is that which inseparably results from it but can never be presupposed to it By Faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out of his own Countrey into a strange Land Heb. 11.8 And whoever obey from any other Principle they are nothing in God's Account and all that they do will avail nothing to them Receiving of Christ is the first Act and yielding our selves to him is consequent upon it 3. We are expresly said to receive the Promise of the Spirit through Faith Gal. 3.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Faith is oppos'd to Works twice in this very Case of receiving the Spirit ver 2 5. And therefore the Gospel which is the Doctrine of Faith as distinguisht from the Law which is the Rule of Works is stiled the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 A Road of doing separate from believing is not the Way of the Spirit of God 3. How are we to understand the giving of the Spirit to them that obey Christ 1. It must not be understood as if this were the Reason of the Gift or the actual Qualification of the Persons before the receiving of this Gift Our foreseen Faith and Obedience is not the Reason why God gives the Holy Ghost to us for he is given freely as hath been said from no other Motive but the meer Kindness and Good-will of God to lost and undone Sinners Nor are any Persons so qualified and prepar'd for the receiving of the Spirit before he is given to them for we are unbelieving and disohedient till the Spirit hath been mightily at Work in us The whole Race of Manking are by Nature a wretched Company of Insidels and Rebels against Christ without the Spirit And there is not the least Disposition in us to any Duty whatsoever but what is of his producing 2. Believing and Obeying are the present Effects of the Spirit 's Influence upon our Souls assoon as he is given us He is given in Order to this End and this End is immediately and infallibly brought about by his powerful Agency When the Holy Ghost was given to the Gentiles their Hearts were instantly purified by Faith Acts 15.8 9. To have the Spirit and remain one Moment an Unbeliever is a Contradiction So we read of Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience 1 Pet. 1.2 Where the Spirit is he Acts as a Sanctifier and where he Acts so it instantly appears by the Fruit of Obedience which flow naturally from it So the Promise runs Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within-you and cause you to walk in my Statutes c. 3. In the Exercises of Faith and actings of Obedience we have more and more of the Spirit given to us So we may understand the giving of the Spirit to them that obey Christ and believe in him not of the first Donation but of the increased Degrees and Measures of the same Spirit to those that have him already In this Sense we read of the Spirit 's being given and receiv'd John 7.39 He was given before Christ's Ascension but more sparingly when he was ascended the Spirit came down in greater Flouds there was a more signal and liberal Effusion So though the Spirit is poured out that we may believe yet after we believe there are still larger Portions continually given forth This the Apostle calls the supply of the Spirit Phil. 1.19 'T is the same Word which is used 2 Pet. 1.5 Add to your Faith c. God does not stop at the first Gift but vouchsafes daily further additional Supplies III. How is the Work and Office of a Witness perform'd by the Spirit to our Lord Jesus Ans This may be shewn under four Heads distinctly How he did it before Christ's coming and during Christ's stay on Earth and after his Departure to Heaven And how he does it even now at this present Time 1. How did the Spirit perform the Work and Office of a Witness to Christ before his Coming Chiefly by Prophesie Now here two Things are to be prov'd that Prophesie was indeed a Witness to Christ and that the Spirit did witness by it 1. That Prophesie was a Witness to Christ This the Scripture most positively Asserts Acts 10.43 To him give all the Prophets Witness c. There are very numerous and plentiful Instances which might be given of the Truth of this if we look into the Prophetical Writings of the Old Testament which unanimously Point to Chtist as their main Subject Our Lord calls the Jews to search the Scriptures in General upon this account because they testified of him John 5.39 Various Predictions concerning Christ even in the Books of Moses in the Psalms of David in the Greater and Lesser Prophets in those that Prophesied before the Captivity and in them that Prophesied after the return out of Captivity There were few or none among them all but what foretold the coming of the Messiah and gave some Character of him 2. It was the Holy Spirit who witness'd hereby to Jesus Christ The Spirit of God is said to testifie in the Prophets Neb. 9.30 1 Pet. 1.11 Whatever is written in the Word he is stiled a Witness of Heb. 10.15 Because he dictated to the Pen-men of the Word not only the Matter and Substance but the very Expressions themselves For Prophesie as the Apostle says came not in Old Time by the Will of Man but Holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1.21 When the Word was brought to them it was not lest to them to invent or chuse out such Terms as they thought best for the declaring and reporting of it but they were acted herein by the Divine Spirit as Passive Instruments to deliver all that which he suggested and nothing else The Gift of Prophesie was entirely his without and antecedent Preparations of their own and the Exercise of this Gift was from him and under his Conduct and Management also Therefore the Angel might justly say Rev. 19.10 The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophesie This Testimony was born to Christ before his Coming and the Spirit was the Author of it SERMON XII June 30. 1696. ACTS V. xxxii latter Part. And so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him 2. HOW did the Spirit perform this Work of a Witness when Christ was upon the Earth I will mention only Three Ways 1. His Visible Descent upon Christ at his Baptism Luke 3.22 The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a Dove upon him c. It is not to my present Purpose to enquire of what Nature or Substance this Appearance was the Form or Resemblance here assum'd is said to be that of a Dove which was obvious to Sense and seen by his forerunner the Person that Baptiz'd him which was the Token that God had given him to know the Messiah by and this he bare Record of John 1.32 33. That this was designed as a solemn Testimony to Jesus Christ
Vera Effigies TIMOTHEI CRUSO Aetat 40. 1697. T. Forster delin N. White scuÌ„lp TWENTY-FOUR SERMONS Preached at the MERCHANTS-LECTURE AT Pinners Hall By the late Reverend Mr. TIMOTHY CRVSO LONDON Printed by S. Bridge for Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside MDCXCIX TO THE READER THese Sermons are some of the Reliques of one who is gone to receive the Fruit of his Labours who hath left Sowing for the sake of the Harvest wherein he is now reaping Though this is a Posthumous Piece yet it speaks out the living Praise of the dead Author whose it was without any Alteration or Addition being Printed from his own Notes If I may use the Phrase in Fashion he lived too fast not as too many do who shorten their Days by their Debaucheries and sinful Excesses but as a Taper which wastes it self to give Light to others His Bodily Constitution was too weak to undergo the Service his Soul put it to in constant Studies and hard Labour that he might Answer the Restlesness of his Mind which was always aspiring to greater Knowledge and higher Attainments whereby he laid greater load upon his Flesh than its weakness could bear and so sinking under the burden he died in the midst of his Days There is no need of my Epistle to Midwife these Excellent Discourses into the World nor had I had any hand in it had it not been to answer the Desires of some Relations of his to whom my Obligations will not allow me to deny any thing And also to take this occasion to Vindicate what I spake and published in his Funeral Sermon about the Vnion of the Spirit of Christ with the Dead Body of a Saint which hath by some been greatly stumbled at and called in question as a new Doctrine I therefore thought it Charity to such to remove this stumbling Block not by any Arguments further than what I have therein already urged but by calling in the Judgment of others in this matter and I shall look no farther back than to the Learned Men of our own Times Mr. Rutherford speaking of the Covenant of Grace Treatise of the Covenant of Grace p. 216. says It is thus Eternal in that the dead Parties Abraham Isaac and Jacob are still in the Covenant of Grace and there remains a Covenant Union between Christ and their rotten Flesh sleeping in the Dust Mr. Calamy says Morning Exercise of Giles in Fields Ser. 24. p. 548. The Bodies of the Saints shall be raised by vertue of their Union with Christ for the Body of a Saint even while it is in the Grave is united to Christ and is asleep in Jesus and shall be raised by vertue of this Union And in p. 557. If thou gettest into Christ while thou livest thou shalt die in Christ and sleep in Christ and be raised by Christ into Eternal Happiness Mr. Case speaking of the Vnion between Christ and Believers Case his Mount Pisgah first Part p. 38. says Not only in Death but even after Death this Union holds the Saints are said to sleep in Jesus that part of the Saints which is capable of sleep is not capable of Separation from Christ While their more noble Part is united to Christ in Heaven among the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Christ is united to their inferiour and more ignoble Part in the Grave their very Dust they sleep in Jesus Mr. Stedman says Stedman's Mystical Vnion of Believers with Christ p. 191. Death it self shall not separate Believers from Jesus Christ but still they are entirely in him even when they are dead As it was in the death of Christ himself though it made Separation between his Body and Soul yet it did not separate the Humane Body from the Divine So it is in the death of the Saints though it rend the Spirit from the Flesh yet it can part neither from the Son of God The very Bodies of Believers are united to Jesus when they are dead Dr. Collings on those words of our Lord Pool 's Annotations on John 11.26 He that believeth on me shall never die says Though his Body shall die because of sin yet his Spirit shall live because of Righteousness and God shall in the great Day quicken again his Mortal Body through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in him and is united to him Dr. Thomas Goodwin Dr. Goodwin 's first Fol. on Ephes 1.14 p. â—â—1 Doth the Spirit dwell in you now When you are laid in the Grave that Spirit dwelleth in you as he did in the Body of Christ I do not say in the same manner The Spirit of God did dwell in the Body of Christ in the Grave and raised it up he never left him Though his Body was a dead Carkass without a Soul yet that Body was Hypostatically united to the Godhead therefore it was called Holy One My Holy One shall not see Corruption Now the Comparison is If we have the Spirit of Christ and if he dwell in us the same Spirit shall never leave our Bodies till he hath raised us up also Nay while thy Body is dead and rotten in the Grave the Holy Ghost dwells in it And hear what a great Man of the Church of England in his Day saith Christ's Deity was united to his dead Body his Resurrection was perform'd by the Power and Spirit of the Father God reached out his hand to him and raised him up Here then is our Comfort the same Spirit of God is communicable to us the same Arm of Power may be reached out to us He will imploy the same power for us as he did for Christ Ephes 1.19 And again in p. 210. His Spirit dwells in you The Inhabitation of God's Spirit that is the Ground of our Resurrection because it is Vinculum unionis the Spirit is the Bond of our Union and Conjunction with Christ By it we are Incorporated into his Body and made Members of it Now then if our Head rise all the Members must rise with it if the Head be in Heaven the Members shall not for ever perish in the Grave This Union by the Spirit is like the touch of a Load-stone it will attract and draw us to him that where he is we shall be also It is spoken of his Hypostatical but it is true also of his Mystical Union Quod semel assumpsit nunquam deposuit Christ will part with none of his Members Bishop Brownrig 2d Vol. p. 204. And again in the same Page Our Bodies by this Inhabitation are Consecrated to be a Possession of the Holy Ghost and the Temple of God must not be destroy'd God's Spirit takes Pleasure not only in these living Temples but owns them when they are dead takes Pleasure in the dead Bones and Favours the Dust of them I could multiply Testimonies of elder Date to prove the Truth of this Doctrine and that it is no new Notion but there needs no Proof from Humane Testimony
when it is so plainly confirmed by the Word of God as I have elsewhere shewed If we receive the Witness of Men the Witness of God is greater And there needs no greater Vindication of any Doctrine than the Testimony of God to the truth of it The Author of these Discourses was a Person whose Worth was well known in this City he was a Person of a sound Mind and Judgment in the great Doctrines of the Gospel and held fast the Form of sound Words carefully shunning the Paths of those By-way Men who please themselves with the fond Thoughts of such Opinions wherein they chuse to walk by themselves apart from the Community of the Saints and Churches of God None who knew him and love the Interest of Christ and the Souls of Men but must bewail the loss of such an Eminent Servant in the Lord's Work especially in such a day as this is wherein the Harvest is so great and Faithful Labourers so few But why stand I in the Door-way which leads to the Discourse it self I shall therefore no longer hinder thy Entrance than by begging a Blessing upon the Work that it may be sanctified to thy Vnderstanding for Knowledge to thy Judgment for Establishment to thy Conscience for Peace and for Joy and Gladness to thy whole Soul So Prays Thy Servant in the Lord's Work And for his Sake Matth. Mead. Febr. 2d 1699. ERRATA PAge 18. Line 9. read Duties P. 25. l. 21. r. it 's P. 28. l. 27. r. not P. 31. l. 28. r. askt P. 51. l. 15. r. Fortifies P. 52. l. 15. r. the P. 77. l. 16. r. knew P. 79. l. 21. r. of P. 104. l. 11. r. Law P. 144 l. 1. dele that l. 27. r. hardened P. 193. l. 12. dele when we are so P. 213. l. 17. r. but P. 256. l. 4. r. are P. 257. l. 12. r. Comparison P. 274. l. 13. dele and P. 315. l. 25. r. bounds P. 330. l. 6. r. Thyatira's P. 335. l. 11. r. Equivalent P. 362. l. 26. r. Scope THE TEXTS Matth. XVI 17. AND Jesus answered and said unto him Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona for Flesh and Blood hath not revealed it to thee but my Father which is in Heaven Page 1 Psalm XXVI 3. For thy loving kindness is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy Truth p. 36 2 Corinth I. 20. For all the Promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen unto the Glory of God by us p. 67 Psalm LXXX 17. and 18. former part Let thy hand be upon the Man of thy right hand upon the Son of Man whom thou madest strong for thy self 18. So will not we go back from thee p. 95 Judges XVI 20. last Clause And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him p. 125 Acts V. 32. latter part And so is also the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them that obey him p. 156 Mark X. 26 27. And they were astonished out of measure saying among themselves Who then can be saved And Jesus looking upon them saith With Men it 's impossible but not with God for with God all things are possible p. 186 Psalm LXIX 4. last Clause Then I restored that which I took not away p. 217 Gallat IV. 6. And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father p. 247 Ephes IV. 7. But unto every one of us is given Grace according to the measure of the Gift of Christ p. 279 Deuteronomy XXXIV 5. So Moses the Servant of the Lord died there in the Land of Moab according to the word of the Lord p. 311 Hebr. VII 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them p. 340. SERMON I. April 23. 1695. MATTHEW XVI xvii And Jesus answered and said unto him Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona For Flesh and Blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven TO understand the occasion of these Words we must look back as far as ver 13. of this Chapter where our Lord having a mind to clear and confirm his Disciples in the Knowledge of himself makes way for it by the proposing of such Questions as would draw forth suitable Answers Accordingly 1. He asks them what was the Opinion of others concerning him Whom do Men say that I the Son of Man am Christ usually stiled himself thus Son of Man not only as an Expression of his Humility but to shew that he was the promised Seed the Person foretold under that Character in the Old Testament Psal 8.4.80.17 Dan. 7.13 And perhaps also to try the Faith of his Hearers whether they had an Eye to any more than his Humanity therefore says he here what does that World which you Converse with think of me what kind of Person do they take me to be The Answer is ver 14. Some say that thou art John the Baptist some Elias and others Jeremias or one of the Prophets Here was a diversity of Opinions about Christ and none of them right but all false and fabulous the Products of vain Imagination That Christ was John the Baptist risen from the Dead was Herods Opinion Chap. 14.2 That he was Elias was the Opinion of many among the Jews who had a mistaken Notion that Elias must first come before the Appearance of Christ Chap. 17.10 And again another sort of them thought that he was the Soul of some eminent Deceased Prophet in a new Body which was one of the wild Conceits of that dark erroneous Age. But 2. Christ asks them what was their own Opinion ver 15. Whom say ye that I am Do you concur with this blind and ignorant World or have you any better Apprehensions of me different from theirs 'T is meet that you who are my little Flock should give me some account of your particular Belief and 't is also meet that seeing you are to Preach me unto others you should first make some Confession of me your selves The Answer to this and the Person answering we have ver 16. Which because it hath an immediate Coherence with the Words now before us ought to be distinctly consider'd And 1. We may begin with the less considerable Part the Person speaking Simon Peter answered and said 'T is probable that he spake as the Mouth of the Apostles in the Name of all and that the rest agreed to this Testimony and believ'd as he said Not that he had any real Precedency or Superiority above the rest for then why should they enquire who was the greatest c. Chap. 18.1 but because he was one of the first call'd to the Apostleship and of the more esteem among them as he was of so long a standing and because he was of a very warm and forward Spirit as is evident by many other Passages 2. Here is the Thing spoken which is the main Subject of our
as to serve him with Acceptance by their own Strength 1 Cor. 1.21 The Light of Nature may leave Men without excuse but yet it leaves them also without the effectual Remedy it discovers so much as will aggravate Men's Ruine but not so much as will procure their Relief There must be the Faith of Things above Reason for no other Faith will save Reason as now maim'd and corrupted is a fallen Star which instead of leading unto Christ will plunge the Souls that are under his Conduct into outer Darkness If a Man had all the Knowledge which 't is possible for Flesh and Blood to arrive to he would be as far from the Kingdom of God as the most illiterate Person in the World 'T is Light from Heaven which prevents our falling into the Fire of Hell If our Gospel be hid 't is hid to them that are lost 2 Cor. 4.3 The Understanding of all other Mysteries will avail us nothing if we be ignorant of this 2. The Godhead of Jesus Christ is an Article of peculiar importance to the Everlasting welfare of Souls 'T is a fundamental Truth and they that would subvert our Faith in this particular seem to say as those Edomites did in Jerusalem's desolating Day Rase it rase it to the Foundvtion thereof Psalm 137.7 'T is the Corner-stone in our Religion upon which the Building stands It was the very first Doctrine that we hear of from the Mouth of Paul after his Conversion Acts 9.20 Straightway he Preached Christ in the Synagogues that he is the Son of God The whole New Testament Church is oblig'd to have a special regard to this Confession of Peter in the Words before the Text for in the Words immediately following the Text our Lord says Vpon this Rock will I Build my Church ver 18. It is therefore a most important Article but this will further appear if we consider these Four Things 1. We can have no hope of Salvation but by Christ as the Son of the Living God If he were but a Man we might justly put the Question How shall this Man save us How can Israel be saved with an Everlasting Salvation but in the Lord in Jehovah Isa 45.17 How is it true that he would save them by the Lord their God Hos 1.7 If there be not Salvation in any other but Christ he therefore must be the Lord our God 2. We can have no access to God or Communion with him but by a Mediator who is God How should one Creature introduce another into the Presence of such a terrible Majesty who is at an infinite distance from all Creatures The Fellowship which we have with the Father is through the Son and therefore the Holy Ghost is pleas'd to link the greatest intimacy with God to a sincere Confession of the Deity of Christ 1 John 4.15 3. We can look for no Victory over the Devil if we do not look to Christ as God How is the Accuser of the Brethren cast down but by the coming of the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ Rev. 12.10 He must be the Christ of God who hath Power enough to subdue and conquer such an Adversary 'T is the Lord that must rebuke him a created Angel cannot Jude 9. 4. The World it self will be too hard for us if we are not helpt to encounter it by Christ as God 1 John 5.5 Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God 'T is in the Strength of this Faith that we must make successful Opposition we are Conquerors by Vertue of his Conquest John 16.33 And this Conquest supposes his Godhead for a meer Man is as uncapable of overcoming the World as of invading Heaven There is an Objection lying against all this in the very Chapter where the Text is ver 20. If the Knowledge and Belief of what Peter had now confess'd be so essential to Blessedness why should Christ charge his Disciples at the very close of this Discourse That they should tell no Man that Jesus was the Christ Was he unwilling that the necessary means of Salvation should be afforded to that Age Was he resolv'd to Conceal that from them the Concealment whereof must needs be Mortal Ans 1. That unbelieving Generation were willingly yea willfully Ignorant and therefore justly given up to be so Mat. 13.13 Therefore spake Jesus to them in Parables because they seeing see not and hearing they hear not c. They shut their Eyes stopt their Ears put away the Word from them and therefore why should it be offer'd or propos'd to them 2. The personal Doctrine and Miracles of Christ were sufficient to have convinc'd them of this Truth if they had given heed to them therefore why should the Apostles Preach the same thing He spake as never Man spake John 7.46 He did the Works which no Man ever did Chap. 15.14 So that in Effect he told them himself but they would not believe 3. There might be a prudential Reason in it Christ would not by such a Publication hasten his own Death Some think on the contrary he forbad their telling of this that it might not hinder his Death Because if they had known they would not have Crucified c. 1 Cor. 2.8 But this seems much the more probable Reason he would not draw upon him the Odium and Malice of the Jews before the Time so Luke 9.21 22. He straitly commanded them to t ll no Man that thing saying the Son of Man must suffer many Things c. q. d. This will provoke their Rage against me which I must and will undergo when my hour comes but till then I design to avoid it The Jews had a bloody Intention in urging him to tell them plainly If he was the Christ John 10.24 That they might accuse him of Treason and Blasphemy and therefore he would answer them as they desir'd but when his Time was come he owned this in express Terms to the High-Priest Mat. 26.63 64. I adjure thee by the Living God that thou tells us c. Jesus saith unto him Thou hast said 4. The great Proof of his Godhead was yet to come viz. his Resurrection so the Apostles were to defer their Declaration of this Truth till they could back it with this Argument Rom. 1.4 He was declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead By the Spirit of Holiness here is to be understood his Divine Nature which is put in Opposition to the Flesh his humane Nature ver 3. And the like Opposition we meet with 1 Tim. 3.16 1 Pet. 3.18 Now this Deity of Christ was most powerfully demonstrated by his rising from the Dead for he rais'd and reviv'd himself which a Creature could not do he had Power to take his Life again after he had laid it down which no Creature ever had John 10.18 And it was not possible that
Judah is God known Psalm 76.1 Judah signifies Praise what Hearts should they have to Praise God that have Understandings given them to know him If God hath conferred this Blessedness upon you what a rebounding of Blessing should there be to him 2. Value no Knowledge in Comparison of this Remember the Words of Paul 1 Cor. 2.2 This exceeds all other Knowledge in many respects especially because it discriminates the Friends of God from Enemies 'T is a distinguishing Priviledge allow'd to none but the beloved of the Lord. Though you have no Reason to boast your selves against others whom God makes you to differ from yet you have abundant Reason to prefer and magnifie your own Lot Mat. 13.15 16. This People's Heart is waxed gross and their Ears are dull and their Eyes closed c. But blessed are your Eyes for they see c. 3. Walk as Children of Light Necessity is laid upon them That are Light in the Lord to do so Eph. 5.8 Give no occasion by disorderly steps for others to stumble and fall As is said in another Case Rom. 14.16 Let not your good be evil spoken of Expose not the Doctrine of Christ to reproach by any unholy Acts as if it were not a Doctrine according to Godliness Let all your Observers be witnesses that a renewed Mind will produce a reformed Conversation Else you will Cloud your own Light and thicken the Darkness of other Men. 4. Make Conscience of Praying for those whom you usually hear Petition the King on the behalf of his Embassadors and the more they have of his Presence the more are you like to get by their Labours The more they have of the guidance of the Spirit of Truth the more useful will their Teachings be to you The ablest Minister of the New Testament is insufficient to think any thing of himself 2 Cor. 3.5 6. Unwearied Studies will bring forth nothing but wind without a Divine Influence Pray therefore that they may have Moses's Advantage of God's being with their Mouth and Teaching them what they should say Exod. 4.12 5. Depend still upon God for continued discoveries Follow on the know the Lord and breath after further views of him God hath not yet shewed you all that he intends The Work of Illumination is yet going on The same anointing which hath taught you teacheth you of all Things 1 John 2.27 There are still the deep Things of God which the Spirit must search out for you Holy David long after his first enlightening beseeches God to Open his Eyes that he might behold wondrous things out of his Law Psalm 119.18 There are always fresh Wonders to be seen which a fresh Unction from God must help us to discern 6. Look for the perfecting of these discoveries in a State of Glory Say to God as the same David did Psalm 36.9 In thy Light shall we see Light 'T is but a kind of dim Twilight comparatively which we enjoy here in this World while we are hid in this Prison-house we can see but little but our Fathers House above is full of Light Then shall the Righteous shine forth as the Sun Mat. 13.43 If the Day-star be irs'n in your Hearts live in the pleasant and chearful Expectation of perfect Day For we can ascend but a little way into the Mysteries of the Kingdom as long as we are upon the Foot-stool and we shall know vastly and unconceivably more in the first Moment after we come to Heaven then we are capable of attaining here throughout all our Days SERMON III. July 16. 1695. PSLAM XXVI iii. For thy Loving Kindness is before mine Eyes And I have walked in thy Truth THE Time of composing this Psalm seems to be before David's coming to the Kingdom but after God had given him the right of Succession when he was maliciously persecuted by Saul and as unjustly defamed by his flattering Courtiers And this was the probable occasion of his solemn Appeal here to the Judgment of God who knew not only the Righteousness of his Cause in this particular Point but also of his general Course There are various Expressions to this Purpose ver 1 2. But the Reason and Ground of this Confidence is set forth in the Words of the Text For thy Loving Kindness is before mine Eyes c. Here are Four Things which need a little Explication 1. What we are to understand by the Loving Kindness of God The Word signifies the Benignity Mercy Grace of God and may be indisserently render'd by any of these Terms which do all amount to the same Thing But 1. This Loving Kindness may be taken either for an essential Perfection in God or some external Dispensation of good from God that which belongs to his Nature or that which he exercises towards his Creatures One is to be lookt upon as the Principle and the other as the Product one as the Original Cause and Spring the other as the Effect which Streams and Issues from it In the former Sense it may be understood Psalm 51.1 and in the latter Sense Psalm 42.8 And in both Senses here in this Place 2. The Loving Kindness of God displays and exerts it self in many Acts of Providence but most especially in Christ and the vouchsafement of spiritual and eternal Blessings by him Several of God's dealings with us in Temporals are Instances and Tokens of his Favour and if he were not as he is said to be Joel 2.13 Of great Kindness he would deal much other wise even in those Things but the Kindness and Love of God that which is most eminently and distinguishingly so appears in the Redeemer Tit. 3.4 All the rest is as nothing to this and therefore this is chiefly understood here 3. The Loving Kindness of God may be consider'd as respecting others or our selves as the Elect of God in general are the Objects of it or as he hath made us so more particularly Now though 't is true that the Favour which God bears to his People deserves our notice and remembrance yet we are mosT apt to be affected with that which he shews to us Paul speaks of Christ's loving his Church Eph. 5.25 But he Triumphs in Christ's loving him Gal. 2.20 So that when David says here Thy Loving Kindness he means Thy Loving Kindness to me 2. What it is for God's Loving Kindness to be before our Eyes 'T is a way of Expression which this Holy Man after God's Heart uses elsewhere Psalm 16.8 I have set the Lord always before me And it implies these Four Things in it 1. To have it before our Eyes is duely to apprehend it So David speaks of Vnderstanding the Loving Kindness of the Lord Psalm 107. ult If we have no Knowledge of it it can have no Influence upon us and that which is hid from our Eyes in the Scripture stile we are said not to know Luke 19.42 2. To believe it and be persuaded of it Insidelity makes Men hide their Faces from Christ Isa
and his Kindred and Friends whom he had call'd together ver 24. But how did he fall on them Peter himself explains it Chap. 11.15 As on us at the beginning i.e. in a miraculous extraordinary Manner So Christ had said Mark 16.17 These Signs shall follow them that believe in my Name shall they cast out Devils they shall spake with new Tongues c. Not only they that Publisht the Gospel but they that receiv'd it were many of them thus eminently gifted by the Holy Ghost and this was much for the Honour of Christ whom they believed in and serv'd to rescue his Gospel from that Contempt and Reproach which the World was so apt every where to pour upon it 5. By the admirable Patience and Resolution both of the Apostles and other Believers in the extream Sufferings which they underwent for Christ and the Gospel I think says Paul that God hath set forth us the Apostles as it were appointed to Death 1 Cor. 4.9 He protests for his own Part that he Dyed daily Chap. 15.31 Stood in jeopardy every Hour ver 30. Others to whom he writes endured great fights of Afflictions Heb. 10.32 Not little Skirmishes but continual Combats What vast numbers of them crown'd all at last with Martyrdom which is the most peculiar Notion of witnessing And with what meekness and undauntedness was all this done as by Men that had fully learnt to despise their own Lives and dearest Comforts together with the greatest Cruelties of their Adversaries But whence did all this proceed From the Spirit of Glory resting on them 1 Pet. 4.14 As Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost saw the Glory of God when his Murderers gnash their Teeth Acts 7.54 55. Their dying witness to Christ was through the special Assistance of his Blessed Spirit 4. How does the Spirit witness to Christ even now in our own Times For there is a never failing Testimony which he gives still and will always give to the End of the World Not by Voices Dreams or Enthusiastick Inspirations which are usually dangerous Delusions where they are pretended and rested on but in such Ways as are safe and clear and highly beneficial As 1. The Spirit witnesses at this very Day to Jesus Christ in the written Gospel This is the standing Memorial and Register of all Divine Testimony There the Doctrine of Christ is preserved uncorrupt and is the same in writing to us that it was originally to the first Christians and here we have a sufficient History of the Miracles which recommended and backt this Doctrine I say a sufficient History sufficient to Answer the End though not a compleat History of all that was done John 20.30 31. Many other Signs did Jesus in the Presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book but these are Written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Son of God c. They were not only wrought but are written in Order to our Believing this puts it out of doubt that we are bound to Believe upon the Testimony of those Miracles which we never saw as faithfully related if they were to be renewed in every Age the commonness of them would make them lose their End and every Generation after they are ceased might challenge a Repetition of them as well as one and to what Purpose should Persons be enjoyn'd to tell the wonderful Works of God to their Posterity if they were not oblig'd to give Credit to them As Exod. 10.2 And many other Places 2. He witnesses to Christ by the Operations and Effects which the Gospel hath upon all the chosen of God for hereby it is distinguisht from the Word of Man even by its Effectual Workings 1 Thess 2.13 There is no Comparison between them in their Natures For what is the Chaff to the Wheat Jer. 23.28 Nor in their Operative Vertues For is not my Word like as a Fire saith the Lord and like an Hammer c. ver 29. This shews the Power of the Spirit attending it this is that which puts an Edge upon the Word and gives a force to it which makes it quick and mighty sharp and searching in the Work of Conviction hereby it takes hold of Sinners Casts down Imaginations and brings every thought into Captivity to the Obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 The Word alone would not do this but as it comes in Power and in the Holy Ghost 1 Thess 1.5 There are Impressions of the Majesty and Authority of God upon the Word stampt by the Spirit but the same Spirit must enable us to discern them as a Stranger must Learn to know an Artificer's Workmanship from himself 3. By giving us an inward Experience and feeling of the Things of Christ Spiritual Sences are a great Advantage to those that have them and whoever have them are beholden to the Spirit for them Hence it is that the Things of Christ are called the Things of the Spirit of God which the natural man neither does receive nor can know 1 Cor. 2.14 A meer notional acquaintance with them is vain and insignificant and yet this is all that any Man in the World by Nature without the help of the Spirit can Rise up to We know them by receiving them they are strange Things till they are taken in and made Familiar to us by real and experimental Knowledge Therefore 't is said He that believeth on the Son of God hath the Witness in himself 1 John 5.10 That Verbal Testimony which is without him in the Scripture is then transcrib'd within him on his own Heart he is satisfied from himself which is the highest and fullest Satisfaction 4. By the producing of Faith in Christ which is a Work that 's never fulfilled in any Soul where be is not given for 't is one of his Titles the Spirit of Faith 2 Cor. 4.13 He infuses the Habit he excites to every Act. Divine Supernatural Faith requires a Divine and Supernatural Agent 'T is he that effectually Reproves for the Sin of unbelief John 16.9 He discovers the Disease he applies the Remedy 'T is a part of the Mystery of Godliness that Jesus Christ is believed on in the World and another part of it is that he is justified in the Spirit 1 Tim. 3.16 But one part Contributes to the unriddling of the other If Christ were not justified in the Spirit he would not be believ'd on in the World Christ is justified in or by the Spirit whenever any one in the World is persuaded to believe they are the Spirits internal Arguments on the behalf of Christ that sway the Soul to a receiving of and closing with him He reveals those Things concerning Christ to us which could not enter into our Hearts to conceive of him 1 Cor. 2.9 10. 5. By the strengthening and increasing of this Faith daily after he hath produc'd it There are gradual Displaies of the Glory and Excellency of Christ to the believing Soul all is not manifested at once there are fresh
Communicatious of Light and Grace as long as we are in the World that our Faith may grow and that what is lacking in it may be perfected According as the Spirit enriches us in the Progress of our Sanctification the Testimony of Christ is confirmed in us 1 Cor. 1.6 He grounds and settles us and makes us unmoveable from the Hope of the Gospel he fortifies and establishes us against various contrary Temptations whereby the Devil is frequently endeavouring to loosen our hold of Christ and beat us off from him We are poor wavering unsteady Creatures when we are left to our selves rejoycing one Moment and drooping the next confidently assured of that at one Time which we are ready to call in Question at another The best Believers in the World will most humbly own this the strongest Faith would certainly fail if the Cause of Christ in the Soul were not often pleaded over again by the Spirit as an Antidote for the Motions to Infidelity IV. Vse There are several Things which from hence we may be informed of and exhorted to 1. There are several Things which we may be informed of As 1. Jesus Christ never will nor can be left without a Witness because the Eternal Spirit is his Witness who will never with-dram his Testimony This Spirit of Christ is given to all that obey him and he testifies of Christ to them and by them to others but if we could suppose this whole Generation of the righteous to be extinct which yet shall never be as long as the Earth remains if all these Humane Witnesses were slain and not one left to stand up on the behalf of Christ in the World yet while the Holy Ghost survives as a faithful Witness in Heaven 't is impossible that Christ should be destitute Let the Rage and Malice of the World against Christ go as far as it can in stopping the Mouths or shedding the Blood of all that receive or bear the Record which God hath given of his Son the Spirit cannot be prevented from doing constant Honour to Jesus Christ 2. The Word of Christ hath a better Foundation than any Tesitimony from Man or from any Church or Party of Men whatever As Christ said He had a greater Witnrss than that of John John 5-36 Concerning thy Testimonies I have knowu of Old says David that thou hast founded them for ever Psalm 119.152 But if mortal Witnesses were their only Supporters they would be as liable to fade and perish to be subverted and destroyed as other Inferiour Things To build the Credit of the Gospel upon Humane Tradition is like putting the Ark of the Testimony into a wooden Cart which will be apt to shake and reel if not to tumble The Church of God is the Pillar and Ground of the Truth 1 Tim. 3.15 To hold it forth indeed not to hold it up not such a Pillar as Houses stand upon but as Writings hang upon for Publick Notice 3. The unrighteous Judgment of Satan and the World against Christ is and will be perfectly reversed Now is the Judgment of this World says Christ John 12.31 So Chap. 16.11 When the Sprit is come he will Reprove or Convince the World of Judgment because the Prince of this World is judged I take these Two Texts to refer to one and the same Thing for the Prince of this World and the World it self pass the same Judgment on Jesus Christ and the Judgment of both is very unjust the World and its Prince make up as it were but one Person the Head and the Body and they exactly Agree and Joyn in the same Sentence to condemn our Lord Jesus But here is a Witness that nuls this Sentence and plainly proves the Iniquity and Falshood of it and indeed none of the Devil's Devices can stand when God himself comes forth to withstand and oppose them 4. It must needs be a lying Spirit that speaks a Word against Christ or that derogates any Thing from him 1 Cor. 12.3 I give you to nderstand that no Man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed Whatever is spoken by any to the dishonour of our Lord Jesus cannot proceed from the Spirit of God This is most certain because the Spirit of God cannot contradict himself he cannot testifie for him and against him too The Holy Ghost is Christ's Witness the unclean Spirit is his Adversary and too many Tongues are duided by this unclean and wicked Spirit that pretend to Prophesie in Christ's Name and whereas a true Witness delivereth Souls Prov. 14.25 These do lay snares for their Ruine and Destruction 5. They that have the Spirit of God cannot err in what is essential to the Faith of Christ and necessary to Salvation They are undoubtedly taught to hold the Substance of Divine Testimony though they may be mistaken in lesser Particulars This is hinted by what our Lord says Mat. 24.24 There shall arise false Christ's and false Prophets and shall shew great Signs and Wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. That Parenthesis is the most material Part of the Proposition there is no possibility of any of God's chosen and called ones miscarrying by a fundamental Delusion they have a Resident Witness for Christ in their own Bosoms who secures them from it 6. Vnbelief is a special Sin against the Holy Ghost all unbelief is so though all unbelief and perhaps no meer unbelief is not the Sin against the Holy Ghost It is the Spirit that beareth Witness because the Spirit is Truth 1 John 5.6 But he that believeth not makes him a Lyar ver 10. Hypocrisie is a lying to the Lord as Ananias and Sapphira lyed to the Holy Ghost but infidelity is a belying of him Jer. 5.12 'T is a painting of the Spirit of God like the Sons of Men who are Lyars upon Record Rom. 3.4 Yea like the Devil who is the Father of Lyes John 8.44 This black aggravated Evil is included in the not receiving of the Spirit 's witness 2. There are some Things which we may hence be exhorted to 1. Set your Seal to the Truth of the Spirits Testimony unto Christ by Believing in him and reject it not against your selves Embrace him with all your Hearts upon the high and honourable Commendation which the Holy Ghost gives of him How readily do we repose a Confidence in Creatures when we have receiv'd a worthy Character of them from Persons of known Integrity And shall we be influenc'd more by the Witness of Man than by the Witness of God God forbid How much greater Encouragements have we to Divine than humane Faith There are infallible Grounds for Divine Faith to rest upon which for humane cannot be 2. Grieve not the Spirit of God by Sin that he may not deliver you up nor leave you alone to be led away by Error The Holy Ghost is often provok'd by Men's loose Conversations to give them over to some unsound Opinions Practical
God hath raised up such an Horn of Salvation for us Luke 1.69 Shall we say That we have taken to us Horns by our own Strength Amos 6.13 Is the Iniquity of our heels too little for us that we must back it with such Pride of Heart Hath the Work of Faith any Vertue or Power in it self to justifie or is it the Dignity of the Object that Faith lays hold upon Does our New Obedience make any recompence to God for our Old Sins Does any Man in the common Affairs of humane Life imagine to clear himself from former Debts by paying those of a later Date is our Repentance any Reparation for our Offence That 's the Duty of a sinful Creature without the help of any new suppos'd Law to make it so Light of Nature teaches that 't is a Sin to detain what hath been wrongfully taken Job 20.10 3. Let all that have Christ be excited to Glory in him 'T is that which they not only may but ought to do Isa 45. ult The humbling sight of Sin should not hinder or lessen our Holy Rejoycing in his Salvation It becometh every one that believeth in Jesus to lift up his Face without Fear and without Confusion Christ hath Pray'd against it ver 6. of this Psalm Let not them that wait on Thee oh Lord be asham'd for my sake c. If there be any Cause of shame remaining to a Believer as a Believer Christs Work must be imperfect and the reproach will lye at his Door 'T is a part of our gratitude to Christ to commend him to the World as one mighty to save Thus he is daily to be praised Psalm 72.15 As he did not hide God's Righteousness within his Heart so neither must we Psalm 10.10 Our Tongues are to Publish his Righteousness and make honourable mention of it Psalm 71.16 It is not more our Priviledge to be invested with it than 't is our Duty to confess it and to take all fit occasions of magnifying him for it 4. Remember your increased Obligations of faithful Subjection to Christ It would be vilely disingenuous and inexcusably Presumptuous to take encouragement from this Doctrine to run up new scores They that can be guilty of such ill behaviour towards Christ and wax so wanton against him shew plainly that they have no real Part in him He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his Rom. 8.9 And does this kind of Carriage discover any Thing of the Spirit of Christ No surely but on the contrary the Spirit of the Devil who would stain the Glory of our Holy Redeemer by setting him forth as the Minister of Sin God will not bear such abominable silth upon the Foundation of his laying even a Man would not suffer his Kindness to be so perverted and abus'd but express his just Resentment of it If we Sin through weakness we have an Advocate ready but if we Sin wilfully there is no more Sacrifice to be offer'd confident Debtors that Care not how they Live nor what they spend are not to be countenanc'd those Bankrupts whom Christ hath once reinstated are made very Cautious afterwards 5. Learn not to Repine at any of your deserved Chastenings Straggling Sheep can have no Reason to complain when they pass under the Rod considering how the good Shepherd was smitten How can such dry Trees as we are fly in God's Face when he is hewing of us with gentle strokes if we did but bear upon our Minds how the Green-Tree was cloven in sunder Know thou that God exactest of thee less than thine Iniquity deserveth Job 10.6 Thy Afflictions are moderate and God deals with thee in Mercy rather than in Judgment and thou hast need of these Things to bridle or reclaim thee but our Lord Jesus was more roughly handled who was worthy of the highest Expressions of Love and never could be cast out of the Bosom of the Father Christ was not indebted to the Justice of God and therefore Typisied by an Heifer upon which no Yoke ever came Numb 19.2 And yet how was he prosecuted at the suit of Heaven it self Therefore when God deals so favourably with us real Offenders as he does indeed at the worst if we compare our Sufferings with Christ's we should lay our Hand upon our Mouths and calmly bear his restrained Indignation 6. Follow the steps of Christ by being meek and patient as he was under the sharpest Exercises from causeless Enemies The having of Truth and Justice on our side will not warrant unruly Clamour and Contention 'T is much better in many Cases for a Man to give up his own Right than to behave himself unseemly in the Defence of it so as utterly to break the Bond of Peace and stain the Credit of his Christian Profession The Church of Corinth was therefore condemn'd for going to Law before the Unbelievers for the smallest Matters and the Apostle puts it to them Why do you not rather take wrong and suffer your selves to be defrauded 1 Cor. 6.7 'T is one of the glories of Christ's Disciples to lye down with quietness under the worst of Injuries from unreasonable Men when they cannot regularly help them i. e. without Sin and Scandal In the Case of our good Name which is more valuable than great Riches when Things are laid to our Charge which we know not there ought to be an asserting of our Innocence indeed but yet a bearing of Reproach we should disown the guilt and yet submit to the dishonour Thus Job would not remove his Integrity nor let go his Righteousness Chap. 27.5 6. and yet says That if his Adversary had written a Book he would take it on his Shoulder and bind it as a Crown to him Chap. 31.35 36. This is to imitate the Temper and Practise of our Blessed Lord who readily restor'd what he took not away SERMON XVII February 23. 1697. GAL. IV. vi And because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father THE main design of this Epistle is to obviate the dangerous insinuations of the false Teachers who had crept into the Churches of Galatia and vehemently urged Circumcision and the keeping of the Law as necessary to Mens Justification and Salvation The beginning of this Chapter is particularly levelled against this Principle for here the Apostle shews that the abolished Ceremonies of the former Dispensation were properly suited to their minority and infant State which required Instruction in spiritual Mysteries by carnal Resemblances but that now Christ by his actual appearance in humane Flesh had obtain'd our Freedom from all those Yokes and put us into a fuller possession of the Rights of Children even of such as are come to Age and grown up to riper Years This is the point which he is pursuing in the Text And because you are Sons c. or to prove that you are Sons and dealt with accordingly In which words we have something premised and
laid as a Foundation and some things proposed as the Effects and Consequences of it 1. Something premised and laid as a Foundation Because you are Sons Here the Adoption of Believers is positively asserted as a thing in present possession There are indeed some further Fruits of our Adoption yet future and expected so the Redemption of our Bodies from the Grave at the end of the World is stiled the Adoption which we wait for Rom 8.23 because the Resurrection to Glory will be an eminent declaration of our Adoption as Christ was declared to be the son of God with power by his rising from the dead chap. 1.4 but still our Adoption it self is not deferr'd till then the Scripture affirms the contrary 1 John 3.2 Beloved now we are the sons of God So in this Epistle chap. 3.26 You are all the Children of God by Faith in Christ Jesus As soon as we come home to God by believing we are taken into this Relation for the Houshold of Faith is his select peculiar Family 2. Some things proposed as the Effects and Consequences of this partly with reference to the Act of God the Father and partly with reference to the Act of the Spirit 1. As to what concerns the Act of the Father who is plainly meant in that Clause God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts Here we may consider the Person spoken of the act respecting this Person and the Objects that have the benefit of this Act. 1. The Person spoken of The Spirit of his Son i. e. the Spirit of Christ So he is call'd Rom. 8.9 1 Pet. 1.11 This Character is given him on this occasion for various reasons 1st Because 't is the same Spirit which was in Christ and which is in all Believers That one Spirit which abode upon him resteth upon them also Though he had a greater Fullness of the Spirit yet they in their measure are filled with him too 2dly By the effectual Operation of this Spirit Christ is formed in us and we conformed to him He fashions the whole Church of the First-born into the lively Similitude of God's only begotten 3dly To intimate Christ's procurement of this Blessing for us We were predestinated to the Adoption of Children by Christ Ephes 1.5 Election is attributed to the Father but the Son is the Purchaser of what we are elected to Hence he is said to give power or right to become the Sons of God to them that receive him John 1.12 and 't is by virtue of our union to him that we recover our lost relation to God all the Children of God are given to Christ written in his Book and ransom'd by his Blood for he redeem'd us that we might receive the Adoption of Sons ver 5. of this Chapter 4thly To teach us that the Spirit it self is procured for us by Christ. They that have not the Spirit are such as have not the Son for an Interest in the one does infallibly carry along with it a participation of the other Those Rivers of living Water by which the effusion of the Spirit is express'd flow out of his pierc'd side The Holy Ghost had never been sent down from Heaven if the Son of God had not desecended first to prepare his way 2. The Act respecting this Person God hath sent forth The same word is used with respect to the Son ver 4. this act is ascribed to God several times in Scripture Psal 104.30 John 14.26 and it imports not any change of place as if he were more distant from the Father when he is thus sent than he was before for he is Omnipresent Psalm 139.7 and of the same undivided Essence with the Father but it notes only his Commission for some special Work in and upon the Creature 3. The Objects that have the Benefit of this Act Into your Hearts i. e. into the Hearts of them that believe Two things are signified by this 1. That the Work here intended is an inward Work Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within them And therefore 't is secret and does not minister to Vain-glory or carnal Boasting The Testimony of the Spirit is privately given between him and us and the new Name is that which no Man knows but the receiver himself 2. 'T is a saving Work The Residence of the Spirit is appointed not in the Brain by common unsanctified Gifts such as Hypocrites may be endowed with but in the Heart where all the Habits of Grace are planted and from whence all the Issues of Life proceed 2dly As to what concerns the Act of the Spirit Crying Abba Father Here we may examine how the Spirit is said to cry in our Hearts and what it is which he does cry 1. How is the Spirit said to cry in our Hearts when he is sent forth into them Ans Even as God is said to know when he makes others know Deut. 13.3 So the Spirit maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.26 in helping us to Pray for our selves and therefore 't is a vain and feeble Argument which some Socinians would bring from this and the like Texts against the Deity of the Holy Ghost Matth. 10.20 It is not you that speak but the spirit of the Father that speaketh in you i. e. Though your Tongues utter words yet they could not do it without his assistance and direction as the principal necessary Cause As in this Epistle chap. 2.20 I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me The Apostle corrects himself not as if he were not the true and proper Subject of spiritual Life but to shew that Jesus Christ was the Spring and Fountain of it So here the Spirit sent forth into our Hearts is said to Cry because they cry through his gracious Influence The Holy Ghost teaches us to pray but strictly it is we that pray in the Holy Ghost Jude 20. 2. What is it which the Spirit does cry Abba Father i. e. Father Father This Repetition may be upon two accounts 1. To intimate that both Jews and Gentiles are equal sharers in this Blessing of Adoption Therefore the Apostle makes use of two Words in two different Tongues to express the same thing Abba being a Syriack word which was a Language then commonly known among the Jews and that which we render Father beinga Greek word which was a Language then commonly used among the Gentiles Though a Learned Critick Capellus Spicileg hath taken much pains to prove that Abba is a Greek word also and so applied by the Apostle in this place alluding to the manner of little Children when they first begin to speak and call after their Parents which in all Languages as well as the English isn earest to the same sound with this word Abba 2. To note the strength and vehemency of desire The doubling of words does frequently signify this in Scripture Our Lord in the Garden when he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crys and tears as the Apostle
August 10. 1697. DEUT. XXXIV v. So Moses the Servant of the Lord died there in the Land of Moab according to the Word of the Lord. IT is no Diminution to the Authority of these Books of Moses that this concluding Chapter must be supposed to be added by another hand whether by Eleazer his Nephew or Joshua his Successor is uncertain 'T is enough that it was done with the direction of the Spirit of God by some Holy Person whom he thought fit to appoint for that purpose Moses had been admonish'd by God at two several times of his approaching Death Numb 27.12 13. and Deut. 32.49 50. This Chapter gives an account of his actual Decease In the foregoing Verses we have a relation of his going up to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah and of the view which he had from thence of the Promised Land whereupon God plainly and positively tells him I have caused thee to see it with thine Eyes but thou shalt not go over thither Verse 4. the Prospect of it must satisfy thee without the Possession And this did satisfy the Man Moses who was very meek above all other Men for immediately we read So Moses c. In which wors we may take notice of three Things First Moses his Honourable Character Moses the Servant of the Lord. This is the Title which God himself puts upon him a little after in his Charger to Joshua Moses my Servant is dead Josh 1.2 and he is so stiled in the New Testament likewise Rev. 15.3 They sang the Song of Moses the Servant of God This seems especially to refer to the eminent Service which he did to God in his Publick Office as Leader and Governor of Israel As David for the same cause hath the same Character in the Titles of Psalms 18. and 36. And so Ministers that are employed in the Dispensation of the everlasting Gospel are called in a peculiar manner The Servants of the Lord 2 Tim. 2.24 And they who are Faithful in that Service are more dignified thereby than any of the Prophane Princes of this World Secondly Theplace of his Death He died there in the Land of Moab i. e. A Land of Enemies Balak's Country originally till taken by the Amorites and now Conquer'd by the Israelites Thus Jacob died in Egypt a strange Land and indeed in some sense we all do so for in that better Country to which we properly belong there is no more Death Though our Lord hath overcome this World for us we are but Pilgrims in it and by Death we pass out of it to our promised Inheritance Thirdly The true Ground and Reason of it Accordig to the Word of the Lord. i. e. As God had order'd and enjoin'd him to do As Simeon to whom it had been revealed that he should not see Death till he had seen the Lords Christ Luke 2.29 when he came and saw him in the Temple crys out Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy Word ver 29. It cannot be denied that this Word of the Lord to Moses to dle there seems to be an hard saying and he might have raised many Carnal Objections against it He was now in a state of Health and Vigour not wearied and spent by Sickness and Pain or the Infirmities of declining Years his Eye was not dim nor his natural Force abated and he was short of the Age to which many of the Patriarchs arrived he was but an Hundred and twenty Years old ver 7. He had spent very near a third part of his time in the most Toilsom Employment bearing the Burden of Forty Years tedious march through an Howling Wilderness and yet now when he was upon the edge as it were of Canaan he must die upon the Mount When he had gone so far another must enter into his Labours and inherit the Glory of perfecting the Work not one of his Posterity which might be some Satisfaction to his Brother Aaron that he was succeed by his Son Numb 20.28 but Joshua his Servant one that had attended him and ministred to him one that had envied for Moses's sake Numb 11.28 29. and yet Moses now upon a much greater Temptation does not envy for his sake but delivers up his Charge and breaths out his Soul by the soveraign and undisputed Appointment of God And therefore from this singular and remarkable instance we may be all instructed in our own Duty Observ To die according to the Will of God is a great and necessary Act of our Christian Obedience Here I. Shew How the Will of God is concern'd in our Death II. What sort of Obedience we are to yeild to it III. Why we should do so IV. Apply it I. How the Will of God is concerned in our Death This will appear in several things 1. The general Sentence of Mortality pronounc'd upon fall Creatures is the result of the Will of God the common Death of all Men since Sin entred the World is by a Divine Constitution Men did becaus God hath said they shall do so because he hath resolv'd and determined it not meerly because they are compounded of Flesh and Blood which is a Frame that 's liable to be dissolv'd for we were of the same make as to our natural Substance in our innocent State wherein if we had remain'd we should not have died It is as much in the Power of God to preserve and defend us from seeing Corruption now as it was before but his Will is otherwise Death reigns now universally by a Power given to it from above He who changes not hath ordained that this Change shall come 2. Death hath its particular Commission from God with respect to particular Persons As God speaks of numbring men to the Sword Isa 65.12 like Sheep which are pick'd out of a Flock and design'd for slaughter So Jer. 15.2 such as are for death to death and such as are for the sword to the sword c. The Destroyer cannot come near but only where God hath devoted and set apart for Destruction before-hand Hence those distinguishing Dealings of Providence not only with them under the same Roof but in the same Bed one taken and the other left Luke 17.34 The Pestilence which walks in darkness is guided by God to seize only upon such as he hath mark'd out and it never touches any one whom God will spare though Thousands and Ten thousands fall besides him Psalm 91.7 3. The Circumstance of Time in dying is fix'd and settled by the Will of God As we read how Christ knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of the World to the Father John 13.1 so every Child of God hath such a determinate hour yea minute though we know not ordinarily of its coming as our Lord did Every one hath his set time of removing out of this earthly House which can neither be hastned nor delay'd Every one hath his Portion and Share of Life it self as well as
we have no other Evidence of invisible future Things but only our Faith thomas who would not believe what he saw John 20.25 tells Christ We know not whither thou goest John 14.5 'T is indeed an unknown Land and the way through which we pass to it is dark and gloomy without the enlightning Discoveries of Faith This alone will clear up all and so it is with every Believer as with Abraham Hebr. 11.8 By Faith when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an Inheritance obeyed not knowing whether he went SERMON XXII August 24. 1697. DEUT XXXIV v. So Moses the Servant of the Lord died there in the Land of Moab according to the Word of the Lord. III. WHY we should thus die in Obedience to the Will of God There are many Reasons for it 1. God is Supream and Absolute Lord. He hath the highest Proprietyin us and the most unlimited Dominion over us Behold as the clay is in the Potters hand so are you in my hand O house of Israel Ezek. 18.6 He forms every Vessel as he pleases and is at liberty to break his own Workmanship without controul so the same God whose power produces hath a right to dissolve our Substance He is the Father of our Spirits and they are his peculiar Off-spring and therefore ought to be entirely at his Command He created and infused them and on that account may justly call for them whenever he will 'T is but like the Stream's going back to its Fountain like the Rivers returning turning to the Sea whence they came and the Sun 's hasting to the place where he arose Eccles 1.5 7. We know nothing of God as we ought to know if we know not this that God hath a far greater Interest in us than we have in our selves And that it belongs to him and not to us to govern and appoint all those things which do concern us It was almost in the same breath that David said Thou art my God and my times are in thy hand Psalm 31.14 15. We destroy his Deity if we deny his Sovereignty we renounce him as our God unless we submit to him as Lord of our Lives If he may not determine the Period of Life why should he manage any of the Affairs of it And if we exclude his Providence why should we admit his Being 2. We have the Character of God's Servants and profess Subjection to him but we contradict this Character and Profession except we die in Obedience to the Will of God 'T is observ'd that Moses is never call'd the Servant of the Lord in all his life time till now that he came to die because hereby he did most remarkably approve himself such though he had performed many great and excellent Services to God before He that is another Man's Servant must be content to be called off from his present Work and Station at his Master's pleasure they that are under the Yoke are not to be the Disposers of their own Time or rather we may say they have no Time which is their own but what is allowed them We are under a stricter Law to God and he that calls Himself a Christian does thereby acknowledge it we are not our own but the Lords both living and dying and therefore there is as much reason for our dying as for our living to the Lord and as little reason for our dying as for our living to our selves Rom. 14.7 8. It was Paul's earnest desire and hope that Christ should be magnified in his Body whether by life or by death Phil. 1.20 And this became him as a Servant of Christ ver 1. For we are falsly so called and assume a Name which our Pactice does not agree to if his Will be not a Rule to ours in every thing and particularly in this grand and important Point of Life and Death 3. OUr Lord Christ when he took upon him the Form and Quality of a Servant was our Example in this Case He became Obedient unto death even the death of the cross Phil. 2.8 A Death so circumstanced wih the most tremendous Aggravations as we can never be call'd to be obedient to yet he did not refuse or decline it as he might have done when his Hour came His Life was not taken from him but he laid it down of himself because he had received such a Commandment of the Father John 10.18 It was a free and voluntary Act he gave up the Ghost in the strictest sense as is plain from all the Passages going before his Death It was in the prospect of its near approach that he said to his Disciples Arise let us go hence John 14.31 The words were spoken where Christ had celebrated his last Supper but the place which he speaks of removing to was the Garden where he knew that he should be betray'd and apprehended Chap. 18.4 Jesus knowing all things that should come upon him went forth c. He boldly and chearfully met the Enemy whom he could easily either have shun'd or defeated He was able to escape this Death but would not and therein is a pattern to us who have no such power 4. God never give a Commission to Death nor lays his command upon us to die but when 't is really the fittest Season for us to obey him in it To speak strictly an untimely Death is never permitted by God we are never suffer'd to die when it would be better for us to live Infinite Wisdom and Grace will not permit it and he that resigns himself to their Conduct is sure to die when it is best that he should The Scripture is express Psalm 116.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints This may be most clearly expounded and understood by comparing with Psalm 72.14 which is a Psalm for Solomon as Type of Christ He shall redeem their Soul c. and precious shall their Blood be in his sight so precious that when it is fitter to be spar'd than spilt he will certainly preserve it Though God can kill or keep alive as he will he does not act after an Arbitrary manner he never turns a Saint to destruction when it would be good for him that his Soul should be held in Life We do not indeed see the Grounds and Reasons of God's acting and therefore our Thoughts are not as his Thoughts but it would be very strange if we must not trust God further than we yet see because we shall see hereafter though not now 5. In our Obedience to this command of God there is the greatest reward There is a great Reward in the doing of every one but above all in this There 's no Act of Obedience so profitable to our selves as this if we consider the Glory Honour and Peace which immediately follows If a Servant desireth the Shadow Job 7.2 Why should we be unwilling to enter into our Rest and receive our full Reward when our Work is
the World before he hath answer'd the End and dispatch'd the Business for which he was born into it A comfortable Death does not suit with a slothful and careless an useless and unprofitable Life He that hath neglected his Duty to himself or to others in his place may very well b backward and unwilling to die Job begs that it would please God to destroy him and crys Let him not spare for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One chap. 6.9 10. 5. Clear and State your Accounts every day set them in Order for their Confusion will cause your Distraction when you come to die Seriously examine and reflect upon your daily Walk and Course and do not leave those Miscarriages to be budled up in a general Repentance when they are forgotten which when they are fresh you may and ought to be particularly humbled for The more diligent and exact we are in this case the less Advantage will Satan have against us A Man can but scarcely die well as the Apostle speaks of being scarcely saved 1 Pet. 4.18 who hath any thing else to do when his hour comes 6. Beware of grieving the Spirit and clouding your own Comforts Though full Assurance be not absolutely necessary to the yielding of this Obedience in Death yet our Obedience must needs be very defective where some degrees of Assurance or good hope through Grace are not gotten and maintain'd 'T is very hard to resign without some Evidence that God will receive us very hard to let go our Temporal Life when we can lay no hold upon Eternal therefore the Advice is needful Jude 21. Keep your selves in the Love of God do nothing that may tend to prejudice or weaken your sense of it 7. Live upon the Death of Christ as the only Foundation of your warrantable Trust Though you do walk before God in Truth you will find the need of something else to depend on for your Title to Glory Some think that there is a Gospel Mystery in Moses's dying short of Canaan and Joshua's leading the People into it viz. to intimate to us That the Works of the Law will bring none to Heaven but Christ by his Blood hath open'd our way to it He that builds his Hope of Salvation upon any thing which he hath done must either perish or pull down all again 8. Look up to Heaven for Divine Instruction in this great Point It was Moses's Prayer to God so teach us to number our days that we may apply our Hearts c. Psalm 90.12 The numbering of our Days aright is no Vulgar Arithmetick nor can we learn it without a more than ordinary Tutor No Man ever died like Moses here according to the Word of the Lord but what was taught of God to do it He that gives out the Command must guide our Spirits to obey it If we can do nothing for God of our selves least of all can we die to him without him SERMON XXIII October 1. 1697. HEBREWS VII xxv Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them THE Glorious Office of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is the Subject of great part of this Epistle and the Apostle's main Scope and Design is to shew the superlative Excellency thereof beyond the Legal Priesthood which he does at large in various respects In the two immediate foregoing Verses he compares Christ with the Priests under the Law in reference to their Mortality Verse 23. They truly were many Priests many one after another because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death they were dying Men and how well soever they discharged the Duty of their Places yet in a few Years they left it to those that survived them and knew it no more themselves the Ministers of the Old Testament had their appointed time when their Breath went forth and returned not again as you find that the Ministers of the New Testament have now in their Generation But ver 24. this man or this Christ the Anointed of the Lord whom the Apostle here speaks of for the word Man is not in the Original but supplied by our Translators because he continueth ever hath an unchangable Priesthood his Office does not pass from him to another he hath no Successors in it whom the Exercise of it is committed to but he still manages it in his own Person and will perpetually do it Hereupon that comfortable and encouraging Inference and Conclusion is drawn up in the words of the Text Wherefore he is able c. Whcih words if they were to be cast into our usual Forms of Argument would run thus He who ever lives to make Intercession is able to save to the uttermost But Jesus Christ ever lives c. Therefore he is able c. There are many important Truths lying in this Text but all may be brought within the compass of this one Observ Christ's eternal Life and Intercession in Heaven in an infallible Proof of his Infinite saving Power Here I. I shall enquire into the Thing which the Apostle undertakes to prove The infinite-saving-Power of Jesus Christ II. Into the Evidence which he proves it by The Eternal Life and Intercession of Christ in Heaven With the distinct Uses which may be made of both these I. As to the thing which the Apostle here sets himself to prove viz. The infinite-saving Power of our Lord Jesus The Text it self will lead us to the opening of two Things under this Head The nature of this Power and the extent of it How he is able to save and how far even to the uttermost First With reference to the nature of this Power How is Christ able to save This may may be stated in the following Propositions 1. There is a Power which belongs to Christ as he is God In this as in all other Divine Perfections the Second Person is equal with the First Rev. 1.8 I am the Almighty The very same unlimited boundless Power appertains both to the Father and the Son Therefore when Christ had asserted That none should pluck his sheep out of his hand John 10.28 he confirms it by this That his Father is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of the Father's hand ver 29. Now if any should go about to deny the Consequence the next words will clear it I and my Father are one ver 30. If my Father is greater than all so am I if he be able to secure and preserve the Sheep so am I for he and I are one we are one in Essence and Nature and so all the same glorious Perfections which are inherent in him are in me likewise But this though it be a great Article of Faith and a great support to Believers does not seem to be that which the Apostle hath so much an Eye to in this place for he is now speaking of his Ability to save
One while David is got up so much above carnal fear that nothing can shake him he encourages himself in God and concludes that he shall not be greatly moved Psalm 62.2 Yea not moved at all ver 6. At another Time he is so overwhelm'd with horror so sunk and dispirited as if there were no Providence to shield him and therefore cries out for the Wings of a Dove that he might fly away from the reach of his Enemies Psalm 55.5 6. The same Soul follows hard after God when his right Hand upholds it Psalm 63.8 Which afterwards flags and is almost ready to give over following when that right Hand is withdrawn 4. This lays open the ground of the Devils Enmity against Christ which hath been always most extream and implacable He knows that he should easily compass his Ends upon Belivers if Jesus Christ did not stand in the Way All the Powers of Darkness were furiously bent against the Person of Christ because the great Strength of all that belong to him lies in him If they could have conquer'd him no Member of his could ever have stood against them The Destruction of the Head would have been the Destruction of the whole Body as when the Philistines saw that their Champion was dead they all fled immediately 1 Sam. 17.15 All God's Jewels and peculiar Treasure are laid up and kept in the Hands of Christ so that the subduing of him if it had been possible would have been the seizing of all at once What an Exedrcise hath Christ undergone for our sakes in bearing both the Wrath of God and the Rage of Hell when he might have avoided both if he had not design'd to be a Refuge and Covert from both to us 5. The State of those that are in Christ is greatly amended and improved since the Fall beyond what it was before Never was better Tidings brought to the World than that behold I make all Things new Men are given to change and often change for the worse but God's Alterations are always to Advantage The New Testament Dispensation mightily excels the Old the latter Days will out-shine and out-do the former Times Isa 60.17 For Brass I will bring Gold and for Iron I will bring Silver and for Wood Brass and for Stones Iron That which comes in the room of what is done away is still of a more valuable Kind The second Covenant is better than the first the second Adam more glorious than the first Sinful Man restor'd is in a better Condition than innocent Man as he was Created A poor Believer is stronger in Christ than the holiest Angels without Christ for without Christ no Promises of Perseverance but in him there are and such as cannot be broken He will not turn away from us we shall not depart from him Jer. 32.40 6. 'T is inexcusable Folly for any one in the World to lean to his own Arm. As the Holy Ghost says that Vain Man would be wise i.e. 't is an instance of his Vanity that he will not be persuaded to cease from his own Wisdom so the Pride of our Hearts makes us very unwilling to suspect our own Strength or to cast away all Confidence in it This Pride does not only go before Destruction but is the Cause of it Man would be a God to himself his own Saviour and Defender and in thinking himself so he is his own Destroyer Nothing does more effectually Ruine us than the Conceit that we can recover or preserve our selves from Ruine It is such kind of Presumption which slaies its Ten Thousands if Men were more sensible of their own Infirmities and distrustful of their own Abilities the Devils Kingdom would be empty in Comparison of what it is To imagine that we can do any Thing without Christ is the way to undo the Work of God already done If Adams perfect Holiness was not permanent while he was left alone how should ours be so which is imperfect 7. Everlasting Strength must fail before any true Believers can Everlastingly Miscarry I say before any can for if any one may perish all may because it is the same Strength which secures all Unless the Lord's Hand be shortened no Soul can ever be pluckt out of it The Honour of Christ is concern'd and indeed engag'd to see every Child of God brought safe to Heaven and therefore they may do well to consider what Reproach they cast upon Christ who by their Doctrines of Apostacy make believers walk with him as one said like sorry Dancers on a Rope that are every Moment in danger of breaking their Necks Is Jesus Christ such a strong Helper and yet may the Gates of Hell prevail against those that are joyned to him Hath he pawn'd his unchangeable Word that the good Part shall not be taken away from those that have once chosen it Luke 10.42 And shall Men that turn the Gospel upside down represent it as a doubtful uncertain Portion Is Grace no better than common Gifts and outward Blessings That we may be totally disposlest of the one as well as the other Nothing can more derogate from our Blessed Lord or expose him worse than this scandalous Opinion does as a feeble incompetent Undertaker II. Exhortation 1. Beware of falling from your own stedfastness 2 Pet. 3.17 This is proper and pertinent Advice to those whose Strength is in Christ Gospel-Principles breed an Holy not a Carnal Security Watchfulness and Diligence Circumspection and Caution are necessary in our daily Walk for they that lay these Things aside do thereby Declare that they have nothing to do with Christ nor any Interest in the Priviledge I have been speaking of They are wofully mistaken who think that infallible Promises render all Exhortations fruitles The Spirit of God teaches otherwise 1 John 2.27 28. Ye shall abide in him and now little Children abide in him How absurd is it to suppose that certainty of Perseverance in Grace should make Men do such Acts as are contrary to Grace and destructive of it Or that we should therefore live in the neglect of Means because we are sure to persevere in the use of them This is such kind of Divinity as the Devil 's was Mat. 4.6 He shall keep thee therefore hazard thy his Angels shall bear thee up therefore cast thy self down 2. Be not utterly dismayed when Satan hath gotten any Advantage of you through your sinful Weakness Be duely affected with and suitably abased for the least Departure from God but do not let go your hold of Christ as if you were irrecoverable Say not as the Church in Captivity did Lam. 3.18 My Strength and my Hope is perished from the Lerd This is a very false and unjust Conclusion not warranted by the Word of Grace but a meer Artifice of the Devil When he tempted you to Revolt he would also urge you to despair of a return but though you have complyed with him in the one stand it out against him in the other Psalm
145.14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall c This seems a Paradox indeed for how should they fall if he upholds them Ans He upholds them so far that they shall not utterly sink and he will take Care to raise them up again do not reckon your selves destroy'd tho' cast down The ransomed of the Lord may be carried Captive into a Land of Enemies but they shall return and come to Sion with Songs and Everlasting Joy upon their Heads Isa 35.10 3. Take heed of scornful or censorious despising of weaker Brethren If he that deals to every Man his measure of spiritual Strength hath afforded more to you and less to some others in the World do not lift up your selves above them Boast not against the Branches those that are inferiour to thy self for thou bearest not the Root but the Root thee Rom. 11.18 If Jesus Christ were not more liberal to you than to them your Soul would be in their Soul's Case Judge not those who are upright in their Hearts though they do err in lesser Points the Holy Ghost says they shall be holden up for God is able to make them stand Chap. 14.4 Trample not upon them that are most bowed down with a Spirit of Infirmity There is a respect to be paid to God's halting Jacob's and his Lame Mephibosheths The greatest and the least of Saints are both depending Creatures and therefore should carry themselves with all Modesty and Meekness one towards another He who establisheth us with you in Christ is God 2 Cor. 1.21 4. Make no Promises of Perseverance in your own Strength Learn the contrary of the Psalmist in the Text who first makes his Request Let thy Hand be c. Then expresses his Resolution So will not we c. If we Vow continuance with Christ in all Temptations and intend to pay what we Vow we must not Account our selves capable of Payment without Assistance from Christ No Man hath Grace enough to be his own Keeper or to execute any Purpose of that sort unless he be still receiving more Grace from Christ's Fulness A Thing well resolv'd is half done but we can never resolve well unless we do it in the Strength of Christ Mic. 4.5 We will walk in the Name of the Lord our God for ever and ever A Phrase which does at once import two Things that should go together attendance on God's Service and reliance on his Power 5. Look to your Faith as the principal Grace which contributes to your Establishment Isa 7.9 If you will not believe surely you shall not be established The contrary is implyed If you do believe you surely shall be The Scripture says more than once That by Faith we stand Rom. 11.20 2 Cor. 1.24 Which is more than is any where said of any other Grace and the Reason is evident 1. Because Faith is the uniting Grace and 't is Vnion with Christ which is the ground of our Safety 2. 'T is the receiving Grace that whereby we do not only receive Christ himself but all from Christ and 't is by Vertue of Strength receiv'd that we are able to stand This is the Grace whereby we do not only receive from Christ at first but whereby we must be receiving from him all along for we renew our Strength by waiting upon God Isa 40. ult Which is a Scripture-Phrase for Faith and Patience together It is the blessedness of those whose Strength is in God that their Strength is still increasing they go from Strength to Strength Psalm 84.5 7. But without Faith there 's no such Blessedness to be had the Unbeliever hath no Strength but what is in himself a meer seeming Strength and therefore a perishing declining Strength for from him that hath not what he seems to have shall be taken away 6. Exercise Faith upon Christ especially in Times of great Temptation and general Defection Never think to stand long if you stand loose from Christ but keep your hold of him and stick close to him and then you will be able to stand fast and having done all to stand whatever assaults are made upon you whatever Apostacies are committed by others continue touching him and Vertue will still come out of him Make your Nest in this Rock when the Devil blows with his Wind when Paul was buffeted with the Messenger of Satan he besought the Lord that it might depart and though that was not immediately granted yet he had a very satisfactory Answer My Grace is sufficient for thee my Strength c. 2 Cor. 12.7 8 9. If it be a Time wherein the Faith of many is Shipwrackt and overthrown Holy Trust in Christ will be an Anchor to the Soul sure and stedfast When many of Christs Disciples went back and he put the Question to them Will you also go away Peter cryes Lord to whom shall we go to whom besides thee John 6.66 67 68. 7. Do not arrogate the Honour of your standing in Christ and abiding with Christ in the least measure to your selves Let Christ have all the Glory of your setting out and holding out let him have it now and let him have it at the Last Ascribe all to him who is able to keep you from falling who alone could do it and hath done it Jude 24.25 Christ is the Person there meant for the Presentation of Believers faultless in the great Day belongs to him Say to him Lord by thy Favour thou hast made my Mountain to stand strong which else had been remov'd and carried away long since thou hast made me a Pillar in thy Temple else I had waver'd and gone out again as well as others When you Live and when you Dye acknowledge this to your Redeemers Praise SERMON IX March 24. 1696. JUDGES XVI xx last Clause And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him THE Person whom these Words concern was the Twelfth of those Judges from whom this Book receives its Name as being the History of the Common-wealth of Israel during their successive Administrations He was one that had an extraordinary Presence of God with him which stirr'd him up to and made him successful in very great and wonderful Undertakings So we read That the Spirit of the Lord began to move him Chap. 13.25 And came mightily upon him Chap. 14.6 And again Chap. 15.14 The first Miscarriage whereby he forfeited his Priviledge was his Conversation with the Harlot at Gaza and yet God was pleas'd by his special Assistance to let him escape the Danger which that Sin brought him into ver 1 2 3. of this Chapter The second Debauchery prov'd more fatal viz. the letting out of lustful Affections to Dalilah a Woman in the Valley of Sorek ver 4. This Sin was followed with others as the telling of three deliberate repeated lies ver 7 11 13. And at last consenting to the Violation of his solemn Vow as a Nazarite by the shaving of his Head ver 17. One would think from the discovery of such