ps 86.2 O thou my God save thy Servant that trusteth in thee The Lord was displeased with the Israelites when they did not trust in his Salvation Psal 78.21 22. The Lord was wroth because they believed not in God nor trusted in his Salvation In these three things consisteth this duty of receiving Christ 1. In the assent of the mind to the truth of those things that are revealed concerning Christ in the Gospel 2. In the consent of the will to take this Jesus for our Lord and Saviour 3. In the relyance or trust of the heart on Christ for Salvation 4. Christ becometh ours by our entring into Covenant with God When upon the call of the Gospel we come to Christ and believe in Christ then we enter into Covenant with God then God makes an everlasting Covenant with us Isa 55.3 Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your souls shall live and I will make an Everlasting Covenant with you even the sure Mercies of David And when the Lord takes us into his Covenant then Jesus Christ becometh ours and all his saving benefits become ours For one main branch of the covenant is to give us Christ and all his saving benefits Isa 42.6 I will give thee for a Covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes and to bring out the Prisoners from the Prison The great promise of the new covenant is I will be your God Ezek. 36.28 And when the Lord promiseth to be our God in that promise God the Father engageth himself to be our Father and God the Son engageth to be our Saviour and our Redeemer and God the Holy Ghost engageth to be our comforter How do we become Christs I. By the donation of the Father God the Father chose out of the children of men whom he saw good and gave them to Jesus Christ to be his peculiar people to be redeemed and saved by him Joh. 17.6 Thine they were and thou gavest them me 1 Pet. 2.9 Ye are a chosen generation a peculiar people All that God chose to eternal life he gave to Christ to redeem them So that all that are Christs are the Fathers and all that are the Fathers by election are the Sons by redemption Joh. 17.10 All mine are thine and thine are mine II. VVe are Christs by Redemption He bought us with a price he purchased us with his own blood he bought us Body and Soul for himself with a great price 1 Cor. 6.19 20. Ye are not your own ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your Spirits which are Gods The price that Christ gave for this purchase was his own blood Act. 20.28 To feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood III. We become Christs by the Spirits causing and enabling us to give our selves to Christ We become Christs by a voluntary resignation of our own selves unto him 2 Cor. 8.5 First gave their own selves unto the Lord. Isa 44.5 One shall say I am the Lord and another shall subscribe with his hand to the Lord. that is shall surely and firmly engage himself to be the Lords Servant Psal 116.16 O Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant IIII. VVe become Christs by vertue of the covenant He enters into covenant with us that he will graciously accept us to be his Ezek. 16.8 I entered into a Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine It is part of Gods Covenant that he will accept of us for his people Heb. 8.10 Ye shall be to me a people And as the Lord makes a covenant with us to accept us for his so
know what actings there are in our Souls towards God and Christ whether we chuse the Lord for our God and Portion and whether we accept of Christ for our Saviour and Redeemer or whether we refuse and reject him Psal 16.2 O my Soul thou hast said unto the Lord thâ—u art my God Lam. 3.24 The Lord is my portion saith my Soul Now this Testimony of our Consciences that we do accept of Christ on the terms of the Gospel to be ruled and saved by him in his own way is a good ground of comfort and may embolden us to hope that God doth accept us in Christ 2 Cor. 1.12 Our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience 1 Joh 3.21 Beloved if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God When I speak of the Testimony of Conscience witnessing our accepting of Christ on the terms of the Gospel understand it of a Conscience enlightned by the word and Spirit with the knowledge of Christ 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed and the knowledge of the terms on which God offers Salvation by Christ for if we know not the terms on which Christ is offered to us how can our Consciences witness to us that we do close with the terms of the Gospel 3. The grant or promise of God in the Gospel to all that recieve Christ that he shall be theirs and they shall be his Joh 1.12 As many as recieved him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his name Here is a priviledge granted and promised to all that do or shall recieve Christ how many soever they be that they shall become the Sons of God God will become their Father in Christ and will own them for his children Joh. 6.37 Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast him out In this promise is implyed that such as on the call of the Gospel close with Christ he will bestow himself and all his benefits on them for theirs and he will own them for his 4. Our finding in our selves those marks or characters which the Scriptures give of such as have a saving interest in Christ which will evidence to us that we have rightly recieved or closed with Christ As namely our having the Spirit of Christ given to us 1 Joh. 4.13 Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit Our loving and preserving Christ above all things Cant. 2.16 My beloved is mine and I am his But of these Scripture characters I have spoken before § Christ becomes theirs by covenant that accept of him How conduceth this to our comfort 2. If you would hold the perswasion of your interest in Christ as you must look to your grounds on which you lay claim to an interest in Christ so also it will be of great use to you to understand the nature of that covenant which Christ maketh with you when you come to him and accept of him on the terms of the Gospel The Lord Jesus takes all those that come to him upon the call and invitation of the Gospel into an everlasting covenant Isa 55.1 3. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters Incline your ear and come unto me And I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David Concerning this covenant which the Lord maketh with those that come to Christ we may observe these three or four things 1. This covenant is to give us Christ himself and all his saving benefits for ever I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure Mercies of David Christ the Son of David is called by the name of David Hos 3.5 Ezek. 34.24 And so the sure mercies of David are all those Mercies and Blessings which Jesus Christ hath purchased for us and made sure to us by an everlasting covenant 't is as much as to say I will enter covenant to give you my self and all my benefits That this covenant which Christ inters into with those that come to him is to give us an eternal interest in himself and all his benefits We may see Hos 2.19 20. I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in Mercies I will even betroth thee unto me in Faithfulness To open this Scripture consider 1. What it is for the Lord to betroth us unto himself It is to engage himself to us to be ours and to take us for his 2. For how long a time the Lord engageth himself to us and that is for ever I will betroth thee unto me for ever 3. The manner how he will betroth us to himself in Righteousness in Judgment in Mercies in Faithfulness It is a most sure contract made out of infinite mercy and managed with Wisdom and Judgment and shall be Righteously and Faithfully observed 4. The persons that the Lord will betroth to himself are those who are willing to be divorced from their sins and to accept of Christ for their Husband ver 7.19 I will go and return to my first Husband I will betroth thee to me They whom God taketh into Covenant with himself ver 18.19 I will make a Covenant for them And I will betroth thee to me for ever And 't is also to be observed that the Lord repeats this three times I will betroth thee yea I will betroth thee I will even betroth thee unto me that we may rest satisfied that our former sins though great shall not hinder us on our Repentance from this great priviledge of being betrothed to the Lord for ever That the covenant is to give a mutual and eternal interest that is that the Lord will be ours for ever and take us for his for ever you may see Ezek. 36.28 Yeshallbe my people and I will be your God Psal 48.14 This God is our God for ever and for ever Lam. 3.31 The Lord will not cast off for ever 1 Sam. 12.22 The Lord will not forsake his People for his great names sake because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people 2. This Covenant which the Lord Jesus Christ maketh with us upon our coming to him wherein he engageth to be ours and to take us for his for ever is a sure and everlasting covenant 2 Sam. 23.5 More firm and stedfast than the Hills and Mountains which shall all be removed out of their places sooner than Gods covenant shall be removed from us Isa 54.10 For the Mountains shall depart and the Hills shall be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee nor the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath Mercy on thee 3. The failings and back-slidings of the Members of Christ shall not make void this everlasting covenant he will chasten them for their sins and backslidings but he will not break his covenant with them Psal 89.30 31 32 33
we make a covenant with the Lord that we will become his people and continue his for ever 2 King 11.17 Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the King and the People that they should be the Lords People Sect. 3. Several grounds of Consolation against the troubles of Life and the fears and terrors of Death arising from an interest in Christ We have seen what is meant by an interest in Christ namely an actual right to and propriety in Christ himself as our Redeemer and a right to and propriety in all the saving benefits purchased by his Blood VVe have seen also how Christ becomes ours and how we become his Now let us consider what solid grounds of comfort we may have both against the fears and terrours of Death and the troubles of Life from our Redemption by Christ or from interest in Christ and those saving benefits which he hath purchased for us I. Jesus Christ hath fully perfectly and for ever reconciled unto God all that are his The elect as well as others were by nature the Children of wrath Eph. 2.3 But by the Death and sufferings of Christ they are redeemed from the wrath of God both for present and time to come Rom. 5.9 Being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him 1 Thes 1.10 Even Jesus which hath delivered us from wrath to come Our Lord Jesus Christ hath by his Death and sufferings fully reconciled all that are his unto God for ever Col. 1.19 20. Having made peace through the blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself c. All that are Christs whether they be such as are already in Heaven or such as are still upon the Earth were reconciled to God by that bloud that he shed upon the cross All that are Christs in all ages of the world and in all places of the world are reconciled to God by Christ 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself And as Christ hath reconciled all that are his unto God so he hath fully and perfectly reconciled them to God and that for ever by his offering up himself a Sacrifice to God for them Heb. 10.14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified I shall open this fulness and perfection of this Reconciliation in three or four particulars 1. Jesus Christ by his Death hath so fully reconciled all that are his unto God that he is pacified towards them notwithstanding all their offences whether original or actual and will not impute any one of their offences to them 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them The nature of reconciliation lyeth in pacifying God for the offence our sins have caused and this pacification Christ our High Priest hath wrought for us Heb. 2.17 That he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people And this pacification is so full that it is a pacification for all offences Ezek. 16.63 I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord. 2. Jesus Christ hath so fully reconciled all that are his unto God that God hath laid aside all his wrath against them and retaineth no fury at all against them Psal 85.3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath thou hast turned thy self from the fierceness of thine anger Isa 27.4 Fury is not in me 3. Jesus Christ hath so fully reconciled all that are his unto God that the Lord hath sworn that he will be wroth with them no more Isa 54.9 17. This is as the waters of Noah unto me for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the Earth so I have sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee This is the heritage of the Servants of the Lord. But some may say are not some of the Servants of Christ chastned very sorely and do they not complain that the wrath of God lyeth hard upon them as Heman Psal 88.7.16 How then is God true to his Oath that he will be wroth with them no more A. 1. The rebukes and chastnings of the Members of Christ do not come from wrath but love Rev. 3.19 Whom I love I rebuke and chasten 2. The people of God are subject to mistakes when they judge according to sence and not according to what is revealed in the word of God when they judge according to sence and feeling they may think many providences of God to be expressions of his wrath which they might understand to be all Mercy and to have no wrath in them if they did judge according to Faith and according to what they find in the word of God For there we read that All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies Ps 25.10 3. When the Lord swears that he will not be wroth nor rebuke his Servants it is to be understood of Eternal wrath that he will not rebuke them so as to destroy for so rebuking is sometimes understood namely of eternal destruction Ps 9.5 Thou hast rebuked the Heathen thou hast destroyed the wicked thou hast put out their name for ever and ever For this is like the Oath of God concerning the waters that covered the Earth in Noah's time God hath sworn that the VVaters shall no more cover the Earth to destroy the Earth as it did in Noah's Floud yet notwithstanding this Oath God doth often chasten the Inhabitants of the Earth with unseasonable rain and flouds but not such as shall destroy the world So when the Lord swears that he will not be wrath with or rebuke his Servants it 's of eternal wrath of casting them away for ever yet he may and often doth chasten them with temporal chastisements 4. Jesus Christ hath so fully reconciled all that are his unto God that he hath not only pacified his Fathers Anger but he hath restored and brought them into the love and favour of God Rom. 5.1 2. By whom also we have access by Faith into this grace wherein we stand By grace here is meant the love and favour of God and by Christ we have not only peace with God but access into and continuance in the grace and favour of God By Christ we are brought into an higher degree of the love and favour of God than Adam did enjoy while he was in innocency For we are under a better Covenant and have better promises than Adam had Adam was in the favour of God yet so as he was capable of losing the favour of God and being a child of wrath And by his fall he did lose the love of God But they that are Christs are so confirmed in the love of God that Gods loving kindness shall never depart from them Isa 54.10 The Mountains shall depart and the Hills be
it can do us no harm 2. VVhen our sins are pardoned we may be assured our Souls shall be saved for God glorifieth all whom he justifieth Rom. 8.30 Whom he justified them he also glorified Tit. 3.7 That being justified by his grace we should be made Heirs according to the hope of eternal life 3. Jesus Christ by his death and sufferings hath obtained for all that are his freedom from eternal condemnation and this is a ground of strong consolation under all the troubles of this life and against the fears and terrours of Death There is not any one person that belongeth to Christ that hath an interest in Christ that shall come into condemnation Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus That our Lord Jesus Christ hath redeemed all that are his from eternal condemnation is evident several wayes 1. Because Christ dyed for us Rom. 8.34 Who shall condemn It is Christ that dyed The Death of Christ is our security from Eternal Death He laid down his life on purpose to ransome us from Eternal condemnation Math. 20.28 The Son of man came to give his life a ransome for many out of respect to and for the sake of this ransome God will deliver all that are Christs from going down into the bottomless pit Job 33.24 Deliver him from going down into the pit for I have found a ransom 2. The ground and cause of our Condemnation is taken away by the Death of Christ which is sin For God condemneth no man but for sin and therefore Christ having by his Death taken away our sins hath taken away condemnation from us 3. God out of respect to the death and sufferings of Christ hath promised that none that believe in Christ shall come into condemnation Joh. 3.16 18. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but should have everlasting life He that believeth on him is not condemned Job 5.24 Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from Death unto Life 4. The Keys of Hell are in the hands of Jesus Christ he hath power to cast into Hell and to keep out of Hell whom he pleaseth Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of Hell and of Death And if the Keys of Hell be in the hands of Christ then all they that are Christs are upon sure grounds that they shall not come into condemnation for he will not in any wife cast any of his Members into eternal torments Joh. 6.37 Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out And seeing all they that are Christs are redeemed from eternal condemnation this may comfort them under all the troubles of this world and against the fears and terrors of Death It may scatter and dispel all our sorrows and fill our hearts with joy and gladness when we understand and believe that we are ransomed and delivered from eternal torments Isa 35.10 The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with Songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away This hath relation to the deliverance of the Jews out of the Babylonian Captivity which was a type of our deliverance from eternal misery when God brought them out of their captivity they were filled with joy and singing Psal 126.1 2. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing Now if there were such joy and singing by the ransomed of the Lord that were delivered from Babylon what joy and gladness may arise to the ransomed of the Lord from their deliverance from Hell torments Hell is a worse place than Babylon the captivity of Babylon was but for 70 years but Hell torments are for Eternity David speaks of his deliverance from Hell as an unexpressible Mercy and that he would praise God with all his heart and glorifie him for evermore for such a great mercy Psal 86.12 13. I will praise thee O Lord my God with all my heart and I will glorifie thy name for evermore for great is thy mercy toward me and thou hast delivered my Soul from the lowest Hell And this his deliverance from the lowest Hell was a comfort to him when the proud rose up against him and the assemblies of violent men sought after his Soul ver 14.17 When we know and believe that we are freed from condemnation by the death of Christ this may cause us to triumph over death when we are killed all the day long and counted as Sheep for the slaughter Rom. 8.34 36 37. Who shall condemn It is Christ that dyed For thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted as Sheep for the slaughter Nay in all these things we are more then Conquerors through him that loved us When we are freed from condemnation we may triumph over Death though we walk in danger of Death all the day long more than Conquerours triumph over their conquered enemies IV. They that are Christs have a sure and undoubted right to eternal life and that sure hope which they have of eternal life is a ground of strong consolation under all the troubles of this life and against the fears and terrours of Death They that are Christs have a sure and undoubted right to Eternal Life 1 Joh. 5.12 He that hath the Son hath Life It is not said he shall have Life but he hath Life that is he may be as sure of it as if he had it already He hath an undoubted right an unquestionable Title to eternal life He hath it in the purpose and decree of God he hath it in the promise of God And that by life here is meant eternal life is evident from the following words they that have Christ dwelling in their hearts by Faith have a sure ground and foundation for their hope of eternal glory Col. 1.27 Christ in you the hope of Glory That all that are Christs have an undoubted right to and sure grounds to hope for eternal Life may be demonstrated several wayes 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ dyed on purpose that he might purchase and procure eternal life for all that should believe on him Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses listed up the Serpent in the Wilderness so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life By the lifting up of the Son of man is meant his suffering death upon the Cross Joh. 12.32 33. And this death he suffered that he might purchase eternal life for all that should believe on him 1 Thes 5.9 10. God hath not appointed us unto wrath but to obtain Salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ
sooner you shall come to the knowledge of your interest in God Psal 16.1 2. In thee do I put my trust O my Soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord Psal 31.14 But I trusted in thee O Lord I said thou art my God 4. Learn to deny your selves for Christ for the more you are exercifed in self-denial the sooner you shall attain to know your interest in Christ After Abraham had denyed himself of taking a reward from the King of Sodom God came to him with a promise to assure him of his interest in God Gen. 15.1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a Vision saying Fear not Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward 5. Set your love upon Christ The Spouse finding in her heart an ardent love to Christ could say Cant. 2.16 My Beloved is mine To such as love Christ there is a promise that he will manifest himself to their Souls John 14.21 6. Labour to order your Conversation aright and to live righteously and holily Psal 50.23 Isa 32.17 7. Attend frequently that sealing ordinance of the Lords upper the neglect or careless use whereof is the reason so few Christians attain to assurance of their interest in Christ Exhort 3. Learn how to fetch comfort from Christ in all troubles How to retain the knowledge of your interest in Christ VVhat you should do that can't make out your interest in Christ in a day of trouble and at an hour of death I have shewn that there is comfort to be had in Christ for such as have an interest in him not only under outward but also under Soul troubles Now I shall conclude this discourse with the resolution of three questions 1. How may we fetch comfort from Christ in all our troubles 2. How may such as have attained the knowlede of their interest in Christ retain the same 3. VVhat shall they do that want the knowledge of their interest in Christ Sect. 1. How may we fetch comfort from Christ in all our troubles both inward and outward 1. Get Acquaintance with Christ and those benefits we have by Christ The more we have of the knowledge of Christ the more peace and comfort we shall have in our Souls 2 Pet. 1.2 Grace and peace be multiplyed unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. As grace so peace also is multiplyed given abundantly through the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ And as the knowledge of Christ tends much to the multiplying of peace and comfort so also doth the knowledge of the benefits that we have by Christ very much promote our comfort under all our troubles as I might shew by instancing in the several benefits we have by Christ I will mention three or four 1. By Christ we are reconciled to God and have an attonement made for our Souls God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself The knowledge of this attonement which Christ hath made for us will fill our hearts with joy and gladness Rom. 5.11 We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the attonement 2. By Christ we have remission of all our sins Act. 13.38 39. And the knowledge of remission of sins is a ground of joy in all troubles Matth. 9.2 Son be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee 3. By Christ our persons and services are accepted of God Eph. 1.6 And the acceptation of our persons and services may put great joy and gladness into our hearts Eccl. 9.7 Go thy way eat thy bread with joy and drink thy Wine with a merry heart for God now accepteth thy works 4. By Jesus Christ we have a perfect and compleat righteousness Rom. 10.4 And this is matter of great joy Isa 61.10 I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord my Soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath cloathed me with the Garments of Salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness 5. By Christ we have boldness to hope for eternal life Heb. 10.19 And hope of eternal life is a ground of great joy in all our troubles Rom. 5.2 We rejoyce in hope of the glory of God 6. By Christ there is a new Covenant established full of precious promises And the knowledge of the Covenant layeth a foundation for peace and comfort in all troubles Psal 25.13 14. His Soul shall dwell at ease He wil shew them his Covenant To be at ease intimates a relief against all sorts of Malidies for if there be any thing that disquiets the Soul it is not at ease Dwelling at ease implyeth a permanency of Spiritual comforts Now here comes the Soul to dwell at ease when the outward man is exposed to variety of troubles It is by being acquainted with the Covenant II. If you would fetch comfort from Christ under all troubles get and keep clear apprehensions of your interest in Christ and in those benefits which he hath purchased with his blood Darkness and doubts about our interest hinder our comfort but when we know Christ to be ours our Saviour and our Redeemer this will make our Souls greatly to rejoyce under all our troubles Luk. 1.47 My Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour 1 Sam. 30.6 David was greatly distressed for the people spake of stoning him But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God Ps 27. 1. The Lord is my light and my Salvation whom shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my Life of whom shall I be afraid III. Keep in remembrance and meditate on the benefits you have by Christ as Reconciliation with God Remission of sins Adoption Sanctification Eternal life c. For those things that are forgotten and out of mind yield no comfort to us It is the remembrance and meditating on Christ and the benefits of Christ that brings in sweetness and Soul-satisfying comforts Ps 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet Ps 63.5 6. My Soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches Ps 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my Soul IV. In all your troubles both inward and outward keep up your Faith in Christ and in God through Christ Trust in God that for Christs sake he will give you all the blessings purchased with the blood of Christ and promised in the new Covenant For this is the way to keep your hearts from being troubled and to fill your Souls with peace and joy Rom. 15.13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing Isa 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee 1 Pet. 1.8 In whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory John 14.1 Let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me
hearts about our Spiritual estate 5. Another help to the holding the perswasion of our interest in Christ is to commune often with our own hearts about our Spiritual state and the grounds of our claiming an interest in Christ and our performance of those terms which the Gospel proposeth in order to our enjoying the saving benefits of Christ as namely whether we do indeed believe on him and repent of our sins and obey Christ as our Lord and love and prefer him above all things and deny our selves and take up our Cross and follow him For 1. The oftner we search our selves and commune with our own hearts the clearer Knowledge we shall have of our Spiritual state 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you If we be doubtful and desirous to know whether Christ be in us the way to come unto this knowledge is to examine our selves whether we be in the Faith What the Psalmist saith of Gods searching him Psal 139.1 O Lord thou hast searched me and known me The same is true of searching our selves by searching our selves we shall know our selves As Solomon by communing with his own heart grew in Wisdom and Experience Eccl. 1.16 I communed with mine own heart Yea my heart had great Experience of Wisdom and Knowledge So shall we have great experience and knowledge of our hearts if we do often commune with them 2. While we are communing with our own hearts about our Spiritual Estate it pleaseth the Lord oft times to draw War to us and to illuminate our minds and to evidence to us the Graces that are wrought in us As it fared with the two Disciples Luk. 24.15 And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned Jesus himself drew near and went with them So it often comes to pass with the Children of God whilst they are Communing and Reasoning with their own hearts that Jesus Christ draws near to them with his Holy Spirit and sealeth up Instruction to them And as it was with Moses when he turned aside to see and consider that great work of God a Bush burning and not consumed when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see the work of God God spake to Moses and revealed himself to him Exod. 3.3 4 6. So 't is here when we turn aside from our worldly affairs to commune with our own hearts about the workings of Gods grace upon our Souls he reveals and discovers to us our covenant interest in himself 3. Communing with our own hearts and recollecting former experiences of Gods gracious dealings with us will still those troubled thoughts which arise in our minds about our Spiritual and Eternal State Psal 4.4 Commune with your own heart upon your Bed and be still When the Psalmist was in a troubled condition and had many sad thoughts as if God would cast him off for ever and shew him no Mercy he was quieted when he communed with his own heart and recollected Gods gracious dealings with him in former days Psal 77.6 7 8 9 10. 4. Frequent communing with our own hearts will discover our irregular walkings and put us upon returning to God after we have gone astray Psal 119.59 I thought on my wayes and turned my Feet unto thy Testimonies And turning to God and walking in his ways will preserve our peace and maintain a Spirit of Adoption in us Jer. 3.19 Thou shalt call me my Father and shall not turn away If we would call God our Father we must be careful we do not turn away from the Lord. § Get Scruples resolved 6. See what are your most material doubts and scruples which make you call in question your Interest in Christ and beg of God to resolve those doubts and remove those scruples and observe what Resolution God gives you by his Word and Spirit after you sought to him by Prayer For after Prayer God is wont to give us intimation of our Interest in himself and his Son and to give us boldness to claim our interest in him Zech. 13.9 They shall call and I will hear them I will say it is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God Such intimations of our Interest in God and Christ and such encouragements to claim Interest in God as are given in after Prayer are to be carefully observed and recorded safely for they may be of great use to us what was said in the fourth direction about the state of a Christian in this present evil world may be of great use to the resolving scruples about our Interest in Christ And also what is added after the use of Examination § What to do when we can't get our doubts and scruples answered 7. When your doubts and scruples and darkness are of that nature that you can't come to a Resolution about your interest in Christ close a new with Jesus Christ Seeing your selves under the offer of Christ in the gospel say thus within your selves though I can't make out that Christ is mine I see God offers him freely to me and therefore I will now accept of him that he may be mine and I do and will in a solemn manner engage my self to him to be his This will cut those knots in sunder which we can't untie And a frequent renewal of our choice of Christ for our Lord and Saviour our renewed acceptance of him upon the terms of the Gospel with mature deliberation and judgment and solemn surrendring our selves to Christ to be his would tend much to the clearing our interest Psal 119.30 94. I have chosen the way of truth I am thine David who had chosen God to be his God and the ways of God to be the ways that he would walk in could with an holy boldness say unto God I am thine save me § An Holy Conversation is a means to preserve the Assurance of our Interest in Christ 8. If we would retain the perswasion of our Interest in Christ we must be careful to order our Conversations aright and walk as becometh the Gospel of Christ for an Holy Conversation is a special means to obtain the assurance of our Salvation Psal 50.23 To him that ordereth his Conversation aright will I shew the Salvation of God Isa 32.17 The work of Righteousness shall be Peace and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever I might instance here in some particular branches of Righteousness which tend to the breeding and preserving of an assurance of our being in a state of Grace and Salvation as walking in Love and being ready to do all offices of Love one for another 1 Joh. 3.18.19 My little Children let us not love in Word or in Tongue but in Deed and in Truth And hereby we know that we are of the Truth and shall assure our hearts before him This is the way not only to get assurance but to keep it to the end of our
Upon hearing this Exhortation let not your hearts be troubled the Disciples might have replyed Lord hast thou not told us that in the world we shall have tribulation that we shall be hated of all men for thy names sake and that we shall be cast out of the Synagogue and that men shall lay hands on us and put us into Prisons and we shall be brought before Kings and Rulers and that men will think they do God good service when they kill us How shall we keep our hearts from being troubled when all these troubles come upon us As a remedy against their hearts being troubled he bids them believe on God and on himself Believe on God believe also on me V. In all your distresses give your selves to Prayer for that is the way to be filled with comforts and to have your sorrows turned into joy John 16.20 24. Verily Verily I say unto you that ye shall weep and lament but the world shall rejoyce and ye shall be sorrowful but your sorrow shall be turned into joy And what counsell and direction doth he give them that their sorrow may be turned into joy It is to give themselves unto Prayer Ask and ye shall recieve that your joy may be full The like direction the Apostle gives us for keeping our minds from all kind of troublesome cares and for the obtaining that peace which passeth all understanding and that is to give our selves to Prayer Phil. 4.6 7. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God And the peace of Goà which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus VI. Let the word of Christ dwell richly in your hearts that you may have some suitable promises to have recourse unto in all your troubles for that will give you abiding peace and strong Consolation in all your troubles Col. 3.15 16. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts But some may say how shall we attain to this to have the peace of God rule in our hearts the following words shew this Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all Wisdom By the peace of God we may understand not only that peace which God commands us to have one with another but that peace which God gives in our own hearts and Consciences as it is taken Phil. 4.7 Then the peace of God rules in our hearts when it keeps our hearts quiet under all troubles so as no troubles are able to disturb and break our peace Now the way to attain to this is to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all Wisdom Then the word of Christ dwells with us when it abides in our hearts we are acquainted with it and we converse daily with it as we do with those that dwell in the same house with us Then it dwels in us richly when we are well stored with the promises of the word when we have promises suitable to every condition and every trouble that we pass through Then it dwells with us in all Wisdom when we have the right understanding of the word and know how to make use of it upon all occasions as we stand in need of it It was by the word that David found comfort in all his afflictions Psal 119 49 50. Remember thy word unto thy Servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope It was also from the word of God that Jeremiah had his comforts under his greatest sorrows when he complained that his pain was perpetual and his wound incurable Jer. 15.16 Thy words were found and I did eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoycing of mine heart And that it was a time of great distress with the Prophet when Gods word was the joy and rejoycing of his heart is evident from ver 18. Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable that refuseth to be healed VII Walk in the fear of God and hold fast your integrity in all your troubles and then you shall have the comforts of the Holy Ghost and the light of Consolation shall arise upon you in the darkest days Act. 9.31 Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost Psal 112.4 Vnto the Vpright there ariseth Light in Darkness Though you suffer for Righteousness sake yet love Righteousnes and hate Iniquity and in so doing the Lord will anoint you with the Oyl of joy and gladness Psal 45 7. Thou lovest Righteousness and hatest Wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the Oyl of gladness above thy fellows VIII When by your sins and backslidings you have lost your comforts humble your Souls for your sins and the Lord will restore your lost comforts Isa 57.18 I will restore comforts to him and to his Mourners Mat. 5.4 Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted IX Keep up the belief and perswasion of Gods Love to your Souls through Christ notwithstanding all the troubles that come upon your inward or outward man for the apprehension of Gods love will fill your hearts with joy and gladness and be a ground of everlasting Joy to your Souls Act 2.28 Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance 2 Thes 2.16 God even our Father which hath loved us and given us everlasting Consolation Joh 13.1 Jesus loves his own and that to the end even whilst in a sinful and troublesome world The knowledge of the love of God in Christ causeth abiding joy and sulness of joy Joh. 15.9 11. As the Father hath loved me so have I loved you These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full Sect. 2. How may such as have gotten the knowledge of their interest in Christ retain the knowledge and perswasion of their interest in Christ It is of great use in the Life of Faith and the promoting our Spiritual comfort not only to get the knowledge of our interest in Christ and his saving benefits but also to retain this knowledge And because this is not easily done I shall lay down some helps thereto § What are good grounds to lay claim to an interest in Christ I. Understand and be clear in your grounds on which you lay claim to an interest in Christ and Salvation by Christ and see that they be solid consonant to the Scriptures and such as will hold and abide in an hour of temptation And if you ask what are good and sure grounds for claiming an interest in Christ I answer 1. The free and general offer of Christ and Salvation by Christ made in the Gospel to every one that is willing to recieve Rev. 22.17 And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely 2. The testimony of our own Consciences that we do willingly cordially and thankfully accept of Christ as God offers him to us in the Gospel Our Consciences