God The heart of God is so propense and ready to grant the desires of Believers that it is but ask and have Mat. 7. 7. the dore of grace is opened at the knock of prayer that is a favourite indeed to whom the King gives a blank to insert what request he will If ye abide in me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you John 15. 7. Oh blessed liberty of the sons of God! David did but say Lord turn the Counsel of Ahitophel into foolishness and it was done as soon as asked 2 Sam. 15. 31. Joshua did but say Thou Sun stand still in Gibeon and a miraculous stop was presently put to its swift motion in the Heavens nay which is wonderful to consider a prayer in the womb yet unborn I mean conceived in the heart and not yet uttered by the lips of Believers is often anticipated by the propenseness of free grace Isai. 65. 24. And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and whilst they are yet speaking I will hear The prayers of others are rejected as an abomination Prov. 15. 8. God casts them back into their-faces Mal. 2. 3. But free grace signs the petitions of the Saints more readily than they are presented we have not that freedom to ask that God hath to give 't is true the answer of a Believers prayers may be a long time suspended from his sense and knowledge but every prayer according to the will of God is presently granted in Heaven though for wise and holy ends they may be held in a doubtful suspense about them upon earth Fourthly The free discoveries of the secrets of Gods heart to Believers speaks them to be his special favourites men open not the counsels and secrets of their own hearts to enemies or strangers but to their most inward and intimate friends The secret of the Lord is-with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Psal. 25. 14. When God was about to destroy Sodom he will do nothing in that work of judgement till he had acquainted Abraham his friend with his purpose therein Gen. 18. 17. And the Lord said Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do for I know him c. So when a King was to be elected for Israel and the person whom God had chosen was yet unknown to the people God as it were whispered that secret unto Samuel the day before 1 Sam. 9. 15. Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came according to the manner of Princes with some special favourite Fifthly The Lords receiving every small thing that comes from them with grace and favour when mean while he rejects the greatest things offered by others doth certainly bespeak Believers the special favourites of God There was but one good word in a whole sentence from Sarah and that very word is noted and commended by God 1 Pet. 3. 6. She called him Lord. There were but some small beginnings or buddings of grace in young Abijah and the Lord took special notice of it 1 Kings 14. 12. Because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam Let this be an encouragement to young ones in whom there are found any breathing desires after Christ God will not reject them if any sincerity be found in them a secret groan uttered to God in sincerity shall not be despised Rom. 8. 26. The very bent of a Believers will when he hath no more to offer unto God is an acceptable present 2 Cor. 8. 11. The very intent and purpose that lies secretly in the heart of a Believer not yet executed is accepted with him 1 Kings 8. 18. Where as it was in thine heart to build an house to my name thou didst well that it was in thine heart Thus small things offered to God by Believers find acceptance with him whilst the greatest presents even solemn assemblies Sabbaths and prayers from others are rejected They are a trouble unto me saith God I am weary to bear them Isai. 1. 14 15. Incense from Sheba the sweet Cane from a far Country are not acceptable nor sacrifices sweet unto God from other hands Jer. 6. 20. From all which it appears beyond doubt that the persons and duties of Believers are accepted into the special favour of God by Jesus Christ which was the second thing to be spoken to and brings us to the third general viz. Thirdly How Christ the Beloved procures this benefit for 3. Believers And this he doth four ways First By the satisfaction of his blood Rom. 5. 10. When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son No friendship without reconciliation no reconciliation but by the blood of Christ therefore the new and living way by which Believers come unto God with acceptance is said to be consecrated for us through the veil of Christs flesh and hence believers have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Heb. 10. 19 20. Secondly The favour of God is procured for Believers by their mystical union with Christ whereby they are made members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Eph. 5. 30. So that look as Adams posterity stood upon the same terms that he their natural head did so Believers Christs mystical members stand in the favour of God by the favour which Christ their spiritual head hath John 17. 33. I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me Thirdly Believers are brought into favour with God by Christs becoming their Altar upon which their persons and duties are all offered up to God the Altar sanctifies the gift Heb. 13. 10. And this was typified by that legal rite mentioned Luke 1. 9 10. Christ is that golden Altar from whence all the prayers of the Saints ascend to the throne of God perfumed with the odours and incense of his merits Rev. 8. 34. And another Angel came and stood at the Altar having a golden Censer and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the Throne and the smoak of the incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand And thus you see how the persons and duties of Believers are brought into favour and acceptance with God by Jesus Christ. The Uses follow Inference 1. If all Believers be in favour with God how great a mercy is Inference 1. it to have the prayers of such ingaged on our behalf Would we have our business speed in Heaven let us get into favour with God our selves and engage the prayers of his people the favourites of Heaven for us vis unita
fortior one Believer can do much many can do more when Daniel designed to get the knowledge of that secret hinted in the obscure dream of the King which none but the God of Heaven could make known it 's said Dan. 2. 17. Then Daniel went to his House and made the thing known to Hanania Mishael and Azaria his Companions that they would desire mercies of the God of Heaven concerning this secret The benefit of such assistance in prayer by the help of other favourites with God is plainly intimated by Jesus Christ unto us Mat. 18. 19. If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven God sometimes stands upon a number of voices for the carrying of some publick mercy because he delighteth in the harmony of many praying souls and also loves to oblige and gratifie many in the answer and return of the same prayer I know this usage is grown too formal and complemental among Professors but certainly it is a great advantage to be inward with them who are so with God St. Bernard prescribing rules for effectual prayer closes them up with this wish cum talis fueris memento mei when thy heart is in this frame then remember me Inference 2. If Believers be such favourites in Heaven in what a desperate Inference 2. condition is that Cause and those Persons against whom the generality of Believers are daily engaged in prayers and cries to Heaven Certainly Rome shall feel the dint and force of the many millions of prayers that are gone up to Heaven from the Saints for many generations the cries of the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus joyned with the cries of thousands of Believers will bring down vengeance at last upon the Man of sin 'T is said Rev. 8. 4 5 6. That the smoak of the incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand and immediately it is added vers 5. And the Angel took the Censer and filled it with fire of the Altar and cast it into the earth and there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and earth-quakes and the seven Angels which had the seven Trumpets prepared themselves to sound The prayer of a single Saint is sometimes followed with wonderful effects Psal. 18. 6 7. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God he heard my voice out of his Temple and my cry came before him even into his ears then the earth shook and trembled the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth what then can a thundring legion of such praying souls do It was said of Luther iste vir potuit cum Deo quicquid voluit that man could have of God what he would his enemies felt the weight of his prayers and the Church of God reaped the benefits thereof The Queen of Scots professed she was more afraid of the Prayers of Mr. Knox than of an army of ten thousand men these were mighty wrestlers with God howsoever contemned and vilified among their enemies There Jacobus Lanigius the Sorbone Doctor who wrote the lives of Luther Knox and Calvin speaks as if the Devil had hired his pen to abuse those precious servants of Christ. will a time come when God will hear the prayers of his people who are continually crying in his ears How long Lord how long Inference 3. Let no Believer be dejected at the contempts and slightings of Inference 3. men so long as they stand in the grace and favour of God it is the lot of the best men to have the worst usage in this world those of whom the world was not worthy are not thought 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e the sweepings of the house the filth wiped off any thing Erasmus the dirt that sticks to the Shoos Valla the dung of the Belly as the Syriack translates The condemned man that was tumbled from a steep Rock into the Sea as a sacrifice to Neptune was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Budeus Sit pro nobis 〈◊〉 worthy to live in the world Heb. 11. 38. Paul and his Companions were men of choice and excellent spirits yet saith he 1 Cor 4. 13. Being defamed we intreat we are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day they are words signifying the basest contemptiblest and most abhorred things among men How is Heaven and Earth divided in their Judgements and estimations of the Saints those whom men call filth and dirt God calls a peculiar Treasure a Crown of Glory a Royal Diadem But trouble not thy self Believer for the unjust censures of the blind world they speak evil of the things they know not he that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of no man 1 Cor. 2. 14. You can discern the earthliness and baseness of their spirits they want a faculty to discern the excellency and choiceness of your spirits He that carries a dark Lanthorn in the night can discern him that comes against him and yet is not discerned by him a Courtier regards not a slight in the Country so long as he hath the ear and favour of his Prince Inference 4. Never let Believers fear the want of any good thing necessary Inference 4. for them in this world the favour of God is the fountain of all blessings provisions protections even of all that you need He hath promised that he will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly Psal. 84. 11. He that is bountiful to his enemies will not withhold what is good from his friends The favour of God will not only supply your needs but protect your persons Psal. 5. 12. Thou wilt bless the righteous with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield Inference 5. Hence also it follows that the sins of Believers are very piercing Inference 5. things to the heart of God The unkindness of those whom he hath received into his very bosom upon whom he hath set his special favour and delight who are more obliged to him than all the people of the earth beside O this wounds the very heart of God What a melting expostulation was that which the Lord used with David 2 Sam. 12. 7 8. I anointed thee King over all Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul and I gave thee thy masters house and thy masters wives into thy bosom and gave thee the house of Israel and Juda and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord But Reader if thou be a reconciled person a favourite with God and hast grieved him by any eminent transgression how should it melt thy heart to hear the Lord thus expostulating with thee I delivered thee out of
true God is merciful plenteous in mercy his mercy is great above the heavens mercy pleaseth him and all this they that are in Christ shall find experimentally to their comfort and salvation but what is all this to thee if thou beest Christless There is not one drop of saving mercy that comes in any other Chanel than Christ to the soul of any man But must I then expect no mercy out of Christ This is a hard case very uncomfortable doctrine Yes thou maist be a Christless and Covenantless soul and yet have variety of temporal mercies as Ishmael had Gen. 17. 20 21. God may give thee the fatness of the Earth Riches Honours Pleasures a numerous and prosperous Posterity will that content thee Yes if I may have Heaven too no no neither Heaven nor Pardon nor any other Spiritual or Eternal mercy may be expected out of Christ Jude vers 21. O deceive not your selves in this point There are two bars betwixt you and all Spiritual mercies viz. the guilt of sin and the filth of sin and nothing but your own union with Christ can remove these and so open the passage for Spiritual mercies to your souls Why but I will repent of sin strive to obey the Commands of God make restitutions for the wrongs I have done cry to God for mercy bind my soul with vows and strong resolutions against sin for time to come will not all this lay a ground work for hope of mercy to my soul No no this will not this cannot do it First All your sorrows tears and mournings for sin cannot obtain mercy could you shed as many tears for any one sin that ever you committed as all the children of Adam have shed upon any account whatsoever since the creation of the World they will not purchase the pardon of that one sin for the Law accepts no short payment it requires plenary satisfaction and will not discharge any soul without it nor can it acknowledge or own your sorrows to be such the repentance of a soul in Christ finds through him acceptance with God but out of him it 's nothing Secondly All your strivings to obey the Commands of God and live more strictly for time to come will not obtain mercy Mat. 5. 20. Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Thirdly Your restitution and reparation of wrongs you have done cannot obtain mercy Judas restored and yet was damned man is repaired but God is not remission is the act of God 't is he must loose your Consciences from the bond of guilt or they can never be loosed Fourthly All your cryes to God for mercy will not prevail for mercy if you be out of Christ Mat. 7. 22. Job 27. 9. A righteous Judge will not reverse the just sentence of the Law though the Prisoner at the Bar fall upon his knees and cry mercy mercy Fifthly Your vows and engagements to God for time to come cannot obtain mercy for they being made in your own strength 't is impossible you should keep them and if you could yet it is impossible they should obtain remission and mercy should you never sin more for time to come yet how shall God be satisfied for sins past Justice must have satisfaction or you can never have remission Rom. 3. 25 26. and no work wrought by man can satisfie Divine Justice nor is the satisfaction of Christ made over to any for their discharge but to such only as are in him therefore never expect mercy out of Christ. Inference 2. Is Christ the mercy of mercies greater better and more necessary Inference 2. than all other mercies then let no inferiour mercy satisfie you for your portion God hath mercies of all sorts to give but Christ is the chief the prime mercy of all mercies O be not satisfied without that mercy When Luther had a rich present sent him Valde protestatus sum me nolle sie ab eo satiari Luth. he protested God should not put him off so and David was of the same mind Psal. 17. 14. If the Lord should give any of you the desires of your hearts in the good things of this life let not that satisfie you whilst you are Christless For First What is there in these earthly enjoyments whereof the vilest of men have not a greater fulness than you Job 21. 7 8 9 10 11. Psal. 17. 10. Psal. 73. 3 12. Secondly What comfort can all these things give to a soul already condemned as thou art Joh. 3. 18. Thirdly What sweetness can be in them whilst they are all unsanctified things to you Enjoyments and their sanctification are two distinct things Psal. 37. 16. Prov. 10. 22. Thousands of unsanctified enjoyments will not yield your souls one drop of solid spiritual comfort Fourthly What pleasure can you take in these things out of which death must shortly strip you naked You must die you must dye and whose then shall all those things be for which you have laboured Be not so fond to think of Tunc edax flamma combâ—…ret quos nunc carnalis delectatio polluit leaving a great name behind you 't is but a poor felicity as Chrysostom well observes to be tormented where thou art and praised where thou art not the sweeter your portion hath been on earth the more intolerable will your condition be in Hell yea these earthly delights do not only encrease the torments of the damned but also prepare as they are instruments of sin the souls of men for damnation Prov. 1. 32. Surely the prosperity of fools shall destroy them be restless therefore till Christ the mercy of mercies be the root and fountain yielding and sanctifying all other mercies to you Inference 3. Is Jesus Christ the mercy of mercies infinitely better than all other mercies then let all that be in Christ be content and well Inference 3. satisfied whatever other inferiour mercies the wisdom of God seems fit to deny them you have a Benjamins portion a plentiful inheritance in Christ will you yet grumble Others have Houses splendid and magnificent upon earth but you have an house made without hands eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5. 1. Others are cloathed with rich and costly apparel your souls are cloathed with the white pure robes of Christs righteousness Isai. 61. 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my soul shall be joyfull in my God for he hath cloathed me with the garment of salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness as a Bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments and as a Bride adorneth her self with Jewels Let those that have full Tables heavy Purses rich Lands but no Christ be rather objects of your pity than envy 't is better like store-cattle to be kept lean and hungry than with the fatted Ox to tumble in flowry Meadows thence to be led away to the shambles God hath not a better
all to be administred in his name Church Officers are Commissioned by him Eph. 4. 11. The Judgement of the world in the great day will be administred by him Mat. 25. 31. Then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory To conclude Jesus Christ shall have glory and honour ascribed to him for evermore by Angels and Saints upon the account of his Mediatorial work This some Divines call his passive glory the glory which he is to receive from his redeemed ones Rev. 5. 8 9 10. And when he had taken the Book the four Beasts and the four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of Odours which are the prayers of the Saints and they sung a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation c. And thus you see that our Lord Jesus Christ is upon all accounts the Lord of Glory The Uses follow Inference 1. How wonderful was the love of Christ the Lord of glory to be so abased and humbled as he was for us vile and sinful Inference 1. dust 'T is astonishing to conceive that ever Jesus Christ should strip himself out of his Robes of Glory to cloath himself with the thread-bare tatters of our flesh Oh what a stoop did he make in his incarnation for us If the most magnificent Monarch upon earth had been degraded into a Toad if the Sun in the Heavens had been turned into a wandring Atom if the most glorious Angel in Heaven had been transformed into a silly Fly it had been nothing to the abasement of the Lord of Glory This act is every where celebrated in Scripture as the great mystery the astonishing wonder of the whole world 2 Tim. 3. 16. Phil. 2. 8. Rom. 8. 3. The Lord of glory looked not like himself when he came in the habit of a man Isai. 53. 3. We hid as it were our faces from him nay rather like a worm than a man Psal. 22. 6. A reproach of men and despised of the people The Birds of the air and Beasts of the earth were here provided of better accommodations than the Lord of glory Mat. 8. 20. Oh stupendious abasement Oh love unspeakable Though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. He put off the Crown of Glory to put on the Crown of Thorns quanto pro me vilior tanto mihi charior said Bernard the lower he humbled himself for me the dearer he shall be to me Inference 2. How transcendently glorious is the advancement of Believers by their union with the Lord of Glory This also is an admirable Inference 2. and astonishing mystery 't is the highest dignity of which our nature is capable to be hypostatically united and the greatest glory of which our persons are capable to be mystically united to this Lord of Glory to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh O what is this Christian dost thou know and believe all this and thy heart not burn within thee in love to Christ O then what a heart hast thou What art thou by nature but sinful dust a loathsom sinner viler than the vilest Toad cast out to the loathing of thy person in the day of thy nativity O that ever the Lord of Glory should unite himself to such a lump of vileness take such a wretch into his very bosom Be astonished O Heavens and earth at this this is the great mystery which the Angels stoopt down to look into Such an honour as this could never have entred into the heart of man it would have seemed a rude blasphemy in us once to have thought or spoken of such a thing had not Christ made the first motion thereof Yet how long didst thou make this Lord of Glory wait upon thy undetermined will before he gained thy consent Might he not justly have spurned thee into Hell upon thy first refusal and never have made thee such another offer Wilt thou not say Lord what am I and what is my Fathers house that so great a King should stoop so far beneath himself to such a worm as I am That strength should unite it self to weakness infinite glory to such baseness O grace grace for ever to be admired Inference 3. Is Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory then let no man count Inference 3. himself dishonoured by suffering the vilest indignities for his sake the Lord of Glory puts glory upon the very sufferings you undergo in this world for him Moses esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt Heb. 11. 26. He cast a Kingdom at his heels to be crowned with reproaches for the name of Christ. The Diadem of Egypt was not half so glorious as self-denial for Christ. This Lord of Glory freely degraded himself for thee wilt thou stand huckling with him upon terms 'T is certainly your honour to be dishonoured for Christ Act. 5. 41. To you it is given in behalf of Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for his sake Phil. 1. 29. The gift of suffering is there matched with the gift of faith 't is given as an honorarium a badge of Honour to suffer for the Lord of Glory as all have not the honour to wear the Crown of Glory in Heaven so few have the honour to wear the chain of Christ upon earth Thuanus Cur me non quoque torque donas insi nis hujus ordinis mili em creas Thuanus reports of Lodovicus Marsacus a Knight of France that being led to suffer with other Martyrs who were bound and he unbound because a person of Honour he cryed out Why don't you honour me with a Chain too and create me a Knight of that Noble Order My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations Jam. 1. 2. i. e. tryals by sufferings David thought it an honour to be vile for God and that 's a true observation that disgrace it self is glorious when endured for the Lord of Glory Inference 4. Is Christ the Lord of Glory How glorious then shall the Saints one day be when they shall be made like this glorious Inference 4. Lord and partake of his glory in Heaven John 17. 22. the glory which thou gavest me I have given them yea the vile bodies of Believers shall be made like to the glorious body of Christ Phil. 3. 21. What glory then will be communicated to their souls True his essential glory is incommunicable but there is a glory which Christ will communicate to his people When he comes to judge the world he will come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe 2 Thes. 1. 10. Where he seemeth to account his social glory which shall
before his face but the merciful God casts them all behind his back never to behold them more so as to charge them upon his pardoned people And thus you see what the pardon of sin is what the price that purchaseth pardon is and what riches of grace God manifesteth in the remission of Believers sins which were the things to be explained and opened in the Doctrinal part The improvement of the whole you will have in the following Uses Inference 1. If this be so that all Believers and none but Believers receive Inference 1. the remission of their sins through the riches of grace by the blood of Christ What a happy condition then are Believers in Those that never felt the load of sin may make light of a pardon but so cannot you that have been in the deeps of trouble and fear about it those that have been upon the rack of an accusing and condemning Conscience as David Heman and many of the Saints have been can never sufficiently value a pardon Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Psal. 32. 1 2. or O the blessednesses and felicities of the pardoned man as the Hebrew sounds Remission cannot but appear the wonder of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mercies if we consider through what difficulties the grace of God makes way for it to our souls what strong bars the love of God breaks asunder to open our way to this priviledge for there can be no pardon without a Mediator no other Mediator but the Son of God the Son of God cannot discharge our debts but by taking them upon himself as our surety and making full payment by bearing the wrath of God for us and when all this is done there can be no actual pardon except the spirit of grace open our blind eyes break our hard hearts and draw them to Christ in the way of believing And as the mercy of remission comes to us through wonderful difficulties so it is in it self a compleat and perfect mercy God would not be at such vast expence of the riches of his grace Christ would not lay out the invaluable treasures of his precious blood to procure a cheap and common blessing for us Rejoyce then ye pardoned souls God hath done great things for you for which you have cause to be glad Inference 2. Hence it follows That interest in Christ by faith brings the Inference 2. Conscience of a Believer into a state of rest and peace Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by faith we have peace with God I say not that every Believer is presently brought into actual peace and tranquillity of Conscience there may be many fears and much trouble even in a pardoned soul but this is an undoubted truth that faith brings the pardoned soul into that condition and state where he may find perfect rest in his Conscience with respect to the guilt and danger of sin The blood of Christ sprinkles us from an evil that is an accusing condemning Conscience We are apt to fear that this or that special sin which hath most terrified and affrighted our Consciences is not forgiven but if there be riches enough in the grace of God and efficacy enough in the blood of Christ then the sins of Believers all their sins great as well as small one as well as another without limitation or exception are pardoned For let us but consider if God remits no sin to any man but with respect to the blood of Christ then all sins are pardoned as well as any one sin because the dignity and desert of that blood is infinite and as much deserves an universal pardon for all sins as the particular pardon of any even the least sin Moreover remission is an act of Gods Fatherly love in Christ and if it be so then certainly no sin of any Believer can be retained or excluded from pardon for then the same soul should be in the favour of God so far as it is pardoned and out of the favour of God so far as it is unpardoned and all this at one and the same instant of time which is a thing both repugnant to it self and to the whole stream of the Gospel To Conclude what is the design and end of remission but the saving of the pardoned soul But if any sin be retained or excluded from pardon the retaining of that sin must needs irritate and void the pardon of all other sins and so the acts of God must cross and contradict each other and the design and end of God miscarry and be lost which can never be So then we conclude faith brings the believing soul into a state of rest and peace Inference 3. Hence it also follows That no remission is to be expected by any Inference 3. soul without interest by faith in Jesus Christ no Christ no pardon no faith no Christ. Yet how apt are many poor deluded souls to expect pardon in that way where never any soul yet did or ever can meet it Some look for pardon from the absolute mercy of God without any regard to the blood of Christ or their interest therein we have sinned but God is merciful Some expect remission of sin by vertue of their own duties not Christs merits I have sinned but I will repent restore reform and God will pardon but little do such men know how they therein diminish the evil of sin undervalue the justice of God slight the blood of Christ and put an undoing cheat upon their own souls for-ever to expect pardon from absolute mercy or our own duties is to knock at the wrong dore which God hath shut up to all the world Rom. 3. 20. Whilst these two principles abide firm that the price of pardon is only in the blood of Christ and the benefit of pardon only by the application of his blood to us this must remain a sure conclusion that no remission is to be expected by any soul without interest by faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance restitution and reformation are excellent duties in their kind and in their proper places but they were never meant for saviours or satisfactions to God for sin Inference 4. If the riches of grace be thus manifested in the pardon of sin Inference 4. how vile an abuse is it of the grace of God to take the more liberty to sin because grace abounds in the pardon of it Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid Rom. 6. 1 2. Will no cheaper stuff than the grace of God serve to make a cloak for sin O vile abuse of the most excellent thing in the whole world did Christ shed his blood to expiate our guilt and dare we make that a plea to extenuate our guilt God forbid If it be intolerable ingratitude among men to requite good with evil sure that sin must want a name bad enough to express it which puts the greatest
a poor Christian because of the great darkness and ignorance which clouds my soul for I read 1 Joh. 2. 27. that he enlightneth the soul which he inhabiteth the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things c. but alas my understanding is weak and cloudy I have need to learn of the meanest of Gods people this only I know that I know nothing as I ought to know Two things are to be respected in spiritual knowledge Sol. viz. the quantity and the efficacy thereof your condition doth not so much depend upon the measures of knowledge for haply you are under many natural disadvantages and want those helps and means of increasing knowledge which others plentifully enjoy it may be you have wanted the helps of education or have been incumbred by the necessities and cares of the world which have allowed you but little leasure for the improvement of your minds but if that which you do know be turned into practice and obedience Col. 1. 9 10. if it have influence upon your hearts and transform your affections into a spiritual frame and temper 2 Cor. 3. 17 18. if your ignorance humble you and drive you to God daily for the increase of knowledge one drop of such knowledge of Christ and your selves as this is more worth than a Sea of humane moral unsanctified and speculative knowledge though you know but little yet that little being sanctified is of great value though you know but little time was when ye knew nothing of Jesus Christ or the state of your own souls In a word though you know but little that little you do know will be still encreasing like the morning light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day Prov. 4. 18. If thou knowest so much as brings thee to Christ thou shalt shortly be where thy knowledge shall be as the light at noon day I sometime find my heart raised and my affections melted Obj. 2. in duties but I doubt it is but in a natural way and not from the spirit of God could I be assured those motions of my heart were from the spirit of grace and not meerly a natural thing it would be singular comfort and satisfaction to me First Consider whether this be not the ground of your Sol. fear and doubting because you are fain to take pains in the way of meditation prayer and other duties to bring your hearts to sense and savour the things of God whereas it may be you expect your spiritual enlargements and comforts should flow in upon you spontaneously and drop from heaven immediately of their own accord without any pains or industry of yours here may be and probably is a great mistake in this matter for the spirit of God works in the natural method wherein affections use to be raised and makes use of such duties as meditation and prayer as instruments to do that work by Ezech. 36. 37. So David was forced to reason with and chide his own heart Psal. 42. 5. thy comfort and enlargement may nevertheless be the fruit of the spirit because God makes it spring up and grow upon thy duties Secondly Take this as a sure rule whatsoever rises from self alwayes aimes at and terminates in self this stream cannot be carryed higher than the fountain if therefore thy aim and end in striving for affections and enlargements in duty be only to win applause from men and appear to be what in reality thou art not this indeed is the fruit of nature and a very corrupt and hypocritical nature too but if thy heart be not melted or desire to be melted in the sense of the evil of sin in order to the farther mortification of it and under the apprehensions of the free grace and mercy of God in the pardon of sin in order to the engaging of thy soul more firmly to him if these or such like be thy ends and designs or be promoted and furthered by thine enlargements and spiritual comforts never reject them as the meer fruits of nature a carnal root cannot bring forth such fruits as these Upon the Contrary Spiritual deadness and indisposedness Obj. 3. to duties and to those especially which are more secret spiritual and self-denying than others is the ground upon which many thousand souls who are yet truly gracious do doubt the indwelling of the spirit in them O saith such a soul if the spirit of God be in me Why is it thus Could my heart be so dead so backward and averse to spiritual duties no no these things would be my meat and my drink the delights and pleasures of my life First These things indeed are very sad and argue thy Sol. heart to be out of frame as the body is when it cannot relish the most desireable meats or drinks but the question will be how thy soul behaves it self in such a condition Qui bonâ—…m vult malum non vult is studium retinet plaâ—…di deo quamvis illectus concupiscentiâ malâ nonnunquam ex infirmitate illud committat quod deo displicet Davenant as this is whether this be easie or burthensome to be born by thee and if thou complain under it as a burthen then what pains thou takest to ease thy self and get rid of it Secondly Know also that there is a great difference betwixt spiritual death and spiritual deadness the former is the state of the unregenerate the latter is the disease and complaint of many thousand regenerate souls If David had not felt it as well as thee he would never have cryed out nine times in the compass of one Psalm Quicken me quicken me Besides Thirdly Though it be often it is not alwayes so with thee there are seasons wherein the Lord breaks in upon thy heart enlarges thy affections and sets thy soul at liberty to which times thou wilt do well to have an eye in these dark and cloudy dayes But the Spirit of God is a comforter as well as a sanctifier Obj. 4. he doth not only enable men to believe but after they believe he also seals them Eph. 1. 13. but I walk in darkness and am a stranger to the sealing and comforting work of the spirit how therefore can I imagine the spirit of God should dwell in me who go from day to day in the bitterness of my soul mourning as without the Sun There is a twofold sealing and a twofold comfort the Sol. spirit sealeth both objectively in the work of sanctification and formally in giving clear evidence of that work thou mayest be sealed in the first whilest thou art not yet sealed in the second sense if so thy condition is safe although it be at present uncomfortable And as to comfort that also is of two sorts viz. seminal or actual in the root or in the fruit light is sown for the righteous Psal.
Med. Consider what the damned suffer for those sins which the devil now tempteth you to commit it hath deprived them of all Med. 5. good all outward good Luke 16. 25. all spiritual good Mat. 25. 41. and of all hope of enjoying any good for ever And as it hath deprived them of all good so it hath remedilesly plunged them into all positive misery Misery from without the wrath of God being come upon them to the uttermost and misery from within for their worm dieth not Mark 9. 44. The memory of things past the sense of things present and the fearful expectations of things to come are the nibblings and bitings of the worm of conscience at every bite whereof damned souls give a dreadful shriek crying out O the worm the worm Would any man that is not forsaken by reason run the hazard of those eternal miseries for the brutish pleasures of a moment 6. Med. Bethink your selves what inexcusable hypocrisie it will be in Med. 6. you to indulge your selves in the private satisfaction of your lusts under a contrary profession of Religion You are a people that profess holiness and professedly own your selves to be under the Government and Dominion of Christ and must the worthy Name of Christ be only used to cloak and cover your lusts and corruptions which are so hateful to him God forbid You daily pray against sin you confess it to God you bewail it you pour out supplications for pardoning and preventing grace are you in jest or earnest in these solemn duties of Religion Certainly if all those duties produce no mortification you do but flatter God with your lips and put a dreadful cheat upon your own souls Nay do you not frequently censure and condemn those things in others and dare you allow them in your selves What horrid hypocrisie is this Christians are dead to sin Rom. 6. 2. Dâ—…ad to it by profession dead to it by obligation dead to it by relation to Christ who died for it and how shall they that are so many ways dead to sin live any longer therein O think not that God hates sin the less in you because you are his people nay Ipsa delicta peccata fidelium odio sunt displicent Deo sed odio simplici non redundanti in personam Davenant in Col. 1. 10. that very consideration aggravates it the more Amos 3. 2. 7. Med. Consider with your selves what hard things some Christians have chosen to endure and suffer rather than they would defile Med. 7. themselves with guilt and shall every small temptation insnare and take your souls Read over the Eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews and see what the saints have endured to escape sin no torments were so terrible to them as the displeasure of God and woundings of conscience and did God oblige them more by his grace and favour than he hath obliged you O Christians how can you that have found such mercies mercies as free pardons as full as ever any souls found show less care less fear less tenderness of grieving God than others have done Certainly if you did see sin with the same eyes they saw it you would hate it as deeply watch against it as carefully and resist it as vigorously as any of the Saints have done before you 8. Med. Consider with your selves what sweet pleasure rational Med. 8. and solid comfort is to be found in the mortification of sin 'T is not the fulfilling of your lusts can give you the thousandth part of that comfort and contentment that the resistance of them and victory over them will give you Who can express the comfort that is to be found in the chearing testimony of an acquitting and absolving conscience 2 Cor. 1. 12. Remember what satisfaction and peace it was to Hezekiah upon his supposed death-bed when he turned to the wall and said Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Isa. 38. 3. 4. Use for Examination In the next place this point naturally puts us upon the Examination and trial of our own hearts whether we Use 4. who so confidently claim a special interest in Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts and because two sorts of persons will be concerned in this Triall viz. the weaker and the stronger Christians I shall therefore lay down two sorts of Evidences of Mortification one respecting the sincerity and truth the other respecting the strength and progress of that work in confirmed and grown Christians and both excluding false pretenders First There are some things that are Evidential of the truth and sincerity of Mortification even in the weakest Christians as First True tenderness of conscience in all known sins one as well as another is a good sign sin hath lost its Dominion in the soul O 't is a special mercy to have a heart that shall smite and reprove us for those things that others make nothing of to check and admonish us for our secret sins which can never turn to our reproach among men this is a good sign that we hate sin as sin however through the weakness of the flesh we may be ensnared by it Rom. 7. 15. What I hate that I do Secondly The sincere and earnest desires of our souls to God in prayer for heart-purging and sin-mortifying grace is a good sign our souls have no love for sin Canst thou say poor believer in the truth of thy heart that if God would give thee thy choice it would please thee better to have sin cast out than to have the world cast in that thy heart is not so earnest with God for daily bread as it is for heart-purging grace this is a comfortable evidence that sin is nayled to the Cross of Christ. Thirdly do you make conscience of guarding against the occasions of sin Do you keep a daily watch over your hearts and senses according to 1 John 5. 18. Job 31. 1. This speaks a true design and purpose of Mortification also Fourthly do you rejoyce and bless God from your hearts when the providence of God orders any means for the prevention of sin Thus did David 1 Sam. 25. 33. And David said to Abigail Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging my self with my own hand Fifthly In a word though the thoughts of death may be terrible in themselves yet if the expectation and hope of your deliverance from sin thereby do sweeten the thoughts of it to your souls it will turn unto you for a testimony that you are not the servants and friends of sin And so much briefly of the first sort of Evidences Secondly There are other signs of a more deep and through Mortification of sin in more
shut their eyes Secondly They have no spiritual motions towards Christ or after things that are spiritual all the Arguments in the world cannot perswade their wills to move one step towards Christ in the way of faith John 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me Were there a principle of spiritual life in their souls they would move Christ-ward and heaven-ward John 4. 14. it would be in them a well of water springing up into eternal life The natural tendency of the spiritual life is upward Thirdly The unregenerate have no appetite unto spiritual food they savour not things that are spiritual they can go from week to week and from year to year all their life time without any communion betwixt God and their souls and feel no need of it nor any hungerings nor thirstings after it which could never be iâ—… a principle of spiritual life were in them for then they would esteem the words of Gods mouth more than their necessary food Job 30. 12. Fourthly They have no heat or spiritual warmth in their affections to God and things above their hearts are as cold as a stone to spiritual Objects They are heated indeed by their lusts and affections to the world and the things of the world But O how cold and dead are they towards Jesus Christ and spiritual excellencies Fifthly They breathe not spiritually therefore they live not spiritually were there a spiritual principle of life in them their souls would breath after God in spiritual prayer Acts 9. 11. Behold he prayeth The lips of the unregenerate may move in prayer but their hearts and desires do not breath and pant after God Sixthly They have no cares or fears for self-preservation which is always the effect of life the poorest fly or silliest worm will shun danger the wrath of God hangs over them in the threatnings but they tremble not at it Hell is but a little before them they are upon the very precipice of eternal ruine yet will use no means to avoid it How plain therefore is this sad case which I have undertaken here to demonstrate viz that Christless and unregenerate souls are dead souls The uses follow Inference 1. If all Christless and unregenerate souls be dead souls then how Inference 1. little pleasure can Christians take in the society of the unregenerate Certainly 't is no pleasure for the living to converse among the dead It was a cruel torment invented by Mezentius the Tyrant to tie a dead and living man together The pleasure â—…t solent vitia alibi connata in propinqua membra perniciem Juam efflare sic improborum vitia in eos derivantur qui cum illis vitae babent consuetudinem Tertul. advers Valentin of society arises from the harmony of spirits and the hopes of mutual enjoyment in the world to come neither of which can sweeten the society of the godly with the wicked in this world 'T is true there is a necessary civil converse which we must have with the ungodly here or else as the Apostle speaks we must go out of the world There are also duties of relation which must be faithfully and tenderly paid even to the unregenerate But certainly where we have our free election we shall be much wanting both to our duty and comfort if we make not the people of God our chosen companions Excellently to this purpose speaks a Modern Author Art thou a godly master when thou takest a servant into thine house choose for God as well as thy self A godly Gurnals Christian armour part 2. p. 256. servant is a greater blessing than we think on he can work and set God on work also for his masters good Gen. 24. 12. O Lord God of my master Abraham I pray thee send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master and sure he did his master as much service by his prayer as by his prudence in that journey Holy David observed while he was at Sauls Court the mischief of having wicked and ungodly servants for with such was that unhappy King so compassed that David compares his Court to the prophane and barbarous heathens among whom there was scarce more wickedness to be found Psal. 120. 6. Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesheck that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar i. e. among those who were as prodigiously wicked as any there and no doubt but this made this gracious man in his banishment before he came to the Crown having seen the evil of a disordered house to resolve what he would do when God should make him the head of such a Royal family Psal. 101. 7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house he that selleth lies shall not tarry in my sight Art thou godly show thy self so in the choice of husband or wife I am sure if some and those godly also could bring no other testimonial for their godliness than the care they have taken in this particular it might justly be called into question both by themselves and others There is no one thing that gracious persons even those recorded in scripture as well as others have shewn their weakness yea given offence and scandal more in than in this particular The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair Gen. 6. 2. One would have thought the sons of God should have looked for grace in the heart rather than beauty in the face but we see even they sometimes turn in at the fairest sign without much enquiring what grace is to be found dwelling within Look to the rule O Christian if thou wilt keep the power of holiness That is clear as a sun beam written in the scripture be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers 2 Cor. 6. 14. Inference 2. How great and wholly supernatural marvellous and wonderful is Inference 2. that change which regeneration makes upon the souls of men It is a change from death to life Luke 15. 24. This my son was dead and is alive again Regeneration is life from the dead The most excellent life from the most terrible death 'T is the life of God reinspired into a soul alienated from it by the power of sin Eph. 4. 18. There are two stupendious changes made upon the souls of men which justly challenges highest admiration viz. That 1. From sin to grace 2. From grace to glory The change from grace to glory is acknowledged by all and that justly to be a wonderful change for God to take a poor creature out of the society of sinful men yea from under the burden of many sinful infirmities which made him groan from day to day in this world and in a moment to make him a compleat and perfect soul shining in the beauties of holiness and filling him as a vessel of glory with the unspeakable and unconceivable joyes of his presence to turn his groanings into triumphs his sighings into songs of praise This I say is marvellous and yet the former