which the Lord 〈◊〉 appointed for the revelation and communication 〈◊〉 all Spiritual Good Again remember this The Word is but an Instrument or means and therefore it 〈◊〉 no further than the Lord Christ works with it 〈◊〉 the operation of his Spirit hence it 's called the 〈◊〉 of the Spirit Eph. 6. 17. and Rom. 1. 16. The Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation as 〈◊〉 Lord puts forth his Power in and by the Gospel Secondly It is the Word in the ' Ministry of it the 〈◊〉 published and preached the Word rightly 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speaks 2 Tim. 2. 15. that is 〈◊〉 the Word is rightly opened and rightly applied works then more powerfully because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Will of the Principal Agent and according to the weakness of them to whom it is delivered as the chewing of meat fits it for the Stomach and therfore it nourisheth more the pounding of 〈◊〉 makes it smel more so it is with the Word when opened and applied according to the mind of God it 〈◊〉 the savor of Life unto Life 2 Cor. 2. 16. so 〈◊〉 Rom. 10. 17. Faith cometh by hearing of the Word of God it is not meant that faith comes by hearing of the Word read for that kind of preaching is 〈◊〉 meant for which a man is sent 〈◊〉 15. How can they preach except they be sent but for bare reading no man had need to be sent 2 Cor. 5. 17 18. God 〈◊〉 in Christ reconciling the world to himself and hath committed to us the Word of Reconciliation that is the Lord hath delegated the dispensation of his Word in a way of Explication and Application of it to 〈◊〉 faithful Ministers Only here observe Gods Order 1 The Power resideth first in Christ and his Spirit 2 From Christ and his Spirit it comes to the Word 3 From the Word to the Administration thereof by the Dispensers where you find most of the Word and most evidence of the Spirit there you shall find the work to go on powerfully and successfully for the bringing home of souls to God It is not all Eloquence 〈◊〉 humane Excellency in the world but where a man walketh with God in the use of his Ordinances as when Paul was preaching God opened the heart of Lydia Acts 16. 14. The Word is like a Burning-Glass that which burns and heats is not the Glass but the beams of the Sun that pierceth through the Glass so it is the Power of Christ in a Promise in a Command that makes it pierce to the heart Gal. 2. 8. He that wrought effectually in Peter to the Ministry of the Circumcision was mighty in me towards the Gentils alas what is Paul or Peter or Apollo as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 2. 5. but Ministers by whom you beleeve as the Lord gives to every man 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 Instruments which stir no further than the 〈◊〉 will move by them nor can do no more than the 〈◊〉 will work by them Word Prayer Preaching Sacraments these are 〈◊〉 weak in themselves yet are they mighty through God to bring in the souls of men in obedience to the Lord. Thus I have done with the Explication of this general Conclusion together with the particular Propositions contained in it that God himself the Father through Christ by his Spirit by an Almighty Power is the Principal Cause and the Ministry of the Word the Instrumental Cause of the Application of all saving good Let me ad some Uses that flow from 〈◊〉 Information in Two things First Hence we learn That the 〈◊〉 of the work of Gods Grace upon the souls of his Servants is not done by moral perswasion that 's Pelagianism and Arminianism they require no more to the conversion of a sinner but meer perswasion the Promises of Grace must be pressed the excellency and glory of Christ discovered and that say they is all that is needful lay but these before a man and he hath power to embrace and receive them if he will It is a false conceit If that Power that raised up Christ from the dead must be put forth for the bringing home of a soul to God then there must be more than moral perswasion which only stirs up and draws out that ability that is within us Men may come dead and sit so and return so and be never the better for all the Ordinances and means of Grace if they have no more than them Isa. 57. 19. I create the fruit of the Lips peace peace to him that is neer and to him that is far off it is a creating Power that must be put forth Ministers do speak in vain else Hence again it 's certain the work of God in Application is irresistible This is the main 〈◊〉 from whence that Error is confuted That Power 〈◊〉 raised Christ from the dead was irresistible notwithstanding all sins and all Devils notwithstanding 〈◊〉 hour and power of darkness yet he 〈◊〉 up himself from the dead and by the same Almighty 〈◊〉 Power he works faith in our hearts and quickens 〈◊〉 with Spiritual Life when we were dead in sins and trespasses Eph. 2. 1 2. It 's true there is nothing but Nature and corruption in a man and by vertue of that a man opposeth and resisteth the work of Grace yet so to resist as to frustrate the work of God it is impossible God were not Almighty if sin and Satan could hinder his Work Tryal of our Conversion Observe whether the work of Application come from Heaven or no if so it leaves the 〈◊〉 of an Almighty Power upon the soul as Christ said The Baptism of John 〈◊〉 it from Heaven or from man So I say of Application Is it from Heaven or from your self 〈◊〉 is certain if it be not from the Almighty Power of God it will never bring thee to God neither in this world nor the world to come If the soul can say it was not the power of Men or Means or Ordinances I had all these I understood all these and yet was the same man still I had the old pride and lusts still they lodged in my bosom and came out as occasion served as a dog returning to his vomit till the Lord came from Heaven and broke in mightily upon my heart and there was no resisting of him If you say Must every one see the working of this Almighty Power in his own soul This Work may be really and savingly wrought though the Saints do not generally see and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and how there is an impression made upon the 〈◊〉 the Almighty Power of God even as 〈◊〉 are grown though it be not observed how We see the Power of God in other things They are Natural and outward this inward and Spiritual Take the influences of the Heavens and 〈◊〉 Minerals and wonderful things that are wrought 〈◊〉 yet there is not one of a thousand that are 〈◊〉 to discern and discover these But this Influence of the
〈◊〉 Power of God in the conversion of a 〈◊〉 is far more secret and Spiritual such as we are 〈◊〉 able to reach It is the prayer of the Apostle for the Ephesians Chap. 1. 17 18. that they might know the working of his mighty Power in working Faith it is the most mysterious of all the works of God it shakes the 〈◊〉 of the ablest Divines upon Earth Comfort to releeve the hearts of sinners against desperate discouragements when the floods of iniquity 〈◊〉 in amain upon the soul the sinner looks to his 〈◊〉 to Gods Ordinances and Providences and 〈◊〉 the Work of God that should be wrought in him and 〈◊〉 what ods and disproportion there is between his Soul and that blessed Work that should be in him why truly this is the only help to a soul in such a case with man it is impossible but not with God for with him all things are possible Matth. 19. 26. Though there be such a vast disproportion between thy own ability and this Work that thou shouldest never attain 〈◊〉 if thou wert left to thy self yet know that Christ by the Almighty Power of his Spirit is able to do it for thee But the soul will say the truth is there is not so much disproportion but there is as much opposition in my soul to the work of Grace why should God ever give me that mercy which I would not have and that Grace which my soul hath so much opposed this is another depth Why yet know thou that Gol can overwork all these and will do so for thee if thou seek unto him But know this to thy ever lasting terror That if thou do 〈◊〉 thus in the hardness and opposition of thy heart against Christ and his Grace that this Power of the Lord that would convert thee will put forth it self to confound thee to thine eternal ruine Exhortation Not to defer the time 〈◊〉 Grace but every soul of us with trembling hearts to attend upon the Lord in the use of means that he may be pleased to work his own good Work in us It 's that the Apostle exhorts unto Phil. 2. 12. Workout your 〈◊〉 with fear and trembling and he gives the reason of it For saies he it's God that worketh in you to 〈◊〉 and to do of his own good pleasure that is it is in Gods hand to help us or to forsake us either 〈◊〉 make the means effectual for our saving good or else to withdraw his presence and blessing from them while we do enjoy them 〈◊〉 Be 〈◊〉 fearful not to slight any Ordinance God hath appointed as Naamans 〈◊〉 said to him Go and try it he that now counsels you to it may bless it and work by it if it please him Secondly Tremblingly fear to fall short of Gods Power in an Ordinance for a man may fall short of God and Christ and Grace and all good even while he doth enjoy the Ordinances of God and live under them therefore say as Elisha did Where is the Lord God of Eliah Here is the Word and here is the Ordinance but where is the Lord God of this Word the God of Preaching and Praying It is not in the Minister or the means to do good to my soul but Lord speak thou the word and it shall work upon my soul as he said 2 Kings 4. 29 30. As the Lord lives 〈◊〉 will not leave thee till thou go with me do thou so when the Lord gives thee means say I will not leave the Lord until he make this Counsel this Word this Ordinance effectual for my saving good Be also tremblingly fearful when the Lord works by any Ordinance lest you should go out from or with draw your self from the power of it when you find and feel somthing more than Man and Means and Ordinances Oh let it not slip away the Lord was in that word do not suffer that stroke to go away because God is there now the Lord is working be you sure to follow the blow and give not over wrastiing 〈◊〉 striving with the Lord until he bless you with the 〈◊〉 working of his Word and Spirit and so apply unto thy soul all Spiritual Good in Jesus Christ. BOOK III. LUK. 1. 17. To make ready a People prepared for the Lord. HAving dispatched the Nature of Application in the General The Parts thereof come to be Considered in the next place These are Two 1 A Preparation of the Soul for Christ. 2 An Implantation of the Soul into Christ. That so having the Son we may be sure to have life 1 Joh. 5. 12. possessing him who is the heir of all we may be possessed of all both Temporal and Spiritual Blessings with him But before the Soul can be engrafted into the true Vine Christ Jesus it must be prepared and fitted thereunto by the powerful work of the Spirit of God upon it being not fit to receive a Christ by Nature and unable to fit its self thereunto by any liberty of Will or any sufficiency natural it hath When then these Two Works are imprinted upon the Soul the Sinner comes to take full possession of a Savior and to have all those Spiritual good things which Christ hath Purchased applyed unto him And thus these Two taking up the whole Nature of Application it 's manifest they must be the Parts of Application as reason inforceth The First is thus Described Preparation is a fitting of a sinner for his Being in Christ. The words of the Text will afford us full ground for the Handling and Discovering of this Truth To prepare a People fitted for the Lord Which words make known the main Task that was imposed upon John the Baptist and that great Work of his Ministery being the Forerunner of our Savior Christ wherewith he was betrusted and for which he was every way fitted with Gifts and Graces proportionable Therefore it s said in the beginning of the Verse He shall come in the Spirit and Power of Elias i. e. He shall have that large measure of gracious and Ministerial Gifts that special presence and assistance of the Spirit of the Lord accompanying of him as somtimes Elias had that so in the corrupt and declining state of the Church which was now exceeding great he might set things in a better frame build up the Breaches made taking off those Dissentions Errors and Divisions which had spread over the Body and eaten into the Bowels of the Church of the Jews like a Gangrene or Cancer And therefore as it was foretold of him so it was performed by him Matth. 17. 11. He did restore all things Namely such was the lively and over-ruling power of his Ministery that he wrought the Hearts of the Children otherwise 〈◊〉 and rebellious to the wisdom of the just men that laying aside all carnal wisdom of the 〈◊〉 which was enmity against God and caused 〈◊〉 and strifes among men they came to judge 〈◊〉 of things that were excellent to
even the very plagues 〈◊〉 hell I have had many Exhortations Instructions Admonitions and Reproofs and as powerful means as may be which 〈◊〉 never did me any good The Lord be merciful to such a poor soul and turn his heart that he may lay hold of Mercy in due time Exhortation Is it so That a plain and powerful Ministery is the means of Preparing the soul of a poor 〈◊〉 for the Lord Jesus Why then when you hear the Word plainly and powerfully preached to you labor that the Word may be so unto you as it is in it self It is a preparing Word labor you that it may prepare your hearts to receive Christ And you that be Hearers every one labor to save the Soul of another let the Father speak concerning his Children and the Husband concerning his Wife and his Family and the Wife concerning her Husband Oh when will it once be when will the time come that my Child may be fitted for the Lord when will it be that my poor Family my poor Wife my poor Husband shall be prepared for the Lord the Lord grant that it may be if not this Sabbath yet on another if not this Sermon then at the next Labour therefore to give way unto the VVord of God and suffer your Souls to be wrought upon by it for the word is powerful to prepare your hearts but the Minister must hew and square your hearts before they can be prepared for the Lord Jesus and you must suffer the words of Exhortation as the Apostle sayes Heb. 13. 22. So likewise suffer the words of Conviction of Reproof of Admonition and hold and keep your hearts under the Word that you may be wrought upon thereby And as when men have set Carpenters a work to build an House then they come every day and ask them How doth the work go on How doth the building go forward When you are gone home do you so reason with your selves and ask your own hearts how the work of the Lord goes forward in you Is my heart yet humbled Am I yet fitted and prepared for Christ I thank God I find some work and power of the Word and therefore I hope the Building will go forward BOOK IV. 2 COR. 6. 2. As he saith in an acceptable time have I heard thee in the day of Salvation have I succoured thee THe general Doctrine of Preparation being dispatched Proeced we to a further enquiry of the Particulars under it And there we have to enquire The 1 Quality 2 Parts of this Work The Quality of this 〈◊〉 wherein are Comprehended those Common Affections which firstly and properly appertain to this Place and as the 〈◊〉 and Spirits pass through the whole Body of a man So these general Considerations convey over a savor and virtue of such truths as they do contain to all the Particulars which follow and 〈◊〉 in reason are to be handled before the rest The quality of this Preparation is to be attended in Two things 1. The Freeness of the Work wrought 2. The Fitness of the time wherein it is Effected For the Discovery of both which I have made Choice of this Text as affording susficient ground for this Discourse 〈◊〉 he saith in an accept able time c. In the handling of which words we shall endeavor Three Things 1 What the Scope of the Text is that so it may appear it naturally fits our purpose and the Point in hand which comes to be 〈◊〉 2 The Sense and Meaning of the words is to be 〈◊〉 into and such Truths to be Collected which serve-our turn and intendment 3 We shall pursue the Explication of each of them in their Order The Scope of the Text which I conceive worth the while a 〈◊〉 to be attended will appear by the Connexion 〈◊〉 it hath with the foregoing 〈◊〉 and the dependance of it is to be fetched 〈◊〉 the 17 th 〈◊〉 of the former Chapter 〈◊〉 from the Consideration of the priviledge and 〈◊〉 they were advanced unto in Christ the Apostle infers and calls sor that newness of life and obedience answerable to that kindness of the Lord and the condition unto which 〈◊〉 were advanced 〈◊〉 any man be in Christ he must be a new 〈◊〉 bebold old things are past all things are made new 2 Cor. 5. 17. And this he shews from the author of this Grace who disposeth of it God 2 From the Mediator who hath purchased it Christ 3 From the Means appointed to Convey and Communicate it to such for whom it was ordained to 〈◊〉 The Ministery of the Apostles All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself through Christ Vers. 18. And whereas the Corinthians being heathens might object True he hath reconciled you Jews but what is that to us He addes in 〈◊〉 19. That God was in Christ reconciling the world 〈◊〉 Beleevers both of Jews and Gentiles to himself and for this cause and to this end hath 〈◊〉 the word of Reconciliation to his Apostles for their good that while they as Ambassadors entreated God by them did beseech them to be reconciled unto him And this was done upon susficient warrant and in a way of righteous proceeding for Christ who knew no sin was made sin even for them 〈◊〉 who should beleeve that they might be made the righteousness of God in him vers last Having thus shewed a full and 〈◊〉 ground for their reconciliation and also of his own Commission for that end He further presseth it in the first Verse of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If God be thus Gracious Christs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Commission so Large We 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 together with God 〈◊〉 you 〈◊〉 you receive not the Grace of God i. e. the 〈◊〉 that word of Grace that bringeth Salvation to 〈◊〉 in vain 〈◊〉 receiving benefit by it and comfort from it to your own Conversion and Salvation And whereas they might Reply It is not in our power to receive the spiritual good of this word nor 〈◊〉 in you that are Apostles to work it or if both were granted it s not yet the Season fitter opportunity will be afforded hereafter To all these the Apostle Answers in the words of the text True the Blessing is the Lords but the Endeavor 〈◊〉 be Ours We must Plant and Water it s in Gods Prerogative and depends upon his good Pleasure to give Encrease however the Time now fits the 〈◊〉 are now afforded and though we cannot Do what we should and ought yet let us do what we can and though we have no Power of our selves to Compass our everlasting Comforts yet we have Gods own VVord and most gracious Promise That in an acceptable time he will hear us And that presumes then that we must pray In the day of Salvation he will help and by that it s taken for granted we must take pains and behold now is the day of Salvation now is the acceptable time let us therefore now call earnestly upon him for a Blessing walk
painfully in doing our Duty and let the Lord do what is Good in his own eyes Evident therefore it is That the Aim of the words carries us directly unto the first work of God upon the Soul 〈◊〉 the Prophet Isaiah expresseth in Isaiah 49. 5. 6. 8. That is the acceptable time wherein Jacob must be brought back again to God Undeniable also it is That this work of Preparation as the out-Porch and Entrance which makes way to all the rest is here pointed out Particularly by the Apostle when he entreats them to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VVord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the entrance and admittance 〈◊〉 the Lord when in the power of his Ordinances he stands and knocks at the door of the heart which is then done when the Lord begins to lay hold upon the soul and to grapple witn the sinner in awakening and wounding his 〈◊〉 for his 〈◊〉 And lastly beyond all Question 〈◊〉 49 9. 〈◊〉 thou maiest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Go forth The Scope then of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our intended 〈◊〉 Search we then in the Second Place the Sense of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so those divine Truths which are there contained may be Collected by us Time The word in the Original imports Season or Opportunity which is not so much the continuance of days or months or yeers as the Concurrence and meeting together of 〈◊〉 conveniences which may be 〈◊〉 to any work whereof more anon when we handle the Point hence Collected 〈◊〉 Some Difference there is between the Apostle and the Prophet Isaiah from whom this Testimony 〈◊〉 taken but all return to one Sense The 〈◊〉 in the Old Testament refers it to the VVork 〈◊〉 God the time of his acceptation or good VVill The Apostle in the New Testament applys it to the Time A Time accepted Yet so as the work of God is 〈◊〉 and comprehended under it In the 〈◊〉 then it intimates Three Things 1 The time that is appointed 2 The VVork of Grace put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Conversion of any soul 3 The 〈◊〉 of all it depends upon Gods pleasure when he sees fit to accomplish the Decree of his Election to Convert a sinner effectually to himself and out of his free good will to take him into his 〈◊〉 by calling him out of the world to the knowledge of 〈◊〉 and his saving Grace in Christ. Day of Salvation For the more full understanding of the Reason of the first word Day we may enquire the nature and rise of it In the beginning when the Lord made All and amongst the rest the living Creatures he furnished them with powers and abilities for the performance of their work he seated and set every one of them in his proper place as upon a stage for the acting of his part He set also bounds and laid forth several periods and distances of time for each purpose Now the Distinctions of time i. e. the separation of Light and Darkness made so many stops as it were in some or which there must be stayed Thus in Creating every Particular that is added The Evening and the Morning were the first and second Day c. They had their Day of Creation and their Day of Operation so long as they continue that is their Day for the Day and Night are the Distinction of all this Time here below and serve as so many stops and stayes in which each thing is stinted for its being and VVorking And hence it may be it is There is no Day nor Night in Heaven Rev. 10. 6. neither shall there be any more Time there that is Distinction or Measure of Time by Day or Night after the last Judgement for that must needs be the meaning of the Text because in Heaven and Hell the state of things and so their times are unchangable Hence to man His day is his life 〈◊〉 long as he breaths in the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 this Sun that 's the Time allotted to him to act his part in to trade for his everlasting State and Condition Hence again to descend yet lower there is a special period a stinted time for every part of this life and so many courses as I may term them and srames of occasions which belong to any so many seasons and several limits of time hath he allotted to each particular Thus the wise man There is a time to gather and a time to scatter a time to plant and a time to pluck up Eccles. 3. 1. And these 〈◊〉 are called Days in Scripture Thus there are Troubles and Tryals Visitation and Grace which the Lord in the dispensation of his Providence allots to men and there is a day for each of these A day of trouble Psal. 50. 15. A day of Tryal Heb. 3. 8. A day of Visitation Luke 19. 42. and a day of Salvation in this sense as here in the Text. Salvation Presumes alwayes danger and evil and according to the quality and nature of the one the other is to be considered and conceived here it is spiritually to be understood in the sul sense of it to wit from the danger of sin here begun in Preparation perfected in Glorification after this life And that Speech by way of Similitude seems well to interpret this manner of Speech Heb. 3. 9. The day of temptation when your Fathers tempted me i. e. that moment of time when that rebellion was expressed so here That moment or instant wherein the Lord begins to put forth the work of his special Grace about the Salvation of a sinner by the means he hath in mercy appointed And thus the Apostle expounds the word in the Verse following Behold now is the day of Salvation he saw it they could not but perceive it and all might acknowledg 〈◊〉 much because the Word of Salvation Acts 36. 26. viz. The Grace of God that is The Gospel given by grace 〈◊〉 bringeth salvation did now appear tit 2. 〈◊〉 So that it may be truly affirmed in a savory sense This day is Salvation coming to such to whom the word of the Gospel is come in the Ministery therof The Words thus Opened The Collections which are of special weight and Consideration are Four Faithful Ministers ought to be earnest in calling upon God and faithful 〈◊〉 the improvement of means for the spiritual good of such to whom they are sent This is taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text How shall God 〈◊〉 unless they Call How shall God Help unless they Endeavor They who are thus 〈◊〉 according to Gods Command they may expect a 〈◊〉 success according to Gods Promise He 〈◊〉 I will Hear I will Help Therefore their Prayers shall be Answered their Labors Blessed for God will not falsifie his Word nor 〈◊〉 of his 〈◊〉 It s in the meer good pleasure of the Lord to work upon the heart in the Ministery of the Word when he sees fit It 's in the day of Gods acceptation and good Will that the Prayers of Faithful Ministers are heard and their Pains made 〈◊〉 for the Spiritual
must be a stranger from the life of Christ Rom. 8. 1. hath not yet his Spirit is in the state of Condemnation and that if he so continue he shall perish but whether he shall be converted and brought home at last by the Almighty Power of the Lord it rests only in his own bosom depends alone upon his good pleasure leave we then the Sentence with the Lord who will either recover him out of his sin or most righteously judg him for it Of Consolation Here 's also a Cordial to keep up the fainting hearts of decrepit and aged sinners whose noysom lusts plead prescription of continuance as though they were beyond the Authority of any Law to cast them out I confess it indeed Oh that ancient men would consider it the case is very desperate and brought to the last cast Is it not a marvelous streight that the great work of Everlasting Life lies upon the moment of an hour as it 〈◊〉 to follow the words of the Parable 〈◊〉 considering it is not usual for men then to be 〈◊〉 The little twig such may take hold on is this hath been done and therefore there is hope it may done again and this hope it is which keeps the 〈◊〉 above water never too late to forsake our 〈◊〉 the Lord accepts at the Eleventh hour 〈◊〉 must not then suffer our own fears or Satans 〈◊〉 to pluck up our resolutions and 〈◊〉 by the roots with any false shews of hopeless possibilities When a decrepit sinner hath tired 〈◊〉 in his ungodly courses grows weary with 〈◊〉 burden of an accusing conscience and 〈◊〉 of an ill led life and begins to bethink himself is not in a right way suddenly the Enemy 〈◊〉 to his view the number and nature of his many 〈◊〉 and withal suggests the way so long 〈◊〉 the time to return so short better not set out 〈◊〉 not to be able to get home In vain now saies 〈◊〉 to begin so great a work of Preparation when 〈◊〉 have so little opportunity and so great an 〈◊〉 thereunto To what purpose is it to strive 〈◊〉 we cannot overcome to enter upon the 〈◊〉 when in all likely hood we shall be benighted see 〈◊〉 Sun is but an hour high and never come to the 〈◊〉 of it Oh shake off those sluggish discouragements sit 〈◊〉 down and perish there is yet hope in Israel 〈◊〉 this thing 't is true the work is hard yet God 〈◊〉 done as much for others and therefore can do much for thee also Thy time is short thou hast 〈◊〉 foot in the grave but the Arm of the Lord is 〈◊〉 shortened that he cannot help thou hast ancient 〈◊〉 he hath ancient mercies his loving kindness 〈◊〉 been ever of old When thou hast neither time 〈◊〉 strength to relieve thy self the Lord notwithstanding at the last hour and when thou doest least expect it and hast least deserved it who knows but yet he may call thee into his Vineyard listen therefore unto his voyce make hast to answer his call and leave the success with him Lastly If the Lord put forth this work of Preparation most ordinarily in our middle age all those whom more especially it concerns who are yet in the flower of their years whose Breasts run full of Milk and their Bones full of Marrow as Job speaks they are to be exhorted in the Lord to take the safest and the easiest course for themselves even the counsel of the wise man Eccles. 12. 1. Remember now thy Creator in the daies of thy youth before thy evil daies come the time that God useth to bless most let us be wary to improve most for our good A wise Traveller useth to take the day before him and 〈◊〉 accounts the middle of the day most safe for his passage the Rule is most true and useful also for us while we are wildring onward towards the end 〈◊〉 our hopes rise we early prevent the morning watch to make speed to run the waies of Gods Cammandements while the best of our Natural abilities are about us the middle of our age like the middle 〈◊〉 the day will be most safe for our spiritual Travel and endeavor considering we carry such a charge about us even our souls and the care of their Salvation and happiness lest deferring till our old age and our evening shut in upon us we be wholly spoyled of both for Preparation put off untill our crazy time is like never to be or very uncomfortable if 〈◊〉 be attained It 's not likely we shall ever share in so glorious a work they who are setled so long upon their 〈◊〉 are hardly ever removed considering the company 〈◊〉 common infirmities troops and multitudes of sicknesses and sorrows which seize upon old age and surprize it as 〈◊〉 prey decay the Sences enfeeble the Judgment weaken the Memory as though all the passages were now stopped and gates shut whereby Grace should have any entrance How shall Faith come to him by hearing whose Ears are become deaf that he cannot hear How shall he search the Scriptures in which Grace and Life are to be found who hath not an eye able to see much less to read them How shall he be able to fatham the depths and mysteries of Salvation who is become a child in understanding not sufficient to conceive of the most common things Hence it is the Prophet gives such a man for gone past recovery as it were Isa. 65. 20. The sinner of an hundred years old shall be accursed a Curse is the Portion that is carved out unto him he must look for nothing else that 's his allowance an old rotten post is only fit to be chipped out for the fire no waies prositable to be laid in the Building no not to make pins for it He that hath seen an hundred yeers and yet never came to the sight and rellish of the saving work of Grace farewell he as we use to speak I will not say it is impossible for him to avoid the Curse I must say it is unusual For how justly may God deny to entertain him who would not so many years give way and entertainment to his Word and Spirit What Captain will entertain a Soldier that is not able to fight What Master will hire a Servant that is not able to work in his Vineyard Why should the Lord 〈◊〉 wise chuse such weaklings aged and decrepit who shall not be able to strike one stroke for him in the defence of his Truth or set one foot forward in 〈◊〉 waies of his Statutes As Achish spake of David when he came to the 〈◊〉 and seigned himself mad 1 Sam. 21. 15. What 〈◊〉 I need of mad men that you have brought this man to me shall he enter into my house So the Lord may say Have I any need of dead men that you have brought these aged 〈◊〉 ruinous carkasses before me shall they ever find acceptance or entrance into the Kingdom of Grace or Glory Hath
on me and our Savior asked him what ailest thou what was his will set upon Oh Lord that I may receive my sight So it is with a sinner whose wil is set to seek relief against his sins if there be any opportunity offred means afforded any occasion that may lend relief against his sin how speedily upon the least inkling will he listen to it If Christ pass by in Conference in Communion in publick or private in set seasons or such as could not be expected whereby the healing vertue of the blood of Christ may be dispensed they greedily repair thither and if the question be what wouldest thou the Answer of the soul is Oh Lord that I may receive power against my sin and if he get it not he will be unweariable to pursue the Lord until he hath attained it So the lamenting Church they took unto themselves words the sum and substance of all their requests Hos. 14. 3. Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously not take away the punishments that pinch us not the Judgments and terrors that may justly perplex us in the times of our necessities but take away our iniquities A wicked man may have a velleity some sleepy wish for a turn against his sin for the attainment of his end but it 's but for a fit and not for the removal of his sin but some evil that it brings Nay the heart of an ungodly man holds counsels against the holy Commandements of the Lord and plots how he may sitly put by the authority of the Truth that would take away his evil Job 22. 18. The Counsel of the wicked is far from me There is a 〈◊〉 purpose of Spirit to maintain some distemper which cannot be in a godly man He that is willing to part with his sin he takes greatest delight in those means which either discover his sin more fully and work most kindly upon the heart that godly sorrow which causeth Repentance never to be repented of and are the most piercing and powerful to remove it from him For it 's the greatest delight that can befal a man to have his will and desires answered that which the Will desires most to have when it wants it delights most in when it hath it It is so in the diseases of the Body when the blood is foul and so feaverish and fit to cause a Pleuresie the Humors gross and 〈◊〉 and molest the stomach so that Nature desires to be unburdened he that hits the right vein and that Physick which works kindly and strongly upon the right humor the Patient receives marvelous ease and Nature special relief and refreshing that which takes away most of the burden bring most ease So it is with a soul truly willing to be severed from his sin being burdened and infested with the venemous pollution thereof it finds most delight in that Ordinance that works most kindly and effectually upon it the saddest counsel the sharpest reproof the most searching tryal that ransacks every corner of a corrupt conscience now a man hath his Will and is marvelously pleased with it So David when Abigail met him and reproved him and counselled him against his sin 1 Sam. 25. 32 33. saies he Blessed be thou and blessed be thy counsel and blessed be the Lord which hath kept me this day from shedding blood that hast kept me this day from venting this distemper and hast met me so 〈◊〉 and spake so effectually unto my soul. 〈◊〉 heart that finds his special corruption his greatest 〈◊〉 wherewith he is most pestered is therefore 〈◊〉 willing to be rid of that which is most 〈◊〉 to him and therefore the word that meets 〈◊〉 directly and works most powerfully his will 〈◊〉 Gods will meet there fully and therefore he is 〈◊〉 pleased When a reproof stabs him to the 〈◊〉 Oh more of that Lord and that comfort 〈◊〉 would remove his main discouragement he 〈◊〉 the continuance of that That exhortation 〈◊〉 would awaken his sluggish spirit and put life 〈◊〉 vertue into his soul he saies speak home there Lord Prov. 2. 10. When wisdom entreth into thy 〈◊〉 and knowledg is pleasant unto thy soul Oh 〈◊〉 hath wished this longed for looked for this and 〈◊〉 now he hath his will and his hearts desire 〈◊〉 is pleased at the heart when the Lord brings off his spirit kindly that was awk and wearish in duty 〈◊〉 the best day that he hath seen a long time Oh 〈◊〉 he that I had such a heart still ever to be in this 〈◊〉 for God and against my sins and still he 〈◊〉 in that frame Psal. 85. 8. I will hear what God will speak to my soul whereas a corrupt heart when the Word meets with his beloved lusts 〈◊〉 the heart is in league and indeed would not only pinch but pluck it away by main force it 's death to him and so distastful as that he cannot endure it though he can hear many Counsels receive some general Reproofs and listen to many 〈◊〉 yet this he bears not It is as though a man should rent a member from his Body or pluck one part from another the sinner riseth up with fell opposition here As she said when she had lost her Darling and conceived that the Man of God had a hand in it What have I to do with thee thou man of God So what have 〈◊〉 to do with that Reproof that 〈◊〉 that Admonition that Examination thus 〈◊〉 Acts 22. 22. They heard Paul till he came to 〈◊〉 word that was most cross to them and then they cried out away wich him they could bear him 〈◊〉 longer then When Demetrius his Trade was 〈◊〉 to fall he could not want his gain and 〈◊〉 not renounce his Idol all is in an uproar Acts 〈◊〉 there was an outcry by the space of two hours 〈◊〉 is Diana of the Ephefians they would not 〈◊〉 with their Gain nor with their 〈◊〉 So 〈◊〉 dealt with Stephen when he came close to them 〈◊〉 discovered the rebellion of their hearts and lives Acts 7. They were not able to bear it but stop 〈◊〉 Ears and run upon him and he must lose his 〈◊〉 rather than they be disturbed in their lusts this 〈◊〉 the guise of the heart of every Natural man who 〈◊〉 not willing to part with his sin If the sinner be seriously willing to part with 〈◊〉 sin he is restless and unsatisfied until it be 〈◊〉 and taken away from him he finds nothing that 〈◊〉 can have any sweet contentment in as long as he 〈◊〉 that distemper which is cross to his will and Gods will also As Haman when he had all the caps in the Country uncovered to him and al knees 〈◊〉 before him yet al this was nothing to him 〈◊〉 avails all this saies he so long as I see Mordecai 〈◊〉 in the Kings Gate Esther 5. 13. So had he all abilities did God vouchsafe unto him al enlargements had he the hearts and approbation of all 〈◊〉 in
him before the Lord in the use of the Ordinances lay him down before him and tell him what his Case is what a blind mind and what a hard heart he hath and how he is possessed with a Devil of pride and self-willedness and resistance against God and Grace and say It is with thee alone O Lord to work upon him Thus we should use al the Means we can to draw others to Jesus Christ. Here is also a word of Exhortation to the Unconverted such as are not yet Called You are to be entreated That as ever you desire to see the face of God in Christ as ever you desire to gain Evidence of Gods love here and happiness in another world be sure of this That you come under the Call of God This work of drawing is Gods proper work come therefore under his hand when doles are stirring every man goes to that door So here It is not in Man nor in Ordinances that 's true but there God dispenseth it Rom. 1. 16. The Gospel is the power of God unto Salvation And if the Lord draw by his Spirit in his Ordinances repair thou to his Ordinances for ever It is the Lord only that makes his Call effectual therefore come under 〈◊〉 Call of his in his Ordinances It is God only that doth this work in us 〈◊〉 us It is not in our power to help our selves therefore better sit still then rise and fall why 〈◊〉 we endeavor that we can never do I do not say thou canst do the work but do 〈◊〉 go to him that can do it Thou sayest thou canst 〈◊〉 go I confess thou canst not as a Christian but 〈◊〉 I exhort unto is Do what thou canst as a man improve those Faculties and Parts and Gifts that 〈◊〉 yet left in thee and come under and keep 〈◊〉 the Call of God God meets his People in the 〈◊〉 of his worship in the use of the Ordinances which he appoints therefore go thou thither to meet with him Thou hast an Ear to hear the word therefore thy feet can carry thee to other places let them carry thee to the house of God that mind and memory of thine can meditate upon other things 〈◊〉 it meditate upon the word and fasten upon the truth and the reasons thereof I do not say thou 〈◊〉 pray so as to please God but pray still who know but God may help thee thou canst confer 〈◊〉 things of no profit and remember idle things of 〈◊〉 worth nay such as leave a taint of Corruption 〈◊〉 Pollution upon thy soul use that mind and 〈◊〉 thoughts and that tongue of thine about the 〈◊〉 of God and Jesus Christ. Thou mayest do this 〈◊〉 shouldest do this Attend further these Two Directions Present thy self before God in the use of 〈◊〉 Means of Grace and when thou art there 〈◊〉 thy own abilities either to do good to thy self or 〈◊〉 receive good from God in al the Means that are appointed for thy good Say therefore Lord it 〈◊〉 not in Man or Means to do any good to my soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heart here and be sure thy soul be rightly 〈◊〉 of it And mark what Balaam said Lo I 〈◊〉 come now have I now any power at all to say 〈◊〉 thing Numb 22. 38. So say thou Here 's a 〈◊〉 mind a dead heart a damned soul I live to 〈◊〉 and hear that that thousands desired but never 〈◊〉 but now I am here Lord have I any 〈◊〉 to receive any good from any of the Ordinances 〈◊〉 Lord the work is thine do al for thy Servants 〈◊〉 receive al the Glory from me you think you 〈◊〉 a large understanding to catch the reason of the 〈◊〉 and a strong memory and can recount what 〈◊〉 hear and you go for a right Godly man because 〈◊〉 hear and repeat and profess c. Thou mayest 〈◊〉 al this be utterly destitute of any saving work 〈◊〉 thy soul thou hast the out-side but thou canst 〈◊〉 come at the kernel the sap the sweet the good of the Ordinances therefore say thus I can hear 〈◊〉 Word blessed be thy name and I am able to remember and repeat and to discourse of the things of God but Oh! the power of God to work upon my 〈◊〉 that I want here 's a blind mind and a dead 〈◊〉 a lame heart Lord work upon it and draw 〈◊〉 to thy self and that effectually It was 〈◊〉 speech 2 Chron. Chap. 20. Vers. 12. when 〈◊〉 had Mustered up all the Forces of ISRAEL Yet sayes he We have no strength nor do 〈◊〉 know what to do but our eyes are unto 〈◊〉 So shouldest thou say for thou mayest have 〈◊〉 strength and moral strength but spiritual 〈◊〉 to hear profitably and savingly and to bring 〈◊〉 fruit unto God this is not in any mans power of himself Therefore say it and acknowledge it Lord though I do what I can yet I have no strength 〈◊〉 do I know what to do but mine eyes are unto 〈◊〉 When you are got hither and keep here be sure now not to leave the Ordinances of God before you find some power beyond the power of Ordinances and Man and Means leave them not till you find the almighty power of God working upon your souls As the Woman that labored of the Bloody-issue and had 〈◊〉 al she came and desired Oh! that 〈◊〉 might touch the Hem of the Garment of Christ and she felt in her self she was made whole Mat. 9. 21. 22. Thou knowest the pride and peevishness 〈◊〉 uncleanness of thy Nature the bloody-issues of corruption in thy soul that nor word nor Ordinances could help thee to this day thou hast spent all and done al thou canst do in the use of Means and yet the issue is the proud heart the carnal heart the unclean heart remains still taken aside by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 still what will you do now you are in the croud of Means and Helps but say Oh! the Hem of the Garment of Jesus That Vertue and Power may come from Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 work upon this Soul 〈◊〉 mine But how shal I know that Answ. When you see the Ordinance so upon your soul really as you see it in your understanding and judgement when you find it in the work of it upon your heart as you apprehend it in the letter of it And 〈◊〉 you shal 〈◊〉 the work really done and your heart bowed and loosened from those base Distempers you never touch Jesus Christ until you find it so Therefore as the Widdow whose Child was dead when Elisha sent his Servant she was not contented with that but sayes As the Lord lives and 〈◊〉 thy soul 〈◊〉 I will not leave thee 2 Kings 4. 30. The man came and the staffe was laid but 〈◊〉 Child was dead till the Prophet came and the power of God came along with him and then 〈◊〉 Child arose Let me leave this upon Record for ever amongst you This effectual drawing and quickning of the
Father Lord of Heaven and Earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent of the world and hast revealed them unto Babes even so O Father because it seemed good in thy sight It should provoke in us all the 〈◊〉 fear in the 〈◊〉 of the greatest means our deadliest bane may come from the best Ordinances this is speeding Physick it wil work either one way or other either kill or cure Now is the Ax laid to the root of the tree 〈◊〉 3. 10. When Christ came then was their destruction coming on with most hast 2 Cor. 〈◊〉 When the 〈◊〉 had discovered the excellency of his Gospel in the plainness and power of it he leaves with that Supposition If our Gospel be hid it 's hid to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perish When Moses was coming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 excellent means of Grace 〈◊〉 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of these as though they had inhaerent prevailing power in themselves Bless not thy self barely by having of these say I may have these Ordinances and yet have death as wel as life yea I may hear of Christ may seek after him and enjoy his presence here in the means and yet never have any saving good by any of these Luke 2. 34. He is as well for the fall of many as for their rising Exhortation to stir us up to use all means and when thou seest the benefit received by som seek thou also for a blessing upon them as Esau said bless me me also So say thou such 〈◊〉 proud heart hath found the Word humbling of him such a discouraged heart hath felt the Word comforting of him Lord let the Word humble me also pierce me also comfort me also The Husband-man sows and waits for the first and latter rain and as David said mine eyes fail for thy Salvation saying when 〈◊〉 thou comfort me when wilt thou enlighten me quicken me when wilt thou break my heart when wilt thou make me spiritual and painful and thriving in 〈◊〉 Christian Course Lastly Return praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for what thou 〈◊〉 receive and find in the powerful dispensations of the Word God hath marvelously separated his mercy unto thee in giving not Physick but health in it not Bread but the staff of nourishment with it not the Word but the life and profit of it Be thou marvelous thankful and careful not to come and hear as 〈◊〉 but set thy heart to the Word bring a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the hearing of it Do not powr out thy words in prayer but powr out thy 〈◊〉 c. Again Secondly Look who these are who are now wounded and pierced with the preaching of Peter and we shal find them some of the 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 wretches who were not only guilty of the death of 〈◊〉 but such who now set themselves in an inhumane manner against the Apostles of Christ and carried themselves with 〈◊〉 and contempt against their persons and proceedings the publishing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the great things of God in the 〈◊〉 strain of opposition for 〈◊〉 ye look back into the 12 and 13. verses you shal there see the miracle of tongues wrought a twofold effect in the hearers some were amazed verse 12. some mocked verse 13. and to these Peter addresseth his speech his spirit being stirred in a holy indignation against so hellish distempers against the gracious and miraculous expression of the Spirit of the Lord to them he saies ver 14 15. 〈◊〉 it known unto you that these men are not drunk 〈◊〉 ye suppose c. to these 〈◊〉 and deriders he now speaks and they are now Pricked Some 〈◊〉 wounded and these were the worst and such as did oppose Hence the Doctrine to be observed 〈◊〉 The Lord many times makes the Word pierce and prevail most powerfully in the hearts of sinners for their everlasting good when they oppose the power thereof and their own good therein In a word The Lord often makes the Word work then effectually when the scornful heart is 〈◊〉 against the work and 〈◊〉 at a distance from it This is the Lords profession 〈◊〉 43. 21. Even the people that he formed for himself and such 〈◊〉 should shew forth his praise those whom 〈◊〉 would make most 〈◊〉 to himself 〈◊〉 so did yet see in the following words how he found these and when he formed these for his own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 24 25. Thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no 〈◊〉 Cane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his Ordinances and cast his commands behind their back yea thou hast made me serve with thy sins and thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities instead of serving God they made his Ordinances and the Priviledges he provided and so his Love and Mercy and himself therein to serve their 〈◊〉 and sensual Hearts they put God to it his Patience and long-suffering that he could no longer endure their lewdness Yet then he ads he would do most good to 〈◊〉 when they had no care of their own good and then enlarge his compassions to them when they multiplied 〈◊〉 provocations against him I even I for mine own sake will blot out thine iniquities and remember thy sins no more This was Gods dealing with Ephraim and the season of that his saving health he extended towards him when he rushed on in the waies of 〈◊〉 according to thè waies of his own heart Isai 57. 17 18. For the iniquity of his covetousness of his evil lustings I was 〈◊〉 with him I 〈◊〉 him I hid my self and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his own heart here is the highest strain of rebellious sturdiness of Spirit When God is angry he smites the soul and hides away himself yet to be froward in the mid'st of al these heavy expressions of his displeasure that might reform him yea to go on after in the 〈◊〉 of wickedness If ever a people seemed to be past cure prepared for ruin and confusion past all hope either of enjoying or profiting by the means this might seem to be the time these the men but Gods waies and thoughts are not as ours for mark the next words I have seen his waies and I will lead him and heal 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 comfort to him and those that mourn with him Then God will see him when he cannot see himself then God will heal his frowardness who cannot help himself then God will guide him when he cannot guide himself then he wil make him mourn and others mourn with him and mourn for him and he wil comfort them both And our Savior for this very end hath ascended up on high to receive gifts for men even for the rebellious that
world The 〈◊〉 abilities of wit and learning the nobility of birth the priviledg of our place and state The Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whol course of carnal excellency he chooseth the 〈◊〉 to confound the wise the weak to confound the mighty base things that are not to bring to nought things things that are nothing of any probability or possibility in an ordinary way that might have attained any good being wholly set against it nothing of ingenuity or moderation or common 〈◊〉 but when they grow desperatly wicked yet then the Lord doth good that no flesh may glory in his presence that it is not in your wealth or parts or endeavours or outward pomp behold these poor base creatures base in their condition and yet more base in their carriage scant worse in the bottom of Hel yet these are called Oh how wil it confound the wise to see the foolish of the world brought to the knowledg of Christ when they never knew the things belonging to their peace how wil it confound the Civilian and subtil hypocrite who had painted over his profession with appearance of Godliness to see a prophane wretch whose leudness time was when he loathed as though his person were not fit to be looked on yet now pulled out of his sink and dunghil made a glorious saint in heaven when he shal be cast out amongst dogs So the Prophet Ezek. 16. last Look we at the Work it self There is also a depth of infinite wisdom in this Dispensation to bring that about in many hearts and that by this means and that with most success the Lord suffers many to go to a great excess of sin before he laies hold upon them or seems to take them to task that the grossness of the evils might make way for their more easie conviction and so for the entry of the Word upon their souls and their subjection to the power and evidence thereof Men or Hypocrites of a smooth refined carriage when they carry a conformity in their course to the waies of Godliness and have strength of carnal reason to make the best of an unblameable life it 's hard for any to come within them either to pass a Sentence of their present condition because love hopes the best when it can bring no evidence of the contrary evil much less to perswade their estate is unsafe and not sincere but when the Lord lets loose Satan or some loathsom lusts upon them that they become scandalous and notoriously 〈◊〉 and their 〈◊〉 appears in their fore-heads then they yield to go out of the Camp and confess they are unclean As the Physitian when he would cure the cold Palsey he is content to cast his Patient into a burning Feaver because he can tel how to come the better to the Cure So here our Savior wisheth Rev. 3. 17. I would thou wert either hot or cold because then he could tel how to deal with her if either truly good he would encourage if openly naught he would then convince her he knew how to apply the means and she would be content to receive it bu when she conceives her self rich she wil receive nothing wise she wil hear nothing So I have known some in experience that would take it in indignation that any should question their Grace until the Lord left them to some foul fals gross cozenage scandalous drunkenness c. that hath made them go deeper c. The 〈◊〉 operation of the Word the breaking and so converting the heart of a sinner depends not upon any preparation a man can work in himself or any thing he can do in his corrupt estate for the attaining of life and Salvation For had the Lord expected the good use of a mans free wil in the imployment and exercise of the works of civility and outward moral behavior had he looked for the husbanding of the stock of those moral abilities which are left in corrupt nature or 〈◊〉 by the 〈◊〉 of providence in the restrainning strokes of common grace or had the Lord stayed until these 〈◊〉 had either valued the worth of the Apostles and their administrations and painfully improved the advantages of the means of grace and 〈◊〉 now brought home to their dores or brought a teachableness of spirit to the ordinances If either the preparation and saving conversion of the souls of men had depended upon any such emprovement of themselves it 's certain they had not now been made broken-hearted sinners or savingly brought unto the Lord and for ought any man can tel had never attained it But when cross to the course of humanity they mocked and scorned both 〈◊〉 persons message of the Apostles contrary to truth they cast reproaches and contumelious contempt upon them 〈◊〉 men are ful of new wine nay when they were carried with professed opposition malignant enmity against their persons and dispensations yet now the Lord presseth in upon them by the prevailing power of his spirit and word and doth good to them when they set themselves by al the policy and rage they could to oppose the work of the Lord and their own everlasting welfare clear it is therefore that this spiritual dispensation of breaking or calling of them home depends not upon any preparation which was done nor any performances al which for the present were professedly opposite to their own welfare but meerly upon the power and good pleasure of the Lord and the work of his spirit which he puts forth when it seems best unto himself it s not in him that wills or runs sayes the Apostle he puts both together and denies success unto both that so he may take off al the cavils that could be made or indeed pretended For had it been said the means were powerful and in a plentiful manner bestowed but men would not do what they might and ought may be there was a slight 〈◊〉 some powerless wishing but there wanted the strength of endeavor behould he excludes both It 's not him that wils only nay let him run for it put to the best of his abilities that wil not do the deed It 's not there but in the good pleasure of him that shewes mercy Rom. 9. 17. And hence it is that the very spirit of bondage terror and astonishment and sensible troubles of heart which many times wicked men that fal finally short of saying grace yet attain in some measure or degree even that is beyond the reach of a mans own power Wee have not received the spirit of bondage to fear Rom. 8. 15. even that is a gift and must be received and is dispensed freely al that a natural man can do cannot cal for his old terrors and troubles which out of his sensuality he hath devised wayes to wear out unless the Lord wil set them on by his hand And hence the Apostle makes the exception so general to Timothy 2. Tim. 1. 9. Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling not according
it vexed al the veyns of their hearts that 's the way to weary them and there they solace themselves ah it's roast meat to them and thus it is a pastime to a fool to do wickedly but know thou art a hard-hearted fool a graceless wretch in the wise mans account do not our plantations groan under such sons of Belial such senceless 〈◊〉 do they not swarm in our streets are not our families pestered with such Esau-like when he sold his 〈◊〉 eat and drank and rose up and went his way not affected with what he had lost not ashamed of what he had done but 〈◊〉 of al or like the man in the Gospel possessed with the Devil sometime he cast him into the fire and sometime into the water so these rush headily into sin and impudently continue in such 〈◊〉 courses they commit sin and continue in sin hasten Gods wrath and their own ruin and go away senceless of al so that it 's now seasonable to take Jeremiahs complaint I 〈◊〉 and heard and no man sayd what have I done 〈◊〉 Jer. 8. 6. He might and did hear of hideous vile evils without any diligent hearkning see and meet loathsom distempers without any searching but when he followed men home wondring in what quiet do these men live what comfort do these men find how do they bear up their hearts under such hellish carriages I wil go see how they lye down in their beds and whether they dare sleep or no under such trangression and such guilt and when he came he hearkned surely I shal now hear them mourn bitterly afflict their hearts with unfained grief there is no such thing no man said what have I done not a word of that it was the least part of their care the furthest off their thoughts And this is the temper the condition and disposition of scores hundreds of you that hear this word at this instant Is not the day yet to dawn the hour yet to come that ever you shed a tear sent up a sigh to heaven in the sence of thy evils or set thy self in secret to bewail thy distempers before the Lord God knows and your hearts know the Chambers where you lodge the Beds where you lie can bring in witness against you you are strangers to this blessed brokenness of heart yea enemies to it you were pricked no not so much as in your eyes nor in your tongues God and his word and al means that have been tried could never wrest a tear from thine eye not a confession out of thy mouth thou wilt commit thy follies and die in the defence or excuse of them but to have thy heart affected in serious manner with the filth of thy sinful distempers it is to thee a riddle to this day Nay there be thousands in the bottomless pit of hell that never had the like means as thou never committed the like sins and yet never had such a senceless sottish heart under such rebellions as thy self Wo be to you that laugh now you shal mourn those flinty spirits of yours wil not break now they shal certainly burn you draw a light harrow now you find no burden of your pride and stubbornness rebellions idleness and noysom lusts they are no burdens ye can go boult upright with them and Sampson like carry the very gates of hell upon your backs and never buckle under them wel the time wil com you wil cal to the mountains to fal upon you and the hills to cover you from the infinite weight of Gods everlasting displeasure Tast a little the sting of this sin and see the compass of this accursed condition of thine and go no further than the point in hand Thou art far without the walk of the Almighty there is no dealing and entercourse between thee and the holy one of Israel the Almighty passeth by and wil not so much as change a word with thee or cast a look 〈◊〉 thee to leave any remembrance of himself upon thy soul thou livest as though thou hadst nothing to do with him nor he with thee nothing to do with grace or heaven the holy spirit a wes some humbles others some it quickens that were sluggish establisheth others who were weak onely thou art senceless of any operation of the Lord thou hast a heart that puts away the presence of the Lord out of thy mind if it were possible thy fleece is dry when there is dew upon al the earth this is that which the Apostle discovers to be the cause of that heavy curse of the heathen Eph. 4. 18. strangers from the life of God by reason of the hardness of their hearts Oh thou hast a 〈◊〉 heart and leadest a strang life even as opposite to God as darkness to light hell to heaven differs onely but in degree from that 〈◊〉 which appears most eminently amongst the Devills and damned even to be an adversary to God and his grace to stand it out in defiance with the divine goodness of God his power and faithfulness Pharaoh he 〈◊〉 it but thou dost it 〈◊〉 it out with the Almighty and impudently darest the great God who is Jehovah I know not Jehovah neither wil I let my heart go to yield subjection and service to him I know no authority of a command that shal rule me nor admonition that shal awe or reforme me Thus thou art a stranger to the wisdom of God the folly of thine own self-deceiveing mind and heart leads thee and deludes thee thou art a stranger to the grace and holiness of the Lord the perversness and rebellion of thine own wretched heart takes place onely with thee yea a stranger to mercy and to the compassions and consolations of the Lord Jesus and his blessed spirit who choosest thine own ruin lovest thine own death following lying vanities and forsakest the mercies purchased and tendred to thee Upon these tearms in which thou now standest God hath appoynted no good for thee while thou continuest in this temper as he said write this man childless so write upon it write thy soul graceless that shal never prosper Isa. 61. 1. 2. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath annointed me to preach good 〈◊〉 to the meek to bind up the broken hearted liberty to the captives opening of the prison to those that are bound to appoint to them that mourn in Zion beauty for ashes the garment of gladness for the spirit of heaviness thou hearest the glad tidings of mercy pardon and peace grace of life that passeth understanding joy unspeakable rich and plentiful redemption from al sins and miseryes which God hath layd up in his everlasting decree and laid out in the great work of redemption by the Lord Jesus but thou mayest set thy heart at rest as long as thou seest that hard heart of thine thou shalt never see good day joy and comfort and liberty they are not thy allowance they are childrens bread it
names sake Here 〈◊〉 no Qualifications you 'l say whereas if you 〈◊〉 but look into some Verses of the Chapter going 〈◊〉 as vers 20. he speaks to his People His 〈◊〉 these are said 〈◊〉 21. to be such as he had 〈◊〉 for himself and vers 22. he calls them Jacob 〈◊〉 Israel that is The Israel of God as the Apostle 〈◊〉 them Gal. 6. 16. true beleevers Hos. 14. 4. I 〈◊〉 love them freely therefore here 's no 〈◊〉 because none expressed But mark the 1 2 and 〈◊〉 verses you shall find who those are that the Lord 〈◊〉 freely such as having fall'n by their iniquitie Return to the Lord saying Take away all iniquity 〈◊〉 shall not save us in thee the fatherless sind mercy that is Those that have such Qualifications as these they are the Persons whom the Lord 〈◊〉 freely It is impossible it should be 〈◊〉 Rom. 4. 23. As Abraham was justified so must we but he was justified by Faith and therefore there 〈◊〉 no Promise revealing Justification or Adoption but either it doth expres or imply this condition of 〈◊〉 When the Spirit doth Evidence my Justification or Salvation out of the Word it doth it one or these Two wayes Either by the Application of some general Promise in which each Particular and so myself as a particular am included Or 〈◊〉 there 〈◊〉 some special Word appointed appropriated to me alone and is spoken to none but me as Isa. 45. 〈◊〉 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus c. None was here intended but Cyrus This second 〈◊〉 a Familistical Dream and forceth men to Revelations without the Word because there is no such expression to be found in the Word 〈◊〉 therefore sober-minded men who have their senses about them dare not entertain it perceiving indeed as the 〈◊〉 is that such a Conceit is little better than a Frenzy The first way then of Evidencing must needs be taken Whence I Reason Whatever is testified to the Soul by way of Application of the General to the Particular or by way of Collection of the Particular from the General that is ever done with respect to a Condition As it thus appears by Induction the Evidence must needs run in this manner Either All men are Justified but thou art a man therefore thou art justified Or All Sinners are justified but thou art a sinner therefore thou art justisied Or All Self-denying beleeving sinners are justified but thou art such a one therefore thou art justified The Two First here are false only this Third 〈◊〉 last is true and that carries a Qualification 〈◊〉 it If a man fly to Election and say All the Elect are justified that 's false Or thus 〈◊〉 the Elect shall be called and justified that is no 〈◊〉 of Evidencing neither for as was shewed 〈◊〉 there can be no Evidence i. e. Science and 〈◊〉 of Faith of the working of the first 〈◊〉 before it be wrought therefore there is no 〈◊〉 way but the applying of a General including a 〈◊〉 to my self in particular as All that 〈◊〉 as Abraham are justified but I am one 〈◊〉 them This is good To make the Spirit testifie a falshood and my 〈◊〉 to receive it is unlawful to charge untruth 〈◊〉 the Spirit is blasphemous to bring my self into 〈◊〉 by-path that is erroneous But to make the 〈◊〉 testifie that Pardon and Adoption belongs to any 〈◊〉 falls upon any subject without respect to a 〈◊〉 is to make the Spirit testifie a falshood 〈◊〉 it is to make it testifie cross to a rule of Truth which the Spirit of God hath given in the Word For the Rule of Truth is plain Rom. 8. 30. Whom 〈◊〉 called them he justified and them he glorified Therefore to say the Spirit will witness to one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not called is to make him witness against 〈◊〉 Rule Joh. 1. 12. To them that receive him he gave 〈◊〉 to be the Sons of God It s a staple Rule Therefore no man is a Son before he receive Christ therefore to make the Spirit to witness to a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Son of God when he hath not received Christ would make him speak Cross to this Word of Truth Look how the Covenant of Grace testifies a mans good estate and the interest he hath to any spiritual good in Christ so the spirit of Grace doth 〈◊〉 it fo the Spirit of Grace and the Covenant of 〈◊〉 go hand in hand and otherwise how could it 〈◊〉 true That the Gospel should be sufficient to make 〈◊〉 man perfect and compleat in the spiritual 〈◊〉 of his Soul as well as in those things which 〈◊〉 mainly and meerly Essential to eternal life 2 〈◊〉 3. 16. And here is the limits and bounds of that comfort the Spirit is sent to bring its confined 〈◊〉 this compass Joh. 14. 26. I will send the 〈◊〉 and he shall bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you when he comes 〈◊〉 a Comforter when that is the main scope of 〈◊〉 Commission to make known all the grounds of Comfort to the Saints and to let in the good of them into their Souls when he remembers them of all 〈◊〉 and teacheth all things appertaining thereunto 〈◊〉 ads no more but recals what Christ hath said Besides that testimony which is beyond the Gospel should not be tryed by the Gospel for that which 〈◊〉 beyond the measure cannot be measured by it 〈◊〉 Gospel is the Rule of our Faith and of our Comfort and if this testimony was beyond the reach of the Gospel it could never be judged by it This would not only set open a Gap to all Delusions but break down the banks that the sea of all sottish Imaginations may break in upon the mind and apprehensions of a man and carry them away with mighty violence without controul But the Covenant of Grace doth 〈◊〉 our interest in these Priviledges ever with an eye and respect to some spiritual 〈◊〉 It is the tenure of the Gospel according to the very letter and naked terms of it Mark 16. 16. Go preach the Gospel 〈◊〉 that beleevs shall be saved they and they only and none but they therefore it follows he that 〈◊〉 not shall be 〈◊〉 Jer. 31. 33. This is the 〈◊〉 that I will make with the house of Israel I will 〈◊〉 my laws in their hearts and in their inward 〈◊〉 will I put them Look to the Covenant as made 〈◊〉 Adam Gen. 3. 15. as renewed with Abraham He beleeved and it was counted for righteousness Gen. 15. 6. And so it is in the whole frame of the 〈◊〉 still the Covenant of Grace gives witness to 〈◊〉 mans good estate with respect to Faith therefore 〈◊〉 the Spirit of Grace doth testifie also If God the Father intended these Priviledges 〈◊〉 to such under such a respect or Condition Christ 〈◊〉 all these benefits for such alone and the 〈◊〉 applyed them only unto such then the 〈◊〉 witnesseth the
Christ 〈◊〉 Purchased to himself for if he could he 〈◊〉 do it some of these wayes Either by force we must take it rush by 〈◊〉 into the right and possession of the Lord Jesus 〈◊〉 wrest by strong hand everlasting happiness from 〈◊〉 whether he will or no. But that 's impossible 〈◊〉 what is the clay to the Potter So the Prophet ex presseth the difference the interogation shewes 〈◊〉 impossibilitie of the opposition they may 〈◊〉 with his will but they cannot cross it 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Who hath resisted his will and therefore the Lord 〈◊〉 the Vineyard determines it by his absolute good 〈◊〉 sure Mat. 20. 14 15. I will give to this last 〈◊〉 thee may I not do what I will with my own As by force we cannot take it So by justice we 〈◊〉 not challenge it or claim any interest therein for 〈◊〉 thing we have or do Nothing we have can 〈◊〉 it nothing we can do can deserve it at the hands 〈◊〉 Christ. For the conclusion is firm When we 〈◊〉 done all we can we are 〈◊〉 Servants 〈◊〉 have done no more than we should Luke 17. 〈◊〉 Nay we do much that we should not do Psal. 〈◊〉 3. If 〈◊〉 shouldest strictly mark what is done 〈◊〉 misse Lord who could abide it Wee of our selves are not capable of this 〈◊〉 provided and freely offred to us John 1. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shined in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the darkness 〈◊〉 ded it not John 14. 17. I will send the Spirit whom the World cannot receive 1 Cor. 2. 14. The naturall man receiveth not the things of the Spirit neither can he receive them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therfore our Saviour complaìns that his word found no place in them all the room was taken up already as our Saviour when he came into the World so when 〈◊〉 comes into mens hearts yea if a naturall man might 〈◊〉 Heaven for the taking if it were put into his hand 〈◊〉 were not able to hold it So the young man when he 〈◊〉 as free an offer and as fair terms as ever were 〈◊〉 to any Go and sell all that thou hast come 〈◊〉 me and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven it 〈◊〉 said he went away sorrowfull he would none of the Kingdome of Heaven upon those terms he neither 〈◊〉 nor could receive it A man would not be made capable he would not 〈◊〉 God enable him to receive that grace which being 〈◊〉 would take away those distempers which do 〈◊〉 take place in him Hence comes al those quarrels 〈◊〉 that contention between the heart and the word 〈◊〉 men are not able to bear or hear the blessed truth 〈◊〉 God that it should reveal or remove their 〈◊〉 from them The soul saith to the word as he did 〈◊〉 thou found me O mine enemy The carnall 〈◊〉 is not subject to the Law of God nor indeed can 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 7. So Augustine consessed that when 〈◊〉 prayed against his lusts he secretly wished that 〈◊〉 would not hear his prayer It dasheth the vain imagination of a company of 〈◊〉 ignorant creatures whom Satan carries 〈◊〉 down to Hell by a false conceit of their 〈◊〉 to compass and contrive their own spirituall 〈◊〉 according to their own humor They put 〈◊〉 opportunities slight al offers of life and means 〈◊〉 grace proceed fearlesly in the pursuit of any 〈◊〉 what ever best suits their own carnal 〈◊〉 presuming vainly of their own power to help as they list and like best when and 〈◊〉 they will Tell them of the 〈◊〉 of the work shortness of their time uncertainty of their lives how 〈◊〉 and irrecoverable their hazard and loss will be and therefore they should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and take greedily each opportunity that is presented unto them They 〈◊〉 their retreat hither and here they 〈◊〉 themselves against all fears that might surprize terrors that might take hold upon them threatnings of the 〈◊〉 which might shake their hearts in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They have found a nearer way and 〈◊〉 would not put themselves to unnecessary 〈◊〉 though they begin late they can do 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bour and much 〈◊〉 and yet do it well what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out his dayes in melancholly 〈◊〉 sink his heart in sadness and discouragement 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 of her present content and delight and 〈◊〉 themselves more miserable than they need when 〈◊〉 years grow on and their eyes grow dim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength 〈◊〉 them then they will cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seek pardon and repent of their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Christ and then 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus they conceive 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either to 〈◊〉 mercy or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 or take eternal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salvation as they list True they cannot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor are they able to purchase it but 〈◊〉 hath 〈◊〉 rited eternal Life and God so freely 〈◊〉 it to 〈◊〉 man that wil they put it beyond 〈◊〉 peradventures 〈◊〉 make no doubt of it but to make 〈◊〉 their own as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And by this selfdeceiying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men suddenly drop down to destruction 〈◊〉 they do indeed 〈◊〉 where they are and what 〈◊〉 do But what a desperate folly is this so to 〈◊〉 mans soul as to put the weight of eternal Life and Salvation and al the hopes thou hast meerly upon 〈◊〉 so that according to the course thou hast plotted it 's utterly impossible thou shouldest 〈◊〉 of any good For First thou knowest not whether thou shalt live it is 〈◊〉 in thy hand to maintaine thy own natural life for 〈◊〉 what is our life a bubble a flower a shaddow 〈◊〉 bubble breaks and the flower fades and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 away thou art not certain thou shalt live til 〈◊〉 evening or if thou doest how doest thou know 〈◊〉 shalt have ability to seek to the Lord for mercy 〈◊〉 thy brain is grown weak not able to remember or 〈◊〉 the things belonging to thy peace and when 〈◊〉 is grown 〈◊〉 weak it 's not able to grapple with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when the daies of sorrow and sickness are 〈◊〉 upon thee and thou sayest I have no pleasure in 〈◊〉 Imagine God give thee life and thou have ability 〈◊〉 nature about thee yet who knows whether ever God wil give thee a heart to look for mercy Luke 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is said one of the Theeves reviled Christ when 〈◊〉 was to die he fell a railing afresh upon our Saviour 〈◊〉 saying if thou be the Christ save thy self 〈◊〉 us One would have thought the place of 〈◊〉 and the gastly looks of Death now presented 〈◊〉 his eyes might have put other words into his 〈◊〉 other thoughts into his mind but he could 〈◊〉 leave his life than his blasphemy So a 〈◊〉 going to dye a Minister coming to him stirred 〈◊〉 up to cry to the Lord and to look to Heaven for 〈◊〉 he professed though he was then going to 〈◊〉 Gallows that he would not do it O saies he I 〈◊〉
raising up himself with himself he raised up us 〈◊〉 for as he suffered as our 〈◊〉 so he rose again as our Surety and so we were raised with him Therefore when Christ will come and make Application of all Spiritual Good to any soul he doth it by the Vertue and Power of his Resurrection When the hard heart resists the Power of the Word and saies all Threatnings all Promises all Commandements shal not prevail with me and when Sin and Satan 〈◊〉 themselves to the uttermost to keep the soul still in the Gall of bitterness in the bonds of iniquity the Lord Christ comes from Heaven and shews 〈◊〉 Power 〈◊〉 his Resurrection give way Sin give 〈◊〉 Satan that soul is mine and they all give way 〈◊〉 thence comes the prevailing vertue of the Word 〈◊〉 the soul for its effectual 〈◊〉 home to God 〈◊〉 you 〈◊〉 the Frame of this Truth The Lord Jesus by the Power of his God-head did 〈◊〉 up himself from under the Power of Sin and 〈◊〉 and Death 〈◊〉 he had a Sovereign 〈◊〉 Power over Sin and Satan therefore he is able 〈◊〉 conquer and to 〈◊〉 Sin and Satan where ever 〈◊〉 meets them The Spirit of God also hath a hand in this great Work of Application and indeed it is in a special 〈◊〉 attributed to him not because all the three 〈◊〉 do not joyntly work throughout in all the works of Application for according to the received 〈◊〉 of Divines all the Works of God upon the Creature are common to all the three Persons of the Trinity but because the manner of the Spirits work 〈◊〉 principally appear here There are but three 〈◊〉 Works in the World Creation Redemption and Application which are given to the three Persons of the srinity according to the special manner of their working Creation is given to the Father that 's the first Work and therefore given to the first Person Redemption is given to the Son that 's the second Work and therefore given to the second Person Application of that Redemption is the third and last Work and therefore is in a peculiar manner attributed to the third Person the Holy Ghost Conceive it thus A Malefactor that hath committed high Treason against his Prince and being taken he is imprisoned in the strongest Hold the deepest Dungeon without hope of release imagine a man comes and satisfies the wrath of the King and answers the Law so that the King saies upon satisfaction given the Law is fully answered no wrong is done If he shall so do the King is bound not only to be 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 of himself and the wrong done to 〈◊〉 and his Law but he is also bound to give his 〈◊〉 Hand Authority and Commission to him that paid for the Prisoner that he may go and fetch the Prisoner from the Dungeon and 〈◊〉 him away with him Imagine that the Jaylor grows sturdy and stiff he 〈◊〉 the Prisoner is prositable to him therfore he 〈◊〉 and saies the Prisoner shall not depart now he that hath Authority from the King must be able to break the Prison doors and then to slay the Jaylor and by force to deliver the Prisoner from the bondage he was in Thus it is here every sinner is a Prisoner to Divine Justice Sin is the Prison and the Devil is the Jaylor that holds him in bondage by reason of the power of Sin and by vertue of Commission from Divine Justice Christ Jesus hath come and payed our debts satisfied Divine Justice and answered the Law that God the Father hath professed This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased the Law is performed my anger fully appeased and my mercy procured therefore all those sinners for whom thou hast died and obeyed shall be redeemed from the power of Sin and authority of Satan and now God the Father gives him a full Commission to 〈◊〉 those sinners from the hands of sin and Satan But now when Christ comes for the soul Satan and sin refuse they will not let the sinner go therfore Christ by the vertue of his Resurrection and by the power of his Spirit he doth rescue the soul whether sin and Satan and a mans heart will or no he will have the soul and humble him and call him and justisie him and 〈◊〉 him and glorifie him and then deliver him up to his Father at the great day Direction How to help the souls of poor Sinners that are under the work of Application either 〈◊〉 in it or in Preparation to it here is Direction to you al in the greatest streights whatsoever When the Lord gives intimation to sinners that they are not in the right way and he begins to be 〈◊〉 with them and our Savior Christ comes as the High Sheriff when he would put a man into Possession of his Land that is Possessed by those that have no right to it The High Sheriff comes with his Company and knocks at the door now al that are within come and make resistance and labor to keep him out as much as they can So when our Savior Christ comes and saies to a desperate rebellious sinner that soul of thine was never made for Sin or Satan but thou must come and shouldest come out of thy sins and come to me saies Christ when the Word is thus 〈◊〉 with Life and power now the soul is in an uproar now the soul resists this Work he makes al the doors and bolts fast and he that comes in he dies upon it But the Lord presses in stil upon the soul he must he wil conquer and subdue it to himself now the sinner sees nothing but Hel and Death and Damnation before it die he must and that for ever if he stand out and now he sees he should yeild and submit he sees now the body of death that hangs upon him the power of his lusts that prevails with him and he finds his heart shut up under unbeleef under the chaines of pride and vainglory and earthlimindedness and the Devil presents impossibilities to his view canst thou think that ever those sins of thine should be pardoned or that ever that soul of thine should be delivered from under the power of them Now Brethren here the soul 's at a stand above al the stifness and stubborness of a mans own wil no Threatnings no Mercies no Afflictions no offers of Grace can prevail but a man wil have his sins though the Devil have his soul he finds his heart so 〈◊〉 he must have his sin and his wil though he 〈◊〉 for it Ay now what wil you do The Cause 〈◊〉 this work of Application is 〈◊〉 of your self in Christ Therefore send your thoughts and keep your 〈◊〉 upon the Resurrection of Christ set your eye keep your eye there for ever see a passage or two from Scripture here Rev. 1. 18. I was dead but 〈◊〉 am alive and I live for evermore and I have the Keyes Hell 〈◊〉 Death saies Christ Thou
set the greatest Price and account upon those things which were of greatest worth the Truth of God his Will and Wayes warily to observe the seasons 〈◊〉 these are Dispensed and Revealed And so with readiness to attend thereupon and to entertain those opportunities and means of Grace and Good whence follows a mutual agreement between the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and these their converted Posterity They long before expected a Savior 〈◊〉 now fitted 〈◊〉 Receive the Lord Christ their Saviour now 〈◊〉 In the Words there be Three divine Truths which 〈◊〉 will take notice of in which the Pith of the foregoing Description is expressed 1 All men by Nature are unfit to Receive Christ. 2 There must be a Preparation therefore made for that end 3 The Ministery of Elias is the means to do this The First of these though proper enough for this 〈◊〉 yet we shall reserve the 〈◊〉 thereof 〈◊〉 we come to discover the manner of Gods 〈◊〉 in drawing of a sinner to himself where the 〈◊〉 fastening to his Corruption and the Lords 〈◊〉 him from it being handled together will 〈◊〉 way the one for the other and give light the 〈◊〉 to the other we shall therefore defer the further 〈◊〉 of that till we come to that place Proceed we now to open the Second Point That is The Soul must be sitted for Christ before it can receive Him or Salvation by Him This is the Scope of the Place the Way and Order of the Lords approach where there is no Preparation made there is no Expectation of a Savior to come Thus it was Prophesied Mal. 3. 1. 〈◊〉 I will send my Messenger and he shall Prepare the way before me and the Lord whom yee seek will suddenly come into his Temple Thus was it accomplished by the Baptist to whom the Word of the Lord came and he came 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 about Jordan saying The voyce of one crying in the Wilderness Prepare yee the way of the Lord and make his paths streight Luke 3. 4. A similitude taken from Earthly 〈◊〉 our Savior he is the King and he was now to come in his own Person and in the Ministery of the 〈◊〉 and thereby into the Souls of his People And 〈◊〉 the Baptist makes Proclamation Not for their 〈◊〉 so much as for their Hearts that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereof might be dislodged And the 〈◊〉 fit to entertain the Lord Jesus And that this was a Spiritual Preparation the nature of Christs Kingdom 〈◊〉 being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 world Joh. 18. 36. And the 〈◊〉 of his Proceeding being professedly 〈◊〉 to the pompe of Earthly Potentates will evidence 〈◊〉 For 〈◊〉 shall hear his voyce in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 12. 19. But the Baptists Sermon who 〈◊〉 knew the 〈◊〉 of his own 〈◊〉 puts it out of doubt For so he ads 〈◊〉 3. 1 2. Repent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kingdom of Heaven is at hand As the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayes Prepare yee the way of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he had said Repenting is Preparing And 〈◊〉 3. 5. Every ' Mountain shall be made low and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thing streight The sense of which words that it could not be literal but Spiritual the accomplishment of them in Experience is proof most pregnantly undeniable The Sum is The Heart is the high way while the Gospel is Preaching Christ is coming the Heart must by Repentance be fitted for Christ offering himself in that and then Christ will come by that means thereunto In this Preparation for the Explication of it we are to attend Three Things 1 Wherein it Consists 2 The manner of the Work 3 The Reasons of it For the First of these What this Preparation is or wherein it 〈◊〉 Generally It is a renouncing of whatsoever might cross the coming and entertaining of our Savior Christ into the Heart And it is the fitting of the Soul 〈◊〉 Faith and for being in Christ by Faith Particularly it shewes it self in Four Things The First is the Renouncing the Authority of those bosom Corruptions which have Lorded it over the Soul and kept out the Power of the Gospel from prevailing and taking place in the Heart That accursed Union and Combination that hath been long between the Heart and its secret Lusts which for their naturalness are said to be The old man Eph. 4. 22. And for their néarness our earthly members Col. 3. 5. born and bred with us which make and 〈◊〉 the Corrupt disposition of our Hearts This Combination must be broken this League 〈◊〉 else there is no place for the Presence of a 〈◊〉 True These noysom Distempers will be as Tyrants still Usurpiug Authority over the Soul but they are not acknowledged as Lawful 〈◊〉 by the Soul rightly prepared for the Lord But the sinner rightly fitted shakes off the yoak and 〈◊〉 from under the 〈◊〉 of these Distempers 〈◊〉 though he be not able to wage War and to mortifie them by any power received 〈◊〉 he withdraws his 〈◊〉 from his Lust and stands ready to entertain a deliver This 〈◊〉 Work the 〈◊〉 here 〈◊〉 by the Evangelist implyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 perfect onem sonat 〈◊〉 concinnitatem 〈◊〉 ad 〈◊〉 aptantur saith Calvin in Locum And the Original in the Prophet Isa ah 40. 3. imports no more both shewing the same thing even an utter Emptiness that ought to be in the heart Thus also is this Work 〈◊〉 and set out in the 〈◊〉 thereof Every mountain shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 low It is not paving but levelling not a bringing in of some 〈◊〉 ability so much which this Preparative stroak 〈◊〉 stamp looks at take it strictly in hoc signo 〈◊〉 as they say but a removing of all that out 〈◊〉 the way which might stop or stay our Saviors coming for 〈◊〉 he Professeth Matth. 10. 37. He 〈◊〉 loveth Father or Mother more than me is not 〈◊〉 of me Not 〈◊〉 that is Not fit to 〈◊〉 him or Mercy by him As we use to say A fusty Vessel is not worthy of precious Liquor A dusty Cabinet not worthy to have a Diamond put into it That is They are not fit to Receive these 〈◊〉 the Things will be spoyled not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them The Soul is brought to Renounce 〈◊〉 might serve to share in the Work and Glory of Free Grace and so cast some blemish 〈◊〉 or at 〈◊〉 diminish the due worth thereof which the 〈◊〉 Christ who doth all to the praise of the Glory 〈◊〉 his Grace will not suffer and therefore he will have this Coast cleared also before his coming And the Soul must be emptied not only of those things which out of the intr 〈◊〉 Evil of their nature do cross the Nature of Grace as Sins and Corruptions but also of all that confidence in any spiritual sufficiency 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which while we would seem to share with him in the Work of our Conversion and ease 〈◊〉 of some part of the Labor we do indeed take some part of the Honor from him concerning which 〈◊〉 hath said That he will
reason Where there is nothing but opposition and resistance between two there can be no union for all union implies 〈◊〉 and agreement there must be a mutual accord 〈◊〉 things on both hands before they can be made one Amos 3. 3. Can two walk together except they be agreed love tends to unity and 〈◊〉 the cause of it and that ever presupposeth some I keneis But 〈◊〉 man remaining in the state of Unbeleef and Corruption is wholly opposite to Christ and the work of his Spirit he is wholly Flesh John 3. 6. And the flesh lusts against the spirit and these are 〈◊〉 Gal. 4. 17. the wisdom of the flesh is 〈◊〉 against God it is not subject nor can be subject to the Law so far from closing with the work of the Spirit as it is not able to bear it The Scribes and 〈◊〉 rejected the counsel against themselues i. e. to their own 〈◊〉 Acts 7. 51. Ye stifnecked and 〈◊〉 hearted ye have ever resisted the Spirit of the Lord. Paul did no more than every Natural man would do Being mad saies he I persecuted that way The way of Christ and so Christ himself In a word It 's said of all and it 's true of all the best of the Saints take them in their Naturals ye were darkness Eph. 5. 10. darkness cannot but oppose light He that is acted wholly by the power of Infidelity he must resist the work of Faith and so the receiving of Christ by it There are but Two Covenants that ever God made with man touching his everlasting Estate The Covenant of Works or of the Law the Covenan of the Gospel and so of Grace and these two Covenants are so opposite that the one 〈◊〉 the other If it be of Works it is no more of Grace else Works were not Works If it be of Grace it is no more of 〈◊〉 else Grace were no more Grace Rom. 11. 6. Hence they are severed as far as blessing and cursing Gal. 3. 9 10. So then they which be of Faith are blessed with faithful Abraham For as many as are of the Works of the Law are under the Curse Now all men by Nature are Members and Heirs of the first Adam and therefore under his Covenant and under his Curse Rom. 7. 5. 8. Whilst we were in the 〈◊〉 the motions of sins which were by the Law did work in our Members to bring forth fruit unto death Those who are in Christ are under the Covenant of Grace and Life for he that hath the Son hath Life Hence I 〈◊〉 To be under two contrary Covenants of Law and Grace is impossible because so a man should be accursed and blessed at once But he that is in his corrupt Condition and state of Infidelity he is under the Covenant of Works he that is in Christ under the Covenant of Grace Hence followeth a Fifth Reason Who ever is under Grace over them sin shall not have Dominion Rom. 6. 14. Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the Law but under Grace 〈◊〉 they who are in their natural condition and in the state of Unbeleef they are under the power and dominion of 〈◊〉 therefore they are not under Grace nor yet in Christ. This discovers the folly and dasheth the fond conceit of many carnal men who have framed a speedy way to Heaven in their own fancies through which yet never any had passage thither to wit they fondly imagine they have Christ and Mercy at command and that they can make a step to Heaven in the turning of a hand they 〈◊〉 not make such large provision or preparation before to tire out themselves with tedious and heart breaking sorrows and dayly remorse 〈◊〉 their dayly failings smal warning will serve 〈◊〉 mens turns Be it they love their lusts and practise them they harbor continually their noysom distempers in their souls express 〈◊〉 also in their lives they crave but the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 few hours before their 〈◊〉 to fit themselves for their departure and happiness a few forced sighs faigned and formal confessions of their evils and howling for pardon out of the horror of their spirits now and then customarily adding a Lord have mercy on me they suppose they have made all even with God but if they can but get the Sacrament they conclude all is sure they must needs go post hast to Heaven if they can but say they beleeve Christ must comfort them cannot but save them No no Brethren the Word reveals none our Savior accepts of no such agreement he comes upon no such terms to bring any comfort with him unless any man should be so far forsaken of reason and sense as to imagine the Lord Jesus would carry the Drunkard and his Cups the Adulterer and his Harlots also the riotous Gamester his Cards and Dice Hawks and Hounds and all to Heaven together which is 〈◊〉 and incredible Oh! these men will one day find and that to their wo they cozened their own souls by their own folly whereas sound 〈◊〉 cost more the way must be prepared thy heart loosened rent and plucked away from thy corruptions before the Lord Jesus will vouchsafe once to look in upon thee No Harbenger before no King follows after where the heart is not 〈◊〉 for a Savior there is no hope to 〈◊〉 the presence of a Savior It 's the condition upon which his coming is promised and can be expected upon any sure ground It 's the order and connexion of things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath set in the work of Grace Luke 3. 8. And all flesh shall see the 〈◊〉 of the Lord. The Copulative Particle And tells us the sight of Salvation depends upon that which went before when we see the mountains of Pride high and lofty imaginations levelled crooked perversness of our own spirits taken off and we made meek and tractable then there is some hope that Salvation will appear unto us but if any man will yet rear up mighty Bulwarks and strong holds of rebellion and hardness of heart and maintain those high imaginations sturdy distempers of pride security and carnal confidence he must know whoever he be that as yet he is not within the ken of mercy and though he look until his eyes 〈◊〉 in his head and his heart 〈◊〉 in his body he 〈◊〉 never come within a true sight of Salvation much less may he think ever to be made partaker of it why confer with thy own conscience Dost thou think it fit the King should lie in the Truckle-bed under a company of Traitors Is it reasonable the Lord 〈◊〉 should be an 〈◊〉 to thy lusts No certainly the gods that thou hast obeyed by those thou must be saved thou would have thy lusts but reject Christ thou shalt perish with them but the presence of the Lord Jesus thou canst not enjoy Let the 〈◊〉 man forsake his way and the unrighteous man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and return unto the Lord for he will
in our 〈◊〉 and sinful souls Why he will he hath said it he hath 〈◊〉 it he wil perform it and therefore let us consider our own unworthiness to receive Christ as a motive to stir us up to make preparation for Christ for the baser the place is that should entertain him the greater the preparation should be We ought to wonder that the Lord will vouchsafe to come into our sinful souls and therefore we had need prepare the more for his comming The Lord hath promised to come into our souls if we humble them and make them fitting to entertain his Majesty therefore sweep your hearts and clense those rooms clense every sink and brush down every cobweb and make room for Christ for if thy heart be prepared and divorced from all Corruptions then Christ will come and take possession of it A Second Motive that may stir us up to prepare for the Lord Jesus is To consider who it is that we are to prepare for Here we have Three Things 1 Consider the worthiness of the Person in regard of whom all preparation may seem too little you are not to entertain an ordinary person it is not a man it is not a King it is not an earthly Monarch but it is the King of Kings that will come into your souls to comfort them yea his holy and blessed Spirit will remain with you for ever Therefore do all that possible may be done to prepare for his comming and for the entertainment and welcoming of him when he comes In Psal. 24. 7. David calls 〈◊〉 his own soul for so the words are to be expounded Lift up your heads O ye gates and be ye lifted up you everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in As who should say Be enlarged Love Joy Hope Desire and All that is within me set open give way for the Lord is coming But who is the Lord It is the Lord of Hosts the Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in battel vers 8. And with that he knocks again Lift up your heads O ye gates and be ye 〈◊〉 ye everlasting doors for the King of 〈◊〉 shall come 〈◊〉 vers 9. As if he should say What! Shall the Lord knock Shall the King of Glory stand Open 〈◊〉 and make all preparation Did David do thus Why do you do 〈◊〉 then Christ knocks by Promises he knocks by Judgements he knocks by Threats yea he speaks this day unto your souls and labors this day to make way for himself Make therefore all preparation let nothing be wanting that when he comes he may take 〈◊〉 of your souls and be a God unto you for ever 2 Consider all that good that Jesus Christ brings with him and that should move you for all the good that we need or can desire to make us happy he will bring with him when he comes to take 〈◊〉 of the Soul The Lord comes into our Souls not to trouble us and charge us no he comes to bring everlasting Salvation and happiness to our Souls Look what Christ said to 〈◊〉 Luke 19. 5. 8 9. when he went up into a Sycamore-tree to see him Make haste and come down Zacheus saith he for I must abide with thee in thy house Zacheus makes no cavilling nor no tarrying but made haste and came down and received him joyfully And mark what Christ said unto him This day Salvation is come to thy house So likewise it shall be with you when Christ comes everlasting Happiness and Salvation comes with him and therefore if you do not make preparation for him you refuse Salvation and Happiness that is offered to your Souls by him Amos 4. 12. when the Lord had sent many Plagues and Judgments upon Jerusalem he saith Thus will I do unto thee Oh Israel and because I will do thus unto thee therefore prepare to meet thy God O Israel I will do thus unto thee that is I will send Mildews and Pestilence and War and Famine amongst you I will draw you out with Hooks and your Posterity with Fish-hooks And what followeth Prepare to meet thy God Oh Israel If God come against us to plague us we must prepare to meet him Reason then with your own Souls Should the Lord come in Judgement to punish us if we ought to prepare to meet him then what preparation ought we to make for his coming when he shall not come thus in Judgement to condemne us but in mercy to save us in his goodness to enrich us in his compassion to comfort us Then now if ever prepare to meet thy God O Israel Let every heart perswade it self in this particular Is Christ so gracious and so merciful doth he send from Heaven unto us and say he will come in Behold saies he I stand at the door and knock and if any man will hear my voyce and open unto me my Father and I will come in and sup with him He will come in himself and bring all the good things of Grace and Glory with him for the everlasting refreshing of our Souls Why Where are your hearts in the mean time Therfore if ever now prepare to meet the Lord Jesus bringing Salvation with him 3 Consider again How the Lord Jesus entreats you and beseeches you to receive him he that might command you and condemne you for refusing beseeches you to entertain him 2 Cor. 5. 20. We as Ambassadors in Christs stead beseech you that you would be reconciled to God that is That you would prepare to meet God willing to be reconciled to you in Christ and that you would come to his terms Consider our Savior Christ hath taken a great journey from Heaven to Earth to save us miserable wretched sinners conceive you saw those 〈◊〉 of blood trickling down his cheeks conceive you saw him upon the Cross with his hands thrust through with Nayls and his side pierced with a Spear enduring the wrath of God for our sins and behold now he standeth at the door and saith with the Church Lam. 1. 22. Is it nothing to you have you no regard O you that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow c. Imagine you heard Christ say I have suffered these and these things for you these hands of mine were nayled this side of mine was pierced this heart of mine was melted with anguish of Spirit Imagine you saw Christ standing and knocking at the door of your hearts as indeed he doth and say Hoe all you within there all you proud hearts all you covetous and malicious hearts Have you no regard to a Savior a Crucified Savior He that died for you and now laboreth to do good to your Souls Will not this move you to prepare your hearts for him and let him in Will you suffer the Lord Jesus to stand knocking and calling and weeping and saying as he said to Jerusalem Luke 19. 42. Oh that thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy
day the things belonging to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Will you suffer Christ to stand thus knocking at the door of your hearts and not let him in Take heed of this Christ knocks this day at your hearts if you now give him his last Answer and shut the door against him it may prove to be the last knocking you may hap never to see him more A plain and powerful Ministerie is the only Ordinary Means to Prepare the heart soundly for Christ. Hence it is when our Savior would have this work done he prepares a workman fit for it and furnisheth him with abilities which might enable him to the discharge thereof the work is great and the service difficult and therefore Elias is fitted with a Spirit suitable with Power answerable unto that purpose for which he was appointed an Instrument as we say for the nonce John the Baptist he also inherits these abilities and that Minister must be an Elias i. e. must have his Spirit and Power in proportion if ever this great work of preparation followeth his hand with Comfort and Success As it was in the Material so also is it in the building of this spiritual temple in which the holy Ghost doth dwell The Elect of God are like trees of righteousness the Word is like the Ax that must be lifted by a skilful and strong arm of a cunning Minister who like a Spiritual Artificer must hew and square and take off the knotty untowardnrss in the Soul before we can come to couch close and settle upon the Lord Christ as the Corner stone Paul calls the Saints Gods husbandry 1 Cor. 3. 9. A powerful humbling Ministery is like the Plow to plow up the fallow ground the thorny sensual hearts of sinful men to receive the immortal seed of the Word of Promise and the Spirit of Christ thereby For the Opening of the Point Two Things are 1 What is meant by a plain and powerful Ministery such as that of Elias 2 How this hath force to effect so great a Work The plainness of the Ministery appears When the Language and Words are such as those of the meanest Capacity have some acquaintance with and may be able to conceive when the Preacher 〈◊〉 his Speech to the shallow understanding of the Simplest Hearer so far as in him lies alwayes avoiding the frothy tinkling of quaint and far 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which take off and blunt as 〈◊〉 were the edge of the blessed Truth and Word of God 〈◊〉 the Apostle rejects the wisdom of Words as that which makes the Cross of Christ that is The Doctrine of Christ Crucisied revealed in the Gospel to lose his proper and powerful effect when it is lo Preached where let it be observed that it is not only the vanity and emptiness of Words which is here condemned but even that pompous gaudiness and elegancy of 〈◊〉 which after an unsuspected manner steals away the mind and affection from the truth and stayes it with it self when it should be a means both to convey both Attention and Affection from it self to the truth He that puts so much Sugar into the Potion that he hinders the strength and the work of it by such a kind of mixture though he please the Pallat of the 〈◊〉 yet thereby 〈◊〉 wrongs both the Physick and his Health So here in Preaching For the excellency of Eloquence and entising words of humane Wisdom which in case were commendable to be used by him who is an Orator or a Declamor in the School in the 〈◊〉 becomes ever Fruitless and many times hurtful and prejudicial to the saving success of the Gospel Hence the Apostle makes these as Opposite 2 Cor. 2. 4. My Speech and my preaching was not with entising words of mans wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power taking this for granted as it appears in 〈◊〉 of the Speech the pompe of entising words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be discovered if we would have the Spirit in the powerful work of it be demonstrated and made to appear so much sweetness of words as may make way for the 〈◊〉 of the Gospel may be admitted and no more And as all kind of Curiosity and 〈◊〉 is to be avoided so all obscure and unusual 〈◊〉 dark Sentences and Expressions strange Languages are much more to be rejected as opposite even to the end of speaking much more to plainness of the Preaching of the tuth Words are appointed by God in his Providence to be Carriers as it were by whose help the thoughts of our minds and the savory apprehensions of truth may be communicated and conveyed over to the understanding of others whereas by mystical and dark Sentences he that comes to hear can by no means profit because he cannot conceive and so both Hearer and Speaker must needs miss their end and lose their labor since the one doth no good in his Speech because he so speaks that the other can receive no benefit He that hath a Pastoral heart must be so affected in dispensing the Doctrine of Grace as Paul was in writing Rom. 1. 7. to all that are To all that be at Rome so should he labor to reach out mercy and comfort to every soul in the congregation by every sentence he delivers as much as in him lies whereas mystical cloudy discourses which exceed the capacity and understanding of most in the assembly it s not possible they should work powerfully upon their Consciences That which the Mind conceives not the Heart affects not Ministers should be and if faithful they wil be as nurses to the people they will prepare milk for the meanest and weakest and meat for all but never give dry crust or 〈◊〉 in stead of bread to any for that was not to feed but to starve the Child Hence the Apostle concludes strange Languages in the delivery of the truth to be a Curse sent of God upon a people and therefore the Minister that so Communicates the Word he is the Messenger that brings a Curse to the 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 14. 21 22. In the Law it is written with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people wherefore tongues are fore a sign not to them that believe but to them that believe not whereas Prophecying should be in that openness and familiarity of Language that the unbeleiving yea unlearned should be convinced and have the secrets of his heart made manifest to his own Conscience that so he may be truly humbled and acknowledge Gods power and presence in the virtue of his own Ordinance blessed by him 1 Cor. 14. 24. It was the complaint of God Job 38. 2. That Counsel was darkened by Words without Knowledg It was not allowed in Jobs Conference and debate of Questions with his friends it cannot but be much more condemned in publishing the mysteries of Life and Salvation to others Its the scope of the Calling and Work of
the Ministery to give the Knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 8. To darken Knowledg therefore is to cross Gods Honor our own Callings the Comforts of the People over whom we are set and to be concealers of Gods Mind not Interpreters and Revealers of his Will 〈◊〉 is only one Plea here Objected that carries any appearance of likelihood with it gathered out of Eccles. 12. 10. where it is said The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that that was written was upright even words of truth Was it Solomons Care directed by the Spirit to study pleasing words to affect his Hearers Should not his practice be a pattern to all to imitate him in like expressions Dare any affirm but that he did what he ought And shall any be so careless or presumptuous as not to endeavor to follow that course recorded with so much Commendation by the Holy Ghost I yeild willingly to all the Truths which the Text holds out unto us but it shall appear that nothing can from thence by just consequence be Collected that will cross but rather confirm and that undoubtedly what hath been affirmed before That the Writings of men should be sound their Speeches acceptable is granted but when are they how shall they be judged to be such That 's the Doubt which once Cleered the Objection will be Answered fully Words then must be judged acceptable not by the foolish fancies corrupt and carnal humors of men but from the warrant they have from the scripture and the work they have in the hearts of the Hearers for their good as the 11. vers of Eccles. 12. discovers it being added as it were by way of Explication to evidence where that pleasantness of Speech lay The words of the wise are as Goads and Nails fastened by the Masters of Assemblies which are given by one Shepheard As though the Preacher should have expressed himself more freely and fully thus If any shall ask what these acceptable words formerly mentioned are and how they may be 〈◊〉 it is easie for any thus to know them by their working upon the heart as we judge the goodness and virtue of Phyfick by its working upon the body or in the stomach Those words which are as Goads to awaken and spur on the 〈◊〉 and sleepy hearted to the performance of service with greater 〈◊〉 and speed those that are as 〈◊〉 so to fast on the 〈◊〉 truths of God upon the Consciences of men that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the compass of Gods command as Sheep within the fold Lastly Those words which are endited 〈◊〉 not by 〈◊〉 wisdom but by the Spirit of Christ 1 Cor. 2. 4. who is the only chief Shepheard of his Church and whose voice should only be heard such words should be sought out by the speaker such words 〈◊〉 to be accounted acceptable by those who hear them Now how far all quaintness and 〈◊〉 of speech is from this warrant of the Lord or this powerfull work in the hearts of his people let the sluggish and secure courses the loose lives and 〈◊〉 of such persons parishes places and congregations who have and love such teachers and such kind of teaching proclaim and testifie to al the world Plainness of Preaching appears also in the matter that is spoken when sin and sinners are set out in their native and natural colours and carry their proper names whereby they may be owned suitable to the loathsomness that is in them and the danger of those evils which are their undoubted reward A Spade is a Spade and a Drunkard is a Drunkard c. and if he will have his Sins he must and shall have 〈◊〉 with them It s Satans Policy who painter or tyre-maker like cozens all the world with colors to 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 wayes of 〈◊〉 and the glorious Graces of the Spirit with the soot and dirt of reproaches and base nick-names Sincerity he terms Singularity 〈◊〉 Puritanism and Hypocrisie and so ignorant men who judge the person by the picture are brought out of love and liking with 〈◊〉 blessed wayes of 〈◊〉 and holiness Contrariwise when he would cast a vaile over the ugly and deformed face of Vice and 〈◊〉 courses he is 〈◊〉 to lay 〈◊〉 false colors of indifferency 〈◊〉 and pleasure Drunkenness is good fellowship and neighborhood Covetousness comes masked under the vizard of 〈◊〉 and moderation Cowardliness is trimmed and 〈◊〉 up in the 〈◊〉 of discretion and wariness If Ministers will not be the Divels Brokers and followers their manner of proceeding must be expresly contrary When they come to Preach they must make sin appear truly odious and 〈◊〉 to the open 〈◊〉 of all that all may 〈◊〉 afraid and endeavor to avoid it Those 〈◊〉 wipes and 〈◊〉 jerks and 〈◊〉 at sin at which the 〈◊〉 prophane 〈◊〉 pleased but not reformed are utterly 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 the Place the Person the Office of the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts What A Minister a Jester O searful to make the Pulpit a Stage to play with 〈◊〉 when he should terrifie the Conscience for it The Lord abominates the practice he that knows and fears the Lord should abhor it with detestation Thus plainly dealt Elias with Ahab 1 Kings 18. 18. It s thou and thy Fathers house that have troubled Israel because ye have forsaken the Commandements of the Lord and followed Baalim So also with 〈◊〉 1 King 18. 21. How long will you hault between two 〈◊〉 If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then 〈◊〉 him As if he should have said Away with this patching in 〈◊〉 either a Saint or a Devil make somthing of it this is down right dealing And thus plainly John the Baptist who had the same Spirit dealt with Herod He doth not beat the Bush and go behind the door to tell him his faults and mince the matter with some intimations but he speaks out Matth. 14. 4. It is not lawful for thee to have thy Brother Philips Wife either thou mnst not have that incestuous Harlot or thou must not have Grace and Glory Thus again he dealt with the Sadduces and Pharisees when he saw them come to his Baptisms He saies to them Matth. 3. 7. Oh ye Generation of Vipers who hath fore-warned you to flee from the wrath to come As if he should have said Egs and Birds Parents and Posterity you are a race of venomous and poysonful wretches What A proud Pharisee to listen to the simplicity of the Doctrine of Grace is it possible If in sincerity and good earnest you purpose to embrace the Doctrine of truth bring forth then fruits worthy of amendment of life vers 8. We have done with the Plainness of the Ministery we are now to enquire wherein the Power of a Ministery Consists And that appears in Two Things There must be soundness of Argument and undeniable Evidence of Reason out of the Word which is able to command the
Conscience such strength 〈◊〉 truth which like a mighty stream may carry an understanding Hearer When the Apostle was to come amongst the flanting Orators and silken Doctors of Corinth which so excelled in Eloquence he brings the tryal of their Ministery unto this touch 1 Cor. 4. 19 20. I will know not the speech of them that are 〈◊〉 up but the power for the Kingdom of God stands not in word but in Power It s not the 〈◊〉 of words not the sound and tinckling of a company of fine Sentences like apifh toyes and rattles that will commend our Ministery in the account of God there is no Kingdom no Power of the work of the Spirit the heavenly Majesty of an Ordinance is not seen in such empty shels and shaddows A building with painted walls and no pillars would be of little use and less continuance A body framed out of Colours may be a picture of a Bird or Beast but a living Creature it cannot be because it wants the soul and substance which should give life and vertue thereunto So it is when a multitude of gay Sentences are packed together without the sinnews and substance of convicting Arguments there may be the picture of a Sermon but the life and power of Preaching there wil not be in any such expressions That a Minister may be Powerful an inward 〈◊〉 heat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and holy affection is required answerable and suitable to the matter which is to be communicated and those adde great life and 〈◊〉 to the delivery of the truth Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things Mat. 12. 35. Where then there is a heart awanting the chiefest part of Speech the pith and heart of it is gone for the several affections out of which the words arise make an impression and work alike temper of Spirit in him to whom we utter and express our selves Thus we speak from heart to heart and that is the best way to be in the 〈◊〉 of the Hearer and the only way to make our words take place and prevail He that mourns in speaking of sin makes another 〈◊〉 for sin committed An Exhortation that proceeds from the heart carries a kind of Authority and Commission with it to make way for it self not to return before it confer with the heart of him that will give attendance to it 〈◊〉 Discourses talk only with the 〈◊〉 they go no further because they 〈◊〉 no deeper then from the understanding of him 〈◊〉 speaks The Doctrine of the Gospel is like the 〈◊〉 upon the herbs and the dew upon the grass 〈◊〉 32. 2. The strength and stirring of holly affections is like a 〈◊〉 wind or tempest makes the truth delivered to press in with more power and speed and to soak more deeply even to the heart root of him 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 will receive it It may be here enquired for Explication of the Point How a Ministery thus 〈◊〉 and Powerful 〈◊〉 work Answ. To speak only so much here as concerns the Place leaving Particulars until we 〈◊〉 of the several Parts of Preparation know we must the preparing work of a plain and powerful Ministery stands in Two Things It discovers the secrets of Sin makes known the close passages of the Soul to it self and that in the ugliness thereof Heb. 4. 11. The Word of God is 〈◊〉 in Operation sharper than any two edged sword 〈◊〉 betwixt the Soul and the Spirit and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This was the work that Paul aimed at in the 〈◊〉 of the Gospel 2 Cor. 4. 4. Pandling the Word of God not deceitsully but plainly by 〈◊〉 of the truth he commended himself to 〈◊〉 mans Conscience in the sight of God As though he had said Speak Oh ye blessed Saints of 〈◊〉 was not Paul in your 〈◊〉 Did he 〈◊〉 every corner of your Consciences 〈◊〉 you cannot but acknowledge it your hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 as much A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Corruption 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of luch to whom the Word is spoken and blessed The 〈◊〉 Souldiers the refuse Publicans all 〈◊〉 and stand 〈◊〉 at the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Luke 3. 11 12. they all said Master what shall we do 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 at the Bar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Judge upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hence it is the time of the 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 is called The 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 day of the Lord Mal. 4. 5. 〈◊〉 that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 10. 5. The weapons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the 〈◊〉 Ministery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 down strong 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cast down 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thought to the Obedience of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Savior the Chief Master of the Assemblies is said to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Scribes Matt. 7. last Not to tell a man a 〈◊〉 tale a toothless sapless 〈◊〉 so that the hearers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are gone are never stirred never troubled for their sins nor quickened onward in Obedience But when the power of the 〈◊〉 the presence and Majesty 〈◊〉 the Lord 〈◊〉 appears in his Ordinances they then carry 〈◊〉 with them and bear down all before them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lightning forsakes his hold and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is forced to give way to the Government of the King of Saints Strong Physick either Cures or Kills either takes away the 〈◊〉 or life of the 〈◊〉 so it is with a spiritual and powerful Ministery it will work one way or other either it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hardens converts or condemns those that live 〈◊〉 the stroak thereof For observe we must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Word is but an Instrument in the hand of 〈◊〉 who dispenseth the same 〈◊〉 to his good 〈◊〉 and the counsel of his own Will working when and upon whom he will and what he will by 〈◊〉 The Sword in the hand of him that wields it may as easily killas defend another answerable to the affection of him that strikes therewith It is so with the Word which is the Sword of the Spirit It is the savor of life unto life but then and to those only to whom the Lord will bless the same and the savor of death unto death then and unto those when such a 〈◊〉 is denyed Such as be Ministers may hence see the Reason of that little success we find that little good we do in the Vineyard of the Lord Our Pains 〈◊〉 not our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not with the hearts of men not one 〈◊〉 levelled not a crooked piece 〈◊〉 not one poor Soul prepared for a Christ after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quarters years travelling in the work of the 〈◊〉 The time was Satan fell like lightning suddenly speedily when the Disciples of Christ as Sons of 〈◊〉 delivered the Gospel in the power and demonstration of the Spirit But now Satan stands up 〈◊〉 full strength takes up his stand maintains his 〈◊〉 in the hearts of men notwithstanding all that 〈◊〉 see done
by the most What is the 〈◊〉 God is as Merciful as ever his VVord and 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 as ever they were I need 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he Where is the Lord God of Elias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I must rather ask Where is the Spirit 〈◊〉 Tower of Elias We want Power and Spirit and then no wonder we do not nay upon these 〈◊〉 in reason we shall never prepare a people for the Lord. The Word of God which is the Sword of the Spirit is as sharp as ever it was but our hands 〈◊〉 weak our hearts are feeble we have no courage 〈◊〉 power 〈◊〉 follow the blow against the sturdy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of men We keep these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much about us condemned by the 〈◊〉 2 〈◊〉 4. 2. in the course of our Ministery 〈◊〉 we are to offend our friends to displease great ones to provoke the wicked and malicious fear we do lest their love should be lost their bounty and kindness taken away and removed or else hazard our own earthly comforts and contents Its pitty but the tongue of that Minister should cleave to the roof of his mouth who speaks any thing less than God requires of him for these base and by respects somtimes Ministers are afraid to speak to the hearts of men and ashamed to reprove them for those sins which they are not afraid or ashamed to do in the face of the world Neither do Ministers many times Convince so soundly as they ought nor gather in those Arguments which may make those 〈◊〉 undeniable and mens Consciences at a stand Again they want that holy spiritual affection which they should deliver Gods Word withal unto his people And this is the Sum of all Ministers do not deliver the Word with a heavenly hearty violent affection they do not speak out of the abundance of their hearts If they would speak against sin with a holy indignation it would make men stand in aw of sin they talk of it hourly and say It is not good to prophane Gods Name and his Sabboths and to live an ungodly life but they do not speak from 〈◊〉 hearts in this kind A sturdy Messenger if he come to a mans house to speak with him he will not be put off he will take no denial but he will speak with him if it be possible before he goes away But send a Child of a Message to a man if a Servant do but tell him His Master is not at leisure or that he may speak with him another time he will 〈◊〉 be put off and go away before he 〈◊〉 delivered his Message So it is with a Minister that 〈◊〉 his Office with a hearty affection For when a man speaks from his heart in this Case he will have no answer he will not be 〈◊〉 withal he will take no denial but will have that he came 〈◊〉 If a man should say he is not at leisure to 〈◊〉 with him or to hear him now he will speak with him another time he will not go away with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he will tell him I came to speak with your 〈◊〉 and I will speak with your hearts He will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the people Tell your hearts ye that love the world 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 and pleasures 〈◊〉 and my heart 〈◊〉 you did you know the good things that are in Christ 〈◊〉 did you but know what a happy thing it is to have assurance of Gods love you would never love 〈◊〉 nor delight in wick dness as you have done before 〈◊〉 no more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things of the world but for your 〈◊〉 The day is coming when the Heavens shall 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 and you shal 〈◊〉 the voyce o the 〈◊〉 saying A I se ye dead and come to judgement Where you shall hear that dreadful Sentence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all ye workers of 〈◊〉 I know 〈◊〉 not Matt. 7. 23. Oh this may be your case one day And we that are Ministers of God do mourn for you and tell your souls We must have Sorrow 〈◊〉 you we came for Hearts and must have Hearts before we go And this is the First Use shewing the Reason why the Ministers or God do so 〈◊〉 good It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plain and powerful Preaching 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 〈◊〉 Use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us the fearful estate and miserable Condition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that lived a long time under a plain and powerful Ministery and yet their hearts have not been 〈◊〉 and prepared for the Lord 〈◊〉 It is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Lord will never bestow any 〈◊〉 Good upon that Soul He that hath lived under a powerful Ministery many yeers and yet is not wrought upon thereby it cannot certainly be concluded but it is greatly to be suspected That the means of Gracewil never profit that man Look as it is with the Master Carpenter when he hath turned every piece of Timber and taken what he will for his turn he tels them that be under him Let this be hewed and that 〈◊〉 framed and made fit for the building Afterward 〈◊〉 finds one piece broken and another crackt and another knotty Why what saies he There is no squaring of these they are sit for nothing but for burning they are not fit for any place in the building Oh! take heed when Gods Ministers have been cutting and hewing now exhorting now perswading now cutting the heart with Reproof and yet finds here a crackt Heart and there a stubborn Soul that will not be squared by the Word 〈◊〉 than the Lord should say These will never be fitted and prepared for me they are fit for 〈◊〉 but the fire Oh! take heed of it for he that will not be fitted for Grace shall be made a 〈◊〉 in Hell for ever Therefore all you that have lived under a powerful Ministery and yet are not prepared go home and reason with your souls and plead with your own hearts and say Lord Why 〈◊〉 not I yet humbled and prepared Shall I thus be alwayes under the hacking and hewing of the Word and never be framed Such a man and such a man was stubborn and wicked and prophane and yet the Lord hath brought him home and he is become a broken hearted Christian What shall I think that am not 〈◊〉 and prepared for Christ by all the means that I have had Alas thou maiest justly suspect God never intends good to thy soul It is no absolute conclusion but it is a great suspition that those that have lived under a plain and powerful Ministery half a dozen yeers or longer and have got no good nor profited under the same I say It 's a shrewd suspicion that God will send 〈◊〉 down to Hell Therefore suspect thy own soul and say Lord will Exhortations never prevail Will Instructions never do me good Will 〈◊〉 and Reproofs 〈◊〉 strik my heart Why I have heard Sermons that would have 〈◊〉 the very stones I 〈◊〉 on that would have moved the eat I sate upon the very fire of Hell hath flashed in my face I have seen
good of any While life lasts and the Gospel is continued that is the particular Season and Period wherein the Lord expresseth his good pleasure to work graciously upon the Souls of His. Its in this Season and day of Salvation he performs his Promise For as the Lord may take what time he will so hath he made it known it is his Will to take this time and season when he purposeth to fasten upon the Soul of a sinner for his Spiritual good To omit the Two Former wholly the Two Latter Points we intend only to trade in and to entreat of To Begin then with the First The Work of God is altogether Free It proceeds meerly out of Gods favor and good will it s his acceptation not ours Unless he put forth that Almighty hand of his and take us unto his Grace it s not in our liberty nor ability to take hold of the offer of his Mercy or to reap any saving benefit therefrom Rev. 21. 6. To him that thirsts I will give of the water of life freely It s a gift and free also though one thirst never so earnestly desire it never so constantly endeavor to attain thereunto yet unless the Lord do more out of mercy than any can procure by any sufficiency or worth of his own he will gain nothing As it was in the Building of the Material Temple the laying of the bottom stone upon which it was founded and the adding of the top stone when it was finished and attained its perfection the whole multitude with one consent and one voice acknowledged the only Cause thereof Grace Grace Zech. 4. 7. Much more is it true in the rearing up and erecting of the Spiritual Frame in the Soul from the first entrance of it in Preparation till it come to be consummate in Glorification all comes from the Favor and Free Grace of God This Freeness of this Work appears in Three Particulars First Free it was for God whether he would provide any other Way and Means of Salvation whether he would appoint another Covenant when the first was broken and made void through Adams default The Lord was not bound to set up Adam again when by his carelesness and neglect he had mispent that stock of Grace he had bestowed upon him The Lord was not bound to Recover and Redeem Adam from the power of Sin and Death when through his own folly he had cast away himself and posterity In a word Free it was to the Father to 〈◊〉 this Covenant Free to Christ to Undertake it Free to the Holy Ghost to accomplish it God gave his Son Joh. 3. 16. Christ gave himself Tit. 2. 14. Both gave and sent the Holy Ghost as Commissioner from them both to be the finisher of this work Gal. 4. 6. And if wholly given then it must be wholly free As its Free for God to appoint so it depends upon his good pleasure to reveal and make known the means of Grace as seems best to his heavenly Wisdom why it rains upon one City and not upon another why the dew of heaven the Doctrine of his holy 〈◊〉 is sent to one people and not to another That he reared up a wall of Separation between Jew and Gentile Ephes. 2. 11. 14. That light is in Goshen and darkness in all the parts of Aegipt besides Exod. 10. 22. 23. That to the Jews were committed the Oracles of God Rom. 3. 1. But he dealt not so with other Nations neither have they not known his wayes Psal. 147. last Why Paul is sent for into Macedonia and forbidden to go into 〈◊〉 Acts 16. 6 7 8 9. The Apostles charged not to go into the way of the Gentiles ' Mat. 10. 5 6. not to enter into the Cities of Samaria but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel His own will is the Rule of all this and there is no other Reason to be rendered There were many Widdows in Israel when the 〈◊〉 were shut up three yeers and six months 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 great 〈◊〉 was through all the Land but 〈◊〉 of them was Elias sent save only to that one Woman a Widdow of Sarepta Luke 4. 25. 26. There was many Leapers in Israel in the time of Elizeus but none Clensed save only Naaman the Syrian In a word All these Blessings are Gods Own and may he not Do with his Own what he will Free Lastly in regard of the work of the Means that ever they prove profitable unto any or work 〈◊〉 in the hearts of any for their eternal welfare its only from Gods good pleasure to give good success to some which he denyes to others This is the ground which the Evangelist gives of this different Dispensation of a Blessing upon the same Means Mat. 13. compare 11. with 13 14. The Scribes and Pharisees in Hearing they hear and not understand in Seeing they see and not perceive that is They attend dayly and yet do not profit observe dayly and yet do not prosper in their endeavors their hearts waxt fat when others were humbled their ears made heavy when others were bored to entertain the truth And if the cause be enquired our Savior answers Verse 11. To you my Apostles it s given to know the Mysteries of the ' Kingdom but unto them it s not given It is beyond the compass of all inferior Causes that can be conceived That Paul breathing out threatning against the Church coming in open field in 〈◊〉 and professed Rebellion against Christ should have the Lord Jesus revealed to him and in him this I say is beyond the reach of any cause in Nature and therefore the Apostle points at a higher hand It pleased God saith the text to reveal his Son in me Gal. 1. 15. And then also when he opposed and fiercely persecuted his Son in his Members was there at this time any improvement of natural abilities or the remainder of the image left 〈◊〉 man after his fall was there at this time any 〈◊〉 trading with the Talents of Common Graces which should move the Lord in way of 〈◊〉 to give 〈◊〉 and spiritual Graces Was there any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fitness now in the Spirit of Said to 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are groundless dreams of men meerly cozened and 〈◊〉 with their own carnal devices Again That the great Doctors of the Law who were honored as Guides of others for their Parts and 〈◊〉 should despise the Counsel of God against themselves and the 〈◊〉 and Publicans people of most desparate and for 〈◊〉 courses should entertain the Baptists Doctrine and Gospel The resolution of all at last must come to this The 〈◊〉 of the Lord shall stand and 〈◊〉 do whatsoever he will Thither our Savior repairs and there 〈◊〉 rests I thank thee O 〈◊〉 Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the 〈◊〉 and prudent and 〈◊〉 revealed them unto 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Even so O Father for so it 〈◊〉 thee
Matth. 11. 25 26. The issue then is If it proceed from Gods free pleasure that Means are 〈◊〉 revealed blessed then is there a full freedom 〈◊〉 all and it must be so for these Reasons There is nothing man hath that can Purchase this Simon Magus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and its probable enough 〈◊〉 would nor have stuck at the price had the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 never so great Acts 8. 18 19. And when 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Holy Ghost was given through 〈◊〉 on of hands be offered them ' Money to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 But the Apostle Peter 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 Thy Money 〈◊〉 with thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou hast thought that the Gift of God may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Money 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 think such a thing impossible 〈◊〉 for ever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it Purchases are made by such things as carry some kind of proportionable worth to that which is to be Purchased But there is nothing that can be compared with wisdom and the Spirituall Grace in Christ Prov 3. 15. Much less can be accounted of an answerable Rate and value thereunto There is nothing a man can do of himself whereby he may procure and obtain this spiritual good Rom. 9. 16. It is not in him that Wills nor in him that Runs It is not said in him that goes carelesly about the work but it is not in him that improves the best of his abilitie and that with speed though he 〈◊〉 in this race but it is in God only that shews 〈◊〉 If thou shouldest mark O Lord what is done a miss who should abide it Psal. 103. 3. The best are so far from obtaining favor by any desert of their doings that it is well with them they are not consumed by his displeasure for the failing of their best actions There is no Promise made to any Natural man whereby he can challenge this at the hands of the Lord All men by nature are children of 〈◊〉 Eph. 2. 3. Heirs of perdition if they have their own place its Hell if they have no more but their own Portion Confusion and eternal 〈◊〉 is that they must look for if they have the fruit of their own tree the wayes of their own work it s nothing but wo and misery 〈◊〉 3. 11. All Promises are Yea and Amen in Christ 2 Cor. 1. 20. made and performed in him alone they that are out of Christ therefore what they have besides Hell is 〈◊〉 Mercy The Sum then is It man by nature have nothing to Purchase any Spiritual good can do nothing to deserve it have no Promise to challenge it it is freely out of Gods good pleasure that any 〈◊〉 of any share therein Here then is matter of Thanksgiving to all the 〈◊〉 of God who have been made partakers of so 〈◊〉 favor to wit Their 〈◊〉 should be filled with his praise and their 〈◊〉 with a 〈◊〉 admiration of this so 〈◊〉 a mercy so much undeserved and so 〈◊〉 bestowed notwithstanding The greater and more free the goodness of the Lord is the greater should our 〈◊〉 be in the receiving of it This made the Prophet stand amazed Who is a God like unto thee Micah 7. 18. Men will see somthing in us to move them and expect some good from us to perswade them to shew favor but who is like unto our God who shews mercy not because we can deserve it or have any right to challenge it not because we can please him but because mercy pleaseth him and he doth it only because he VVill now his VVill be done and blessed he his glorious Name for ever Go thy way then in secret thou that hast found this acceptation from the Lord in sincerity of Soul present thy self as in his presence and say Good Lord Why is it How comes it That since many that have lived 〈◊〉 the same Place dwelt in the same Family sare in the same Seat and heard the same Word are yet in the Gall of Bitterness in the Bonds of Iniquity yet in the Kingdom of Darkness under the Power of their Sins and like to perish for them for ever Lord Lord VVhy are mine eyes enlightned to know the things belonging to my peace VVhy my heart touched with any saving remorse for my Sins That I should have any desires after thee any longings for thee Oh its Grace it s thy Free Grace Otherwise I had never been made partaker of any Spiritual good nay I had never known it Father VVhat am I that thou shouldest be thus mindful of me that thou shouldest thus remember me yea mindful of me when I was not mindful of my self remembrest me when I had forgotten thy glory my own soul and mine own everlasting good Was not I as blind as ever any and knew not as careless as ever any and respected not yea stubborn and stout hearted gainsaid I not yea rejected thy compassions so often tendered in the Ministery of the Word and forced upon me by those heart-breaking Exhortations of thy faithful Ministers to reveal these Spiritual good things when out of negligence I did not know them yea then to press them upon my Conscience and by the effectual work of thy Spirit then to prevail with my heart when at first I did oppose and cast them behind my back let me for ever return all praise to thy Majesty out of whose free mercy it is that I have been made partaker of any saving work for the good of my Soul Yea I thank thee Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast revealed these things to babes and sucklings and bid them from the wise and prudent That the Learned of the world are befooled and thou hast taught me a poor ignorant silly wretch That many noble and honorable are cashiered and thou hast accepted of a base worm plucked me out of a smoaky Cottage out of a Corner of Hell to receive me into the Kingdom of thy Christ to bear me in thy own bosom here wildering up and down in this valley of tears that thou maiest glorifie me with thy self when all tears shal be wiped away from mine eyes Oh! it is thy Free thy Free Mercy let my Soul for ever bless thee and walk worthy of thee and it that I may serve thee with a good and a glad and a free heart as I have received freely from thine own Hand whatsoever either I have or Hope for Here is also ground of great Encouragement to all distressed and disconsolate 〈◊〉 who labor under the weight of the guilt of their many sins and sight of their own unworthiness The right Consideration of the former truths may be as a spiritual Cordial whereby their hearts may be quickned to seek unto the Lord as their hopes sustained to expect that succour and supply which may be most seasonable for their Relief Because as there is no worth on our parts that can move the Lord so there is no vileness so great that can hinder him from doing what good he
intends to such undeserving ones as we be His own good will being the only 〈◊〉 of any saving work he is pleased to put forth upon the hearts of those who appertain to the Election of Grace This was that which the Lord proclaims and which he urges upon all drooping and discouraged Spirits to make them put on more cheerfully in the pursuit of life and happiness 〈◊〉 55. 1. Oh every one that thirsteth come to the waters and he 〈◊〉 hath no money come buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price It s very remarkable how the Spirit of God labors to remove that which will and most usually doth hinder the fainting hearts of dismaied sinners in their endeavor after Mercy They fondly conceit they must come with their cost they must bring some Spiritual abilities and 〈◊〉 with them unless they have that money they are like to miss of their market they shall not be able to purchase Gods acceptance the Graces and Comforts of his Spirit signified by Wine and Milk The Lord therefore that he might wholly dath these dreams and take off these 〈◊〉 thoughts he puts it beyond all Question and Doubt by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the contrary He that hath no money that is No Spiritual 〈◊〉 or worth let him buy question it not yea I speak it seriously and mind what I say therefore I say again without money doubt it not yea I 〈◊〉 as I say openly and plainly without money or money worth no in 〈◊〉 no weakness no unworthiness shall hinder be not needlesly suspicious I intend not to sell my Graces and Comforts but to bestow them freely upon such who have an open hand to take them and an empty heart to carry them away This was the ground of Encouragement whereby the Prophet emboldned those rebellious Jews to take words and resolution also to themselves to press in with some hope to speed with the Lord Hos. 14. 2 3. Take unto 〈◊〉 words and say Receive us graciously But the Lord might have replyed You have no worth in your selves you deserve no favor therefore it s added with thee the Fatherless find mercy As if 〈◊〉 should have said Thou doest not vouchsafe mercy to sinners because of any excellency they have any friends they can make any abilities they can bring but the helpless friendless fatherless orphane souls such as be destitute of all succour no eye to pitty no friend to provide no strength to support themselves such find mercy with thee such we are therefore Lord shew us mercy If the Dole or Alms was to be bought and purchased then the 〈◊〉 who had most and needed least would 〈◊〉 be possessors of it but because its only out of the 〈◊〉 to bestow it freely he that 's poor hath never a whit the less but the more hope to receive it so it is here in the Dole of Grace when 〈◊〉 thou considerest the infinite baseness of thy heart on the one side the incomprehensible worth of mercy on the other and withal conceivest an utter impossibility ever to attain it ever to expect it settle this Conclusion in thy heart as matter of marvelous Encouragement yet mercy is free others have received it and why not I Lord If the multitude of thine 〈◊〉 plead against thee if Satan be busie to discourage thine heart and drive thee to despair Why dost thou Canst thou Expect any kindness from the Lord since thy frailties so many thy rebellions so great against the offer of his mercy and the work of his Grace How utterly unable 〈◊〉 thou to do any thing to procure any Spiritual good How unfit to receive it And is it not a folly than to hope for it Thou hast hence to Reply Be it I am as base as can be imagined yet my 〈◊〉 cannot hinder the work of Gods Love for it s altogether Free True I have nothing to purchase it Abraham had not I can do nothing to deserve it David could not I have no right to challenge it at the hands of the Lord nor yet had Paul any thing to plead for him in the like case and yet all these were made partakers of mercy and why not I Lord Put in for thy particular and plead for thy self and say Blessed Lord thy mercy is not lessened thy wisdom decayed thy arm shortned what thou didst freely for Abraham an Idolater 〈◊〉 a Rebel for Paul a Persecutor do for my poor 〈◊〉 also my vileness cannot hinder the freeness of thy Compassions If it be here Replyed That this affords small ground of Comfort for if the Dispensation of Grace depend upon Gods Free Will he may fail us as well as help us he may deny it as well as give it The Answer is He may give it as well as deny it and that 's Argument enough to sustain our hopes and to quicken our endeavors put it then to the adventure Thus the Prophet Joel pressed the Israelites to 〈◊〉 to God for the removal of a Judgement and the Pardon of their Sins upon this very possibility Rent your hearts and not your garments and turn unto the Lord who knows if he will return and leave a blessing behind him Joel 2. 13 14. Thus the 〈◊〉 Ninivites provoke themselves to importune the God of heaven for the with-holding of the destruction threatned Let us cry mightily unto God who can tell if he will turn and repent Jonah 3. 8 9. When then thy Spirit sinks under the unsupportable pressure of thy sins and the expectation of the righteous Judgements deserved thereby here is that which will ad Comfort and Encouragement to look upward to the Lord for refreshing Who knows but God may who can tell but God will yet shew mercy therefore I will yet hope because no man can tell but I may at last be made partaker thereof Lastly Those who want and seek for mercy from the Lord in the use of the means which he hath appointed they are to be exhorted from the former truth to arm themselves with patience to stay Gods time and to 〈◊〉 his pleasure if it seem good to his Majesty to with-hold this Favour or delay the work of his Grace Beggars must not be chusers we must not be Carvers of Gods kindness it s a Free Gift and therefore as he may give what he will so he may give it when it seems most fit to himself Just cause we have to wait no reason at all to murmure against him Hast thou then endeavored after this work of Grace and canst not attain it Endeavor still Hast thou begged it and yet findest not thy desires answered Crave still with perseverance It s good to hope and to wait also for the Salvation of the Lord Lam. 3. 26. both must go together to wait without hope is uncomfortable and to hope without patience is unprofitable We know 〈◊〉 what time God will take it is our duty and will be our wisdom and comfort to
attend upon him at all 〈◊〉 Say not then out of the shortness of thy spirit I have come often begged much and 〈◊〉 long at the gate of grace I find not the work yet done my heart not yet throughly humbled for my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 refreshed with the assurance of Gods Favor Shall I wait any longer Oh fearful Pride Is it come to this If you be in such haste you may go to Hell time enough What not wait See who will have the worst of it God can better keep his Compassions than thou canst want them And as its fit he should so its certain he will make thee to know thou must wait nay bless his Name that you may wait for his mercy The 〈◊〉 of all men that 〈◊〉 breathed have done it So David Min eyes fail with looking for thy Salvation saying O when wilt thou comfort 〈◊〉 Psal. 119. 82. 123 It s enough we may beg the Grace of God as a 〈◊〉 not command it as a Debt Labor we then to 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 those proud and impatient distemper whereby we repine and quarrel at the 〈◊〉 on of Gods dealings with us if he answers 〈◊〉 Expectation to the full Others seek and the 〈◊〉 hath bestowed and they have received a great 〈◊〉 sure of Grace with little labor and in a short 〈◊〉 When we have labored long and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and yet the Lord answers not our 〈◊〉 nor 〈◊〉 us that Spiritual Good we need Learn we now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and controul those boystrous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spirits with that of the Apostle Who art 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that reasonest against God What if 〈◊〉 will not Rom. 9. 20 21 22. What if he will 〈◊〉 ver 〈◊〉 our hearts never pacifie our Conscience pardon our sins save our Souls It is 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he may do what he will and therefore he doth us no wrong what ever he does Fit then it is we should stay his times who hath all times especially of Grace and Life in his own hands While this life lasts and the Gospel is continued that is the particular Season and Period wherein the Lord expresseth his good pleasure to work graciously upon the 〈◊〉 of His. The time of Grace and day of Salvation is here discovered in the Two Periods of it which make up the parts of the Doctrine 1 Grace is only to be gained in this life 2 While the means of Salvation are continued that 's the Season which the Lord usually takes to work upon the Souls of those 〈◊〉 belong to him we shall severally open and prove both 〈◊〉 and after make joynt Application of them Preparation and Conversion of the Soul must be made in this life Seek ye the Lord while he may be found Isaiah 55. 6. The time of our living is one of Gods whiles the time of finding Grace and Mercy if ever we come to share therein The 〈◊〉 of Jacobs Ladder is here on Earth though the top of 〈◊〉 unto Heaven The Lord must dwell with 〈◊〉 here in an humble and contrite heart Isaiah 57. 15. 〈◊〉 else we shall never dwell with him in that high and holy place whither Christ is gone to prepare a mansion for us Now is the time of 〈◊〉 and gaining Grace in the other world we shall enjoy the fruit and sweet of it here we must get the conquest if we think to wear the Crown in another world Reasons are Two Because after the parting of the Soul from the body and the dissolution of the whole Gods peremptory Sentence is passed and the final doom of the Soul is determined a Sentence never to be revoked a judgement never to be repealed and therefore the sinner becomes irrevokably either miserable or happy Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed for all men once to die and after death comes judgement Death and Judgement are coupled immediately one to another the end of the one is the entrance of the other as Death leaves us so Judgement will find us Though the full and compleate execution of the Sentence is deferred until the great day of accounts yet condemnation seizeth upon each part as soon as they be severed the one from the other if they do deserve The body is imprisoned in the dungeon of the grave and the Soul of him 〈◊〉 is wicked is taken instantly and dragged by the Devils into torment Luke 12. 20. This night shall they fetch away 〈◊〉 Soul With the Saints contrariwise Their bodies are laid in the Grave as in a bed of Down perfumed with the precious Death and Burial of the Body of Christ the ashes thereof carefully preserved yea loved by the Lord So the Apostle Rom. 8. last I am perswaded that neither life nor death is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus So that the Lord loves the very dust of the bodies of his Saints in the Grave and receives their Souls to himself in glory as soon as Body and Soul are parted one from another Luke 16. 22. The Soul of Lazarus was by the Angels carried into Abrahams bosome For at the great day of accounts we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether good or 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 5. 10. The Sentence we see shall not 〈◊〉 according to that men do in Purgatoty as the Papists dream but according to that only which they did while they had Being and Breathing in this Natural life The Condition of a man after this life is 〈◊〉 For as the Godly after this life ended receive perfect Sanctification and so become wholly 〈◊〉 of the Spirit of God and thereby fully and unchangeably confirmed in the state of Glory never more to be pestered or annoyed with the presence of Sin or Misery Rom. 8. 23. Here in this world we 〈◊〉 but the first fruits of the Spirit but there 〈◊〉 then the full Harvest So contrarily the Wicked after Death are 〈◊〉 delivered up to the tyranny and authority os 〈◊〉 Corruptions and there settled and that 〈◊〉 in a state of rebellion and become utterly 〈◊〉 of receiving any spiritual Grace or 〈◊〉 any spiritual Good but sink down in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without hope of either For those 〈◊〉 Graces whereby the Lord in the time of life 〈◊〉 their distempers and those outward 〈◊〉 Word and Sacraments wholsome Laws and 〈◊〉 Counsels and Examples which formerly 〈◊〉 them from many notorious outrages are now 〈◊〉 away Now the Lord plucks up the Hedge 〈◊〉 pulls down the VVall takes away all the 〈◊〉 Gifts of his Grace vouchsafes not one 〈◊〉 of his Spirit to strive with the Sinner any more 〈◊〉 one check of Conscience to aw him not the least 〈◊〉 of any Good to affect him any more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the reins in the neck of the Rebel and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 loose upon him to execute the fulness of the fierceness of his malice to the uttermost 〈◊〉 his rage was consined before he could
gather the 〈◊〉 whilest it is fresh while time and strength 〈◊〉 take the pleasures of the world and enjoy the 〈◊〉 of my heart not now to sit moping in a 〈◊〉 go drooping and sorrowing for my sins when 〈◊〉 hair grows gray and decrepit age comes on 〈◊〉 yeers hence when my Sun grows neer the setting 〈◊〉 Life begins to decline and my strength to decay 〈◊〉 shall than have leisure to talk of holiness to turn 〈◊〉 a new leaf and betake my self to my Beads and 〈◊〉 of Grace in the mean time these jolly 〈◊〉 speak unto Preparation and Humiliation as 〈◊〉 somtimes to Paul Go your way for this 〈◊〉 and when we have a convenient time we will 〈◊〉 for you Answ. Thou fool this night may thy soul be 〈◊〉 from thee Luke 12. 20. How knowest thou but the Lord may pluck thee out of the land of the living and send thee packing down to thy own place give thee thy Portion with Unbeleevers and Despisers of his Grace and then all thy thoughts perish thy time is past and Repentance too late when the Pit hath shut her mouth upon thee how fond to think to have leisure to Repent when thou wilt not have time to Live 2 Be it the day of thy Life continue yet the day of Salvation may be ended for this is but a minute or moment of that span of time a point or 〈◊〉 of that opportunity If the Lord remove his 〈◊〉 take away the light of his Word dam up the fountain of Grace and stop the well-springs of Salvation thou mayest perish for thirst and live to 〈◊〉 the folly of the neglect of Means when happily thou shalt not know where they be nor yet have liberty and ability to enjoy them if thou knewest while therefore the day of our life and the day 〈◊〉 Salvation the Mart of Mercy lasts both which are but short and uncertain let us be watchful to observe and careful to take all advantages to buy the chiefest and best Commodities Humiliation and Faith Especially considering it may be any 〈◊〉 particular day as our Savior to Jerusalem Oh that thou hadst known at least in this thy day Luke 19. 42. When the Word is mighty and the Spirit speaks powerfully unto thy soul when the undeniable evidence of the Truth convicteth thy judgement and the keen threatnings thereof cuts and lanceth thy corrupt Conscience to the Core and the Lord raps at the door of thy heart by the hammer of the law Oh now follow those motions and cherish them make much of a little and suffer the blessed Ordinance of God to have its full blow upon thy Soul go aside and consider seriously with thy self Certainly the Lord came home this day unto my heart touched me to the quick and met with my particular Corruptions withstood me to my face and by the authority of his Truth like the naked Sword in the hand of the Angel stopped me in my Course and bad me back again assuredly this is my part a Portion carved out in special 〈◊〉 my Soul this 〈◊〉 is my day of Salvation in which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to work the good work of his grace 〈◊〉 me True it may be so and for ought that thou 〈◊〉 I or any under heaven know it is so Remember 〈◊〉 thou hadst a fair offer and take heed how 〈◊〉 dost refuse it lest thou never have the like 〈◊〉 Break therefore through all Oppositions cast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 listen to no alurements to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 while 〈◊〉 is called to day harden not thy 〈◊〉 And as Paul to his Company Acts 〈◊〉 thou never to see their faces more I know as one of the 〈◊〉 brings in his sins our old 〈◊〉 like old 〈◊〉 will threap kindness from 〈◊〉 plead prescription and continuance we have 〈◊〉 long taken much sweet Counsel together 〈◊〉 much delight and content Give us warning 〈◊〉 before you give us a discharge let us 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 for the while and hereafter let 〈◊〉 think of amendment Thus the same Father when 〈◊〉 had often resolved to renounce his bosom 〈◊〉 and the beloved lusts of the flesh still that sounded in his ears To morrow to morrow as the burden of Satans song To morrow soon enough hereafter time enough thus while he was startling and 〈◊〉 by the terrors of his Conscience he lulled him and rocked him a sleep again by delayes 〈◊〉 at last in a holy kind of violence and indignation of heart breaks through all demurs nomore delayes no longer but cryes out Why not to day why not to day Lord and from that day following God gave him victory Go thy wayes and do thou likewise stand not haggeling and dallying with the Almighty set down a resolution like the Laws of the Meads and Persians never to be revoked that thou wilt from this 〈◊〉 and ever hereafter wait upon the 〈◊〉 of grace and give way to the work therof Dispute no more but determine thus with thy self Why yet am I here in the land of the Living yet 〈◊〉 this side the bottomless pit the Lord still tenders the offers of Salvation strives still with this sturdy heart of mine I know not how soon I may be taken from the Means or the Means from me or the Blessing of the Lord from us both while therefore the spirit speaks to my Soul Seek thou my face give me a heart to eccho back again Thy face Lord will I seek this day After all this the heart still sings loath to depart and the deluded finner lingers after his lust as Lot after Sodom and therefore puts in a new Plea on this manner Imagine the worst should I put off this fair and kind Call of the Lord Yet since it is in my power to entertain it hereafter there is not so much danger though I now refuse it Answ. Be it granted Thy life might be prolonged the words of the text do most apparantly dash this presumptuous conceit It s the Season of Gods acceptation It s not in thy power but depends meerly upon his good Will We are not the Patrons of the means of Grace much less of their work it is not in our Gift the Sending and Blessing of both issues only from the good pleasure of the Almighty prolong not then put not off the time deny not Gods gracious offer lest thou never have offer again he that now holds out the golden Scepter of Mercy to receive thee hath an Iron rod wherwith he can 〈◊〉 thee to nothing and break thee in pieces like a Potters vessel He that hath the Keyes of David and now sets open the gate of Salvation he can shut it and no man shall open it any more and when thou hast stayed too long and comest too late thou mayest knock hard with the foolish Virgin and cry aloud with Esau and yet receive neither Blessing nor Birthright and its just with God it should be 〈◊〉 that the Word which thou hast dispised should
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dead or killing Letter and never work 〈◊〉 the motions of his Spirit which thou hast 〈◊〉 should never stir more with thee Thus Wisdom threatneth the scorners of her Counsel Prov. 1. 24. Because I have called and they resused I 〈◊〉 stretched out my hand and no man regarded 〈◊〉 they shall call but I will not answer they 〈◊〉 seek me early but they shall not find me Nay it may be thou shalt not only not find what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that with some eagerness which is 〈◊〉 state miserable enough but shalt not have a heart 〈◊〉 much as once to seek for Mercy as many 〈◊〉 have and Hypocrites do and this is a 〈◊〉 next to the damned in Hell unconceivably 〈◊〉 This was Jerusalems case just as the Lord 〈◊〉 it Oh that thou hadst known at least in 〈◊〉 thy Day the things belonging to thy peace but 〈◊〉 they are hid from thine eyes Luke 19. 42. Christ 〈◊〉 now weeping over the City preaching his farewel 〈◊〉 amongst them yea now come to die amongst them the presence of the Means makes the Plague more remarkable when through Gods just judgment for their contempt of the truth they have eyes but they are made dim and see not they have ears but 〈◊〉 heavy and hear not and hearts made hard even 〈◊〉 the blessed Ministery of the Gospel and so they understand not they have all before their eyes and 〈◊〉 all hid from their eyes The like Curse the Lord usually pours out upon the hellish despisers of the Doctrine of Grace deliver them up to blind minds and seared Consciences reprobate senses that they who shut their eyes against the power of Gods Ordinances should never see nor be 〈◊〉 of either that or their own misery which is the 〈◊〉 misery of all Yet all this will not content there is one cavil which the carnal heart Objects and its most desperate Be it God will 〈◊〉 vouchsafe Means nor Work by them nor I receive any benefit therefrom let me live as I list now let me shift as I can hereafter if I loose all the loss is not great Answ. What! 〈◊〉 great God forbid that such a Thought should be in any 〈◊〉 Heart such a Word come out of any mans Mouth It s no less than Salvation it self Its 〈◊〉 day of salvation saith the text 〈◊〉 loss not to be valued not to be recovered will never can 〈◊〉 be repaired again yea I appeal to thy own Conscience and 〈◊〉 thy self in cold blood be thy own judge Think but seriously 〈◊〉 the Rivers of pleasure which are at Gods right hand of 〈◊〉 Kingdom 〈◊〉 undefiled and that sadeth not away 〈◊〉 and consider of that Crown of Glory that exceeding 〈◊〉 weight of glory reserved in the heavens and weigh but with 〈◊〉 self in thy most retired thoughts the 〈◊〉 Mercy of a God the 〈◊〉 Redemption of a Christ the Comforts of a Spirit 〈◊〉 glorious imagine you heard that Sentence passed Come ye Blessed 〈◊〉 the Kingdom possess the Crown enjoy 〈◊〉 Pleasures and if thou hast but the heart of a man let it Answer Canst thou lose all these and account the loss little and yet if the day of Grace be gone once all these go too neglect that now and never think to enjoy these An Argument able to stay any in the most eager pursuit 〈◊〉 these lying vanities and to cause him to 〈◊〉 and steer his course another way As Elisha said Is this a time to take 〈◊〉 So when 〈◊〉 consider all Opportunities and Means and Mercies say Is this a time to follow the World and the Profits thereof to 〈◊〉 our selves with sinful Delights and forsake Christ and his Gospel and Salvation and all Me thinks Nature would 〈◊〉 Reason would Perswade It is a Day of Salvation our Lives 〈◊〉 Hopes our Comforts our Salvation and All depend upon 〈◊〉 It is the time that God hath bestowed for this end therefore 〈◊〉 sure to improve this time so as we may attain this end In 〈◊〉 word It is a Day therefore a Season and but a Day 〈◊〉 short a Day of Gods Accepting and a Day of Salvation The Season so Fit the Time so Short and the Purchase so Great what remains then but we should improve this Time to our utmost that we may Receive that Spiritual Good from the Lord in it that he is willing to bestow and we stand in 〈◊〉 of for our Comfort here and our everlasting welfare in another World FINIS BOOK V. MATTH 20. 5 6 7. Again he went out about the sixt and ninth hour and did likewise And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle and saith unto them why stand ye all the day idle He saith unto them Go also into the Vineyard and whatsoever is right that ye shall receive WE have done with the Season of Salvation in regard of the means consider we now the time which the Lord takes in regard of the Parties upon whom it is wrought who do yet enjoy their lives and the means of Grace Amongst these the dispensation of the Lord is divers dealing as it seems best to his Heavenly Wisdom some he calls and converts in their yonger some in their older but most usual it is to bring home sinners to himself in their riper age For the scanning of this Point we have made choyce of this Parable of the Vineyard which presents to us four things at the sirst view 1 The 〈◊〉 of the Vineyard who owed it 2 The 〈◊〉 who drest it 3 The 〈◊〉 when they were hired 4 The Reward here promised and given for their 〈◊〉 Under the Letter or which words this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be conceived The 〈◊〉 is the Church Isai. 5. 7. The Master and Housholder is the Lord Christ The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are his redeemed ones whom he cals by the effectual operation of his blessed Spirit in the 〈◊〉 of his Word to be painful and fruitful in good works as in Christ they are created unto and 〈◊〉 or dained they should walk in The diversity of the time of their hiring shews the difference of the times wherein they are converted some sooner and some later and for the right and ready 〈◊〉 of this Circumstance let it be remembred that it was the received manner amongst the Jews to divide their Nights into four Watches and their Daies 〈◊〉 of twelve hours into four Stations or Portions designing three hours to each part so 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 was the Third hour from 〈◊〉 to twelve the Sixt hour from twelve to three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hour from thence to five the Eleventh 〈◊〉 one hour before the ending of the day To apply The Day is as it were our Life God 〈◊〉 some of his Servants in the morning of their youth some at mid-day in their middle age some at the eleventh hour in their aged and declining time when their Sun is neer setting and they drawing on to the end
Cor. 11. 28. than he that had 〈◊〉 havock of them Acts 9. Who more fit to be 〈◊〉 Messenger of Peace and to breath out glad tidings 〈◊〉 Salvation to fainting souls than he who had 〈◊〉 out threatnings against them Acts 9. 1. Who more 〈◊〉 to pity the Saints than he who cut of his madness had persecuted them and that to the death before Acts 26. 11. But in the crazy and decayed estate of fainting Age when the whol frame begins to shake and go 〈◊〉 ruine how unable are we to perform the meanest service how 〈◊〉 to be imployed in works of greatest weight The members of a man converted are called Weapons of Holiness and Servants of Righteousness Rom. 6. 19. but doting heads palsie hands feeble knees faultring tongues are but broken weapons and lame Servants utterly unworthy to be used in the fighting of Gods Battels or performance of his Service how shall those hands which hang down for faintness be able to work the works of God how shall the feet that cannot stir walk in his waies or that tongue tell of his praise that cleaves unto the 〈◊〉 of the mouth and cannot talk two ready words To gripe the Sum of the Point in short If Nature be now most pliable to be prepared to receive Grace corruption not now so 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 it our abilities most able to improve it then is it a reasonable Truth that the God of Wisdom though he call some at any Age yet he should Convert most at this Age. Learn we hence to take out a Lesson of Sobriety not to be too rash and Censorious touching the final estate of any in this life since it is never too 〈◊〉 for the Lord to call though at the Eleventh hour It 's the Apostles Counsel Judg nothing before the time that is Judg nothing that is secret and uncertain determine not of any mans final condition because the time is not yet come this life is a time of mercy to some sooner to some later After death comes Judgment when God shall lay open the secrets and 〈◊〉 counsels of the heart then judg and spare not but 〈◊〉 then refer al unto the Lord and therfore if the question be touching the final estate of others we should answer with modesty as the Prophet did to the Lord in another case Ezek. 37. 2 3. When 〈◊〉 Lord had shewed him a field full of dead bones 〈◊〉 dry he asked him Son of man shall these dead bone live the Prophet answers Lord thou knowest it rests in thine own wil to work this so great a work and in thine own Counsel to determine it So 〈◊〉 the demand be Shall this gray headed sinner 〈◊〉 come to Grace he that hath been an old Standard-bearer in the Camp of the Devil shal he ever 〈◊〉 a faithful Soldier to the Lord Christ can this seared Conscience ever be made sensible of its sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The answer of the Prophet will 〈◊〉 us Lord thou only knowest It 's not for us to judg Secret things belong unto the Lord. For 〈◊〉 to pry into the Ark of his privy and concealed Counsels we cannot do it without desperate pride and apparent danger Thus far indeed we may go without any breach of Charity and the Word will 〈◊〉 us sufficient warrant to wit Observing the lives 〈◊〉 men Of some of some I say we may conclude and that certainly that as yet they are in the state of Nature in a miserable and damnable condition Object If it be replyed Doth any man know that heart Who knows what is in man but the spirit of man 1 Cor. 2. 11. Answ. Can the spirit of a man pry into every corner of his Conscience and know his own condition After he hath told what he knows I may know it as well as himself and somtimes better Thus the Practice of a man discovers his Spirit A rotten Conversation when the constant tenure and frame of a mans course is corrupt and 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 to all the world who have wisdom to 〈◊〉 there is a refuse and an 〈◊〉 disposition within The fool saies the wise man Eccles. 10. 3. 〈◊〉 to every one as he 〈◊〉 by the way that he is a fool After the 〈◊〉 hath felt the Pulse and heard 〈◊〉 complaint of the Patient what 's the pain and 〈◊〉 the part affected how the fits and returns of 〈◊〉 distemper takes him he knows the disease far 〈◊〉 than the man that feels it it may be it's 〈◊〉 stone in the Reins the inflamation of the Liver Consumption of the Lungs the parts are within and 〈◊〉 cause of the Disease also but it discovers it self 〈◊〉 that undoubtedly many times by Symptomes 〈◊〉 thus it is with the sickness of the Body it is so 〈◊〉 the distempers of the soul the Practice of a 〈◊〉 is as the Pulse if that be commonly uneven 〈◊〉 and irreligious it argues it 's not the fit of a 〈◊〉 but even the very frame and constitution 〈◊〉 a corrupt and irreligious heart When a mans 〈◊〉 carriage and communication leaves a noysom 〈◊〉 and scent and 〈◊〉 of prophaness behind 〈◊〉 it evidently proclaims to any who have but 〈◊〉 Wisdom and Grace that these dead works 〈◊〉 from a rotten carkass of a Body of death 〈◊〉 it's our Saviors direction and conclusion he 〈◊〉 as never failing Matth. 7. 16. 20. By their 〈◊〉 you shall know them An evil tree cannot 〈◊〉 forth good fruits and a good tree cannot 〈◊〉 forth evil fruits and therefore he doubles the 〈◊〉 as that which is undeniable by their 〈◊〉 you shall know them The holy Apostle is 〈◊〉 peremptory 1 John 3. 10. In this are the children of God known and the children of the Devil 〈◊〉 doth not righteousness is not of God and 〈◊〉 that loveth not his Brother Where there be Three Particulars suit the Point in hand 1 There are but two sorts of men in the World 〈◊〉 Children of God and the children of the Devil 2 These may be known 3 He that is a hater of the Saints and a worker of iniquity hath the Brand-mark of a child of the Devil by which he may be discerned It is not then a breach of Charity to judg the tree by the fruits the 〈◊〉 by the Symptomes yea it was folly and little less than madness to do other As the Word 〈◊〉 I may judg and so should But to 〈◊〉 the Lord out of the Throne of Judgment to sit upon the life and death of mens souls to set down mens peremptory doom further than the Word warrants as though we had been admitted into Gods secrets and seen the Books of Reprobation and Election drawn this is hellish impiety and presumption we may boldly say the tree is not a Vine that brings forth Thorns nor that a Fig-tree that beareth Thistles he who hath a naughty life cannot have a good heart He who serves ' Mammon cannot serve God Mat. 6. 24. He who walks after the lusts of the flesh
is going to Heaven every man gives him a lift when he is sick the Prayers go all the Town over for him Lord comfort him saies one he hath often done it to me Lord strengthen him saies another he hath often strengthened me I had almost said that a man shall encrease in Glory for the Prayers of Gods Servants here but that they do not pray for the dead But this is certain A man hath counselled and prayed for such an one he dies and goes to Heaven it doth not work till afterward then the Servant or the Child remembers and they pray and bless God for him and his Glory is augmented by it even as the torments of the damned are encreased by the fruits of their ill examples after they are dead So 〈◊〉 as ever you desire to do good to your selves and others to provide for your own Comfort at Death and for your Eternal Glory in Heaven to begin betimes for the carrying on of the Work of the Lord in your own Souls BOOK VI. REVEL 3. 17. Because thou sayest I am rich and encreased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched miserable poor blind and naked THE General Nature of Preparation hath been opened 〈◊〉 and those common Circumstances that were of special consideration have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the freeness of the Work and the fitness of the Time that the Lord is pleased to take to bring the 〈◊〉 of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that Spiritual good that was provided and stored up for them in the Lord Jesus We are now to enquire about the Main and Substantial Parts of this so great a Work And these are Two 1 The Dispensation of this Work as it comes from God 2 The Frame and Disposition which is wrought in the Soul thereby For this Work of Preparation being a Transient Work as it proceeds from God i. e. a work which so passeth from God unto the Creature as the proper subject about which it is exercised as that it leaves some real impression some alteration and change in the Creature and therefore it implies necessarily as the 〈◊〉 who 〈◊〉 prepare and who are prepared so also the manner of the working of the one who doth it and the disposition of the other who doth 〈◊〉 the impression thereof And hence in these Two the whol Nature of Preparation is taken up as the Nature of the whol is fully comprehended in the Parts The manner of Gods Dispensation in this may thus be conceived and described It 's that whereby the soul setled in the security of its sinful condition and wholly unwilling to be severed from it is by 〈◊〉 holy kind of violence driven there 〈◊〉 and drawn unto Christ by God the 〈◊〉 Where we may attend these Particulars 1 The Soul Naturally is setled in a sinful security or is dead asleep in the security of a sinful condition 2 It 's unwilling to be severed therefrom it 's death to part with its distemper it 's against the 〈◊〉 and the heart to have its corruption plucked away from it to be awakened out of this sleep 3 That with a holy kind of violence it 's driven out of this condition and drawn unto Christ by the hand of the Father We shall pursue these Particulars in the order propounded and briefly handle the two first only to make way to a cleer discovery and right understanding of the last Point For the two first being apprehended in the full breadth of them the necessity and mysterious depth of Gods Dispensation in the last will appear with greater Evidence and be more easily conceived and assented unto with greater readiness For the ground of the first Point we have chosen the words of this Text Rev. 3. 17. where we have the divers nay the contrary judgment of the Lord and the Church of Laodicea touching their spiritual estate and condition They fate down well apayed in the apprehension nay the admiration of their own happiness and professed they had as much as they needed and were as good as they desired to be When as the Lord who knew better and could judg better of their condition passeth a peremptory sentence to the contrary that they were wretched poor and blind and naked they wanted not either wretchedness or misery but wanted sence of either and that was the reason they were secure under both Here then we see the guise of a graceless heart of one 〈◊〉 his Natural estate before the Lord set upon the soul They need nothing in their own apprehension though indeed they have nothing they see no evil nor danger towards them though they be compassed and beset on every side with sins and plagues Men naturally are most secure in their sins when they are most under the power and plague of them see how well apaid they sit down in the present frame of their hearts for it 's spiritually meant as appears by the opposition in the counsel which is administred in the following verse I counsel thee to buy of 〈◊〉 Eye-salve that thou mayest see white Rayment and be zealous and repent but I say see how they please themselves in this present condition if all men were as well contented with them as they are with themselves they would be no better and they conceive they should be no other they neither need 〈◊〉 should alter their condition nor yet be disquieted with what it is it 's as good as they would have it This is the meaning of the Parable When the strong man keeps the house all is in peace Luke 11. 〈◊〉 As long as Satan hath the world at will doth all and disposeth of all according to his own mind there is no opposition and so no distraction nor trouble wicked men go as they are led so the Apostles speaking of the Corinths in 〈◊〉 Natural condition 1 Cor. 12. 2. all go one way and all is at 〈◊〉 they conceit their estates as safe as any other 〈◊〉 therfore it 's needless 〈◊〉 disquiet themselves so they who lifted themselves against Moses and Aaron and concluded their penny as good silver as theirs 〈◊〉 16. 3. Are not all the 〈◊〉 of the Lord 〈◊〉 you take too much upon you They imagine it 's the pride and singularity of some men who require more strictness and a higher strain of Holiness 〈◊〉 is needful that they may be 〈◊〉 more than ordinary and so draw the eyes of men toward them 〈◊〉 so raise a greater account of them than they do 〈◊〉 or else it is the simplicity and feebleness of 〈◊〉 who having some mens persons in admiration 〈◊〉 easie to beleeve more than they should or 〈◊〉 a greater excellency than there is As for their 〈◊〉 parts they question it not but their estates are good and themselves happy Thus Paul professed of himself and speaks it in the stead of all men Naturally as that which is incident to all Rom. 7. 9. was alive without the Law When he
ignorant A man that is loth to rise shuts his eyes from 〈◊〉 light and stops his ears that he may not hear 〈◊〉 knocks at the door so a man that would sleep 〈◊〉 in the security of his natural state he would 〈◊〉 suffer the certainty of Gods Judgments and the terribleness of them to come home to his soul to awaken him out of his dead sleep Thus the Deceitfulness of Sin promiseth nothing but Good the 〈◊〉 of a mans heart is such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing but Good mens Self-love and 〈◊〉 is such it will not suffer any thing but Good to be presented to the view of the soul. These are the Grounds why a sinful Heart settles it self in security and blesseth it self though nothing belongs to him but misery Hence we may see the Reason why sharp and soul-saving Preaching seems so greivous and tedious to the carnal hearts of wicked and natural men they hardly vouchsafe audience but not acceptance What 's the cause It would awaken them out of their sleepy security in which they lye To bring a Candle to a sleepy man is unpleasing but to pluck off the Clothes he will hardly bear it but will let flie at you Why will you not suffer a man to be quiet in his bed c. All men are naturally in a dead sleep of sin therefore to bring the Candle of the Law to them to shew them their condition to pluck away all their coverings and hidings that they may see their sins and themselves as they are it is death to a man in this case Plain dealing and rough dealing evermore finds harsh entertainment here still Musick is pliasing and rocks men asleep but sound blows will awaken men and not suffer them to sleep in their sins and therefore they cannot bear them they have itching ears saith the Apostle heaping up Teachers to themselves after their own lusts and therefore they cannot endure sound doctrine 2 Tim. 4. 3. Such Ministers and such Preaching as answer their desires and please their pallats that they and their sins and all may go to Heaven together this they like very well of Itching ears must be scratched not buffeted You know what he said to Elias Art thou he that troubles Israel And hast thou found me O my Enemy 1 King 18. 17. 〈◊〉 had 400 false Prophets he could endure them well enough because they never disquieted him in his sins but Elias was a troubler of Israel because he troubled his sin therefore he was not able to bear with him Hence again We should be perswaded and informed its the heaviest plague that can befal a man That God should suffer him to sleep in his sins and prosper in a wicked Course Because it argues for ought any man knows that God intends no good to him nor will work no good for him but as if the Lord hath left such a one to be a prey to sin and Satan he is in the hands of his lusts and become a spoil unto them Jesus Christ passeth by him as it 〈◊〉 pitties him not meddles not with him to rescue him out of that Condition as if the Lord should say I have nothing to do with him he is none of mine Therefore know this to your terror all you that never knew what it was to be in distress of Conscience for sin nay when the Word hath come home to you to convince you of your miserable estate for you have not been able to bear it bate of your sleep nor rest you cannot lose any thing of your 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 you will not nay you bless your selves in this condition thinking your case is good enough Mark now The Lord Jesus sees sin and Satan have thee in their power hurrying thee down to Hell with them and he passeth by and saith Let them alone they belong not to me I will not rescue them nor save them my Word and Spirit shall not convince 〈◊〉 nor work upon them this is the heaviest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can befal thee in this world Acts 17. 30. The 〈◊〉 of this ignorance God regarded not they lived in their sins without God and Christ and 〈◊〉 and the Lord never regarded them so as to look after them to recover them out of this estate Acts 14. 16. He suffered the Nations to walk in their own wayes It was the heavie displeasure of God towards them he saw they followed their own wayes and he suffered them so to do to go on still in the broad and the road way that leads to eternal Death All sinners are sick persons and we know 〈◊〉 a sad thing for those that are sick unto death not to be seen not to be helped and succoured when the Physitian will not so much as look in upon them Luke 19. 44. Jerusalem had her day of 〈◊〉 she was sick at the heart and God came to 〈◊〉 her but she would not take his advice therefore the Lord left her and let her alone this is a woful case when the Lord leaves a sinner to himself and doth not visit him with his saving health it s a sign that he hath no love unto nor care to do good to such a soul. Of Tryal Hence we way get undoubted Evidence to our selves whether we are yet in our natural condition or brought out of it I shall press it only negatively now Is the day yet to dawn the hour yet to come that ever thou didst endeavor to come out of thy natural condition nay happily thou never sawest cause why thou shouldest But thou 〈◊〉 and conceivest that all things remain alike with thee from the first beginning unto this day as thou wast thou art thou hast lived quietly and walked comfortably all thy life long Truly know it if thou art not another man than when thou camest into the world thou art but a natural man thou art but a damned man Thou camest flesh and blood into the world thou camest a Child of wrath and thou art so still and if so be thou doest live so and die so thou art sure to be damned for ever for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God 1 Cor. 15. 50. We know saies the Apostle that we are born of God and the world lies in wickedness 1 Joh. 5. 19. Brought to bed in 〈◊〉 as the Original saies thou art one that livest in some base wicked courses and liest in the bed of security and thou shalt perish with the world It s observable in the Parable when all things were at peace the strong man kept the house that 's certain As it s said of the City of Laish Judg. 18. 7. They were quiet and secure and had no business with any man Is it so with thee Thou art quiet and secure and hast no business with the Word of God thou dost come and sit and return again as if thou hadst no business with the Lord thy Conscience not convinced thy affections not stirred thy heart not affected with saving
therefore to mind this or to be led by this is present death The minor is thus again confirmed because it submits not to the Law and that is not for a present push only and out of a surprizal of some temptation but it 's certain it will never nay it can never be other because it 's beyond its power nay cross to its Nature so to do so that it hath no ability nor will for to do it nor can it of it self attain any sufficiency thereunto To make way for the collection of the Point of which we purpose to speak there be two words in the Text to be attended for Explication sake 1 What is meant by The Wisdom of the flesh or to be Carnally minded The Original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of large compass and in truth comprehends in this place the frame of the Reasonable Faculties the Understanding and Will in the extent of their full work what he understands and plots by Reason the Will effects and this latter of necessity implies the other for so the word whence it comes is taken 1 For the work of the Understanding Acts 28. 22. We desire to know what thou thinkest they would understand his Opinion and Judgment touching the way of Christianity so the Apostle speaks when he would confine our Reason to the compass of the Wisdom of the Scripture and Gods Counsel therein revealed he adviseth We should not be wise above that which is written 1 Cor. 4. 6. 2 Again It 's used and that often to express the work of the Will and therefore it is 〈◊〉 translated by Care Phil. 4. 10. I rejoyced that your Care of me again flourisheth Somtimes by the work of Seeking If ye be risen with Christ 〈◊〉 those things which are above 3. Col. 1. Or by the act of tasting or savouring Mat. 16. 21. Get thee behind me Satan thou savorest not the things 〈◊〉 be of God And therefore Beza is constrained to Paraphrase and lay out the compass of it in a 〈◊〉 of words That which the carnal man savors is enmity that is the frame of the plotting of the minds and affecting of the hearts of carnal men is enmity against God 2 Enmity as we say in the abstract made up of nothing but malice and hatred and that in an extream manner against the Lord more than against any thing in the world And if it be enquired how that doth appear and can be proved The Evidence is added in the next words It is not subject to the Law As the heart is to the Law so it is to the Lord as it is to the Word of God so it is to God himself It wholly shakes off the Sovereignty and Authority of the Law and it is not a pang only of a temptation that carries it nor a push or 〈◊〉 of some present infirmity that overbears it but in truth it is the very Nature of a naughty and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which is born of the flesh is flesh John 3. 6. and nothing else but 〈◊〉 and therefore it can do nothing but oppose the Spirit and the Law which is Spiritual every thing will do and in 〈◊〉 can do no 〈◊〉 but its Nature And this denyal 〈◊〉 only of the Act of Subjection but the very Power of Subjection shews the height of that opposition that is in the heart against the Law and so against 〈◊〉 Lord himself for subjection is one degree lower 〈◊〉 obedience it 's possible for a Servant not to 〈◊〉 the command of his Master and yet he may in 〈◊〉 and subjection submit himself to his authority to bear what he will inflict upon him with 〈◊〉 though not to do what he requires of him A Patient may be subject in silence and meekness to 〈◊〉 the launcings of the Chyrurgion to cut him and so cure him when he can in no wise help 〈◊〉 and yet a carnal heart will not do this for his 〈◊〉 of subjection implies 1 It doth not acknowledg the Authority and 〈◊〉 of the Law 2 It will not obey the Rule of it 3 It will not bear the Power of it whereby it would redress the sinfulness of our hearts and reform the disorders and miscarriages of our lives and pluck away that sin from us that would pluck away our hearts from God He hath no right to challenge 〈◊〉 sovereignty no reason to exercise it no Lawful power but usurped that doth maintain it and 〈◊〉 I do not acknowledg this right nor obey that Rule nor bear that Power saies the Will it would take away my lusts and so take away my content 〈◊〉 life and I will rather die than yield rather be 〈◊〉 than abide my pleasing distempers to be crossed by the Law Hence then the Point is plain The frame of the whol heart of a Natural man is wholly unwilling to submit to the Work of the Lord that would sever him from his sins I say the frame of the whol man to the words of the Text and interpretation of them each plotting of the Mind each affecting of the Will the 〈◊〉 current of the carriage of the inward man and 〈◊〉 is not only unable to follow the direction of the Law and of the Lord but not willing to bear the power thereof to force it to the reformation of those 〈◊〉 and sins unto which it subjects it self and sets it self resolutely to keep So the Lord professed of Nimrod and his company when they had set themselves upon the building of Babel out of their pride and self confidence Gen. 11. 6. Now nothing will 〈◊〉 restrained from them which they have imagined to do let us go down and confound their Language It 's in vain to perswade them in vain to send Messengers and shew Arguments never so sad and weighty to stop them only confound their language that they may not be able to do what they would It 's the Scope of that Parable Matth. 21. from 33. to 41. wherein the waywardness of the hearts of the sons of men and their desperate unteachableness is apparantly discovered Messenger is sent after Messenger all variety of means provided and continued they beat one evil entreat another slay a third and when the Son himself is sent that Reason would have concluded that which the Master of the Vineyard conceived they will reverence my Son they were most outragious against him because happily he was more instant and importunate to press them to Sanctification the rendring of the fruit your fruit in Holiness and the end eternal Life Rom. 6. 22. they express greater opposition against him because he most of all opposed their sins Come say they this is the Heir let us kill him and the Inheritance will be ours Nor was this the guise of some graceless forlorn persons but the disposition of all men it 's part of that Curse we inherit from the Loyns 〈◊〉 our first Parents Gen. 6. 5. The frame of the imagination of our hearts are evil and
only evil and that continually It 's part of that Image received from the first Adam and that Seed of wickedness in which we were warmed which was born with us and grows up with us and will go to our graves with us and to Hell afterwards unless the Lord relieve and deliver And therefore 〈◊〉 expresseth the Pedegree of this perversness of Spirit Acts 7. 51. Ye stiff-necked and hard-hearted ye have ever resisted the Spirit of God as your Father did so do ye See this unwillingness expressing it self in the several degrees of it A carnal heart is unwilling to make out after the discovery of the Truth and like Bats live most at ease when they have least light fly abroad in the night the less knowledg they have the less trouble they find and therefore they are willing to make no enquiry to know that they are not willing to do Rom. 3. 11. It 's one part of the description of a Natural mans condition There is none that understands none that seeks after God or if they do somtimes seem to express some pains this way to seek after the Truth it is as a Coward pursues his enemy he is afraid to find and therefore keeps aloof off not willing to take notice of that which may be troublesom and therefore looks after that which least concerns him for the rest he lets it lie by 2 Pet. 3. 3. They are willingly ignorant content not to know that which they will not do if they did know If yet the Lord bring home wholsom Counsels and Directions even to their doors sends out the light of his Truth by the Ministry of his faithful Servants to shine in their faces and the sound thereof to beat in his Ears they are loth to hear of the Ear Ioth to shew their unfeigned acceptance and readiness of Spirit to take acquaintance of the Truth As you may have seen somtimes a Churl when he hath seen some body coming that might happily have deserved entertainment and the Law of Honesty and common Humanity might have caused him to lodg them he presently slips aside and turns away that he may not meet them and see them and salute them lest he be forced to receive them So these men when they perceive the evidence of some troublesom Truths are like to meet with them in the mouth as we say they are-not able to avoid the power of them and yet not able to take up the practice of them like troublesom guests put them to charges and lie heavy upon them they are desirous to make an escape from the power of such Arguments play least in sight and loth they are to meet a Truth that comes attended with constraining Reasons Job 22. 14. They say to the Almighty depart from us we desire not the knowledg of thy 〈◊〉 yea Isa. 30. 10 11. They say to the Seers see not and to the Prophets 〈◊〉 not cause the holy One of Israel to cease from us the presence of the Truth is marvelous grievous they look at it as an overpassing burden as he of Elias Hast thou found me O 〈◊〉 Enemy Were it not for shame they could be willingly content to give a Discharge and Pass for its departure as he to Amos chap. 7. ver 12. 〈◊〉 away to thy own Country and prophesie there If yet the Lord will continue the Truth and him under it he begins to clip the wings of the Truth and breaks as it were the strength of the blow that it may not enter so deep to the dividing of the Marrow and the 〈◊〉 and take away such secret and sweeter evils stops as it were the passage of the Truth that it cannot proceed so far and prevail so much as it would they will keep the truth in a 〈◊〉 as we 〈◊〉 prisoners at a door look abroad but not at liberty so they are not willing the Truth should be at liberty as they dealt with our Savior he made as though he would have gone further but they 〈◊〉 him and as it were with-held him by force So men deal with the Truth which is of a large extent and would go through a mans life in his several occasions these men are not willing to serve the Truth but make it serve 〈◊〉 and their turns Thus many hold General Rules but bring such down to Particular Practices in the several Branches there they are not willing the jurisdiction of the Truth should extend so far Thus corrupt hearts deal with the Truth as sick men of weak and 〈◊〉 ick eyes deal with the light some light they would have but to have it come clearly and 〈◊〉 upon them they are not able to brook that therefore they say draw the Curtain there the Sun comes full in mine eyes 〈◊〉 not drunk with Wine wherein is excest Eph. 〈◊〉 18. they yield to the Evidence of the Text and letter of the Scripture therefore be not drunk with the world do not affect that too much 〈◊〉 stay there To take and deta in another mans goods is open theft 〈◊〉 the acknowledgment of all Thou shalt not steal therefore to Covenant and not to keep to borrow and not to return to owe and not to pay is 〈◊〉 detain that which is not 〈◊〉 therefore it 's 〈◊〉 theft 〈◊〉 draw the Curtain 〈◊〉 the Sun 〈◊〉 full in my face Deut. 12. 31. Thou shalt not worship the Lord thy God as the Heathen Idolaters 〈◊〉 the Truth have his full scope now therefore not as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 draw the Curtain a little 〈◊〉 that way Fashion not your selves according to the world Rom. 12. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in loose locks and long Hair therfore not in your Garments neither why should you imitate their vanity in the one or in the other since both are worldly If yet the Power of the Truth and the evidence of the Argument take off all these pretences and would seem to compel the Judgment then a corrupt heart calls in all Forces leavies new Armies of Arguments to maintain its own Station and withstand the 〈◊〉 and therefore though the thing be plain and be see it yet he will not be satisfied but seeks 〈◊〉 as hoping to 〈◊〉 some Dispensation for it self or some evasion out of the Word Numb 23. Balaam consults again with God after he sufficiently understood the mind of God Now therefore I pray you stay with me this night that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more why he knew before and the Lord had told him plainly 〈◊〉 shalt not go thou shalt not curse he wel understood Gods mind but he would have had him of another mind therefore he devises waies still to try verse 14. here he must have seven Altars if he might bribe God with his Sacrifices to give him leave to go and curse them But if he can find no allowance to dispense with the Truth then he begins to invent Cavils and carnal Reasonings against it he cannot get it by running he will
get it if he can by doubling he is not willing to yield therefore is resolved to quarrel and wind away from under the force of the Argument and to make an escape Acts 17. 18. They encountred Paul they came into the field with Cavils against his Doctrine observe how careful an unwilling heart is to invent a shift and how content to take it and if yet he fail of his hopes and is not able to make his party good with the 〈◊〉 he unlocks all the Devils Chests and 〈◊〉 his Skul for devices and though the Reasons be of no weight nor worth nor strength yet he is well 〈◊〉 to be cozened with them though there be scant any appearance of a pretence when the yong man had professed all readiness to follow the Command of the Lord and saw nothing would serve turn unless he sold all overpowered with the Authority of the Truth he left it in the plain field and went away sorrowful If yet the 〈◊〉 that 's rivetted in his resolution to hold his own cannot 〈◊〉 the Truth then he falls to flat opposing of it Jer. 44. 16. As for the word which 〈◊〉 hast spoken to us in the Name of the Lord we will not hearken to it that is the short and the long they then begun to be plain and peremptory Jer. 18. 12. They said there is no 〈◊〉 but we will do after our devices and we will walk every man after the imagination of his own heart If they cannot undo the Bonds they will break the Bonds of Gods Commands Come say they 〈◊〉 2. 2. let us break 〈◊〉 Bonds and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their cords from us Thus the Jews when they saw the Word of the Lord to prosper in the 〈◊〉 of Paul and 〈◊〉 they were filled 〈◊〉 envy and 〈◊〉 against those things that were spoken by Paul contradicting and 〈◊〉 in so much that Paul professed they put away the 〈◊〉 that would have plucked away their sins 〈◊〉 them Acts 13. 46. John must 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 rather than Herod will part with his Harlot When 〈◊〉 cannot get leave of God to do what he desired he goes without leave Numb 24. 1. he 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 to the 〈◊〉 as if he would prevent Gods 〈◊〉 and curse 〈◊〉 before God 〈◊〉 be aware of it To have their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tormented and kept upon the 〈◊〉 and themselves crossed in their corrupt courses so that either they dare not keep their lusts or else have no quiet if they do they fly in the face of the Truth it 's a hard saying who can hear it who can 〈◊〉 it Acts 19. 28. see what an uproar and what a dust Demetrius raiseth against Pauls Doctrine Masters you know that by this craft we get our living therefore what they wanted in Argument they would carry it in clamors There was an 〈◊〉 for the space of two hours Great is Diana of the Ephesians So they dealt with the two 〈◊〉 Revel 11. 10. they were never content before they were removed they could not have their 〈◊〉 in quiet as long as they had their lives for they tormented them with their witness the Truth is dreadful and torments carnal men that cannot bear the light and power of it If yet the Conscience be not seared with a hot Iron but there remain any sence of common Principles in it they will be dayly quickened and awakened by the Power of the Word and that will be daily vexing provoking and pressing the heart you know saies Conscience this is the Command your Duty and will be your Comfort to yield obedience thereunto you may oppose but you will perish for it you may do what you please but it will be your destruction God wil require it at your hands when you will not be able to answer for what you have done nor bear what God will inflict The 〈◊〉 then endeavors to still the clamors and to stop the mouth of Conscience and to weary it out 〈◊〉 impudency in wickedness and stifling the 〈◊〉 of it and not suffer it to take place and so by custom in sinning he takes away the sence of sin and so it befals them as those the Apostle speaks of they become past feeling Eph. 4. 19. This is to hold 〈◊〉 the Truth in unrighteousness Rom. 1. 18. Truth is pressing this ought this should this must be done or else you die for it you see the Word pregnant the way plain the Duty undeniable say nothing saies unrighteousness in the heart I do love it I must follow it therefore speak not a word more I cannot hear it nor bear it as they said Judg. 18. 25. when 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after them for his gods Let not thy voyce be heard amongst us left angry fellows fall upon thee Thus you see how this unwillingness to be subject to the Truth shews it self They seek it not receive it not stop the passage of it defeat the Power and Evidence of it they professedly oppose it and privily stifle the 〈◊〉 of the Truth which may trouble them in sinning until their 〈◊〉 be without sence and they without care or purpose to reform their evil waies But are not the wicked many times willing to part with their corruptions see how far they speak how freely they profess Deut. 5. 27. All that thou hast spoken we will do Jer. 42. 5. The Lord be Judg 〈◊〉 thee and us enquire at the mouth of the Lord for us and whatever it be whether good or evil we will do it what more can be desired what more could be expressed I Answer in Three Things The Text denies not nor doth the Doctrine that Natural men are willing to profess subjection to the Law of God but that they neither do nor can nor will do what they say therefore it is added in Deut. 5. 28 29. This People have said well but O that there were such a heart in them there was good words but they wanted good hearts they said wel but their wils and endeavors were not answerable they professed fair with their lips but dissembled with their hearts so the Prophet Jeremiah told them to their faces Ye dissembled in your hearts when ye said enquire of the Lord for us Jer. 42. 20. It 's possible nay ordinary for a corrupt heart when it doth most reform sin outwardly then most of all to love and to give himself to the practice of some sin secretly because then all the streams are turned into one Channel he neglects all other that he may wholly bestow and lay out his heart upon that one and when he professeth against sin he conceives he may sin without suspition and distraction without suspition from others and without distraction in himself when by confessions and reformations he will put in Bail upon his Conscience and agree with it as Bankrupts use to do with their Creditors When it co nes to a streight and a justle that the Word meets him as the Angel met Balaam he cannot pass unless
here Men that cleer ground they content not themselves to lop off the tops of trees but they stub up the roots then they make cleer work So here be sure you stub up the heart and will of sinning that 's the root of all or else al that you do is in vain it was our Saviors expression to the Pharisees Luke 11. 39. Ye fools that make clean the outside of the cup and the platter but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness they began on the wrong side they contented themselves to 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 their outward conversation to manward and left corruption in their hearts unsubdued unremoved and therefore our Savior Christ calls them fools and hypocrites for their labor What can you say to my life what hath any man against me if thou hast no more 〈◊〉 say for thy self than that comes to thou hast nothing at al 〈◊〉 thy heart be not clensed from those iecret corruptions of thine Let me leave Two or Three Directions here that are just in my way not interfering with any thing to be spoken afterward Know that the greatest work of Reformation Repentance and the comfort of a mans spiritual condition it lies mainly in the Will the greatest work and the greatest difficulty lies here Brethren If you look at it as a matter of ease that thou canst do it with the turning of a hand and make wash-work of it thou never knewest it and thou shalt never attain it It 's one of the Devils greatest delusions whereby he cozens thousands to perswade men it 's an easie matter to be Religious No 〈◊〉 know it unless you find it the greatest work in the world you will never find endeavors suitable nor success answerable for the comfort of your own souls Oh therefore that every man would go home convinced and perswaded God hath helped me to temper my tongue and to keep my hands the Lord hath given me an enlightened Judgment a reformed life but Oh the difficult work is behind this wretched heart of mine the hardness of that the impossibility of that conclude it therefore and resolve upon it it wil cost me hard work and unless the Lord enable me and set in mightily and constantly upon my soul the work will never be done The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Jer. 17. 9. there is no hope of it as it were the hand and eye and tongue may be reformed but the heart is desperate who can know it who can mend it who can overpower it If thou hast found it easie nay if thou didst never stand amazed at the difficulty of the work about thy heart to get that severed from thy sins thou never hadst the right discerning of it to this day Paul cried out of the Body of Death Rom. 7. last who shal deliver me from it not from the eye or the hand but from the heart the will of Pride the wil of Uncleanness the will of 〈◊〉 and here he is at a stand at an amaze with himself who shal deliver me Beleaguer thy heart and will with the cleer evidence of the Truth of God that it may not be able to make an escape from under it It is with subduing the Will as it is in winning a strong Hold it 's marvelous hard to 〈◊〉 unto it no battery can be made against it those that are do not prevail 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taking of it then they besiege it so that none shall come in to bring any help 〈◊〉 none go out to find any relief then in time they will be famished out and so forced to surrender Do so with thy soul thou hast a crooked proud 〈◊〉 will that hath outbid al the Ordinances of God no battery could ever prevail against it therefore labor to besiege it with the Evidence and plainness of undeniable Arguments of Truth from the Word that nothing may come in nor out listen not to any carnal Reasons within suffer not either honor or profit or pleasure from without to enfeeble the power of the Truth but so besiege it with the Evidence of the Word that the soul may say this is my sin this is my plague this is my state it will be my ruine unless the Lord shew mercy to me this wil tire the heart of a man and there is no other way in the world and it 's certain that the heart wil either lay down his corruption or his conviction but this is our misery that some go out and some come in and so the heart is relieved and holds the siege long The last Direction which may prepare us for the next Point viz. The hand of the Lord to work this for us When thou art perswaded this stubborn heart will cost me many a prayer and tear and bring me often upon my knees it wil never do else if I think it 's easie I never knew what it was and when thy heart is so besieged that it finds no relief Then Brethren look often up to Heaven He only that made the heart can frame the heart to the blessed obedience of his own wil al that we can do is to use the means and lie under the Ordinances that God may do that for us which he requires of us It 's the Lords own Promise Ezek. 36. 26 27. I will take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh therefore go and cry to Heaven and say Lord it is not in our hands to do it but thou hast said thou wilt give unto thy servants a heart to hate sin we come and beseech thee deny it not unto us Look to him we should in whose hand our hearts are that he may do that for us which we cannot do for our selves BOOK VIII JOHN 6. 44. No man can come to Me unless My Father which sent Me Draw him WE have already Debated and Dispatched TWO of those Divine Truths wherein the Dispensation and manner of Gods working upon the Soul in preparation was conceived and described 1 That he finds the sinner settled upon his 〈◊〉 and in the security of a sinful Condition 2 That he was wholly unwilling to be severed therefrom That it is a Death to him to be awakened out of this dead sleep when he saw no danger nor feared any but pleased himself in his Dreams and deluded 〈◊〉 of his own happy Condition 3 The Third and last Point now comes to skanning and Consideration wherein indeed the Pith and Marrow of this so deep and mysterious a Dispensation of the Lord upon the Soul discovers it self The Two former only made way for the more plain Explication of this last and the more easie Apprehension of it by those who are willing to understand Namely That by a holy kind of violence he is driven out of his sin and Drawn unto Christ by God the Father notwithstanding al the 〈◊〉 and utter unwillingness to the contrary And for the foundation of our following Discourse we have chosen these
but is acted by another As it was in the raising of Lazarus when he stank in the Grave not only those noysom distempers were removed and the unnatural 〈◊〉 which attended his body chased away but the 〈◊〉 also was returned and brought again to Union 〈◊〉 his Body So here The Nature of this Drawing and special 〈◊〉 of it It s the motion and powerful Impression of the Spirit of God upon the Soul not any habit of Grace in it nor any act of the Soul which concurs with the work of God in this first stroak of Preparation For The soul that is wholly possessed by the Habits of Sin is not yet capable of the Habit of Grace 〈◊〉 my flesh dwels no good thing Rom. 7. 18. The Vessel cannot be ful of filthy and puddle water and at the same time receive that which is pure It is the aim of this work to make way and room for the Habit of Grace to be received and therefore it is not a habit nor any act of a habit in the soul as yet Therefore it s said God first turns from darkness and then to light Acts 26. 18. Takes away the heart of stone before he gives a new heart Ezek. 11. 19. This is the influence of Light and Vertue into the Mind and Will by the receiving whereof they may be elevated and lifted up above their own ability to supernatural Works in future times and therfore this cannot be the act of the Will and 〈◊〉 since they cannot of themselves let in any 〈◊〉 into themselves Therefore the Lord takes 〈◊〉 to himself as his own Work Hither belongs 〈◊〉 Question Whether Nature or Grace be the first subject of 〈◊〉 Nature cannot For 1 Cor. 2. 14. The 〈◊〉 man receives not the things of God nor can 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet Grace cannot do it for 〈◊〉 there should be Grace before the FIRST 〈◊〉 Grace is attended in a double Respect 1 As it 〈◊〉 a habit or gracious quality received into the Soul As it is a gracious impression upon the soul The 〈◊〉 must be prepared before any habit of Grace 〈◊〉 be received but there needs no disposition in 〈◊〉 soul to receive the work of the Spirit that must 〈◊〉 there needs no preparation to make way 〈◊〉 the work of Preparation but there needs 〈◊〉 to make way for the habit That which 〈◊〉 the first disposition needs no former not yet 〈◊〉 any former It s not Nature but the Soul prepared that is the 〈◊〉 of the First Habit. The Soul unprepared 〈◊〉 the Subject of the Spirit that prepares it The Means how God works the Cords by which 〈◊〉 Draws The Spirit of the Lord lets in some powerful light 〈◊〉 the Truth into the Soul when he is passing on in 〈◊〉 wayes of destruction and tels him This is not 〈◊〉 right way to Life and Salvation you must go 〈◊〉 way if ever you go to heaven The poor deluded blinded Creature never dreaming of 〈◊〉 such matter so that he drives the sóul to 〈◊〉 thoughts If this be the streight way to happiness 〈◊〉 have been out of the way al my life time If this 〈◊〉 true my Condition is miserable Isa. 65. 1. I 〈◊〉 sought of them that asked not for me I am found 〈◊〉 those that sought me not Thus the shepheard pursues the wildring sheep If he had not found it it 〈◊〉 never found home How many give in Evidence 〈◊〉 of their own Experience in this kind I never doubted of my estate nor ever 〈◊〉 of any necessity to be other or do other I went as others did it may be for fashion sake either company carried me or custome prevailed with me or may be the novelty of the thing inticed me to go I as little thought of my death as ever to have my sin and shame discovered Job 36. 9. When the Lord gets man into fetters then he shews them their transgressions and how they have exceeded Thus the Lord is said To stand and knock at the door of the soul when the sinner is fast asleep Rev. 3. 20. He dazles the apprehension by some mighty flash of truth like lightning darted in which makes the soul at a maze by reason of the suddenness and unexpectedness and strangness of it This knock makes the sinner so far to hear and to take notice of it that some body is at the door and causes him happily to make enquiry Who is there So Acts 9. 4 5 6. There shines a suddain Light about Paul and a voyce heard from heaven Saul Saul Why persecutest thou me As who should say Thou art utterly mistaken thou knowest not where thou art what thou doest thou mistakest a Friend in stead of an Enemy And therefore he amazed and astonished Answers and 〈◊〉 Who art thou Lord Thus the sinner is made to look about him where am I this is not the way to Heaven And though the soul would shut its eyes against the Evidence and Power of the Truth which carries a kind of amazing vertue with it and therefore invents shifts to defeat the work of it yet the Lord wil follow it and fasten it upon the soul so as that it shal not avoid it he that stands knocking at the door wil lift up the latch and make the Truth break in as the Sun rising wil break through the least crevis This is the first means whereby the Lord comes to lay hold upon the mind and soul of a sinner he hath the sinner in chase as it were that he cannot get out of his sight or make an escape Thus by the hook of Instruction he laies hold upon him He encloseth him with the Cords of Mercy whereby he 〈◊〉 the soul and compasseth the heart on every side with the tender of his compassions Hosea 11. 4. I drew them with the Cords of a man the bonds of love this the Lord doth to take off those desperat discouragements which otherwise would dead the heart and split the hopes of a forlorn sinner and so pluck up his endeavors by the roots under the appearance of impossibilities It can never be attained why therefore should it be expected or endeavored after To abate therefore of these overbearing 〈◊〉 which otherwise would sink the heart and swallow it up the Lord casts in some discovery of the largeness of his compassions and intimates there is no danger to be feared in coming to the Lord because there is none intended When Christ stands at the door and knocks men are afraid to let in Enemies that intended our ruine so it 's 〈◊〉 the sinner he is afraid of Gods Justice because of his 〈◊〉 deservings What is Christ at the door Is it not that Christ whose Grace I have refused whose Spirit I have grieved whose Words I have cast 〈◊〉 my back he certainly comes to destroy me who have destroyed his Truth and trampled his honor 〈◊〉 my feet And therefore the Lord lets in that Evidence to the
soul as somtimes to his Disciples Be not afraid it is I I come not as a Judg to condemn thee but as a Savior to save thee I desire thy Conversion not thy Confusion So our Savior expressed himself to 〈◊〉 Acts 9. Who art thou Lord saies he I am Jesus i. e. I am a Savior to save my People from their sins and so of thee to save thee from thy sins Why wilt thou oppose thine own mercy and so thine own safety Why wilt thou persecute him that comes to preserve thee This Cable of Mercy is made up of four Cords which cannot easily be broken The infinite sufficiency of that saving health that is in the Lord Jesus the boundless and bottomless depths of Mercy and that plentiful redemption that is provided and laid up in Christ. That Sea of Mercy and Grace that is able to drown al our sins and guilts and remove al our 〈◊〉 a treasure that cannot be spent a fountain that cannot be drawn dry Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy and to our God and he will abundantly pardon He hath pardons in store such as lie by him they are not to seek he hath bowels of mercy yet opened arms of pitty and compassion yet stretched out to 〈◊〉 thee Nay though thou coldest not imagine it or conceive it yet he can do it Psal. 103. 10 11. He deals not with us after our iniquities but as the heavens is high above the earth so great is his mercie to them that fear him Psal. 1 30. 7 8. Let Israel hope in the Lord for with him there is multiplyed 〈◊〉 and he shall deliver him from all his iniquities Thou hast multiplyed thy sins and provocations he hath multiplied Compassions Lo there thou shalt see a Manasseh pardoned a Paul 〈◊〉 and yet there is room for thee also He never casts off any that come unto him therefore it s thy fault only which casts off Mercy If yet the sinner stand murmering behold yet further He hath not only sufficiency and enough to do thee good but freely and frankly offers 〈◊〉 to al that wil have it He is not only content and ready that thou shouldst come but invites and perswades thee for to come that thou mayst be partakers of it Jer. 3. 22. Come unto me ye rebellious Children and I will heal your back-slidings With that the sinner is at a wonderment with himself did he not say Rebellious sinners did he not invite such Why may not I therefore be entertained Yes The words are express Come ye back-sliding Children If then there be any Doubt arising God Cleers it any Question the Lord Answers it any Hinderance he Removes it Jer. 3. 1. 2. 7. They say if a man put away his wife shall she return again Amongst men its usual and ordinary if an Adultress Wife depart away her Husband receives her not again Yet return unto me saith the Lord though thou hast played the Harlot with many lovers And vers 7. After thou hast done all these things yet return unto me Then the Soul bethinks it self shal al these abominations be clensed al these rebellions remitted What after al this pride and uncleanness and Covetousness nay after al the abuse of Gods Grace and Mercy yet accepted yet received yet 〈◊〉 Either then now or never He that 〈◊〉 so gracious a command so kind an offer it s a wonder if the Lord do not cast him off and accurse him for ever nay is he not worthy he should be so The Lord not only offers it freely that we might be encouraged but heartily intends it yea entreats it earnestly that indeed we might be perswaded without gain-saying to yeild He not only commands the sinner to come but if he go away Mercy pursues him if yet he seems to withdraw himself Mercy laies hold on him wil not leave him but weeps over him kneels down before him and begs importunately at his hands his own reconciliation with the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 17. The Lord by us doth beseech you to be reconciled the Ministers proclaim it but God professeth it they desire men and God in them 〈◊〉 and entreateth to be reconciled This makes the bowels of a sinner to rowl within him and drives him to a stand and almost overcomes our unkind natures What! A King to entreat a Traytor to be pardoned the Judge a Theif to be acquitted a Conqueror fal at the foot of a Captive and his Prisoner and desire him to be reconciled I hat God the great God of heaven and earth who was offended by us who hath no need of us who was infinitely happy in himself without us who might with the breath of his nostrils for ever confound us and that justly why it had been enough and enough a Conscience but to admit such accursed dust and ashes into his presence 〈◊〉 to hear him speak and give him but leave to bewayl his sins before he should have perished for them It had been a high favor and mercy to have given him leave to have begged mercy though he had never granted it But to hear me when I cal and cry to receive me to favor when I come that is as much as could be desired But that God should stoop to man heaven to earth 〈◊〉 to meanness he that was offended by me had no need of me was happy without me and might have honored the name of his Justice in my everlasting confusion not only to hear me and receive me when I come but to send after me but to beseech a damned forlorn Creature to be pardoned This is the wonder of Mercy more than I could have conceived durst have begged yea I should have conceived it unreasonable to have desired it nor could I have thought it but that the Lord hath said it and done it His wil be done and blessed be his holy name for ever Oh that I should live to hear of this Mercy but wretch that I am if I should out-live the offer of it or not entertain it I need not question that the Lord is serious and heartily willing to have the tender of his Grace entertained and my self for ever comforted therein and thereby Why he takes his Oath not that he can change but that he would have me be settledly assured thereof As I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of a sinner but rather that he should repent and live Ezek. 33. 11. If God do not desire my death but my repentance Why should I desire my own death so that the heart of a sinner could almost be content to give way but yet his loose domineering lusts wil not give leave If yet the sinner wil not come away but staies stil and clings to his darling lusts the Lord leaves the Record of these his kindnesses upon his heart and stil out of his long sufferance waits
for his amendment and repentance puts him in mind and lies pulling at him with these cords of his Compassions Isa. 30. 18. He waits to be gracious He takes fresh and renewed throws of Patience and travels as it were in expectation of the return of a sinner Jer. 13. last Oh Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean when will it once be As a Woman in travel Oh when wil the good hour come Oh! consider this Is it not a shame for you to suffer the Lord Christ to meet with you at every turn to follow you from place to place to attend upon you in the Seas where you have 〈◊〉 upon the shoars where you have landed in the houses where you dwel to pursue you in the fields to hang his pardons at your doors and to kneel to you at your bed-sides when you lie down and when you awake Oh! when wil it once be Let this day be the last day of sinning of lazying in a Christian course of carnal formality let this time this night be the last night of provocation unprofitableness under al the priviledges means of Grace you enjoy Once at last let that proud heart be humbled that peevish Spirit meekned those covetous desires unclean affections be changed when wil it once be See how the Lord sends by the Prophet and pleads with them and puts them beyond al appearance of any pretence Turn ye turn ye why will ye die Oh ye house of Israel Ezek. 33. 11. Have ye any reason to desire or endeavor your own destruction against your own reason your own good my will why wil you die Plead thus with your own hearts for your own comfort I have reason to return but no reason to die what is most for my good and the Lord so much desires Let me endeavor it See then how these cords of 〈◊〉 compass about the sinner and lie hard at him to draw him from his sin The Lord proclaims his Mercy openly freely offers it heartily intends it waits to communicate it layes siege to the Soul by his long sufferance There is enough to procure al good distrust it not He freely invites fear it not thou mayest be bold to go he intends it heartily question it not yet he is 〈◊〉 and wooing delay it not 〈◊〉 but hearken to his voyce But if these limetwigs of Love cannot catch you these Cords of Mercy cannot hold you he hath iron Chains which wil either pluck you from your evil wayes or they wil pul you al in pieces The Third Means therefore by which the Lord Draws is the Cord of Conscience If the Bonds of a man and of kindness wil not prevail with us the iron Hook of Conscience wil drag us with a witness to forsake our beloved lusts to come to the Lord to be ruled and to be saved Now the Hooks whereby Conscience holds us are Three principally whereby it tears the heart away from those wretched distempers and holds the sou from under the power of such base Corruptions which have taken greater place and exercised greater power over it God stirs up Conscience and arms it with Authority for the stilling and settling of such unruly distempers which heretofore have refused his power and neglected his law and so took much place in the Soul and carried lt to the Commission of much evil against the mind of Conscience So that whereas Conscience was kept under before by reason of the Mutinies and Conspiricies of many Corruptions in the heart and was blinded 〈◊〉 and benummed with the violence and unruly rage of many wretched lusts so that either it did not see what was to be done or could not be heard in what it would speak at least was utterly unable to prevail The Lord now hath awakened Conscience and put that Life Vertue and Authority into it That now Conscience begins a fresh to take upon him and to shew his Soveraignty and Rule he wil not take it as he hath done but publickly proclaims his 〈◊〉 Charge and Edicts not to be contradicted or controuled upon the pain of the severest punishments This is the first work of Conscience to be a forewarner and to admonish the soul of evil to exercise a severe Charge and give uncontroulable Commands against sin So that Corruption comes to be snubbed and checked and the soul kept in aw under him which it scorned before It fares in this case with Conscience as with an High Sheriff or some special Officer of note in the Country in the absence of the King while he is gone aside there ariseth a Mutiny and Tumult of unruly persons which tear his Commission withstand his proceedings and offer in an outragious manner to lay violent hands upon his Person so that as he can do nothing so he dares shew little distaste but express no strong opposition against them as not having power enough to surprise and crush them in their 〈◊〉 but is compelled to sit still and say nothing knowing as David said You are too strong for me you sons of Zerviah He finds his party too weak to deal with them thefrore puts up al contempts and indignities for the while Nay as it is with many 〈◊〉 their numbers being many their carriage furious and unreasonable somtimes they strike the Constable instead of being ruled by him but when the King returns renews his Commission and gives him more power than ever and sends supply to aid and 〈◊〉 him then the Sheriff lifts up his head having got a larger 〈◊〉 comes with more undaunted courage and resolution having got assistance 〈◊〉 to support himself and he makes open Proclamation That whereas there hath been such and such 〈◊〉 be it known that they are al to be 〈◊〉 and commanded in the Kings Name upon 〈◊〉 notice hereof to lay down all weapons to stil al 〈◊〉 disorders upon pain of death to any that shall 〈◊〉 the Law in that case So it is with Conscience when by the crowd and 〈◊〉 of many accursed lusts and corruptions 〈◊〉 eye is blinded the edg dulled the commands of 〈◊〉 corned so that men make a mock of conscience 〈◊〉 your Conscience wil not serve you your 〈◊〉 wil not suffer you to lye to laze to 〈◊〉 to deceive your Conscience wil not allow it 〈◊〉 you make a fool of your 〈◊〉 what care 〈◊〉 for Conscience or you either I wil do what I like what I list for al Conscience Thus a company of 〈◊〉 imprison the High Sheriff or beset his house 〈◊〉 when God shal awaken Conscience and quicken 〈◊〉 and renew the Commission in the hand of 〈◊〉 so that it comes enlightened and armed with 〈◊〉 from Heaven he then makes open 〈◊〉 to the sinner forewarns and threatens the 〈◊〉 thou that hast had no care of the 〈◊〉 of God but slighted al Directions and 〈◊〉 of his Word be it known unto thee by 〈◊〉 received from Heaven I charge thee in the Name of the Lord Jesus as thou wilt answer it
at that great Day upon pain of everlasting Damnation take heed of these sins and lay down these rebellions and withal shews his Warrant and look here 2 Thess. 1. 8. The Lord Jesus will come in slaming fire to render vengeance against all that know not God and obey not the Gospel take heed therefore of this disobedience against the Gospel you wil rue it eternally else and loe here again Prov. 29. 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his heart shall suddenly be consumed and that without remedy thou hast been often reproved for these and these evils and stil thy heart is hardened against all Reproofs take heed lest sudden destruction come upon thee So again 1 Cor. 6. 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with man-kind nor Theeves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers 〈◊〉 Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God Do not you know this saith Conscience have not I often told you of this have not I warned you of it and yet thou art still guilty of these and these evils Thus Conscience comes armed with Evidence and Authority of the Truth like the Angel with a drawn sword in his hand stands as the Watch-man to give warning he stil minds and remembers the sinner of his waies and of Gods righteous Judgments As somtimes Moses to Israel Deut. 30. 17 18. But if thine heart turn away that thou wilt not hear I denounce unto thee this day thou shalt surely perish and if any man when he hears these words shal bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I ad drunkenness to thirst the wrath of the Lord will smoke against that man and he will cut him off c. This Charge and awful Command of Conscience makes the soul shy of stirring out unto such ungodly courses makes the corruptions skulk in as it were so that they dare not shew their heads this is the roaring of the Lyon that makes al tremble and be at a stand the direful warnings and threatnings that Conscience sets up and gives in out of the Authority and sovereignty of the Truth which is dreadful in presenting the displeasure of the Lord so that the sinner withdraws himself from such courses companies practises unto which he was addicted and had formerly bestowed himself When now the Devil and his Instruments the World and her Favorites perceive their company 〈◊〉 their companions departed they al set 〈◊〉 the soul and labor to withdraw it from under the Charge and Command of Conscience The World by her Allurements Satan by his Temptations and 〈◊〉 accursed delights of our sinful lusts they al 〈◊〉 the soul and by their wiles perswade the sinner 〈◊〉 joyn sides with them and not to be awed or carried by any contrary command these be say they 〈◊〉 denounced but threatned men live long this wind shakes no Corn this is in way of Policy to scare men but it is not in earnest to hurt men the same hath been spoken to others but nothing inflicted upon them they never found never felt any such sore blows as al those terrible shakings of the 〈◊〉 would pretend Thus the sinner is yet drawn aside to follow his sinful courses Conscience therefore makes after him laies violent hands upon him and holds him faster than ever he becomes now an accuser of him who was only a friendly admonisher before a swift witness yea a thousand witnesses against him before the tribunal of the Lord by reason of his sins committed He raiseth therfore Hue and Cry after the sinner finds and attacheth him he that was Gods Herald before to tel and proclaim what should be done becomes now Gods Pursevant to summon his Sergeant to arrest him for what he hath done he that directed him before now smites him as 2 Sam. last 10. Davids heart smote him after he had numbred the people Though the sinner could avoid or neglect the Command of Conscience he cannot avoid the Stroke of Conscience though he could avoid the warning of Conscience and cast away that yet he cannot avoid the horror of Conscience Rom. 2. 14. His thoughts accusing of him in Gods behalf and his accusations wil be heard nay his judgment is now aggravated because of the Command that was 〈◊〉 As Gideon dealt with the men of Succoth who scorned him when he pursued Zebah and Zalmunnah Judg. 8. 7. Returning he tore their flesh with the thorns of the wilderness So 〈◊〉 after his Commands have been slighted and his warnings cast behind the back he surpriseth the sinner in the midst of his 〈◊〉 and greatest Jollity you shal answer for these sins before the Judg of the World and so follows him home to his house and to his bed and 〈◊〉 violent hands upon him and drags him before the Tribunal of the Lord and there indites and accuseth him Lord this is the man an Enemy to thy Majesty a Traytor against the Truth that hath conspired with Sin and Satan and his secret Lusts against the blood of Jesus and the power of Grace and Godliness What is this He that hath born a privy grudg against the power of the Word a spleen against the Saints that hath committed such and such sins Yea Lord He hath done so and been so at such a time and such a place in such a company he hath been guilty of such abominations nay saies Conscience you know that I know such a night what privy plottings and cunning conspiracies your heart and your lusts your pride and 〈◊〉 and uncleanness had what consultations you had against the Lord take him therfore horror anguish of heart keep him in bondage thraldom until he be content to repent to take shame and bid an everlasting 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with that the flashes of Hell fire seize upon his soul the venom of the vengeance of the Lord pursues him his Arrows stick fast in him and the poyson thereof 〈◊〉 up his 〈◊〉 the galls and stabs of Conscience make him bleed inwardly so 〈◊〉 all his friends delights comforts 〈◊〉 corruptions cannot bail him or pluck 〈◊〉 this hook of horror out of his heart And thus 〈◊〉 poor sinner like a Malefactor goes up and down 〈◊〉 his Jaylor an accusing Conscience to attend 〈◊〉 the chains of darkness of horror and guilt to 〈◊〉 and guive him that he becomes weary of his 〈◊〉 and not worth the ground he goes on until he 〈◊〉 to confessing bewailing repenting reforming 〈◊〉 yea engaging himself to his Conscience 〈◊〉 that as in Gods sight that if he will abate his 〈◊〉 he will obey his commands listen to his 〈◊〉 and yield unto whatever either it shall reveal 〈◊〉 him or require of him So that Conscience seems 〈◊〉 be quieted for the while and abates the soul of 〈◊〉 overbearing horror lets him out of prison upon 〈◊〉 sufficient bail When his accursed
and the venom of the Serpent in the other Why Have they not nay continue they not to do the lusts of the Devil to this day They have the Spirit of sin and Satan within them and therefore they are their Children and therefore sin and Satan 〈◊〉 a right and title to them Is it not again writ Rom. 6. 16. Know ye not that to whom you yeild your selves servants to obey his servants you are As who should say It is a ruled case common and confessed by the verdict of al. If ye yeild your selves to obey sin you are the servants of sin therefore saies sin and Satan since we have such law on our side for our right we crave our right for these have yeilded themselves servants to my temptations saies Satan and to my allurements saies the World and to my instigation saies Sin therefore they are our Servants therefore let us have them still To which the Lord Answers and Justice also Replyes While they did remain the seed of the Serpent and in the state of the Children of wrath so long you have reason to have them and right to challenge them and therefore it is you have detained them as Prisoners to your pleasure to this day Yea but saies the Father The Lord Jesus whom I have sent he hath undertaken to pacifie my wrath and purchase their deliverance and so hath done for he hath bought them of Divine Justice and therefore hath right now to make them the seed of the Covenant of Grace and to bring them to himself and life as they are and have been the seed of the Serpent and estranged from me and happiness and therefore he hath not only done for them what was required on their behalf but he wil work in them what may be answerable to the Covenant and the Condition of it therfore your claim is nothing This under correction I take to be the meaning of that place Rom. 8 2 3 4. which is mysterious and dark and dazels the eyes of Judicious Interpreters that several senses appear to the several apprehensions of men we wil open it briefly as we pass by and apply it to our 〈◊〉 And that which I suppose wil give some light to the true intent of the place and wil be as a Key to the Scripture and set open the sense that an easie apprehension may give a sad guess at the purpose of the Spirit is this I suppose the words must be understood of the work 〈◊〉 the Spirit wrought in us and the impressions of Grace left upon the Soul not of the work of Justification which is wholly without us in the Lord Jesus our Surety and only counted ours And this that Phrase in the 4 th vers seems to me of necessity to imply Where it is evident that the end of the former work of Christ is made this That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Whereas in the work of Justification the truth of the work the meaning of the Lord and expression of Scripture is other 2 Cor. 5. last Christ was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him not in our selves That Righteousness for which we are Justified is fulfilled for us by Christ and is in him it s not fulfilled in us For it is the Doctrine of the Popish Sect who are adversaries to Gods Grace that we are justified for any thing wrought in us and for which we are for ever to renounce them And hence it is Phil. 3. 7. Not having mine own Righteousness but that which is of God in Christ Therefore not in us properly This being granted I shal shortly give you the meaning of this 3 d. Vers. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh The Apostle had evidenced the state of a man in Christ by the fruits of it He walks not after the flesh but after the spirit Vers. 1. The Question might be How comes that about He Answers Vers. 2. The Law of the spirit of life which is in Christ as the Head hath freed me and so al his Body and each Member from the Law of Sin that is The Soveraign Rule of Sin and Death But why was the Spirit of Christ necessarily required to do this since the mind of God is in the Law revealed and my Obedience required therein Is it not enough that I understand this and thereby be enabled to follow it The Apostle answers No It was impossible for the Law to enable a man to walk after the Spirit and to be free from the Law of sin for so the Causal For knits this Verse as a proof of the former not because the Law was faulty but because our Flesh our natures were corrupt and thence it is not enough the Lord should tell and teach unless there be some other Spirit and Power to enable But how then comes this other Spirit He Answers 〈◊〉 3. God 〈◊〉 his Son to take our Nature upon him who was like unto us in all but sin and he sent him to take our Nature 〈◊〉 i. e. For the Removal of sin And these words are to be referred to those going before he sent not to those after he condemned sin As thus He sent his Son in the similitude of sinful Flesh for sin for the removal of sin and he condemned sin in the Flesh i. e. In the Vertue of the Sufferings of his Flesh he did abolish and destroy the 〈◊〉 and Jurisdiction of sin so that sin as we may say hath lost his Cause and is as we 〈◊〉 to speak non suited fails wholly in al the Pleas it can or doth make for any right it hath to the Soul of a sinner As we say of a man that is Cast in Law that the Cause went against him His Cause is Condemned or his Cause is Damned his Claim is false and feeble and hath no force to carry the thing he would So here Sin fails of its Claim is wholly Cast in the Suit that it makes for the Challenge of the Soul Divine Justice delivered it into its power because it was wronged but must now deliver it out of the Claim and Authority of sin being satisfied And from hence this will be attained That the Righteousness which the Law requires may by the Spirit of Christ be wrought in me 〈◊〉 by way of 〈◊〉 hereafter in perfection To the like purpose is the meaning of that place also 1 〈◊〉 4. 6. For for this end was the Gospel preached to them that are dead that they might be judged according to men in the flesh but live according to God in the spirit In the sirst Verse from the Death and Sufferings of our Savior he perswaded those to whom he wrote That they should 〈◊〉 that Application by way of proportion That
dull the acts of it in the daily exercise of spiritual Duties Look as it is in a Bowl that is strongly byassed one way and so carried to the mark however by many rubs and ruggedness of the way it may be turned aside and justled out of the right tract yet it sets toward the mark and is carried that way and wil fal that way by the force of the byas that doth over-sway it So it is here The Spirit of the Lord that layes hold upon the soul is like the weight of this byas that is fastened to it and closeth with it So that however the strength of temptation or corruption may by a 〈◊〉 violence justle the soul out of the way and out of that right and righteous proceeding in which 〈◊〉 ought to walk yet the over-swaying hand of the Spirit wil keep the bent and set of it towards the Lord and his Truth 1 John 3. 8. Christ was manifested that he might destroy the works of the 〈◊〉 that he might Analise and unravel and undo 〈◊〉 it were and take in pieces that frame of wickedness which Satan had set up in the heart and turn it up-side-down When the Soul was turned from God unto sin and the Creature Christ came that 〈◊〉 might be turned from sin and the Creature to God again The word is the same with that Joh. 2. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 destroy or take down this Temple And here 1 Joh. 3. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So to loosen one tyed in Bands So the Lord Christ doth the works of Satan Satan may grapple with the Soul and lay violent hands upon the Heart but bind it he can never more or make it a servant to himself Quest. 6. Why is this Work of Attraction given to the Father as in the text None can come to Me but whom the Father Draws I Answer This Work as all Actions which pass upon the Creature and leave some change there are equally and indifferently wrought by al the 〈◊〉 in the most Glorious and Blessed Trinity and so are truly understood of al and truly given 〈◊〉 but only they are in several places in an 〈◊〉 manner attributed unto some because of some peculiar Consideration that may be attended by 〈◊〉 of some Circumstancees in the place and so the intendment of the Spirit and aim of the Text may rightly be attended and conceived in this place 〈◊〉 shall a little explicate and unfold both that al mistakes may be prevented This Work of Drawing is Common to all 〈◊〉 Three Persons That which issues from the Deity and 〈◊〉 firstly that must indifferently belong to al the Persons For as al the Persons have the same individual Essence wholly and equally communicated they are al one God The Unity of the God-Head is a of it and al in a like manner at once given to them 〈◊〉 And thence it follows That as the same Essence 〈◊〉 the same both Attributes and Actions which appertain to the God-Head or be done by the God-Head are wholly and joyntly affirmed of all the Persons They al are Infinire Eternal Omnipotent 〈◊〉 Create Redeem Call Convert Sanctifie because these Actions are Creatures therefore 〈◊〉 the first Being but from the First therefore from the God-Head and therefore are truly said to 〈◊〉 done by al that have the God-Head and are truly said to be God and so by al the Persons Again Look we to the language of the Spirit 〈◊〉 the Scripture we shal see that either the very 〈◊〉 of the text so speaks as here or else the same thing in the same 〈◊〉 in some variety of Explication 〈◊〉 given unto al. That which is here said of the Father our 〈◊〉 speaks upon the like occasion of himself Joh. 12. 31. And I if I be lifted up shall draw all people to me The same word here and there is used The 〈◊〉 work also intended though not in the same expressions is affirmed of the Holy Ghost Joh. 16. 9 10. I will send the Spirit and he shall Convince of Sin of Righteousness of Judgement This Conviction is the special work of the Spirit in this great 〈◊〉 of Attraction Lastly It s a known and received Principle of 〈◊〉 That the Persons differ each from other 〈◊〉 in some Internal and Incommunicable relative 〈◊〉 whereby the Personallity of each is 〈◊〉 and the Person distinguished as begetting 〈◊〉 the Father to be begotten to the Son to proceed 〈◊〉 Both to the Holy Ghost And so the Order 〈◊〉 Manner of the Working of each which of 〈◊〉 follow herefrom as the Father works of 〈◊〉 and first in Order the Son from the Father and 〈◊〉 in Order the Holy Ghost from Both and 〈◊〉 last in Order And therfore observe from 〈◊〉 before we pass That it is a dangerous Deceit 〈◊〉 a desperate Mistake so to appropriate this work 〈◊〉 the Father and some other actions to the Son 〈◊〉 Holy Ghost as that we should thereby bring in 〈◊〉 Ranks and Conditions of Christians As 〈◊〉 Example From this Fancy men have forged such 〈◊〉 of the Works of the Persons and such 〈◊〉 suitable of Christians who receive such 〈◊〉 As they Attribute Drawing to the 〈◊〉 Liberty to the Son Power to the Spirit and 〈◊〉 such are under the Fathers Work such under 〈◊〉 Sons Work but yet are not attained to the work 〈◊〉 the Holy Ghost And such who are to be under 〈◊〉 work of the Spirit and so to be sealed they have 〈◊〉 al the former Whereas in truth and according 〈◊〉 the simplicity of the Scriptures al these works 〈◊〉 saving and al of them wrought by al the 〈◊〉 and he that is under the work of the Father in 〈◊〉 of these is also under the work of Christ and 〈◊〉 Spirit in them al. For as Drawing before is 〈◊〉 to al as wel as the Father the like we may say of Liberty and Power Doth the Son set us free 〈◊〉 8. 31. So doth the Spirit For 2 Cor. 3. 17. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom The law of the spirit of life hath freed us from the law of sin and death Rom. 8. 2. Doth the spirit seal us Ephes. 1. 13. So doth the Father also 2 Cor. 1. 12. He that consirmeth and sealeth us is God who hath given unto us his holy spirit So likewise our Savior who hath the two edged sword in his hand Rev. 2. 17. He gives the white stone and the new name that no man knows That is the secret of Adoption and seal of Sonship yea it is general What ever he sees the Father do even those things the Son doth also Joh. 5. 19. We must be 〈◊〉 and wary therefore that we be not taken aside 〈◊〉 that Delusion Though this Work be wrought by al yet it is attributed unto the Father here in the text because the manner of his work is herein more plainly discovered and expressed also experimentally unto the heart and that as here he
sent him for this end would drive me out of my sins and send me to him for succour and relief that I may be sure to speed And I may be sure the Father who is so deeply offended wil never refuse him 〈◊〉 me if I come to him through his Christ. So we have done with the Explication of the Point Instruction We may hence by way of Collection inferr several things which are of much Consequence in our daily Course and yet al appertain to this place as to their proper residence where they have their first rife and therefore may most cleerly and rightly be here discussed and so discerned by those who will encline their ear and apply their heart unto wisdom Hence it follows by force of undeniable Consequence that this work of Attraction and so of preventing Grace proceeds from God as the only Cause thereof and depends wholly upon his 〈◊〉 pleasure and that he works in us without us We being destitute of al Ability which might help thereunto That which is done by a Holy kind of Violence against the natural inclination of the heart that must needs be done upon us but not by us we have no hand in that work and so it is here as hath been proved Let me ad Two or Three Reasons more besides the Evidence of the Rule from whence it is immediately deduced Here that Weapon comes first to hand which some of the Ancients have so often used in this Cause and its the Canon of the Apostle and that Staple Principle that cannot be gain-said Rom. 9. 16. It is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth but in God that shews Mercy Where al other helping Causes that may share in the Conversion and bringing home of the sinner are wholly denied cast out though they were Means of special improvment that if any thing might seem to further it they might have been of peculiar use and of a speeding nature It was not a sleepy careless slighting of the attainment of any spiritual good or a sloathful attendance upon it nor is it a kind of heartless and spiritless Affection to it that are here rejected nay though his will was there and the strength of endeavor yet both miss the mark The Apostle is Plain and peremptory Let him set Heart and Feet and Hand and Head on work he shal never do no good on it it is not there It s meerly only in him that shews Mercy It was wont to be Answered by the Pelagians that it is so said That it s not in him that Runs or Wills without Mercy pittying of him and Grace assisting of him he cannot do it without these let him do what he can yet he can do it with these The vanity of which Answer hath been long since discovered as that it crosseth and corrupteth the very meaning of the Apostle For then the meaning upon the self same grounds would here be thus As it is not in him that Wills and Runs without God assisting co-working so you might turn the tables It s not in God that shewes Mercy without him that Wills and Runs For if the words be not a plain peremptory denial but only comparatively to be taken It s not so much or not in his willing and running without Mercy prevailing and helping yet they concur as Causes in this work then may they as 〈◊〉 be taken the other way It s not in God that shews Mercy only and wholly but in him that wills and runs in part which is to destroy the text and to cross the intendment of the Spirit That Dispensation of God which gives ability and a Principle to the will for to work that act and dispensation must be before the ability of the will and act of it and so cannot be caused by it As if God put a soul into those dead dry bones in Ezek. 37. that they might live this putting in of the 〈◊〉 whence comes life is before and so without the work of the soul or life also and not at al caused by either But this Preparation and pulling away from sin is to make way for a spiritual ability to be given to the will for to work and therefore it is before the will and work and either of them as any cause So the Apostle John 1 Joh. 5. 20. He hath given us a mind to know him and his Christ. Not only drawn out this act of Knowledge but given a mind also to enable us hereunto 2 Cor. 3. 5. We 〈◊〉 no sufficiency as of our selves to think a good thought but all our sufficiency is of God Not only the thinking but the 〈◊〉 thereunto It s he that gives a 〈◊〉 of flesh and then causeth us to walk in his wayes Ezek. 36. 26 27. This is to be Observed against a wretched Shift and cursed Cavil of the Jesuits when they would pretended to give way to the Grace of God and yet in truth take away what they give And therefore they yeild freely and fully That it is God who gives both the will and the deed And Grace is required of necessity unto both and neither can be without it nor will nor deed But in truth this is nothing but a colour of words when the sense which they follow sounds quite contrary For ask but their meaning and when they have opened themselves al comes to thus much That the Lord hath a Concourse and a co-working in the Will and Deed and sends forth an influence into the act of the Will and of the work done and leads forth and guides both unto their end And this is no more than he doth with the act of any Creature the first cause concurring with the second For in him it is that we live and move and have our being As it is with Two men that draw a Boat or a Ship together each man hath a principle and power of his own whereby he draws but both these meet and concur and co-work together in the drawing So that al this that is said is but indeed to darken and delude the Truth yea and to destroy the work of Gods Grace and deceive the Reader For this gives no more to the work of Gods Grace in Conversion than it doth to the Act of Providence upon and with the act of any Creature reasonable Whereas this must be observed carefully and for ever maintained as the everlasting Truth of God That the Lord gives a power spiritual to the work which it had not before he Concurs with the act of that power when it is put forth he gives him a being in the 〈◊〉 of Grace before he leads out the act of that being He first lets in an influence of a powerful impression upon the Faculty of the Will before he Concurs with the Act 〈◊〉 Deed. He gives a heart of flesh and then causeth them to walk in his wayes As if one could put a Principle of life and motion into another and then
draw forth the act of that power to the performance of the work As to draw a Boat c. This comparison will 〈◊〉 the truth of the work As it is with the Sons of the first Adam in the work of their Generation naturally and the perverting and turning aside their souls from the Lord So it is with the Sons of the second Adam in their spiritual Regeneration and Conversion But in the 〈◊〉 the work is wrought in them without them so it is said 〈◊〉 Adam He begate a Son in his own image Gen. 5. 3. That the Son was begotten in point of natural Constitution and that he was in Adams Image his mind darkned his will perverted and the whole frame and disposition of the whole Man turned aside from God all which is wrought in the Child without any act on the Childs part So 〈◊〉 is with every one that is begotten unto God by a new Conversion There is an impression of Gods Spirit to turn them from 〈◊〉 unto God without any ability of their own further than it was given them by God and acted by his Spirit Jam. 1. 18. Of 〈◊〉 own will begat he us Joh. 1. 13. Born not of the will of blood nor of flesh nor of the will of man but of God Hence then it follows in the second Place That the Conversion of a sinner depends not upon 〈◊〉 is lastly resolved into the Liberty of mans Will which is the proper Opinion of the Arminians and somwhat more 〈◊〉 than the 〈◊〉 themselves wil own The sum of it and the full sense of it will appear in the Answer to this Question Suppose that all outward means have been used and improved by providence upon Two Persons indifferently in the same place enioying the same helps say Judas and Peter who were both trained up under the wing of Christ and received the droppings of his daily counsels alike their minds both so far enlightned and their Consciences convinced of the things of God and Grace that they see what the will of God is and what their way is to Happiness by Beleeving in Christ. Here grows the Question Why doth Peter receive Christ and Judas reject him Why the Answer and last Resolution of Arminians is here It was in the Liberty of their own Wills and Peter would close with Christ Judas would refuse him But the Orthodox Divines Answer out of the Word The Lord gives a heart of flesh to Peter and enables him which he denies unto Judas as he 〈◊〉 may and Judas hath justly deserved he should The wretchedness falseness of the former Opinion appears as from the former ground so also from these following Arguments If the Will of it self hath not the next Passive power to receive Grace and Christ then it is not in its Liberty to chuse or refuse But it hath not the next Passive power Rom. 8. 7. It is not subject to the law of God nay it cannot be subject to receive the Work therefore not Chuse the Work much less If it be in the Liberty of the Will either to Chuse or Refuse and that our Conversion is lastly resolved into that then it is in a mans own proper power and freedom to make himself to 〈◊〉 from another which the Apostle peremptorily and professedly denies 2 Cor. 4. 7. Who makes thee to differ And What hast thou that thou hast not received Why the Arminians will say It was my own Will that made me to differ the Liberty of my own Choice because I used and improved my freedom wel which another did not That which exalts the Will of man above the power and will of God and makes it the more principal Cause of our Conversion that is injurious to Gods Grace and opposite to his truth and the aim of his counsel which is to work al for the manifestation of the Glory of his free Grace But this Opinion doth so For it makes it in the power of mans will to frustrate and over-power al the Means which are provided and the operations of the Spirit upon the soul For for al these the soul may not be Converted But if this be put forth then the work is accomplished and brought to perfection without fail That in genere 〈◊〉 this in genere causae efficientis proprie sic dictae That is only to stir up power this alone puts forth the power by 〈◊〉 it is wrought This Delusion is exceedingly derogatory to the Glory of God deprives God of that Praise and Thanksgiving which is due unto his Name for upon this ground a Reprobate wretch who shal perish for ever in the bottomless pit stands as much bound to God for his Grace and Bounty as he that is saved For they were al equal in the Means provided in the operation of the Spirit and the offers tendered for good had the one the Ordinance the other had so to Had the one Priviledges Abilities the other shared equally herein Was the one enlightned perswaded so was the other That the one received Christ that was his Free Will he may thank himself for that and not God But the Saints when they come to acknowledge the Son of God at the meeting of al the Churches they do profess the contrary It was not their prayers their tears nor hearing 〈◊〉 resolutions 〈◊〉 performances for al these their guilt still remained the power of their Corruptions not removed It was not any ability or parts natural that could do it for they see the spawn of al sin in their hearts and had certainly had the strength of al distempers in their Lives that they are not in the dungeon with Witches upon the chain with Malefactors they cannot thank their good nature for it Nay it was not in al the means though spiritual and powerful the Ministers they shewed the way they set forth the glorious things of God and Grace but it was not that which did it but it was only in God that shewed mercy meerly only wholly out of the free mercy of the Lord. Hence Our conversion depends not upon nor issues not from the congruity of al such means or the 〈◊〉 suitableness of al such Circumstances which may help forward those forcible perswasions which the Lord doth present to the Soul and whereby he would so call the soul of a sinner to himself as that his call may certainly find success I conceive it meet to ad this Collection to the former partly because this is the proper place to which it ought to be referred and where it should be disputed and from the former Doctrine receives its Doom and Confutation The Brain of the Jesuites is the Womb that bare it and their Forgery gave it its first being a Brat of their Brain a Conceit which they Forged and Anvilled out of the Froth of their own imaginations For when they saw that it was a Conclusion absurd and unreasonable yea that which sounded harshly even to Common Sense to affirm 〈◊〉
And this was usual in the Course of Providence and the Dispensation of the Means of Grace for himself gives the ground of Gods dealing and his aim in this 1 Tim. 1. 16. To wit That he might be an example and pattern to all Posterity to support the hearts of the rebellious Gentiles that they might not sink under the weight of their unsufferable 〈◊〉 but yet to seek the Lord. So it was with these Converts Acts 2. Some mocked some blasphemed 〈◊〉 derided the Apostles and that was the season the Lord took to set upon their hearts by the Ministery of the Apostles And were the Scripture silent in this case how often have we found it in our own experience acknowledged by many those who came purposely to deride and scom the Ministery of the Word somtimes to entrap and ensnare the Minister somtimes to see and slight and jear at the Assemblies of the Saints that was the time which the Lord took to seize upon their souls to Convince Convert and Save them through Mercy what Congruity or suitableness was there then for this work unless you wil make Contrariety and the height of sinful rage and opposition to be Congruity this is Gods manner to do wonderful things beyond the reach of Common Reason when it was hard to the people of the Captivity to beleive it God then sayes it was not hard to work it Zach. 8. 6. Thus saith the Lord unto this people If it be marvelous in your eyes should it be marvelous in my eyes God usually carries the chiefest of the Expressions of his Providence by way of Contrariety and cross Means in Common Apprehension and the course of things that he might silence the pride of al flesh and the forgery of al 〈◊〉 who are the professed enemies of his Grace So Elias when he would make way for the Glory of the Miracle and Manifestation of Gods power he doth nor only lay the Sacrifice upon the Altar without Fire but digs ditches deep and fills them with water that the power of the Fire might appear more remarkablely 1 Kings 18. 33 34 35. So here To this Experience which cannot be 〈◊〉 take these Reasons for further cleering of the truth and the crushing of this Erronious Conceit If the Conversion or Attraction of a sinner be lastly resolved into the Congruity and suitableness of Moral Perswasions then may it lastly depend upon some natural Cause or in truth upon some Common Circumstance of some outward occasion and Conveniency with which the sinner may meet in the use of Means For in the meeting and Concurence of these as time place order or outward helps and the disposition of the party in some or al of these this Congruity wil consist But this is to resolve our spiritual and supernatural Call into a natural Cause against Rule and Reason For nothing can exceed the bounds of that ability which the Lord in the way of his Providence hath set in the Creature natural Causes produce natural Effects only Joh. 1. 12. Which are born not of blood nor of the will of man nor of the will of the flesh There is nothing in Corruption or natural Disposition or the excellency of any 〈◊〉 that brings forth this spiritual birth Nay the Apostle professedly excludes al these as not able to bring about this work and therefore sets out the vanity and emptiness of them when they are at the highest We Preach saies the Apostle Wisdom to those that are perfect which this world nor the Princes of this world were never able to reach unto 1 Cor. 2. 6. 8. If any were suited with the choicest Means or had liberty to enjoy the choicest Opportunities or the best Advantages according to their hearts Content these were the men and yet these could 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of this work 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 of outward Means which properly reach not the 〈◊〉 work prove an 〈◊〉 unto this effectual Calling So the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many wise not many rich 〈◊〉 many noble 〈◊〉 wisdom and choice abilities wealth and outward 〈◊〉 honor and 〈◊〉 they are in 〈◊〉 and so 〈◊〉 and therefore Congruous to help forward a 〈◊〉 Course because those that are not subordinate 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Argument follows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reason if any then these who had 〈◊〉 and choice abilities to improve the Means 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work those who had wealth to purchase them those who had authority to 〈◊〉 and them to serve their turn they should be suited to al 〈◊〉 encouragements to 〈◊〉 on in a Christian Course but we see this doth it not Some who have the greatest 〈◊〉 and suitableness of al Moral Perswasions to draw their hearts to Christ do remain for ever at greatest distance from him therefore saving Conversion is not resolved into nor depends certainly upon the Congruity of Moral Periwasions That some have such suitableness and yet remain at such a distance I instance in 〈◊〉 those that sin the sin against the holy Ghost and count the Blood of Jesus a Common thing That these have the Congruity of al means to prevail with them the Word wil give in 〈◊〉 proof Heb. 6. 5 6. They taste of the heavenly gift that is Faith are made 〈◊〉 of the holy Ghost have tasted of the good Word of God and of the powers of the world to come They have a taste of Vocation of Adoption and 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 and that there were 〈◊〉 of Moral 〈◊〉 to work these I thus shew Where there is a Concurrence of al Moral Causes which by the rule of Providence the Lord hath appointed all those that he hath fitted and proportioned both to the nature of the soul and the nature of the spiritual work needful for it such whom he hath so far breathed upon and wrought withal that there is a taste of al the saving work of God left upon the soul only the truth and reality of the work is 〈◊〉 comes as neer to effectual Calling as may be and not be Called as neer to the stamp of true Sanctification as can be and not be Sanctified there is the Congruity of al Moral Perswasions and the meeting and Concourse of the strength of al Arguments and Reasons that can be propounded only there is yet a principle internal wanting which should indeed change the Will For if the contrary to al these be incongruous and carry a kind of unsuitableness either to the necessities of the soul and the work of God upon the soul for its saving good then the presence of these carry an undoubted congruity and answerableness to all the good of the soul and the work that should be done upon it For certain it is when al the Means that God hath appointed are attended and used also in the order and manner he hath appointed neither more help nor more Congruity can be desired nor yet attained for if there be any other Means which God hath not appointed those wil prove hinderances not
helps or if they be used in any other Order than that he hath ordained these are disorderly perverted and abused and made unserviceable to do their work or attain their end And yet when the power of al these is improved to affect the Will and stir and provoke it but not change it it is never savingly brought home to God So Moses touching the Condition of the Israelites Deut. 4. 34. Compared with Deut. 29 4. Did ever God assay to take a people to himself with signs and wonders and great temptations and out of the heavens he made thee to hear his voyce that he might instruct thee What then was wanting He suited them with al miraculous expressions of his Love and Mercy but this was 〈◊〉 To this day he hath not given thee a heart And if he give you al Mercies beside tryed you with al Corrections pursued with miraculous Expressions of his power and faithfulness if yet he give 〈◊〉 a new heart al that ever he shal give wil never do you good So the Prophet when he was appointed and fitted in an especial manner having his tongue touched with a Coal from the Altar when he was furnished with gracious abilities from Christ to dispense the Word yet al was to make their ears heavie and their hearts fat and their eyes blind that they should not see nor beleive nor be converted Isa. 6. 7 8. And therefore the Apostle when he had given the doom upon those back-sliders he ads We are perswaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation which these did not 〈◊〉 6. 9. If al Means and Helps that can be used in way of Moral Perswasions are wholly incongruous and utterly unable to work upon the Corrupt heart of man then there is no congruity of such Perswasions that can savingly Convert or Call the Soul or draw the sinner to Christ But al Means in way of Moral Perswasions that can be used are indeed wholly incongruous and utterly unable to work upon the corrupt heart of a sinner unto his Conversion but they reach not the Distemper or Cause of a mans misery and therefore can never do the Cure For these are to Call forth the power a man hath into act whereas the 〈◊〉 wants al spiritual power whereby 〈◊〉 may be enabled to put forth any act that may be acceptable unto God Rom. 5. 6. When we were without strength and the Apostle doth not say We have some sufficiency to think a good thought if some Arguments were suggested to draw it out but doth plainly and peremptorily affirm That all our sufficiency is from God and therefore none firstly of our selves 2. Cor. 3. 5. How silly was it incongruous to common sense to provide the sweetest sounds and choicest musick to delight a deaf man To present the pleasingest colours to affect and please him that is blind to set the most soveraign cordials and the most curious rarities and dainties before a dead man to refresh him Yet such is the Condition of every natural man touching the things of Grace He is deaf and hears not blind and sees not dead and relisheth not any thing that appertains unto his peace unless then you give him a new soul whereby he may live al outward services are utterly unsuitable to his Condition In a word this quaint devise of the Jesuit is so far from any sap or any real subtilty in it that the Opinion quite contrary in a true sense is most consonant to the truth The Means then appointed and used in Providence by the Lord may be attended in a double respect either in regard of the end the Lord aims at and the effect he intends and so it is true the Means which the Lord hath Ordained carry Congruity and and suitableness for the attainment of his own end and accomplishment of his own work But Secondly If we look at the corrupt Heart and Nature and Will of man which is now to be subdued and his darling Corruptions now to be removed from him then it is most certain the Means which the Lord hath Ordained and useth for his Conversion carry not any Congruity but a Contrariety to his corrupt heart and Will That which must expel and 〈◊〉 Corruption in the heart that must not have 〈◊〉 but a 〈◊〉 to it But the Means which the Lord 〈◊〉 to Call and draw 〈◊〉 are to destroy and expel the Corruption therefore they must 〈◊〉 not a Congruity but a Contrariety and crossness to them That Question which is attended with so many tedious 〈◊〉 is from the former Doctrine 〈◊〉 and Concluded and that undeniably and because 〈◊〉 doth 〈◊〉 properly to this place I shal 〈◊〉 Express it Hence then it Follows The Power of Grace put forth in the Work of Conversion is irresistable When I say Irresistable We mean not that the Corrupt Heart doth not Oppose and resist the Operation of the Spirit and the 〈◊〉 of the Ordinance for whilest that 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 it cannot but labor the preservation of it self and therefore cannot but oppose the power of Gods Spirit which works the destruction of it But this is the meaning It cannot so prevail as to 〈◊〉 Gods intent or to prejudice the work of his Grace as that it should not find 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 of the sinner or hinder his 〈◊〉 home to Christ This Collection in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 Demonstratively and undeniablely from the former Doctrine That Grace which takes away the power of Resistance stirred up by Satan or the Corrupt Heart of a Sinner that cannot be resisted But the Grace of God put forth in Preparation and drawing doth by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 take away the power of resistance in the 〈◊〉 Heart of a Sinner and therfore it cannot be resisted Hence it Follows again in the Fifth Place Wheresoever there is spiritual sufficiency of Grace there is also spiritual efficacy put sorth 〈◊〉 work of 〈◊〉 These Two go hand in hand in this 〈◊〉 of God and are either the same really or do 〈◊〉 accompany one another And I therefore mention this Collection not only 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 of it as that it needs to be unfoulded and apprehended aright especially considering 〈◊〉 is the proper seal unto which it must be referred where his stock and 〈◊〉 may be observed and where his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be Disputed and 〈◊〉 But 〈◊〉 I 〈◊〉 it Convenient to take the more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereof 〈◊〉 of the special Benefit and Use thereof The right 〈◊〉 of this makes ready way for the cleer 〈◊〉 of the Delusions of the Jesuits which they have invented and set up as blinds in the way that men might not see the 〈◊〉 of the Lord and set forth and acknowledge the power and Glory of his 〈◊〉 Nay it hath found favor with some who otherwise follow the 〈◊〉 and that truly in their 〈◊〉 of the drawing of God 〈◊〉 according to their divers Apprehensions they set down Explications of their own Thoughts
in a diverie manner Their general Tenent is this They make this 〈◊〉 Distribution of the Work of Gods Grace in Conversion Auxilium est vel Sufficiens Efficax The Dispensation of the Work of Grace in the way of Conversion is either by way of Sufficiency 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Either Sufficient or Effectual and Efficient 1 All men say they have sufficient help from God in the Dispensation of the wayes of his Providences and Ordinances that they may be Converted were it not their own fault they 〈◊〉 a power and a 〈◊〉 by the supply of this sufficient help from God to this end and for this work and yet though they may yet they do not attain success 2 But the Elect and such as the Lord hath set apart to himself have the Efficacy of this spiritual help from the Lord as that they shal be and in their times are actually Called and Converted unto God Against these Forgeries I desire this Fifth Collection may be attended Where ever there is Sufficiency of exciting and preventing Grace put forth by the Lord for the Drawing and Converting of the Sinner there is also the Efficacy of that Grace which never fails to attain success First We shal Open this Collection That 〈◊〉 ful meaning may fairly and plainly be apprehended Secondly We shal shew how it follows evidently from the former Doctrine as that the one cannot be granted but the other must needs be yeilded For the understanding of the Collection attend Three Things That this Exciting or Preventing Grace of God it is not any Habit or gracious Disposition imprinted upon the Soul wherby it was in power or possibility to act or not to act as it seems good and suits best with its own purpose For Example sake In those Actions wherein men are Causes by Counsel they have 〈◊〉 and power to put forth such an action or with-hold the doing of it as they see fit A man hath a power to go hither or thither to speak these or those words yet he may sit still and stop his motion he may be mute and silence his words But as we heard before It is the motion or actual impression of the work of the Spirit so that God is not purposing and decreeing within himself but putting his purpose into a powerful Execution and so comes under such words to be deciphered as Drawing Teaching Turning al which shew an actual Expression of Gods power and pleasure Sufficiency of any Cause or Causes is to be attended either absolutely in regard of the End at which they look and then that is absolutely sufficient which can attain his End without any other if any hinderances it can remove if any wants it can supply if any thing to be done it can procure it accomplish it 1 Cor. 12. 9. My Grace is sufficient for thee And thuse some Causes may be sufficient for the accomplishment of one Effect which are not for another Those Common stroaks of the Spirit in Illumination and Conviction and Moral 〈◊〉 in propounding Arguments to the hearts 〈◊〉 pressing on mightily by Evidence of Reason are sufficient to make people beyond 〈◊〉 Joh. 15. 〈◊〉 If I had not come and spoken to them they had 〈◊〉 no sin but now they have no Cloak for their 〈◊〉 Ezek. 3. 11. Whether they 〈◊〉 hear or whether they will for bear yet this they shall know there 〈◊〉 been a Prophet amongst them It s sufficient to Condemn them if not to Convert them But these 〈◊〉 not sufficient to 〈◊〉 the work of Conversion for there is more power required to that There is not only an enlightening of the understanding but 〈◊〉 opening of the heart 〈◊〉 3. 11. 〈◊〉 Baptize 〈◊〉 water but there is one that comes 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Holy Ghost and Fire There is Sufficiency upon Companison or Supposition upon this Ground or Supposal that we take in other Causes in their 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 work with others and this is very improperly and abusively said to be Sufficient This is the 〈◊〉 of the Popish Crew There is Sufficient Help vouch safed on Gods part unto 〈◊〉 for Salvation and Conversion if they would 〈◊〉 of the freedom of their own Wills use and improve them for the End that the Lord hath appointed them and doth now 〈◊〉 them if they wil give way and welcome 〈◊〉 the light which the Lord hath now 〈◊〉 and not reject the 〈◊〉 of God against 〈◊〉 which is in truth to say it is not sufficient to work their Wills and Hearts to this but it is sufficient to present and perswade the Heart if it will for they who make the Will of Man a partial Cause with God in this work 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 Will and Grace of God and his Spirit is not the sole and alone Cause and therefore not the Sufficient 〈◊〉 to do it As if Two men be partial Causes in drawing a Ship neither are sufficient to do it The like mistake is in that Expression Comparison in which the Fautors of this Opinion do so much please themselves Say they The Eye hath sufficient power to see but yet unless the Air be enlightened and the Object presented unto it it will never see or perceive it not put forth this power effectually upon the Object Answ. The mistake is meerly in the manner of the Expression misunderstood For Seeing implyes Two things in it 1 To act upon an Object when it is presented in a right distance and through a fit mean 2 To bring this Object in such a manner to the Eye That the Eye is sufficient to do the first and is also effectual that way the Eye is not sufficient to the second and therefore no wonder it doth not perform it Thus it is in the spiritual work Deut. 29. 4. Though they had seen many signs and wonders yet nothing was sufficient to work upon them and prevail with them effectually And it s added because that unto that day God had not given them an 〈◊〉 He had given them Wonders provided Ordinances crowned 〈◊〉 with Priviledges and these might happily 〈◊〉 and Condemn being sufficient for that but not to Convert unless he had given them an heart This is the ods our Savior gives of the Sufficiency and so the Efficacy of Gods Dispensarions Matt. 13. 11. 13. To them I speak in Parables that-seeing they may see and not perceive hearing they may hear and not understand But to you is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God He not only gives unto his Disciples a word but a mind to know Efficacious or Effectual Grace and Help is when the work formerly intended and purposed by the Lord is now really accomplished actually performed and put into Execution When the Soul 〈◊〉 turned and called according to his purpose Rom. 〈◊〉 28. So that the ful sense is Where ever there is 〈◊〉 absolute sufficiency of preventing and 〈◊〉 Grace there is an actual Efficacy in the accomplishment of that work upon the Soul And
from his Cups the Adulterer from the arms of his Queans and the worldly man from all the snares of the world the Lord can do it and wil do it also for those that belong to him therefore to that God look 〈◊〉 that Christ look who hath said it and can do it he can do it for thee as wel as for any other A Third ground of Discouragement which the sinner finds and that is the worst of al viz. The stiffness and stubbornness of his own heart he cannot blame the Devil for 〈◊〉 of him or the world for snaring of him he sayes and knows his heart is as bad as Hell it self he hath courted and desired temptations his heart hath been lingering and hankering after them and had not God been merciful to him he had lived and lien and perished for ever in his sins Nay though there were no 〈◊〉 to tempt nor world to allure yet I have a heart like a dunghil that steams up continually noysom abominations Nay that that 's worst of al If after al the Mercies I have abused and sins committed I had a heart that could repent there was some hope but Oh! the stiffness and knottiness of this heart of mine I have had Conscience checking of me and the Minister reproving of me and the Spirit of God striving with me but Oh! I have a hard heart that cannot repent And this is the plague of al plagues worse than the Devil and Hell it self How shal I help my self here Moral Perswasions Alas my heart spurns at them all and makes nothing of them al I have had the Minister speaking to my soul and the flashes of Hell in my face and yet alas such is the desperate frame of my heart that I wil have my sins or 〈◊〉 die for it What wil al Moral Perswasions and Congruity of Means do here Alas the Heart scorns al As in the Case of a man who fell into deep distress and horror of Conscience 〈◊〉 he had 〈◊〉 the sin against the Holy Ghost lying in that a twelve month together and the Lord let loose the 〈◊〉 of his own Spirit upon him that he often thought to lay violent hands upon himself but this was al that he had to support himself in that sad time my Salvation is not in mine own hand it is not in my Will but in Gods Will It is not in him that Wills or in him that Runs but in God that shews mercy Jam. 1. 18. Of his own Will he hath begotten us by the word of truth He that made the Will can only Convert the Will Oh! then bless God that hath taken our Salvation into his own hand for if it were in our hands if it were left to our Wills we should never have it This is that that may uphold the heart in the midst of al the heavie temptation which wil 〈◊〉 or last seize upon the hearts of men Again Secondly It is matter of Consolation to al the faithful who have found this work of God upon their souls it wil afford them ground of glorious support to fence and fortifie their souls against the dayes of difficulty and times of distress against what ever discouragements or desertions may 〈◊〉 them from within what ever assaults or temptations may press in upon them from without in the following Course of their lives in future times From hence they may promise themselves assistance and deliverance without fail and certainly expect it What ever the temptations be they shal never prevail against them what ever the power and strength of their Corruptions be they shal never be able hurtfully to overcome them If God the Father have once drawn them to his Christ when they did nothing but oppose this work al the power of Hell shal never be able to with-draw them from the Lord Jesus when they desire to cleave to him and to be His. He that plucked me away from my sin with a holy kind of violence when I loved it as my life and was loath to part with it will he deny his 〈◊〉 to me when I strive against it He that forced his Mercy upon me when I resisted it in the dayes of my folly and wretchedness when I resolved I would none of him wil he deny me Mercy when he hath given me a heart to beg and prize it He that sought me and drew me when I forsook him wil he not embrace and entertain a poor Creature when I seek and sue for acceptance from him Thus the Apostle disputes and cleers himself with much boldness and assurance of invincible success and he gains and gets the higher ground of his Fears and Discouragments Rom. 5. 6. 9. If Christ died for us when we were of no strength nay when we were ungodly How much more being Justified by his Death shall we be saved from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled how much more shal we be saved by his life If when we had no strength he rescued us from the hand of Hell and Sin and when Enemies reconciled us when he hath given us strength and made us his Friends wil he not for ever releive and succour us yea much more sayes the Apostle he gets upon the higher ground and triumphs over al the enemies of our salvation as knowing he should certainly be Assisted against them al. Thus Samuel shored up the dismayed and sinking hearts of the Rebellious Israelites when the Lord had thundred out his displeasure against them by reason they had wretchedly and treacherously and unfaithfully rejected the Lord and his gracious Government when they would not beleive Samuels words he tels them That God would thunder out his threatnings from heaven 1 Sam. 12. 17 18. c. And when the people saw the lightning and heard the thunder and then saw the hamousness of their sins and feared what heavy punishment they might expect from so terrible a God Then they that cared not for his words and Counsels crave his Prayers Oh pray for us say they for we have sinned and to all our other sins have added this in asking for a King Samuel to prevent the deadly symptom of desperate Discouragement which would drive them from the Lord and so from their own Comfort heads You have indeed sinned yet turn ye not aside from following the Lord And again he ads Turn not aside unto vain things that cannot help And he gives this as a ground For the Lord will not forsake his People for his great Names sake because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people He that out of Mercy made you his people when you were not he wil not forsake you when he hath called you to him As the Elders of Israel Reasoned when they were to War with Jehu in the defence of their Masters Sons 2 King 10. 4. Behold two Kings could not stand before him how shall we Let this be thy comfort and undoubted evidence of succour and deliverance
heart is the alone work of God It is not in him that Wills nor in him that Runs 〈◊〉 in God that shews Mercy You know many of you hundreds for ought I know that you never knew what Christ and his Grace meant and you know your hearts close with your sins though you dare not give way to them Now mark when you come and hear the mind of God and the Ministers speak unto you and the Will of God is published Oh! Go your wayes home and say As the Lord lives I will not leave thee until the Lord hath spoken to my soul till I find the effectual work of the Word and Spirit of God drawing my soul from my sins to Jesus Christ. Therefore call for that same shewing Mercy which the Apostle speaks of Rom. 9. 16. So then it is not of him that wills nor of him that runs but of God that sheweth mercy When you have run what you can and willed what you are able then look up to the Lord to shew you Mercy the Minister hath spoken what he can and I have heard what I can but Lord shew Mercy and never leave until you have found that the Lord hath shewed you Mercy in this work of drawing your Soul from Sin to Christ. FINIS THE Application OF Redemption By the Effectual Work of the Word and Spirt of Christ for the bringing home of lost Sinners to God The Ninth and Tenth Books Beside many other seasonable and Soul-searching Truths there is also largely shewed â—â—The heart must be humble and contrite before the Lord will dwell in it â—â—Stubborn and bloody Sinners may be made broken-hearted â—â—There must be true sight of sin before the heart can be broken for it â—â—Application of special sins by the Ministry is a means to bring men to sight of and sorrow for them â—â—Meditation of sin a special means to break the heart â—â—The same word is profitable to some not to others â—â—The Lord somtimes makes the word prevail most when its most opposed â—â—Sins unrepented of makes way for piercing Terrors â—â—The Truth terrible to a guilty conscience â—â—â—Gross and scandalous sinners God usually exerciseth with heavy breakings of heart before they be brought to Christ. 11. Sorrow for sin rightly set on pierceth the heart of the sinner throughly 12. They whose hearts are pierced by the word are carried with love and respect to the Ministers of it And are busie to enquire and ready to submit to the mind of God 13. Sinners in distress of conscience are ignorant what they should do 14. A contrite sinner sees a necessity of coming out of his sinful condition 15. There is a secret hope wherewith the Lord supports the hearts of contrite sinners 16. They who are truly pierced for their sins do prize and covet deliverance from their sins 17. True contrition is accompanied with confession of sin when God calls thereunto 18. The Soul that is pierced for sin is carried with a restless dislike against it By that Faithful and known Servant of Christ Mr. THOMAS HOOKER late Pastor of the Church at Hartford in New-England somtimes Preacher of the Word at Chelmsford in Essex and Fellow of Emmanuel Colledg in Cambridg Printed from the Authors Papers written with his own Hand And attested to be such in an Epistle By Thomas Goodwin And Philip Nye London Printed by Peter Cole at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1657. READER IT hath been one of the Glories of the Protestant Religion that it revived the Doctrine of Saving Conversion And of the new creature brought forth thereby Concerning which and the necessity thereof we find so much indigitated by Christ and the Apostles in their Epistles in those times But in a more eminent manner God hath cast the honor hereof upon the Ministers and Preachers of this Nation who are renowned abroad for their more accurate search into and discoveries hereof First For the Popish Religion that much pretend to Piety and Devotion and doth dress forth a Religion to a great outward Gaudiness and shew of 〈◊〉 and wil-worship which we confess is entermingled with many spiritual strains of self-denial Submission to Gods wil Love to God and Christ especially in the writings of those that are called Mistical 〈◊〉 But that first great and saving Work of Conversion which is the foundation of al true piety the great and numerous volumns of their most devout writers are usually silent therein Yea they eminently appropriate the word Conversion and thing it self unto 〈◊〉 man that renounceth a Secular life and entereth into Religious orders as they cal them and that Doctrine they have in their discourses of Grace and free wil about it is of no higher elevation than what as worthy Mr. Perkins long since may be common to a Reprobate though we judg not al amongst them God having continued in the midst of Popish Darkness many to this day and at this day with more Contention than ever that plead for the Prerogative of Gods Grace in mans Conversion And for the Arminian Doctrine how low doth that run in this great Article this we may without breach of Charity say of it That if they or their followers have no further or deeper work upon their hearts than what their Doctrine in that point calls for they would fal short of Heaven though those other great truths they together therewith teach God may and doth savingly bless unto true Conversion he breaking through those Errors into some of their hearts And how much our reformed Writers abroad living in continual wranglings and Disputes with the Adversaries of Grace have omitted in a Practical and Experimental way to lay open and anatomize the inwards of this great work for the Comfort and settlement of poor souls many of themselves do greatly bewayl And to find them work and divert them from this it hath been the Devils great Policy who is at the head of all those Controversies as also ever since Pelagius time to this very day to make that dry and barren plot of Ground namely the naked dispute of the freedom of mans wil to be the great seat of this War as the Pope did the Conquest of the Holy Land in the darker times to find al Christian Princes work and thither to draw al the forces and intentions of mens minds jejunely in a great part Phylosophically to debate what power mans wil for-sooth hath in the Summity and Apex of Conversion to resist or to accept the Grace of God and so whether Moral perswasions only be not Sufficient or that Physical Pre-determinations be not also requisite to Conversion whilest in the mean time al those intimate actings of a soul in turning to God The secret particular passages both on Gods part and on the souls part which are many and various by which the soul is won over unto God and Christ those treaties the souls of men hold with God and Christ for justifying and
his Heart to do Farewel Thomas Goodwin Philip Nye COLE 1216. The Application of Redemption by the effectual work of the Word and Spirit of Christ for the bringing home of lost Sinners to God The Ninth Book ISAIAH 57. 15. Thus saith He that is the High and the Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy I dwell in the High and the Holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit THe Work of Preparation having Two Parts First The Lords manner of Dispensation as he is pleased to deal with the Soul for the setting up the praise of his Rich and Glorious Grace and therefore with a holy kind of Violence he plucks the 〈◊〉 from his sins unto himself and his Christ. This hath been dispatched already in the former Discourse The Second now follows And that is the Frame and Disposition which is wrought in the Hearts of such as the Lord hath purposed to save and to whom he hath dispensed himself in that gracious Work of his Contrition Humiliation This Disposition consists especially in Two Things That so I may follow the Phrase of Scripture and retain the Lords own Words in the Text where the Lord saith that he dwels with him that is of an humble and contrite Heart To omit al manner of Coherence and other Circumstances we will pass all the other Specials in the Verse and point at that Particular which will suit our proceeding and may afford ground to the following Discourse that we may go no further than we see the Pillar of Fire the Lord in his Truth to go before us We shal fasten then upon the last words only as those that fit our Intendment To make way for our selves in short there is one word alone to be opened that so the Point may be better fitted for our Application we must know what it is to dwel or how God is said 〈◊〉 dwell in a contrite and humble heart I Answer To Dwell implies Three Things First That the Lord owns such as those in whom he hath an especial interest and claims a special propriety as though he left all the rest of man-kind to lie wast as a Common that the World and the Devil and Sin may 〈◊〉 and use at their pleasure reserving the Honor of his Justice which by a strong hand he will exact as a Tribute due to himself out of all things in Heaven and Earth and Hell and all but persons whom he thus fits he reserves for his own special Improvement As Princes and Persons of place and quality do lease out and let some Forrests and Commons to the Inhabitants bordering thereabout reserving some acknowledgment of Fealty and Royalty to themselves but the choyce and best Pallaces or Granges of greatest worth and profit they reserve for their own peculiar to inhabit in So here the Lord leaseth out the World and the wicked in it to the Devil and his Angels and Instruments reserving a Royalty and Prerogative to himself as that he will have his Homage and Acknowledgment of dependance upon himself but his broken-hearted ones are his own for his own Improvement Deut. 32. 8 9. When the most High divided to the Nations their Inheritance and separated the sons of Adam he set the bounds of his People according to the number of the Children of Israel for the Lords Portion is his People Israel the Lot of his Inheritance Ye are the Temple of the Living God 2 Cor. 6. 16. Yea to them the Lord himself saies Ye are my People and they shall say thou art my God Zach. 13. last Therefore he professeth that though in the course of his Providence he goes on progress over all the world yet he takes up his dwelling and abode amongst his own People For Secondly Where a man dwels as he owns the house so he takes up his abode there it is the place of his residence we say any may know where to seek men or where to find them at home at their own house That 's the difference between Inning and Dwelling we Inn at a place in our passing by when we take repast only and bait but depart presently intending not to stay but where we dwel we settle our abode we take up our stand there and stir no further So the Lord is said then to dwel in the Soul when he vouchsafes the constant expression of his peculiar presence and assistance to the soul. True it is that the Lord fills Heaven and Earth with his presence yea the Heaven of Heavens is not able to contain him Jer. 23. 24. His infinite Being is every where and one and the same every where in regard of himself because his being is most simple and not subject to any shadow of change being all one with himself Yet he is said to take up his abode in a special manner when he doth put forth the peculiar expression of his Work as in Heaven he dwels because he puts forth the constant expression of his Glory and that in the full brightness of it without any alteration and change Here in this Spiritual Temple the Souls of his Saints he puts forth the peculiar expression of the constant assistance of his blessed Spirit I will pray the Father and he shall send you another Comforter who shall abide with you for ever John 14. 16. 1 Joh. 2. 23. Ye have received an anointing which abideth in you Dwelling if it be attributed to the chiefest Inhabitant and Owner of the House it implies also the ruling and ordering of the occasions that come under hand there the exercising of the Government of the house and family where the Owner is and dwels He that lodgeth at a House as a stranger comes to an Inn as a Passenger he takes what he finds hath what he can receive of kindness and courtesie but the Owner is the Commander of the House where he dwels and the orderer of all the Affairs that appertain thereunto So doth the Lord with a broken Heart Thus we are said to live in the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit Gal. 5. 25. And it 's that which follows by Inference upon this ground John 15. 4. 5. If I abide in you and you abide in me you shal bring forth much fruit and therefore it s added also in this place that the Lord dwels in the contrite and humble heart to receive the Spirit of the contrite ones they yeeld themselves to be acted by him and they shall be acted and quickened by him to Eternal Life So that the full meaning is The contrite and humble heart is such to whom the Lord vouchsafes acceptance special presence and abode and peculiar guidance he owns him abides with him and rules in him for ever True it is said Christ dwels in our Hearts by Faith Eph. 3. 17. and as many as beleeve in him they receive him John 1. 12. That is done as by the next and immediate hand by which we say hold on Christ and
give entertainment to him but unless the heart be broken and humbled we cannot receive Faith that we may receive Christ. And while the soul is thus breaking and humbling Faith also is coming in a right sense rightly understood whereof we shal speak somwhat largely if the Lord give us leave to come to that place The Words thus opened the Point is the very letter of the Text which looks full upon every Hearer or Reader that will look upon the Text. The Heart must be broken and humbled before the Lord will own it as His take up his abode with it and rule in it There must be Contrition and Humiliation before the Lord comes to take possession the House must be aired and fitted before it comes to be inhabited swept by brokenness and emptiness of Spirit before the Lord will come to set up his abode in it This was typified in the passage of the Children of Israel towards the promised Land they must come into and go through a vast and a roaring Wilderness where they must be bruised with many pressures humbled under many over-bearing difficulties they were to meet withal before they could possess that good Land which abounded with all prosperity flowed with Milk and Honey The Truth of this Type the Prophet Hosea explains and expresseth at large in the Lords dealing with his People in regard of their Spiritual Condition Hos. 2. 14 15. I will lead 〈◊〉 into the wilderness and break her heart with many bruising Miseries and then I will speak kindly to her heart and will give her the Valley of Achor for a door of hope the story you may recal out of Jos. 7. 28. when Achan had offended in the execrable thing and the hearts of the Israelites were discomfited and failed like water spilt upon the ground because they had caused the Lord to depart away from them the Text saies they having found out the offender by lot they stoned him and they said thou hast troubled Israel we will trouble thee and they called it the Valley of Achor and after that God supported their hearts with hope and encouraged them with success both in prevailing over their Enemies and in possessing the Land So it shall be Spiritually the Valley of Consternation perplexity of Spirit and brokenness of heart is the very gale and entrance of any sound hope and assured expectation of good This I take to be the true meaning and intendment of the place and part of the description of a good Hearer Luke 8. 15. Who with an honest and good heart receives the Word and keeps it by strong hand and brings forth fruit with patience the fruit is Obedience Patience is part of Sanctification and the holy disposition of heart that must be in the heart that brings and bears such fruit that which makes the heart good is Faith in Vocation which enables the soul to lay hold upon Christ in the Word and from him to receive that lively vertue of Patience and readiness to every holy word and work And an honest heart is a contrite and humble heart so rightly prepared that Faith is infused and the soul thereby carried unto Christ and quickened with patience to persevere in good Duties As we say of Grounds before we cast in Seed there is two things to be attended there It must be a fit ground and a fat ground the ground is fit when the weeds and green sword are plowed up and the soyl there and made mould And this is done in 〈◊〉 and Humiliation then it must be a fat ground the soyl must have heart we say the ground is plowed well and lies well but it 's worn out it 's out of heart Now Faith fats the soyl furnisheth the soul with ability to fasten upon Christ and so to receive the Seed of the Word and the Graces of Sanctification and thence it produceth good 〈◊〉 in Obedience Upon this condition Gods favor is promised Psal. 34. 18. The Lord is nigh to them that be of a contrite spirit and saveth them that be of a broken heart Isay 61. 3. He gives the Garment of praise to those that have had the spirit of heaviness it will suit none fit none it 's prepared for none but such it 's their Livery only Upon this condition it is obtained Mat. 18. 3. Unless ye be converted and become as little Children ye can in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven 2 Chron. 33. 12. It 's said of Mannasseh he humbled himself greatly and made supplication and the Lord was intreated of him such persons and services are highly accepted Psal. 51. 17. A broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise nay he wil undoubtedly accept of it The Reasons of the Point are taken partly in regard of the heart which without these will neither be fitted nor enabled to act upon God in Christ for any good partly in regard of God all his Ordinances and Dispensations will be unprofitable and unable to do that good which he intends and we need To the first in regard of our Hearts those Lets and impediments which put a kind of incapability yea and impossibility upon the soul whereby the coming of Faith into the Heart and so the entrance and residence of the Spirit are hindred are by this disposition wrought and removed These Impediments are two The 〈◊〉 which stops the way and work of Faith is a setled kind of contentedness in our corrupt condition and the blind yet bold and presumptuous confidence that a natural man hath and would maintain of his good condition Each man sits down willingly well apaid with his own estate and portion sees no need of any change and therefore not willing to hear of it Each man is so full of self-love that he is loth to pass a sentence against his own soul to become a judg and self-condemner and consequently an executioner of all his hopes and comforts at once and so put his happiness and help out of his own hand Besides we are Naturally afraid out of the privy yet direful guilt of our own Consciences to profess the wretchedness of our own miserable and damnable Condition as to put it upon a peremptory conclusion and that beyond question I am undone I am a damned man in the Gall of bitterness in the bonds of iniquity lest they should stir such horrors which they are neither able to quiet nor yet able to bear And therefore out of the presumption of their own hearts they would easily perswade and delude themselves they have no cause to alter their condition and therfore they should not endeavor it Hence the carnal heart is said to bear up himself against all the assaults of the Word Deut. 29. 19. When all the Curses of the Law were denounced with never so much evidence yet the presumptuous sinner blesseth himself promiseth all good to himself and secretly feeds himself with vain hopes that he shal attain it therfore he wil
not stir to seek for a better estate nor yet receive it if offered Job 22. 17. They say unto the Almighty depart from us we desire not the knowledg of his waies do Ministers press them do others perswade them to a more serious and narrow search to get more grounded assurance of their estate in Grace they profess they bid them to their loss they think they need not be better nor do they desire to be other It is impossible upon these terms that ever the soul should be carried by Faith unto God For to be contented and quieted with our condition as that which best pleaseth and yet to seek out for another are things contradictory And yet this Faith doth For he that is in Christ is a new Creature behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. he must have new comforts new desires new hopes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heart must be broken to pieces under the weight of the evil of sin and the Curses due to the old condition before this wil part for that the word here used with great elegancy and pregnancy implies viz. by an oppressing weight to be pashed to pouder and dust 〈◊〉 the Psalmist useth it Psal. 90. 3. Thou turnest man to pouder to the dust of death when a 〈◊〉 composition is dissolved and the body returned again into its first principle so the word here by way of resemblance implies that the soul should find his corruption his greatest oppression so that the composition betwixt sin and his soul should be dissolved and taken down and the nature of man return to his first principles and primitive disposition that he sees an absolute necessity to change and then he will seek and be willing to receive a change The 〈◊〉 need no Physitian and therefore will not seek but the sick that need will be content to receive The issue is If the soul be contented with its sinful condition and would not have a change then it cannot be under the power of Faith or receive that which will bring a change but before the soul be broken under the pressure of sin it would not have a change therefore so long it cannot be under the power of Faith Be it granted that the soul finds sin as a plague and therefore would be preserved from the evil of it the second impediment which wholly keeps out Faith is this When the sinner expects supply and 〈◊〉 from its own sufficiency either outward excellencies abilities of Nature or common Graces or the beauty of some performances which issue from any of these For this is Natural to all men ever since Innocency That since the staff was put into his own hand and then needed not nay should not deny their own strength 〈◊〉 to this day this practice of old Adam remain still in all his posterity they will scramble for their own Comforts and try the utmost of their own strength to help themselves rather than be 〈◊〉 to another to help them Hence in cases of Conscience and trouble men are so ready to resolve so apt and free to promise and profess amendment what they will do and others shall see it as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it and so alas it comes to nothing in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either they fall back unto their base courses when horror and fear is over or else wasting 〈◊〉 into a 〈◊〉 formality and so perish in their Hypocrisie This is an apparent bar to faith which is the going out of the soul to fetch all life and power from 〈◊〉 Now wholly to be in our selves and to stay upon our own ability and yet to go out of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and receive all from his sufficiency are things which 〈◊〉 stand together I came not to call the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 9. 13. While they sought to establish 〈◊〉 own 〈◊〉 they did not submit to the Righteousness of God Hence t 〈◊〉 the second work of Humiliation is required 〈◊〉 God plucks away all his props and 〈◊〉 him wholly of what he hath or seemeth to have For pride unto which Humiliation is opposite is but the rankness of praise and praise is a fruit of a cause by counsel that hath power to do or not to do this or that as he sees 〈◊〉 Humiliation is the utter nothingness of the soul that we have no power it 's not in our choyce to dispose of our selves not yet to dispose of that which another gives nor yet safe to repine at his dispose In a word as in a Scion before it be ingrafted into another stock it must be cut osf srom the old and pared and then implanted In Contrition we are cut off in Humiliation pared and so sit to be implanted into Christ by Faith In regard of God without this disposition his Word will not nay cannot take any place in us or prevail with us for our good Counsels and Commands and Comforts or whatever Dispensations they fal as water upon a Rock when administred to a hard heart they enter not prevail not profit not at all As Christ told the Jews John 8. 37. ' My Word takes no place in you and Zach. 7. 11 12. They hardened their hearts as an Adamant c. A word of terror to dash the hopes and sink the hearts of all haughty and hard hearted sinners God owns not such will never vouchsafe his gracious presence with them or his Blessing upon them for good be where they will dwell where they will the Lord is not with them nor will dwel in them by his comforting quickening saving presence Hear and fear then all you stout-hearted stubborn and rebellious Creatures whose consciences can evidence that the day is yet to dawn the hour yet to come that ever you found your sins a pressure to you they have been your past-time and delight in which you have pleased your selves so far from being troubled for your evils that it is your only trouble you may not commit them with content and without controul you are troubled with Admonitions and Counsels and Commands and Threatnings that cross you in your sins You were never broken-hearted here for your abominations know assuredly that you wil burn for them one day your proud hearts were never abased and laid in the dust the Lord will ruinate both you and them Never expect a good look from God set your heart at rest for that you may draw the Eyes of others after you make many of your deluded followers and Favorites to look upon you but the Lord will not come neer nor once cast a loving look towards you Psal. 138. 6. Though the Lord be high he hath respect to the lowly but he knows the proud afar off Nay the great God of Heaven and Earth is up in Arms against thee he is upon the March to work thy destruction James 4. 6. The Lord resists the proud but he gives Grace to the humble all Grace is in his gift and he doles it only to the bruised and abased but there is no
thought nor expectation that thou shalt receive any Grace nay that Grace that thy rebellious and proud heart hath opposed and resisted will work thy own ruine Thou art the mark of Gods direful indignation and vengeance he plants all his Forces against thee If all the Wisdom in Heaven can contrive thy confusion all the Power in Heaven work it all the Justice there determine it it shall be done God is nigh to them that are of a contrite heart he saveth such as be of a broken spirit Psal. 34. 18. true and mark it Of such but such thou 〈◊〉 not such thou deridest scornest whose hearts fail them under the weight of their abominations thou lookest at them as mopish silly despicable men well such you shall see saved for ever when such untamed 〈◊〉 proud wretches as thou art shall be turned into Hell But we do see our 〈◊〉 and have had many girds and galls of Conscience for them True It may be there hath 〈◊〉 some blows upon thine heart Conscience it hath 〈◊〉 thee the 〈◊〉 of the Word it hath laid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but it 〈◊〉 not broken thy heart to this day 〈◊〉 that is thus 〈◊〉 to go no further now than the very expression of the Text. If thy soul be beaten to 〈◊〉 with this oppression of thy distempers for so this brokenness of heart was opened before then as it is with the hardest flints when they are broken to dust they are easily 〈◊〉 and give way to take the impression of the hand or whatever is laid upon them The stone which out of its hardness before opposed and started aside from the strongest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was laid now it s turned into dust the least and easiest touch leaves a print and impression upon it so it is expounded as appears in this opposition 2 Chron 30. 8. Be not stiff-necked but yield your selves Observe then is it so when the power of the Word comes the Scriptures are pregnant Arguments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sweet 〈◊〉 sharp and 〈◊〉 yet 〈◊〉 heart shifts and starts aside and hits back the Authority of the truth which thou canst not gain-say The heart may be battered but it was never broken it may be over powred and awed but it was néver humbled to this day It s that of Prov. 3. 32. The froward in heart is an abomination to the Lord but the upright he that lies level and bows to the Truth are his delight A froward man that is he that turns off from the Authority of the Truth Is this thy temper thy heart was never broken to dust to this day but frampful and froward know thou art an abomination to the Lord. If thou shouldst go to Heaven to dwel there truly God would go out of Heaven he would not dwell with thee Pharaoh is the pattern of all proud Hearts he hardened himself in his wickedness against the Word of the Lord. But a broken and humble heart either lies right or will come right it will come to that bent of the 〈◊〉 that is revealed Hard things makes that which is 〈◊〉 soft to assimilate to them easie and yielding things assimilate to whatever they close so Water in a round Vessel 〈◊〉 that form in a three square Vessel takes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To teach us to delight in such to desire the 〈◊〉 of such as are 〈◊〉 and humble men ' to dwel there where God dwels seem their persons never so mean their conditions never so base their estates never so low themselves never so despitable yet if they be men of broken Spirits God is with them Go into their Societies as men that resolve to go to the Court for where the King is the Court is and where God is Heaven is the Lord hath two Thrones the one of Glory in Heaven where he is all in all to his another here on Earth an humble heart where he doth all only of himself and for himself Therefore as they in Zachary 8. last Ten men shall lay hold on the skirt of a Jew and they shall say we will go with you for we have 〈◊〉 God is with you Much more here for the Lord is not only with humble hearts but he dwels in them we should therfore entertain such Servants into our Families such Inhabitants into Plantations and such Members into Congregations for so you entertain God himself Resolve as Ruth to Naomi Entreat me not to forsake thee for where thou 〈◊〉 I will live thy people shall be my people thy God my God where thou diest I will die and there will I be buried and nothing but death shall part thee and me Nay go further ye blessed Spirits say death shall not part us I will be broken-hearted with you and humble with you and God shall dwel in us and we shal dwel with him in Heaven for ever Oh now ye are right keep here and be happy here for ever Exhortation To perswade us all and to prevail with us to take the right way to enjoy Gods presence not only to seek for mercy but seek it in Gods Order not only to covet Gods presence but in Gods 〈◊〉 labor to be humble and broken-hearted Christians then expect we may that the Lord will manifest the presence of his Grace and Spirit with us and in us but not else Every man catcheth at Christ and Mercy and Comfort but not in a right Method and therefore they lose him and their labor also This is Gods order First be humble and broken and then he will revive your Spirits with his presence 2. Cor. 6. 19. Come out from among them and touch no unclean thing then I will receive you and be a Father to you In a word strive to enter in at the straight Gate of Contrition and Humiliation and then you will hit the right way to Christ and eternal Life The Tenth Book ACTS 2. 37. And when they heard this they were pricked in their Hearts and said unto them Men and Brethren what shall we do THere be two Things especially observable in that disposition of Heart which the Lord requires and works in those he will draw to Christ 〈◊〉 and Humiliation The necessity of both these we declared the last day as that they were not only to be looked at for complement and conveniency but such as are of necessity required that the heart may be fitted for the impression of Faith and by it for the entertainment of the Lord Christ for if the sinner be so settled in secure Contentment of his own condition as that he thinks he need not change or if he must he is so confident of his own ability that he can change himself and out of himself and out of his own strength relieve himself he wil never go out to another for succor and supply Contrition loosens a man from his sin makes him see an absolute necessity to be another man or else he is a damned man Humiliation loosens a man from himself makes him see an
utter insufficiency in what he hath or doth for to procure the least spiritual relief unto his soul now the Coast is cleer that Faith may come to us and we by that be enabled to come to Christ. We are now to pursue these two according to the order propounded And first of the former the Sum of which Work may thus be described Contrition is that Preparative Disposition of Heart when by the sight of sin and the punishment due to the same the soul is brought to sound sorrow for it and so brought to detest it and to sequester it self from it The Description stands upon two Passages mainly I. The Causes which bring in this Contrition 1. Sight of Sin 2. Sorrow for Sin II. The Effects which nextly discover this and whereby it comes to be known 1. Detestation of Sin 2. Sequestration from sin And here I desire that still may be remembred which I mentioned and discovered before That all these are things rather wrought upon us by the impression and motion of the Spirit than performed by any inward principle and habitual power of Grace received and this the manner of the expressions in the words of the description plainly intimates the soul brought to see his sins brought to forrow for them brought to detest them and sequester it self from them For the sinner would not look upon the loathsomness of his soul and the filth of his sinful distempers but the Lord laies it before him and holds his apprehension to it follows him with the remembrance of it and forceth his thoughts to give attendance thereunto Psal. 51. 3. My sin is ever before me which way soever he turns his thoughts his sins stared him in the face and were full in his view they dwelt with him and were dayly in his presence that where ever he was they were he could not look off from them look which way he would 2. The sinner would shake off the sorrow that now seizeth upon him and seems to overbear him like a mighty stream he labors to beat back the blow and to make an escape from under the stroke of the Truth that stabs and wounds his heart with the direful expression of Gods displeasure and dreadfulness of the evil that doth attend him but he can neither avoid it nor remove it neither keep himself from the wound nor cure it Psal. 40. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me that I cannot look up a similitude taken from the Prey that flies from the Pursuer though he would have fled from the terrors of the Almighty wrested and rescued himself from under the attachment yet they overtake him and take such hold of him that he cannot escape Psal. 38. 2. Thine Arrows stick fast in me and thine hand presseth me sore he would have plucked out the Arrows of Gods indignation but his skil and strength failed him he could not be eased they could not be removed from him until at length the soul feeling the wrath of the Almighty and seeing no way to avoid an everlasting separation from the Lord if yet his sins be entertained by him being thus pressed by the power of that undeniable Truth which laies open the loathsomness of his sin and makes him feel the bitterness thereof he is carried with detestation against it and driven to make a sequestration from it Of the fuller meaning of both these when we shal come to the particular scanning of them in their proper place For the ground of my following discourse I have taken the words of the Text in which you have the grounds and hints of all the former Truths not implyed only by way of collection but expresly 〈◊〉 down and professedly aimed at as evidently discovering the manner of Gods dealing herein The knowledg of their sins set down with the Causes thereof when they heard these things Hearing not that every hearing or bare hearing would serve the 〈◊〉 for it 's beyond question that thousands do and many there did hear those savory Truths seasonably dispensed by Peter which were never either throughly convinced nor had their hearts in any manner affected therewith the meaning therefore must needs be this When by their hearing they rightly discerned and cleerly conceived those things i. e. the nature of those sins which Peter had discovered and charged so punctually upon them Let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. When they so heard that they yielded and assented fully to that which was 〈◊〉 peremptorily 〈◊〉 by the Apostle then they were pricked to the heart We have then here the fight and knowledg of their sin together with the Causes by which they came to attain it and those were here intimated in the words Their Conviction in that they stood here indited and accused by Peter and condemned in their own Consciences that they were the guilty persons guilty of no less than the blood of the Lord Jesus the Son of God and Savior of the World who is now advanced at Gods right hand as Lord and King and shall come in flaming fire as a Judg to condemn them for their bloody sins who came in the flesh as a Redeemer to save them from their sins But they rejected him and their own mercy and safety and this saies the Apostle admits no opposition no disputation at all Let the House of Israel know assuredly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It 's a Truth that stands as Mount Zion that cannot be stirred it is beyond all cavelling questioning doubting 〈◊〉 all probability or 〈◊〉 to be other a Truth not subject to any slipping or uncertainty so the word signifies The particular application that the Apostle here useth of their special sins he doth not hover in generals shoot at rovers but le ts fly point blank in the faces of them This Jesus whom ye have crucified He names not any other blames not any other now saies not 〈◊〉 was a wretch that betraied Christ the Soldiers cruel and injurious that took him and bound him Pilate 〈◊〉 fearful and unjust that condemned him he will not now speak to men absent but you are they that crucified him you that cried let his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us you shall have blood enough plagues enough this particular application sets hard 〈◊〉 deep they heard these their sins thus ripped up and themselves arrested for them There is a serious 〈◊〉 and attention here also implyed The word is in the Participle Hearing noting a continued act Hearing bearing these sadly attending and pondering of them in their thoughts they came then to be pierced Thus we have the sight of their sins here laid open to us together with the Causes thereof The second thing in this contrition is sound and through sorrow and that is expressed in the next Phrase they were pierced not in their eyes only which made them weep but in their hearts which made them bleed inwardly with Godly sorrow Their
detestation and sequestration appears in the last words Men and Brethren what shall we do we will do any thing suffer any thing command what you wil enjoyn what you please be it never so hard we will endeavor it never so cross to our hearts or comforts we will bear it better be any thing than be thus 〈◊〉 let 's be in any condition that once we might be freed from this sinful and accursed condition in which we be We have taken liberty to lay out our Work with as much plainness and openness of order as we may because we shall have occasion to mind you of the particulars in our future proceeding and how the several 〈◊〉 serve each others turn in their place and order Before we come to the Particulars one Point 〈◊〉 in the very entrance which will be very serviceable to make way for all the Truths following and therefore we shall take in that at this time that it may be as an Harbenger to make room for all the rest And it ariseth from a right consideration of the parties to whom 〈◊〉 here speaks and with whom his word so prevailed and took place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 36. verse he tels them that same 〈◊〉 whom ye have crucisied They were therefore such as had rejected blasphemed 〈◊〉 the Lord of Glory those who in a bloody manner 〈◊〉 away the life of 〈◊〉 who came to take away their sins Is it possible is it credible that ever mercy should be extended unto such that ever good should be wrought in such Yes Lo here When they heard this they were pricked in their hearts They whose hands were imbrewed in the blood of Jesus their hearts are now 〈◊〉 with Godly sorrow and so made fit to receive Grace and Mercy Hence the Doctrine is Stubborn and bloody sinners may be made broken-hearted sinners Bloody hellish abominable 〈◊〉 may yet obtain broken hearts worse than these could hardly be conceived or imagined and yet God makes work of these knotty way ward Spirits It was said of him that betrayed Christ it had been good for him that be had never been born What shall we say of them that murdered our Savior they are in the highest rank of the most wicked men that ever were born yet even such as 〈◊〉 who also opposed the Word and Gospel of Grace the Disciples and Apostles the Preachers and Publishers of Grace the Author and God of Grace yet such as these have now their hearts broken and in some measure prepared to be partakers thereof The Apostle speaks of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 29. That they were full of all unrighteousness there can hardly be added any thing to the largeness of the expression No sin worse for the kind more for the number greater for the measure for they had all unrighteousness all the kinds of evil and all degrees in the largest extent they were full and yet of such the Apostle professeth 1 Cor. 6. 9. when he had mentioned a heap of most loathsom and hideous abominations Know ye not that no unrighteous person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate self-Polluters Extortioners Covetous persons shall ever enter into the Kingdom of God then verse 11. And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Some such as these were savingly brought home to God Yea when corruption becomes like an old cankered sore of long continuance and the sinner incorrigible under all the choycest means that have been used yet then the Lord works the Cure Isay 57. 18. I was angry with him for his evil lustings and he went on in the frowardness of his own heart ther is no help if the Disease grow worse for the dressing the Prophet adds I have seen his waies I will heal him and lead him and restore comforts to him and to those that mourn with him as if he should say Ah poor Creature he cannot see himself nor me yet I see him and his way he wounds himself but I will heal him he deludes himself but I wil heal him sink he must in his own sorrow but I will succor him and supply to him Isay 48. 4. I know thou art obstinate and thy neck is an Iron sinew and thy brow is Brass and yet Verse 17. I am the Lord thy Redeemer that teach thee to profit and leadest thee by the way thou shouldest go The Lord bows an Iron sinew and makes it bendable unto his will The Lord makes snowy Saints of scarlet sinners scarlet we know is twice dyed in the Wool and in the Web and Cloth and therefore it is beyond all the skil and art of man to alter it Yet though our Sins be such bred in our Natures committed in our Lives and therefore beyond our reach 〈◊〉 and the power of all means and performances we can take up to remove them yet the Lord hath undertaken it and he will do it Isa. 1. 18. There is a Threefold Argument to settle this Truth Taken from the largeness of his Mercy which is as himself Infinite and therefore infinitely exceeds all our wants and can supply them all our weaknesses and infirmities and therefore can forgive them and remove them as he will as though they had never been Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and return unto the Lord for he will abundantly pardon and to our God for he will have mercy But the discouraged sinner might happily reply It is Mercy that I have abused and his pardons he hath tendered yet I in the time of my folly have trampled under my feet and therefore with what face could I beg mercy or upon what ground could I think ever to receive it He answers For my thoughts are not your thoughts nor your waies my waies for as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my thoughts than your thoughts there is no proportion no comparison the Earth is not of a valuable consideration to the Heavens but like a Centre in the Circumference it is as though it was not So here the thoughts of Gods Mercy to pardon thee is so far beyond the evil of thy waies and thoughts to condemn that they are as though they were not nay though thou couldest not beleeve it or think it yet the Lord could and would do it This is one of his names He keeps mercy for thousands Exod. 34. 7. he hath it in store for thousands and FORGIVES Iniquity Transgression and Sin that is all kinds and degrees of sin and he must be thus or else he were not God For did our sins exceed his mercies our weakness his strength were Satan more malicious to tempt 〈◊〉 and powerful to overcome 〈◊〉 than he was gracious to defend and Almighty to deliver then were he not God if any thing were
but when the Vessel is now carried into the main Ocean that it should then founder in the waves or be overwhelmed in the midst of the Sea they are wholly without sight of land or least hope of any relief there is no eye to 〈◊〉 them in their misery and therefore none to pitty them nor any hand to help them or any means within the ken of Providence for them to conceive they might expect deliverance So it is with this in Comparison of al other sins the unpardoable one excepted what ever other 〈◊〉 surprise the soul what ever the nature or number or haynousness be hightened with all circumstances that may attend as long as the soul can look out to the infinitness of Gods Mercy and free Grace the invaluable efficacy and vertue of the Merits of the Lord Christ his death and obedience a man is within sight of Land when the Ship is split he may swim to shore Look unto me all ye ends of the Earth and be ye saved saies the Lord Isa. 45. 22. there is yet hope in Israel touching this thing for it is a true saying and worthy of all acceptation That Christ came to save sinners whereof I am chief saies Paul 1 Tim. 1. 16. And as the Heaven is high above the Earth so are the thoughts of God above our thoughts Isa. 55. But this sin of despair sinks a mans heart and comforts as a stone flung into the midst of the Sea carries a man beyond the ken and compass of the boundless favor and compassions of the Lord. To go no further than the Doctrine delivered the malignity of this evil herein discovers it self as that which brings the greatest dishonor to God and irrecoverable danger to the soul. It 's deeply injurious and dishonorable to the Almighty it sins against more of God and tramples the riches of his Graces and tender Mercies under the feet of contempt and counts the Covenant of life and Salvation in the Gospel not only a common thing but a vain thing it 〈◊〉 Gods Truth and Faithfulness and his enlarged Favors into his face with scorn as unable to help and unworthy to be attended And when all the glorious Attributes and Excellencies of God have met together in contriving and accomplishing the Salvation of a sinner in despight of all the power of Hell and darkness this dasheth and blurreth all with the highest disdain and contumelious indignity that may be There was an infinite power wisdom and goodness put forth in making a World of nothing adorned and enriched with such beauty and goodness which each man may see in the frame thereof but in the plotting and performing the great Work of Redemption there was wisdom beyond all the wisdom in the Work of the Creation power beyond and above all that power God said let there be a World and it was so but saying will not serve the turn here it must be the sending of his own Son the death and suffering of Jesus Christ it must cost him his life before lost man could be restored to life again here was Mercy above all the former Bounty and Goodness that goodness then vouchsafed continued not with man nor he in it but this is everlasting mercy which doth not only put us into the possession of Grace and Glory but keeps us there in despight of all the power and policy of Devils all the treachery and weakness of our own hearts despair casts the Crown of all his Power and Wisdom Truth and Faithfulness down unto the dust and proclaims to all the world in our apprehension our weakness is beyond his power it cannot support us our folly too hard for his wisdom it cannot lead and enlighten our minds our misery and sins surpasseth the vertue of his mercy it cannot help and relieve us This is the reason why the Lord cannot endure the least appearance of these desperate pangs as deeply injurious to the Honor of his Name and that in the greatest Excellency Isa. 40. 27. Why saiest thou O Jacob and speakest thou O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my Judgment is passed over of my God Let no more such words be heard the Lord cannot endure to hear you speak so or to have you think so you cast the most vile unsufferable indignity upon the Lord that may be You drooping discouraged hearts you think it is the loathsomness of your own sins the vileness and unworthiness of your own persons that you look at in all those dreadful complaints you make Is there water enough in the Sea to clense this sink of hellish rebellions in this wretched Nature Can such loathsom abominations of so deep a dye of so long continuance committed against so much Light Grace committed against knowledg and Conscience against patience and goodness and that multiplied from day to day Can these be pardones Mercy should be accessary to its own dishonor if it should shew mercy to such a wretch which hath so abused it Know assuredly you speak against the Lord al this while while you would seem to speak against your own wretched distempers so the Psalmist Psal. 78. 19. Yea they not only sinned more and provoked God as in the former verses but they spake against God saying Can God prepare a Table in the Wilderness You blaspheme and speak against his Power which is not able to work it against his Wisdom which cannot contrive it against his Mercy which is not willing or not able to succor you It was the greatest sin that ever Cain committed when he said his sin was greater than could be forgiven Gen. 4. Then thy heart is more sinful than God can be merciful Satan more able to damn thee than God is able to save thee then God is no God and Christ is no Christ and the Spirit no Comforter yea this is to make the Devil which is the worst of all Creatures and Sin which is no Creature but weakness and worse than the Devil himself to be above God and the Lord Jesus and the blessed Spirit of Grace worse than which blasphemy Hell it self can hardly afford any Hear therefore and fear and for ever abhor that such thoughts should once come into your minds such words proceed out of your mouths As it 's dishonorable to God so it 's dangerous yea deadly to the soul It not only crosseth a mans present comfort darkens our evidence sence and assurance of Gods Favor but utterly cuts off all possibility from the soul for ever expecting the least drop of refreshing or smile of Gods Face For hope in the Heart is the last sprong or sucker in the root of the Tree whereby it lives and stands Though the soul see nothing feel nothing have nothing yet Hope saies 〈◊〉 may be otherwise this proud heart may be abased this sturdy heart may he forced to stoop this unbeleeving heart though it hath had and abused and slighted and been unprofitable under so many means and after so
's a five-fold Cause why though sin be so vile and so great an evil yet naturally men do not see it so First The delusion of Satan dazles the eyes of our minds and puts false colors upon Courses paints over the foul face of vice and corruption with the appearance of vertues and so the deluded sinner like Jacob in the darkness of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 takes Leah for Rachel bad for good So the Disciples took their passion for zeal Shall we call for fire from Heaven to destroy the 〈◊〉 because of their 〈◊〉 dealing as Elias did Our Savior returns You know not what Spirit you are of Luke 9. 55. q. d. it 's your rash anger that transports you not the Spirit of zeal that guides you Judas pretends Providence and compassionate care for the poor when it was to promote his own profit John 12. 6. Lukewarmness goes masked under the name of 〈◊〉 licentious wantonness in the abuse of the priviledges of the Gospel goes vailed with the Profession of the Liberty of the Gospel and while they profess they must not be servants to men they serve their own distempered affections Men judg their sins according to the present sence and feeling of the flesh and the verdict of their sensual appetites pass thereupon and sit down under the sentence of their corrupt heaats and they report of things according as they relish them It is 〈◊〉 a sinful soul as with a sick body the sick man that is distempered in his 〈◊〉 mach and his mouth out of tast and his pallat out of temper he reports of his 〈◊〉 and diet he takes as his pallat relisheth it So that in issue he tels you not what in truth it is but how and what he tasts bitter things he calls sweet because they are so to his Tast sweet things bitter because they are so to his sence though far otherwise in themselves So it is with a distempered heart though otherwise gracious if yet it judgeth of them according to the relish of carnal Reason or the present apprehensions their inordinate passions would put upon them Jonah in a feaverish fit of a passionate distemper he strikes he cares not whom falls out with God his Providence nay his Counsel though most seasonably sweetly dispensed to him Dost thou well to be angry Jonah Yea saies he I do well to be angry and that unto death Jonah 4. 9. his passion like the pallat of his sick soul relisheth it so to his own inordinate distemper and so he judgeth it 1 Kings 22. 8. 18. The heart of Ahab was inordinately transported with a venemous hatred against Michaiah and his message though it was no other counsel than the Lord had revealed and he charged him to speak as in his Name yet it is no wise pleasing to his pallat and so he speaks of it Did not I tell thee he would not speak good to me So it was with Asah when the Prophet seasonably and sadly condemned his distrustful carriage 2. Chron. 16. out of an unbeleeving wrathful disposition he cannot relish it but it carries the tast of an insolent contempt and therefore he imprisons him and very likely all those that came to speak for him and plead in his behalf for so the words follow He put many of the 〈◊〉 into prison 10. verse while he was in the this distemper his spirit could savour nothing nor yet perceive the bitterness of 〈◊〉 hainous and high handed provocations of his against the truth of the Lord and his Servants Though the mind be enlightened and the judgment also convinced of the sinfulness of the course and his Conscience is privy 〈◊〉 and gives him many a pluck yet he doth not perceive the plague and venome in it because he judgeth it by the present profit he sees or pleasure he receives from it and so in truth sees the profit and the pleasure and contentment but sees not the sin As it is with the bitterest pills when they are sugred or covered over with some pleasing Conserve they are swallowed readily without the least appearance of distast or 〈◊〉 and the reason is easie to conceave 〈◊〉 tasted nothing but the Sugar though he took the pill down in it So it is with many base and wretched lusts which are the very gal of bitterness and cary deadly poyson with them they are so Sugared and covered over with applause and credit in the world pleasing contents or earthly conveniences that the mind is so taken up with the sweet and suitablness he eyes in them that it attends not the right judgment of the sin but lets it down without any consideration Sathan playes here the cunning Apothecary and therefore orders his Physick so as he would have it retayned or kept in the Stomach like a potion not cast vomited up again Hence in all his enticements to evil there is nothing but pleasing contents presented that the sin may not be perceived or scant thought upon he shewes the bait but hides the hooke In all his discouragements whereby he would skare and keep off the heart from duty he casts in nothing but difficulties impossibilities hazards and 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 expectation of unsufferable calamities That the dreadfulness of the danger may take off the heart from affecting or the mind from attending the duty thus the sinner sees not the good of the duty but the ghastly visage of desperate inconveniencies that seem to attend it The extorting cozening Chapman the idling laboring man look only to the gaine they get not the wrong they do The Adulterer hath the dilight in his eye that may suit and satisfy the flesh not the stain he leaves upon his soul and the guilt upon his Conscience and the wrath he treasures up until the day of reckoning Thus 〈◊〉 Theeves entice their Companion to side with them in their course Prov. 1. 13. we shal find al precious substance we shall fil our 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 so the Harlot inveigles the young man and presents nothing before him but promises of pleasing content Prov. 7. 18. 22. 23. I have decked my bed with coverings of Tapestry perfumed it with Mirrh Aloes and Cinamon come let us take our sil of love Thus she forceth him with her fayre words and he followes 〈◊〉 like an Ox to the slaughter and a Fool to the stocks till a dart strike through his Liver and he knoweth not that it is for his Life So the enimy with the first Adam ye shal be as Gods Gen. 3. and 〈◊〉 the second Adam Al these Kingdoms with al the Glory of them wil I give thee Math. 4. On the 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 off from holy services by shewing nothing but the 〈◊〉 of the evil that attend them that so the soul attends not the good of the duty that follwes it Thus he prevayled with Peter he layd before him the fearfulness of the danger now eminent such as in 〈◊〉 might draw on death and his thoughts were so taken up with attendance to
they bring not their own carriages to the scanning each man will be ready to be Eagle-eyed into other mens occasions and can easily enquire and question and determine and say others have done thus and so here such have fallen therein such and such have failed but no man saies What have I done and therefore become fearless of what they have done and careless of what they do but each man rusheth into his own wretched course as the horse into the battel because he carries not the light of the Truth into each 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of his conscience to pry into the secret 〈◊〉 of his own spirit and judg aright of that else be his knowledg never so large he will get little good by it The 〈◊〉 that hath his full charge if it carry but level give fire to it it hits and kils the live mark at which it is shot but 〈◊〉 hurts the shooter unless it recoyl in the full power then the man that dischargeth it hardly escapes with life It is so with the understanding that stands charged that is fully informed with a cleer discovery of the nature of sin it 's able to dart in that light into the minds of others that may dazle their eyes daunt and wound their consciences with the dreadful apprehensions of the 〈◊〉 of their evils and work their hearts through the blessing of the Lord to a godly remorse for it but unless their own thoughts recoyl back again upon their own miscarriages and the falseness of their own hearts they will never be awed or humbled or helped against their own sins thereby Here is then the rule we must arrest our own souls in 〈◊〉 Achan was never troubled all the while he heard there was an 〈◊〉 thing in the Camp in general but when the lot had found him and all Israel had charged the evil upon him then his heart failed So we should not content our selves to know and confess that sin is an execrable thing in general which causes Gods gracious presence to be estranged from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 leave not before we see the lot fall upon Achan 〈◊〉 thou 〈◊〉 attach thine own heart take it in the very fact and as men deal with mutinous Traitors drag thy wretched and rebellious heart before the Tribunal of the Lord and deal faithfully and give in 〈◊〉 against it say Lord there be many Traitors and Rebels abroad in the world which dishonor thy Name grieve thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy Kingdom 〈◊〉 thy Law loe 〈◊〉 they be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heart that hath been stubborn and proud it is my mind that is vain my affections loose my life barren and unprofitable here are those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unclean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desires no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here they be Lord 〈◊〉 they 〈◊〉 We must also pass sentence impartially without any respect to any private end or ease or quiet which our own carnal hearts would happily 〈◊〉 into the consideration These and these sinns are as bad and as base and as dangerous in this vile heart of mine as in any heart I know under the cope of Heaven if not worse nay what ever abomination is in the bottom of Hell and in the heart of Beelzebub the spawn of the like sins and of the same hellish nature are in my soul they are the seed of the Serpent and that they break not out into the like hideous practises its no thank to my corrupt nature that hinders me but thy Grace and providence restraynes me from such evils It s our desperate weakness and a great part of our misery that we are apt to be favourable to our own follies that sin should be of annother appearance apprehension when we see it in our selves then when we pass sentence upon it as it is presented in the word and in its own nature Impannel a jury of the most wicked nay the worst of men that have been trained up under the Preaching of the word and confess the Scriptures to be the word of God which cannot deceive and let the text be propounded and their opinions be asked in that case 2. 〈◊〉 1. 9. The Lord wil come in Flaming Fire rendring Vengeance to them that know him not and obey not the Gospell they wil all give in their verdict as one man with one mind such as be guilty of such disobedience must certainly have this 〈◊〉 Vengeance from the hand of the Almighty but infer therfore this is 〈◊〉 lot and allowance from the Lord because they have not they do not obey the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their 〈◊〉 do testify so much Now the case is altered when it s once come to their 〈◊〉 It s another kind of ignorance and 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 another 〈◊〉 acted then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they This 〈◊〉 of our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self 〈◊〉 hearts the Philosopher in the practise of men even by the twilight of the common Principles of reason remaining in the decayes of nature observed For taking it for granted that no man doth wil evil under the name of evil but as it comes under the appearance of som good and that all men easily grant and freely confess that Drunkenness Injustice Intemperance are evil the question then growes how these men judging these carriages to be evil are daily taken aside with the Commission of them Ask the Drunkard whether 〈◊〉 be unlawful he consesseth it Loathsom and yet commits it Ask the Blasphemer whether 〈◊〉 be a sin He wil profess it detestable at one breath and practice it at the next Theeves themselves count it unjust that any by cunning should deceive them cry out of falshood and yet by force 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 others the ground is here When the question is put and propounded in the general they wil grant it when it comes to their particular for such a man at this time upon this occasion in this company for such an end to be loose or tipple in this manner this is not unlawful For in these the Devil casts in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 Credit Friendship Familiarity as the Lawyers alter the Case by circumstances and by these he would put another 〈◊〉 upon 〈◊〉 carriages and 〈◊〉 make them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hearts they give in evidence of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 would have the sentence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them that in case they may be 〈◊〉 and not utterly 〈◊〉 So David saw sin in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 own 〈◊〉 So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 〈◊〉 24. Therfore thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 Application that they are in thee as in others and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in thee 〈◊〉 thou 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them apply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon our Consciences otherwise such a particular apprehension may and will suddenly pass away and the steams of our distempers wil easily alter and corrupt our understandings and bring the cause quite
with a fals-harted 〈◊〉 as it did with the wife of Jeroboam when she came to enquire of her sick Child all the while she had received no certain evidence whether it would 〈◊〉 or live her heart was 〈◊〉 and comforted in her present hopes But when Abijah the Prophet related the message of the Lord Come in thou wife of Jeroboam why fainest thou thy self to be another behold I am sent to thee with heavy 〈◊〉 the Lord 〈◊〉 bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam and wil cut off him that is left get thee home to thy house and assoon as thy feet enter into thy house the Child shal dy this sunk her hopes so fares it with a fals-harted ignorant sinner he may be quieted with the persent appresion of his good condition when he hath no evidence to the contrary But when the Lord sets up an overpouring conviction in the mind which may give in 〈◊〉 and infallible witness of its 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 estate 〈◊〉 thou fals-hearted hypocrite why 〈◊〉 thou thy self to be another and befoolest thy self with vayn hopes behold here is heavy tidings sent unto thee from the Lord of hosts thou art yet in the gal of bitterness in the bond of iniquity and if thou diest so thou 〈◊〉 certainly 〈◊〉 from the presence of the Lord for ever This fastening the truth upon the conscience comes home and forceth the heart to feel and to be affected therewith Ignorance frustrates wholly the end of all the means we use and the endeavours we take up for reformation of the evills of our hearts and lives For. 1. First it misleads all our endeavors that they succeed not it misleads our whol course and our proceedings against our sins and out of mistakes presents our corruption as appearing sweet through our misguided apprehension and causes us to oppose our Saviour Christ and his truth that would subdue them This Paul professed to be the ground of his 〈◊〉 carriage when he should have persecuted the enemies of the Church he 〈◊〉 the Church and that out of 〈◊〉 Phil. 3. 6 concerning zeal I persecuted the Church so far from finding his sin bitter to him 〈◊〉 having his heart broken from it as that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the practice of it with the greatest expression of zeal as that which deserved the best of his endeavour and wherein he might spend the best of his pains and that you may see how ready we are in the dark to put up Snakes in our bosoms instead of sweet 〈◊〉 He nakedly and ingeniously confessed whither his 〈◊〉 led I did verily think in my self I should do many things against the Name of Jesus Acts. 26. He that conceived it as a matter of duty to do such things his heart upon such grounds under such delusions would never be carryed against these Ignorance wil make a man swallow the worst 〈◊〉 any change 1 John 16. 2. the time will come that they who shall kill you will think they do God good service that which keeps the soul insensible of the bitterness of sin and from feeling of the weight of sin that will also keep it from being weary of it and willing to part with it It 's a popish practice and a principle of the power of darkness Ignorance is the Mother of devotion when men cannot tell how to lead themselves or see their own way you may lead them 〈◊〉 way you wil and if once Satan can keep a man from the sight of his sin he wil keep him sure under the command of sin and drive him to do his drudgery and that with delight and resolution when the Phylistians had put out Sampsons eyes they led him whither they would and made him do what they would Paul in his ignorance strikes a Friend instead of an Enemy and strikes he neither knowes nor 〈◊〉 who Acts. 9 who art thou Lrod 2 As thus ignorance misleads a mans whol course that it succeds not so it perverts the power of all means that they profit not misapplies al the means he hath and so spoyles them and his own peace and comfort also insomuch that his corruptions grow more strong and incorporated into him and he more unwilling to part with them and that 's the fruit of ignorance the promises and comforts of the Gospel which do not appertain to him he catcheth greedily at them as a portion provided for 〈◊〉 and goes away with that dream and swels unmeasurably 〈◊〉 presumption and self-confidence Are not al the Congregation holy what needs this severing and differencing of men what are 〈◊〉 who would be the only Saints are not we al sinners and Christ dyed for such and for us as wel as for them the threatnings and curses which the Lord denounceth against the ungodly 〈◊〉 cast them away with a fearless contempt as such as do in no wise touch them or concern 〈◊〉 particulars and therefore should not trouble them tush say they we have made a league with death and a covenant with Hell and when the destroying scourge passeth over it shal not come near to them Isay. 28. 15. yea they do commit evil and yet say they are delivered by the Lord Jer. 7. Thus they grow 〈◊〉 and hard hearted the wholsom counsels and directions of the word which should be light unto their feet and a discovery of al their failings they slight the exact attendance thereunto as that which God wil not exact at their hands because in many things we sin al and so become careless or negligent as though they should not answer and the Lord would not exact what they cannot do It s with an ignorant sinner in the midst of all means as with a sick man remaining in an Apothecaries shop ful of choycest 〈◊〉 in the darkest night though there be the choycest af all receipts at hand and he may take what he needs yet because he cannot see what he takes and how to use them he may kill himself or encrease his distempers but never cure any disease so here with an ignorant person he enjoyes al means and yet abuses them he may encrease his corruptions but not reform them his heart grows more hard and his corruptions more strong but he cannot in reason expect any help Hence we learn by way of Instruction An ignorant 〈◊〉 is a naughty heart whether out of blindness they do not or out of prophaness they wil not understand and look into their estates He that never saw his sin aright he never yet saw good day nor the least appearance of any saving work of Gods grace in his soul yea he is so far from attaining such a condition that in truth he is not in the way to it We wil go no further than the consideration of the former truth and then let thy Conscience be judg in the case propounded Suppose then thou shouldest hear a distressed creature under the terror of his Conscience freely and ingeniously lay open his condition unto thee The day is yet
with him Thus Elimas the Sorcerer Acts 13. 10. when Paul and Barnabas had preached and he labored to turn away the Deputy from the Faith Paul thus speaks to him O full of all subtilty he had a slight of hand to any wickedness why dost thou crook the strait waies of the Lord. He cast in many cavils put in many suspicions and pretences that he might not look at the simplicity of the Truth delivered The word there used in the Original implies a sleight of hand as we cal it when such wily spirits can turn themselves into al shapes to 〈◊〉 by the evidence of the Truth so many windings and turnings so many wimblings of devices so many outs and doubtings that may bemist the manifest discovery of a Duty which ought to be done or a sin that ought to be avoided and so in conclusion loseth the Truth and the benefit of it also through Gods just Judgment and their own just deservings So the Scribes dealt touching our Savior when he had cured the Eyes of the blind man John 9. they would have taken him off from the attendance to the work to have slighted the person of our Savior We know say they this man is a sinner c. as it 's said of a Fish called the Sepia when the Fisher-man comes to follow her she casts forth a kind of black humor with which she 〈◊〉 the water and puts him to a loss in his proceedings whereas an honest heart that is willing to be convinced he looks most at that where there is most light and most strength and is desirous to attend that which gives in greatest Evidence to overcome the heart So Ely spake to Samuel 1 Sam. 3. 17. bide nothing from me Job 6. 24. teach me and I wil hold my tongue he wil quietly hear al and attend that most which may carry the cause to his Conscience If yet the evidence of the truth be such that he cannot gainsay his mouth is stopped and his reasons are spent he hath nothing to oppose there is a third distemper which is as bad if not worse than the two former A restlesness of spirit to raise new brabbles and quarrels against the determination of the truth which formerly he could not resist When he is caught and held in the strength of Argument is taken captive and prisoner he would fain rescue himself with a restless jangling he sees more and can say more though no man else can see it nor he make good what he pretends He cannot answer yet wil not yield cannot maintain his 〈◊〉 yet wil not forsake them As Lawyers they 'l bring the cause about again and have a fresh hearing in this and that Court the reasons are the same and were answered before yet he brings them over again and just in the place where he was his arguments are at an end if his spirit were so but there is more in it he saies and he cannot see through it and yet cannot tell how to prove his own argument or answer anothers these spirits are like quicksilver which yet no man hath attained any skil to fix so the Rulers Elders and Scribes when they knew not how to dash the Glory of the Gospel and the powerful dispensation thereof mark how restlesly the venome of their spirits transported them against reason Acts. 4. 15. 16. 17. they communed amongst themselves saying what shal we do to these men for that indeed a notable 〈◊〉 hath been done by them is manifest to all men and we cannot deny it but let us straightly charge them that they speak no more in this name when in reason they should have inferred we cannot deny the Miracle and so not the truth let us not deny the liberty to speak so they in John 9. 24. when it was apparent Christ had cured the man wrought the Miracle and so gained honour in the heart of the man therefore they had fished up and down to weaken that and it would not do It appeared he was blind to his parents that Christ had cured him so himself affirmed then they come to this give God the praise we know this man is a sinner But what is that to the purpose or how know they that he answered whether he be a sinner or no I know not one thing I know wheras I was blind he hath opened my eyes and this was to the purpose Then said they what did he to thee how opened he thine eyes I have told you already c. they are upon the same hinges not stirred a haires breadth Here are no reasons but only wrestlings of stomack we are Moses Disciples but this fellow we know not whence he is If it be so that al these devises against the truth serve not his turn in the fourth place he sets himself against the truth he cares not for argument but he wil stand against the truth and then God in his just judgment leaves him 2 Thes. 2. 18. he gave them up to strong delusions that they might believe lyes that they might be damned because they received not but opposed the truth thus it was with Balaam Numb 24. 1 he went out not as formerly but resolved to Curse Israel whether God would or no and this is to hold down the truth in unrighteousness Rom. 1. 18. I told you before that in Conviction when the heart is throughly Convicted it lies stil under the work of God but here the heart opposes the word of God Exo. 10. 28. saies Pharaoh to Moses get thee out of my sight the day thou seest my face thou shalt die Moses saies I wil see thy face no more but God sends to him and kills his first born and afterwards drownes himself It 's certain that if the truth followes a man home to his beloved sin if he be a dog he wil snarl against it and resolve to keep his sin Jer. 44. 16. 17. as the proud men there said as for the word of the Lord thou hast spoken to us we wil not hearken unto thee and if a man goes thus far he is very neer to the sin against the Holy Ghost and if ever God bring him home to himself it is by some strange judgments Exhortation to provoke the desires and quicken the endeavors of al that have heard or read the doctrin delivered opened to lay out their labour that unto the utmost of all their abilities never to give the Lord rest nor rest unto their own souls before they get this true sight of sin if ever they hope to see the work of Gods Grace in their hearts here in this world or to see the face of God in Glory in that other world that is to come Bretheren let not Satan deceive you nor suffer your selves so far to be deluded as to dream of another course or to devise a shorter cut to Grace and Glory for its certain if you do you wil fal short of your hopes and Comforts and all This
and therefore must bear al the evil that is a consequent of it The Debtor that hath borrowed a Sum of money at the day of payment if he shal return this Answer That the money he borrowed he hath drunk away whored or played it away so that having spent his Stock it 's now impossible he should satisfie his Creditor Doth he not deserve to be punished not only for his not payment but for his prodigality which brought that upon him The Eight Cavil whereby our carnal hearts would shift off the Authority and evidence of the Truth as that it shal not be able to set down the Conscience by an overpowring Conviction is That the sins themselves are SLIGHT of smal consequence not worthy any such serious consideration much less any trouble of heart that should drive a man to a stand and cause him to sit down in silence and sorrow as under just condemnation Alas they were but some sudden words and they were gone and past and if there were no worse I wis the world were at a good pass or they were but the present and inward 〈◊〉 of the heart and the flashy thoughts of my mind no body knew but my self neither did nor could they hurt any body but my self and are not thoughts free Or lastly were it a failing in practice it was but in a petty thing a very trifle not worth the while to spend time to take notice of it some windy words flashy and sudden thoughts petty failings and they are so far from troubling the heart as that they touch it not so far from sitting down convinced of the evil of these as might break the heart as that they see no weight nor just cause at al to burden it they go away as Sampson with the Gates of Gaza and felt them not We shal therefore take the Severals into special consideration and see what hainousness there is in these sins when they are weighed in the Ballance of the Sanctuary And we shal begin with Words and examine what is the weight of the evil that is in them and that wil appear in many Particulars Look at them in their own Nature absolutely thy words have such weight that they are able to sink thy soul into the bottomless pit and to pass sentence of life and death upon thee for so our Savior By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Matth. 12. 37. This is one part of the Inditement upon which the Judgment is executed at the great day by our Savior When he shall come with ten thousand thousands Ministring unto him to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly amongst them of all their ungodly deeds and of all their hard speeches which they have spoken against him Jude 14. 15. Those harsh Expressions the unkind language currish rugged and cutting Speeches whereby they would daunt and kil the hearts of the Saints the secret scorns and contempts and reproaches whereby they have tossed the names of the Saints in their Meetings Merriments and upon their Ale-benches happily there is no man besides thy mates that hears thee no witness can accuse thee no Judg that can pass Sentence The Lord Jesus he comes for this end and thou art the man and thy speeches are the matter of thy Inditement of these he wil convince thee and for these execute Judgment upon thee at that great day he wil make thee sit down in silence he wil stop that wicked mouth of thine thou shalt not have a word to speak for thy self then this is the Charge that the Lord puts in against such wretched Hypocrites who think to carry al things covertly and cunningly that no man may lay hold of them the Lord puls them out by the pole Psal. 50. 19. Thou givest thy mouth to evil and thy tongue frameth deceit It is his Trade his lips are the forge of fals-hood his mouth is as it were the mint of lying reproaches of back-biting he sits at it keeps his shop it 's the sale and ware that is vented upon al occasions when his Companions as his Chapmen come to buy So the Text Thou satest and spakest against thine own mothers son c. these things thou hast done the Lord keeps these words upon Record and sets them in order at the day of Judgment Oh consider this you do not now consider the Lord doth and he will tear you in pieces as you have torn the names of his Servants by your taunts and reproaches and in truth it 's no marvel for thy language and customary speech gives a tast of the temper of thy soul and spiritual condition and is a sad evidence of thy corrupt and graceless estate James 1. 16. If any seem to be Religious and bridleth not his tongue the Religion of that man is vain his language loose and froathy his words peevish and frampful froward and scornful the Religion of that man is not worth a rush his prayers are vain his hearing vain his profession he wil never do good with it never receive good or benefit from it As we say of Money the sound of it shews whether it 〈◊〉 pure or base true or counterfeit it sounds like Brass or Copper it 's certainly counterfeit it hath not the sound of silver or as we say of Bels the ring of them discovers whether they 〈◊〉 of base matter or of right 〈◊〉 so here a mans speech is the discoverer of a mans Spirit If his heart be the Inditer of a good matter the tongue will be as the pen of a ready Writer Psal. 45. 1. Those words that come from Grace in the speaker wil administer Grace to the hearers empty words do shew an empty heart Thou art one of those and thy speech bewraies thee said they to Peter A jeering and scoffing tongue is a note of an Ismaelite by that Ismael was discovered to be of the flesh Gal. 4. In a word as a stinking breath argues a corrupt Stomach and 〈◊〉 Lungs so it is with base and vain language it argues a corrupt and rotten heart As light therefore as thou conceivest these vain and windy words of thine thou wilt one day find the load of them so heavy that they wil be like a Mill-stone to sink thee down into irrecoverable 〈◊〉 so that thy life and death lies in thy words as little as thou makest of them Look at them with respect to OTHERS cast them into the Ballance of Comparison and Consideration with the evil of others and thereby the greatness of their evil wil more evidently appear I answer therfore in the second place The evil of thy words is in some regard I say in some regard worse than the evil of thy heart though that be the Store-house and Treasury of noysom distempers and the Ware-house which furnisheth a mans whol course yet corrupt language ads a deeper dye and makes those evils of the heart more loathsom As there
man say they can see or know the thoughts of our hearts therfore they cannot be offensive or scandalous to any and therefore it s not possible they should be discouraged from doing any good they desire or intend or provoked to the practice of any evil that may be dangerous to themselves or dishonourable to the Lord. besides they appear not só soon to our apprehensions but they pass away in an instant and are as though they had never been and what great evil is in the and why should the soul be so deeply 〈◊〉 with them and the sinner be forced to feel so great sorrow for them this is to make them worse than they are and our selves more miserable than we should be The evil of thy thoughts and stirrings of the distempers of thy heart are hidden and spiritual and they pass away before thou canst perceive them much less judg of them aright but didst thou but see them as they are and upon thorough search couldst truly find out the bottom of that baseness and filth that is there they would appear exceeding loathsom and hainous to thine own apprehension as he said the sin of the soul is the soul of sin The sin of the body is the body and carkass of corruption that is in the sinful motions of the soul of the mind and heart there is the life poyson and power of corruption putting forth it self in the utmost activity of the venom and malignity of it The Actions of the Body are tainted with the pollution of sin by consent as the distempers of the mind and heart appear in them and are acted by them the body is as it were an accessary in the evil and wickedness the mind is the principal that contrives all useth only the body as an Instrument to vent its own venom and wickedness by More especially see the hainousness of the evil of thy Thoughts and Heart in the Particulars following First In regard of God The sinful poyson of thy thoughts doth estrange thee from God carry thee in professed opposition against him so that the sinner comes by this means to resist the Almighty as it were to his very face Let me open both these in a few words Thy inordinate thoughts takes thee off from yielding attendance to the Lord that thou fallest off from him and the guidance of his wisdom in the Rule before thou fallest into any sin Here came in the first breach between God and the soul and by this the breach is continued and encreased dayly in our departings from him This I know saith the wise man that God made man right but he sought out many inventions or findings Eccles. 7. last He was made for God and should have eyed him directly and kept himself under the operative dispensation of his spiritual Government in which he would not have been awanting to him but he would have carried him to his end and kept him so in happiness that is carried him to himself and kept him with himself for ever But he found out findings so the words When he should have looked to the wil of God as the Compass only appointed to stere his course by he should have looked to the Law which the Lord had found out as the line and level of his life which would not have failed to have led him to his Duty and quickened him in it He was not content with the Rule and way that God had found out but he finds out an Invention out of the vanity of his mutable mind looks to that and is wholly led aside by that from the Lord. So that when he should go from Rule to Rule for the guidance of 〈◊〉 dayly course he goes from one vanity to another from one vain thought to another from one device to another as they said let us devise Devices As in a wel ordered Army break the Rank in one place and ye bring ruin and confusion upon the whol Here was the right order in which we were made and we should have kept Rank and File the mind and judgment should only have attended God the Will attend our Judgment the Affections wait on the Will the Actions issue as the execution of al. Here Satan routed Adam brake this Rank upon the first 〈◊〉 takes off the Mind from attending the Covenant Command and Direction of the Lord The day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die and listens to the 〈◊〉 and forgery of Satan Ye shall not die at all and so fals into the commission of the sin which brought condemnation upon him and his whol posterity and 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 came in thus between God and the soul so it 's dayly made greater by this means As a man once having missed his way the further he 〈◊〉 the further he goes from the right way Such is the ravelling of our own imaginations we 〈◊〉 our selves the longer we continue in them After we are overborn with the hurry of our thoughts we are 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 with our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God his Promises out Directions and Comforts cannot tel where to find our hearts This the Apostle gives as the fountain and first cause of those overflowing evils and fearful back-slidings from God Ephes. 4. 17. The Gentiles 〈◊〉 the vanity of their minds and so become strangers from the life of God Thus David by the sinful devices of his own mind departs so far from God that he cannot find any evidence of his Love or sence and feeling of his favor he plots the commission of the sin then the covering of it therefore sends for Uriah would have sent him to his house when that took not but resolves the contrary then he plots his drunkenness that he might forget his resolution when that succeeds not he sends him back to the Army and delivered him up to the hand of the Enemy in the issue So by inordinate attendance to unruly thoughts the sinner is taken aside so strangely from the Lord and so overwhelmed with the guilt and pollution of sin that partly he dare not and many times is so bewildred and 〈◊〉 that he knows not how to recover himself and come home to God The evil of our thoughts carries the soul in professed opposition against God for it is by the Spiritual Operations and Actions of our minds that we meet with the Lord and have a kind of intercourse with the Almighty who is a Spirit For al outward things are for the body the body for the soul the soul is nextly for God and therefore meets as really with him in the Actions of Understanding as the Eye meets with the Light in Seeing which no other Creature can do nor no action of a bodily Creature doth Our Sences in their sinful and inordinate sweryings when they become means and in-lets of evil from their objects they meet with the Creature firstly and there make the jar It 's the beauty of the Object that 〈◊〉 up to lust by the Eye the daintiness of the
Diet that provokes to 〈◊〉 by the tast the harsh and unkind language that provokes to wrath and impatience by the Ear But the Mind and Understanding toucheth the Lord directly meets with his Rule and with God acting in the way of his Government there and when it goes off from the Rule as before and attends its own vanity and folly it justles with the Almighty stands in open defyance and resistance against him This also appeared in Adams sin our of the folly of his own deluded thoughts he would have unthroned the Almighty and hoped by Satans Counsels to set himself in the room of God Ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil Gen. 3. and he saw it to be good to get knowledg and so purchase a Deity to himself and so put it to tryal thus the wicked openly profess They say to the Almighty depart from us we desire not the knowledg of thy waies Job 21. when they desire not to have the wisdom of God rule in their minds but set up their own foolish imaginations they say then to God depart from us they shake off the Authority of the Truth and with that the Soveraignty of the Lord himself and his Government Hence the Apostle Collos. 1. 21. They were Enemies and where lay that enmity in their minds in their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their Discourse in the exercise of the largest act of their Understandings wherein the use of the whol faculty appears and this enmity appears in the fruit of it which wil undoubtedly follow namely evil works Hence Rom. 8. 7. the wisdom of the flesh is said to be enmity against God not an enemy to him that would somtimes cross and oppose him but Enmity the whol being and working of it is carried in constant opposition against the Law And upon 〈◊〉 ground it is when the Apostle Peter would shew Simon Magus the hainousness of his sin he staies not in the outward expression but cals him directly to consider the thoughts of his heart where that 〈◊〉 language was minted and from whence it proceeded When 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that by laying on of the hands of the Apostles the holy Ghost was 〈◊〉 he perceived how he might get a booty and therefore he fel to bargain tries the Market what shal I give c. The Apostle carried with a zealous indignation against so vile a demand which cast so much contempt and contumely upon the holy Spirit and the gift thereof answers with a holy disdain and denounceth a Curse Thy money perish with thee q. d. thou art in a perishing condition and this money of thine which thou conceivest wil further thy proceedings wil perish also yet he ads a caution for his recovery Oh pray if it be possible that the thought of thy heart may be forgiven Acts 8. 22 23. q. d. Thy sin is so hainous so execrable so detestable it 's almost past al possibility of pardon it 's not in the tongue which uttered the word nor in the hand which offered the money nor yet so much in thine eye that saw the work done for all these met not so directly so immediately with the Lord. The words were propounded to the Apostles the money should have been payed to them but Oh it was the hellish villany of his mind and apprehension which did so basely esteem of the gifts of Gods Spirit as if they might be valued or purchased with money He did so conceive as if the holy Spirit of Grace should Lackey after his lusts and be at the beck and command of such a proud rebellious wretch as that it should be disposed and dispensed according to his will and humor This was in his mind and thought and this made it so hainous an evil that the Apostle put it to a may be if it be possible so that the hellish evil of our imaginations and cursed contrivements of our thoughts may put a man almost beyond possibility of pardon So in the sin against the holy Ghost it 's said our Savior saw their thoughts Mat. 12. ver 25. those gave in evidence of the direfulness and inconceivable hainousness of those contumelious speeches against our Savior when they said He casteth out Devils by Belzebub the Prince of Devils It is not said he heard their words though blasphemous but he saw their thoughts they issued out of their apprehensions their thoughts being calm and quiet it was not some base pang or passion but when they had no provocation their own thoughts carried them against the evidence of all Truth meerly out of the venom of their own hearts This was unpardonable blasphemy and in truth there is no Creature but a reasonable Creature that can close not with the Creature only but with God in his Rule that can sin nor is there any sin properly but where the mind and heart is an Ingredient in it So the ravished Maid though her body was abused yet her person was not charged as guilty of sin nor she polluted therewith because her judgment was not there assenting nor her heart yielding thereunto Look at thoughts in regard of al the other evils of our lives which are acted and appear in our dayly course we may thence come to take a guess at the greatness of the evil of our thoughts for it will appear they are the causes of all other evils and therefore it cannot but be concluded there is more and worse evil in them than in all the rest A mans imaginations are the forge of villany where it 's al framed the Ware-house of wickedness the Magazine of al mischief and iniquity whence the sinner is furnished to the commission of al evil in his ordinary course the Sea of abominations which overflows into al the Sences and they are polluted into all the parts of the body and they are defiled and carried aside with many noysom corruptions Matth. 15. 19. Out of the heart comes murders adulteries thefts there is the nest where al these noysom vermine are bred Matth. 12. 34. Out of the abundance of the heart the tongue speaks and the hand works If there be pride and snappishness in a mans speech stubbornness in a course 〈◊〉 in a mans Conversation there is abundance of al these and more than these within The Imagination of our mind is the great Wheel that carries al with it That loathsom and execrable wickedness worse than which the Sun never saw the Earth never bore that unpardonable siu excepted the killing of the Lord Jesus the Lord of Life the seed of it was a thought cast by 〈◊〉 into the heart of Judas John 13. 3. it was warmed with a covetous disposition and so brought forth that hideous treachery the 〈◊〉 of the Lord Jesus If 〈◊〉 be evil in the tongue that 〈◊〉 it is it not worse in the heart that indites it Wickedness in our actions and speeches are but the brats and brood of our minds and hearts there they were conceived and fashioned in al
concluded my corrupt heart hath had a ful hearing All the Cavils and devices that ever the policy of Hel could coyn or the falsness and deceitfulness of my own heart could 〈◊〉 or frame have been alleadged followed and pressed to the utmost they have been answered and confuted and the definitive sentence is past against mine own soul by the ful consent of my own apprehension I yield the day I confess the case I hold up my hand and plead guilty These are my sins they are so hainous so dangerous I could never have conceived I could never beleeve it before but now I yield and confess it freely these are the abominations that I have committed it 's Hel that I have deserved I am an undone man a poor forlorn damned creature this is my 〈◊〉 I cannot prevent it nor can I bear it I do not now question it Awake with this in the morning sit down with this at the Table walk with this al the day long and let this Truth rest with thee when thou betakest thy self to rest and it wil over-power and affect thy heart So Job when his heart came off kindly in a godly remorse for his transgressions he suffers the 〈◊〉 of his condition to lodg and stay with him he lies under it and looks at nothing else Job 7. 20. What shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men I have sinned q. d. I have no Arguments to alleadge no excuses to make I can say nothing nor do nothing in mine own defence only I must say I have sinned thou art the preserver of men and unless thou succor me I must perish I cannot preserve my self If the Corrosive be never so keen the Salve never so searching and operative yea though it were applied to the rawness of the Sore the very proper place for it's work if ye stirr it continually now take it off then lay it on it wil never work effectually 〈◊〉 throughly or kindly heal the wound but you must bind it on let it stay upon the place by the space of so many hours then you shal find the proper and powerful operation thereof So it is with the Soveraign and convicting Truths of Christ when all Cavils have been answered and all the pleas which a mans self-deceiving heart hath put in have been removed so that the Truth finds passage to the Conscience and is applied aright unto the soul unless it settle there by a silent subjection unto the strength of it and admit no further questioning nor debating when the cause is determined by undeniable evidence it never works kindly nor prevails 〈◊〉 effectually as otherwise it would It 's 〈◊〉 policy and practice he dayly attends When Scriptures are so pregnant and Arguments come in with such strength that no carnal pretences can stand before them though he retires for the present and seems to leave the cause yet upon the next occasion when any advantage is presented he brings about the business again and follows the temptation afresh and puts in some pretence while he questions the Truth he hinders the operation of it for the while while we are parlying and disputing what we should do we omit so long to do what we ought and unfit our selves to do what we intend and are resolved of formerly Therefore when al cavils have been silenced let not these brablers appear again nor suffer them to renew their suits and 〈◊〉 any more but cast them out of consideration as we do use to cast bils and barreters out of the Court when the causes have been heard settle the heart under the sentence of the Truth and let it sit down there Hear nothing against the determination of the Word but out of the Word and then it 's certain that determination wil never alter before thy condition alter Give thy soul for gone really according to the righteous Judgment of the Truth and stop al passages that no carnal reason may come to the speech of thy soul or pretend any way of rescue and you wil presently perceive it wil break kindly under the blow or else look out for relief elswhere Go aside then and parley with thy Spirit and say The Word upon serious search and examination hath determined it my Conscience confesseth it and I now see the loathsomness of my sin and wretchedness of my self and condition I go up and down the world as a condemned creature whose doom is past and look dayly for the day and hour of execution that death consume my daies my body drop down to the dust and my sinful proud polluted soul be dragged down into Hel amongst the Devils to avoid it is impossible to bear it is intollerable wo to my soul that thus I have sinned and who shal who can deliver from this sin and this death Talk not trouble not me with dispute what my sin and my condition is but Oh help me out of it if it may be And it 's certain if thy soul abide here it wil sink under unsupportable sorrow and soak it self in it for this wil take away the sight and sweetness of any thing that may refresh and support the wounded soul because he wil see his sins in the bitterness and venom of them where ever he is and what ever he doth and as that which poysons al the best of the comforts of this life He sees his sin in his prosperity which is but the fatting of him for the slaughter He sees his sin in his honor he is advanced the higher that his downfall may be the more miserable God fils his belly with his hid Treasures of this world that he may treasure up wrath against the day of wrath As it is with 〈◊〉 if it pass through the fire only it hardly warms it but if it lie under the blowing of the sire it wil melt it When we take away carnal shifts and bring the soul to the sight of sin we put it into the fire but that only warms it a little but when it sits down under the Sentence it 's then under the Furnace and that wil melt it Thus our iniquities are said to lay hold of a man Psal. 40. 12. When we are under the Sentence which the Word passeth upon our sin we are then under the reach of our sins and they then lay hold of us and that wil cau e that we shal not be able to lookup All those Truths that we shal hear publickly dispensed out of the word or we shal privately read in it which concerns our corruption of which we stand guilty or that condition into which we are brought by reason of our sin We must take them home to our selves as the special portion the Lord hath appointed unto us in particular and we must make particular application of them in a peculiar manner unto our selves for by this means there is more light without whereby our sins and estates are more fully discovered more Eye-salve and Spiritual sight conveyed to
would judg our selves we shal not be judged of the Lord 1. Cor 11. 31. Who would not now be convinced that he may then be acquitted see his sins now for his humiliation that he may never have them then laid to his charge Jer. 50. 20. In those dayes and at that time saith the Lord the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shal be none and the sins of Judah and they shal not be found for I wil pardon their iniquities and wil remember their sins no more How should this encourage thee to seek out for thy sins now to search thy heart and to look into thy life when as indeed if thou dost so see thy sins as to sorrow for them and by this sight and sorrow thou be driven to a saviour thy sins may be sought for but they shal be found no more When they heard this The description of contrition stood of two parts wherby the nature of the work was especially discoverd Partly in the Causes of it Sight of sin Sorrow for sin Effects of it 〈◊〉 of sin Sequestration from sin Concerning the sight of sin so far as it serves our turn in a true conviction of it in that they stood here as accused by Peter and condemned in their own Consciences as guilty of no less than the blood of Jesus we have already spoken The second thing in the text to be considered is the means how this was wrought And these are two The first is a particular Application of their special corruption the Apostle doth not hover in the general and shoot at rovers but comes close to them chargeth them expresly in a special manner and le ts fly in the very faces of them this Jesus whom yee have 〈◊〉 he names not he blames not any other he sayes not Judas was a wretch that betrayed him the souldiers cruel that took him Pilate base and fearful and 〈◊〉 that condemned him no this is the Jesus and you are the men that have committed this villany A person could not be more innocent a practice more bloody you are men that stand guilty of this horrible abomination of Crucifying the Lord of Glory The Doctrine from hence is this A plain and particular Application of special sins by the Ministry of the word is a special means to bring the soul to a sight of and sorrow for them Plain Application and powerful conviction 〈◊〉 together Let the house of Israel know that God hath made him Lord and Christ whom ye have crucifyed you are the men I mean this is your sin I mention Thus our saviour the great Prophet of His Church who spake as never man spake and best knew how to deal with deceitful hearts he layeth his finger upon the sore and mark how he pincheth with particulars as his ordinary manner of dispensation was to the Churches Rev. 3. 2. I know thy works thou hast a name to be alive but thou art dead I say thou art hypocritical and I know what I say and I tell thee openly what I know thou hast a form of profession but thou hast no heart nor life nor power of religion in thy course He that could not erre in what he did teach he teacheth what Ministers should do in their dispēnsation And there was nothing more usual with our Saviour then to point out particular sins and sinners Woe be to you Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites Math. 23. and therefore he doth not closly and covertly as it were give a kind of intimation afar off what he would and leaves 〈◊〉 to pick and search out his meaning but tells them their own in English as we say plucks them out by the pole goes not behind the dore to tel men their faults but gives in testimony against their sin and that to their teeth Luke 16. 15. when the Pharisees in an impudent manner began to mock at him he lets fly poynt blanck You are they that justefy your selves but the Lord knows your hearts Yea it was the charge he gives to al his prophets when they were to deal with the Jewes and to dispense his counsels unto them Hos. 2. 1. 2. Plead with your Mother plead tell her she is not my Wife Plead is a Law term cal her by name summon her into the court of Conscience follow the suit against her Lay the charge and plead the Acton against her particular sins Thus Stephen Acts. 7. 51. Yee stiff-necked and hard hearted yee have alwayes resisted the holy Ghost as your Fathers did so do yee So the Apostle frequently Acts 4. 10. 11. be it known to you and to all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus c. whom ye have crucifyed This is the stone refused by you builders you are the men and this is your evil The Reasons shall be touched in a word The place and duty of a Minister requires this who hath a special charge and therefore should have a particular care to foresee and so to prevent the particular and special evils which he perceives to blemish the Christian course and endanger the spiritual comforts of the people under his guidance and of whose safety he must give an account and this wil not be done unless a man single out the persons and set home their sins in special The steward is not only to know 〈◊〉 several conditions of the persons in the family but to provide a portion suitable for each if ever the safety of the whol be provided for and the cordials for the weak milk for the little ones and stronger meat for those who are of able strength the Skil of the Physitian the onely way to cure a settled and inward distemper as the dropsy or falling sickness is not to give the patient an ordinary purge a common receit that every Quack-salver wil do and do no good at al But he must have that wisdom to hit the humor and to provide ingredients that wil suit the temper of the party and the 〈◊〉 nature of the disease So it is the part of a skilful Minnister to hit the humor of the heart of a sinner to make a receipt on purpose to meet 〈◊〉 the particular distemper such as wil worke upon or sluggishness pride hypocrisie perversness and as the medicine doth upon the spleen or choller and so the Lord to the Prophet Ezek. 16. 2. Cause the house of Israel to know their abominations The Sedulous shepheard who indeed would provide for the wellfare of his sheep it s not enough that by common survey he casts his eye upon them but he must pen them and handle them search them and 〈◊〉 them 〈◊〉 to their several ayls and such Maladies unto which they are subject So a faithful Minister must 〈◊〉 with poor sinners as with the Sheep commended to 〈◊〉 care and custody he must find them in their particular evils and follow them with application of special helps The necessity of sinners requires this For this
Conscience and knows more than he can express or thou perceive in thy self However it is He had thee in his intendment in what he said If thou wert faulty to reform the evil if not faulty to forewarn thee For a faithful Minister should intend the good of all in al it 〈◊〉 and they should receive it If happily thou be freed from the outward practice of the evil yet thou hast the spawn of it in thy soul and that which wil provoke thee unto it and that corrupt part hath given approbation to the evil thou hast not set thy self so much against the evil and that hath made thee so far share in the evil and so justly subject to share in the reproof Thus the Apostle chargeth the Jew Rom. 2. 1. When the Jew would plead his Innocency from such evils of the Gentiles because he is ready to condemn and judg them in that behalf saies the Apostle Thou therefore that judgest another thou condemnest thy self for thou thy self dost the same things but it might have been replyed We do not we are not whisperers back-biters guilty of 〈◊〉 malice covetousness c. Interpreters answer that the Apostles meaning is Though they committed not such evils yet the corruption of their Nature suited with them and so shared in them and therefore justly liable to the like 〈◊〉 of the Law more or less He meant what he said and what his words meant If there be any evil in them bear witness of the evil John 18. 23. and it 's just a man should bear his blame Would'st thou fish more out of a mans meaning than thou canst find in his words I fear thou meanest to be a Caviller It 's a certain Argument of a captious and contentious disposition and commonly of a man that carries a galled Conscience that seeks waies and means to make a fault when he cannot find one It 's a word 〈◊〉 Exhortation 1. To Ministers 2. To People To Ministers what they should do To the People what they should desire To the Ministers They have a pattern here for their 〈◊〉 If we wil be faithful to our Places and the Work commended to our Care faithful to the souls of the People if we would further the Work of the Lord and the Word and see the fruit of our labors to the conviction and conversion of such as belong unto Gods Council This is Gods way in which we must walk if we purpose to find Gods blessing that others may reap the profit and we the comfort of our pains at the great Day of our Account we must by particular Application make men see their sins if ever we hope they shal see the Salvation of the Lord. How to stere our course in this so tickle a Channel and so tender a Work these following Directions will not be unseasonable First We must learn to bottom our Application upon the blessed Word of the Lord rightly apprehended and opened plainly by undeniable Evidence Then our Application wil come with uncontroulable power to the Conscience when it comes guarded with Authority and 〈◊〉 of the Truth and men cannot but give way to those Reproofs when they cannot gainsay the evidence of Gods mind and Counsel therein That however carnal hearts wil secretly be weary of them yet they wil not dare openly to oppose them because they perceive that they must oppose the Counsel of God plainly dispensed therein and in their own Conscience also Therefore I have ever judged it most seasonable if I would pursue a sinful course breaking out not by the by to pull it into a discourse but to take a Text on purpose wherein it is plainly condemned That the people may hear God in his Word speaking before we speak this is to shew our Commission before we do Execution and this wil stop mens mouths Never balk any thing that is in the Text never wrest any thing out of the Text that is not there for that savors too much of a mans own spirit or passion or private ends al which must be avoided as much as Hell If any man speak let him speak as the Oracles of God 1 Pet. 4. 11. not our fancies or passions or conceits but let Gods Oracles be heard only It 's lawful for a Minister so to cast the mould and carry the frame of his Application that the guilty parties may conceive it and their Consciences find and feel 〈◊〉 that they be the parties that the Lord points out and intends of purpose to 〈◊〉 and pursue Matth. 21. 41. 45. Thus our Savior laies out the corrupt carriages of the Scribes and Pharisees and paints them out so lively that they felt him and were forced to give in evidence of their own condemnation against themselves as in verse 41. They say he will miserably destroy those wicked men and verse 45. When the chief Priests heard this they perceived that he spake of them In case either some false Opinions are spreading or some corrupt and sinful practices are like to grow and leven and that speedily and dangerously It 's lawful in way of caution and prevention to discover mens sins and errors in their own words that others may avoyd them the better and they be ashamed of them the more Thus Peter discovers the faults and wretched behaviour of the Jewes to our saviour in their own words Acts. 3. 14. you denyed that holy and just one and desired a murderer to be granted to you Not him but Barabbas 1. Cor. 15. 22. How say some among you that there is no resurrection Nay it s lawful to name special persons in an evil if there may thereby be special warning given to others from falling So Paul to Timothy 2. Tim. 1. 15. of whom is Phygellus and Hermogenes it's Calvins 〈◊〉 upon the place they were more famous and therefore their Apostacy might be a means to draw others therefore he gives warning concerning them If any man say this is to shame men I answer their sins should be made shameful they should take shame for them that they may sorrow for them and forsake them Let our Application go so wel guarded and fensed against al exceptions and cavils that a sinner may not be able to rescue himself or make an escape by carnal reason As Acts. 6. 10. It 's said they were not able to resist the wisdome and the spirit by which he spake Math. 22. 34. our saviour Christ put the Sadducees to silence Let it be done with pity and tender compassion to mens souls though with zeal and indignation against their sins 2. Tim. 2. 24. 25. the servant of the Lord must be patient and gentle towards al in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves As a Chirurgeon may be most compassionate when he cutts most deep even to fetch up the core and therefore the Apostle adds both to Titus shew all meekness to all men and therefore to the Cretians and yet rebukes them sharply Titus 1.
13. He that is truly meek and pities the souls of men most he wil shew least pity to their sins all sharpness of rebuke and yet al meekness of spirit do wel accord The exhortation to the people is that as ever you desire to see your sins and have your hearts brought to sorrow for them you must desire it and delight in it that you may have the light brought home to your souls in way of particular applycation to your own sins there is no means so effectual as this therefore desire God that your ministers may take such paines that they may speak to your Consciences Take three considerations here Weigh sadly that when the Minister speaks in way of Applycation so as to discover thy sins he doth no more than he may nay no more than he should in point of Conscience his life lyes at stake if he should not deal plainly and faithfully and therefore know its unreasonable for thee to quarrel with the Minister or with that he speaks when he hath the word for his warrant in what he does Look at the good of the dispensation of an ordinace and overlook the 〈◊〉 of it As some would not see but drink of the Physick minding the wholsomness and bearing with the unpleasantness of it for the present As it 's wearisom to the Surgeon to be raking in the sore so it is to the Minister but it is for thy good and therfore though it be painful and cross to thy carnal affection yet thou shouldest take contentment in such a dispensation of the word as is such an effectual means of thy good When thou findest thy heart 〈◊〉 consider that an under quiet taking in sharp reproof it s a sound argument of the sincerity of thy heart and truth of thy love to God and his word When a man 〈◊〉 to be shaken in his Comforts and a sharp and keen reproof comes home to a man to force him to see and be humbled reform his evil wayes if he can 〈◊〉 receive and yield 〈◊〉 to such a reproofit's a sign his heart is sincere in the sight of God when he saies as they did Zach. 13. 6. these are the wounds I received in the house of my friends When they heard this We heard before that application and special discovery of our particular corruptions what force it had to break the heart We have here yet a Second means couched in the manner of the 〈◊〉 expressed in the Text. The word is read in the Participle and carries a kind of 〈◊〉 endeavor with it a 〈◊〉 of mind about that which was heard In hearing they heard it and when the Sermon was over they had received the message of the Lord delivered by the Apostle when they happily were departed yet that word departed not out of their Ears and hearts They heard it over again they mused upon it it stuck by them their thoughts recoiled afresh upon the consideration thereof it pressed heavy upon their hearts Conviction brings the sin Application laies it Meditation settles it upon the heart that it sinks under it as unsupportable Hence then the Doctrine is Through Meditation of sins applied is a special means to break the heart of a sinner As men that are stoned and pressed to death while the stones are few that are cast and the weight not great may be they are troubled and wounded in some measure but their bones are not broken nor yet their lives hazarded but while they stil continue flinging and adding to the number and weight their bones break and their lives fayl under the overbearing pressure that is put upon them A serious thought and right apprehension and application of a sin toucheth and troubleth the sinner but daily meditation flings in one terror after another and followes the soul with fresh consideration of yet more sin and yet more evil and that more hainious and yet more dangerous beyond al pprehension and imagination so that a sinner is stoned to death as it were and breaks under the burthen of it Thus the repenting Church Lam. 3. 19. 20. In remembring mine affliction the wormewood and the gall my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me in remembring I remembred they were daily musing and continually poring and that made them pierce in wardly look as it is in the body it is so in the soul meat minced if never 〈◊〉 and digested it never nourisheth A potion prepared and given if not retayned and kept in the stomack it never purgeth or worketh kindly for cure So here in the soul Applycation carves out a fit potion of truth to the sinner but Meditation is that which digests it and makes good blood of it Applycation compounds the potion a particular reproof which is keen in the working brings it home but meditation retaynes it that so it may work kindly put forth the 〈◊〉 powerful effect for the loosening of those loathsom lusts which are like noysom and corrupt humours which threaten the death and ruin of the soul. This is one thing which is undoubtedly implyed in that place by the consent of al interpreters that I know Psal. 77. 10. While the prophet was taking up his thoughts with attendance to his own distempers and sinful provocations and the Lords departure from him by reason of the same he sits down almost overwhelmed with the direful apprehension thereof I said this is my death but I wil remember the changes of the right hand of the most high this poring upon his own sins and 〈◊〉 was his death therefore he turns the tables and turns his thoughts another way and that was the cure of those discomforts even the remembrance of the former the former expressions of Gods favour and faithfulness it s also one part of the meaning of that text Psal. 40. 12. My sins have taken such hold of me that I cannot look up when we lay hold upon them by serious meditation then they lay hold upon us and when our minds attend not but slip aside from the serious consideration of them then they slip away from us For explication we shal 1 Shew what this meditation is 2 Apply the general Doctrine to the particular occasion and see how this helps forward this work Then 3 We shal make use For the first Meditation is a serious intention of the mind whereby wee come to search out the truth and settle it effectually upon the heart An intention of the mind when one puts forth the strength of their understanding about the work in hand takes it as an especial task whereabout the heart should be taken up and that which wil require the whol man and that to the bent of the best ability he hath so the word is used 〈◊〉 1. 8. thou shalt not suffer the word to depart out of thy mind but thou shalt meditate therein 〈◊〉 and night when either the word would depart away or our corruptions would drive it
sinner and to speak terror to his Conscience out of the word that they may be troubled and tumbled and so find rest at the day of Christ. These Quack-salvers send the distressed sinner to sports pastimes and recreations and merry Company that they take up their thoughts and take off their minds from attending to their sins or the truth that is take off the Slave that should cure them spil the Physick that should heal their maladies thus they ease their terrors for the while that they may increase their torment forever accursed comforters or rather they take up the Devils name and Office Apollyon destroyers of the souls of men therefore holy Peter gave that advise to these hearers Save your selves from this crooked generation q. d. your safety and their society cannot stand together you must not continue with them if you would have the power and comfort of the word continue with you and therefore experience evidenceth God so disposeth ever in the dispensation of the work of his Grace either the sinner that is wounded wil shake off his wicked company or els the counsel of the word and the worke of Gods spirit Hence that of the Apostle Eph. 5. 14. Stand up from the dead and Christ shal give thee light and 2 Cor. 6. 17. Come out from among them and be yee separate and then I wil receive you and walk among you God wil not walk with you if you wil walk with the world there is no coming into communion with Christ unless we come out there Christ tells his disciples John 15. 19. I have chosen you out of the world Exhortation We here see the way that the Lord hath chalked out before us the means which in mercy and in way of his providence he hath provided appointed to break our hearts to bring us to his son and so to life We are therfore to be exhorted to attend and follow the counsel of the Lord that we may expect and so receive his blessing even with Consciencious diligence and studious endeavour to press on to the perfourmance of this service some hapily never knew it looked not at it as a labor or task that did 〈◊〉 to them let such now own it and set about it with al 〈◊〉 might others it may be have been convinced of the duty and have been forward in the practice of it in former times and forced to it in the 〈◊〉 of their distrels but now are fallen back and grown wearish in their way those are to be perswaded to proceed on with more chearfulness and speed he that never knew the work let him now learn it He that hath set about it in former times let him be for ever quickened and encouraged in it Joyn al your counsels and resolutions you that are children and servants in the same family members in the same assemblies neighbours in the same place and plantation and 〈◊〉 upon each other to this holy course Lam. 3. 40. Let us search and try our wayes and turn again unto the Lord. say so one to another you that are privy to the wretchedness of your own hearts and lives we complain and that justly of a giddy slightness of spirit we meet with many stroks of the word stirrings and recoylings of spirit our hearts misgive us many checks of Conscience and motives we think of the holy Ghost cast into our minds but nothing stayes with us sticks upon us they pass away insensibly and leave no impression no power behind them we wash away al we cannot but see and wonder at the unreasonable hardness of our heart and condemn our selves who have had so many blows from Gods hand and they break not so many dreadful threatnings we hear out of the word dayly able to shak the heart of a Divel we stirr not we are not affected therewith our corruptions are hainous for their nature many for their number accompanied with direful plagues from the Lord are daily before our eyes have driven many to untimely deaths and so to Hel. We cannot but acknowledg al this and yet we be not touched with any saving remorse for them we have had al helps and the Lord hath tried al conclusions upon us and yet al in vain Who knows but we have been negligent this ordinance and therefore God hath cursed al others we have not used this means as wel as others and therefore we have got benefit by none who knowes but the want of this hath hindred the success of al other that we have had and used in our times and places Oh then recover our former carelesness send our thoughts a far off and survey our former conversations let us search and consider our own wayes who knows but the Lord may turn our hearts to him Let us question our own souls and say to our selves what have we done that it may be beyond question that God hath humbled pardoned and accepted of us What is the reason that one sinks under the sin that another never feels It is with our sins as with our burdens he that sees a weight and it may be lifts at it but if he never lay it upon his shoulder or if it be layed he never keeps it there but casts it off immediately he wil never be touched or troubled with it which another dies under as not able to endure so it is here our sins and iniquities are a burden too heavy for any man to bear and not to break under them and they who are forced to feel the Least of them are compelled to confess as much as the Devils and damned in Hel the wicked in horror of Conscience my punishment is greater than can be endured Others whom God abates of the execution of his displeasure for the present these men look at them and may lift at them a little by some sudden flashy and flitting apprehension as they hear or read c. But by Meditation to bind this burden upon their Consciences that the heart cannot get from under it they are not able to abide the weight of them therefore wil not abide the thought of them they 〈◊〉 off and cast away the burden and so they never feel it before the infinite Justice of the Lord seizeth upon their souls by everlasting discouragement Better we set them in order before our eye trouble our hearts with them than that the Lord should set them in order before us at the day of Judgment and tear us in pieces when there shal be none to deliver us To help in this so hard a buisiness let me speak something 1. By way of provocation to stir you up to this work 2. By way of direction to guid you in it To provoke your hearts thereunto take these considerations Let every man take it to himself as his own task charge it upon his own soul as a service which by unavoydable necessity lyes upon him which he may not neglect This wil awaken the soul to the work say
and exhortations that awakened and affected the heart now slide away like water upon a rock and there is no print or the least appearance of any impression left behind the ruine of mens comforts lives and liberties which sin hath brought are open but oh the woful desolation of souls could it be seen of al as it is felt of some whose heart God toucheth it would make sin exceeding sinful and unsupportably evil as they in the Prophet complayned bitterly Why are our hearts hardened from thy fear Isa. 63. 17. Besides this bitter fruit which the sinner is forced to tast of sin in his own particular view wee the extent of that evil which sin doth unto others and that partly which is common to every corruption of what ever kind or degree it is of great or smal open or secret whether more loathsom and not 〈◊〉 to the eyes of men or that which is esteemed less in the account of the world that which is an ingredient into the nature and constitution and making up of every corruption that it makes a breach upon the righteous law of God i. e. not onely shaks of the rule and soveraignty of the law but preferrs in truth the supremacie of our lusts before the authority of the Lord himself which ho hath and ought to exercise over our souls For the sinner in the practice of any sin proclaims this unto the world it s not the royalty of the righteous law of God but mine own distemper shal rule me not his wil but mine own wayward corruption shal 〈◊〉 the ballance It s not the wisdom of the word but my folly and the vanity of my ignorant mind shal lead me in what I do It s not the goodness of the Law of Gods holiness but the pleasing corruptions of mine own carnal heart shal content me in a word each man professeth God shal not be his God but he sets up his lust in his room and doth homage therunto than which what greater indignity can be done to the Almighty Al men look at it as a most hellith expression of the Jews 〈◊〉 him but Barabbas Barabbas was a murtherer vile and base yet a man and therefore somthing of God in him but more hideous is the hateful blasphemy which the practice of every sinner proclaymes not God but sin he advanceth sin in his choyce which is nothing but baseness it self above the infinite holiness of the only blessed God so their profession was they said to the Almighty depart away from us we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes thou saiest in thy heart as much when in the secret resolution of thy soul thou baddest humility depart the pride of thine own heart should carry thee to meekness depart so to the God of Grace and holiness depart the knotty stoutness of thine own spirit was the Liege Lord thou yieldest homage and obedience unto Out of mens Atheism and ignorance this is not thought on and therefore men thinke their sins little nor are they apprehensive of that infinite wrōng that they do to the holy and infinite Majesty of the blessed God Besides this wrong that is common to al sins there be some especially open and scandalous that become out of measure sinful Committed against many mercies against many means against many mercies wherwith God hath 〈◊〉 and allured them that he might have overcome their unkind hearts w th his tender compassions had they but a spark of any good nature or ingenuity within them Thus they sin against more of God therfore their sin becoms unmeasurably 〈◊〉 against the bowels of a Father that hath yerned towards them the blood of a Christ that hath been shed for them the tears of a saviour that have been wept over them Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the consolation and intimations of the spirit who hath striven and entreated Oh do not do so and sin against God and yet impudently presumptuously and pertinaciously thou wouldest break through al these armyes of compassions to commit that sin that wil be thy ruine how vile thy carriage and how just thy plague Thus Nathan pleads with David when he would lay open the loathsomness of his evil before him 2 Sam. 12. 7. 8. 9. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel I annoynted thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul and I gave thee thy masters house and thy masters wives into thy bosome and gave thee the house of Israel and the house of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the command of the Lord The heart of the holy man sunk down in sorrow I have sinned Yea these coals of fire if gathered and heaped up I mean these compassions rightly considered and weighed and layd upon the heart they are able almost to melt the most flinty disposition Jud. 2. 1. 2. 3. So the Angel overbore the rebellious spirits of the Israelites I made you to go up out of Egipt and have brought you into the land which I sware unto your Fathers and I said I will never break my Covenant with you and ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land you shal throw down their altars but ye have not obeyed my voyce why have ye done this and it came to pass when he spake these words unto al the Children of Israel that the people lift up their voyces and wept This brake their hearts al in pieces though perverse and rebellious they ceased answering and fel to weeping their tears and mourning were instead of words they would return in their defence Against many means wherwith the Lord hath striven with us to stop us in the pursuit of sin and to reclame us from our iniscarriages God hems in a poor creature on every side by publick dispensations and private 〈◊〉 by ordinary and extraordinary helps way-layes a sinner and hedgeth up his path 〈◊〉 thorns and builds a wal about him that he might find the ways of ungodlyness no more Hos 2. 8. He that adventures upon the commission of sin against such means and breaks through such armyes of ordinances there is a multiplication of many sins in the commission of one because it is against the multiplication of many truths or one truth in a manifold dispensation he sins against so many instructions so many comforts so many counsels he hath heard Confessions he hath made and prayers he hath put up for himself and others have made in his behalf every one of these dispensations hath an action against the soul because it hath been wronged by the sinner John 12. 48. He that heareth and rejecteth hath one that judgeth even that word that I have spoken and he hath heard wil judg him saith our Saviour Christ. Those reproofs that thou haft heard and not submitted to Instructions that thou hast heard and not embraced thou shalt need no other
procure it The Lord in the Work of Conversion doth not only by moral perswasion propound the Truths of the Gospel and enlighten the mind but puts a principle into the heart of such as he brings effectually and savingly home to himself In this work of God the Sinner at first is meerly patient That men may 〈◊〉 this from God every man is bound to wait upon him in the means he hath appointed and according to the utmost of his power improve al abilities and advantages he hath When any man hath improved his abilities to attend the means of Grace neither hath used his ability to oppose and cavil at the means it 's in Gods freedom to take either or refuse both for it is not in him that 〈◊〉 andruns but in God that shews mercy Rom. 9. 16. COMFORT Here is ground of incomparable Encouragement and in truth of inconceivable Refreshing to hold up the heads and hearts of the most wretched sinners in the most forlorn condition able to shore and prop up the soul with some possibility of good that it sink not down and be swallowed up with desperate discouragement I am almost afraid to cast such Pearls before Swine And when I do but think or suspect that any carnal wretch should abuse this kindness and turn this Grace of God into wantonness if it do not depend upon my doing I wil do nothing let God do al. I am forced almost to bite in my words and my heart almost misgives me as loth to cast away such compassions of the Lord upon such hellish Varlets who out of the venom of their Spirits would turn these choyce Preservatives into Poyson Yet because it is like a piece of board left after the wrack when the Ship is broken as the last means of relief as a cord of compassion let fall amongst a company of poor perishing Creatures ready to be over-whelmed with the floods of iniquity and who knows but some may catch it at the last cast before they go hence and be seen no more Let me therefore bequeath this Encouragement to you as my last Will even the words of a dying man before you and I appear before the dreadful presence of the Lord. Know then you are yet in the Land of the Living and bless God you are so and know because it 's the will and pleasure of God to do good to some of the worst of men as he sees 〈◊〉 therefore there is yet hope while there is life some little peep-hole of hope like a pins head a possibility there is you may receive good You see here how he prevails with the spirits of 〈◊〉 most perverse they have their hearts 〈◊〉 though it be 〈◊〉 the hair 〈◊〉 heart and all 〈◊〉 when they 〈◊〉 and wounded the godly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 poor Disciples 〈◊〉 your hearts eccho then from every corner of the Assembly Pierce me me 〈◊〉 Pardon me me also Humble me me also 〈◊〉 thy abundant goodness and good pleasure If the 〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉 so dangerous and in appearance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the disease be 〈◊〉 so deadly and in the apprehensions of al past help If the Physitian and 〈◊〉 be known to have cured and helped in such cases and that he yet lives the patient wil yet support himself with such inferences why may not my sore be cured my disease healed so the Lord lives who hath done as much for forlorn sinners and why not for me poor wretched creature say so thou saiest 〈◊〉 This is the scope of Gods counsel and his very purpose why he leaves such patterns of the freeness of his compassions that yet forlorn creatures might look to him from the depth of their most desperate misery Let not the Lord fayl of his intendment nor you of your comfort 1 Tim 1. 16. I was a Blasphemer a Persecuter and injurious howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me 〈◊〉 Christ Jesus might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting That they might hope stil for Good as he received it and know they may be made partakers of it upon the same terms that he was set the pattern of this compassion 〈◊〉 your eyes and see yet a possibility of relief We shal sever a little the particulars that each man may suit his own condition with that most 〈◊〉 him here is that which answers to every necessity and complaint One complaines his wants are so many he cannot 〈◊〉 how ever they should be supplyed another complains his spirit so perverse he knows not how it can be subdued a third his rebellions so open so grosse against the Almighty al the means of life its 〈◊〉 that ever the Lord should pass by such hellish provocations I 〈◊〉 al your complaints are just and weighty your condition very dangerous And let me tel you did your relief and help depend upon your preparations and 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 its certain your hearts and 〈◊〉 and hopes would utterly fail and give up the Ghost Here is the anchor of your hopes that where in your help lyes is here and leave not this anchor-hold the Lord can do good and wil against al indispositions and oppositions of spirit carriages to the contrary as he sees fit And therefore thou mayest lift up thy head and say then it may be to me yea to thee never so weak to the perverse and rebellious Attend what the Lord sayes take his word and take it with thee Thou seest and confessest thy person baser than the earth that bears thee thy mind ful of blindness stupidity sottish and unteachable in the things of God thou hast heard so many able men enjoyed so many means of conviction and information and al hath slipt away like water spilt upon a rock and why should I think that ever I should be convinced or instructed or any light ever set up in this sottish mind of mine True thou hast been taught by men and man and means have happily done their best and truly they are nothing and thou art nothing and all that they and thou canst do is nothing yea but they shal all be taught of God saies the text Christ now in heaven did more by the Ministry of Peter than in his bodily presence he did nay go further than that then his bodily presence could do though he spake as never man spak No matter how dul thou art if God wil teach thee how weak if God wil strengthen thee Be thy wants what they wil be or can be the al-sufficient God wants neither wisdom nor power nor mercy to do what thou canst need and he wil for thy good And his power pitcheth his tent and taketh pleasure to shew it self in weakness Thou art foolish God chooseth the foolish things of the world to confound the wise 1. Cor. 1. 26. 27. Thou art not any thing thou shouldst be God delights to cal things that are not as though
they were and therefore may cal and choos thee also They are not only dry but dead bones which the Lord makes to live Ezek. 37. 2. can these dead bones live they are not onely miscarrying but barren wombs which the Lord makes to bear and be fruitful Not only when things are under hope but when there is nothing in present appearance or expectation then God can do it Rom. 4. 24. when it is not onely beyond thy power and ability God can support thee and strengthen thee teach and quicken thee when it is beyond not thy apprehension but thy very thought and hope he hath done so 〈◊〉 do so he lives stil and can do so to thee also True my weaknesses are many but that 's not al nor yet the worst the way wardness and perversness of mine own heart ads the greatest weight unto my misery and wretchedness not onely destitute of any spiritual good but not willing to be made better my brow as brass and my neck like an iron and sinew as the Lord complaynes Isa. 48. 4. My heart harder than the nether milstone Job 41. 28. If life and Salvation were laid before me and that I might have heaven and grace for taking or entertainment of it yet I would neither have word nor Christ nor heaven it self unless I might have my wil in heaven such is the invincible stiffness and desperate perversness of my spirit unless I may have what I wil when it comes upon the narrow God must not have his glory nor service nor subjection nor alleagiance nor duty in the least 〈◊〉 discharged I must burn for I can neither break nor yield nor mercies perswade me nor judgments awe me I can receive no good nay I can see no reason why God should do any good to me that would not have it Here is the dead lift and the wonder of al wonders the overpowring of the soveraignty of a stubborn self-willy heart 〈◊〉 the throne where Satan dwells which 〈◊〉 the doctrine of free-wil to be a doctrine of Devils and that which drives the soul to everlasting discouragement pretend what such deceivers can to the contrary But the former doctrine affords support and that which wil bear up thy heart even in this particular also thy Salvation depends not upon thine owne wil for then neither thou nor any flesh should be saved But God shewes mercy to whom he will shew mercy Rom. 9. 19. As nothing can deserve his mercy so nothing can resist his good pleasure when he wil shew it he wil make thee find it and others see it James 1. 18. of his own good wil begot he us by the word of truth It 's not according to the wil of Satan for then no man should be saved it s not according to the wil of man fallen for then no man could be saved But he dispenseth the work of his grace according to his own wil And his counsel shal stand and he will do what he wil. Isai. 46. 11. let the wil of men and Devills oppose it to the utmost of their power Quiet thou thy heart I cannot do any thing that might purchas not yet in truth would I have grace if God would give it only it is with God to do good to this miserable soul of mine as he wil who doth what he wil in heaven and in earth his wil be done and blessed be his holy name for ever and ever and there stay thy self It was the expression of a man in heavy perplexity of Conscience finding the crosness of his wil to snarl at the Lords dispensation his heart sunk within him with unsupportable horror that he had 〈◊〉 the sin against the Holy Ghost and with many prayers and tears he sought to heaven to bring his heart to an under subjection to the good pleasure of the Lord but the Lord left him to his own perversness nothing he could do could prevail with his own spirit and proffessed against that cursed cavil of the Arminians that reproach of the doctrine of Gods free grace which leads to despayr and discouragement openly acknowledging that if his own salvation depended upon his own wil he should perish irrecoverably but that only held his heart in some hope that his happiness was in Gods hand and that it meerly depended upon the wil of the Lord to give him a heart to fear and serve him or else his heart would fayl And it was a savory speech of a gracious woman that had a great deal of Do with her own heart when she could not find her heart to come off so willingly to give way as she ought to what her judgment allowed she besought the Lord to give her such a disposition of heart whether she would or no. Thou yet replyest that which ads to the hainousness of my evil is this these loathsom distempers have not been harboured in mine own breast onely confined in mine own bosom which yet had been too much but they have broken out into the most sierce and professed rebellion and that in the highest degree I have been a professed opposer of the gospel and the power thereof an open Rabshekah a Ringleader and Encourager to such that would revile and reproach the righteous and good wayes of Gods grace a jearing Ishmaelite of such as with 〈◊〉 of Conscience had care to walk therein and have resolved and attempted also even with an impudent face and a brazen forehead to outbrave the authority of the truth and made it matter of scorn to drop and give in to the most dreadful threatnings that could be denounced out of the word I have trampled al the entreaties of the Lord and tender offers of mercy under feet that when I have called over my course and viewed my carriage in cold blood I have wondred that the Lord hath not made me a spectacle of his displeasure before I departed out of the place that the very earth did not open and swallow me quick as Corah 〈◊〉 and Abiram So that God cannot be God unless he do avenge himself and pluck the praise of his justice 〈◊〉 the heart blood of such a wretch nay he should be accessory to the dishonor of his own name if he should shew mercy to such who openly impudently in a hellish haughtiness of heart have trampled his mercy under their feet True flesh and blood could not do it nay the heart 〈◊〉 man cannot think it how this should be did wee measure Gods compassions according to our narrowscantling but Gods thoughts are not ours nor his wayes ours so far as the heavens are above the earth so great is his mercy unto them that fear him Isai. 55. Psal. 103. 11. infinitely above and beyond our own desires and thoughts our imaginations and expectations They are I confess amazing expressions of miraculous compassions of the Lord yet such they are as he is pleased to manifest to sinful dust and ashes He can tel how to have the
to deny the Lord Jesus and his righteousness but if we have fayled and that shamefully as Peter go out immediately and weep with him bitterly for our base departures Math. 26. last the Lord bears not a fearless continuance in any distemper if David bed it securely in base lusts the Lord wil break his bones for it David therefore takes himself here no sooner sees God withdrawing but he seeks him with instancy and importunity Psal. 30. 7. 8. 9. 10. It 's a word of TERROR and astonishment to such who adventure to continue in their sinful distempers because they never found so much as a touch of any 〈◊〉 in their souls for any of those distempers they have continued in know such must assuredly that sin is of the same poysonful nature as ever and the word as true and God as just as ever and therefore their sins they have continued in have al this while made way for over-bearing perplexities which they wil certainly bring upon your souls the less you have felt therefore the more you may expect and without doubt you shal find and receive There is wrath to come tribulation and wrath and anguish wil be and must be upon the soul of every man that sins if you had none as yet there is the more behind when those noysom abominations that have so long nestled in thy bosom and there lyes as it were in ambush wil march in upon thee like armed men and sink your 〈◊〉 in everlasting discouragements cozen not therefore your selves with the present content you seem to find in your corruptions that you can trample upon Christ his ordinances and Servants go away with it without any trouble or controul See these poor creatures and consider their condition what it was and now is they stuck not to profess open rebellion against our Savior Away with him crucify him and they carried al before them with a high hand and so continued from the Passover to Pentecost many weeks together the poyson of their sins that pleased their spirits so much in the practice of them now beginns to work trembling and astonishing confusion unto their souls the pleasure of sin is but for a season and when that is gone look for the like gall and wormewood As it is in the body while the impostume and gross humors are gathering the party finds no matter of grief until at last when it comes to a ful growth and breaks suddenly and proves present death that cannot be prevented and then al the filth and impostumate matter issues out of the ears and mouth and each man can see it when no man can help it It is so with a canckered Conscience and a côrrupt heart who hath hugged and harbored his distempers with pleasure and content so continued Until the Lord break open the 〈◊〉 and then those hideous abominations let in the dreadful terrors of the Almighty which overwhelm the soul of a sinner with unsupportable horrors the Apostle thus concludes it 〈◊〉 Gal. 6. 7. 8. be not deceived God is not mocked as ye sow so you must reap if you sow to the flesh of the flesh you shal reap corruption it may be your ruin is growing but not ripe the harvest of horror is not yet come but be not deceived God is not mocked you shal reap and your crop wil be confusion and perdition the Lord himself hath so revealed it Deuter. 32. 35. in due time their foot shal slide Stay but the time yea he determines it fully as that which he wil not fayl to accomplish Deutr. 29. 20. 21. 〈◊〉 men bless themselves and bear up their heads bravely against al the peal of plagues that were rung in their ears the Lord resolves upon it his anger shal smoak against that man to cut him off from the land of the living c. Pierced As their sins made way for this terror so the word set it on hence The truth is terrible to a guilty Conscience when it prevailingly takes place there It 's a hammer that breaks a fire that scorcheth an axe sharp and keen that cutts and wounds the soul of a wicked unrepentant sinner Acts. 7. 54. When they heard these things they were cut to the heart Because it is a witness to accuse a judg to condemn an executioner to torment such poor creatures as I might make al these good in particulars it 's sayd Rev. 11. 10. That when the two wittnesses were slayn the inhabitants of the earth solaced themselves and sent gifts one to another because those that tormented them that dwelt upon the earth were taken away Matter of trial those who are careful hearers may without fayl discover their condition by the word that is dispensed Art thou sick of the saving dispensations of the holy and righteous wil and law of God thou sits and shakest under it as that which passeth the doom and sentence upon thee which thou art not able to endure nor avoyd do not cozen thy self with any vain conceivings of thy estate or please and delude thy heart with the mistaken apprehensions and approbations of other men it 's certain thy heart is naught and condition also If thou best sick of the truth 〈◊〉 not side with it nor receive approbation from it when it comes in the strength and terror of it As we say of men that are sick at Sea the cause is not in the tempest but in the stomack because there be corrupt and noysom humors there it 's those that raise stir and trouble in the stomack and not the 〈◊〉 when the stomach is purged and clear the passenger can sleep in the most tempestuous Seas So it is where the heart is truly emptied and the Consoience purged from dead works the sharpest truths would find most welcom and entertainment But doth not the truth carry terror with it and that even the best tremble at it It 's true they do so but with a double difference The word though it ever speaks against the corruptions of those that are sincere hearted yet it ever 〈◊〉 sentence on their 〈◊〉 both for the acceptation of their persons and the happiness of that condition they are in through grace and if it appear other to them it is because their judgments are darkned through temptations misguided through some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Micah 7 Are not my words good to them that walk uprightly Isai. 3. 10. Say to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shal go wel with them The Lord and his word sayes no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 man ought to say any other there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ. Rom. 8. 1. but it 's otherwise with the wicked The word not 〈◊〉 condemns their sins but their persons also Because they are one with their sins and incorporate into them and carryed with the power of them Isai. 3. 12. Say to the wicked wo unto them for the reward of their evil works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to them The Saints of God
ever find 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 and most keen threatnings and their hearts tremble at them because the 〈◊〉 of God is there 〈◊〉 submit to them close with God in them they take them as 〈◊〉 to cure the 〈◊〉 in them not 〈◊〉 kil them and therefore take 〈◊〉 in them and they wil stil say the word of the Lord is Good and hence are desirous to hear al to know the worst and the whol mind of God so Ely 1 Sam. 3. 17. hide nothing from me that which wounds most deep and works most kindly he welcomes it with a glad heart because he knowes his welfare is there Whereas a fals 〈◊〉 flyes from the terror of the truth Math. 19. 22. He went a way sorrowful they say to the seers see not and to the prophets prophecy not right things but smooth things Isai. 30. 10. He is loath to hear what his heart doth not like and willing to put by the power and darken the evidence of the truth that appears dreadful to him by reason of his sins Cme we now to the main Observation wherein the pith of this spiritual truth consists and that 's in two things 1. Gross and scandalous sinners God usually exerciseth with heavy breakings of heart before he bring them effectually to himself 2. Sorrow for sin when it 's rightly set on pierceth the heart of the sinner through that is rightly affected therewith To the First Gross and scandalous sinners God usually exerciseth with heavy breakings of heart before he bring them effectually to himself These desperate wretches who had embrewed their hands in the blood of the Lord Jesus and now in an impudent manner set themselves to out-brave the servants of Christ and his Word and Ordinances also the Lord he handles them roughly suitable to their rebellious carriages towards him they had pierced the Body of our Savior and exercised his soul with unsupportable sorrows he pierced their hearts they openly and impudently professed their cruel and accursed rage not him but 〈◊〉 Cruc fie him crucifie him He forceth them to proclaim the loathsomness of this their way in the view of the world they before the multitude scorned the Apostles he forceth them now in the face of the people to reverence and ackn̄owledg them as the dear Servants of God The Lord knows how to deal with men answerable to their sinful dealings with him and the 〈◊〉 of their hearts and doth thus with scandalous ones and not only those whose lewdness and wickedness lies open to the view of the world but with such also who are many times more retired and carry it more cunningly and closely from the eyes of men if yet their evils be gross in which they live and lie as such which oppose the light of Reason the Dictates of Conscience the remainder of those common Principles which are left in the corrupt Nature of men as murder theft forgeries adulteries though molewarplike they carry it never so secretly dig deep to hide their counsel and contrivement from God and man yet commonly God breaks open their Conscience breaks in with dreadful terror upon such plucks those sweet morsels out of their maws and constrains them to vomit out those bosom abominations by open confession after one manner or other to some one or many I say it 's Gods usual manner so to deal with such which implies he may deal so with others but usually so with these Not that he may not nay somtimes deals not so with others whom by the strokes of his restraining Grace he hath preserved and kept untainted from such loathsom abominations and refined by a civil and comely fashion and carriage If either he purpose to use them as choyce Instruments in his 〈◊〉 and improve them in some special Service to set 〈◊〉 and promote his own praise as men use to season their Timber more than ordinary if they intend to use it in some more than ordinary Service and when they mind to raise the building marvelous high they commonly according to a course of prudence lay the Foundation exceeding low Or if the Lord intends to manifest himself to the soul of a sinner with some ravishing sweetness with enlarged and amazed communications of the assurance of his Love Joyes unspeakable and glorious It 's ordinary with the Lord to abase the heart exceedingly under the dreadful apprehensions of it's own vileness that it may be the more fitted to receive such special comforts not to surfet with them by security and pride Great Revelalations have great Humiliations go before them the Eb is very low before the Tyde come with greatest strength and height otherwise the soul would never be able to bear such over-bearing expressions of Gods Love and communications of himself but would certainly abuse them If the Keel of the Boat were little and narrow a large Sail would over-turn it not convey it to the Haven Great Assurances and glorious Joyes are too great a Sail for a heart that is not widened with enlarged contritions and humiliations God would make Job a pattern of Patience to all posterities therefore he exerciseth him with all extremities in all kind of sharp and piercing sorrows and heavy desertions The Lord shakes the heart of Isaiah in the sence of his own unworthiness Wo is me saies he I am undone I am a man of polluted lips before he would reveal unto him those hid Prophesies concerning the Dispensation of his displeasure amongst the Nations and those mysterious depths of the glad tidings of the Gospel which were kept secret from the beginning of the world Paul is buffeted with fierce assaults by the splinter in the flesh that he might not be too much lifted up by Revelations that he might know he was not yet in the third Heavens but in the mid'st of a burry of distempers and a Hell of Devils These are but some exempt cases and that in some persons for some special ends But with gross and scandalous persons it's Gods usual way so to deal not that he is tyed or hath tied himself to this manner of dealing upon necessity but that he hath expressed it to be his good pleasure so to dispense himself to such notorious rebels as that way which best suits the Counsel of his own wil and the attaining his own end his glory and their best good and if ever he make an exemption for causes best known to his own blessed Majesty in bringing such unto himself that he deals tenderly with them at the first it wil hardly ever be found but they tast most 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 afterwards when happily they least 〈◊〉 them and yet are made better able to bear them When the Delivery hath been speedy the after-throws have been many and hazardful many times If such men get somwhat an easie bargain at first there be hard penny-worths heavy after-claps they meet withal beyond their expectation and it commonly never fails The Rule is general the Prophet
delivers touching Gods Dispensation and I know not but it may hold here Psal. 18. 27. With the froward thou wilt deal frowardly the place is hard for the apprehension of it in the fair and full sence of it The words that go before will give in some light With the bountiful thou wilt shew thy self bountiful with the perfect thou wilt be perfect with the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with 〈◊〉 perverse or froward thou 〈◊〉 shew thy self froward thou wilt make thy self deal frowardly To speak to the pinch of the Point but in two words I conceive 〈◊〉 to be the meaning 〈◊〉 the place and the mind of God in it He that walks with God in the exercise of the Rule in a 〈◊〉 manner God 〈◊〉 meet with him in it and give him the 〈◊〉 and comfort that follows and flows from it he that conscienciously keeps the Rule shal be more fitted for to keep it and to share in the blessing and 〈◊〉 of it he that deals bountifully in vertue of the Rule he shal be more apt to that Duty and shal find bountiful dealings from the hands of others God and men he that is upright thorough and simple in Spirit and practice he shal be more exact every way and find peace and praise as the fruit of that he that is pure that is not only contents himself to be simple and sincere hearted in his whol course but is dayly purging himself and clensing his own heart 〈◊〉 severing himself from such taints and remainders of distempers that appear and 〈◊〉 to cleer up the Rule in the beauty and excellency thereof to himself that he may see more of it submit more freely and fully to it the Lord will make himself pure to him So the word God wil let in pure instructions that no darkness or dimness may stumble him or cause him to mistake pure evidence of pardon and acceptance no guilt may unsettle him pure comforts and peace that no doubts or fears may discourage him pure holiness and power of 〈◊〉 that no strength of corruption may blur the Image of God in him or darken the Evidence of the Work of Grace received But 〈◊〉 a man will be froward crook the Rule go cross to the Command and wil walk in the vanity of his own 〈◊〉 and stubbornness of his own Spirit oppose the power of the Truth not willing to look upon or abide to hear of the purity of it God will shew himself froward towards such a one he wil 〈◊〉 you and cross you in your whol course and in al your comforts you crook and wind away from the Rule to content your sins God by his Righteous Law by vertue of the provoking power therof wil deliver you up to the power of your sins and to al the terros and plagues and expressions of his 〈◊〉 that attend thereupon and in the daies of thy distress when nothing wil help thee but the holy Word of God God wil then deal with you and follow you with the 〈◊〉 of your own 〈◊〉 thou would'st not see the holiness and purity of Gods Precepts thou 〈◊〉 have a mind not able to attend or receive or remember any thing that may be for thy direction support or comfort but only live upon thine own guilt and the terrors that attend thereupon and the perversness of thine own heart wil be thine own plague In your froward pangs you flinch and fling care not what you say or do God can be as 〈◊〉 as you nor hear prayers nor regard your complaints nor pity your necessities but pursue you with his plagues let fly on every hand the fierceness of his displeasure God can and wil hamper thee if thou had'st a heart as sierce as a 〈◊〉 of Hell make thee weary of thy part be as perverse as thou wilt or canst be And therefore the word in the place is marvelous pregnant it signifies to contend with another as one that wrastles wil do wreath and 〈◊〉 and turn his body every way that he may meet with his adversary with whom he is to grapple So the Lord will meet with thee at every turn the greater thy opposition hath been against him the greater expression of his displeasure shalt thou be sure to 〈◊〉 and that in the most dreadful manner The sins of Manasseh were high handed and hellish abominations mighty provocations out of measure sinful 2 Chron. 33. 11. Therefore God abased him mightily fettered and 〈◊〉 and humbled him mightily and made him cry mightily before he could 〈◊〉 audience and acceptance with him the cruel and harsh carriage of the Jaylor Acts 16. exceeded his Commission and so the bounds of common Humanity to deal worse with the distressed than either their Fact deserved or the Law permitted or Authority allowed him in that behalf a 〈◊〉 transported with deadly indignation against the waies of God and his People and as it appears by the circumstances of the story a man that pleased 〈◊〉 in such unreasonable practices the Lord therefore handles him answerably to the harshness of his spirit makes the Earth quake and the Prison totter the bolts break and the door fly open and at last his heart begins to shake and die within him notwithstanding the fierceness of his Spirit So Paul Acts 9. he comes trembling to crave the Counsel of those whose presence formerly he loathed There is a Three-fold Ground from whence the Reasons of this Point may be fetched which will Evidence That this manner of proceeding best suits with the insinite Wisdom of God look we at God at others at the sinner himself with whom the Lord is now trading The Holiness of Gods Nature and exactness of his Truth not only commends but even seems with some kind of comely necessity to call for such a manner of Dispensation The Lord stiles himself the holy One of Israel a God of purer eyes than can endure to behold iniquity not able to pass by sin in the least appearance of it and therefore leaves so strict a charge beware lest there be an evil thought in thy heart and abstain from all appearance of evil 1 Thes. 5. When the Lord is to convince the sinner of sin to express his mind and displeasure against him because of those his evils so scandalous and detestable to al that have but the least spark of saving knowledg and Grace yea loathsom to the very light of Conscience in corrupt Nature Should the Lord casily and overly 〈◊〉 them by with some smal 〈◊〉 of some little dislike it could not but impeach his Purity and make himself accessary to the dishonor of his own Holiness When Eli proceeded not with that zeal against 〈◊〉 evil of his Sons as the 〈◊〉 thereof might justly have provoke 〈◊〉 him unto but after a slight manner manifested a heart-less dislike of it the Lord 〈◊〉 1 Sam. 2. 39. That he honored his sons before him rather respected their carnal content that they might not be
so 〈◊〉 ashamed and justly 〈◊〉 as they did deserve than the honor of his name and the excellency of his ordinances and worship that they might be preserved in that purity and attended with that awfulness and holiness of heart as was meet Now that which God abhors and punisheth so severely in another it s not possible that the least appearance of any so great an evil should be justly charged upon the holy one of Israel for he should deny himself to be God if he should deny the exactness of his own infinite holiness and he should not be just should he not manifest the glory of his holiness according to the excellency and 〈◊〉 thereof True it is that out 〈◊〉 meer grace and mercy the Lord Christ brings the soul of a sinner from his sin but the same mercy that would save the sinner cannot but destroy the sin and express its detestation 〈◊〉 it otherwise may 〈◊〉 say and the rebellious sinner think that either the word requires more than it needs and the Saints do more than they ought or else the Lord is not holy as men imagin when the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so great detestation against so gross and scandalous evil which the Lord looks at with so little dislike In regard of others the sharpness of this dispensation of the Lord against such scandalous and notorious offenders seems to be very necessarie Least the hearts of the wicked should be encouraged and their hands strengthened to adventure to commit and careless 〈◊〉 reforme the greatest evils when they shal observe some of their crew and company who were as bad or worle than themselves yet 〈◊〉 acceptance and forgiveness at the hands 〈◊〉 the Lord upon such easy terms and with so little trouble It 's that of 〈◊〉 wise man Eccles. 8. 11. When 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Malefactor is but delayed it 's in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sons of men to take encouragement to 〈◊〉 evil If the delay of the punishment which is not long do so encourage them when that is but little and slight how wil that imbolden in a fearless kind of impudency to proceed to any out-rage when they can promise themselves pardon upon the same terms which others have found before them in the like case and condition with themselves Therefore the Lord in his infinite wisdom doth so temper the sweetness of his mercy and the severity of his wrath in the recovery of a lost and forlorn wretch riches of mercy to the soul to save that rigor of severity against the loathsomness of sin to destroy that so that none should be discouraged to seek for pardon of the greatest wickedness and yet none encouraged to continue the shortest time in the least sin since Gods displeasure is so dreadful against al. It was the course that the Lord prescribes to his Vice-gerents here on Earth in their proceedings against sin that it should be such that all Israel may hear and fear and do no more so Deut. 17. 13. he wil not be wanting to do that against sin which he would have to be done by others he wil hamper al such Rebels that the rest of the company shal have little cause to bless themselves in any of their sinful waies In regard of the sinner himself it 's safest for him that he may be throughly recovered from his corruption for the present and preserved against it for the time to come Recovered for the present he needs heavy blows or else he is like never to have any good by them As with Trees that are rooted deep and of long time continuance ordinary winds have setled them it must be a Herricano that must pluck tear them up from their roots So when the sinner is rooted in 〈◊〉 wretched distempers the wood that is knotty there must be sharper wedges the heaviest beetle and the hardest blows to break it So it is with the hard and stupid and knotty heart of a scandalous sinner As with the stomach filled with stiff and noysom humors easie Physick and gentle Receipts may happily stir the humors but it must be strong Ingredients and a great quantity that must remove it So with a corrupt heart This is a means also to preserve him from it afterward if once he have throughly smarted for his sin he will fear to meddle with it 〈◊〉 he have felt the danger of the Surfet he wil tast the Sweet-meat no 〈◊〉 TRYAL We have here Ground of Discovery how to pass a safe Sentence touching the Spiritual Estate of some persons namely The easie and sudden conversion of such who have been grosly wicked or scandalously vile By grossly wicked I mean such who have been taken aside with some loathsom abominations though they carry it never so covertly as your clofe 〈◊〉 fornications thefts murders continued forgeries of fals-hood and injustice By scandalously vile I mean such who have continued in an open tract of profossed opposition against the power of Godliness I say the easie and sudden conversion of such gives just ground of suspicion why they may question the truth of the Work and others justly suspect it 〈◊〉 their judgments be setled by sad proof long experience and that upon serious observation It 's not Gods ordinary way and therefore men should take more than ordinary tryal before they trust or in truth thou trust 〈◊〉 self The proceeding of God in his Word and Providence are according to the Rules of Wisdom and the right order of causes and means by which he hath appointed to bring about his own will and the Work of his Grace in the hearts of his To save men per saltum is not Gods usual way that works of greatest weight and difficulty should be done in so little time and with so little labor and trouble in other cases thou would'st think it 〈◊〉 why should'st thou judg the contrary reasonable in this which is hardest and the weightiest work of all other unless thou hast more than ordinary warrant for it When men grow rich of a sudden and to a great Estate and those who observe their course see neither waies nor means in reason how to raise it each man concludes it 's not his own Estate but other mens Stock that he braves it withal for he is worse than nothing or else he never truly came by it so that a State somtime questions such So here when a man grows up to a great Estate of Grace and no man can tel how 〈◊〉 so many quarters or yeers he was as base a wretch as the Earth bore not fit to sit with the Dogs of a mans flock his carriage so reffuse and vile as that he was not fit for the Society of moral men that no man could tel how to beleeve his words or to trust his dealing and is he now of a sudden come to the top of Religion a sweet godly gracious man fit to be made a Member of a Congregation how came he to such a large
the other she would have made a hard shift but she would have followed and sound her lovers but the hedg was made of thorns 〈◊〉 and unsufferable sorrows and necessities unavoydable not to be indured not to be removed and those wearied her out of al pretended delights she had formerly taken This is the method that God 〈◊〉 Hos. 5. 12. 14. Hos. 6. 1. First I wil be a Moath 2 if that wil not do I wil be a Lion 3 If that wil not do I wil leave them and go to my place withdraw his comforting and protecting presence and then we hear 〈◊〉 Come let 〈◊〉 return unto the Lord for he hath torn and be wil heal us this did it This 〈◊〉 way for our spiritual comfort in a special blessing if he be pleased to follow the 〈◊〉 with his blessing For its a special means to bring in clearer evidence and 〈◊〉 assurance both of the soundness of the work and the certainty of a mans good estate al the dayes 〈◊〉 his life if the Lord be pleased to second these heavy breakings of heart with his blessing For it is the nature of 〈◊〉 when they are set in opposition to make each other appear more 〈◊〉 For a conscientious 〈◊〉 to be made of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is so 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 especially when the dreadful expressions of Gods displeasure have been so amazing in the eyes of al that have been the spectators and in a peculiar manner astonishing to the soul of the prophane creature that hath selt the arrows of the Almighty sticking fast in him 〈◊〉 he cannot be but restless before he get relief and help so he cannot but know it when he hath gained it the change is great and open Gods dispensation so glorious This man is able to say at such a time in such a place by such a man out of such a 〈◊〉 the Lord was pleased to speak home to my heart to make known himself my self and sin to my self which caused my soul tody within me in the sence of my vileness and misery and from that time forward followed me daily with fears and horrors the venom of vengeance drinking up my spirits until in such and such a manner and by such means he was pleased to work my heart to his own tearms made me glad to seek him importunately yea restlesly and more glad to find him sealing up the truth of his free love by his own spirit in the word of truth This man can tel how he came by his grace and can tel what to say and shew for heaven and happily unless it be through his own careless neglect may carry the assurance with him to his grave Whereas such as the Lord doth sweetly but secretly draw unto himself in an insensible and undiscernable manner restrains them from common evils traynes them up under Godly Parents religious government good company and spiritual means of Instruction and so implants by little and little into the Lord Jesus without their privity or apprehension however their estate is good and their condition safe in its self yet they gaine littl evidence or maintain little assurance thereof in their own hearts but upon every turn are questioning and quarrelling doubting and staggering touching their condition whereas they that come to their grace by many and great troubles retain it commonly with great evidence Thus Paul when the Lord Christ had made a glorious conquest over his proud rebellious and malicious heart against the holy wayes of his truth and 〈◊〉 He could tel and did upon al occasions when the field was fought how the Lord Christ got the day over his hellish distempered heart Thus he relates Gods dealing Acts. 26. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Acts. 22. 1. to the 14. And so issues having obtained help of God I continue until this day thus it was so it is thus it was wrought so maintain d. And though it be true I confess that no man should or wil break his arme that he may have it the stronger for the setting or know how it is set or therefore be careless to become scandalously vile that God may be gloriously merciful yet through the riches of mercy which makes our losses gaines The certainty of the assurance we find doth countervail and exceed the terrors and horror we felt Give me the man who can say I was blind but now I see I know I was in prison but am now delivered it s not delusion but a vision and real accomplishment of the work by the Allmighty hand of God Lastly its honourable for a poor scandalous wretch to be under such heavy breakings of heart and therefore it should be comfortable to him I rather mention this to stop the mouths of the reffuse rabble of the world and to shew the desperate mistakes unto which carnal reason carryes us out of the pride of our own spirits wee know that sin is 〈◊〉 and shame loathsom even to nature especially corrupt and proud to be forced to acknowledg the one to take the other It appears very direful to the apprehension of al the sons of Adam And therefore when the Lord is pleased to hold a scandalous wretch upon the wrack and to make him roar out his wretchedness vomit out his sin and take the shame he hath deserved His companions that have conversed with him and his freinds that have honored him they are driven to their dumps in discouragment and discontentment and cry out the man is undone and curse the day that ever the Minister came into the countrey and blames his folly and silliness that he would attend to what he saied and be troubled with any thing he heard to bring an everlasting blemish upon himself No I say ther 's no such matter This is the greatest honor that yet ever befel him in this world and wil be a means of blessing to him in another It is a shame to commit sin but not to have the heart breaking under the apprehension of it Nay it is an expression of Gods favour and as it may prove a sign of Gods special love if it be rightly emproved God thus far honors a poor wretch that he wil speak to him as he passeth by Should a Prince that was provoked by the conspiracies and rebellions of many Traitors as he passed by should he vouchsafe to send unto and cal upon some one to reclaime him from his crew and company and courses and that upon very equal terms he might find acceptance and pardon and peace when he wil not so much as look after others or change a word with them would not this be accounted matter of marvelous respect from the King and honor to the man So here As David begs favour from the Lord. 〈◊〉 119. 132. be merciful to me and lookupon me as thou usest to do upon them that desire to fear thy name he takes it to be the highest pitch of his happiness to be so dealt withal If God deal with
not in your power to bring them in yet bring them as neer to the Kingdom of God as you can c. They were pricked in their hearts The last Doctrine which is considered touching the Work it self Sorrow for sin 〈◊〉 set on pierceth the heart of the sinner through that is truly affected therewith They were pricked not in their eyes to weep for their sins so Esau could not in their tongues only to confess their sin so Judas did I have sinned in betraying innocent blood nor in their hands alone to reform it outwardly so those Apostats did 2 Pet. 2. 20. They escaped the pollutions of the world through the acknowledgment of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but it reached their hearts their souls bled inwardly their souls were most guilty and had the greatest hand in the commission of those bloody and execrable cruelties the fountain of their sorrow did rise as high as the beginning of their sin soul sins and soul sorrows Nor was the stroke slight not the ripling of the skin a lighter touch a sudden pang a sigh and away nay not only lanced and gashed the rotten imposthumes of the corruptions of their hearts in a great measure but ransacked the very root of the corruption pierced the heart quite through through and through again as it were let out the core of the most inward and most retired corruptions that were lodged in their bosom and bottom of their hearts And this work proceeded not from any power of their own nor from the liberty and freedom of their wils as that which they made choyce of and out of their own ability did readily put forth but it was set on by the hand of the Almighty in the entrance whereof they were Patients went against the heart and hair and wholly beyond their purposes and expectations So the words are in the passive form they were pricked they did not prick themselves Nay certainly could they have told how to prevent it how to remove it or to procure any ease and relief unto themselves they would never have cryed out as men in a maze and astonishing straights of Spirit What shall we do Thus God proceeds when he purposeth to make a through work When God was purposed to set upon the revolting people of the Jews and to bring them savingly home to himself Hos. 13. 4. so 〈◊〉 carry it according to the foregoing and following words I am the Lord thy God from the Land of Egypt and there is no Savior besides me ver 4. and blames also the frowardness and folly of their Spirits not yielding so readily and taking the advantage of Gods dealing for their good ver 13. The sorrows of a travelling woman shall come upon him he is an unwise son for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of Children q. d. The Lord in mercy offers himself to the Israelites under their terrors as a Midwife that would make way for them out of their sins and sorrows Now in this 〈◊〉 of his towards the people to be converted he professeth that he will meet with them 〈◊〉 a Bear bereaved of her whelps he wil rend the caul of their hearts ver 8. the words are the closure and shutting up of their hearts sinners are shut up under the power of their distempers as the Apostle saith all men by Nature are shut up under unbelief Rom. 11. 32. especially there be some closets and secret corners and conveyances of soul wherein the most sweet and delightful abominations are hugged and harbored the Lord leaves not a poor wretch if indeed he intend his good before he breaks open those great depths rests not before he come home to the root and let out the heart-blood of thy lusts and then their death wil undoubtedly follow And hence it is this sorrow is compared to such as enter into the very inwards of Nature and sinks the soul with unsupportable pressures when that great conversion and return of the Jews to the entertainment of the Gospel shal be brought about by the Lord. The Prophet sets forth the greatness of that sorrow of theirs under a double similitude First Zach. 12. 10. They shall mourn for him as the mother mourns for her only son and for her first born the mourning of a tender hearted mother for her son her first born and for her only son he adds al degrees of grief if she had possessed many she might more easily have wanted one or at least parted with it or had it been any but her first born which had the first of her strength and the first of her love yet she might have born it with more quietness but when al these meet together her life and comfort is wrapped up in the life of the Child the mourning becomes unmeasurable fils the heart as it were Secondly It shall be like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddon when al Israel lamented the death of their good Josiah the light of their eyes the breath of their Nostrils the comfort of their souls 2 Chron. 35. 25. Therfore the original words which lay open this work are of marvelous weight and discover the overpowring vertue thereof Isai. 57. 18. The Lord dwels with him that is of a contrite spirit Isai. 61. 6. The Lord binds up the broken heart The first whereof signifies to pun to pouder and to bring to smal dust it is so used Psal. 90. 3. Thou bringest man to the dust of death again thou sayest return ye children of men That as the hardest stone when it 's broken al to smal mammocks and pouder as it were it 's easie and yielding under the touch of the hand what ever ruggedness and resistance was in it before So it is with the soul that is punned to pouder so that there is not any unbroken or any whol part to be found there no sodering in any secret manner with any retired distemper but the weight of godly sorrow hath shatter'd all asunder distress of Conscience hath brought it to dust parted all the privy closures with any particular of any distemper all that knotty stiffness and perversness of spirit in siding with any corruption is now taken off The soul comes easily to give way to the Authority of the Truth that would take any sinful lust away To the like purpose is that of Job Job 23. 16. when the Armies of Gods indignation had encamped against him and the terrors of the Lord had drunk up his spirit saies he God makes my heart soft or hath melted my soul the word signifies a severing and separation of one thing from another and is opposite to setling and fastening making firm stiff and hard as that of Pharaoh Exod. 9. last Pharaoh hardened his heart his soul fastened by an invincible resolution to the sinful purpose of his malicious detaining and oppression of the Jews When the fierceness of Gods dupleasure brought home by the breathings of the Spirit
of God upon the soul it makes it melt like Wax before the fire makes it easie to give way to the impression of the pleasure of the Lord that his Spirit may take away any of those lusts that have been of 〈◊〉 league with the heart Hence lastly it is that in the Phrase of Scripture the sinner is said to be in 〈◊〉 or the soul to be imbittered by God when he is brought and held under the sence of the loathsomness of his in s and himself by reason thereof so that al the sweet that his liquorish heart takes in any pleasing lust is wholly taken away The Physitian observes and reason teacheth that sweet things only nourish but bitter things clense the Nature of the stomach abhors the presence of them expels them takes no pleasure therein receives no nourishment therefrom So with the sinner in his condition when the Lord 〈◊〉 out the bitterness of sin upon him he can find no food rellish no delight in his former distempers which he followed with that violence and fed so eagerly upon even unto surfetting in former times they wil not down with him now It 's a dreadful thing now to him to take the least tast of them by any serious consideration or remembrance when formerly he could have made a meal of them by dayly meditation When wickedness was sweet in his mouth and he hid it under his tongue but now it 's turned to the gall of Asps and he is not able to endure the poyson and bitterness of it but it makes him heart-sick in the sight and sence of it For the opening of the Point it wil be needful to enquire after Five Particulars 1. The Manner how this sound sorrow seizeth upon or is brought in upon the soul. 2. How God sets it on and makes the soul truly affected with it 3. How far the sinner is or may be said to be active in it 4. What is the behavior of the heart under this stroke being truly affected 5. The Reason and then the Use. To the Former of these The Manner how this Sorrow is brought in upon the soul. It is Three-fold in Gods ordinary Dispensation reserving exceptions as he sees fit in his own infinite Wisdom It is either Successively and by degrees Suddenly and at once Unsensibly to the heart of the sinner who receives it Successively when the Lord would leave the track and footsteps of his Faithfulness and Truth upon record to the observation of the wise hearted he then leaves plain impressions of the Power of his Grace and Spirit 〈◊〉 his proceedings with such as he 〈◊〉 to bring effectually home unto himself that the goings of our God and King may be seen in the Sanctuary and in the souls of his Servants and it may be attended in these several Degrees First The Lord lets in some unexpected flashes of spiritual Truth discovering the evil of sin in the general and the dangerous conditions of such as stand guilty thereof and continue therein which were never considered nor before that time conceived of by him that hath been an ignorant and careless hearer of the Word who came to the means either by constraint or custom or complement in a way of course for company sake never set price upon the means nor attended to the Truth and goodness thereof and therefore the Ordinances were as the Waters that pass by left neither power nor profit upon the soul. But now there is some evidence of Truth which God so directs and darts in that it flashes like lightning into his face leaves a kind of amazement upon his mind and like a sudden blow gasters the 〈◊〉 of the sinner so that he begins to stagger and is driven to give some attendance to that of which he never took notice before not knowing wel 〈◊〉 to make of himself nor yet of that which he heard only he is forced to observe somthing he never formerly regarded Hence therefore 〈◊〉 a confused kind of tumult and lumber of thoughts within himself he begins to be in a muse what such things mean whither they tend is at a loss with himself and knows not which way to take I never heard so much as now if all be true that I have heard and the Minister hath preached there is more in sin than ever I imagined and my condition more miserable than ever I did conceive This maskering of spirit drives him to make enquiry the things seem strange he begins to search 〈◊〉 they be true or no. So they to Paul disputing concerning false Worship and their Idolatrous practices Acts 17. 19 20. Thou bringest strange things to our ears we would know therefore what these things mean So it was with Paul at his first bringing home to God Acts 22. 6. There shone a great light from Heaven about him and he heard a voyce Saul Saul why persecutest thou me The thing was strange but what it was he could not tel and therefore he makes yet further enquiry Who art thou Lord As the poor woman having heard the Minister preach out of that Text Isai. 27. 11. They are a People of no understanding therefore he that made them will not 〈◊〉 them he that created them wil not shew mercy to them It came so directly cross to her own conceivings that she repaired to one of her neighbors to know whether those words were in the Scripture yea or no and what those Scriptures were for saith she If he that made us wil not save us Lord be merciful to us who wil who can So these sudden dazlings and dartings in of the Truth forceth men to fall on questioning enquire they do come they wil resolve to hear more of those strange Novelties and the greater search they make the greater certain Truth they perceive the Law peremptory the Word plain threatnings certain and the Lord just his sin most hainous and his condemnation certain and approaching so that he cannot tel how to avoid it or how to bear it Hence fear surprizeth him forthwith pursues him 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 expectation and 〈◊〉 of what 〈◊〉 befal him I know what I have deserved and I hear what the Word hath threatned against such and I know God is true and cannot deny his Word nor himself and he is just and cannot but execute in his time what hath gone out of his mouth hath not all Ages manifested this the Experience of al men proved it undeniable Did ever any provoke the Lord and prosper Job 9. 4. and can I in reason expect it should be other and better with me than it was with any that was ever before me Can I be so sottish to think that God should send another Christ devise other Scriptures make a new Causey way or a back door to bring such a wretched rebel as I am to Heaven contrary to his own Word and Will God hath said Wo to the wicked it shall go ill with him who can say the
it discovered and however it is even in special distances many times thus also enstamped upon that soul. Yet the Lord doth bind himself to leave such plain tracks and footsteps of proceedings with a poor 〈◊〉 at al times and therefore we must not limit the holy one of Israel to be at our allowance and liking or confine him to the compass of our conceits and desires Therefore it pleaseth the Lord to dispense himself in a divers manner in dealing with divers sinners and those we shal ad in a word Somtimes then in the second place the Lord suddenly sets on the blow and leaves mighty and prevailing impressions at the very present speedily and unexpectedly goes through stich with the work pierceth the soul through at one thrust Sometimes at one sermon may be in the handling of one point nay some one sentence or some special truth the Lord is pleased to arme it and discharge it with mighty power and uncontroulable evidence that it astonisheth and shivereth the heart of the sinner al in pieces As it is in the 〈◊〉 of a piece it may be one scattred shot or splinter hitts and kils when al the rest miss so with the splinter of a truth when directed aright God lets in so much of the amazing beauty of his own holiness and purity the dreadfulness of his displeasure and the infinite crossness in himself to the least corruption and consequently that abhorred 〈◊〉 in the nature of sin even the smallest that look as it is with terrible thunder and lightning it melts al before it and that most where there is opposition against it even the league that is between the heart and the lust soakes into the very root of the soul and hence under such a sudden thunderclap such mauling blowes now and then the sinner dyes and faints away under it in the very place where he sits sometimes roars out as one that hath received his deaths wound in his bosom and that he hath heard his doom and was delivered up into the hands of the Devil ready to drop into the dungeon and to be carried post to the bottomless pit and such soul sinking and confounding terrors which takes off a serious and iudicious consideration of the 〈◊〉 assaulting they vanish away for the most part and come to little or nothing when the tartness of the horrot is once allayed But sometimes lastly the sinner takes in the truth kindly and contains himself hath his load as much as his heart can bear for the while as much as 〈◊〉 and soul can hold together goes away droops and buckles under his burden steps into a solitary place and hangs the wing as a foul that is shot the saving truth thus set on lyes gnawing and eating at the heart blood of a sinner as aqua-fortis doth in iron leaves it not until it eat asunder the league betwixt the lust and the heart Thus this lively truth in the soul like strong physick in the bowels walks up and down the world with a man is working night and day he cannot avoyd the evidence and light of it he cannot lessen nor hinder the operation of it Now he questions with this or that Christian then resolves to speak to such a Minister and to reveal his whol condition and to crave his counsel he is often going and turns back again almost at the dore and yet goes away again sometimes enters into speech and his heart misgives him he pretends another 〈◊〉 and departs again Al this while the soul bleeds inwardly the truth is stirring and the physick working til at last it over-bids the darling distemper then the coast is clear the heart growes to more liberty and his speech more free Thus Paul expresseth Gods manner of proceeding with the Corinthian Convert 1 Cor. 14. 29. when the word is dispensed in plainness there comes in one unlearned and unbeleeving he is convinced of al and judged of al i. e. the evidence of the word convinceth him and judgeth him his 〈◊〉 and it followes the secrets of his heart are made manifest those retired and privy haunts of sin in the soul are discovered so he wil fal down and say God is in you of a truth He saw more of God and his Majesty and purity more of his own sin and the filthy puddle of his own distempers it was the Wisdom of God to discover those hid things of darkness and brought the loathsomness of them to light it was the Holiness 〈◊〉 God that shews the hainous and hellish Poyson thereof it was the power of God that did conquer the prevailing Dominion of these distempers unto which the heart was subject And this was the Lords dealing with Paul he assaults the main hold and strength of his rebellion and drives him at the first dash as it were to look where the loathsomness of his evil lay Saul Saul why persecutest thou me I am Jesus thou persecutest that Jesus that came to redeem thee opposest that Grace that would sanctifie and bring thee to Glory tramplest upon that blood that would free thee from the guilt and curse which thou hast brought upon thy self thus lastly it was with Job in that new Conversion as I may say that the Lord wrought in him Job 42. 4 5. I have oft heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eyes see thee I abhor my self in dust and ashes when God lets in a sight of himself and a sight of 〈◊〉 from thence the soul begins not to abhor his plagues and punishments which the other feels or fears he abhors not Hell and the torments thereof but abhors himself the pollutions and impurity of his own soul which are worse than al the everlasting burnings of the bottomless pit and hence is that Phrase Ezek. 36. 32. They shall loath themselves not their miseries though they were more than they could bear not their Judgments though heavier than they could endure but they loath their own souls the hellish exorbitations swervings and departings of heart from God that they had held any connivence or correspondence with their lusts Lastly Gods manner of 〈◊〉 is sweet and secret and works insensibly 〈◊〉 spirits of such who do receive it when and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 infinite Wisdom whose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 11. 33. He can and doth somtimes 〈◊〉 the soul in the 〈◊〉 as it 's commonly conceived he did John Baptist Luke 1. 44. Many times he begins to tamper and trade with the spirits of his when they are yong and tender and their yeers few drops in some grain of the immortal Seed of the Word which takes root by the powerful operation of the Spirit and grows up with them as they grow in yeers 2 Chron. 34. 3. While Josiah was yet yong 〈◊〉 eight yeers old he began to seek after the God of his Fathers and declined not to the right hand or to the left So the Lord seemed to deal with Joseph and to reveal
opposeth that only the Lord by the mighty impression of the powerful operation of Spirit over-bears that opposition in the soul and forceth the soul to feel the stab and venom of sin though it use all means and waies it can to avoid the stroak of it but al in vain for the Arrows of the Almighty stick fast in him And all this is done and may be without any prejudice to any Liberty that the Lord hath put into the will for the will may be forced to suffer even against it's will without any wrong to the liberty thereof as the damned do in Hell at this day and shal through all eternity and shal never be able to get from under the terrors of the Almighty For the meaning of that received expression the Will cannot be compelled is this In all the acts the Will puts forth she is a cause by counsel and acts from the inward power and ability that is implanted in her to be compelled is to act by constraining force from without now for the will to act from her own power inwardly and yet to be acted by a contrary power from without are Contradictions The will then in a word cannot be constrained to do but it may be constrained to suffer without any the least prejudice to liberty and so it is here in this work I now mention a meer sufferer Thus Job 36 10. The Lord said to command men from iniquity he not only directs but by a soveraign power carries the soul from iniquity thus lamenting Ephraim intreats Jer. 31. 18. Turn me and I shall be turned thou art the Lord my God And Paul was sent Acts 20. 18. To turn men from darkness to light and so the whol frame of Scripture runs they are said to be wounded burdened 〈◊〉 when they should avoid the blow and remove the burden were in their choyce but they are pressed under the hand of the Lord which they are not able to escape though not able to undergo it Hence it is that though by reason of the presence of the body of death that yet remains there will be some stirrings of distemper which wil raise up some mutinies and conspiracies against the work and preventing Grace of God yet there will never be power nor possibility so far to resist as to hinder the work of Conversion and effectual bringing of the soul to God As in an Army wholly defeated and routed and scattered their Commanders slain and strong Holds taken and their Country possessed though some roving Troops may happily pilfer and forage up and down here and there in secret when they are not observed yet they are never able to make head or come into the Field So here Lastly When this resistance is removed and the right power and challenge which sin made disanulled the soul comes yet further to yield consent that there should be an everlasting divorce made between it and her former lusts and lovers and is in earnest content they should for ever be estranged from her and she from them And in this consent which the soul yields for this separation which is the great knot it moves only as under the power and in the vertue of the motion of the Spirit So that Divines thus speak This consent is not of our selves though not without our selves There is no power in the soul by which as a principle and beginning of the work it 's carried to the work but acts as prevented by the impression of the power and motion of the Spirit in vertue whereof it 's acted and enabled to this consent so that the act of Gods exciting and working Grace doth not concur with the power that is in the will to put forth this consent but as a principle leaves an impression of power upon the will by the vertue whereof it 's moved and so moves in and to this consent As the will of a child of Adam in generation it turns from God to sin not by any first power of its own but by the perverting work of the next Parent who under the vertue of the Curse and Gods Divine Justice turned it from the Lord and the Authority of the Law and put it under the Authority of fin So the will of him that comes to be begotten of the Second Adam doth turn from sin unto God not by any power or principle it hath of its own but by the impression of the operation of his Spirit by which it is turned and in vertue of that it turns Take an instance Suppose the first Grace offered or the voyce of Gods Call tendered unto the will that now hath the resistance taken off the Question now grows How the will comes to give her consent to this Act or first Grace this consent must come either from the will only or partly from the will and partly from Grace or from Grace only To say from the will only is Heretical and perfect Pelagianism in the highest degree which exalts Nature above Grace nay to make it perfect without it If from Grace and the will both as divers principles then there is a concurrence of our will by a power of its own with the power of Grace at the same instant to this work of consent then there is an ability in the will to begin its work and to meet and concur with Grace without Grace so far in a Spiritual Act As for instance The Father and the child both draw a Boat the Father puts more strength to the work the Son also from a principle of its own puts forth some strength and both these concur and meet in the motion the beginning is several from each as several causes though both meet in the act So that Grace concurs with the power of the will to this motion doth not give power and principle whereby it moves And this also is Heretical and Pelagianism for thus far and in that beginning the will closeth with Grace without the power of Grace which is cross to the Apostle and to all the former conclusions Whereas it is in this consent The first call of Grace prevents and wholly moves the will and the will in the 〈◊〉 of that motion moves to the call and consents As it in the Eccho the Voyce stirs the Air the Air in vertue of that stir returns the Voyce again Among some searching Disputes I meet with such an expression which I shal propound and explicate because it makes way for the understanding of the thing in hand The Will doth consent or will but doth not make it self to consent but is made so by another Their meaning is this 1. The Will doth put forth the Act of Consent and so far it 's the cause of it 2. But it was not the cause of that power by which it was enabled to consent but that it received and by that it was enabled to it So that this seems to be the order in which God proceeds God takes away that resistance by the
grievous yet the plague-sore of their sins was heaviest upon their hearts and most in their thoughts so it is with a contrite sinner his complaints and thoughts return hither as to their center publish the comforts promises and priviledges of the Gospel the sinner acknowledgeth the promises are precious the comforts are sweet the priviledges great and happy they that ever they were born that have a title thereunto But alas what have I to do with these my heart is yet hard and my sins yet unsubdued Those keep good things from me Lay open al the threatnings of the word the plagues the Lord hath prepared the curses iudgments and punishments that are recorded in the scripture and ever were inflicted by the justice of the Lord the contrite sinner looks presently beyond these plagues to his sins which is the cause of al these and worse than al these and that gives the sting and evil unto al these evils what shal I do I have sinned deliver me from blood guiltiness O God not from the sword though that was threatned but from his sin The sinner that hath his heart thus truly affected and pierced through with his sins is marvelous tender easily to be convinced of a yielding disposition i. e. freely and readily enlarged in the open acknowledgment of an evil that is discovered he stands guilty of As it is with the body when it is pierced or pricked with a stiletto He bleeds inwardly it may be but so as the blood hath no vent nor the party relief hence the life is in hazard but when it s thrust quite through though the wound be greater and wider yet the danger is less because the party bleeds kindly and naturally the wound is more 〈◊〉 to be cleansed and healed there is no fear of festering and rankling inwardly but the Chirurgeon may readily come at it for the cure So it is when the soul is wounded aright with Godly sorrow for its sin it bleeds kindly and naturally ready to see the evil the core the root of that corruption from whence it comes and willing and open hearted that the saving word of the truth either of instruction reproof comfort or exhortation may be applyed for cure and recovery A broken hearted sinner fals immediately before the power of the word takes the sin presently home to himself when ever or what ever is presented with evidence to him without cavilling or gainsaying shifting or winding away from under the authority thereof That resistance and gainsaying opposition is now removed which formerly took possession and the irresistible power of the spirit hath flung down those strong holds of Satan and sin hath conquered and captivated the high thoughts of the mind and sturdy rebellions of the heart unto the obedience of the Lord Jesus and therefore there is an entrance and easy passage made for the truth to take place and the heart to take the impression thereof with some pleasing content parts of the body which are wounded broken and sore and very sensible of the least stir or touch of any thing that comes nigh them they feel presently and are affected with some trouble Oh say we it s my broken Arm my sore Hand the least touch it goes to my heart It 's so with broken spirits they are presently sensible of the least touch of any truth the least intimation or discovery of any sin that comes by the by if from a work that fals occasionally it feels it forthwith yields it and owns it without any more ado That 's the deceit of my heart which I never saw before that 's my distemper unto which I have been addicted the law is holy and good but my heart naught and sold under sin Rom. 7. this was the temper of good 〈◊〉 at the reading of the law which the Lord observes and so much 〈◊〉 2 Chron. 34. 27. because thy heart was tender melted when thou heardest the words of this law he took the impression of the truth at the first without the least appearance of any opposition in any particular or rising of spirit against them though the severity and sharpness of the threatnings were marvailous cross not onely to a corrupt heart but to the outward comforts eminent priviledges of his place pomp and prosperity of his Crown and Kingdom the heart is melted and broken is conquered by the truth and therefore can do nothing against it But can do any thing against its own lusts and the pleasing corruption of his own nature this is part of that preparation which the Baptist the Harbenger of our Savior made to make this plain for his coming into the hearts of his as into his temple Luk 3. The rough things shal be made plain and crooked things straight the rugged and sturdy gainsayings of a rebellious heart are taken away and it 's made easy and readily yielding to the evidence of any part of Gods wil it finds a plain passage into the soul no rub in the way no rising against the righteous and good wil of God If any thing be doubtful he is easy to be informed amiss to be reproved and amended thereby Those crooked aymes and by ends also whereby falshearted hypocrites serve their turn of the Lord Jesus seek for grace and mercy either to quiet the horror of their 〈◊〉 promote their own credit or under a profession against sin to get more liberty to commit sin to sin without suspicion or distraction these rugged distempers must be levelled and the spirit of a man made plyable simple and sincere and then all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord. And unless this de done set thy heart at rest thou canst never see Gods Salvation True indeed I confess the truth many times may be secret and such as at the present exceeds the reach and apprehension of weaker judgments And here wil be and in some 〈◊〉 may a long inquisition and painful and tedious search for the right discovery where the narrow way lyes But there is great ods betwixt an inquisition and serious enquiry that we may see the truth And a quarrelling against the evidence thereof that we may not see it Inquisition is one thing contention against the truth is another that al the Saints should endeavour this none but the ungodly wil practise for it 's given as a never failing note of a graceless person who is appointed to destruction to them who are contentious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness Rom. 2. 8. for where the one is not the other wil be contentious persons joyn sides with their sinful distempers against the truth authority of the righteous law of God openly to maintain a professed opposition against the truth is so loathsom to common sence and 〈◊〉 even to the remainders of light left in the 〈◊〉 of a natural man that hardly any man is come to the height of wickedness that he dare openly own a course so hellish and
heart But when a sinner is indeed pierced quite through the heart and feels inwardly the 〈◊〉 and evil of sin he loaths that most and his heart most of all that is most guilty and tainted with it In the soul there is 〈◊〉 it were the soul of sin the 〈◊〉 and poyson of it and he opposeth that most that hath opposed the Lord 〈◊〉 Spirit and the Word and Work of his Grace the 〈◊〉 of this mind the preversness of this will the distempers of these corrupt and carnal affections he is at 〈◊〉 with his own heart that ever it hath held any kind of connivence and correspondence with any corruption ever been acted by it carried with it that ever it hath combined and conspired with sin and Satan in 〈◊〉 against the righteous and holy One of Israel the great God of Heaven and Earth and here he finds work enough even matter of abasement al his daies he 〈◊〉 down in shame and is covered with confusion as with a cloak and never lifts up his head more because he 〈◊〉 that about him that wil dayly mind him of his own baseness 〈◊〉 It 's now his dayly task to oppose that which opposed the Lord resist that which hath resisted the work of Grace conspire against the Treacheries and plottings of his own heart where all the conspiracies against God and his holy Law have been hatched Job was vile before but he saw not the vileness of his heart He fears all sin and all provocations to sin because he hath felt the evil of all and knows the danger of all any inclination from within any temptation from without any appearance in the least measure that might provoke thereunto Therefore these two are put in way of opposition Blessed is the man that fears alwaies but he that hardens his heart shal fall into mischief Prov. 28. 14. q. d. A hard heart feels 〈◊〉 knows not the evil of 〈◊〉 and therefore 〈◊〉 like the horso into the battel to his ruine but if the heart be truly wounded and contrite truly affected with sin as having experience of the danger of it it wil come no more there he that hath been scorched with those flames will come no more into that fire As men who have wounded parts broken an Arm or a Leg how careful are they where they sit where they go they wil come neer nothing that may hurt cannot endure any thing neer lest it should so much as touch or trouble So the Apostle adviseth Heb. 12. 13. ' Make straight steps to your feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way Lame men observe every step they take every stone upon which they tread see and view the place where they set their feet search and set al right come there no more So here a broken Spirit 〈◊〉 every thought weighs every word takes notice of the least 〈◊〉 of his heart the first appearance of any occasion or temptation Thus they fear al sin above al other evil nay the least sin above the greatest plague because he hath felt them by proof and experience to be such fears rather he shal not be sound than not quiet He that fears one sin and yet is careless to fall into another he never seared nor sorrowed aright sorrow for sin wil not make a man commit sin by sorrowing if he fear or take notice it is a sin it is enough And hence it makes watchful to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prevent the evil So Joseph Gen. 39. 10 11. He would not lie by her nor be with her avoided her company that would withdraw his communion from the Lord. It makes a man speedy to avoid the 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 the place left his garment rather than his 〈◊〉 he that would not fal into the pit wil not come neer the bank As after a 〈◊〉 the party cannot endure the sight the 〈◊〉 of it and are careful to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the appearance 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of such evils 〈◊〉 19. 11. I 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy 〈◊〉 in my heart that I 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sin against thee He is 〈◊〉 to attend all 〈◊〉 but accounts most of those 〈◊〉 work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of corruption 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heart and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 from it Though the Truths which are delivered carry dread with them to the Conscience rack the heart of the sinner in restless horror and perplexity are like the bitterest Pils and the sharpest Corrosives cross to the sinful security and that Natural quiet the soul doth covet yea to his Credit and outward Comforts and conveniences in which he pleased himself yet he is content his hand should be cut off and his eye plucked out that is that the 〈◊〉 Truth of God and powerful and plain Dispensation thereof should pluck away those darling distempers be they as profitable as a hand as dear as an eye rather than they should once pluck his heart from the Lord quarrels with the loathsom abominations of his Nature which now are discovered but gladly welcoms those soul-saving Truths that would slay and subdue those sins and not quarrel with them The Word of the Lord is a good Word though a convicting terrifying yea a condemning Word to his own apprehension he that is sensible of his burden as unsupportable and passing strength he is best pleased with that ease A wise Patient when by his tryal he hath found it and the consent of learned Physitians and Chyrurgeons have concluded that his Gangrened part must be cut off and cauterized cannot be healed though his Nature shrink at it yet Reason and his own preservation makes him desire and chuse the sharpest Instrument because by that his life and safety is best procured The sinner that finds the burden of his sin the heaviest of al other and a disease most deadly to his soul the sharpest Truths he accounts the safest and therefore takes most content therein there shal no course that can be prescribed be it never so tedious to flesh and blood no means that shall be appointed to him be they attended with never so much danger and difficulty but he readily addresseth himself to the use thereof and easily submits himself to the Counsel and Authority and Command of God therein willing that God should do any thing with him that he might do good to his soul and remove that which he feels to be the greatest evil of it As Ely to Samuel 1. Sam. 3. 17. Hide nothing from me though the heaviest and hardest of the message that he was to report A broken hearted sinner wil 〈◊〉 capitulate with the Almighty stick with God unless he may have his own 〈◊〉 or look for some abatement from the Lord if the corruption be more than ordinary strong and the means which are to be used be mervailously cross not onely to a mans corruption but to ones outward comforts yea to nature it self yea the heart under this disposition yields quietly that the Lord should take his own course any
them with any quiet or content Thus when sin should be grievous as the Psalmist speaks the waies and Commands of God are ever grievous to such it 's a grief to him to be counselled checked crossed in a sinful course was 〈◊〉 any man truly sensible of a burden that would not be 〈◊〉 any man oppressed with a load that would not be content to have it removed and taken away from him Of this temper were those the Lord delivered up to a reprobate sence Rom. 1. who did not delight to have God in their knowledg they bear a secret spleen against such saving Truths as would search the core of those noysom corruptions of their hearts It 's certain such never knew what Godly sorrow for sin meant since we have heard that such are willing to attend all means but take most content in those that work most powerfully for the removal of their special distempers A third sort who fall short of this saving Work is your self-conceited Pharisee who hath such an overweening apprehension of his own worth and excellency that 〈◊〉 is not able to take shame for 〈◊〉 sin therfore cannot endure to be convinced of it what he wil not do he wil not know loth to confess his course shameful and vile because then he concludes there is no color of common sence to continue in it but he must be forced to reform it unless he would openly proclaim to al the world that he is resolved to go against Knowledg and Conscience which is too loathsom and gross even to ordinary prophaneness therefore he pretends nothing but the search of the Truth 〈◊〉 further information of the mind of the Lord and if that once could appear how glad would he be to receive it and more glad to follow it because this plea is beyond exception 〈◊〉 carries an appearance of consciencious and judicious watchfulness in a mans course which cannot 〈◊〉 a Cavil but is secretly resolved of the Conclusion the reasons shal never be plain to him that would press and perswade to the practice of that which doth not please his 〈◊〉 heart which he purposeth to satisfie let men say what they can if he may have approbation and allowance from others to follow his own heart it wil be more credit for him and he shal find more ease if not he determines to do what he list without leave and allowance holds out this in his ordinary and dayly profession it 's the way of Truth he desires to find the Rule he would see the mind of God he endeavors to know and follow that he pretends but intends indeed to walk in his own way and follow his own mind and therefore if things answer not his intents suit not his expectation but Arguments seem strong that perswade to the contrary and the evidences of Reason look and lead another way he then keep afoot his old course confesseth he is yet in the dark those reasons do not carry him those arguments do not convince him he desires further light and shal be willing to submit and follow i. e. if men would be willing to submit to his conceit and follow his humor thus he holds his sin and holds his enquiry keeps off al conviction that he may keep his corruption and his course in it As we know it in the Country from whence we came some wily headed persons get possession of a living keep the Owner in suit and restless wrangling many yeers together against the evidence of their own Conscience and Reason because so long they can keep the Living and reap the Commodity of it So while men keep an enquiry and dispute what they should do all that while they do what they list but only waiting for better light Numb 23. 34. when Balaam had gone against the express Counsel and Command of God to listen to Balack to gratifie his malicious desires the Angel of the Lord met him and withstood him in the perversness of his way he crooked his way and perverted his path against Gods express charge observe how pliably he comes in to the Angels reproof I knew it not that thou stoodest in the way now therefore if it displease thee I will get me back he knew it displeased God and though he said so yet he kept his disposition and resolution to curse Israel and so to displease God still and therefore he contrives all waies to compass his 〈◊〉 and therefore here he builds seven Altars and there he builds seven Altars that he might ask leave of the Almighty and when that would not do it he went without leave Numb 24. 1. This is one part of that of the Prophet to lay hold of deceit and so of sin whereas a broken-hearted sinner as we have heard because the holds of sin are cast down and the crossness and resistrance of the 〈◊〉 removed and his soul loosened from his sin he is easily willing to be convinced sensible of the least inkling and intimation of any evil that is or shal be discovered and sits down under the Evidence of it 〈◊〉 but when Reasons are so pregnant that he cannot gainsay and Answers so undeniable that they cannot be shaken yet to stand off from the Truth with a pretence of waiting for a further discovery argues a person strengthened in the stiffness of his Spirit which holds out Truth at the staves end and was never yet subdued to the Soveraignty and Authority thereof he keeps the blow off and therefore breaks not under it shuts the Truth out of their Souls and therefore it stirs not works not at all upon the soul such are afar off from God The fourth sort is your complaning Hypocrite whose Conscience hath been awakened with horrors and fears and the heart startled with the terrors of the Almighty and affected with the sight and sence of his sins and the venom and dread of those Curses that the Truth hath revealed and fastened upon the soul he sees he is now in Gods hand and that he hath him at an infinite advantage to bear it is beyond his power to avoid it is beyond his Skil to resist is bootless and against Reáson and Sence that were to hasten his own ruin his heart is filled with grief and his eyes with tears and his mouth with heavy complaints to God to man and he is free and full this way and that usually and this he hopes may move the Lord to pity and to spare him and abate him of those plagues which he hath denounced in his holy Word and he cannot but confess he hath deserved by reason of his sin and he presumes this wil go for good pay with the Lord considering those many human infirmities that do attend us since the Fall and that it is beyond our power to help our selves and free our selves from our corruptions thus he keeps his complaints and keeps his sins he mourns over his distempers and maintains them while he doth so thus they bath
s prepared intended and appointed of purpose for others thou hast no share and portion in al these precious things of life hands off thou hard 〈◊〉 wretch There is good 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 poor shall be enriched the mourners comforted but no good to thee no look the second 〈◊〉 there is other provision the Lord makes for stiffnecked Creatures he proclaims a yeer of Jubile a day of acceptance from God to the distressed but there is a day of Vengeance of our God to those that are of a contrary disposition there is Vengeance and it 's from God he wil be revenged upon thee for all the contempt of his Truth grief done to his Spirit resistance of his Grace he will rain fire and brimstone storm and tempest upon thee this shall be the portion of thy cup for the conclusion is peremptory Job 9. 4. Who ever 〈◊〉 his heart against the Lord and prospered Can there any example be alledged that wil evidence it any reason given or conceived that might prove it possible Search the Stories of so many Generations and enquire since the day that God created 〈◊〉 upon Earth if there were ever such a thing heard When there were Gyants upon earth the whol earth was filled with violence al the world 〈◊〉 themselves in open rebellion against God God opens the windows of Heaven and the fountains of the great 〈◊〉 and sends in a Deluge of his displeasure and wrath and destroies those hard-hearted Rebels from off the face of the Earth me thinks I hear those flinty stiffnecked wretches 〈◊〉 and crying drowning and dying and roaring out their wretchedness those loose Libertines eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage and knew nothing i. e. and would know nothing their Cups in their hands and Queans in their Arms and despair in their mouths Oh we shut our Ears and hardened our hearts against the striving of Gods Spirit the call of Gods Messengers the warning and entreaties of Gods patience We would not receive Counsel and terms of Peace and Mercy and therefore we now perish without Mercy cursing one another and breathing out their last Cursed be the day that ever I knew thee by thy carnal deceits I was strengthened Cursed be thou and thy company by thy example I was deluded and hardened Thus they are accursed and go cursing down to the depth of the Sea and so to the depth of the bottomless Pit It is beyond the Scope of our Saviors coming into the world and the Commission he hath received for the great Work of Redemption to communicate Grace and Life to thee in the condition in which now thou art Luke 19. 10 The Son of man is come to 〈◊〉 and save that which is lost not such as was miserable for so all was but such as were sensible of that undone condition in which they lay Yea his expression is peremptory I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Marth 9. 13. Those who conceited themselves whol in a safe and secure estate he had no Commission to call or comfort such they 〈◊〉 be broken before he bind them weary and laden before he ease them wounded before he will pour in the Oyl of Mercy to heal and relieve them Hence it was that when our Savior had prepared his Feast killed his Fatlings and drawn forth his refined Wines and sent and invited his guests all pleaded their excuses and refused to come not being hunger-bit and sensibly affected with their own miserable estate and the need they had of supply from those rich Provisions of a Savior their-careless and secure hearts could rellish other sensual care and swinish contentments which they had at home when men set no price see no need of those Dainties and Rarities of the riches of Grace and Salvation purchased by Christ and offered in the Gospel he peremptorily concludes Such shall never tast of them Luke 14. 24. The second sort of hard-hearted sinners or of a further and higer degree in this hardness are such as have been exercised under the displeasure of the Almighty 〈◊〉 had many stabs by the Truth and threatnings of the Word and have had many bruises and blows from the Dispensations of God in his Ordinances deeply affected and almost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the danger of their own Estates and the dreadfulness of those everlasting burnings which now they felt in their souls and were not able to bear but at last they have SHOOK OFF THEIR TERROR 〈◊〉 away the vexation and trouble that lay upon their spirits and now they grow more fierce and hard-hearted than ever before and dare out-face and out-brare the severest threatnings the most dreadful Judgments that can be denounced and which they find confess themselves liable unto having their conscience seared with a hot Iron 1 Tim. 4. 2 themselvs becoming fearlessly impudent to adventure upon sin without the least touch of any remorse or trouble for it The time was they confess they sate with trembling hearts under the Dispensation of the Word and so silly and feeble spirited they were that their hearts failed with fear and 〈◊〉 away in the apprehension of the hainousness of their sin and the unsufferable plagues that were due thereunto But now that dale is 〈◊〉 those daies are past they have got more wit and skil than to be scared with such Bug-bears they can tell how to fence themselves against such fears and disquiets they can sit and hear and attend all that can be said let them speak while they will and wear their 〈◊〉 to the stumps they can hear all and slight all nay rather than fail deride and make a mock of what they have heard but to be troubled at what they hear they are 〈◊〉 such Babies they are not so much as stirred with any thing Oh wo to thee that ever thou sawest thy heart at this pass the greater will thy trouble be one day The Devils beleeve and tremble and doest not thou stir Art thou in Hell here on Earth before thou comest thither and dost thou come short of the Devils themselves in sensibleness of heart and canst thou content thy self yea bless thy self in this condition Hear what God hath determined against thee and wil certainly bring upon thee Deut. 29. 19. He that shal 〈◊〉 the words of this Curse and shall bless himself in his heart saying I shal have peace though I walk in the Imagination of my heart 〈◊〉 drunkenness to thirst the wrath of the Lord will smoak against that man to cut him off from the Land of the Living c. But before I part with thee suffer me to spread the dreadfulness of thy condition before thy face and leave it upon Record in thy Conscience that thou mayest say thou 〈◊〉 forewarned Know therefore thy case is almost desperate and beyond Cure thy doom draws on and hastens which thou canst 〈◊〉 escape thy plagues are beyond the utmost of all extremity which thou canst not
Water of Life John 4. 10. Thou knowest not that thou art poor and wretched and 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Rev. 3. 17. Those that are ignorant of the way wil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any man ask of any child So a soul under 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and ignorances wil enquire of any Christian ask of any Minister that may direct him in the way he should take This Doctrine is a Bill of Inditement against a world of ungodly men who live in the Church who may here read their doom and the dreadfulness of their own condition discovered beyond all denial namely to be such who as yet were never troubled never so much as touched with a through sight and sence of their own baseness and cursed corruptions of their Natures and lives they are so far from being broken by the Truth and batterred al to pouder by the power of an Ordinance that indeed the day is yet to come that they 〈◊〉 any 〈◊〉 blow from the 〈◊〉 Word of the Lord 〈◊〉 on upon their Consciences by the hand and good Spirit of the Almighty and that is evidenced out of the 〈◊〉 had they received the like impression with these Converts they would have been 〈◊〉 upon the like practice with them had their spirits been broken as theirs they would have been as 〈◊〉 to seek out for succor and relief as 〈◊〉 do but alas this duty appears not scant in the lives of men therefore this 〈◊〉 is far enough 〈◊〉 their hearts If thou had'st been sick as they thou would'st have enquired of the Physitian as they but where is the man almost that hath put the Quare to his own Conscience propounded the Question seriously to others out of the sence of his own want for to make narrow search of his own estate ' Men and Brethren what shall I do He never saw need to do any thing nor had heart to do any thing men therefore had never desire nor endeavor to seek direction when he hath been loth that men should put him to pains and press him to diligence and doing in this behalf They make it a matter superfluous and needless trouble thus to be taken up what needs all this ado say they and therefore they are willing to sit down with ease but do nothing they are setled upon their dregs and endure not stirring it 's a kind of Hell and like the appearance of Death to be pressed to diligent inquiry to make their Calling sure 2 Pet. 1. 11. The state of the World is somwhat like that which the Angels express upon the proof they had when they went to survey the frame of things Zach. 〈◊〉 11. We have walked to and fro through the Earth and behold all the Earth sits still and in at rest Walk we from one Plantation to another from one Society to another nay which is yet a further misery from one Assembly to another all the Earth sits still and is at rest there is no stirring no trading in Christianity men cheapen not enquire not after the purchase of the precious things of the Gospel what shall I do to be quit of my self what shall I do to be severed from my sins which have pestered me so long prejudiced my peace so much and if it continue wil be my ruin As though Christ were taking the Charter of the Gospel from the present Generation and were removing the Markes there is no stirring Trade is dead men come dead and sit so and return so unto their Habitations there is deep silence 〈◊〉 shal not hear a word What spiritual good they get what they need or what they desire men are willing to do nothing and therefore they wil not enquire what they should do certain it is the Word never wrought kindly upon thee nor prevailed with that carnal and hard heart of thine to this day in any saving 〈◊〉 for thy spiritual good thou never knewest what it was to be loft 〈◊〉 thou never had'st a stir of heart to enquire the way to Sion it 's made an Argument of a man in the bonds of 〈◊〉 in the depth of his 〈◊〉 distemper 〈◊〉 3. 11. They have no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do they seek after God and it 's made an evidence of Satans Rule Luke 11. 21. When 〈◊〉 strong 〈◊〉 keeps the Pallace all his goods are at peace but when a stronger comes and 〈◊〉 him he takes from him all his Armor wherein be trusts and divides the spoil The House and Pallace is the Heart and Spirit of a sinner his 〈◊〉 and Furniture are all those noysom lusts by which he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and exerciseth 〈◊〉 power in the sinner and as the Apostle saith fighteth against the soul as despair is the Head-piece unrighteous and careless and unconscionable walking is the 〈◊〉 carnal Reason the Sword Unbelief the Shield and an indisposition of heart to yield to the terms 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 is that whereby the sinner is prepared to walk in the way of 〈◊〉 his feet shod sit for every evil work While Satan is 〈◊〉 furnished with the Armor of Darkness all his goods are at peace he doth without any trouble act the soul and wrong the Comfort and happiness of the soul and so the Honor of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his goods it 's all he desires endeavors takes as the gain of his Labor and Diligence in his Temptations Doth Satan act thee by his Temptations and so encrease both thy guilt and ruin thereby 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 his goods in peace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy wo thy 〈◊〉 is Satans wealth and substance he hath what he 〈◊〉 and doth what he will and thou art not troubled with any thing nor wilt trouble him by seeking out for relief and deliverance enquirest 〈◊〉 what thou mayest do to be rescued and 〈◊〉 know Satan hath his Armor on and he seeks thy heart as his Pallace under his Soveraign Power and Command to this day nor is there any preparation nor the 〈◊〉 inkling or intimation of 〈◊〉 of that wretched 〈◊〉 of thine thou 〈◊〉 in this secure condition as one that meddles not hast nothing to do with the things of Grace and Life As it was said Judges 17. 7. of the men of 〈◊〉 who dwelt careless quiet and secure far from the Zidonians and had no business with man It 's a Picture of this 〈◊〉 temper and secure condition of thine thou 〈◊〉 far from the state and grace of Glory thou hast no business with Christians with Ordinances Officers thou hast nothing to say or to demand touching eternal Life thou knowest nothing yet enquirest not what thou should'st do hast nothing yet 〈◊〉 not for help and succor thou hast no business that appertains to Heaven with any man living thy business lies not with the Word and the Lord and his Word have as little to do with thee that shews thy heart is not there nor thy portion there As each mans affection and expression of himself is where his imployment lies as 〈◊〉 as a Bee they carry their businesses in
Isa. 66. 3. I wil look saith the Lord i. e. with a gracious look of mercy upon this man that trembles at my word that trembles at a counsel least he should despise it at commands promises least he should not receive them The Lord is terrible out of his holy places When the terror of the truth of God is fallen upon the soul then what ever exhortations directions come from the word he dares not resist or gainsay but submit and fal under the wil of God made known there then a man wil fear to go from under a command as to go to hell it self EXAMINATION we may hence know whether ever the word hath wrought kindly and left this impression of broken heartedness this is a never fayling evidence As thy subjection is to the word so thy contrition is If the word hath pierced thee the word wil awe thee 1 Thes. 1. 6. Our Gospel came not in word but in power and ye became followers of us and of the Lord. Did the word over-power thy heart then thou art a follower of the faithful Ministers of God who left those impressions upon thy soul the word is mighty through God and brings every thought into the obedience of Christ hence 2 Cor. 8. 5. they gave up themselves to the Lord and then to us by the wil of God so far as they set forth the Goverment of Christ. This fals heavy upon two sorts Those that are open rebells sons of Belial that acknowledg no Lord no Law what to tremble at every word that is delivered No they are not such Babies c. Conspirators and traitors that pretend and profess subjection and yet maintain rebellion in their hearts they yield fainedly but when it comes to reallity to stoop to the authority of the truth they wil not these are traitors to the truth 〈◊〉 the Swissers wil be enemies when they cannot serve their own turns and friends when they do 〈◊〉 the Papists in England they are content to take the benefit of the Law but when it comes to take the oath of Allegiance they wil by no means do it because they are sworn Vassels to the Pope or Pensioners to the King of Spain though they equivocate to serve their own turns so these when they come to take the oath of Allegiance to set up Christ as supream in their hearts and minds to submit to the power of the truth then they take up armes against Christ and his word and wil not submit This is the evidence of a servant of sin Rom. 6. 17. when men receive the power of the Gospel they are not servants of sin else they are Psal. 45. 5. a man that wil not fal before the truth the arrows of Christ never stuck fast in his heart What shal we do We have done with the parties to whom the complaint was made men and brethren c. The complaint it self is ful of bitterness some things are implyed in it some things expressed That which is implyed in this complaint may be attended in four particulars Their ignorance and inability how to help themselves An absolute necessity to come 〈◊〉 of this condition which now they find themselves in A secret hope to receive advice and relief from the Apostles The price and excellency they now put upon the 〈◊〉 from their sins for this is the end of their request that which is supposed and implyed as the end of their complaint namely to bedelivered from that which was the plague sore of their souls and did so extremely pierce and pinch them That which the jalour in the like case did openly mention and these also did intend Sirs what shal I do to be saved Acts. 16. 30. namely from those sins which now overwhelm his soul. Sinners in distress of Conscience are ignorant and unable to help themselves The manner of the speech proclaimes so much to each mans experience at the very first inckling and hearing of it They speak as men at their wits end what shal we do we know not what to do it 's beyond our skil and above our reach either to bear or avoyd to make an escape from his sins and the plagues due therunto As Ruben said when he went down into the pit found not his Brother Joseph there being sold before he returned to his bretheren the child is not I whither shal I go Gen. 37. 30. So it is with the soul in distress of Conscience seeing it self forsaken of God Because he hath forsaken him by his backslidings and departures God is gone my God is not to this poor soul and I 〈◊〉 shal I go whither shal I look if to heaven there justice wil reject and condemn me if to hell there the Devils are ready to torment should I take the wings of the morning fly to the utmost parts of the earth there the wrath of the Almighty shal pursue and if I look into my own soul there is a Conscience to accuse 〈◊〉 a hell of horror to confound me for ever We know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 way to take 〈◊〉 we are 〈◊〉 of our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 makes it more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 know 〈◊〉 how to get either relief or release We are at a loss 〈◊〉 our 〈◊〉 we are at a loss in our thoughts how we may find succor and deliverance you 〈◊〉 are the seers of Israel shew us the way of help Paul acknowledgeth as much at his first Conversion Acts 9. 6. when the Lord had met him and discovered the evil and 〈◊〉 of his way he then conceived he did not wel and yet could not conceive what to do Lord what wilt thou have me to do I do not know and therefore I cannot tel how to do thy wil nor yet how to procure mine own peace When the Israelites were driven to perplexities by the expression of Gods 〈◊〉 against their 〈◊〉 carriage in chusing themselves a King and 〈◊〉 cryed out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us for we have sinned 1 Sam. 12. 〈◊〉 they durst not go to the Throne of Grace themselves but forced out of guilt and horror they were ready to go the wrong way and therefore Samuel by seasonable prevention stops their passage Ye have sinned yet turn not aside from following the Lord q. d. the distressed sinner as a Traveller in amazement when they have once missed their way the further they go the further they go aside Reasons are Two The 〈◊〉 of Grace and Life unto which men are to turn at the times of their Conversion they are hidden and secret and men in their Natural Condition when the Lord is pleased first to stop their passage and build a wall before them they are wholly unacquainted with the narrow path that 〈◊〉 to Christ and life by reason of that inbred blindness of their minds and the dayly 〈◊〉 of their lives and that from their 〈◊〉 For 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 part of the description of the Grace 〈◊〉 to enter in at the straight gate for straight 〈◊〉
weare away the 〈◊〉 that stuck in his heart and therefore fondly conceited he could make a 〈◊〉 to beare the weight that should befal that he might possess and injoy the pleasures and content his 〈◊〉 courses did promise to his carnall heart But he finds it otherwise his heart say les him under pressure of one sin Psal. 130 3. If thou shouldest mark what is done amis Lord who should 〈◊〉 it An ignorant soul settled in his secure condition out of self deluding pride of his own spirit would 〈◊〉 that he could abide the misery and so the danger that might accrew to him by his distemper and so is fearless to maintain it But now he findes he is not able to abide that which his sin doth bring let him put the best of al his abilities together to emprovement 〈◊〉 14. can thy heart endure c. the time was they thought their hearts could endure the frollick Epicure and flinty hearted sinner he wonders at he feebleness of the distressed and broken-hearted that they should be such children persons of such feeble and milksop dispositions to sink at a Sermon and be troubled at the words of a Preacher tush his Conscience is cannon proof he can heare and bear al and yet pleal 〈◊〉 and bless himself in the pursuit of his lusts as before times Oh thou 〈◊〉 do so while men deal with thee thou mayest avoyd their blow or make an escape out of their hands but when God shal deal with thee in that day when thou fallest into the hands of the living God Hebr. 10. who lives to torment the to eternity what wilt thoudo The shadow and appearance of the hand-writing shook Belshazzars heart when he was quaffing in his cups in the ruff of his riot what would the stroke of that hand have done and this hand now the 〈◊〉 finds and finds himself absolutely unable to 〈◊〉 the evil of 〈◊〉 sin and therefore concludes it absolutely 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 of it whatever it cost him He knowes now by proof this evil to be such as that no other can equal it the evil such as no contrary good in this world can countervail it And therefore he sees reason and chooseth never to have any good in this world rather than to have his sin to part withal rather than not part with this or be plagued with it Rather undergo al evils and suffer the utmost extremity 〈◊〉 suffer his sin to remain with him Math 16. 26. What wil it profit a man to gain the whol world and to Ioose his soul or what shal a man give in exchange for his soul. The broken in heart he sees now by proof also the cursed combination that is amongst corruptions a league 〈◊〉 lusts if any corruption rule in the heart it makes a man a slave to what ever distemper presents it self unto the soul In a word He that wil keep 〈◊〉 sin he keeps himself under the power of al corruptions he keeps off the power of al the means of grace and good for working upon or prevailing with the soul for its 〈◊〉 wolfare The keeping of one sin keeps possession for Satan and his right unto the soul and under the Allegiance of all the accursed lusts that either can come from without or arise from within one 〈◊〉 the Soveraignty but he is a slave to al as special occasion may be offered he wil serve any 〈◊〉 that he may suit the beloved distemper of his heart 〈◊〉 Tim. 2. last the 〈◊〉 rakes them captive according to his wil. and therefore its 〈◊〉 of the thorny 〈◊〉 in that the nick of 〈◊〉 they fel away 〈◊〉 8. 15. Whither sel it Nathely it gave 〈◊〉 to whatover either error in opinion or 〈◊〉 in practice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or satisfyed the 〈◊〉 desire of the soul. He that misseth the right way be is for any by way that comes next in view a City that is under the command of the chief Captain they must be subject to the out rage of any or al of his 〈◊〉 or underlings that wil but execute his wil and attend his tyrannous commands so it is in the soul if one lust rule it it s a salve unto what ever distemper may be serviceable and seem to give content to that they went as they were led 1 Cor. 12. 1. 2. The heart pierced with this through sorrow perceives also by woful experience that the keeping of one corruption keeps off the power of any ordinance that it cannot work kindly or 〈◊〉 effectually for any spiritual good it way 〈◊〉 the work of an ordinance The heady and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would have a King and they would hear no counsel nor yet take the savorest argument into Consideration that did concern their peace and prosperous proceeding in their way 1 Sam. 8. 18. the 〈◊〉 Idolaters run madding after their Idols they cast off al the advice of the Prophet with scorn contempt Jer. 44. 16. As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we wil not hearken to thee Nay when they are set upon is they profess plainly there is no hope but we wil walk every one after the vanity of his own imaginations Jer. 18. 12. so that the sinner now 〈◊〉 and resolves either he must part withal or els for ever be deprived of al good and be a slave to al sin TRYAL We may hence gain undoubted evidence whether ever our hearts were soundly soaked in this Godly sorrow for sin 〈◊〉 or no. Contrition if it be of the right stamp it hath a constraining power with it to force the heart against corruption It silenceth al shifts puts by and puts off al false pleas scatters al sluggish pretences that are made in behalf of our distempers 〈◊〉 a word it casts the ballance against al carnal reasons that are 〈◊〉 and stirring and usually cast in by Satan and our sensual disposition to keep us in our former estate and to procure some if not toleration yet mitigation in our 〈◊〉 against our 〈◊〉 It layes and leaves a pressing 〈◊〉 upon the soul that overbears what ever may come on the contrary part to plead for any connivence for any sin in any kind As we say in the Proverb there is no reasoning against sence a man hath no patience to hear words 〈◊〉 or appearances which are against a mans feeling experience If any stander by should perswade a man the potion is pleasant when a man 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 and his stomach 〈◊〉 it or that the fire is cold when he finds it 〈◊〉 and burn he can hardly give him the hearing but disdains him an answer say what you wil I regard not what you say shal not I trust mine eyes or so far befool my self as to go against mine own feeling I pass not that you speak in that behalf So it is with a broken hearted sinner what ever Satan shal suggest his carnal friends and companions counsel his deceitful
its own burden and preservation of it 〈◊〉 it willingly would have but knows not where to find it nor yet obtain it 〈◊〉 it did appear It may be discovered in two things In the rise and ground of it the Lord leaves upon the Understanding of a 〈◊〉 sinner a real apprehension of his own 〈◊〉 in such 〈◊〉 and about such conditions and yet 〈◊〉 of the experience and knowledg of others and 〈◊〉 of Providence in such difficulties beyond his reach both which lead the 〈◊〉 and apprehension of a man to look out and provokes the heart in this 〈◊〉 condition to put forth 〈◊〉 endeavor because al the 〈◊〉 of possibilities are not stopped up and 〈◊〉 of relief wholly taken away For be it he know none yet this also he 〈◊〉 there may be some way and others may and do 〈◊〉 conceive more 〈◊〉 of succor than his shallow conceiving is able to know or hath 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 therefore look out he wil and expect what further may be made to appear in the way of Providence and from Direction and skil of others And hence it is they come here upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Brethren What shall we do We 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 in our own thoughts we are strangers to our own hearts and distempers and distresses unto which through our just deservings we have brought our selves yet you that have more experience and better acquaintance with the Dispensations of the Almighty in such dealings with miserable Creatures though we know not what may help 〈◊〉 selves yet we know that we have need to seek for succor and we know not but we may speed therefore we are resolved to put it to the trial put it to the venture see what wil become of it Upon this ground the Ninivites resolve to betake themselves to seek out for their own preservation from the destruction 〈◊〉 and now drawing on Jonah 3. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and shew mercy that was perish not 〈◊〉 can 〈◊〉 it is beyond al the skil we have to contrive and the power we have to accomplish any thing for our own 〈◊〉 but yet we cannot tel but God may turn from his 〈◊〉 wrath and leave a blessing behind him 〈◊〉 of a curse as men who fal into strange and desperate sicknesses the danger they see but cannot see how to cure themselves yet the apprehension of their own ignorance and consideration of the experience and wisdom of others is thus far a help as to provoke them to seek out not altogether without expectation of supply from them for though they easily conceive they understand not what is good for their own sicknesses yet they cannot conclude but others do or may understand more than themselves So here Men and Brethren we knew not our sins before nor now how to be quit of them You that from God know how to discover them we cannot but think but you may shew us a way of escape and deliverance and therefore we cannot but enquire though the sinner cannot say it wil yet he doth not know it wil not be therefore I term it an unknown expectation it secretly swaies and carries the heart Hence this Hope is confused and uncertain it doth not nor can bottom the heart in any grounded assurance and settle it upon any certaintie for the attainment of that which now it needs But keeps this on foot in the consideration of the sinner that there be unknown passages of possibilities for his spiritual relief and therefore this sends the heart out after search and enquiry And those possibilities provoke the sinner to put to with what diligence and endeavor may be to see what he can make of them whether they wil hit or miss what wil become of him and his comforts that he may know what to make of himself and his condition which as yet he knows not Joel 2. 13. Who knows if God wil return Who knows whether these sins may be pardoned grace and mercy shal be extended to this miserable soul of mine Who knows what wil befal I wil yet try what shal befal I wil see the issue Such a kind of possible uncertaintie caused the Leapers to make proof what would be the event they may slay us and yet they may save us So Benhadads Servants Ahab may proceed in his indignation against us and yet he may also pardon therfore we wil try So the soul here Whereas the Hope that issues from Faith and is found in the hearts of Beleevers as the fruit thereof it hath a sure and cleer ground to sustain and settle it upon which a mans hopes may hang and a special and infallible assurance it brings that wil never fail that is as certain which is thus in hope as that which we have in hand that which is in expectation as that which we have in present possession so called the Anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast Heb. 6. 19. This Hope never makes ashamed Rom. 5. 5. A man never misseth of his expectation as the ground of our Hope is most sure and the success is most certain and the ground is the love and faithfulness of God in the undoubted performance of the Promises he makes Rom. 5. 4. Because the love of God it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in our hearts by the 〈◊〉 Ghost 〈◊〉 this unknown expectation ariseth from the apprehension of some 〈◊〉 presented which because they are unknown what they may be therefore the restless contrite sinner puts forth his endeavour to prove what wil be the issue The reasons are 〈◊〉 summed up in so many words Because this hope is a privy support wherby the heart is under-propped from sinking utterly under those unsuportable evils which it feels now in part fears stil daily to come in upon them and yet not onely beyond his strength but beyond his thoughts and therefore as the Lord smites with the one hand he sustaynes and upholds him by the other It s the reason which the Lord alleadgeth why he wil not alwayes contend least the spirit should fayl before him and the souls that he hath made Isa. 57. 16. As the wise Physitian when the disease is violent and the portion strong he 〈◊〉 the heart with some cordial least while he should purge the humor he should destroy nature the Lord is as a wife merciful Physitian he would melt us by Godly sorrow but not consume us he would have us loose our sins but not our hopes This hope is an inlet into the soul whereby the Lord makes way for the work of the means hereby the contrite sinner is ready to attend and give entertainment to the ordinances while he hath any hope of any good to be communicated unto himself because the patient knows not but the receit may do him good he is content to take it and try what it wil do whereas desperate discouragement stops al the passages that the power of an ordinance cannot come to take place Upon
life it self willing not only these things should not be but that himself should not be that he might not be sinful Let the Lord take all away yea life and all only take away my sin and it sufficeth he counts it the best day that ever yet dawned the best news that ever came to his distressed Conscience if he can gain any assurance get any evidence but one good look from Heaven a smile of Gods face and 〈◊〉 that the sins he hath seen he shal never see them more the corruptions that have 〈◊〉 and plagued him in his dayly Conversation indisposed him to do the Duties God required and unfitted him for the 〈◊〉 Christ hath purchased God hath tendered to him in his holy Word That pride that 〈◊〉 those passions that perversness and self-willy waywardness of heart that hath been the plague-sore of his soul have interrupted the comfort of his heart peace of his Conscience communion with his God The very possibility and expectation that the Lord may save him from the guilt and power of those prevailing distempers supports his Spirit But if he can but live to see the day that the thing is done he desires to live no longer Lord let thy Servant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 since mine eyes have seen thy 〈◊〉 2. 29 30. Since thou hast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lusts mighty stifness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 al Convictions though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gainsay al Arguments though never so 〈◊〉 slight al Directions though never 〈◊〉 evident mighty self-considence and hellish haughtiness of Spirit whereby I could swel above man and means and God himself Let thy Servant depart in peace This Peace let it never be interrupted this saving power of thy spirit never weakened never enfeebled more Let me lose my life with the 〈◊〉 let me die that they may never live more And therefore the distressed Christian sees not the meanest Christian in the 〈◊〉 miserable condition but he prefers him above al the 〈◊〉 on Earth and wisheth himself in his place Oh if my soul were in his souls stead saved from his corruption therefore he is in a safe and a blessed condition Salvation if it be of the right stamp to deliver from sin not to ease from plagues and sorrows such a kind of saving carries ever satisfaction with it hath a 〈◊〉 fulness which answers unto al poor and imprisoned yet saved though persecuted reproached yet saved though despised and killed and yet saved delivered from his 〈◊〉 there is no evil of the first or second death that shal hurt him 〈◊〉 have any power over him And therefore the contrite sinner contents himself in this as Jacob in a like case I have enough Joseph is yet alive I have enough my soul shal yet be saved In a wrack he that saves his life is abundantly satisfied When so many thousands suffer 〈◊〉 split al their Professions Hopes and Comforts upon the Rocks and Sands of Pride and Self-love Oh what a mercy satisfying mercy that thou who wert in as much danger as they stands alive upon the shoar when they are dying and drowning and 〈◊〉 under the power of their sins The 〈◊〉 sinner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 price he is resolved in good 〈◊〉 readily to endeavor any thing to compass that he makes so much 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Brethren what shall we do Command what ye wil we shal do it give what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 please we 〈◊〉 follow them prescribe 〈◊〉 means you see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shal improve them 〈◊〉 it is you shal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enjoyn be it never so cross to our own carnal 〈◊〉 never 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and haza 〈◊〉 we 〈◊〉 not haggle and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you but we shal endeavor 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What 〈◊〉 we do whatever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we 〈◊〉 do what we 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to do what we cannot out of our weakness perform or out of our ignorance so readily conceive how 〈◊〉 accomplish So they Isai. 30. 22. The Converts there it 's said They 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of Silver and ornament of Gold and cast them away as a 〈◊〉 cloth and say get thee hence The price and worth of their Image might have enticed them if not to have kept them yet converted them to their own use but they casheir them wholly without the least consideration of any Commodity that they might have contrived for their own content therefrom So Zacheus 〈◊〉 19. 8. When once he began to be sensibly affected with his corrupt and covetous course and the danger thereof and the evil therein see how comfortably restitution which is so difficult a work comes off a hand without any grudging because that was the means appointed by God to quit his heart and hands of the guilt of that sin Behold Lord half that I have I give to the poor and if I have wronged any man by forged Cavillation I restore him four-fold So lastly the holy Apostle Paul when the Lord Jesus had discovered his sin and abased his heart in the right apprehension of it so that he is come to Gods bent What wilt thou have me to do Behold I wil send thee far hence to the Gentiles Acts 26. 17 19. He did not consent with flesh and blood nor so much as pretend either doubt or 〈◊〉 but immediately addressed himself to follow the direction That which a man prizeth indeed he wil bid fair for nor wil he scotch for a little cost but is resolved to have it what ever it 〈◊〉 and therefore 〈◊〉 not for the cost at all So it is here a 〈◊〉 sinner comes easily and resolutely to Gods terms to do any thing He that 〈◊〉 this price upon Salvation and 〈◊〉 from sin his heart is upon it and his prayer is improved for the most part for this particular his thoughts about it 〈◊〉 Listen to him in 〈◊〉 secret devotions his confessions about this his Petitions spent upon this he harps upon this 〈◊〉 stil. But for things of the world they are out of his mind his thoughts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them as though he 〈◊〉 nothing or cared for nothing or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh deliver me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ask him what he would have or desire if he might obtain and have what he would he answers Oh that I might be saved as Abraham for Ishmael 〈◊〉 17. 18. 〈◊〉 that Ishmael might live before thee 〈◊〉 he for his own soul Oh that my soul may live before thee or as blind 〈◊〉 said Oh that my Eyes might be opened and that my heart might be opened and freed from my corruptions Oh that Jesus Christ would do this for me who cannot do it for my 〈◊〉 Because 〈◊〉 distressed soul finds the presence of all 〈◊〉 ther things do no whit prejudice a mans everlasting happiness either the good or comfort of his soul either the having or 〈◊〉 of his Spiritual 〈◊〉 the presence of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may 〈◊〉 do not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of any 〈◊〉 person a 〈◊〉 is never
a whit the worse and the Lord loves him never a whit the less because his pressures and sorrows 〈◊〉 upon him but that is the season of Gods saving health 〈◊〉 is most neer when there is most need and our 〈◊〉 makes way for the enlargement of his love and mercy to us Joseph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prison land God is with him with his in the fire 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 not and the Waters that they drown 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Isa. 43. 2. God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 himself to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. 25. 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 is seven times 〈◊〉 and the three children 〈◊〉 into it then the Son of God 〈◊〉 visibly with them in the 〈◊〉 thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 all manner of 〈◊〉 then God doth al manner of good for great 〈◊〉 your reward in Heaven So that what the Apostle enjoyns the sinner now finds true by proof that we have reason to count it all joy when we fall into many temptations James 1 2 3 4. For in al those wants which out 〈◊〉 befal become 〈◊〉 and intire and want nothing spiritually and 〈◊〉 the contrite is content to bear these when he finds they do not hinder the happiness of the soul. He now finds that the presence of his sins only poysons all the Comforts he hath with a curse and 〈◊〉 off the Hope and Expectation of any blessing from the hand of the Lord in al the Dispensations in the waies of Providences or Ordinances towards him nothing can prosper Why transgress ye the Commandement of the Lord for ye cannot prosper Sin stops the passage and puts him beyond al possibility of 〈◊〉 or good 〈◊〉 to be extended towards him sor the Lords determination is past and it 's peremptory there is no peace to the wicked saies my God Isai. 57. 21. he hath said it the word is past out of his mouth and no 〈◊〉 can 〈◊〉 it You know what a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Messenger the thing was so reasonable What! peace so long as the 〈◊〉 of thy mother 〈◊〉 remain Jos. 7. 12. It 's that which the Lord professeth so peremptory I 〈◊〉 be with you no more except you destroy the 〈◊〉 thing from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 his blessing and 〈◊〉 in al the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 is the meaning he would not be with 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 Warring in 〈◊〉 going forth and coming in he wil not be with them in 〈◊〉 in receiving praying improving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shal not work Prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 place a man 〈◊〉 have them but no 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 no Spirit with 〈◊〉 no Blessing upon them no good from them at al. That which poysons al the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nay in truth the evil of al evils with it He now finds the removal of 〈◊〉 would set open the floodgate of the infinite favor and goodness of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in amain upon the 〈◊〉 Jer. 5. 24. your 〈◊〉 with-hold good things from you God doth not with-hold them or keep them from us 〈◊〉 onely through the desert of our sins his arm is not 〈◊〉 that he cannot help nor his 〈◊〉 heavy 〈◊〉 he cannot hear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 power that he cannot nor mercy that he wil not help It s his desire Oh that there were such a heart in them that they might fear me and keep my commandements that it may go wel with them and theirs for ever 〈◊〉 5. 29. Nay he hath taken a sollemn oath As I live saith the Lord I desire not the 〈◊〉 of a sinner but that he 〈◊〉 repent and live 〈◊〉 18. 32. so that he wants not mercy but we want 〈◊〉 unworthy of the mercy he tenders uncapable Yea unwilling to receive the grace he offers Oh 〈◊〉 man that wil let him come and 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 of life freely Rev. 22. 17. If you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it God wil give 〈◊〉 and no man wants it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it s he that wil have it and it s his corruption that keeps him that he 〈◊〉 not nay is not subject nay would not be made able to receive this mercy Come out of them my people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and touch not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he offers himself readily I 〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉 God I 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and walk with them he wil constantly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comfort them by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cor. 6. 18. 19. He wil walk up and down see their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for them answerable to al their needs and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which brings 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we should prize as a good 〈◊〉 above al 〈◊〉 things we should prize it INSTRUCTION We here seethe 〈◊〉 why the most men in the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Physitian never looked for 〈◊〉 because they were never sensible of their thraldom c. REPROOF A bil of inditement to accuse and 〈◊〉 thousands giving in evidence that they never 〈◊〉 the work of God upon their souls Two sorts especially The secure sinner who is so far from seeking and coveting deliverance that he wil not take it when it s offered but is content to be in the prison of his natural condition and to lye in the boults and 〈◊〉 of his sins stil. Of this temper were those Jews in captivity that had so long lived in Babilon they were content to remain there when liberry was proclaimed and the way opened deliver thy self O Zion thou that dwellest with the daughter of Eabilon Zach. 2. 7. yet they stayed behind in Captivity stil so it is with many a sluggish 〈◊〉 he is content to perish rather then do any thing to deliver himself he blesseth himself in his misery and so is a devoted slave to the Devil as Exo. 21. 6. If when the servant had his liberty to go out free he said plainly I love my Master I wil not go out free then his ear was to be bored with an awl and he was to be his servant for ever the boaring of his ear did signify his yielding obedience to the Command of another So when Christ comes to set a man at liberty offers mercy and grace and pardon if a man then say I love my master Pride perversness and Idleness let me have and live in my sins if God say Amen thou art a bond servant of 〈◊〉 for ever thou 〈◊〉 a miserable 〈◊〉 creature for ever The sluggish professor or hypocrite that hath had some conviction of his sins and remembrance of the stings of his distempers and some promises and purposes of amendment the blow is no sooner over but al is at an end lazy prayers and feeble endeavours but when it comes to the poynt he wil do nothing he wil give you the hearing of counsels and admonitions you would think the man were in a very
ken of Salvation That crooked things must be made straight before any flesh can see the salvation of the Lord. There be crookings of carnal reason in the heart of every man naturally it was the great Ingredient into the first sin of Adam and hath been his Curse ever since to find out findings Eccles. 7. last to invent inventions to make an escape from the Truth and so to walk in the vanity of their own mind and unless the Lord heat a man in the fire of his fury hold him upon the Anvil beat him and break him by the hammer of the Law in this work of Contrition this crookedness wil never be removed nor he come within the sight of Salvation and it 's made one part of the description of a man that is out of the path of peace Isay 59. 8. They have made their 〈◊〉 crooked By way of REPROOF It dasheth that dream of the wicked and cursed imagination of carnal men who conceit that to fal under the foot of contempt according to the desert of our evil doings they conceive it a point of greatest dispar agement and wickedness that can be imagined and to take up 〈◊〉 abode in that abased condition either by some reach of policy not to prevent such an evil or when it doth befal to be shistless as to sink under it and not to be able to struggle out they look at such and leave it upon Record in their Observation as very simplicians such as are destitute either of wit or courage to swallow down such indignities and never be sick of them these persons they note as feeble and the 〈◊〉 base A hellish delusion directly contrary to the truth here delivered and the practice of these Converts now truly broken-hearted with Godly sorrow for their sins That which issues from the power and work of Gods Spirit upon the soul it argues neither feebleness nor 〈◊〉 and such is this practice and therefore it argues neither 1. Not feebleness because it is of a conquering of a commanding power and that against the greatest forces of sin and Satan which they bring into the field our own carnal ends and high conceited excellency of our worth the seeking our selves and setting up our own persons and names and praises are the very stumps of Dagon which stand longest the very heart blood of the body of death the high and overweening thoughts of the Soveraignty of our wils and worth they are the holds of Satan to batter down the strong holds and to make us lie down in the dust and to be abased in the sight of God and man in quiet subjection is indeed to subdue the power of darkness a work unto which we must be enabled by the power of the Almighty far beyond the might of al Creatures much less shal feebleness be able ever to compass it if thou conceitest it is so easie go thy waies and do thou likewise Alas poor deluded Creature it 's such a task that thy heart misgives thee at the very on-set and thou art never able to turn thy hand to it thou must have allowance from thy lusts and stubbornness of thy own heart and ask leave of thy pride and vain glory and when al is done thou canst not so much as fain a confession such a slave and underling thou art to thy sinful distempers even slavery it self that they wil not suffer thee to speak a word to cross thine own way ward spirit and condemn the wretchedness of thy carnal carriage which by the power of the spirit of contrition these poor Servants of the Lord can do not verbally but really and seriously as in the sight of God Which shews there is more than the strength of a mans self that must 〈◊〉 yea destroy a mans self that is his self pride and praise 2. As there is no feebleness in this so neither is there the least baseness in so blessed a service and work of such excellency as this is a behavior truly honorable and such as indeed beseems persons of the greatest account with God and man 〈◊〉 were the diamond in Solomons Crown Eccles. 1. 1. The words of a soul gathered to his people the son of David King in Jerusalem they were titles of honor but this was the top of al. It was a higher soveraignty to bewail his sin and seek unfeyned reconciliation to the Church and by serious and thorough satisfaction to 〈◊〉 acceptance than to sit in the throne of Israel by that he was above his subjects by this he was above himself by that he had power over his people by 〈◊〉 he prevayled over the power of darkness hel devils distempers by that he was above the Kingdom ruled it according to his own wil by this he is above his wil which was above the King yea above his corruption and lusts who lorded over wil and King and Kingdom and al. Yea this is so eminent a service however it seems other to the deluded minds of men it makes way for the 〈◊〉 pitch of al that happiness we ever hope to obtayn here on earth or hereafter in heaven 1 Cor. 15. 28. the pinacle of al perfection unto which we can be advanced 〈◊〉 that God may be al 〈◊〉 all 〈◊〉 when a sinner lyes under the foot of loathsomness hath nothing doth nothing receives nothing 〈◊〉 himself unworthy to be looked at worthy to be loathed of heaven earth Now God is al in al not onely 〈◊〉 al for him such is his nothingness in himself but here is the glory of al power wisdom and mercy to overcom his unworthyness and to make him fit to receive any thing besides look at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 work it self 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 greatest victory and those must be the greatest conquerors of al who have conquered and made spoyl of al the Glory of the world The heathen King wished there were more worlds to conquer he that is willing to bewail his sins and take shame for them he hath conquered al those worlds and the conqueror himself and those high thoughts that conquered him it s a degree above glory willingly to be content to want it than indeed to enjoy it Ground of EXAMINATION and TRIAL If we would ever gain assurance or bring in evidence and proof to oure own souls and others that indeed our hearts have been broken for our sins and so turned from our sins in a saving manner unto God here in the kingdom of Grace that we may undoubtedly assure our selves that we shal see his face in glory in another world try thy heart and condition by the former truth lay thy soul level to the doctrine formerly delivered if thou findest this work of God thou mayest undoubtedly conclude there is the spirit of God And however it seems so mean in the eyes of men yet the greater the power of the Almighty is seen in it to lay mountains low and level the hand of the Lord must do this
and found not the harlot he was content to let her go away with his ring and bracelet lest saith he we be ashamed So David would have covered his solly with 〈◊〉 by sending Uriah to his own house 2 Sam. 11. And for a push the very servants of the Lord may be surprised with this sinful shifting away of their shame from them and al that while never see their sincerity nor find peace but when they are brought to see their sin then they yield immediately 2 Sam. 12. 13. I have saith David sinned against the Lord. Sometime by falshood gainsaying and denying so Gehazi 2 Kings 5. 25. Where hast thou been Gehazi thy servant went no whither Somtime colouring excusing putting it off as Saul to Samuel first it were not done then the people did it then he did it but for sacrifice and for love to Gods worship 1 Sam. 15. and in the issue he would be helped against his shame but not against his sin yet honor me before the people v. 30. he doth not say let me be humbled before the people who have sinned before them of this rank are these when the stals of Conscience and the pressures of their spirits constrain them to confess and seek for ease their complaints are like Lapwings cryes farthest from their nest or their bosom distempers which lye in the deck onely their acknowledgments are so general and of such evils that more or less belong to al and therefore they conceive they are yet under a safe cover little shame wil fal to their share Oh they are proud and dead hearted and have a deal of self within them the issue is here and the English is this I say I am thus and who is not so more or less and so a little shame wil come to their allowance and allotment And if their words which fal from them give a prudent man advantage of further enquirie and just suspicion to lay his hand upon the loathsom sore you wil see what shuffling and winding and biting of the lip wil presently appear The fourth and last sort are such who when the arrowes of the Lord have stuck fast in them and the venom therof hath drunk up their spirits when the poyson of their sin and pangs of conscience like a strong potion hath made them extremely sick that they are not able to conceal their evils any longer but the vengeance of the Lord forceth them to vomit out al their filth to the ful as a stiring potion kept in works with much violence but when it s over and they have thus taken the shame it s with no content to them it s a secret torment that their own tongues have gone beyond their own intents they do inwardly repine and befool themselves and could eat their flesh that ever they should lay themselves open so to contempt and therefore they begin to devise wayes and means how to mitigate the matter that it may not seem loathsom nor they so vile by reason of it and therefore they make constructions of some things and interpretations of others and then lay the extremity upon their distemper which was fired and followed by Satan that they belyed themselves in some things and said they knew not what and thus like the unclean dog they lick up their vomit again they cannot be quit of the shame and wash away the filth they have flung in their own faces but they are in no wise content with it and therefore would fain get it off by al the means they can devise thus their sins come to be healed too soon like a sore that closeth too fast not being daily tented and opened and so it festers again and proves dangerous so it is with the soul when it is not tented with daily taking shame for the evil and so kept open it again rankles and growes worse But how shal we know that we are content to take shame for sin by a right confession of it I answer that wil appear in four particular evidences The heart that is indeed content to take shame fon the sin it hath committed and stands guilty of it hath this disposition wrought in it and expresseth this affection also as occasion serves namely it opposeth not that Truth which doth evidently discover a mans 〈◊〉 and how worthily he deserves it though it doth it sharply To be content with a thing and to be opposite against the same thing implies a professed contradiction which neither Reason allows nor common sence wil admit He that is content in earnest with the portion and condition that is carved out to him in the course of Providence when it 's offered he welcoms it when it 's come and that he hath it in his possession closeth therewith as that which is a suitable good and most serviceable to him for the present necessity all circumstances considered An humbled heart takes his shame as a sick man doth his physick he could heartily wish he did not need it and yet as the case stands he cannot want it but in reason he shal want his Cure and health the potion is loathsom to take and troublesom in the working of it but the disease he knows to be far worse and more dangerous which he conceives may be purged by the use of this means and therefore seeks it earnestly and is not content without it and glad indeed to be so troubled because he may be eased as he hopes So it is with a heart truly sensible of sin and turned from it looks at this shame as a most loathsom and tedious potion and could have wished and that heartily he had never need of it had never so miscarried himself as to have deserved it but as the case now stands the dishonor done to Gods Name and Truth the scandal to others the danger to the spiritual and everlasting welfare of his own soul he looks at the Truth which shal be most evident and most sharply set on as the most special Receipt and Soveraign Medicine which he is glad to seek and more glad to take that the noysom distempers may be taken from his soul the dishonor from Gods Name and scandal from before the way of his Brethren 〈◊〉 to have a thing and crossness of spirit to resist that which brings it cannot stand together and in this sence it is you shal find the Saints pray so earnestly and affectionately for the keeping away of shame somtimes Psal. 119. Turn from me rebuke and shame and again Let me not be ashamed And somtime again so willingly to welcom and entertain it We lie down in our shame and are covered with confusion Jer. 3. 〈◊〉 Shame is a heavy curse as deserved by sin and justly inflicted from the Lord but to accept of it with an under abasedness of heart as the punishment of our 〈◊〉 from the hand of the Lord this is indeed the work of Grace and a gracious heart wil not side it against that Truth which
wil pass the sentence of shame upon it as the just fruit of our evil doings and as a means so sanctified to work a hatred against it in our selves and to remove the scandal of it from others and therefore strives not by restless cavils and evasions to make an escape from the evidence of the Word in the work of Conviction when a mans errors should be discovered nor yet doth repine at nor bear a privy grudg after the conviction lies not under the Truth as the 〈◊〉 upon the rack which he therefore bears not because indeed he cannot help himself against it with all the troublesom 〈◊〉 he can use but his soul inwardly approves of that word which judgeth his person and practice vile as himself doth Thus the word in the Original which sign sies confession properly 〈◊〉 to speak as God speaks to judg as God judgeth of his sin this hath been the constant guize of the Saints touched sincerely with remorse for their sin A word snibs David Thou art the man presently I have sinned saith he A wink or a look of the Lord Jesus makes Peter lie at his foot Go out and weep bitterly who had immediately before in a faithless cowardice basely denied him As it is with a Steed of a tender mouth feels his Bit 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 check of the Rider staies him turns him which way he wil So it is with a tender Conscience fals under the greatest shame that the least evidence of Argument wil check him withal So Ezekiah though i. were a sharp word and the threatening 〈◊〉 Isai. 39. last yet saies he The Word of the Lord is a good Wond my heart is naught my carriage naught my apprehensions naught and erroneous but the Word of the Lord is good and the holy Apostle in that inward combate speaks in the Name of all the Saints in the like case Rom. 7. 14. For we know that the Law is spiritual holy and good WE i. e. all that know God the work of his Grace the purity of the Truth they and I and al confess the Law is Spiritual that is for ever to be honored loved obeyed but I am carnal a good and holy Law but an evil and unholy heart true it is that carnal and hollow-hearted Hypocrites may somtimes have their Consciences so far awed with the Soveraign power of the Truth that they may yield 〈◊〉 thereunto and in outward appearance readily profess their approbation thereof with the condemnation of themselves and their own courses because they have no other way to gain ease and quiet to their own Consciences now clamoring against them or their acceptance with men their carriages being gross and inexcusable and therefore must so far bear the shame because he sees he cannot excuse his folly or sin being so open but he shal be accounted impudent in denying and sinning but al this while his heart is carried with an inward distast against it and by a privy spleen imbittered so as to conspire secretly the disparagement of it As it fared with those treacherous Jews when they saw no way and therefore had no hope to take away the life of Paul by open violence then they did cunningly plot it by a color of fair pretence and carried it thus Acts 23. 14. They would have him brought down out of the Castle as though they would enquire somthing more perfectly of him and we ere ever he come neer will be ready to kill him So these fals-hearted Creatures make it by their 〈◊〉 pretences that they would enquire more perfectly concerning the Truth the Servant craves Counsel how he should subdue the ruggedness of his Spirit the froward wife how she should overcome her way ward peevish 〈◊〉 they wil enquire more perfectly as though they would obey perfectly submit perfectly be perfect Servants wives c. But alas there is a conspiracy in their hearts against the strict waies of God So it was with Balaam he hath never done sacrificing to enquire the wil of God and yet his heart inwardly opposeth and resists his wil and this shewed it self in open violence and contempt of the Command and Charge Numb 24. 1. A heart content to take the shame is not offended with the party friend or enemy that wil lay the shame upon him he knows it is the burden which he ought to 〈◊〉 and if therefore any man wil give him a lift and help him to take it up he wil take it kindly at his hands It 's against common sence to conceive that one should be offended with another or take it grievously that he doth any thing which he knows would and he conceives wil give him content No man can be offended in Reason with the party for such a carriage or doing such a thing wherein he is contented and with which he is pleased True it is shame in it self is exceeding distastful to flesh and blood and in truth nothing more cross and contrary to an ingenious spirit Praise is the priviledg and prerogative of a reasonable Agent who acts by Counsel and therefore other Creatures are not so capable of it nor do we give it as their due we commend not the fire for burning heavy things for falling donward they cannot but do their work and therefore no praise no thanks to them for their deed but Agents as Men and Angels who work by Counsel who have wit and wisdom to contrive several waies conceive the best and wil and care to follow that when they might have done other out of their liberty Shame therefore crossing a man in his special priviledg his proper free hold it must in it self be very grievous and a tedious burden but as he sees his duty in it and the good that comes by it and withal his just desert by reason of his vileness he is not offended with the presence of the Chirurgeon but he is glad to see him and his 〈◊〉 though sharp and 〈◊〉 which may lance his imposthume and so save his 〈◊〉 whenas a naughty heart who would not have another take away his 〈◊〉 he is vexed inwardly at the least that he laies the shame and disparagement upon him for it See this odds in those two Kings Ahab and 〈◊〉 the one a self-seeking deluded 〈◊〉 when he was under the whip and terror of Gods stroak and wrath he then humbles his soul fasts and praies and that in print as it were acts his part in that extraordinary duty with outward 〈◊〉 and therefore in reason it cannot but be conceived he bewailed his sin confessed his failings and yet he that hated Elijah 1 Kings 21. 20. he hates also Micaiah 1 Kings 22. 8. There is yet one Micaiah q. d. We are rid of the most of them but yet One is our vexation and I hate him because he hates my sin and wil never speak good that is speak that which pleaseth my corruption and therefore displeaseth me But good Jehosaphat he was not willing to hear his words
had been happy for us that we had never listened to the counsel of the scribes and pharisees and been led by their examples or carried with the croud to the commission of such bloody evils the guilt whereof is so great vileness of loathsomenoss whereof is so hellish and unconceiveable but that which is done and past cannot be recalled but what shal we now do is there nothing to be done against these high-handed abominations which have done so much dishonor to Gods name indignity to the Lord Jesus the Lord of life so much injury to our own souls and hazarded our everlasting happiness and comfort what shal we do If any thing that can be done by others we wil seek far and near for help If any thing that can be done by our selves we shal 〈◊〉 it to the utmost of our power is there nothing to be done that we might have the blood of these sins of ours which have taken away the blood of the Lord Jesus this is not an estate to be rested in a 〈◊〉 in which we must continu and quiet our selves we should be willing to do any thing against 〈◊〉 sins and selves therfore the doctrine hence followes 〈◊〉 Sound contrition brings the soul to detestation against sin and sequestration from it When the people lamented 〈◊〉 the Lord who had 〈◊〉 himself so long time from them Samuel that he might have assurance of their sorrow that it were good and that they might give in evidence their hearts were upright he puts them upon this tryal If indeed you wil return unto the Lord put away your Idol 1 Sam. 7. 3. This was the practice of those converts Hosea 14. 1. 2. 3. 4. When they had taken words and desired the Lord to take away their iniquitie the proof of their sorrow and repentance is shewed in that profession of theirs Ashur shal not save us nor wil we go down to Egipt nor wil we say to the works of our hands ye are our Gods these were their special sins and their protestation is bent in a peculiar manner to abandon them for ever Those also who were convinced of their sinful departings from God by their curious arts Acts. 19. 19. To shew 〈◊〉 detestation of their sins they came al as one man and were al of one mind they burn their books in the view of al the people before al men that the memory of such evils might be abhorred and the very instruments which had been abused to the practice of them might be removed from the face of the Earth a 〈◊〉 heart that makes a true 〈◊〉 he is said in phrase of scripture to speak and judg as God doth of sin and to 〈◊〉 the same sentence 〈◊〉 it Now Gods mind is and the conclusion he hath set down is this thou shalt blot out the memory of them from under heaven and so would a broken heart do with his distempers There be two Particulars in the Doctrine wherein the double Effect of sound Contrition is discovered 1. Detestation of sin 2. Sequestration from sin We wil handle them both apart Begin we first with that hatred and detestation which the heart truly burdened carries against sin For the opening whereof we shal discover 1. VVhat is the Nature of this hatred 2. How it doth discover it self and may be discerned 3. The Reasons why this is required in this Work of Preparation To the First To difference this work of Hatred as it is appropriate to this place and comes now to consideration from the like disposition and operation of soul which 〈◊〉 wrought by the holy Ghost and expressed by the Saints in the further progress of the work of Application before it ariseth to the full breadth and further perfection unto which the Beleever arrives It 's a discovery which is attended with much difficulty and hardness to lay out the peculiar bounds and limits of it that each work may take that which is peculiar to it self and not interfer upon the other it 's a matter marvelous intricate and narrow for the search we shall labor to be wise to sobriety so far as light goes and the Lord helps We shal cast that which we would speak by way of Explication into several Conclusions as apprehending that the 〈◊〉 and most familiar way to communicate what may lend some little Direction this way As the first Adam did depart from God and in him all 〈◊〉 Posterity so the second Adam the Lord Christ doth bring back all his again unto God the Father by the contrary way In the departure of Adam and his Seed this is plain to common apprehension There was first an Aversion or turning from God then a Conversion or turning of the soul to the Creature this is the usual course and the usual 〈◊〉 They have 〈◊〉 the Fountain of Living Waters and digged to themselves Pits that will hold no water Jer. 2. 13. Adam attends not Gods Direction and then he attends the delusion of the Enemy contents not himself in what God had found but finds out findings therefore our Savior brings back his contrary way begins where Satan ends as it were there must be an Aversion and turning from the Creature before there can be a conversion unto God he came from God to the Creature he must return from the Creature to God but 〈◊〉 aversion is first that is from his abusive cleaving to the Creature for in truth 〈◊〉 is nothing else but an 〈◊〉 affecting of these inferior things Ambition is the inordinate affecting of praise the aiery applause of men Covetousness an inordinate seeking and 〈◊〉 upon the world Uncleanness an unruly 〈◊〉 unreasonable pursuit of the delights of the Flesh in a word a perverted and exorbitant wil inordinately following and pursuing the Creature not from God for God but from a sinful disposition to self-ends this is the frame of evil in the heart the woof and web of wickedness lie there Now the Lord Jesus he comes 1 John 3. 8 9 to destroy the works of the Devil the Original is to 〈◊〉 and unravel undo or take down 〈◊〉 work as the word implies and therefore he begins to pull down his work where he ended it viz. He first works an Aversion from sin and the Creature sinfully affected and then in Nature and Order there wil be conversion to God The Point of the Compass cannot stand North and South together first it must stand from the South before it stand North The face of the soul cannot stand God-ward and Sin-ward and Creature-ward This is the course of the Scripture and the constant expression of it To turn from Idols to the living God from darkness to light from Satan to God There is nothing in the soul that can turn the soul from sin and the Creature that which is wholly possessed and wholly acted by an inordinate affection to the Creature that can never turn from the Creature 1 Pet. 4. 2. All men live according to
his sensual 〈◊〉 hath 〈◊〉 it self in the dayes of his folly which now he hath found by woful 〈◊〉 to be gal and wormwood to his Conscience the bane of his peace and would have been the ruin of him and his soul before this day but that it hath pleased the Lord to 〈◊〉 him for the present and not to execute his vengeance upon him as he hath deserved by reason of his former 〈◊〉 therefore he cannot abide the sight of the place where the sin was committed the presence of the party the companion that enticed yea fears the the falsness and treachery of his own heart least that again should betray him thus you see in Davids 〈◊〉 Psal. 101. 3. I hate the work of them that turn aside it shal not cleave to me Hatred is Eagle-eyed to observe the proceedings of the enemy and out of a watchful fear 〈◊〉 stop the passage and to keep his approach that he cannot come near unto us Happily temptations may press in with violence upon the soul and the strength of distempers may make fierce 〈◊〉 make batteries nay make a breach happily and over-bear the sinner for the push 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the fear watch that the heart is carried 〈◊〉 through this 〈◊〉 that it wil prevent their approach or at least never yield to their power A chast Matron that truly hates the unchast 〈◊〉 of adulterous mates they may pester her trouble her lie at her from day to day though she cannot keep her self happily from being tempted yet she wil keep her self unspotted she wil not be unchast nor unfaithful So it is with a heart that 〈◊〉 carryed with detestation against evil though distempers and temptation may pester it yet they shal not cleave to it nor it cleave to them It may do that which it hates as Paul Rom. 7. 15. what I hate that I do yet it wil hate its own doings its own self so far as overborn therby the out-works may be taken yet the soul ever entrencheth herself in this holy hatred of heart and either it wil force them to fly or it wil fly from them though it cannot be quit of these In-mates but stil they wil abide in the soul yea 〈◊〉 them and the soul for them This is the order and method that the Apostle layes forth in this work when the Corinthians came to be touched with Godly sorrow what indignation what fear what zeal what revenge c. 2 Cor. 7. 11. When the heart carries a detestation towards a corruption it stands against it as an enemy then follows fear which is a behavior suitable to provide and prevent the policies plottings and way-layings thereof upon al occasions look as it is with a City that hath been besiedged with a potent and Malicious enemy if once the siedge be raysed and the forces of the enemy put to rout and scattered how wil the besiedged party by a watchful fear stand upon their guard stand centinel night and day send out their perdues and dispatch a party in every coast to discover the carriage of the enemy takes al the passages maintains a narrow search no man goes out no man comes in but enquires learns the intent of the enemy whether he gathers forces and maks head again watcheth strictly to 〈◊〉 his approach with the first apperance its 〈◊〉 fresh in their minds into what great distress they were formerly brought what cruelty they suffered and that there was but a hairs bredth between them and death with what fear and care wil they labor to prevent the like bondage again as the Phylistians cryed one to another when the ark came into the field for the safeguarding of their lives and liberties quit your selves like 〈◊〉 Oh ye Phylistins least you become servants to the Hebrowes So it is with the sinner who hath been besiedged and held captive under the tyranny and soveraignty of sin and Satan when the Lord by the power of ordinances shal cast down the strong holds stop the act of sin in the strength and stream of it disanul and make voyd the authority of any right or claym the sin could challenge in this work of contrition and so rescues the soul and rayses the sieg that Satan layd and maintayned against its distempers as the deadliest enemy it hath in al the world No sooner is the soul revolted from under the tyranny of corruption but the fear of the former misery forceth a man to mervailous circumspection to maintayn a careful watch as suspicious of a surprisal least the old distempers should gather head again if any temptation or occasion be presented any appearance of any provocation which may lead to the entertainment of any evil be cast in how doth the heart shrink and shake as though the enemy were now afresh approaching what narrow search and inquisition doth the soul set up in its daily course weighs the words he speaks examines each thought and stirring of affection whether there be any treacheries plotted any correspondence held any preparation made for the recalling entertainment of the former lusts and corruptions Fear gives the Alarum presently sets 〈◊〉 a work to prevent the evil cryes out to heaven for succor and relief the disobedient child the stubborn and careless servant were their hearts brought to this detestation of these their distempers you would see a new world they would mind themselves of their own misearriages though you never remembred them they would check themselves for carelessness though you never reproved them they would be heart sick of the stirrings of such rebellions though you never reckoned with them in that behalf their own heart would cal to their remembrance their former extremities It was not long since you were raigned before the tribunal of the Lord cast and condemned by the witness of the word the verdict of 〈◊〉 own Consciences and by the testimony of God 〈◊〉 who is greater than your consciences and yet 〈◊〉 respited through the long sufferance of the Lord and 〈◊〉 riches of his mercy you saw cause enough for ever 〈◊〉 abhor those abominations and your selves for 〈◊〉 therefore God forbid I should rush into those evils 〈◊〉 and plunge my self into everlasting confusion 〈◊〉 of body and soul I have cause to hate them as mine 〈◊〉 mies I wil never harbor them as my friends Where this hatred is throughly wrought in the 〈◊〉 against sin it seeks the destruction of sin in ones 〈◊〉 first and in other also so far as comes within the compass of a mans place and 〈◊〉 The indignation 〈◊〉 at home and it s carryed most strongly against the 〈◊〉 of our own hearts which are our greatest enemies and have done us the greatest harm and we by them 〈◊〉 done the Lord the greatest dishonor and we know 〈◊〉 most in al the loathsomness of them and in al the 〈◊〉 nousness and heightning circumstances thereof then 〈◊〉 can be acquainted with the measure and scantling of any others miscarriages
delivers up such a one to Satan ibid 3 He will deal no more with him ibid 4 Such a one is every day ripening for ruine 98 3 See the reason why men of deepest understanding are hardliest brought to brokenness of heart because so hardly brought to see their sins ibid 4 Tryal 101 1 Whether we have been brought to see sin cleerly Such a one will not dare not carelesly adventure upon sin ibid 2 Whether we have seen sin convictingly 105 Four Evidences of persons not convinced of sin ibid 1 When a man is unwilling to attend that Truth that would discover 〈◊〉 sins 105 2 When he 〈◊〉 to gain-saying when he cannot avoid the light 107 3 When he is restless to raise quarrels against the determination of the Truth 109 4 When he sets himself against the Truth 110 5 Exhortation to get this true 〈◊〉 of sin 111 The Means are six  1 Labor to see the excellency of the holiness of the Lord and his Word 114 2 When the Lordlets in any light by his Word 〈◊〉 Conscience attend both 117 3 Take off and cast away all cavils and shifts which 〈◊〉 the work of 〈◊〉 ibid Shifts and Excuses for sin referred to three Heads 1 To lighten the evil of sin ibid 1 By the commonness of it ibid Answ. This shews  1 The sin is the more 〈◊〉 120 2 Thy Curse more dreadful ibid 3 Thy self destitute of Grace 121 2 By the Naturalness of it 122 Answ. Hence it appears  1 Thou hast no Grace 122 2 Thy Disease is incurable 223 3 Thy person is abborred of the Lord 124 3 By Example and Companionship in sin 125 Answ. Hereby thou dost  1 Prefer men before God 126 2 Encourage the wicked 128 3 Thou shalt be damned as well as they 129 4 By strength of provocations 131 Answ. Whereas  1 Though Nature cannot hold out yet Grace oan 132 2 This is unreasonable in thee 133 3 It's dishonorable to God ibid 5 By forgetfulness 134 Answ. This argues thou hast  1 No love to Gods 〈◊〉 137 2 A slight esteem of them 138 3 An Atheistical heart 139 6 By their straights ibid Answ. These cannot excuse 〈◊〉 For the Scriptures require Obedience notwithstanding these  7 By the Holiness of the Law 141 Answ. This will not excuse 〈◊〉  1 Thou dost not what thou canst 142 2 Thou art 〈◊〉 to be made able 143 3 Thou art the Cause of thine inability 145 8 By the littleness of sins as but 145 1 Either sinful words 146 Answ. Thy words  1 Will condemn thee ibid. 2 In some regard are worse than evil in thy heart because they 150 1 Bring 〈◊〉 the evil of the heart 148 2 Sometimes hold forth more than is in the heart 149 3 Are more hurtful to others 151 3 In some regard worse than evil in thy practice because they taint more 151 1 Universally ibid. 2 〈◊〉 ibid. 3 The Tongue is untamable 152 4 It is a world of evil 154 2 Or sinful thoughts 155 Answ. See the 〈◊〉 of them ibid. 1 In regard of God they 156 1 Estrange them from God 156 2 Carry thy heart to oppose him 158 2 They are the Causes of all thy other sins 161 3 In the large extent of them 164 4 They do nourish all other evils 165 5 They keep off the power of the Word 166 3 Or a smal matter in practice 167 Answ. The less the thing is  1 The more hainous thy sin 168 2 The less care and conscience hast thou 170 3 The greater the wickedness of thy heart 171 2 The second sort of Shifts and Excuses whereby a man thinks the danger of sin may some waies be prevented 174 Conceiving that  1 Either God takes no notice of their sins 175 2 Or he will not call them to account 176 3 Or they can satisfie for them 177 4 Or the Lord will not be so rigorous but will abate 179 All these confuted ibid. 3 The third sort of Shifts whereby if a man can neither lessen the danger nor prevent it he saies he will and thinks he can bear it 179 This also confuted and the impossibility of bearing Gods wrath is shewed ibid. 1 The dreadfulness of Gods wrath 180 2 The weakness of man 181 3 The sufferings of Christ ibid. 4 Means Yield to the Evidence of the truth when it 's cleer and cónvincing 182 5 Means All those truths we hear or read in the Word which concerns our corruption we must take home and apply to our selves as the special portion the Lord hath appointed to us 185 6 Means Make and keep the evil of sin ever really present with us 186 1 See it in the execution of it upon others 187 2 Act that upon thy self by present consideration 189 Motives to perswade to this endeavor to see our sins  1 The danger of the mistake here 190 2 It 's the easiest way to see sin now 191 3 It 's a safe and sure way 192 DOCT. 3. Application of special sins by the Ministry is a means to bring men to sight of and sorrow for them 193 Reasons three taken from  1 The Office of Ministers 195 2 The necessity of sinners 196 3 The Nature of the Word 197 Uses four hence  1 See the Reason why so little good is done by the Ministry viz. Want of Application 198 2 See the Reason why the best kind of Preaching finds the worst acceptance 200 3 It 's the Duty of Ministers as the Text suits and the condition of the Hearers requires to use Particular  Application of special sins 202 〈◊〉  1 To the Ministers what they should do 204 2 To the People what they should desire 206 DOCT. 4. Meditation of sin a special means to break the heart 208 What Meditation is viz. 210 A serious 〈◊〉 of the mind whereby we search out the Truth and settle it effectually upon the heart ibid. Reasons three Because Meditation  1 Causes the sting of sin to pierce more deeply 217 2 Holds the heart under the pressures of it 219 3 Encreaseth and presseth down the weight of it upon the Conscience 221 Uses three hence  1 Humiliation that there is so little Meditation 223 This in special concerns  1 Such as studiously avoid it 224 Terror to such they take the way to encrease their misery when they would avoid it 225 Advice to such Be afraid to commit sin but never be afraid to see it 226 2 Such 〈◊〉 approve the Practice but plead Excuses why they may neglect it ibid. 1 Meditation is but a matter of indifferency not of Duty 227 2 The want of time 229 3 Unsteadiness of their thoughts ibid. 4 〈◊〉 in the Service 238 All these confuted and Remedies prescribed 239 2 Caution Loose Company an Enemy to the Conversion of a sinner because a hindrance of Meditation 240 3 Exhortation to attend this duty of Meditation 241 Motives four Â
1 It 's a Duty belonging to all 244 2 How far we are cast behind hand for want of it 245 3 What need we have of it ibid. 4 The Soveraign vertue of it 247 Directions to help in the practice of Meditation 249 1 Enquire after the Nature of a sin ibid. In this Enquiry  1 Look to the Rule to Authorize us to the work ib. 2 For the manner of proceeding 250 1 Survey particular sins 251 1 In the Root ibid. 2 In the fruits of them ibid. 2 Sum them up joyntly 262 2 Fasten it upon the soul 265 1 By grappling with the heart ibid. 2 By getting the better of the heart ibid. Here take heed of three extreams 272 1 Desperate discouragements 273 2 Hellish provocations 274 3 False conceivings of the measure and manner of Gods work 275 Directions to help here are three  1 Possess the heart with the fear of thy sinful and dangerous estate 276 2 Awaken and call for the help of Conscience 279 3 Seek to the Lord for the Almighty hand of his Spirit to set on thy Meditations 282 DOCT. 5. The same Word is profitable to some not to others 283 Reasons two Because  1 God hath several ends to attain by the dispensations of his Word 284 2 God will shew the Soveraignty of his good pleasure ibid. Uses four hence  1 Learn to fear in the enjoyment of greatest means 285 2 The profitable fruit of the means is not in the means ibid. 3 Exhortation Use means in dependance upon God 386 4 Be thankful when thou dost profit by them ibid. DOCT. 6. The Lord somtimes makes the Word prevail most when it 's most opposed 287 The Lord works many times  1 Upon men when they seek not 〈◊〉 289 2 Upon the worst of men 294 3 In the height of Rebellion ibid. Reasons four Because  1 The greatness of his Power is hereby discovered 292 2 The 〈◊〉 of his mercy 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 294 3 The Lord will stain the Glory of all flesh 295 4 And discovers the depths of his 〈◊〉 296 〈◊〉 Three hence  1 Instruction The work of Conversion depends 〈◊〉 upon any preparation that man can make 297 Hence that 's a dangerous Error 〈◊〉 If a man do what he can God will give 〈◊〉 Grace 300 1 It undermines the Soveraign good pleasure of God ibid. 2 It cuts the sinews of the Covenant of Grace 301 3 It crosseth the end of the means of Grace 302 2 To support the hearts of the most wretched sinners with some hopes of good notwithstanding all their wickedness God may and can if he will work upon them  Cautions here 309 1 God will do thee good in his own way 316 2 Fear lest thou make an escape from the hand of the Lord 317 If thou doest  1 It 's suspicious the Lord hath lest thee ibid. 2 He will deliver thee up to thy sins again 219 3 Exhortation to quicken our desires and endeavors in the use of the means 320 4 Admiration at the riches and freeness of Grace 323 DOCT. 7. Sins unrepented of make way for piercing Terrors 325 Reas. Because the heart is more estranged from God and bardened in sin 327 Uses Three hence  1 Judg not of sin by the present sweetness but by the after sorrows ibid. 2 It should be our greatest care to rise presently after falls into sin 329 3 Terror to such as continue in their sins 330 DOCT. 8. The Truth is terrible to a guilty Conscience 332 Reas. Because it's a Witness to accuse a Judg to condemn an Executioner to torment ibid. Use. It discovers the guiltiness and falsness of such as are afraid of the Truth ibid. Differences between the Saints trembling at the Truth and an Hypocrite 333 1 Though the Word speaks against the corruption yet it speaks for the condition of the Saints ibid. 2 The Saints 〈◊〉 sweetness in the sharpest Truths and close with God in them ibid. DOCT. 9. Gross and scandalous sinners God usually exerciseth with heavy breakings of heart before they be brought to Christ 334 Reasons Three  1 From the Holiness of Gods Nature 340 2 That sinners may not be encouraged in their sins 341 3 That the sinner himself may be 342 1 Throughly recovered from 〈◊〉 sin for the present ibid. 2 Preserved from sin for the time to come ibid. Uses Five hence  1 The easie and sudden Conversion of scandalous sinners is to be suspected God doth not use to save men per 〈◊〉 343 2 Support to scandalous sinners when they meet with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 347 1 Such are in the way of Mercy 349 2 The workmay prove speedy and successful 350 3 This makes way for Comforts 351 4 It's honorable for such to be under heavy breakings of heart 353 3 Advice to Ministers who by their Calling are to deal with scandalous sinners in such horrors 354 1 Be not 〈◊〉 in the search 355 2 Nor 〈◊〉 to heal the wound ibid. 3 Nor suddenly confident of the Cure 356 4 Direction to such persons who have had experience of such heart-breakings ibid. Be not weary of Gods Dispensations  5 Exhortation to keep our selves and ours from scandalous sins 357 DOCT. 10. Sorrow for sin rightly set on pierceth the heart of the sinner through that is rightly affected therewith 358 For Explication four Things 362 1 The Manner how Sorrow for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the soul. 363 1 Either successively or by degrees in some ibid. 1 The evil and danger of his sin is 〈◊〉 in the general ibid. 2 He is surprized and pursued with fear 364 3 The Curses and Punishments of sin are fastened upon him 366 4 He is made to feel the evil of sin 〈◊〉 sin and that as his greatest evil 368 2 Or suddenly and throughly 〈◊〉 once in some others 372 3 Or secretly and insensibly in others 374 1 Some are Sanctified in the Womb 375 2 Some wrought upon in Child-hood ibid. 3 Some under good Education Counsels Means are gradually yet really wrought upon ibid. Cautions here  1 Though the manner and measure of Contrition differ in most yet the substance of the Work is the same in all ibid. 2 Though some may not know the time yet every one should and if gracious can give evidence of the Workwrought 360 3 It 's a safe way often to review and to act over the first workings of Contrition 377 For  1 A wound here is never recovered 378 2 Clear this and cleer all ibid. 2 How this Sorrow comes to be set on and the soul made to feel sin its greatest evil 379 1 Sin is cross to the Nature of the soul as such 380 2 If the evil of sin be discovered to the Nature of the soul it may be made sensible thereof 382 3 While the soul is fully and only possessed with sin it cannot feel the evil of it ibid. 4 The Spirit countermands the Authority of sin 383 5 Christ by the
the vulgar Herbs of this Nation wherein is shewed how to cure a mans self of most Diseases incident to Mans Body with such things as grow in England and for three pence charge Also in the same Book is shewed 1 The time of gathering all Herbs both Vulgarly and Astrologically 2 The way of drying and keeping them and their Juyces 3 The way of making and keeping all manner of useful Compounds made of those Herbs The way of mixing the Medicines according to the Cause and Mixture of the Disease and the part of the Body afflicted 5 A Directory for Midwives or a Guide for Women Newly enlarged by the Author in every sheet and Illustrated with divers new Plates 6 Galen's Art of Physick with a large Comment 7 A New Method both of studying and practising Physick 8 A Treatise of the Rickets being a Disease common to Children wherein is shewed 1 The Essence 2 The Causes 3 The Signs 4 The Remedies of the Disease Published in Latin by Dr. Glisson Dr. Bate and Dr. Regemorter translated into English And corrected by N. 〈◊〉 A Godly and Fruitful Exposition on the first Epistle of Peter By Mr. John Rogers Minister of the Word of God at Dedham in Essex The Wonders of the Load-stone By Samuel Ward of Ipswitch An Exposition on the Gospel of the Evangelist St. Matthew By Mr. Ward Clows Chyrurgery Marks of Salvation Christians Engagement for the Gospel by John Goodwin Great Church Ordinance of Baptism Mr. Love's Case containing his Petitions Narrative and Speech Vox Pacifica or a perswasive to peace Dr. Prestons Saints submission and Satans Overthrow Pious Mans Practice in Parliament Time Mr. Symsons Sermon at Westminster Mr. Feaks Sermon before the Lord Major Mr. Phillips Treatise of Hell of Christs Genealogy Eaton on the Oath of Allegiance and Covenant shewing that they oblidge not Eleven Books of Mr. Jeremiah Burroughs lately published As also the Texts of Scripture upon which they are grounded 1 The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment on Phil. 4. 11. Wherein is shewed 1 What Contentment is 2 It is an Holy Art and Mystery 3 The Excellencies of it 4 The Evil of the contrary sin of Murmuring and the Aggravations of it 2 Gospel Worship on Levit. 10. 3. Wherein is shewed 1 The right manner of the Worship of God in general and particularly In Hearing the Word Receiving the Lords Supper and Prayer 3 Gospel Conversation on Phil. 1. 17. Wherein is shewed 1 That the Conversations of Beleevers must be above what could be by the Light of Nature 2 Beyond those that lived under the Law 3 And sutable to what Truths the Gospel holds forth To which is added The Misery of those men that have their Portion in this Life only on Psal. 17. 14. 4 A Treatise of Earthly-Mindedness Wherein is shewed 1 What Earthly-mindedness is 2 The great Evil thereof on Phil. 3. part of the 19. Verse Also to the same Book is joyned A Treatise of 〈◊〉 and Walking with God on Gen. 5. 24. and on Phil. 3. 20. 5 An 〈◊〉 on the fourth fifth sixth and seventh Chapters of the Prophesie of Hosea 6 An Exposition on the eighth ninth and tenth Chapters of Hosea 7 An 〈◊〉 on the eleventh twelfth and thirteenth Chapters of Hosea being now compleat 8 The Evil of Evils 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Sinfulness of Sin on Job 36. 21. 9 Precious Faith on 2 Pet. 1. 1. 10 Of Hope on 1 John 3. 3. 11 Of 〈◊〉 by Faith on 2 Cor. 5. 7. Twelve several Books of Mr. William Bridge Collected into one Volumn Viz. 1 The Great Gospel Mystery of the Saints Comfort and Holiness opened and applied from Christs Priestly Office 2 Satans Power to Tempt and Christs Love to and Care of His People under Temptation 3 Thankfulness required in every Condition 4 Grace for Grace or the Overflowing of Christs Fulness received by all Saints 5 The Spiritual Actings of Faith through Natural Impossibilities 6 Evangelical Repentance 7 The Spiritual Life and In-being of Christ in all Beleevers 8 The Woman of Canaan 9 The Saints Hiding-place in time of Gods Anger 10 Christs Coming is at our Midnight 11 A Vindication of Gospel Ordinances 12 Grace and Love beyond Gifts A Congregational Church is a Catholick Visible Church By Samuel Stone in New England A Treatise of Politick Powers wherein seven Questions are Answered 1 Whereof Power is made and for what ordained 2 Whether Kings and Governors have an Absolute Power over the People 3 Whether Kings and Governors be subject to the Laws of God or the Laws of their Countrie 4 How far the People are to obey their Governors 5 Whether all the people have be their Governors 6 Whether it be Lawful to depose an evil Governor 7 What Confidence is to be given to Princes The 〈◊〉 Samaritan Dr. Sibbs on the Philippians The Best and Worst Magistrate By 〈◊〉 Sedgwick The Craft and Cruelty of the Churches Adversaries By Matthew Newcomen A Sacred Penegerick By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Barriffs Military Discipline The Immortality of Mans Soul The Anatomist Anatomized King Charls his Case or an Appeal to all Rational Men concerning his Tryal Mr. Owens stedfastness of the Promises A Vindication of Free Grace Endeavoring to prove 1 That we are not elected as holy but that we should be holy and that Election is not of kinds but persons 2 That Christ did not by his Death intend to save all men and touching those whom he intended to save that he did not die for them only if they would beleeve but that they might beleeve 3 That we are not justified properly by our beleeving in Christ but by our Christ beleeving in him 4 that which differenceth one man from another is not the improvement of a common ability restored through Christ to all men in general but a principle of Grace wrought by the Spirit of God in the Elect. By John Pawson Six Sermons preached by Doctor Hill Viz. 1 The Beauty and Sweetness of an Olive 〈◊〉 of Peace and Brotherly Accommodation budding 2 Truth and Love happily married in the Church of Christ. 3 The Spring of strengthening Grace in the Rock of Ages Christ Jesus 4 The strength of the Saints to make Jesus Christ their strength 5 The Best and Worst of Paul 6 Gods eternal preparation for his Dying Saints The Bishop of Canterbury's Speech on the Scaffold The King's Speech on the Scaffold The Magistrates Support and Burden By Mr. John Cordel The Discipline of the Church in New England by the Churches and Synod there A Relation of the Barbadoes A Relation of the Repentance and Conversion of the Indians in New-England By Mr. Eliot and Mr. 〈◊〉 The History of Monstross and his Actions for 〈◊〉 the First His passions for Charles the Second King of Scots The Institutes of the Laws of England by John Cowel Octavo A description of the Grand Signiors Seraglio or the Turkish Emperors Court By John Greaves Octavo The reigning error Arraigned at the Bar of scripture and
he part with his beloved lust his Isaac his 〈◊〉 his 〈◊〉 he will then shew and discover his falsness But are not the Servants of the Lord many times unwilling to bid adieu to their special and ancient 〈◊〉 that have been bred and born with them brought up and lived with them a long time together There is two men in a regenerate man a heart and a heart a will and a will Rom. 7. last Paul delighted in the Law of God after the inward man but in his lust after the corrupt man With my mind I serve the Law of God saies he but with my 〈◊〉 the Law of Sin or as our Savior The Spirit 〈◊〉 willing but the Flesh is weak Matth. 26. 41. the spiritual part is ever prest and ready and wholly willing for good for he that is born of God so sins not and Paul professeth it 's not I but sin in me but saies he The good that I would I do not and the evil that I would not that I do Rom. 7. 18. still the heart and will of a regenerate man stands God-ward against every sin and for every good that he is convinced of The Reasons of the Point are Four and they are of great weight The First is taken from the Nature of the Will of man which since the Fall is wholly tainted and totally infected with corruption which universally overspreads the whol man As he in another case the whol head is sick the whol heart is faint the whol man wholly possessed with sin no sound part As Jobs contagion wherewith the Devil infected his Body and Natural man he was all one botch from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot So in regard of thr Spiritual man the whol man is as it were a man of sin called therefore the old man Eph. 4. 22. As though a corrupt heart were made up of nothing else but Apostacies backslidings and departings from God and swervings from his righteous Law Whatsoever is born of the flesh is flesh that is sinful and sensual and we are all of us altogether so born and have nothing of the Spirit of Grace in us so the Apostle Jude verse 19. These are sensual having not the spirit The Sons of Adam are all of us partakers of his Image and hence also called the Seed of the Serpent Gen. 3. 15. that as each Creature and Plant answers the Seed whereof it is made hath no more in it but that so mens hearts are only framed and constituted out of that corrupt 〈◊〉 whereby Satan carried aside our first Parents Paul so professeth of himself In me 〈◊〉 is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Rom. 7. 11. nothing that is spiritually savingly and 〈◊〉 good and therefore in the old Law our corrupt Nature is signified by the Leprosie which overspread the whol man The sin of Adam had in it this peculiar to it self more than any nay I may 〈◊〉 say more than all the sins that ever was committed in that it was the Deordination of the whol Nature of man and that against the whol Law of God For Adam did not sin as a particular man so as all the Sons of Adam do sin but as a common stock as one who was in the room of all and had the Humane Nature as the common stock of all Man-kind so that the Nature of Man as one would say Humanity in Adam as it was under the Covenant of the Law so it went wholly against the holy and righteous Law of God and therefore the whol Nature of man broke when it made a breach upon the Law As he that justles his finger against a rock breaks that only he that runs his hand unjoynts that but if all the whol body fall from a steep place upon it it breaks all the whol frame of Nature in pieces So it is comparatively between the sin of Adam and the sin of any of the sons of Adam They sin personally one is unjust and he makes a breach against Justice and so far that disposition of heart is perverted and so unfitted for the work of Justice but in Adam the whol Nature of Mind and Will and Affections which was the subject of all Grace it comes against the Law and so brings a ruine upon the whol Frame of Grace Ad hereunto to make up the Evidence that this was indeed against the whol Law as that wherein he neither loved God nor himself nor 〈◊〉 neighbor But take it here he made a breach upon the seal of the Covenant and trampled that under foot and so consequently made voyd and 〈◊〉 upon the Covenant wholly and cast it behind his back as not worth caring for Now Reason 〈◊〉 that as the Seal confirms and ratifies the 〈◊〉 and all the Conditions of it joyntly so the 〈◊〉 of that nullifies and makes void the whol Covenant So that this transgression of Adam let 〈◊〉 a Deluge of Sin that as in Noahs Flood when the Windows of Heaven were opened and the great depths were broken up the waters covered the face of the whol Earth that no dry Land appeared So 〈◊〉 is here when the deeps are broken up as it were the whol Law opposed by the whol Nature of man the Deluge of corruption spreads it self over the whol face and frame of Nature Therefore the Apostle first Summarily gives in his Judgment in the 3. to the Romans the 9. verse That all are under sin And then Particularly They are all become abominable there is none that doth good no not one their throat is an open Sepulchre vents nothing but venemous steams of deadly distempers the poyson of Asps is under their tongues their feet swift to shed blood 12 13 14 15. vers And if all the Parts be such what is the heart within that acts all vents all fills all these That as it befel the Temple of Jerusalem after the destruction of it there was not a stone left upon a stone so with the soul in regard of that glorious frame of Grace which was in it in the first Creation there is not a stone left upon a stone nothing but pollution and corruption remains in the whol Nature of every man But you will say Are there no Reliques left of that glorious Image of God in the Will and Understanding There is somthing left of the Law but nothing left whereby a man can be enabled to do any thing as an act of Spiritual Life that may be acceptable to God In a word there are these Two things to be attended and may be observed in every man naturally at the lowest and the worst as I look at these poor Indians amongst whom we live as the very ruines and rubbish of mankind the forlorn Posterity of Adam 1 They are made for another and for a better 2 They ought to yeild obedience to that other and better But to know the Will of God and do it to be