be his late experience of disturbances perplexities troubles wounds losse wrath can tell him a sad story 4. He that is truly sorry for sin his desire is vehement and earnest that he may please God for the time to come What would he not now do to win his Favour His own corrupt will hath formerly misled him to the provoking of his God but now he submits it unto Gods Will in all things Let him command what he will he is ready to obey it Let him restrain him in any thing he declines it Let him lay upon him what he pleaseth he patiently undergoes it Let him defer to answer his Prayers he waits Gods time In a word the vehement and earnest desire of his soul is that he may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing by a dayly improving in the knowledge of him and by a further fruitfulness in every good work 4. He that is truly sorry for sin he becomes zealous against sin as that which is so offensive unto his God Thus David's zealous sorrow appeared in his Tears For his eyes ran down with Rivers of water because men kept not Gods Law Psal 129. 136. Lot's righteous soul was vexed with the filthy Conversation of the Sodomites Eâ—pecially he iâ— zealous against sin in himself He is zealous of good works he takes delight in them The wayes of Wisdom or of Christ they are pleasantness unto him Prov. 3. 17. He is diligent in good duties he is fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12. 11. He is often thinking and talking of that which is good and rejoyceth to see others do that which is good He remembers whence he is fallen to what a fair degree in Grace he had formerly attained and now he strains himself to the utmost to recover it and to go beyond it 6. He takes revenge upon himself for his former follies by watching fasting praying by denying himself in those Contents which otherwise without offence he might freely enjoy This Effect of Revenge some Commentators would find in the broken heart Psal 51. 17. Where the word is Cor confractum contribulatum that is say they fractum tribulatum cum corpore broken or ground or threshed with the body The body therefore as thence they would infer must be a sufferer with the heart in true Confession Whether the word will bear such a meaning or not I contend not It is enough we have St. Pauls example for it 1 Cor. 9. 27. We may nay ought to keep under our bodies and bring them into subjection that so they may be the fitter to joyn with our souls in Gods Service though by so doing we cannot satisfie for the least of our sinful follies Act 3. The heart must be rent in the hatred and detestation of sin And the High Priest rent his cloaths saying he hath spoken Blasphemy That sin is most loathsom and hateful is evident from those Comparisons by which its Loathsomness is set forth in Scripture It is compared to the Leprosie to menstruous rags to pollutions of the Birth to vomit to mire c. And because it is so loathsom and abominable therefore doth the Lord hate and abhor it as is to be seen Prov. 6. Psal 5. Psal 45. and in many other places The Lord is in his Essence and Nature most pure and therefore doth he naturally and essentially hate all filthiness and impurity And as he hates sin so do his people and Saints from the first moment of their Conversion of their beginning to be his people Indeed their hatred against it at first is not so manifest as afterwards The Heifers will low after their Calves Yet there is a secret dislike in the soul against it the Will bâ—gins to be set against it and their dislike gathers strength and increaseth by degrees until it doth become a down right hatred Then they can truly â—ay I hate every false way with David Psal 119. 104. I do the thing that I hâ—te with St. Paul Rom 7. 15. And because they themselves know it to be so hateful therefore do the Saints so earnestly exhoâ—t others to hate and abhor it Thus David Psal 97. 10. See that ye haâ—e the thâ—ng that is evil So Jude 23. Hate the garment spotted with the Flesh And this because upon their Conversion their Souls being united unto God they begin to love him and so cannot but abhor that which he abhors and hates Thus David takes his Motive to stir up the Saints to hate evil from their love of God Psal â—7 10. O ye that love the Lord see that ye hate the thâ—ng that is evil And much more now do the Saints hate and abhor it upon their repentance after their fals For thâ—y know that now a greater Oblâ—gation lies upon them to please God and thâ—y have had the experience that sin is a deadly enemy unto their souls wounding them robbing them of their God and exposing them to his fierce wrath And hereupon they cannot but exceedingly loath and abhor it as that which seeks and by all means endeavours their utter ruine and destruction Now that hatred against sin in others and especially in themselves may be carried on by the Lords people in such a way as may manifest the truth of their Love unto God and the unfaignedness of their repentance they are to be very cautious that they stumble not at these rubs Marks 1. As to others there must be no tolerating and bearing with their sins It was the commendation of the Church of Ephesus they could not bear those that were evil Rev 2. 2. Asa would not bear with Idolatry in his own Mother but unqâ—eened her for that her sin 1 King 15. 13. He that winks at sin â—n others will soon be blind to it in himself Yet the Saints must be sure that this their hatred of sin be perfect Psal 139. 22. wanting neither Knowledge nor Justice They must know what and why they hate and their hatred must be fastned upon the sin not upon the Person He that can dispense with the sin for the man or hates the man for the sin his hatred savours more of vicious Passion then of a vertuous Perfection 2. As to themselves there are three Rubs or stumbling-blocks at which the penitent Saint may trip and stumble if not very wary and so his hatred against sin may fail and fall short of its due Requisites these are 1. Partiality there must be an hating of all sin of every false way Psal 119. 104. The Church of Ephesus hated the deedâ— of the Nicholaitans viz. Promiscuous Whoredomes and Idolatry but decayed in Zeal they grew cold in the reprehension of these sins The truly penitent will not only hate the great Blotches and deep stains of the soul in gross and scandalous sins but evâ—n every little sin likewise the Garment that is but spotted by the Flesh Jude 23. 2. They must beware of Lenity they cannot be too vehement in their hatred against sin
sometimes to afford it but man in expectation thereof may not neglect the means he hath appointed 1 Tim. 4. 13 15. 2. Let all light affected ornaments be shunned Gal. 1. 10. 3. As long as this Hand-maid will submit and be subject she is not to be rejected if she rebel and presume to domineer and dictate cast her out Col. 2. 8. 4. Beware of itching Ears as after new Doctrines so after Eloquence 2 Tim. 4. 3. 5. Desire the sincere milk of the Word that thou maist grow thereby 1 Pet. 2. 2. Resol I do not slight nor will I neglect that small portion of humane learning which my Lord Christ hath conferred upon me as it may in any way for his Glory be sub-servient in the great work of his Ministry However my chief care shall be that my Speech and my Preaching may be not with enticing words of man's wisdome but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power 1 Cor. 2. 4. Ejac. Who is sufficient for these things 2 Cor. 2. 16. Paral. 2. Circ From the University being in Orders I was removed to the Living which I now hold Obs Christs way is for an orderly-called setled Ministry in his Church MY Lord Christ intending me for his Ministry was pleased from the University by a remark able manuduction to lead me to this place I was presented by the then Lord Keeper upon a Lapse by Simony committed by the former Incumbent To let pass many former Passages of special note my Presentation was sealed within few hours after his decease though he died here above thirty miles distant from the City My Evidence was then but weak Yet beforâ— my trial which the Patron to vindicate his Title and to keep off the imputation from his Progenitors who had bought the Estate and Advousion after the Simoniacal Contract did put me unto the Lord was pleased though the Simony was contrived above eight and twenty years before to discover unto me many material witnesses and having so ordered that the business should be heard before that Judge noted for the most searching Head of those times into Cases of that nature to give me the day upon an old trampled-upon scrap of Paper wherein the Contract was mystically set down which I found under foot neglected by him who upon the like aim had the perusal of the deceased Incumbents Writings before me The whatsoever Light they pretend to blind seduced Proselytes in gathered Congregations or among those possessed with a dumb I fear a proud spirit or in any other Fraternity Family Fellowship or Combination withdrawn from Christs Church and Way are absolved from their fetters though never so seemingly fast intangling by his Who required this at your hands Isa 1. 12. And so may unless resolved to be blind still shake off as Paul did the venomous beast into the fire Acts 28. 5. that usurped Authority with those their blind Leaders who exercise it over them and return with welcom to the Fold of Christ from which till then they are lost His setled Ministers unless in case of notorious scandal not to be judged by the people though the late times did shake their Titles are not ought not so to be laid by and lifted out of their Candlesticks They hold by the same Law for life as others for Inheritance Christ hath set them over his Flock to rule them in spiritual things and to watch for their souls as they that must give account Heb. 13. 17. From their Ruling their Charges of Cures where they are fixed are called Rectories and as Rulers they are to be obeyed Who can rule who hath none to govern Who will obey who knows not whom he is to submit unto And Who will watch where a trust is not reposed an account not feared not required The means for their subsistence necessarily follows on their fixing and employment The mouth of thâ— Oxe which treadeth out the Corn must not be muzzled 1 Cor. 9 9. Who goeth a warfare at his own charges 1 Cor. 9 7. For the Proportion of it They have Christ's irrevokable Ordinance thâ— it shall be so much that they may live of iâ— 1 Cor. 9 14. They have the Higher Powers Act being thâ— Act of the whole Kingdom whom they represent until by the same power repealed that it shall be and continue in such a measure as now it doth For the Justness of it it is the Labourers hire he is worthy of it â— Tim. 5. 18. If his Hire how voluntary If he worthy of it why is it envied why withheld For the Quality What passeth in exchange for it exceeds it at a vast dâ—stance They sow spiritual things and reap carnal things 1 Cor. 9 11. But they must be Labourers else they may not eat Gal. 6. 6. 1 Tim. 5. 17 18. Yet every one that will may not labour in the Word may not take upon him to be a Labourer in Christ's Harvest but only such whom the great Lord of the Harvest is pleased to send forth Mat. 9. 38. Christs Ministers are his Stewards of his Mysteries 1 Cor. 4. 1. And it is the Lord of the Family that appoints them to that Office Luke 12. 42. They take not this Honour to themselves Heb 5. 4. St. Paul was made a Minister according to the Dispensation of God Col. 1. 25. The great Shepherd of the sheep though filled with the Spirit above measure John 3. 34. So much pretended to by Intruders was pleased to manifest his Calling to his great Office of Preaching of the Gospel by outward sensible signs as By the Spirit in likeness of a Dove resting upon him at his Baptism By an audible voice then Mat. 3. 16 17. And at his transfiguration commanding to hear him Mat. 17. 5. As his Father sent him so sent he his Apostles He breathed upon them and said unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost John 20. 20. Which on the day of Pentecost in a fuller measure descended down upon them by certain outward signs both to the ear and eye Acts 2. 2 3. Thus sent they their Disciples The hands of the Presbytery were laid upon Timothy 1 Tim. 4. 14. Who is commanded not to lay hands suddenly on any 1 Tim. 5. 22. And thus in all times since hath it been used in all well ordered setled Churches That by such outward sensible signs the Church may take notice that such a one is called and set apart and hath now received his Commission to preach the Gospel Whereupon people knowing that in spiritual things they are not bound to obey any other have still been ready to yield obedience unto such as being in Christ's own way called to their Function and set over their Charge Obs Christ's way is for an orderly-called setled Ministry in his Church For an orderly-called Ministry Texts Mat. 28. 19. Go and teach all Nations John 20. 21. As my Father sent me so send I you and he breathed on them and saith Receive ye the Holy Ghost
Inst Ananias laid his hands on Paul and gave him Instructions Acts 9. 6 17. He was separated unto the Gospel of God Rom. 1. 1. Timo by is warned to be wary in laying of his hands upon any before due trial of his sufficiency 1 Tim. 5. 22. For a setled Ministry Texts 1 Thes 5. 12. We beseech you Brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work sake Heb. 13. 17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account Inst Epaphras was a Faithful Minister of Christ for the Colossians Col. 1. 7. The Seven Churches of Asia had each its several star Angel or Minister Rev. 1. 20. Reas 1. Christ is the God not of Confusion but of Order and will have all things done in order in his Church 1 Cor. 14. 33 40. 2. He would have people to love their Ministers Propriety is a strong Motive to love Col. 1 7. 3. He would have his Ministers to be faithful in their several Charges Acts 20. 28. Use 1. Take heed to all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made thee Overseer Acts 20. 28. 2. Remember the account thou must give Heb. 13. 17. Wo be unto thee if thou preach not the Gospel whereof a dispensation is committed unto thee 1 Cor. 9. 16 17. 3. Serve God with thy Spirit in the Gospel of his Son Rom. 1. 9. Jer. 48. 10. 4. Obey them that have the rule over you for they watch for your souls Heb. 13. 17. 5. Beware of false Prophets which come unto you unsent by Christ they are ravening Wolves Mat. 7. 15. 6. Turn away From House-creepers They will lead thee captive 2 Tim. 3. 6. From such as separate themselves They are sensual having not the Spirit Jude 19. From wandring Stars They go in the way of Cain and run greedily after the Error of Balaam for reward Jude 11 13. From Gatherers of Congregations They gather not with Christ but are Scatterers Mat. 12. 30. Resol Being set over this his Houshold according to the dispensation of the great Lord thereof my care shall be as becomes a faithful and wise Steward to give unto them their portion of wholsom Food in due season Luke 12. 42. Ejac. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Luke 12. 43. Paral. III. Circ The Change in my Soul was first wrought upon hearing of a Sermon preached by a lawful Minister Obs The Word preached by a lawful Minister is Christ's ordinary way for changing of the heart WHen I first entered into the Ministry God knows I was a most unfit man for so high and Holy an employment and so continued until I came unto this Place The Sermons which I then preached before my Change it is possible might be a means to open the Gate of Heaven to others while I my self stood without Being setled here my Lord Christ was pleased as he dealt by his chosen Vessel St. Paul Acts 9 6 15. by a rough breaking to put my heart into a new frame and in part to fit me for the great Work to which he had called me I had now attained to the top of the Hill of man's age and was descending The sixth hour of my day was past yet then was I sent into the Vineyard Math. 20. 5 No time while the day of life continues can bar man from mercy 10. 9. 4. Being in the City I would needs on the Lord's day go to the new Church in Covent-garden whose inside I had never seen I went I confess more out of novelty then devotion My end was not to seek God Yet there I happily found him and was found by him Rom. 10. 20. The Minister was unknown to me His Text was about the unclean Spirit 's returning to his House c. and taking to him seven other Spirits more wicked than himself c. Math. 12. 43 44 45. Although for some time I did not much mind him yet at length upon his well-handling of his Matter I was perswaded with an attentive ear to listen unto him and before the conclusion of his Sermon somewhat was delivered by him which the Spirit was pleased to carry home to my heart and to make use of it as an Hammer to break that Rock in pieces Ier. 23. 29. I was there rouzed out of my security and began to think what a dangerous condition my Soul was in and could not forbear saying to the servant of the Inn who at night lighted me up to my Chamber We that teach others to be good should be good our selves which he departing answered with a curse My terrours increased upon me to the disturbance of my Reason and so I continued for some weeks after my return home Being somewhat come to my self upon the perswasion of a Neighbour-Minister my living being not many miles from the University I went to the Colledge of which I was yet a Fellow hoping there better to recollect my self and to shake off my melancholy amongst my old pleasant Companions And the truth is my thoughts by conversing with them were soon taken off from where they should have been fixed The Lord called to mourning and there followed indeed A Sermon of repentance A just restitution A weak dislike of my bad wayes A discovery of some tenderness in my Soul which one of my Companions a Minister slighting I forbear to say in what words afterwards came to a sudden and sad end But I found carnal men to be a means sooner to extinguish the smoaking flax then to inflame it which danger the Lord was pleased to prevent by withdrawing me from thence and bringing me back hither where my amendment following but slowly he saw it fit for the perfecting of the Work he had begun to wound me in my Soul and since his former rod when the sorrows of many temporal deaths compassed me had done but little good sharply to chastize me with his Scorpions The fear and horrours of Hell taking hold upon me Psal 116 3. The weight for the time was very heavy but I was Powerfully supported Graciously delivered Most richly recompenced They and onely they whom God by his eternal Decree hath freely predestinated unto Glory shall certainly enjoy it and be brought unto it by those means which to that end he hath fore-appointed Rom. 8. 30. The principal of these means are effectual Calling and Justification as there to which all others do refer To effectual Calling are required an offering of Christ a receiving of Him Christ is off râ—d in the Word Col. 2. 28. He is received by Faith 10. 1 12. The receiving of Christ is passive or active He is received passively in Baptism where he is put on Gal. 3. 27. We are ingraffed into him Iohn 15. 5. And becoming Members of his Body 1 Cor. 12. 12 13.
absent nothing but good is to be spoken He that would not speak ill of any will not dares not curse the deaf Levit. 19. 14. There is but one of them that I hear of yet living for whom I pray heartily as Moses did for his Sister Miriam Heal her now O God I beseech thee Numb 1â— 13. Could outward Performances set up Christ's Throne there wanted not here discoveries enough of a ready submission to his Laws The Incense of Prayer private secret ascending Morning and Evening Constant hearing of the Word on the Lords day on week-dayes at home abroad Penning of Sermons Reading them or some Divine Tractate every day twice at set hours An open hand to the poor c. And yet notwithstanding all this when I was brought by my Apprehender to the Gate there the Jaylor was found as Master of the House and there I left him when I fled for my safety Charity teacheth me to hope the best 1 Cor. 13. 7. This is that I shall only say God would not hide his purpose from Abraham concerning Sodom because he knew that he would command his Children and his Houshold after him to keep the way of the Lord Gen. 18. 19. And I tremble to think of the sharp punishment inflicted upon too-indulgent Eli and his Sons 1 Sam. 4. 17 18. What other Title Satan had for possession if he had any other I leave it to God the alone-searcher of the heart Use Let David be thy President for the ordering of thy Family Psal 101. Resol As for me I and my House we will serve the Lord Josh 24. 15. Ejâ—c I am now of his Houshold Eph. 2. 19. And one day in thy Courts is better then a thousand Let me rather be a door-keeper in the House of my God then dwell in the Tents of wickedness Psal 84. 10. Paral. VII Circ The Prisonstood at the Entrance of Westminster-Hall Obs The Course of the Law to some is the mouth of Hell THere is no Calling though never so lawful but it may be abused In ours some have preached Christ even of envy and strife Phil 1. 15. The Profession of the Law in it self is honest and honourable but boâ—h the Law and its Profession may be unlawfully used when that which was given for a Rule is made for a Snare It is hard that men cannot walk by it but they must be intangled in it It is mans Corruption that makes it necessary and indeed in case of necessity it would only be used When no other means will serve to preserve Life and recover health then the Physitian will venture to minister Poyson For my self though God from the beginning had kept up in my soul an averseness unto that course yet it being by my Parents looked upon as the then rising way they would needs put me into it I had often before had warnings enough to shun it and this was now the fifth time of my being taken off from it In those few years which I had spent in it I was too forward a proficient in bad wayes More I saw and more I should soon have learned It is opportunity and secrecy that invâ—tes and makeâ— a Thief Had the offered Favour been accepted I had not wanted plentiful temptations which with security confidence and thanks might have been put in practise to my exceeding great advantage But my infinitely merciful God when my soul was upon those Confines of ruine kept me from falling into the Pit whose very brink I was upon O what a seared Conscience in short time I should have had How crusty How callous How hardned in the wayes of deceit That course would have been no other unto me then the very mouth and entrance into Hell And when I had lost my Soul what would wealth and Honour which would have been heartily endeavoured for me and it is possible might have followed What would these have profited Mat. 16. 26. What it would have been to me it is I fear to too many others Obs The Course of the Law to some is the Mouth of Hell Texts Prov. 6. 16. These six things the Lord hates c. a proud look a lying tongue c. and him that soweth discord among Brethren Gal. 5. 15. If ye devour one another take heed ye be not consumed one of another Inst Tertullus the Orator with a bad tongue defended the bad cause of the Jews against Paul charging him with many things that were false Acts 24. 1. 5. Reas The temptations are stroâ—g They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition 1 Tim. 6. 9. Use 1. Wickedness is somtimes in the place of Judgment and iniqâ—ity in the place of righteousness Eccles 3. 16. 2. Let Judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty Stream Amos 5. 24. 3. With God is strength and wisdom the deceived and the deceiver are his He leadeth Counsellers away spoyled and maketh the Judges Fools Job 12. 16 17. 4. Set your Children in such wayes where they may be least exposed to Temptations 5. Endeavour to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Eph. 4. 3. â— 6. Forbear one another and forgive one another if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye Col. 3. 13. 7. If any hath a matter against another let it be referred to the Saints who shall judge the world 1 Cor. 6. 1 2 3. Resol Thou hast O Lord in great mercy taken me off from that soul-endangering course of the Law I will now meditate in thy Precepts I will delight my self in thy Statutes and encline my heart to perform them alwayes even unto the end Psal 119. 15 16 112. Ejac. Encline my heart unto thy Testimonies and not unto covetousness Psal 119. 36. Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God Mat. 5. 9. Paral. VIII Circ The Voice saying It was the Gate-house Obs The Lord is most ready to satisfie the doubtings of his Servants THE in-each-partâ—cular likeness of the Prison unto the House wherein I had lived with that Noble Personage in the Gaâ—es Lodge inward Buildings Windows excepting the Grates and that grated one on the side of the Gate house placed there so near mine eye that I might be sure it was a Prison as also in the Court-Yard in the Front toward the River was enough to have assured me that that was likewise intended in the Visson I began notwithstanding to sâ—â—ple at the distance in respect of their scituation being a good way off asunder Mans weak Belief is too apt to raise needless doubts Joseph interpreting the Butlers Dream made no scruple at the Vine's budding blossomming and bearing ripe Grapes at the same time Gen. 40. 10. Upon my former unsettlement touching those missed secular expectations Gods Will was that I should first pâ—ay unto him in this he was pleased
21. 13. Sure Mercies Isa 55. 3. He hath a Multitude of them Lam. 3. 23. He is rich in them Rom. 10. 12. They are new every Morning Lam. 3. 23. They endure for ever Psal 106. 1. But among all his Mercies there is none so rich as that in his quickning us with Christ when we were dead in sins and trespasses Eph. 2. 4. None so great as that whereby he hath saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. None so abundant as that whereby he hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us 1 Pet. 1. 3 4. For all his other Mercies we are to give him thanks 1 Thes 5. 18. But for this our every thought of it should be accompanied with the strongest and heartiest Breathing forth from our souls of his due Praise and Glory Blessed be the Lord who hath visited and redeemed us Luke 1. 68. Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom we have redemption through his Bloud Eph. 1. 3. 7. We give thanks unto the Father who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his Dear Son Col. 1. 12 13. Glory is a clear knowledge of the worth and excellency of him whom we glorifie with an answerable praise of him This God willeth us to have a respect unto in our Praises of him Psal 150. 2. In offering thanks and praise unto him we glorifie him Psal 50. 23. â—nd the more we publish and tell of his Excellency unto oâ—â—ers the more and the further off do we make this clearness to be discerned and so make his Praise to be Glorious Psal 66. 2. Thankfulness shews it self In Acknowledgment of Mercies Jam. 1. 17. In Remembring of them Psal 106. 7. In requiting of them Psal 116. 12. We acknowledge them with our Toâ—gues Psal 57. 8. We remember them in our Hearts Psalm 103. 2. We require them as by Praise in our Lips so by Obedience in our Lives 1 Cor. 6. 20. This we are bound unto 2 Thes â— 13. It is Gods Will we should do it 1 Thes 5. 18. It is all that he expects from us Psal 50. 15. It is the utmost that we are able to render unto him Psal 116. 12 17. Obs As for all other Mercies so especially for Soul-deliverances God expects that man should be thankful For all other Mercies Texts Eph. 5. 20. Giving thanks alwaies for all things unto God Col. 3. 17. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks by him Inst. David blesseth God for all his Benefits Psal 103. 2. The Thessalonians are to give thanks in all things 1 Thes 5. 18. For Soul-deliverances Texts Psal 66. 16. Come and hear all ye that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my soul Col. 1. 12 13. Giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son Inst David is resolved to offer the Sacrifice of thanksgiving unto God because he had delivered his soul from death and broken his Bonds Psal 116. 8 16 17. Saint Paul thanks God for strengthening him against his Corruption Rom. 7. 25. Reas 1. It is Gods Will 1 Thes 5. 18. 2. It is Gods Rent reserved for those Blessings which the soul holds of him Psal 50. 15. 3. It is good pleasant and comly Psal 147. 1. 4. God is thereby glorified Psal 50. 23. 5. It prepares the way for new mercies Col. 1. 4. Use 1. In all things give thanks 1 Thes 5. 18. 2. Let thy thanks be active and obediential as well as verbal Psal 50. 14. 3. Strive to proportion thy thankfulness unto the greatness of the Mercy Luke 7. 43. 4. Get a clear assurance of the Mercy that thy thanks be not in vain Rom. 7. 25. 5. Beware of unthankfulness that brings all thy sins back again upon the score though not as to act yet as to guilt which is exceedingly aggravated thereby Mat. 18. 34. Resol Mine enemies are turned back they are fallen and perished at thy presence thou hast lifted me up from the gates of death therefore will I shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and will rejoyce in thy salvation Psal 9. 3 13 14. Ejac. To him that hath loved me and washed me from my sins in his own bloud and hath made me a King and Priest unto God and his Father to him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Rev. 1. 5 6. Paral. IX Circ Being transferred into the Tower of the Temple-Church I stood where the Essigies of the Knights-Templers lie Obs All worldly things are to be trampled upon in the way to Heaven THE Tower of the Temple-Church into which I was now translated I look upon as a place made choyce of by the Spirit as most apt for the following imaginary representations as also in reference to that middle part of the Pavement whereon I was set and where lie the Essigies of the Knights-Templers Who they were what their Order where their chief Seats how they troubled the Christian world in those times when they flourished is set down to satisfaction by Mr. Fuller in that his excellent piece of the Holy War I am only to mind their Honour which is the chief of worldly things and most agreeable to the Heroick magnanimous height of mans soul comprising under it Wealth and Pleasure If in our way to Heaven this is not to be minded but to be esteemed as the dust under our feet Phil. 3. 8. Much less are we to idolize thick clay Hab. 2. 6. Or so much to forget the honour of our Creation as to stoop to brutish and sensual delights Psal 49. 20. Whatever that savage Spirit of Scythianism with which many are possessed teacheth our Religion destroyeth not civil regards but enjoyns them Honour is to be rendred to whom it is due Rom. 13. 7. It is due as to natural and spiritual Parents so to civil Exod. 20. 12. To Magistrates as such God is honoured in them they having a more than ordinary Impression of his Image upon them John 10. 34. Out of Psal 82. 6. For others God himself gives a rule in our honouring of him Psal 150. 2. There must be some excellent worth otherwise Honour is not due This Dignity can neither be conferred by the Prince nor purchased with a price Where it is not to render Honour is Injustice Where it is wanting it is servile flattery to give it As for that due to those who are eminent in Piety the sâ—wly mind will esteem others better than it self Phil. 2. 3. and accordingly will prefer them in honour Rom. 12. 10. He that feareth the Lord
as a Lion with violence now he lurks slily as a Serpent What he could not do by strength shall be done by subtilty 2 Cor. 11. 3. He hath first his small Cords of vanity to draw on Iniquity and then his Cart-ropes of strong twisted bold sins whereby he endeavours to bind and hold men fast Isa 5. 18. He wrought upon Peter First To follow afar off Next to deny his Master Then to forswear him At last to curse himself if he knew him Mat. 26. 58 70 72 74. He Assaults By Objects 2 Sam. 11. 2. By Suggestions Acts 5. 3. The World one of his Under-Captains by honour wealth Pleasure 1 John 2. 16. The Flesh another by its lusts 1 Pet. 2. 11. By them Indisposing to what is good and Inclining to what is evil Rom. 7. 19. His end in thus doing is To strip the soul of its Garments of Grace Rev. 16. 15. And at length To devour it 1 Pet. 5. 18. Doth it not then stand us in hand to watch him with all diligence and wariness A duty for which none so unfit as The Intemperate man and He whose heart is overcharged with worldly Cares Luke 21. 34. In a siege a strict examination doth pass upon all comers in and goers forth of the City so being so beset it concerns us to watch and examine What passeth in by our senses Psal 119. 37. What passeth forth Our Thoughts Prov 4. 23. Our words Prov. 4. 24. Our Actions Prov. 4. 26 27. In a word we must so watch our selves and our enemies that notwithstanding their subtil Attempts to hinder us we may take care for the things that belong unto the Lord how in them we may please him 1 Cor. 7. 32. To this our Watch we must add Prayer Matth. 26. 41. That he who neither slumbreth nor sleepeth would keep us Psal 12. 1. 4. That he would watch for uâ— and over us That he would not lead us into temptation Matth. 6. 13. That he would not leave us to our selves Luke 22. 32. That since Temptations cannot be avoyded they may rather surprize and take us against our wills 1 Cor. 10. 13. than we wittingly enter into them Mat. 26. 41. That if it be his pleasure that we be led into them he would make a way to escape and bring us back again 1 Cor. 10. 13. Our own weakness Mat. 26. 41. Our enemies subtilty 2 Cor. 11 3. The uncertainty of our Lords Coming Luke 12. 40. If we seriously consider these we need no other quickners to this duty Obs Our spiritual enemies are to be watched with diligence lest they hinder us in our improvement in Grace Texts Cant. 5. 2. I sleep but my heart waketh Luke 12. 39. If the good man of the House had known what hour the Thief would come he would have watched and not have suffered his House to be broken through Iust The Corinthians are exhorted to watch to stand fast in the Faith to quit themselves like men 1 Cor. 16. 13. The Church of Sardis and the Angel Overseer or Minister thereof are threatned that if they watch not Christ will come upon them as a Thief Rev. 3. 3. Reas 1. They are very subtil 2 Cor. 11. 3. 2. They seek the ruine of thy soul 1 Pet. 5. 8. 3. Watchfulness is a means to preserve Grace Rev. 16. 15. to recover it when decayed Rev. 3. 2. 4. Security exposeth to their power Luke 12. 39. Use 1. Stand continually upon thy Guard Mark 13. 37. 2. Pray to God to keep thee and to watch for thee Psal 127. 1. 3. Be sober Intemperance drowzeth the soul and renders it unfit for the duty 1 Pet. 5. 8. 4. Let not thy heart be overcharged with cares of this Life Luke 21. 34. 5. Have alwayes in mind the uncertainty and suddenness of thy Lords Coming Rev. 16. 15. Resol Though the Spirit be willing yet the Flesh is weak I will therefore watch and pray that I enter not into Temptation Mat. 26. 41. Ejac. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his Garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Rev. 16. 15. Paral. XV. Circ The Savoy at the Entrance whereof the Building was represented and the Tower of the Temple-Church are both of them seated by the River side Obs Each True Member of the Church in his way to Heaven must expect Afflictions and prepare himself with patience to undergo them THE Reason of the Prisons being set so nigh unto the River I have touched before The Savoy where the Building was represented and the Tower of the Temple-Church were made choyce of standing not far from it to shew me what in my way to Heaven I must expect and preparemy self for Afflictions are usuall in Scripture signified by waters as Psal 18. 16. Psal 1 2 c. These every one that will live godly in Christ Jesus must look to undergo 2 Tim. 3. 12. They are the Badge of Gods People Zeph. 3. 12. Of Christs Disciples Luke 14. 27. We must look for them in the world John 16. 33. as being the way which we must pass through to our Heavenly Countrey Acts 14. 22. Our Lord Christ was a man of sorrows Isa 53 3. His whole life was a continued Cross and Martyrdom He suffered those five dreadful things as the Philosopher called them Shame and Reproach often in his Life at and after his death Heb. 12. 2. Mat. 27. 63. Poverty Luke 9. 58. Sickness and Infirmities Mat. 8. 17. out of Isa 53. 4 5. Enmity John 15. 18. Death Mat. 27. 50. Heb. 12. 2. The great Captain of our salvation being thus made perfect Heb. 2. 10. after these his Sufferings sate down at the right hand of the Throne of God Heb. 12. 2. He is our Head we his Body and being predestinated to be conformable to his Image Rom. 8. 29. Before we shall be glorified with him we must look to suffer with him Rom. 8. 17. For we are to fill up that which is behind of his Afflictions Col. 1. 24. Whose Sufferings though as to his own Body they were most perfect Heb. 10. 14. Yet as to his mystical Body they remain to be perfected until that day when with joy we shall lift up our heads because our Redemption from them draweth nigh Luke 19 28. Afflictions then we must expect to undergo which When being sensible of the misery of our condition they cause us to long for that day when we shall be freed from them Rev. 21. 4. When being exercised by them we bring forth the Fruits of righteousness Heb. 12. 11. When we bear them with patience Rom. 5. 3. God hath then his end in part in laying them upon us whose Justice being fully satisfied by that one Oblation of his Son upon the Cross Hâ—b 10. 14. His Chastisements now unto his Children are Medicinal and not penal Look for Afflictions we must and must prepare our selves for them that we may patiently bear them Patience is an effect of our
I could if not match him yet closely follow him in his humiliation and amendment By the Grace of God I am what I am Which Grace of his to new mould and make me what I am hath most richly yet strangely wrought Some heaâ—ts are by the Holy Spirit gently softned for gracious Impressions some dealt with more roughly that they may be new made and reformed God hath his Oyl and his Hammer to work upon those who are ordained to Eternal Life to bring them home What the one doth not dissolve the other shall break This last way the Lord was pleased to use towards me First and that some years since by a great and long distemper in the right use of my Reason from which in much mercy he released me The work upon that being not throughly wrought hath given him just occasion now lately to visit me by laying upon me the weighty burden of a wounded spirit whereof by a sweet and I trust lasting peace in my Soul he hath at length graciously eased me Lord What is man What sinful man What I the chief among all sinful men That thou shouldst so mind me so wait for my Amendment and use so many means for my Reclaiming Thy Justice which with a remarkeable retaliation hath often paid me in my own coâ—n might long since have made a quick dispatch and have cast me into Hell But if ever any I may experimentally say thy Mercy is above thy Justice That thou O â—ord maist receive the due Glory of thy Mercy O come hither all you that fear God â—nd I will tell you what he hath done for my Soul I was under his smarting Rod under the without his support as-to the-soul-intollerable burden of a wounded spirit for some sins whereof some of them at least I knew not formerly though I had often called my wayes to remembrance my self to be guilty But the Lord was pleased after a wonderful manner not only to set them before me but to make me so sensible of their heinousness of my desert by them of his terrours then upon me for them that I was exceedingly troubled in my spirit almost to distraction while his fierce wrath went â—ver me I humbled my self low before the Lord for them and thereupon expected Peace and settlement but for some dayes could not find or feel any tâ—ough earnestly with Tears I often sued for it At length taking into my hands that rich cellar of Cordials for the sin-sick Soul the Book of Psalmes and beginning at the First I read on until I came unto the 8 v. of the 85th Psalm at those words I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak Peace unto his People and to his Saints but let them not turn again to Folly At which it was the Lords pleasure I should stay and fix my thoughts upon them Which I had not loâ—g done but I found a river of unspeakaâ—le comfort flowiâ—g into my Soulâ— Which I then â—â—uld not but entertain with nor can I now mention without abundance of Tears of unfeigned Thankfulness and exceediâ—g Joy I found that Bâ—east of Consolation full of sweetness And that I might suck it to satisfaction I made choyce of the word of the next Suâ—jâ—ct which I would insist upon by way of discharge of my Pastoâ—al Office when the Lord should please in such a measure to restore me to my self that I might in some degree be though most most unworthy yet not unfit as to the right use of my Reason to appear again to serve my Lord Christ in his Ministry Having now finished my weak Meditations upon them I should be most unthankful to my Great and Gracious Restorer should I nâ—t tâ—us render unto him the due Glory of the Riches of his exceeding Mercy toward me by communicating them unto you mâ— Brethren that you may know whithâ—r to go for Peace if ever the Lord should please to bring any of you into the like Condiâ—ion I have been in O blesse the Lord with me who of very Faithfulnesse brought me into iâ— by his Glorious power suâ—ported me under it and of his abundant Goodnesse led me out of it Blessed be the God of all Comfort who haâ—h comforted us in our Tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble with the comfort wherewith we our selves have been comforted of God 2 Cor. 1. 3 4. Yours For Ye are Christs R. W. put them into the like or a worse condition Let them not turn again to Folly The Text consists of three Clauses in every of which each word hath its weight I shall by way of Illustration touch upon each of them and after a brief Paraphrase for their further clearing I shall propound the Doctrines The first Clause is I will hear what God the Lord will speak I will hear what he will speak to the distressed Soul by his Word by his Spirit I will hear what he will speak for I know it will be Comfort and Caution I will hear what God the Lord will speak He sees knowes and pities his people in their distresse and is most ready and able to help them I will hear God the Lord and him only I will hear him I will attend diligently to his Will that I may know it obey it acquaint others with it I will hear him My Resolutions are fixed to hear him against all gainsayers I will hear him My Greatness though a King exempts me not from this duty My holiness as a Saint and his true Servant binds me thereunto I will hear him I will give good example unto others I will teach exhort encourage pray for them But if notwithstanding all this they neglect their duty yet I will hear c. For c. In these two last Clauses are set down a twofold reason why the Psalmist in behalf of the Saints is so resolvedly set upon it to hear God the Lord and him alone The first being taken from that Comfort which the Lord would afford unto the Soul in speaking Peace to it The second from that good which might redound thereunto by his Fatherly Caution and Admonition He will speak Peace unto his People and to his Saints Unto his People not to the world not to stubborn impenitent sinners And to his Saints such are all his People and he owns none other for his but those who are truly such He will speak Peace Comfort Settlement Reconciliation Pardon Acceptance He will speak Peace by a full assurance thereof in the Soul He will speak Peace when his People shall have turned from their sins by true repentance and Faith in Christ He will speak Peace if not presently upon their humiliation and Faith yet most certainly in his good time But â—et them not turn again to Folly But let them not c. How tender is the Lord over his People How unwilling that they should provoke him Let them not turn again to Folly to the Folly of sin Let
them not turn again Peace spoken to the soul is worth the prizing worth the preserving Relapses are dangerous Let them not turn again If they do the fault is not in God he is most unwilling they should â—urn again Neither in Satan wholly he can but tempt and perswade he cannot force them to turn again it is chiefly in themselves Let them not turn c. That yet I may give more light unto the words suppose you heard the Psalmist expressing himself and his meaning somwhat more fully and plainly to this or the like effect While the Lords people go on in a constant course of Obedience unto his Will they enjoy a sweet peace in their souls being assured that the Lord doth accept of them and their though but weak services in his Son But when they fall into the folly of sin especially of hainous sins then their peace is interrupted then disturbances and unsettlements do arise in their souls out of an apprehension of the Lords displeasure against them for such their Folly Being in this sad condition if they desire that the breach should be made up their Souls again setled their Peace restored their only way is to turn from their Follies by true repentance and faith in Christ and then the Lord in his good time will most certainly speak peace unto them Others indeed will be offering unto them Peace and settlement such as it is But let them take heed how they listen to any but unto God the Lord. And when he hath spoken peace unto them let them for it will nearly concern them be as wary of giving cause of a new broach by turning again unto Folly The words thus cleared do afford unto our Consideration these Three Doctrinal Conclusions Doct. 1. That when the Lords people do fall into the folly of hainous sins they lose their peace and great disturbances perplexities unsettlements do thereupon arise in their souls 2. That when the Lords people do by unfâ—igned repentance and Faith in Christ turn from their folly of sin the Lord in his good time will most certainly speak peace unto them 3. That when the Lord speaks peace unto his People they are to hear him and him only and peace being spoken that it concerns them to be very wary how they turn again to Folly The first Observation is Doct. 1. That when the Lords people do fall into the Folly of hainous sins they lose their peace and great disturbances perplexities unsettlements do thereupon arise in their souls This Doctrine hath three Branches 1. That all sin is Folly 2. That the Lords own People may and do fall into the Folly of sin 3. That when they do fall into heinous sins they lose their Peace and in stead thereof great disturbances perplexities unsettlements do thereupon arise in their souls Branch 1. 1. That all sin is Folly There is a threefold Folly 1. Negative Folly which indeed is not so properly called Folly being nothing else but the absence or want of wisdom such as is in Ideots or Naturals as we call them it is an uncapableness of wisdom Of this the word here is not meant The other two sorts are properly called Folly whereof the 1. Is Privative when a man having a capableness of wisdom yet wittingly and willingly doth neglect the means to attain it The Is that kind of folly which is contrary to true wisdom erring from that Rule by which wildom doth regulate and oâ—der all her actions And of these two the word in the Text is to be understood of the wilful Folly and of the erring or transgressing Folly That all sin is Folly or Foolishness in one of these two fore-mentioned regards is evident from the Text where under that name the Lords people are warned to beware of sin Sin is so called Joh. 4. 18. So Eccles 7. 25. Where it is called the wickedness of Folly in many other places I might give you Instances of many sins which in Scripture are branded with this Title as Sichems Lust Gen. 34. 7. Achans Theft Josh 7. 15. Atheism Psal 14. 1. Slandering Prov. 10. 18. Deceitfulness Prov. 14. 8. Security Luke 12. 20. Neglect of Grace till death Mat. 25. 2. Inconstancy in Religion Gal. 3. 1. 3. But these are obvious almost in every Page Reas The Reason why sin is branded with this Title of Folly is because there is no sin committed but some way or other it fals short of the Rule of right Reason which is Gods Will expressed in his Word by which Rule every godly wise man as near as he can doth regulate and order all his actions He who orders his Actions according to this Rule he is a wise man and so far as a man fals short of this Rule so far must his Actions necessarily be foolish and sinful A mans Actions though in themselves good yet may fall short of this Rule Short of Rule 1. By rash unadvisedness The Godly wise man takes counsel and advice within himself and is willing to be directed by others he cals to mind former things and layes one thing to another and compares them together that so he may advisedly proceed in what he is about to do he ponders and weighes the path of his Feet and so his wayes are established Prov. 4. 26. But the sinful foolish man is carried on headlong with a precipitate rashness and so his wayes are as darkness and he knowes not at what he stumbles Prov. 4. 19. Stumble he doth and cannot but stumble and fall into the folly of sin because he walks in darkness and is rashly and unadvisedly carried on by his own perverse will or Passion 2. A mans wayes may fall short of the Rule of right Reason by an indiscreet inconsiderateness The godly wise man his eyes look right on and his eye-lids look straight before him Prov. 4. 25. He shuns as near as he can all manner of evil with much wariness He is very circumspect in observing of all due circumstances for the manner time place of performance c. He walks circumspectly not as a Fool but as a wise man Eph. 5. 15. But the foolish sinner considers not his Actions whether they be good or evil He minds not any circumslance in their performance but goes on in a careless manner and so his actions become foolish and sinfull 3. Amans actions may fall short of this Rule by inconstancy The godly wise man as he proceeds on with good advice and due consideration so he is firm in his resolutions and acts accordingly He doth righteousness at all times Psal 106. 3. He is stedfast and unmoveable in the work of the Lord as St. Paul exhorts 1 Corinth 15. 58. But the foolish sinner he recedes and fals off from that good which formerly he had pitched upon and by his Corruption or Passion is carried away to somthing which he conceives may be more profitable or delightful unto him He is a double-minded man unstable in his
a carnal carking crafty solicitous wisdom Or as St. James sets it down Jam. 3. 15. It is an earthly sensual devilish wisdom But ours must be of another temper and otherwise qualified it must be pure peaceable gentle easie to be entreated full of Mercy full of good fruits without partiality without hypocrisie Such is the true wisdom that descendeth from above Such let us labour to attain Motives Our Lord Christ exhorts us earnestly to get it Prov. 4. 5. It is worth our having being of inestimable value Prov 3. 15. It is a main Part of Gods Image Col. 3. 10. Without it we walk in darkness Prov. 4. 19. It never comes empty handed but brings with it long life wealth honour Prov 3. 16. It preserves a man and keeps him from evil Prov. 2. 11 12. It is rewarded with a Glorious Inheritance Prov. 3. Ult. If these have any power with us we will with all diligence seek after it Means The Means to attain it are To disclaim our own wisdom We must become Fools that we may be wise 1 Cor. 3. 18. To submet our selves to the Instruction of Christ our great Counseller Isa 9. 6. In whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Col. 2. 3. To submit our selves to the guidance of his Spirit which he hath promised shall teach us all things John 14. 26. To ask it by fervent Prayer of God who gives it liberally Jam. 1. 5. Being furnished with this we shall be the better able to decline the folly of sin which otherwise even the best of Gods people are subject unto which is The second Branch of the Point viz. Branch 2. That Gods own people may be and are too often overtaken with and fall into the folly of sin Where 1. Of their Relation and Character 2. Of their Weakness Partic. 1. Their Relation is set down in those words his People But are not all men the Lords People by right of Creation of Conservation Have they not their Being from him And doth not he support them in that their Being They are and have Yea the Jews were the Lords People by Choyce out of all Nations Deut. 4. 2. By many extraordinary Priviledges Rom. 9. 4 5. Which were denied to all other Pople Psal 147. 20. Yet beyond all this there is a certain number of people whom the Lord owns in a more special manner in whom he hath a special and peculiar Propriety They shall be mine Mal 3. 17. Thine they are John 17. 9. These they are so the Lords People as they are exclusively his excludiâ—g all others whom in this Relation the Lord takes noticâ— of All are his people as they are his Creatures The Jews were his People as they were his Subjects But these are his People in the greatest nearness that can be as Friends as Sons as Members as Partakers of his Divine Nature Pet. 1. 4. Now this his special propriety and owning of them the Lord is pleased by certain Titles and Favours of extraordinary love toward them to manifest in his Word They are called His hidden ones Psal 83. 3. His known ones 2 Tim. 2. 19. His peculiar people Tit. 2. 14. His peculiar Treasure Psal 35. 4. His Jâ—wels Mal. 3. 17. A people near unto him Psal 1â—8 14. His beloved ones Col. 3. 12. His accepted chosen predestinated adopted ones Eph. 1. 4 5. For whom he reserves a Kingdom Luke 12. 32. But how shall it be known who these are The Psalmist gives us here in the Text an infallible Character of them they are the Saints his people and his Saints The word Saint signifies holy There is an holiness by Faith and an holiness by Obedience By Faith Saints and faithful Brethren Col. 1. 2. By Obedience Psal 50. 5. Gather my Saints together that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice by the Sacrifice of themselves and their Wills to me in their obedience which is better then all Sacrifices 1 Sam. 22. 10. That give up themselves souls and bodies as a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God in their reasonable Service of him Rom. 12. 1. These two must go together and indeed they cannot well be parted the one being as the eye of the Soul the other as the hand In vain doth the eye direct where there is not an hand to work and as vain is it for the hand to set it self to work without an eye to direct Obedience without Faith is blind and Faith without Obedience is dead but joyn them together and that man that is thus holy truly faithful and truly obedient he is the true Saint and the Lord owns such and only such for his people Use 1. For a man then to be baptized and to make an outward Profession of the Faith of Christ this is not enough to make him a true Saint It is true St. Paul by his own example in Col. 1. 2. hath taught us to judge of all that are baptized and do make an outward Profession of the Faith to judge and hope of them according to the Rule of Charity and unless their notorious wicked lives do manifest the contrary to esteem them to be Saints Notwithstanding without all question many thou ands are baptized and are Christians by Profession who are far from being Saints and ever shall be Neither is it enough to make a true Saint for a man by vow to dedicate and give up himself to the Service of God as all do in their Baptism For are there not many sacrilegious wretches who though they have so done yet rob God of what by vow they have given unto him treacherously deserting of him and giving themselves up to the service of the Devil the World and their own corrupt Flesh Neither doth a man presently become a Saint assoon as he is admitted a Member of a Gathered Church As to their sincerity they may still be Hypocrites and as to holiness of life the practises of some of them after their immembring have been so abominable as I have been certainly informed by those whom I dare believe that that Proverb may well be taken up against them There are but few Saints in the Church when the Devil carries the Holy Water Much less is it enough to make a true Saint to be Canonized at Rome and have a day assigned in the Calendar Doubtless there are many in their Register whom the Lord will never number amongst his Saints No it is only true Faith and true Obedience that makes a true Saint Use 2. Are the Saints the Lords people Here let us take notice of that high dignity and those extraordinary priviledges to which the Saints are advanced and admitted They are the Lords people he owns them as his peculiar treasure and by such his owning they are interessed in all the Blessings all the Promises contained in the Word temporal spiritual eternal Their Priviledges are so many they cannot be numbred so precious they cannot be sufficiently valued Take a few by
go near unto the Saints when labouring under the burâ—en of sin they seek for him whom their soul loveth and he is gone and not to be found This this stâ—ikes deep and makes a wide gash and wound in the Soul Yet this is not all the misery the Lords pâ—ople find and feel when fallen inâ—o the folly of heinous sins For beside this of losse they undergo 2. The fear of wrath another smarting wound upon the soul Wrath or Vengeance or Punishmâ—nt follow sin as the shadow doth the body A wicked world called for a deluge of water Gen. 6. 5. The loud crying and grievous sins of Sodom and Gomorrah fetched fire and brimstone from Heaven upon them Gen 18 20. 19. 24. Job by a question sets it beyond all doubt oâ— dispute that destruction is to the wicked and a strange punishment to the workers of Iniquity Job 31. 3. Evil saith the Psalmist shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him Psal 140. 11. It follows a wicked man upon the sent like a Bloud hound and shall never leave till it overtake him And the Saints know that the Lord is just that though he delights not in the destruction or punishment of his Creature yet he delights in his Justice according to which punishment is executed upon sinners They know that God who is the God of Order suffers nothing to be out of order and therefore that he will bring their sins which in themselves are nothing but Aâ—axy and disorder that he will bring them into order by punishment By sin they have run out and broken out of the order of his Mercy and now they cannot but fear that he will force them into the order of his Justice For there is no respect of persons with him but every soul that doth evil must expect tribulation and anguish Rom. 2. 9. Thus in the former wound of losse God hides his face from them and now in this they are as ready to flee from and hide themselves from him For though the eternal and secret bond of his Love of good will depending upon their Election cannot be broken Yet that of Friendship which depends upon Faith and Holiness as to sense and exercise is for the time dissolved So that while thâ—y continue in their sins God deals with them as with enemies and they cannot apprehend him under any other Notion then as an incensed provoked God Nor can they look for any thing from him but the dreadful effects of enmity and wrath Thus they are not only troubled with the hiding of his face from them but they likewise suffer his terrors with a troubled mind being in a manner distracted under them and cut off by them while his fierce wrath goeth over them Psal 88. 14 15 16. Ob. But if the Lord deal thus with his people Saints how doth he spare them as he promiseth Mal. 3. 17. Are these the effects of his Fatherly pity towards them Answ I answer The Lord deals thus with them for their good his punishments are unto them medicinal â—e wounds them for the health of their souls he hides himself from them That they may know what it is to want him That they mourn for his absence That being lost they may seek him with the more diligence and having found him May prize his presence May cleave more closely unto him May take heed how they lose him again He makes them sensible of his wrath That they may the more detest and more warily shun the folly of sin for the time to come which drew his wrath upon them That they may set the higher esteem upon their Peace when he hath spoken it unto their souls Use 1. Here then we may have a guesse at the infinite sufferings of the Lord Christ which in his soul he underwent for sinful man For doth the Lord deal thus sharply with his people and Saints to lay load upon them to wound them to hide himself from them to affright them with terrors and that but for some few sins it may be but for one or two What then did the King of Saints himself in our Nature undergo when he had the weight of the sins of an whole woâ—ld lying heavy upon him when he was wounded for thâ— transgressions of an whole world of sinners When in his Agony in the Garden he sweat many great drops of blood When on the Crosse his Father had so hid his Face from him upon the Divinities momentany withdrawing the sense of its support from the Manhood that he cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me When he had such a true sense of his Fathers wrath due to man for sin that he might well take up those words of his Prophet Lam. 1. 12. O all you that passe by behold and see if ever sorrow were like unto my sorrow wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce wrath Did he undergo thus much for us Let not us then think any thing too bitter or sharp which we may undergo for him or for our own sins Alas our woundings are but gentle stroakings to what our Lord Christ suffered who is pleased in wounding of his people to conform them in some measure to his own sufferings that afterwards they may reign with him in Glory Rom 8. 17. Use 2. When therefore you see any of the Lords people in this distressed condition labouring and languishing under the burden of their sins passe not your censures upon them rashly as if they were distempered and beside themselves but know That they are under Gods sore pressing hand that he hath wounded them for the health of their Souls that he hath cast them into the hot Furnace of his fiery indignation that being purged and purified from the drosse they may come forth like refined Gold fit to make Vessels of honour for himself Use 3. Here let us be taught to walk warily to work out our salvation with fear and trembling to serve our God with fear and trembling to serve our God with reverence and godly fear knowing that he is a consuming fire and that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God Use 4. Doth the Lord deal thus severely with his people and Saints when fallen into the folly of heinous sins to raise such tempests in their souls Yet let them not when brought low under his heavy hand despair of Mercy The Lord is pleased somtimes to bring his own people even to the brink of despair as I could instance in a Gentlewoman I suppose the Grand-mother to a Family of good note and worth in Essex I had the Relation from a true servant of God who at that time or not long after lived in the Family And therefore I do confidently believe it and so set it down for a known truth This Gentlewoman labouring under the burden of her sins had so far cast away all hope of Mercy that having a pure Venice-Glass in her hand in
believe this is not enough to settle the soul and to make its peace with God For notwithstanding such Faith a man may go to Hell And indeed such Faith is in the Devils themselves they believe and tremble James 2. 19. No it is a particular applying Justifying Faith which is the Soul setling and Peace obraining Faith The truth of the Word or the Word â—f Truth is the general Object of Faith But that Faith which must settle the soul and obtain its Peace must be fixed upon and eye a more particular Object namely the free Promises of Grace and Pardon in Christ which promises it layes hold upon and brings home to the soul by a particular application in assurance that the soul is a sharer and interessed in them upon which assurance all the tempests in the wounded spirit are allayed all the disturbances removed all the Fears of enmity and wrath do vanish and a sweet calm settlement and peace do follow thereupon in the soul Where I touched before upon Faith I spake of it as in its dayly exercise in the fruits of true Obedience and having its residence in a soul at peace with God which is the constant Attendant upon such Faith I now speak of it as reâ—iding in an unsetled soul and by reason of the folly of sin inâ—errupted in the exercise which notwithstanding the soul stretcheth forth as its yet benummed hand to lay hold upon the promises of the Gospel for the re obtaning of its lost Peace though it do nor as yet can apply them with the like strength of assurance as when it was more lively and the Spirit did more evidently act in it However it is living and true and may be known to be such and to be in the soul by these Discoveries Marks 1. He that hath it though it continues so weak and benummed as I said that it is not able to apply a promise yet such a man believes that his sins and follies be they never so heinous yet are pardonable that Gods Mercy to poor sinners is not limited to the number or quality of their sins but be they never so many never so heinous of never so deep a slain or loud a cry committed with never so high a hand yet the Lords Mercy is above them all And as he believes that they are pardonable so he gaspes and longs and earnestly desires that they may be pardoned and he sends up earnest and strong cries to the Throne of Grace that the Lord would pardon them Now these Gaspings Groanings Longings Desires and Cries of his soul do discover the Spirit of God to be in such a man For they proceed from the Spirit Rom 8. 26. It is the Spirit which in the sinners soul makes Intercession for him Postulat id est postulare facit It makes him send up unutterable cries and Groans unto the Throne of Grace for Mercy So S. Augusline interprets the place Now where Christs Spirit is there Christ himself is And where Christ and the Spirit are there must necessarily be Faith though but in a weak measure for they dwell not in a faithlesse soul 2. A man may know whether he hath true Faith or not by the Testimony of the Spirit which bears witness to his spirit that he is the Child of God Rom. 8. 16. This Spirit he is sealed with Eph. 1. 14. And it makes him to cry Abba Father The Spirit bears witness It perswades him to an assurance that he is Gods Child and hath Faith As if the Spirit were pleased to say to the weak Believer that doubts of his Faith Dost thou question whether thou hast Faith or not Be assured that thou hast I tell thee so who know thy heart better then thou thy self dost I tell thee so who am the Seal of thine Adoption God knows thee to be his Child by this his Mark and Seâ—l which he hath set upon thee even mee his Spirit without which he would never own thee as his Son Now it is thy Faith which made way for this thy Sonship Christ upon thy receiving of him upon thy believing in his Name gave thee power or priviledge and it is no mean one to be the Son of God He is however he now beholds thee with an eye of displeasure he is I say thy Father therefore go unto him and call him so and by that name sue unto him for mercy say Abba Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee I am unworthy to be called thy Son Yet I beseech thee to have mercy upon me according to thy Fatherly goodness God delights that thou shouldst call him Father He is the Father of Mercies and will not deny Mercy to his now humbled Child 3. This Faith is known by that Confidence and boldness in a man to approach unto the Throne of Grace for the obtaining of Mercy and finding Grace to help in time of need Heb. 4. 16. The soul never stands in more need of Mercy of Grace of Help then when it lieth groaning under the burden of sin under the deep Wounds of the Apprehension of loss and fear of wrath it is then a sit Object for Mercy and Grace Now if in this distressed condition a man can come with boldness to God for Mercy and Help it is a most certain and strong evidence of true Faith When a man can take a Promise suppose this in the Text and spreading it before the Lord can press him with it and say Lord thou seest my sad condition thou knowest my soul in this mine adversity thou seest how it is perplexed and troubled I am now come unto thee for peace and settlement and I come with an assured Confidence that I shall obtain it â—or here is thy Promise of it this I lay claim to and thou canst not but perform it For thou art not as man that thou shouldst lye O be pleased then to make good this thy Promise unto me O speak peace to mine unsetled Soul and make the bones which thou hast broken to rejoyce He that can come unto God with such boldness and confidence he may assuâ—e himself that he hath true Faith For it is that which makes way for the souls access unto God It is that which makes the soul thus bold confident in its approaches and assurance of obtaining of what it sues for See a clear place for it Eph. 3. 12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the Faith of him 4. This particular Promise-applying Faith is known by thâ—t delight which a man takes in the Word wherein the Promises are contained It is sweeter then honey or the hony Comb to the truly Faithful Soul Ps 19. 10. There it tasts truly the sweetness of the Lord Christ Ps 3â— 8. The sweetness of his Grace and Favour 1 Pâ—t 2. 3. in those Promises which there it â—inds and meets withal When turning over the sacred Pages it lâ—ghts upon â— Promise and the Book of God is full
them through Christ in the Gospel Of these two Offerers or Givers of Peace mention is made John 14. â—7 Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you God giveth Peace the world giveth peace The world gives it freely God upon terms and conditions Whether of these two now are the Lords people to hear Flesh saies the World that stands not upon terms and reservations that ties not to any conditions of bewayling confessing hating resolving applying here needs no breaking or rending of the heart or changing of the mind the dear price which they must pay who have their peace from God But the Spirit sayes beware take heed how you listen to the World hearkâ—n unto God the Lord and to him alone For he is God the Lord and ye are his people he speaks peace and he speaks peace unto his people and Saints In which words are couched and contained a threefold reason why in speaking of peace the Lords people and Saints are to hear him and him alone 1. Because he is God the Lord and they are his People He loves them he knows and pities the sad condition the wounded Spirit is in and is alone able to help it 2. Because he will most certainly speak peace unto the soul He will assure it that he is at peace with it 3. Because he speaks peace that which the soul shall find to be truly such He neither gives what the world gives nor as the world gives 1. The first Reason is taken from that near relation between God and his People and from those two titles God the Lord and so it is taken from his Power his Knowledge his Love He is the Lord and therefore able to cure the wounded Spirit He is a Lord of great power such that as he can work by weak means by contrary means so without means He can create peace for the unsetled soul Isa 45 7. He can make it of nothing and indeed so he doth there being no prepared prejacent matter in the soul out of which it should be prâ—duced He is God he knows the soul in iâ—s adversity Psal 31. 7. He it is who wounded it and therefore knows the anguish and danger of its wounds what remedy is fittest for it and when and how it is to be applyed And the Saints though in this sad condition yet are his people whom he loves Col. 3. 12. Towards whom he is tender-hearted very pitiful and of tender Mercy Jam. 5. 11. He pitieth those that fear him as a Father pitieth his Children Psal 103. 13. And therefore as he is able and skilful so he is most ready and willing to help them to settle them to cure their wounds The World is a Physition of no value a meer Empyrick a bold Mountebank that neither is able to compose any Soveraign Remedy nor knows how to apply it being altogether ignorant of the state of the soul in its distress Beside the Lords people and Saints are most hateful unto it Jo. 15. 19. And shall they believe that their deadly enemy if it were able and had skill would be willing to settle and recover them 2. The second Reason why in speaking peace the Lord alone is to be heard is taken from that assurance which the Lord rayseth in the soul that he is at peace with it For he speaks peace to it He makes the soul as strongly perswaded of peace and as confidently to build upon it as if it heard the Lord himself speak it immediatly from Heaven The Grounds whereon this assurance is built in the soul are His Decree which is stable unchangeable Heb. 6. 17. His Promise which is Yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. His Oath which he will not break Heb. 6. 17. His Hand for it in his written Word which he will not deny Rom. 15. 4. His Seal to it his Spirit which he cannot but own â— Cor. 1. 22. His Delivery of this Assurance which he will not revoke John 14. 27. The Witness to all this his Spirit which cannot lye Rom. 8. 18. Thus the Lord speaks peace unto the Soul by thus assuring of it that he is no more an enemy or a stranger unto it which must needs settle it and fill it with strong Consolation Heb. 6. 18 When the World can afford to the unsetled and wounded Spirit such grounds of assurance of Peace and Settlement it may then hope the Lords people may be perswaded to hearken unto it till then it may forbear its frank but empty Tenders 3. The Third Reason is taken from the quality of that Peace which the Lord speaks to the Soul He speaks unto it which is truly such being 1. A solid Peace 2. A satisfying Peace Peace fourfold 3. A Fortifying Peace 4. A lasting Peace 1. It is a solid Peace grounded upon Christ who is our peace Eph 2 14. Who hath made peace for us and reconciled us unto his Father Col. 1. 20. Having purchased peace for us at a dear raâ—e by the bloud of his Cross being wounded for our Transgressions the chasâ—â—sement of our peace being upon him and he healing our wounds by his stripes Isa 53. 5. He is both our propitâ—ation and our advocate for peace unto his Father 1 John 2. 1 2. My Peace I give unto you John 14. Well may he call it his which he hath bought so dear The greatness of the Price speaks the Truth and Solidness of the Peace It is Christ's Peace dearly bought His Father gives it at his request it is the peace of God Phil. 4. 7. And from him proceeds nothing but what is true real and solid The Peace which from it the world would have the soul to accept of it deserves not the name of peace being but a light flash but a shadow of Peace The World cries Peace where there is none Jer. 6. 14. And so if its tender might be accepted would it heal the hurt of Gods People slightly And indeed what more is to be expâ—ctâ—d from the World when it hath but one Receipt or Remedy consisting of three Ingredients which like a bold unskilful Empyrick it applyes to every Mâ—lady What these Ingredients are St. John tells us 1 John 2. 16. All that is in the World are the Lusts of the flesh or Pleasures the Lust of the eyes or Wealth the Pride of life or Honour And alas What can these do to the recovery of a wounded Spirit which cannot prevent or remove a disease from the body or in the least measure abate its Pain The Vermin seized upon Herod and devoured him alive though a great King who had Wealth and Pleasure at his Command Acts â—2 23. 2. The peace which God speaks unto the wounded Spirit it is a satisfying peace Upon the speaking of this the before-disturbed soul returns unto its rest and settlement It hath now its desire it was wounded with the apprehension of losse and fear of wrath and its
not able to perform I will therefore trust in the most High through whose Mercy it is that I have not been moved Psal 21. 7 11. Ejac. How safe is the Heritage of thy Children O Lord whosoever shall gather together against them shall fall for their sakes Isa 54. 15. 17. The Deliverance Paral. I. Circ My Apprehenders hand was taken off me Obs When the Lord Christ pleaseth to free Corruption can no longer enslave THat they who are ordained unto eternal life to that glorious Inheritance of the Saints in light may be partakers thereof there is pre-required a certain meeâ—ness in them Col. 1. 12. This they have not neither can have while in the state of nature 1 Cor. 15. 50. That therefore they may be â—itted for it it is necessary That they be drawn out of their natural estate That they be set in the state of Grace They are drawn out of the state of Nature by being freed from the power of Darkness Col. 1. 13. They are set in the state of Grace by being translated into the Kingdom of Christ Col. 1. 13. To whom it belongs to work these great works for them he alone being able to do them Luke 11. 22. That he had wrought them for me he was now pleased clearly to manifest unto me In my Apprehender's hand being taken off me he shewed me that he had freed me from the power of darkness from the power of reigning sin and so from the power of Satan of Hell In my descent into the Building which soon after followed he shewed me that I was now become a Member of his true Church and so set in the state of Grace His first great work for me was to deliver me from the power of darkness It cannot be believed that these mine enemies in whose snares I was taken out of a willingness now to be rid of me did of themselves offer me this opportunity to escape Their Consultations certainly were not so deep nor they so secure that they minded not him whom they concerned Corruption doth more value his pains and diligence and the huâ—gry Lion doth not so easily part with his prey whereof he is seized How came I then to be set at liberty They were out-witted and out powered The Lord Christ the great Counsellour the mighty God Isa 9. 6. defeated all their Contrivances enervated their strength and in despite of them rescued and wrested me out of their hands Powerfully as to them Col. 2. 15. In a way of Justice as to his Father Col. 1. 20. Innocent He had payed his precious Blood for my soul 1 Pet. 1. 19. His Innocency redeemed me being guilty His rich Price which he payed impoverished Satan His Bonds â—ettered him freed me Thus the Serpents head was broken Gen. 3. 15. by him to whom it was deâ—ervedly granted that he should divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death Isaiah 53. 12. But shall the Prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful Captive be delivered Yes it shall it was it could not be otherwise when now the Lord my Saviour my Redeemer the Mighty one of Jacob was pleased to contend with those that oppressed me and to save me The Captive of the Mighty was taken away and the prey of the Terrible was delivered Isa 49. 24 25 26. Obs When the Lord Christ pleaseth to free Corruption can no longer enslave Texts Luke 11. 21 22. When a strong man armed keepeth his Palace his goods are in peace but when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcometh him he taketh from him all his Armour wherein he trusted and divideth his Spoyles John 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me Inst Zacheus though Chief of the Publicans men esteemed by Christ no better than Heathen Mat. 18. 17. Though a rich man and such shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 19. 23. Yet when Christ called him he made hast and came down and received Christ joyfully Luke 19. 2 6. Saul when breathing out Threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples and going purposely to Damascus with authority to bind and bring those to Jerusalem that he should find there of that way upon the Apparition and Voice from Heaven waâ— changed and submitted himself to Christ's Will Acts 9. 1 2. Reas 1. The Holy Spirit by whom the Soul is freed is a God of irresistible power A rushing mighty Wind filled the House c. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost Acts 2. 2 4 2. The Debt being discharged the Prisoner is to be released Col. 2. 14. Use 1. The Godhead of the Spirit proved 1 Cor. 2. 10. 2. Bless him who hath paid thy Debt Col. 2. 14 3. Take heed of running upon a new Store Psal 85. 8. Resol Thou hast given Commandment to save me wherefore my mouth shall be filled with thy Praise and Honour all the day For they are confounded and brought to shame that sought my hurt Psal 71. 3 8 24. Ejac. Into thine hand I commit my Spirit thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth and hast not shut me up into the hand of the Enemy but hast set my Feet in a large room Psal 31. 5 8. Paral. II. Circ My Apprehenders hand was taken off unexpected Obs Effectual Calling is of Gods Free Grace THat God alone is able to change the Heart is Clear Grace is a participation of the Divine Nature And who can communicate the Divine Nature unto man but only a Divine Power 2 Pet. 1. 3 4. There is nothing in the Soul out of which it may be produced as therein potentially contained Mans recreation then must necessarily be effected by that Almighty Power that at the first made him of nothing Ezek. 11. 19. But may not man deserve this Change May he not walk so exactly by Natures Rule as that God in equity cannot deny his Grace unto him No This Grace is free this Love undeserved What is in the sick Patient to deserve that the Physitian should seek him out to cure him What in an Enemy to deserve Reconciliation from him to whom he hath given just cause to hate him Yet when I was sick and languishing my Physitian sought me to recover me My highly provoked God when I was his Enemy was pleased freely to be reconciled unto me Col 1. 19 10. My Apprehender had hold of me The Jaylor was ready to take me into his Custody The Prison gaped for my Entertainment The Grates were strong to secure me No visible help to rescue me Nothing in me to deserve Compassion Deliverance Yet then was the Lord pleased not for my sake but for his own Holy Names sake to pity me to put a new Spirit in me to save me from all mine Enemies from all mine uncleannesses Isa 31 21 26 31. Well may I now to the Glory of my Almighty and Compassionate Redeemer take up those words of his Church whereof I am now
an unworthy Member rejoycing in her unlikely unhoped return from her captivity and say When the Lord turned again the Captivity of Zion we were like them that dream The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad Psal 126. 1 3. Obs Effectual Calling is of Gods free Grace Texts Isa 65. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that â—ought me not Ezek. 11. 19. I will put a new spirit within you I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh Inst The Ephesians when dead in sins were quickned together with Christ c. to shew the exceeding riches of Gods Grace in his kindness toward them Eph. 2. 5 6 7. The Word of Truth or the Gospel came to the Colossians not they to it Col. 1. 6. Reas Gods great love to man Eph. 2. 4. Proceeding from the good pleasure of his Will Eph. 1. 5. Use 1. Attribute nothing to thine own will or to thy wary walking according to Natures rule Rom. 9. 16. 2. Give God the praise of the glory of his Grace Eph. 2. 6. Resol I will never boast of any works of mine It is by Grace I am saved through Faith not of my self it is the gift of God Eph. 2. 8. Ejac. Turn thou me and I shall be turned Jer. 31. 18. Lord let thy Kingdom come to me For I am not able by any strength in my self to come to it Mat. 6. 10. Paral. III. Circ My Apprehender's Hand was taken off me when others were within the Grates Obs The Lord hath mercy on whom he will havâ— Mercy THE Losse of the sight of God and The Sense of Pain are the torments of the damned in Hell Isa 66. 24. Infinite in extention as to time Mat. 25. 46. Mitigated in their intention and extremity as tâ— the Sufferers desert Psal 145. 9. These the condemned wretches within the Grates did and shall for ever undergo And What had I deserved that I should be freed froâ— them Nay what had I not deserved that I shoulâ— have felt them in the greatest height and horrour They who appeared at the grates were it may be oâ— those strict moral Ancients of whom we read who liveâ— most exactly according to Natures Rule Or of thosâ— who in Christs Name had prophesied cast out Devils done many wonders Mat. 7. 22. As for me I remember my own evil waies and my doings that were not good and cannot but be ashamed and confounded and loath my self in mine own sight for mine iniquities and abominations Ezek 36 31 32. Yet these are condemned to eternal torments tâ— me polluted in mine own bloud yea in my bloud it was said unto me Live Ezek. 16. 6. These are Vessels of wrath fitted unto Destruction I a Vessel of mercy prepared unto glory The Potter hath power over the Clay to make one Vessel unto honour another to dishonour Ro. 9. 21 22 23. Two shall be in the field the one shall be taken and the other left Two women shall be grinding at the Mill the one shall be taken and the other left Mat. 24. 40 41. Obs The Lord hath Mercy on whom he will have Mercy Texts Exod. 33. 19. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy Rom. 19 18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth Inst I loved Jacob and I hated Esau Mal. 1. 2 3. The Malefactors on the Cross the one of them was received to mercy the other died in his sin Luke 23. 40. Reas God is a free Lord Rom. 9. 21. Having from before the foundation of the world by his unchangeable decree predestinated Some to eternal happiness for the manifestation of the glory of his Mercy Eph. 1. 5 6. Others to eternal punishment for the manifestation of the glory of his Justice Prov. 16. 4. Use 1. Despair not thou maist belong unto Gods Election 2. Judge not any to his own Master he standeth or falleth Rom. 14. 4. 3. Give diligence to make thy Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1. 10. 4. Rejoyce that thy Name is written in Heaven Luke 10. 20. Resol Thou hast predestinated me to be conformable to the Image of thy Son Rom. 8. 29. Thou hast noâ— effectually called me I will therefore strive more and more to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true Holiness Eph. 3. 24. Ejac. O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his wayes past finding out Rom. 11. 33. Paral. IV. Circ My Apprehender's hand was taken off me at the Prison-Gate Obs God sometimes effectually calls men when they are at the Mouth of Hell O Daughter of Babylon who art to be destroyed c. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones Psal 137. 8 9. So should sin be dealt with This Cockatrice should be crushed in the Egge resisted in it's beginning I way be given unto it it grows and gathers strength and in time contracts an hardness upon the Soul and What is then to be expected but ruine For wheâ— Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death James 1. 15. Sin is not finished on a sudden Neither doth it bring unto death by an hasty and violent precipitation But it hath certain steps and degrees by which as by stairs it sâ—iely leads down thâ— Soul unto the Mouth of the Pit It begins by Suggestion Upon that follows delight Delight wins to Consent Consent proceeds unto Act. The Act brings on Custom Custom Necessity Necessity is attended with Blindnesse Blindnesse by hardnesse And the Close of all is an utter Exclusion from Gods Eternal Rest Psal 95. 8 11. I was now full ripe for Hell and had not great unexpected Mercy intervened I had for ever been one of those unhappy Exiles But He who with groaning in himself and crying with a loud voice thereby shewing the difficulty of the work as to the Soul to recover a customary sinner raised Lazarus when stinking in the Grave He was pleased to manifest his Almighty Power in raising me long long dead and stinking in my sins and trespasses and thereby deserving that with loathing he should have turned his face from me He who of stones is able to raise up Children unto Abraham Mat. 3. 9. was pleased to break my rocky heart to take away my heart of stone and to give unto me an heart of flesh Ezek. 36. 26. Obs God somtimes effectually calls men when they are at the very Mouth of Hell Texts Mat. 20. 6. And about the eleventh hour he went out c. And he saith unto them go ye also into the Vineyard c. Rev. 3. 9. Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are
way of Instance by which you may judge of the choyceness Priviledges of Saints and preciousness of the rest The Lord is their King Rev. 15. 3. He keeps their feet from falling 1 Sam. 2. 9. He preserves their Souls Psal 97. 10. He preserves them for ever Psal 37. 28. Their death is precious in his sight Psal 116. 15. He will spare them Mal. 3. 17. The Lord Christ prayes for them John 17. 9. The Holy Spirit prayes for them Rom. 8. 27. God admits them into the number of his Children 1 John 3. 1. And being so they have Him their Father The Church their Mother The Lord Christ their Brother Kings and Queens their Nurses The Holy Spirit their Tutor The Angels their Guardians All the Creatures their servants The Bread of life their Food Christ's Righteousness their Cloathing Heaven their Palace A Kingdom of Glory their Inheritance Such many many such Priviledges have the Lords People Such Honour have all his Saints Use 3. Doth the Lord own those only for his people who are true Saints true believers truly obedient Let us labour to gain an assurance to our selves that we are such and then we may confidently build upon it that we are Gods people That you may know whether you have true Faith take these three Marks of true Marks of Faith Faith in stead of many 1. True Faith is accompanied with a sweet peace in the soul arising from the assurance that our sins are pardoned and Christ's Righteousness made ours Being justified by Faith we have peace with God Rom. 5. 1. 2. True Faith purifies the heart Acts 15. 9. He that hath true Faith will still be cleansing himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord 2 Cor. 7. 1. 3. True Faith where it is begets love towards God appâ—â—hending him as the Chief Good Hence the faithful have this Character in Scripture that they are lovers of God Rom 8. 28. It stirs up likewise love unto all Gods Children as bearing his Image 1 John 5. 1. That you may know whether your Obedience Marks of Obed. be true or not take these Marks of true Obedience True Obedience prefers Gods Will before our own or any Commands of men Acts 4. 19. 2. True Obedience is universal unto all and every part of Gods Will Psal 119. 6. 3. True Obedience is alwayes accompanied with fear of offending God Heb. 12. 28. 4. It is sincere and hearty Rom. 6. 17. 5. It is zealous in good duties Tit. 2. 14. Now examine thy self by these Marks Hast thou true peace in thy soul Dost thou strive to cleanse thy soul from sin Dost thou love God and his Children Thou hast true Faith Dost thou prefer Gods Will before thine own or before mans Hast thou a respect to all his Will Art thou afraid to offend him Art thou sincere and zealous in the Service of him Thine Obedience is true And thy Faith and thine Obedience being true thou art a true Saint thou art of the number of Gods people and interessed in all those Priviledges which belong unto them Use 4. Doth the Lord own the Saints for his people Let wicked men take heed how they despise them how they oppress vex and persecute them The Lord whose they are is very tender over them They who touch them touch the Apple of his eye Zech. 2. 8. They that persecute them persecute Christ himself Acts 9. 4. They who vex and persecute them vex and persecute those who shall be their Judges 1 Cor. 6. 2. Who shall one day wash their feet in their blood Psal 58. 10. and shall break them in pieces as a Potters Vessel Rev. 2. 27. Not by way of avenging of themselves that belongs not to them but in approving of the just Sentence of Christ against them and rejoycing in the justness of that Vengeance which according to that Sentence they shall see exâ—cuted upon them at that day when the great Judge of the world will be so far from owning such as dye in their Infidelity and disobedience that he will deny them before his Father and the holy Angels Mat. 10. 33. Use last This may serve much for the Comfort of all Gods truly Faithful obedient servants and keep their spirits under the worlds Contempt and Despight What though the World hate and reject them and count them as the Off scowring of all things Yet the Lord owns them they are his people and so interessed in those sweet Promises and high Priviledges wherein they that hate them shall not be sharers Here likewise the Lords People to their exceeding Comfort may as St. Peter adviseth 2 Pet. 1. 10. make their Calling and Election sure For thus they may argue upon Infallible Grounds If I am a Saint whereof by my true Faith and Obedience I am assured then am I effectually called For I am what I was called to be Rom. 1. 7. If I am a Saint then I am sure I am elected For I am what I was elected unto Eph. 1. 4. If I am elected then I am predestinated to Glory and shall most certainly enjoy it For he that elected me predestinated me Eph. 1. 4. And whom he predestinated them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified Rom. 8. 30. In his eternal Decree which in his good time he will most certainly accomplish From hence I say may the Lords people draw exceeding Comfort However these sweet Comforts of theirs cannot but be much allayed by their sense of their weakness and frailty For though they are Saints though the Lord ownes them for his People yet are they subject unto sin and are prevailed over by it and fall into the Folly of it Which is the next Particular in this Second Branch of the Point Partic. 2. That the Lords own people his Saints may and do fall into the Folly of sin This is clear from the Text they could not turn again to it unless formerly fallen into it Which is the present sad condition they are now in guilty of the folly of some hainous sins for which they under-lye the sharp sense of Gods high displeasure I do not say that they live or walk in sin as do the Children of disobedience but they may and do fall into it and that often seven times a day Prov. 24 16. In many things Jam. 3. 2. And many many wayes By Omission Commission Ignorance Forgetfulness Infirmity by sinning against knowledge Motions Checks Vows Promises Blessings Patience Chastisements Mercies Judgments by Rashness Inconsiderateness Inconstancy Negligence Beside their other-mens-sins whereof they become guilty by Commanding Exhorting Provoking Conâ—enting Commending Concealing Conniving Parâ—aking Defending not Reproving and other wayes That this is a most certain and sad truth is evident by those many â—xâ—mples of the Lords own people and Saints recorded in the Scripâ—ure who have been thus overtaken and thus fallen and some of them