but also and especially for their souls This is the first particular But the second is that which I would stand upon Considering that this distemper upon the Daughter did bring the Mother here unto Christ I would especially speak to this and intreat you to Behold this occasion of her coming and it will afford us a very profitable Note The Note is this Behold what occasions the Lord sanctifies sometimes to bring souls to himself What is the occasion My Daughter is sick The particular Doctrine is this That sometimes the Lord doth sanctifie corporal or external occasions and afflictions to bring souls home to himself The great means the standing Ordinance by which the Lord brings souls to himself is the Word and the Word Preached But yet I say besides that the Lord is pleased sometimes to make use of other means and among the rest sometimes the Lord doth sanctifie external afflictions to bring home poor souls to himself There are two things in all external afflictions that I would have all to minde First God sending Secondly God sanctifying of these afflictions First You should observe That God sends them Afflictions do not arise out of the dust if any evil be in the City or Family it is the finger of the Lord it doth not come by chance or fortune it comes from God and wee ought to behold him in it But then secondly Observe the Lord sanctifying afflictions The Lord doth not alwaies sanctifie affliction where hee sends it But sometimes God doth sanctifie it unto many good and gracious ends and purposes and in particular I say God doth sometimes to some souls sanctifie afflictions to this end to bring home the poor soul to himself There are three Comings unto Jesus Christ in all which the Lord doth sometimes to some persons make use of corporal afflictions First There is that which wee call our first fundamental Coming to Jesus Christ when the soul doth first come to Jesus Christ from his wandering rebellious estate and condition when it is first brought out of the wilderness Secondly There is our gradual Coming to Christ When the soul that is come to Christ in a good measure comes a little nearer hee comes from strength to strength and so by degrees appears before God in Sion Jacobs Ladder had many staves and coming to Christ hath many steps and stairs Therefore besides our prime or first coming unto Christ there is a perfecting progress or ascendent going to or growing up in Christ higher and higher which is as it were our coming nearer and nearer Thirdly There is our Coming to Christ which is our Return after some eminent Revolt when a soul hath left its first love Now in all these and unto all these the Lord doth sometimes sanctifie externall afflictions the Lord doth sometimes sanctifie external afflictions to bring the soul home to himself As Poverty The Lord makes many an one poor that they may look after a rich Christ And Disgrace from creatures the Lord permits and sanctifies that to make the soul long and labour that they may bee precious in his sight And Sickness upon us and ours the Lord doth sometimes kill the childes body to save the Mothers soul take away the husband the hee may bring the wife home to himself wee might give many notable instances As in Matth. 8.2 There you finde a Leper came to Christ and what occasion brought him truly this mans Leprosie brought him to Christ and for ought wee know had not this man been a Leper hee had never come to Christ In Matth. 9.27 There wee hear blind men calling after Jesus Christ but why you shall see in that place their blindness upon their eyes make them look after Christ And Matth. 21.14 The blind and lame came to him to the Temple to bee healed c. Thus it pleaseth Christ sometimes to sanctifie corporal afflictions to bring us home to himself There are two Reasons why the Lord doth this The first relates to us The second unto himself First of all I say The Lord doth sometimes take this course upon our account considering us the Lord works thus on us In Jer. 9. saith the Lord there I will melt my people for how else shall I do for the daughter of my people i.e. As if hee should say I cannot tell else what to do for them Oh my Brethren the Lord sees sometimes nothing else will do it but affliction Mee thinks I hear the Lord sometimes speaking of a poor creature after this manner There is such a one who so long as hee can bee well and do well as to externals I shall not hear of him I must therefore take some other course with him well I will go and melt him c. Oh Sirs this is our folly that whatever Arminians dream wee are so backward to come to Christ that except hee draw wee will not go nay except hee drive wee will not stir nor step forward all the perswasions of the Lord they will not work us up to free will except hee make hee add power to perswasion Indeed in the day of his power wee are potentially not perswasively onely made a willing people as Psal 110. Upon this account it is that Christ is as wee say fain to use the Rod sometimes to bring us home to himself How oft doth Christ say sith my Pipe will not my Rod shall fetch such a sheep and such a sheep i. e. It may bee thy soul and thy childes soul I will make it a day of power and by grace I will follow them with one means after another You know what is said by the Lord of a backward people in Hosea 5. verse the last In their affliction they will seek mee In 2 Sam. 14.30 You read Absolon sent for Joah to come to him and hee would not but Absolon sent and fired his fields and then hee comes My Brethren wee may very well parallel it God saith sometimes go Minister preach to him judgement and threatning and that will not do and go mercy that will not do then go sickness Oh! sickness must preach a Sermon before many will hear a word Well here is the first Reason which as I said relates to us Afflictions are sent and sanctified to bring us to Christ because often nothing else will Truly I say this is our naughty Nature that fair means will not work upon us and this is our Fathers grace that hee will take other means but hee will effect his work Secondly The Lord doth it upon another account which relates to himself To shew us That hee is not tied to means but can work by any providence if hee please The Lord hath more means than one and hee is a free Agent hee can use which hee pleases If Onesimus a naughty and bad servant will not bee wrought upon at home under a good Master hee shall bee brought to the Gaol to hear a Sermon there you have that intimated in the Epistle to
Philemon The account of it take in brief thus Philemon was a godly man and a good Master and hee had 2 Church in his house but Onesimus was nought for all that his Master could not by any means work upon him but hee breaks out and away it is likely hee runs And by the hand of Justice God ordering of it is brought to a Gaol where a Prison prepares him to hear and a prisoner is provided to preach and now hee is wrought upon God hath many waies if wee run from one hee hath another to meet with us in If a Pulpit do not a Prison shall if a soft word win not a hard shall hee will have us see that hee is not tied to any means and therefore sometimes will by a sickness a loss c. bring us home as well as by other waies There is onely one Objection that must bee answered Object But doth not his seem to give some advantage to those who cry down the preaching of the Word It hath been a seemingly fair but a really poor Argument of those to tell us that God can make any thing an Ordinance and therefore they cast off preaching and say what need that cannot and doth not God work sometimes without that Repl. I answer generally My Brethren One good means may very well go hand in hand with another And my Brethren none of the Lords means are Yea and Nay destructive one of another or inconsistent one with another All may and all shall stand and in vain do wee think to make one an Argument against the other It is certain God can alwaies and hee doth often work by afflictions But yet the Word is the chief known tried and standing means And after all that hath been said to the contrary I still think that though the Lord may make use of and sanctifie afflictions as sickness upon us and ours to bring us home to himself yet it is very rarely without the Word There are two Considerations in particular that I would have you minde First Many times Afflictions as poverty and sickness do make a word to work a word that wee have heard The words of the wise saith Solomon they are as Nails fastened Now it may bee the Lord fastens or rather puts in a Nail in the Assembly by his Word and the poor soul runs away now the Lord sends an affliction after him to fasten the Nail and the man is cast upon a sick-bed and now saies hee I remember such an instruction Affliction brings home and drives home a word formerly preached unto us which wee heard and did not regard or remember but now by an Affliction are made to do both I have thought Affliction doth that which Posset-drink doth in Physick it is a plain similitude yet mark it A man takes Physick and it works not then give him a draught of Posset-drink and that makes it work that helps it on so it is here A Word is given out and it works not then the Lord sends Affliction and that makes it work But still it is the Word that works the Word formerly heard c. You know what is said in Psal 141.6 It is said there when they are overthrown in stony places they shall hear my words for they are sweet Why the words were sweet before and heard before but then they shall bee made to relish and then they will minde them Well minde this though Affliction work it is rather as a help to the Word than of it self without the Word This is one Consideration Secondly Another Consideration is this That mostly the Lord makes use of Afflictions if not to back what wee have heard yet to bring them to hear Minde it Many a time the poor Creature hath lived without Sermon-hearing all his daies and Affliction comes and that drives him to the Word Now the soul will go to Lectures now the soul will wait on the Ministery so that Affliction doth rather bring him to the Word as the means that work and bee an effectual means without it I pray then mark these Considerations to keep up your highest thoughts of the Word and that preached as the prime means verily experience seals to these two things that the work of Affliction rather seconds a Word heard or brings the soul to hear the Word than simply works without it Now then for the Application of this There are five Uses that I shall lay before you First Doth the Lord this way use and sanctifie sickness and affliction sometimes upon us or ours Then look about you and see whether God hath sanctified any affliction upon you Wee live in a sickly time it may bee sickness hath been in all your families hath this like the Woman of Canaan brought you to Christ did the sickness of thy body advance thy foot to Christ You will say Wee are like the Woman of Canaan and God forbid but wee should go to Christ when wee were sick But did it bring you to Christ in a soul-way in a soul saving-way Quest How shall I know that Answ Let mee propose two things to you to let you try First When any affliction brings a soul to Christ besides the material sickness or affliction that is upon the outward man the soul is sensible of something like it lighted upon the inward Man There is a sense of the same spiritually as well as corporally As now when sickness brings a man to Christ hee speaks thus I am sick my head akes I and saith the man my heart akes too Oh wife I am a poor sinner I cried first out I am sick in body but now I am sick in soul still the soul sees something like it in spirituals if his sickness brings him to Christ If thou onely art sensible of a corporal disease and goest to Christ for that then it is but a corporal coming not a soul nor a saving coming unto Christ but when thy sick body leads thee to the sense of a sick soul when thy Feavour thy Ague brought thee to feel the like distemper in thy soul and thou thereupon wentest unto Christ for that then was sickness indeed sanctified in a soul-saving-way Secondly Observe this Hee that by any affliction or sickness is brought home to Christ whatever the issue of the affliction may bee his heart is for certain moving still towards Christ even after the sickness is gone You may have a man while the sickness is upon him then hee may bee up in prayer with his Lord have mercy c. but when it is gone his sickness is gone and devotion is gone too But if this bring him to Christ though the sickness bee gone yet the man follows after Christ still and mindes him The soul after sickness is as hee Luk. 8.38 who besought the Lord that hee might bee with him O soul if thou camest to Christ sick thou desirest to bee with Christ well I pray then look to it see if your afflictions have been sanctified
upon you and yours for your unparallel'd care and kindness to Christs Ministers amongst you And for you my Reverend Brethren Let mee beseech you to improve so choice a mercy as you have under your Magistrates I know you desire not how much soever you deserve praise yet let mee say you are to bee praised for that you are of one heart though in all things not of one head you minde and speak the same things of faith and life Though yee disagree in some things of Church-rule and Order your publick worship is in the same place and with the same Spirit There is not heard in your Pulpits where you preach by turns the noise of Axes and Hammars Heats Debates Disputes are exiles at your Assemblies you fast and pray together your design is the same and your endeavours are joint to convert sinners and to establish Saints Those loose and vain opinions which have pestered and plagued many places by your zeal and unity for truth are through Christs blessing marvelously prevented in your Congregations and as for those unchristian Divisions and Animosities which are elsewhere the sinne and shame of dissenting Professours by the Spirit of Love and Peace which rules in your hearts and appears in your labours they are either not at all or not prevailing in your place But that I may not trouble you with more I will onely adde this further that I perceive yee have well studied that Text Psal 77. which speaks of this as Israels happiness that God led them by the hand of Moses and Aaron Surely the people of your Town seem to bee led but by one hand Indeed Moses goes before as it is but fit and Aaron comes after Your Magistrates in Civils and your selves in Spirituals are so one in hand and I hope in heart that though you have offices distinct yet your indeavours are joint and both make up one great mercy to the people under you As they incourage you so yee reverence them They are not such who assume power in Spitituals but leave your work to your selves and yee I hope none of yee are as those who despise Dominion nor intermeddle with the politick affairs Let that heart be filled with sorrow and that hand and head be cursed of the Lord that indeavours in the least the breach of that holy and righteous harmony that is betwixt you I presume yee will say Amen to my prayer for you in this particular To you then holy and beloved Brethren Who fear God and have faith in Jesus and are blessed by and a blessing to such a Magistracy and Ministry Let mee speak also a few words I bear you witness to others that there is amongst you the Spirit and conversation of the good old Puritans whom I mention with honour it is your credit that you are not in this day of reproach and blasphemy which is upon profession for Professors faults a shame to that worthy name wherewith yee are called The itch of novel opinions the botch of vain fashions the plague of neglect of duties and slighting Ordinances and Ministry these are not seen amongst you or on you I verily saw much of Christ in you your carriage was seeming exact and I hope your study is to bee what you seem for Wo be to Hypocrites and Sinners hollow-hearted Professours or ignorant and profane persons in New castle They that are bad under Magistrates and Ministers so good will bee damned without mercy under two of the greatest witnesses that can bee against a people But I hope better things of you though I thus speak I beseech you so live that by your good examples concurring with the power of your Magistrates and preaching of your Ministers yee may help to convince and convert evill doors at least to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men To you all Magistrates and Ministers and Saints jointly and severally let me return my hearty humble thanks for that singular respect which for many years yee have expressed to my ever dear and beloved Brother whose lot is cast among you It is to mee matter of joy and praise before the Lord that since it pleased God who disposes of all our persons and places to carry him so far from all relations that he did vouchsafe to fix him amongst your selves who abundantly make up all relations in your care and kindness to and for him Now the blessed God for ever reward your love to him and his Let your goodness accept of mee who am obliged in and for him this short but sincere acknowledgement for the same I shall not trouble you with the remembrance of that kindness which when by the good hand of God I visited my brother and saw yee you were pleased to express It is your goodness you had rather shew kindness than hear praise Therefore I judge it would trouble you if I should blaze that which yet was such and so great as I have and must speak of to others and before the Lord with thanksgiving your receiving mee and love to mee was in the Spirit of the Gospel yee did receive mee in the name of a Prophet and in the name of a Disciple howbeit I am unworthy that honour Oh that hee who rewards a cup of cold water given upon such an account would abundantly reward your large and loving respects to me even poor me in that way and upon that score My gratitude would overflow did not the consideration of your Modesty which loves not to hear its own applause set mee bounds I will therefore conclude thus May your Persons your Government your Labours your whole Town and your Universal All be alwaies under the special favour of the blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in whom I remain Right worthy Reverend and Beloved Sirs Your most obliged and most affectionately humble servant JOHN DURANT To the Reader TO serve the counsell of God in a mans particular Generation is a duty incumbent on all that profess themselves the servants of Christ and to bee sincere and diligent therein is to bee in the exercise and partake of the sure mercies of David But to bee willing to do any thing which may bee service to Christ in another Generation and to bee indeed successefull therein is a blessing which few attain unto And yet though such a blessing be obtained but by a few I perswade my self it may at least bee desired and pursued by all For as wee are to covet earnestly the best gifts so are we to aim at and endeavour the best service and such is that which lasts and lives when wee are gone and fallen asleep in our Graves I hope I shall be freed from the crime and censure of pride if I say that my aim in these small pieces which I have been pressed formerly to print was to serve not onely my present but the next Generation And I must acknowledge to the praise of the glory of Christs grace that my experience of
whose soul was bitter coming to the Prophet and so soon as shee came to him shee fell down and caught him by the feet I pray behold and learn in all your addresses unto Jesus Christ put forth the highest affection put forth the most intenseness of your spirits that may bee cry and get hold of him Christ will not charge thee with unmannerliness Shee cried it notes the Agony of her spirit that shee was in Oh that our drousie careless souls would but learn of this Woman Many are so far from crying that they scarce lisp But remember it Sirs when you come to the Lord Jesus stir up all your souls let all your affection then go out Oh! when should wee ever let out all our souls to the utmost if not then when wee come to close with Jesus Christ There is a lawful and laudable passion to bee manifested in this matter Christ loves and likes to hear our cries O let not this poor womans crying cry any of us shame who are so far from a crying after Christ that wee do almost cry away Christ Well behold her praise-worthy passion and go thy way soul and imitate her therein Never approach Christ but with much passion with most earnest and ardent affection Secondly Shee cried Have mercy on mee Poor Woman shee speaks as one poor in spirit that is rich in Faith as Christ calls her afterwards shee had no Merit but shee knew the Lord had Mercy Behold it and know this as a lesson to bee learnt hence viz. That when you approach Christ let it bee by Mercy by meer Mercy That same poor Publican in the Gospel of Luke cries Lord bee merciful to mee a sinner My Brethren right closing with Christ right saving justifying Faith which carries the soul to Christ eyes nothing but Mercy This is the main incouragement that keeps up Faith yea and this is the great Motive that doth still prevail with the Lord therefore wee should take hold of it in Ephes 2.4 It is said But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith hee loved us c. Thou hast misery that pincheth thee but the Lord hath mercy that will pitty thee and thou that sayest thou hast no works know this the Lord hath much grace Behold the Woman of Canaan and see how shee doth and wee ought to eye and plead meer mercy and that onely and alwaies when wee come to Christ Thirdly Observe a little further what shee saith Lord thou Son of David Shee speaks in language beyond the learning of the Scribes and Pharisees though they were great Doctors of the Law yet they had not learned this mystery to look upon Christ as the Lord and as the Son of David It was indeed a miracle that a Woman of Canaan should have this knowledge and wee might say as it was said in another case of Christ whence hath this Woman knowledge why my Brethren what could any of us have said more to Christ to speak out our Faith what is it but that wee do beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ This phrase speaks Faith Learn hence In all your addresses to Christ to come in the language of Faith and speak to Christ as becomes Jesus Christ Still know hee is the Lord Davids Son the promised one indeed When you come to deal with Jesus Christ bee not hasty consider who hee is hee is the Lord and hee is the Son of David the true and the onely Messiah Remember this lesson in all your addresses to Jesus Christ remember this good example it is a Saints pattern There are two sorts of people I would desire to look upon this pattern The first are those who it may bee are but now beginning to close with Jesus Christ And secondly Those who it may bee have revolted and back slidden from Christ and are now returning again I pray Sirs make as much haste as you can but observe how you go Go to Jesus Christ with much affection with much humility renounce Merit and cry Mercy and still give the Lord his due So you see this Woman of Canaan doth and go thou O soul in any case and do likewise That is all I will speak to the second head To proceed to the third and last thing Behold once again the occasion of this Womans coming It was That her daughter was grievously vexed with a Devil The Evangelist Mark saies shee was vexed with an unclean spirit The one is a general the other is a particular expression of it I do not think it worth the while to dispute about this infirmity or this possession under which her Daughter lay what it was All that I shall note shall bee not of a Physical but rather of a Spiritual and Theological Nature from this Mothers coming to Christ upon this occasion In the general shee takes her childe to bee possessed with a Devil shee goes not to a figure-flinger not to any cunning man as simple ones use to say shee goes not to the Devil in a Doctor to cast out the Devil of her Daughter No but shee comes to Christ I pray in the general Learn in all cases distempers diseases c. to go first to Jesus Christ You may go to men to Physicians though not to Wizards but you must go to Christ and behold the Woman of Canaan to establish you in that good Christian custome of having recourse to Christ on all occasions in all necessities whether for yours and your selves But this is general There are two things in particular The first particular thing I would have you learn out of this Mothers coming upon this account Is Parentive pitty in compassion on children This Woman of Canaan pitties her childe and cries as if shee her self felt her Daughters pain and though shee was not sick simply yet shee was Sympathetically thou that canst let the little one cry and it may bee perish while thou art fooling abroad Oh remember the Woman of Canaan have pitty on your poor children and for their sakes go to Jesus Christ And do I mean onely you should go to Christ for them when they are sick no but Oh pray for thy childes sick soul It was a notable speech of one of the Antients said hee Wilt thou mourn over a body from whom the soul is gone and not over a soul from whom God is gone Oh shew that you have spiritual sympathy many of you have a natural sympathy if you see the childe burn and snake c. of a Feavour thou canst pitty him but it may bee thou seest him shake and reel with drunkenness and not pitty them at all It is Motherly pitty to sympathize with sick bodies but Christian pitty to sympathize with sick souls Friends put on bowels as the Elect of God as the Woman of Canaan and have compassion on your children In all their afflictions bee yee afflicted with all their sorrows bee yee affected and go to Christ on their behalf but not onely for bodies
began Behold the Woman of Canaan for it may bee her condition is yours in a sense you have a sick childe as shee had c. I pray thereupon go to Christ as shee did verily Christ will in no wise cast you off in case you come Suppose the first Motive bee low and corporal yet the Matter may prove high and spiritual Who knows but the Lord hath sent divers sicknesses up and down for this end to bring divers souls to Christ I pray therefore minde it and in all affliction look and long that it may have the same operation on you which it had on this Woman who was by this means brought to Christ And this shall suffice for this verse Christ may seemingly entertain at first very harshly The Second SERMON Matthew 15. from vers 23 to vers 29. But hee answered her not a word and his Disciples came and besought him saying Send her away for shee crieth after us But hee answered and said I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Then came shee and worshipped him saying Lord help mee But hee answered and said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs And shee said Truth Lord yet the doggs eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters table Then Jesus answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt And her Daughter was made whole from that very hour BEsides those Many Men which upon an eminent account are recorded in the Gospel there are also sundry Women who are in an eminent manner recorded likewise and concerning whom the Holy Ghost hath noted something for our special observation and imitation Among others there are Two Women in the Gospel which are very remarkable The one is the Woman that you read of in Luke 8. who is called a sinner And the other is the woman commonly known by the name of The Woman of Canaan and both these women are recorded for eminent coming unto Jesus Christ Wee have here in this place the story of The Woman of Canaan and indeed it is a very holy History and many things are in it which are to bee heeded by us The last day I gave you an account of the Method in which the Holy Ghost doth here record it But letting pass the Method I told you I would stand upon the Matter of the story wherein you have four heads First The coming of the Woman to Christ Secondly The entertainment that Christ doth give her Thirdly You have her carriage under that entertainment Fourthly and lastly The blessed issue of all Wee began the last day with the first The coming of the woman to Christ in vers 22. And behold a Woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying Have mercy on mee O Lord thou Son of David my Daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil There are three Circumstances in her coming that wee stood upon The Party coming The Manner of her coming And the Occasion of her coming The Party coming It was a woman of Canaan A Woman of Canaan neer Tyre and Sidon of a bad place in a bad Country But wee told you the way to Christ is open to all But then how did shee come Shee came with much affection shee cried Lord and shee came for meer mercy Justifying Faith still goes to Free Grace and Meer Mercy And shee came to him as hee was the Messiah the Son of David shee did and wee must eye Christ as hee is in all our addresses Lastly But what brought the good woman here Why truly it was a sick childe at home that was sore sick that brought her to Christ Whence wee observed That sometimes the Lord doth sanctifie sicknesses and other afflctions upon us and ours to bring us home unto himself I pray minde it For My Brethren wee have lived for some months under one sickness or other But now let mee ask you the question Have you done like the Woman of Cannan have you gone to Jesus Christ not onely for them but have you gone for your souls to Jesus Christ Mother hath thy sick childe brought thee savingly to Jesus Christ or husband let mee ask thee hath the sickness of thy wife done a cure upon thy own soul can any of you say blessed bee God the Lord took away a childe or husband but that was a strange cord that drew and brought mee to himself Oh! blessed is that sickness upon you or any of yours which as the Woman of Canaans brings you home to Jesus Christ Therefore I shall press it home a little further in four things by way of consideration for you to take the more special heed unto the things which I then spake and you heard viz. The improvement of all afflictions to bring your souls to Christ Consider first Possibly yea probably the Lord did therefore send such a sickness to thy soul that hee might bring thee home to himself The Lord saw nothing else would do thee good and therefore sent that Thou wert it may bee a poor vain creature that couldest scoff at a Sermon and no preaching would do thee good now it may bee the Lord sends sickness to bring thee in Hee doth by sickness as by a special servant send for you and it stands you upon to go to him therefore now Brethren look about you if ever God send a Messenger of a particular Errant if the Messenger have not his answer woe bee to you It is a great evil to neglect any of the Lords Messengers Secondly It is certain wee have all more reason to go to Christ for our souls than upon the account of any sickness for our bodies Our souls are our highest concernment and there is more sickness and more danger in and upon your souls which should carry them to Christ than can bee upon your selves and families There are but a few whose souls are better than their bodies Indeed wee read of one hee had a holy soul but a weak body holy Gaius in the third Epistle of John but generally our souls are worse than our bodies and therefore wee have more reason to go for our souls The Feavour it may bee is upon thy body and is it not in thy soul the Devil possesses thy childes body doth hee not possess thy own soul Oh therefore considering you have more reason to go for your souls than your bodies set every thing bee sanctified in you and have that work upon you Thirdly The Lord Jesus hath more bowels and hee is easier prevailed withall to do for the soul than in any case for our bodies or for the bodies of our Relations You never read of any that came to Christ for their souls that Christ did cast them off The Lord Christ may in wisdome and grace deny you when you come for your body hee may say it is not good you should bee well but hee will never
the very moisture is dried up and yet to put it off so that the soul may cry out with Job Job 23.13 hee is of one minde who can chaâ—ge him c Therefore the Church hath a remarkable expression Lamentations 3.8 Also when I cry and shout hee shutteth out my prayer Shouting it is an addition unto crying Why here is the poor woman crying in vers 22. I and shee cries and shouts in vers 25. and yet the Lord puts her off Fifthly The Lord Christ may carry it so seemingly harsh that hee may hint that that may seem to dash the poor creatures hope Oh this is sad and sore indeed Beloved That the poor creature who it may bee came with a little Faith and a little Hope should bee entertained so harshly as the soul may bee ready to say Now farewel Faith and farewel Hope c. Thus the Lord hath carried it to some before as if hee had cut off all their hope It was a very sad expression that they used Ezek. 37.11 Then hee said unto mee Son of Man these bones are the whole house of Israel Behold they say our bones are dried and our hope is lost wee are cut off for our parts Why truly poor soul Jesus Christ may so speak to you that you may say Now our hope is gone and wee for our parts whatever may bee the portion of others for our own particulars wee are cut off and cast off And Christ may carry it so as if hee gave I say as if not that hee doth really but I say as if hee gave us ground so to say that hee hath cut off all our hope and destroyed all that upon which our expectations were bottomed You have Job complaining of this himself Job 19.10 Mine hope hath hee removed like a Tree But of all expressions that is the most remarkable which you have in Lam. 3.54 The waters flowed over mine head then I said I am cut off Oh Sirs Jesus Christ may for a while so speak that the soul may say now my hope is perished and now I will sit down and despair And mark it but a little in this great instance of this woman of Canaan For here are two words that Christ useth to this woman which indeed did seem for it was no more than a seeming to dash all her hope in peeces First TheÌ„ one is I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel i. e. As if Christ should say My good friends my dear Disciples you pitty the woman so it may bee do I but what shall I do I cannot go beyond my commission I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel this woman is none shee is a Canaanite Now how might the poor woman complain sadly Oh Lord are none of the Canaanites in thy commission am not I in thy commission then farewel Lord Hee speaks a word that might even dash all her hope So say some souls Christ is onely for the Elect I am no elect one and thus the soul goes away hopeless Secondly And the other word that Christ speaks which might dash all her hope is in the 26. vers It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs Oh what a killing word was that poor heart shee might rather have expected that the Lord would have looked upon her as upon a silly Lamb as upon a trembling Dove that hee would speak softly to her but how roughly doth hee speak And how might this poor woman have mourningly muttered and in secret sighs have hereupon spoke thus in her self What must not doggs have childrens bread what said hee c. Ah my soul didst thâ—u mark it Doggs and childrens bread and I none of them and it is not meet c. Brethren Christ may call a Lamb a Dogg this seems to bee very harsh It was a harsh speech that the Lord did use to his people when hee cried Go to your Gods that yee have served Christ may say you are a dogg get you gone Quest But how could Jesus Christ speak thus wee know hee did account her Israel in the Spirit though not in the Letter as a Lamb not a dogg how did Christ then say I am not sent but to the lost sheep and thou dogg must not have childrens bread Answ There are these kinde of Answers First Some there are that say thus Christ speaks after the manner of Men as a Minister in the way of his Ministery guided by his Commission So Mr. Cartwright those that were not of the Jewish Church either by birth or proselitism they were out of the commission that seems to satisfie some But I will tell you what satisfies mee The Lord speaks two waies 1 Either plainly and positive as hee intends and as things are 2 Or by way of Trial probationally to try us Mark it The Lord may speak that to try us that hee doth not intend neither doth hee mean as hee speaks The Lord may bid Abraham go offer Isaac yet hee meant no such thing John 6.6 When Christ spake of buying bread for the multitude it is said this hee spake that hee might try them Thus the Lord speaks that hee might try us The Lord may speak doubtingly and hint heavy words not that hee hath hard thoughts but onely that hee might try us Hee may speak doubtingly of our Election that wee may make it sure Sixthly and lastly Herein Christ may shew himself seemingly harsh in that hee may at last keep us long ere hee doth send us away with that wee come for This woman had at last her request but it was long first as wee say Christ may entertain us and not speak any way so as to trouble us yet for all that hee intends not to give us presently the thing wee come for My Brethren the Lord Jesus may make us wait daies weeks months and years though hee let us within his house and speaks to us now and then and yet hee may not presently give us the particular thing that wee come for this is usual for Christ to make some tarry which yet hee turns not away And truly wee that are hasty count this harsh Christ may make us wait a great while and that wee esteem and it seems to be very harsh But this is a known thing and I shall not enlarge upon it at all Therefore thus much of the first thing wherein Christ may seem to carry it harshly towards those that come to him The second thing is Whence comes this to pass that Christ doth so carry himself Truly my Brethren It is strange after so many clear Prophecies after so many comfortable Promises after so many experiences of Christs kinde dealing that hee should with any soul at any time upon any account carry it thus harshly to them I shall give you an account of this in general first and in particular afterwards My Brethren In the general you must know this That Jesus
shall stand off that will make the soul come on more hastily Jesus Christ doth catch us by craft as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 12.16 Truly Christ doth catch some poor souls by craft as the fisher-man doth the fish you know or may have heard how that is The fisher-man laies the bait and draws it as it were away hee draw it before the fish and when the fish is ready to take it hee doth make as if hee snatched it away and why so truly that the fish may catch at it more eagerly and bee held by it more surely So doth Christ with us when hee shall offer and seem to draw back when hee shall come neer and suffer us as it were to touch him and then snatch away again this will make us come on more earnestly and close with him more eagerly The soulby this means takes the bait I and the soul will hold it too when it hath it beleeve it Sins the Lord Jesus Christ is kinde to catch by craft Well this is the account of the Reason wherefore it is that sometimes Christ is seemingly harsh to some souls There are but three Uses I aim at in this Doctrine Use 1. The first Use is To let us all see that Christ is not so easily come by as the generality of people do think All have Christ freely but not easily Minde it My Brethren I think and I will tell you my thoughts because it may awaken you and do you good I think many will go to Hell as upon other mistakes so upon this that they do think it easie to go to Heaven and easie to come by Jesus Christ But if it bee true that Christ stands a loof off from a poor soul then it will appear to bee a hard work to come by him Remember this you will finde three things will make it hard work ere Jesus Christ and you bee brought together 1 The backwardness of your own hearts 2 The many hinder ances and puts in of Satan 3 And the seeming backwardness of Jesus Christ First Your own hearts will bee backward Ah soul unless the Lord make it a day of his power they are not a willing people Psa 110. hee that talks of free-will I am afraid was never sensible of free-grace nor of the backwardness of his own heart Secondly The Devil makes it hard work too Verily when the soul would go to Christ the Devil will hinder and set one to hinder another to keep the soul off from going to Jesus Christ But thirdly and especially The seeming harsh dealing of Jesus Christ makes it very hard work Oh say some poor souls My thinks the Lord makes mee willing and hungring after a Christ but when I come to Christ Christ hangs off My thinks God the Father is willing I should have Christ hee hath sent him the Spirit is willing hee hath revealed Christ to mee and my heart is willing but I come to Christ and hee doth not hear mee verily here you will finde difficulty and it will much pazzle and try Faith to beleeve upon and close with a Christ who seems to stand at a distance His seeming harsh dealing will make it real hard beleeving Use 2. The second Use is of Caution I pray learn by this to take heed how you provoke the Lord Jesus Christ to deal thus harshly with any of you My Brethren the Lord Christ can frown and look bitterly and deal severely c. and beware how you provoke him so to do The truth is there bee some souls that rationally I mean religiously rationally cannot expect otherwise that if Christ do receive them hee should receive them very harshly Let mee in a word touch upon this and do you remember it Two words I would speak my minde in that I may not bee mistaken First this I do not say that there are any souls that have reason to think Jesus Christ will reject them Whatever you are Canaanite Perisite or Jebusite c. Whoever you are before the Lord I do not say there is reason for you to conclude that there is no coming to the Lord. But This I say secondly That though you have no reason to think hee will cast you off yet you have reason to think hee will deal harshly with you you may have reason to fear hee will not presently entertain you First I think there bee some souls that may verily expect God may make them stand at the door and wait till they cool their heels and though Christ will let them in at last yet hee may set them stand all night Some souls Christ may let them bee hoarse with crying and yet Jesus Christ may stand off Secondly There are some souls that may expect that though hee should let them in yet it may bee with them as with some childe the childe is let in and hee sits at the table but the Father looks so strangely and harshly on him that his meat doth him no good thou mayest never rellish mercy sweetly till thou comest to Heaven it may bee Thirdly There are some souls that may expect that though Christ will give them mercy yet hee will dispure it out with them that they shall wrestle a whole night as Jacob and go limping all their life time and bee called Dogg many a time and as it were threatned with a cudgel before ever hee give them childrens bread Therefore I beseech you for the Lords sake souls look about you Now there are three sorts of people that have thus reason to think that though Christ may receive them at last yet it may bee very harsh at first First Those that have dealt very harshly with Jesus Christ With the froward I will bee froward saith God Grace will receive froward ones at last yet hee will bee harsh Why what was the matter Joseph looks so roughly upon his Brethren their consciences could tell them Wee had not pitty upon our Brother Gen. 42.21 Sirs there are many poor souls deal harshly with Jesus Christ I say deal harshly with Christ is there any deals harshly with him you will say how can that bee why bee not mistaken as you deal with Christs members so you deal with him You scoff at poor Saints and Christ takes it as against himself O minde it you that have been or are the persecutors of the Lords people you can expect no other but that Christ should deal harshly with you since you have done so by him It may bee there is a poor man or woman by thee that hath precious Faith I say that hath precious Faith thou dealest hardly with them and so thou dealest hardly with Jesus Christ in them and hee may do so with thee Secondly Those souls that have lived in any more notable prophaneness than others may expect if Christ receive them it should bee as the woman of Canaan harshly Take a plain similitude Let two men go to a Physician the one hath a little knock on the crown a little dressing a
little washing doth cure it another hath a wound in the thigh or the arm that must have a great deal of lancing and washing ere it bee whole Oh! sins are wounds the least vanities are knocks on the crowns but there are blasphemies and uncleannesses and unrighteousnesses with a witness and the Lord must deal a little harshly with thee how else should hee deal with thee Tremble at every little sin but tremble especially at great sins I say not that great sins shall hinder us from Christ but upon the account of them at our first beleeving wee may meet with harshness in Christ The deeper our wounds the sharper our cure alwaies Thirdly There are a third sort of people that cannot but expect Christ will deal harshly with them Those that do neglect many a sweet and gracious tender of mercy and salvation by Jesus Christ many a day Suppose two people in the same Congregation one is crouded here that never heard the Gospel all his daies another is here that hath heard the Gospel many years you that have neglected sweet calls and precious opportunities if Christ receive you at last it will bee rich mercy but it will bee harshly I have often thought of it young people do not know how much bitterness of spirit they avoid by closing with Christ betimes My thinks I see some souls under such a condition you have stayed out all day and come home at midnight I do not say you shall not bee received when you come but you may bee received with a whip and go to bed without a Supper as wee use to say to some children Now I am afraid of one snare of the Devil My thinks I hear the Devil whispering to some souls well bee it so as you say so long as Christ will receive you at last so long as I shall not go to Hell so long as I shall have mercy at last then I will go on c. I will speak three words to this First of all It is more than you know I say it is more than you know that you shall bee saved at last I say it is possible Christ may receive the soul but how do you know it who did tell thee that it thou didst sin so many years after all thou shouldest have Christ with a whip and a knock Secondly It is a thousand to one that it shall bee so The soul that puts off closing with Christ upon this presumption that hee shall have it at last and will presume to tarry because hee perswades himself of a sure reception though it may bee sore I say these of all persons in my judgement have ground to fear lest the Lord give them to a deluded heart to damning dreams and soul-cheating hopes I fear if any bee thus Christ will not receive them no not at first nor last neither sweetly nor severely therefore take heed of this delusion But let mee add Thirdly I will suppose this that thou shalt bee saved at last very harshly Consider the terms dost thou know how harsh they will bee Dost thou know what terrours of the Lord may bee upon thee what terrours of Hell may bee in thee c Oh Sirs who knows the power of Gods wrath who knows the terrour of a wounded conscience can you live seven years under the apprehension of Gods wrath fourteen years under terrour and every day to walk up and down under everlasting burnings Beware how you go on upon those tearms but let every soul bee wise now beware now bee watchful now that sith the Lord though hee bee sweet can bee bitter beware how you provoke him to bee so to you Last Use The third and last Use It is for Exhortation to exhort you all to receive this truth so as not to bee offended with it I say so to receive this truth c. I remember our Lord and Saviour in John 16. preaches the truth of persecution upon this account These things saith hee I speak that you may not bee offended c. My Brethren this Truth this great Truth this strange Truth that Christ may deal thus hardly with some souls that come to him I preach it and tell you of it that you may not bee offended not offended when it comes to pass as to your particulars There are two offences one is therefore to say I will never go to Christ The other offence is I finde it so that Christ is harsh and therefore I will go no further I pray bee not thus offended First Do not stumble upon this as a rock of offence and say I will not go to Christ this is but to some I do not say the Lord will deal thus with all say not were I in the Woman of Canaans condition I could never hold up and therefore I will stand off Do not say so who are you that walk uprightly and avoid sin and snatch at a tender of mercy and are willing to come at a call go to Christ and you will finde that hee will entertain you friendly or suppose it bee seemingly harsh yet remember better bee entertained by Christ seemingly harsh than not to go at all and bee shut out for ever bee not offended therefore do not stumble at going to Christ Secondly Let no soul bee so offended at this dealing as to say I will bee gone I will bee gone I will wait no longer By Brethren it may bee there may bee some poor soul here before the Lord that may say I am a second Woman of Canaan a woman of a bitter spirit of a grieved soul because I have gone to Christ and am not entertained I have got Father Mother Minister childe to pray for mee I am not yet answered My beloved for all this thou art but a Woman of Canaan and the Lord may deal with you as such what though hee speak not at all or but harshly this is not new neither do thou so wonder at it or bee offended by it as to think of drawing back or going away from Jesus Christ Therefore let mee speak two words to thee 1 One is Bee advised 2 The other is Bee encouraged The first word is of Advice I pray take advice O poor heart Thou sayest thou hast gone to Christ and hee frowns thou sayest thou hast looked up to the brazen Serpent and yet the sting of the fiery Serpent abides thou sayest thou hast called for a crum of bread and no answer comes bee advised to look about you to see why God deals thus with you you may bee bold with the Lord Jesus hee never checked the Woman with boldness ask Christ Lord is thy design to humble mee then do so or Lord what is thy design is it to try mee then do so but support mee Is it to heighten thy self in my heart Lord what is thy design look about you and consider for which of all the Reasons it is that the Lord deals thus with you Secondly Bee encouraged to wait upon the Lord yet a
eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters Table The Lord had in a manner called her Dogg and said it was not for doggs to have childrens bread shee doth not deny it but shee grapples with grace and saith Truth Lord yet doggs may have a crumb c. I shall put all that is spoken here of her carriage into one Lesson but before I do that I shall name two other observable points The first is this A right Faith coming and carrying of the soul to Christ is a resolute Faith That is one point I would name pray mark it The Lord Jesus seems to put her off hee gives her nothing that was a visible incouragement yet shee will go on and yet shee will not bee put off When the soul comes to Christ hee comes as one that needs a Christ and wants a Christ will have and as one that must have a Christ and what then hee will have a Christ before hee goes away Though hee have not evidence hee will have adherence though the soul can see nothing and though no hope yet hee will bee resolute although Christ will not smile though conscience is not quiet though the wound bee not healed though the Lord put off angrily yet the soul keeps resolute to him and will not bee sent away empty Faith if right is still resolute The second Point that I shall name is this That a right Faith knows how to confess and beleeve at once A true Beleever will not conceal his sin yet will close with Jesus Christ A right Faith will deny nothing and yet it will beleeve all things My Brethren mark it a little there are a company of vile people that are as they say all for Faith and nothing for confession and what say they beleevers it is not for them to come and confess sin Why a beleever will confess sin doth the Lord say dogg yes truth Lord I am a dogg will the soul say as this Woman did There are others that will confess and not beleeve Oh they cry out they must confess and bewail and lye low and humble themselves c. but they cannot beleeve they dare not beleeve confession is their work c. Why poor hearts you may do both you may say Lord I am a sinner yet I beleeve for mercy is for sinners I am ungodly yet I beleeve for Abraham beleeved in him who justifieth the ungodly I am a dogg as thou sayest Lord yet I beleeve a dogg may gather up a crumb Well remember it True Faith doth not hinder confession nor confession should not hinder Faith But the particular Lesson of the place is this Namely That it is the duty the wisdome the glory of poor souls to carry it holily and humbly unto Christ when Christ seems to carry it harshly unto them So doth this poor Woman or if you will take it shortly thus It becomes Christians to carry it really well when Christ carries it seemingly ill I know my Brethren this is a hard work but as hard as it is wee must learn it and I will assure you if ever God intend to do you good though flesh and blood murmure yet the Lord will whip you into this Lesson but hee will make you learn it Namely to carry it holily to him when hee carries it seemingly harsh to you I remember that passage in 1 Pet. 2.18 Servants bee obedient to your Masters not onely to the good and gentle but also to the froward It is the duty of a servant professing the Name of God though hee have a froward Master yet hee must carry it well Now mark it Is it the duty of a servant to carry it well to a bad Master and is it not the duty of Saints to carry it well to Christ wee are the servants hee is the Master So in Heb. 12.9 Mark the Apostles argumentation saith hee Wee have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us and wee gave them reverence shall wee not much rather bee in subjection unto the Father of spirits and lâ—ve Mark there is life in this our life depends on our reverent carriage in this case Alass if Christ bee gone our life goes with him carry it well therefore if thou love thy life you must bee subject and submissive even when hee seems to bee sharp otherwise death is at the door Minde it then would you have a pardon and doth Christ seem to deny you where can you go for it but to him and when you come if you submit there it is soul in the point is your life Therefore mark the lesson well It is the duty wisdome and glory of Saints to carry it well to Christ when hee carries it seemingly ill to them There are four persons in the book of God recorded that God did seem to deal very hardly withall and of all of them this Woman of Canaan was most rare Good old Aaron holy Job the Virgin Mary the Mother of our Lord and this Woman in the Text. But truly as the Apostle said now remains Faith Hope and Charity the greatest thereof is Charity so of these that are upon record the greatest of these is this Woman shee seems to excel in good carriage under hard usage For Aarons carriage you have it recorded in Lev. 10.3 The Lord had dealt very severely with him Nadab and Abihu his two sons were consumed with fire from Heaven before the Lord. Ah Lord how harsh was this to flesh and blood what meer man having nothing more than man could bear it a good Priest hath two sons taken away suddenly But how doth Aaron carry it The Lord spake to Moses and Moses to Aaron saying This is that the Lord spake I will bee sanctified in them that come nigh mee and before all the people I will bee glorified and Aaron held his peace The Lord seemed very severe against the old man hee took away two of his children at once when they were about his work the Lord satisfies him by Moses and hee held his peace A blessed behaviour it was well-becoming him and very patternable unto us The second is that of Job In the first and second chapters you may read and see that God carries it strangely to him yet it is said in all this Job carries it very well so well that the Holy Ghost bears him witness Hee sinned not nor charged God foolishly And when his Wife put him on to curse God Oh saith hee Thou speakest like one of the foolish women what shall wee receive good at the hand of God and not evil There was a carriage indeed very good and right according to our Doctrine Thirdly Our Lords Mother carries it well to the Lord when hee seemed to carry it harsh to her In John 2.3 There you have our Lord and his Mother at a Wedding and there was wanting some Wine and the Mother said to Jesus they have no Wine saith Christ Woman what have I do with thee mine hour is not yet come What
this one word Who are you before the Lord that are of this house that this good Woman was That are under the frowns of Christ at present that have heard Jesus Christ call you Dogg that have prayed often and been put off alwaies I pray take a word of Advice carry it well even now unto Jesus Christ You know what the wise man tells us in Eccles 7.14 In the day of prosperity bee joyful but in the day of adversity consider I would but a little allude to it It may bee there sits a soul but it is a day of prosperity with him hee praies and the Lord hears hee looks and the Lord smiles But there is a Man or Woman with whom it is the day of adversity thou callest and Christ doth not answer it is thy day of adversity Now consider consider what consider how thou carriest thy self Look to thy lips do not sin do not murmure though thy wounds stink though thy conscience burn though thy soul tremble it is thy day of adversity and therefore consider Oh consider how the Lord eyes thee to see how thou wilt carry it Take heed the Lord do not see a cursed Canaanitish carriage in thee here is a good Canaanitish carriage in the Text. I remember what a godly man said within these seven years lying under a great pain of a great grief of which hee died as hee groaned exceedingly saith one you groan much I replied hee But though I groan I dare not grumble Though Christ keep thee a little at staves end and carry it harshly yet bee of good courage and confidence wilt thou but wait a little wait the Lords leisure carry it well hee will deal well with thee Bee therefore advised how thou behave thy self surely a waspish spirit and a murmuring tongue argue one is not well advised as wee say in his carriage Therefore go home as an advised Christian let the Lord Jesus do or say what hee pleaseth hold thou thy peace suppress thou thy passion and in all things shew a humble reverend blessed behaviour to him But of this more in the next Reasons why wee ought still to carry it well to Christ The Fifth SERMON Matthew 15.25 and 27. verses Then came shee and worshipped him saying Lord help mee And shee said Truth Lord yet the doggs eat of the crumbs which fall from their-Masters table AS to bee entertained by Christ really and readily is a great mercy so to bee rejected by Christ though it bee but seemingly must needs bee a great misery Indeed there cannot befall a poor soul a sadder evil than to come to Christ needing and expecting relief and to receive either an absolute denial or unusual delaies at the hands of Christ And yet my Brethren this is a case that sometimes hath befallen many and may befall us Wee have a notable instance of it before us in this story of the Woman of Canaan There were four things I told you that wee would principally speak unto in the handling of this story The first was the Coming of this Woman The second is the Manner of the Entertainment that shee had by Christ which was very sad not an absolute denial but a strange and unusual delay Thirdly Now wee are considering the Carriage of this Woman under this strange and rough entertainment that shee received from Christ The point is of concernment for us to consider that whensoever it will befall any of us upon any account wee may know how to carry our selves as shee hath done In these two verses wee have her Carriage and after wee had opened that wee gathered up all into this one Observation viz. Doct. That it is the duty the wisdome the glory of a Christian to carry it unto Christ very holily when hee seems to carry it to the soul very harshly Or shortly thus Wee must carry it really well when Christ carries it seemingly ill There were but two Principal things which I said were necessary to bee handled in the explication of the Point The First is What this good Carriage is wherein this holy and blessed behaviour to Jesus Christ doth lye And secondly Upon what account it is our duty and glory to have this Carriage Now for the opening of both of these I did onely confine my self to the example in hand to see how the Woman carried it and to see from her what were the Reasons that did prevail with her to carry it thus to Christ Here are six things wherein this good thing viz. this good Carriage of this good Woman appears First Though the Lord dealt roughly with her shee kept up honourable thoughts of him Secondly Wee shewed shee did not suddenly nor sullenly go away but still shee cries after him And Thirdly Shee speaks to Christ as professing her onely hope in his help Fourthly Shee denied nothing that Christ speaks against her Christ seems to say to her First That shee was a Dogg And then Secondly That shee should have nothing Truth Lord saith shee Fifthly Shee doth gather upon Jesus Christ and by that very hand which hee thrust her off shee gathers hope Lastly Shee was content to have a little in the lowest manner when shee might not have her first and great request in the highest manner Wee did the last day open these more largely But now whence is it that wee must have and labour for this good Carriage or what is the reason wee should carry it thus holily to Christ though hee seem to carry it roughly to us I referred the reason of it to three heads I told you if wee do consider either Jesus Christ or our selves or the Errand upon which wee come to him at any time wee shall see great reason to carry it well to Christ howsoever hee may seem to carry it ill to us And all these three considerations wee have here in the Woman First Consider who Jesus Christ is when you go to him Why truly my Brethren hee is the Son of David and our Lord Because hee is our Lord therefore wee must worship him It is because Masters are Masters therefore servants must carry it well wee did open that and therefore shall not repeat it now But Secondly Consider wee our selves who wee are that go to Jesus Christ and my Brethren you will see that such as wee are coming to Christ should carry it very well to him though hee should seem to carry it ill to us Alass what was this Woman Certainly the Holy Ghost did help her to look within to see her self as shee was viz. a poor Woman A Woman of Canaan of Tyre and Sidon a Woman that was a Dogg by Nature such a Woman had need to carry it holily when shee comes to Christ And my Brethren if you look upon your hearts as shee was so are wee you will see all the reason in the world to carry it holily and humbly to Jesus Christ though hee should carry it seemingly harsh to you First My Brethren wee are poor
it First Beware of ill Carriage Satan is at your elbow hee is tempting hee is busie to make you curse God and dye This was Satans main work to provoke Job to ill Carriage and that is his work upon thee now Satan seeth thee groaning under a sin that thou hast no ease now Satan is tempting thee to carry it ill but beware do not carry it ill Take heed of two things as the principal peeces of good Carriage First Beware of evil words and wishes Secondly Of unlawful works and indeavours First Beware of evil words and wishes My Brethren wee are apt in affliction to sin with our mouths But oh Sirs let mee tell you Mouth-sin is great sin Tongue-sin on Earth is tormenting-sin in Hell Do not speak ill nor wish ill Do not speak ill It was an ill speech yet that good man drops it in his trouble Psal 73.13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency And it was a very ill speech of the Church in Lam. 3.18 I said my hope is perished from the Lord. And a bad wish of Job Job 6.8 9. Oh that I might have my request and that God would grant mee the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy mee that hee would let loose his hand and cut mee off Beware of speaking unadvisedly with your lipâ— Saith the soul I cannot stand up under the frowns of Christ and I would to God I might dye now God notes what you say Jer. 45.3 Thou saidst woe is mee now Mark God noted what Baruâ—h saith But you will say may not the soul speak may not the bitter heart vent it self may not I speak of my condition as it is I pray mark but these two or three things First of all You may speak but it is our misery wee are apt to speak more than it is Many a time wee cry out of our misery more than it is But Secondly Mark this though wee may speak It it best to hold our peace Better is it for the soul to put his mouth in the dust then there will bee hope as wee opened Lam. 3.29 But then Thirdly In all your speaking you must distinguish between humble prayer and hasty speaking You may go before the Lord again and again and speak to him as the Woman of Canaan you may tell the Lord your wounds stink and fester your bones are broken c. but you must not do this unadvisedly or passionately Quest How shall the soul know even in prayer that hee doth not speak of his sad condition badly Answ I answer first When in all your prayers and expressions unto God you leave your complaint upon your selves This was Jobs practice Jeb 10.1 saith Hee My soul is weary of my life I will leave my complaint upon my self I will speak in the bitterness of my soul i. e. I will say Lord my wound is great but I made it c. you may expostulate with God but still leave your complaint upon your selves i. e. lay the fault of all upon your selves do not blame Christ Confess whatever thou feelest smart or sore that thou must onely thank thy self for it Lay not thy sorrow to thy Saviours charge whatever you say speak not as charging Christ but condemning self That is one thing And secondly As you must leave the complaint upon your selves so you must not absolutely and peremptorily condemn your selves The soul is apt to cry out my case is bad and it will never bee better I conclude I must perish there is no hope c. Ah! these condemning concluding absolute concluding speeches thus against our selves proceed from passion and are of that kinde of words which wee must avoid But it is not enough to watch words take heed especially to your works Therefore Secondly As you must beware of sinful words and wishes so beware of sinful works and indeavours When the Rod of God is upon thy back take heed of putting forth thy hand to evil Sauls way was a wicked way Indeed the Lord dealt sadly severely with him neither to answer him by vision nor dream by Urim nor Thummim was very sore and grievous And my Brethren to bee able to forbear at such a time any thing that may seem a way to help I confess it is very hard But although it bee difficult yet it is duty Wee must beware of going to Witches and Wizards for counsel in any case It was Sauls sin and I wish it had died with him but it remains too great a practice in these times Oh take heed of it Take heed I say you do not by any evil practice seek to ease your selves Though Christ should not answer thee no more at present than God did Saul though hee do neither speak to thee himself nor suffer his servants to speak on thy behalf as here in this Womans case yet beware of doing any unwarrantable thing to ease thy minde Bee not as Saul at Endor No neither bee as Saul in Mount Gilboa as the story is 1 Sam. 30. At Endor hee consults with a Witch At Gilboa hee took a sword and slew himself O take heed of that temptation viz. Self-Murther I have heard it often as observed heretofore and I know that to this day it is an evil practiue many take they will lay violent hands upon themselves this is to go back to hell for a plaister And surely such a plaister hath so much venome in it that it is madness to expect Virtue from it I beseech you therefore beware This is the first part of my advice Learn your duty at least thus far Not to carry it ill in word or work however in any thing the Lord deal with you But my Point saith more therefore I must press it Wee must carry it well to Christ however hee may seem to carry it to us And therefore to come to that in the next place Secondly Recompence not evil with evil but rather recompence evil with good It is true as I have often said Christ cannot carry it really ill but however do thou recompence evil with good Now to that end I pray minde this Woman of Canaan and imitate her write after her Copy do as shee did let your Carriage to Christ answer her Pattern in all the particulars which I opened and instanced in And to this end give mee leave to commend to you the exercise of three Graces in the exercise of which shee was and in them you should bee and so shall carry it well to God Namely Humility Prayer Resolute Faith First Observe her Humility and go thy way and do likewise However the Lord carries himself to thee humble thy self under his hand Christ could not speak a word never so bad but shee would hee viler If the Lord would say Dogg shee would â—ay so too Especially labour to carry it humbly in this one thing to accept of any measure in any manner of comfort that Christ gives you
by God My Beloved Faith doth therefore carry us out thorow all because it is that Grace that God alone hath appointed Read the Gospel or the Prophets and you will finde them speaking of these two great Truths First That Christ is the onely one that is appointed to bring us to salvation There is no name but his Act. 4.12 Secondly That Faith is the onely Grace appointed to bring us to Christ You have our Lord shortly in one place speaking of both in John 6.40 And this is the will of him that sent mee that every one which seeth the Son and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day There is a great Question among Divines Why Faith rather than Charity Patience or Gospel-Obedâ—ence should bee the great instrument of Justification And my Beloved this is the absolute Answer to the Question Because God hath onely appointed it There may bee some conjectural Reasons why God hath appointed Faith but the chief Reason is because God hath appointed it Now Divine Institution being upon Faith thence it is that Faith doth the work it is not from any inherent worth in the Grace Alass What is the worth of a sinners hand to take a glorious Christ But it is onely from Gods pleasure and appointment that Faith alone shall bee the Grace to carry the soul to and help the soul in its receiving of Christ God hath appointed no other leggs to carry us and because hee hath appointed these hee will bless his own apointment to effect the work The Lords appointment makes all things operative Therefore Secondly The Reason is from the operation of Faith in us by virtue of that appointment My Beloved Faith it is a working Grace and Faith is our great strength in every working Grace it conveyeth strength unto all Graces There is a threefold Operation of Faith to carry the soul thorow all difficulties and discouragements in its going to Christ viz. an Inlightening an Enlivening and an Embracing work in the blessed business of closing with Christ I will a little open them all three First Faith hath an Inlightening work An inlightning work is that which carries a man thorow many difficulties and discouragements In Psal 34. you have a fine expression where David is speaking of his and others seeking God and of their incouragement in that work saith hee in vers 5. They looked unto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed by Faith the soul sees the necessity of Christ the inclinableness of the heart of Christ c. and this carries the soul thorow all difficulties Saith Faith look yonder there and there alone is the rock of safety And if you bee not there you must sink this makes the soul swim amain And look saith Faith there is a safe Landing Christ saith Faith stands with out-stretched arms of power and love to imbrace thee and Faith realizeth such a fight evidenceth it to the soul and so inabling the soul to see it helps the soul to go to Christ Secondly Faith hath not onely an inlightening work but an inlivening work My Beloved other graces stir us up and put us on to go to Christ but Faith doth onely enliven us Love and humility doth marvelously stir up the soul to go to Jesus Christ and so do other Graces I but these do not feed the soul nor strengthen there is a great deal of difference between the Whip and the Meat you give the horse A whip a blow that stirs it but doth not strengthen it A conviction of need a fear of hell stirs us to go to Christ but it doth not inable us or inliven us My Beloved Faith is the strengthening Grace The Just shall live by Faith Heb. 10. there saith hee you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God yee might receive the Promise c. Now The Just shall live by Faith 36 37 38. verses Do not cast away your confidence what then You have need of patience c. doth hee stay there No but adds The Just shall live by Faith True you will need patience if you go to Christ but you will live alone by Faith Wee need patience to tarry the Lords leisure to bear the Lords frowns to tarry till hee come but how shall wee live in the mean time Oh The Just shall live by Faith Faith being an enlightening Grace therefore it is an enlivening Grace Faith it findes honey as Jonathan and Faith it findes a Promise and dips in the finger and takes a little and that enlivens and strengthens the soul Nay Faith though it bee full of fears it is a soul-enlivening-Grace Take that instance of the Woman with a bloody Issue in Luke 8.44 compared with vers 46. It is clear shee had a Faith and shee had fears and shee had virtue For this Faith full of fears did gather virtue from Jesus Christ So thy Faith that is full of fears may gather virtue from Jesus Christ and therefore is it that it carries us thorow all difficulties in our going to Christ Thirdly Faith it hath an imbracing work These all died in Faith not having received the Promises What then how could they live but having seen them afar off embraced them Heb. 11.13 My Beloved Faith it hath an imbracing work of the Promise and because Faith can imbrace the Promise therefore can it carry the soul thorow all the difficulties that it meets with in the way to Christ What is the Anchor at the end of a Cable one Ship will carry a thousand Anchors but one Anchor will hold the Ship because it hath a fastening power Faith is but a little Anchor of it self I but it hath a fastening power and so Faith staies the soul In Isa 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose minde is stayed on thee because hee trusteth in thee because you trust in God therefore are your minds stayed Oh Sirs what shall I say more Faith it is a catching hold of that Christ that puts thee off And because Faith imbraces and holds him that is sure and strong it doth therefore ipso facto as wee say in that very thing carry the soul to Christ thorow all difficulties Well I pray minde and meditate a little upon these things for they are of the life and Mystery of real Christianity But I will now speak to some Uses of this Point Therefore to make some Application there are onely three Uses Use I Let mee say This Doctrine is profitable for reproof Is Faith such a Grace is it Faith that carries the soul thorow all Oh then bee reproved all who profess to beleeve and yet are ignorant of what Faith is Why poor soul what shall carry thee thorow all but Faith and art thou ignorant of that Is there but one boat to carry us over the Sea and are wee ignorant of that Ask what is your Faith why saith one I say my I beleeve I
it with suggestions of Sense or Reason But then A second Direction is Let Faith have its perfect work Therefore as the Apostle faith about Patience so let Faith have its perfect work Faith goes at first to half a Promise but let it alone it knows where to fetch a whole Promise Let Faith alone it will go to a Promise for what for refuge for help for all Faith will go to and look upon Abraham as Isa 51.2 and finde incouragement from him Nay it can run back to Adam and help it self with the thoughts of his experience let Faith have its course and it will carry you to every Promise and Example to incourage you If it have its perfect work it will gather strength from all the Word of God to help you in your work of closing with Christ I beseech you in these Directions strengthen and labour to incourage Faith O soul minde it storms and trials may come and then you will need afresh to run to Christ Look to your leggs your Faith it is that must carry you If death come death and doubting will come together now remember what must carry you thorow nothing but Faith Trust to no parts duties c. onely trust to the Lord in the way of Faith I shall conclude with two things First Woe to thee poor soul whoever thou art that wantest Faith I do not say woe to thee that art a poor man nor woe to thee if thou beest mean in the world nor say I thou art a sick or weak man and therefore woe No No But art thou an unbeleever a soul without Faith then woe indeed to thee Ah woe bee to that man that wants Faith for without Faith it is not possible to please God or to go to Christ and how sad is the state of that soul that can do neither Woe to all unbeleevers Secondly Blessed are you that have Faith I say not that have so great a Faith but Faith true Faith I say Blessed are you that beleeve you that do beleeve though but a little yet your little Faith will do this great work it will keep you from drowning it will carry you to Christ That little Faith Peter had for all his fears kept him up from sinking I remember what our Lord said to Nathaniel who beleeved as I may say a little Beleevest thou thou shalt see greater things than these John 1.50 Do but go on beleeving and thou shalt see greater things than yet thou hast seen Two things your Faith will do First It will bee your Leggs to carry you to Christ and that thorow all difficulties so you see it did this Woman And Secondly It will if I may say so Compel as it were Christ to entertain you after all denials Ah souls what a glorious entertainment did Christ give this poor Woman at last Well therefore strengthen Faith and that will help you to do as this Woman did and then you shall in the Issue speed even as shee did But of that in the next Christ will bee certainly kinde at last The Seventh SERMON Matthew 15. vers 28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt c. YOu have sometimes seen or at least heard of a poor beggar who hath long lain and loudly cried at the gate of some great person and yet never liftened to never let in but anon it may bee the Master of the house himself hath opened the door and spake to the man kindly and dealt with him very comfortably how was the face of this beggar lightened how was his heart refreshed just so Nay greater than so was the heart of the Woman of Canaan cheared when our Lord answered and spake unto her the words that I have read Shee had as it were lain long and cried loud and begged hard and no answer but now at last the Lord answers and the Lord answers sweetly Oh Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even us thou wilt The last day wee came to this verse in it I told you wee had the last particular of the story of the Woman of Canaan which holds forth the blessed conclusion which our Lord doth make with this poor Woman After I had hinted and resolved three questions I told you there were three particulars which in an eminent manner are remarkable in this place The First wee did dispatch then and that was this The Grace which did carry on and carry out this poor Woman in all this address it was her Faith And thence wee noted this Doctrine Doct. That it is onely Faith which can carry the soul thorow all difficulties and discouragements in the way to Christ Onely Faith Remember it Sirs some of you have a little knowledge and others of you have a great deal of Profession some of you talk much and the poorest thinks it may bee as well of himself as hee that saith most but remember whatever you know talk or think nothing will carry you to Jesus Christ but Faith you may have fine words and good wishes but alass wording and wishing is not coming to Jesus Christ Why this Woman had other gifts and other graces shee had much humility and shee had much patience and shee had a fine gift of prayer c. yet it is not said Woman much is thy patience or great is thy love strong are thy prayers but oh Woman great is thy Faith c. Wee did open the point at large and pressed it upon you in the Application in divers particulars which I shall not add unto or repeat Onely I beseech you my Beloved let this abide upon your hearts streng then Faith When you come to dye you will then see a need of Christ if you do not now and if you have not a living Faith you cannot have a living Christ and then is your soul dead before death Faith is another kinde of thing than the world is aware of wee hardly know the notion now but wee shall never bee able to know the preciousness of it as indeed it is precious but by the experience of it Now the greatest experience of Faith is seen in that blessed business of going to Christ In that wee have this experience of the use power and price of Faith that whatever wee have and pretend unto nothing but sincere single Faith will carry us unto Jesus Christ But I proceed The second thing which indeed is the principal thing is this The kindness of Christ now to this Woman You see his commendation of her Faith well now mark his condescension to her how much doth Christ condescend to this poor Woman hee condescends to talk with her commends her Faith and complies with her wishes to heal her Daughter c. Oh blessed condescension The Observation from the whole will bee this Doct. That however the Lord Jesus may deal at first with poor souls that come to him in the issue hee will deal very kindly
called thee truly it was his anger and wrath that was upon her and yet hee had called her as a Woman refused Poor heart thou art as a woman grieved in spirit yet the Lord is kinde Object I but you will say That is a Promise made to those who once were in the heart of Christ who once were married to the Lord and afterwards seem to bee separated Answ 1. That is true and therefore by the way if there bee any of you that once were married to the Lord and by your sins are separated bee of good comfort the Lord doth caâ—l thee But secondly Though the sixth verse speak to one that was once a Wife yet the first verse speaks to one that was never a Wife Sing O barren thou that didst not bear for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married Wife So that mark it put it either way thou that once wast married to Christ and thou that wast never married there is a song of praise for you Whosoever you are that come to Jesus Christ whether it bee your first coming in the day of conversion from an unregenerate estate or second coming in the day of your return from a backsliding estate I say which soever it is if you come Christ will bee kinde unto you I will conclude And two words I shall speak First Know It is absolutely impossible that it should bee otherwise but that Christ should deal well with you at last You know the Apostles expression Heb. 6.18 That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye wee might have strong consolation c. When you have the Lords Word and the Lords Oath when you have the Lords Promises and many Experiences It is impossible now that God should fail here are immutable things You have the Experience of this Woman of Canaan and you have the Experience of many thousands besides the Promises and Oath of God and Christ so that I say it is impossible that it should change and bee otherwise It cannot bee but that Christ should deal well at last with those that come unto him I say again and Oh remember it it cannot possibly bee otherwise Secondly It is very probable your comfort may bee nearer than you are aware of Possibly thou wilt say It was never worse never further off Bee it so upon this account thou wert never nearer to comfort My Beloved it is a certain Truth When wee are ready to give up hope and ready to perish that is the time of our refreshing and reviving Possibly now thou dost think thou art at the worst the Lord may be ready to deal kindly with thee When did the Lord reveal this kindness to the Woman of Canaan when after hee had spoken worst of all Hee had said It was not meet to give childrens bread to Doggs and presently after this word hee saith Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt It may bee the Lord tells thee It is not meet to give thee bread now bee of good comfort now hee calls thee Dogg and is ready to beat thee off a thousand to one if hee do not give you childrens bread Indeed this I observe as a particular thing in the story of Joseph when was it that Joseph brake out in his kindness to his brethren See in Gen. 45.1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself c. When truly when Judah had told him such a sad story in chap. 44. vers 18. As if Judah should say My Lord great man what shall I do if thou do not let Beâ—amin go c. Then Josephs heart melted Happily thou art brought to this question Lord what shall I do Lord I have waited prayed cried and Oh Lord what shall I do why bear up thy heart now thou art near sinking the Lord may reveal himself to thee as hee did to the Woman of Canaan Well that is the first and the proper Use To comfort those that are in the Woman of Canaans condition I shall add but one word of Exhortation If it bee thus that the Lord Christ will deal thus kindly at last however hee carry it at first Then let the same minde bee in you that was in the Lord Jesus This you know is a great Rule That wee should bee followers of Christ Wherein shall wee bee followers of Christ First Carry it thus one to another Secondly Carry it thus to Jesus Christ First Carry it thus one to another If so bee through frailty you have carried it too roughly one to another hitherto carry it kindly now Bee not of a rough spirit irreconcilably It is time for Beleevers to lay aside their bitterness which hath been their sin and shame many years Oh that whatever unbrotherly ungospel-like carriage hath been amongst Saints and too much hath been may now at last end Let us in this imitate Christ to carry it well at last for a long time wee have carried it harsh and ill And in particular cases between one Relation and another one friend and another bee as Christ sweet and kinde in the cloze what ere you are or have been at first Secondly And especially Carry it so to Jesus Christ There is never a one of you but have carried it very strangely to Christ at first the Lord help you to carry it well at last Have not you carried it to Christ as Christ carried it to the Woman of Canaan The Woman of Canaan called but hee would not answer Christ comes to you and calls you but you will not answer Christ calls you you will not hear Young man saith Christ turn to mee it is not meet for mee to do so hath the young man answered I will not cast my youth and strength on a doting disgraced way as many do so have your hearts said too often And so for old and rich and great ones how oft have they put off Christ with no answer or at best with a delatory one I may say to you all that many a time after many a call and in many a case you have dealt unkindly with Christ Well but however though you have carried it ill to Christ heretofore yet pray carry it well at last I shall allude to a speech in Matth. 21.28 Christ speaks of two Sons of a certain man and hee came and said to the first Go work to day in my Vineyard hee answered and said I will not but afterwards hee repented and went c. The Lord Christ shews in that parable how some yea many deal with him Hee calls and commands the poor soul hee saith to the sinner Go to work leave off sin but the soul returns answer No I will not Oh this is naughty carriage yet now if wee recall our selves and say as hee said at last I go But afterwards hee repented and went This will bee doing good at last and however our former carriage hath been Christ will accept and count this well and say Here is good carriage
So then O soul take this word to thy self And if thou hast dealt unkindly with Christ and notwithstanding great wooings great means abundance of favours bestowed upon you yet thou wouldest not repent Oh yet afterwards repent and do it And this is to draw out holiness at well as comfort out of the story of the woman of Canaan And truly that is my desire that wee should thus improve this example not onely to Faith and Comfort but also to Holiness and Obedience and that in this particular of being like-minded unto Christ not onely to others but especially to Christ himself to deal well with him now at last for as much as wee have dealt ill with him many a day Comings to Christ prevails for Corporals as well as Spirituals The Ninth SERMON Matthew 15. the last clause of vers 28. And her Daughter was made whole from that very hour WEE are come to the last part of the story of the woman of Canaan the principal matter wee have already dispatched and I shall at this time briefly give you an account of these words and so end the Discourse VVithout looking back therefore to any thing wee have formerly delivered wee shall presently speak to these words that I have now read These words do particularly relate to the Daughter of the Woman of Canaan and they do hold forth the kindness of Christ unto a childe as a return of the Prayer and Faith of a Parent for a childe And there is one Note that in the very entrance into the discourse wee shall take up in the general And that is this Doct. That the Prayer and the Faith of beleeving Parents are very prevalent with the Lord Jesus on the behalf of children My Beloved little do wee know what our prayers may procure at the hand of Christ for ours Thou hast oftentimes laid thy precepts upon thy childe and that would do him no good thou hast oftentimes in a sense made thy prayers to thy childe and that would do him no good Little dost thou know what the prayers that thou dost put up to God may yet effect Verily my Beloved It is our folly and sin that wee are not more in prayer for our posterity than wee are Many a soul-mercy and body-mercy may bee procured at the hands of Christ upon the Parents prayers for the poor children It is famously recorded of Austin that hee was the Son of Prayers and Tears Oftentimes I say for the soul and body doth the Parents prayers prevail for the childe To come to the words in particular there is no difficulty in the Letter and therefore wee shall not stand upon the Exposition There are onely three Notes wee shall take up The two first more particular the last more general and therefore that I shall spend the time in First of all in particular Here are two Notes that do relate to the personal honour and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and upon that account I shall mention them in two Observations Doct. 1. That Jesus Christ hath power over all diseases over all distempers Her Daughter was sick yea vexed with a Devil shee praies to Christ and her Daughter was made whole You know what hee said in the Gospel Mat 8.8 Lord if thou wilt but speak the word my servant shall bee whole c. Any disease is at the command of Christ to go and to come as hee pleases So much may wee gather from the Centurions language Luk. 7.8 9. That expression in Mat. 4.23 24. is full where it is said Hee went about healing all diseases c. Indeed it is a fine question Whether in these daies Christ do cure immediately as hee did in the times of the Gospel That hee can so cure is made no question but whether hee do is a question yet this I will say that sometimes I make no doubt but the Lord Jesus doth immediately heal diseases And it were no stretching the Truth to tell you that more than one or two or scores of instances may bee given of persons that have been given over for lost by man by no means used nothing done to recover many who have been yet immediately cured by Jesus Christ However it is a certain truth that all diseases can bee cured by Jesus Christ And the second Note is this and I pray minde it Doct. 2. Jesus Christ is not tied to any time to do his work The same hour her Daughter was made whole My Beloved the Lord Jesus hee can cure by one word in one moment That is a famous story in John 4.49 You have one there that comes unto Christ and saith hee Sir Come down ere my childe dye Hee was afraid that Christ could not come away soon enough Mark saith Christ Go thy way thy Son liveth and it is said hee enquired of them the hour when hee began to amend and hee knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said unto him thy Son liveth The Lord Jesus is not tied to any time for any work There are two sad words which wee may truly speak of the best men and means which yet can never bee said of Jesus Christ The first word is this That time is past And the second word is this That time is too short But now you can never say any of these words to Christ First Of the best men and the best means wee may say time is past Wee often do say and cry out Oh! If this Physician had come at such a time the childe had been well and if such means had been taken the thing had been done I but now time is past But mark it though you can say thus of men yet you can never say the time is past to Jesus Christ You have a very glorious instance of this in the speech of Martha to our Lord Jesus Christ in John 11.21 22. Then said Martha unto Jesus Lord if thou hadst been here my Brother had not died but I know that even NOW whatsoever thou wilt ask of God God will give it thee Shee doth not say If thou hadst come my Brother had lived but now it is too late but saith shee now I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God God will give it thee My Beloved when death is written upon any person and it is too late for men to help it is not too late for Jesus Christ time is never past to the Lord Jesus But then Secondly As time is never past so time is never too short for Jesus Christ You may say of such men if they had but time they might do something and of such means if there were time it might do something I but you can never say it is too little or too short a space or time for Jesus Christ In the same hour Jesus Christ can do a great deal of work in a little time Christ who is the mighty God can do a great work in a day That is a blessed word in Rev.
the saving of the sick Now a little to clear up this you must know first that this is to bee understood of corporal sicknesses and therefore the very two terms that are here used for saving and sick are usually applied to corporal diseases I but it is said this was by virtue of the anointing of the Elders To this I answer this expression hath been abused But however that this salvation doth not depend upon the anointing will appear if you observe the phrase And the Prayer of Faith shall save the sick Hee doth not say the Anointing shall do it but the Prayer of Faith and further observe this is a general Scripture concerning all ages built upon perpetual grounds and to hold now as well as then That coming to Christ in Faith will prevail with him for corporal kindnesses both for our selves and others Wee shall add no more for the proof but give you the Reasons There are five Reasons whence it comes to pass that sometimes our Lord Jesus Christ is prevailed withall by those that faithfully come to him incorporal cases for themselves and others Reas 1. That the Lord Jesus may shew that hee hath power in this particular My Beloved Jesus Christ will sometimes speak and do such a word and such a work for this reason that it may bee known what hee could do in that case In Matth. 9. and the beginning Why did hee say to the sick of the Passie Bee of good cheer thy sins are forgiven thee but that they might know the Son of Man hath power on the the Earth to forgive sins Beleevers Beleevers you shall know what your Saviour can do you shall know what a Christ you have and what hee can do in every thing You think hee can do for your souls you do not question it hee will make you know hee can do for your bodies too That hee may shew his power hee will sometimes shew corporal kindnesses Secondly That hee may shew himself to bee the same in all ages My Beloved poor hearts are too too ready to sing that doleful Psalm Is the Lords mercy clean gone is his loving kindness come to an end c. Poor hearts are too too ready to say the Lord did such a mercy at such a time but did hee not then resolve to do so no more at such a time the Lord healed such a one but did hee not end the work then No the Lord Christ is from everlasting to everlasting thorow all generations saith the Psalmist Psal 103.14 17. verses For hee knoweth our frame hee remembreth that wee are but dust but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his Righteousness unto childrens children That you may know that it is not onely a peculiar mercy to those times therefore thorow all generations hee will heal as hee did then that it may appear hee is the same in all ages That Text is to bee understood of corporals Thirdly The Lord Jesus will sometimes shew corporal kindnesses to our selves and others that hereby hee may ingage us Oh my Beloved Jesus Christ doth love to ingage poor souls to himself hee loves to lay his fair yoak upon your backs hee loves to lay the cords of men of humane love upon their hearts to binde them to himself Now corporal kindnesses do much ingage The truth is it is our folly and Christs kindness in a mystery that a corporal kindness works more sometimes than a spiritual and Christ therefore goes that way to work upon us Wee finde in dealing with children and the Lord knows silly children wee are the best of us that wee do oftentimes more win by an Apple than a better thing Oh wee have a good Christ that condescends to our childishness hee will have corporal kindnesses because hee sees they will prevail with us sometimes when others will not How stately is that Psalm Psal 116. Oh saith David there I will love the Lord c. What did ingage David I was in misery the sorrows of death took hold of mee and the Lord delivered mee c. Oh for the Lord Jesus to shew a kindness to our poor carkasses doth ingage much At such a time I had a childe sick a relation sick I prayed to the Lord and the Lord heard mee I will love the Lord as long as I live Fourthly The Lord doth it that hee may incourage Faith Sirs glorious things as Doctor Sibbs applied that Scripture are spoken of thee O thou Grace of Faith Now this is a great incouragement when Faith shall prevail with Christ for body and soul too for inward and outward mercies how is Faith incouraged Pray will you turn to John 4.53 The kindness of Christ to the Noble mans childe whom the Lord did cure upon his Fathers request mark how it did work upon that great man Hee enquired concerning the time and hee knew that it was at the time that Christ said his Son liveth What follows then Himself beleeved and his whole house Why did not the man beleeve before Christ had cured his childe Yes in vers 50. it is said Hee beleeved but the Master that beleeved before beleeves more I and the whole Family beleeved too Verily Sirs Faith is marvelously incouraged by corporal kindnesses What did incourage David against Goliah but this Thy servant slew both the Lion and the Bear and this uncircumcised Philistine shall bee as one of them Oh when the Lord shall hear us for our poor carkasses this will incourage Faith Many a person hath been wrought upon to come to Christ by the kindnesses that hee hath shewed to others There is a story of a poor Christian Maid in the Ecclesiastical histories whose Prayer and Faith cured a great Mans childe in a heathenish place The Governour of the place had a childe sick and every one was to give somewhat to help it but nothing would do at last a poor captive Christian was asked what shee could do shee said I can pray to my God and hee can heal shee did so and the childe was healed and it is said it was the occasion to work upon many to inquire after and to embrace Jesus Christ and the Christian Religion And let mee appeal unto you have you not known at least have you not heard of some poor wretched creatures that have been much wrought upon when they have observed that God hath heard the prayers of such a Minister of such a poor Christian when they were sick and this hath drawn them on in the way of Faith and Holiness Fifthly and lastly Jesus Christ will sometimes shew corporal kindnesses that so hee may make good all the Promises In 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness is said to have the Promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come Why now you know what is said in 2 Cor. 1.20 That in him all the Promises are Yea and Amen All Promises are made to Beleevers but the fulfilling of
doth appear upon this consideration nothing but this could have so quieted the heart of David that the childe was happy Indeed some think that the phrase I shall go to him is no more but I shall bee dead as hee is and they say David did acquiesce in this that the will of God was fulfilled and therefore David comforts himself in this I shall go to him But if this had not been to Heaven it could have been no great comfort Alass what comfort is this bare thought to a mourning Parent my childe is dead and I shall dye too David might have had that comfort in Absolons death but here was his comfort I shall go to him i. e. to glory the bare grave is not comfort nor was it to David but the glory beyond the grave is And this is that comfort which doth stay the heart I shall go to him Though God did not hear him for his childes life yet I think for his childes soul So that is another thing to satisfie any Christian in this case I say when Christ doth not hear prayers to restore a childe to life and health yet in this case in particular go to the Lord Jesus you may go and you may prevail for corporal kindnesses for them and if not for their bodies who can tell but you may for their souls Then I beseech you all in the words of the Apostle Phil. 4.6 compared with verse 19. Bee careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request bee made known unto God My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus Whatever your condition bee bee not over careful go to the Lord Jesus and hee will supply all thy wants hee will give a pardon to thy soul and a plaister to thy body and to thy childes body too you may go to Jesus Christ for what you will in a way of beleeving and to bee sure you shall alwaies prevail in spirituals and sometimes in corporals But there are two questions that wee must answer First But in what cases may it bee lawful to put Prayer and Faith a working in going to Christ for corporal kindnesses Secondly When may wee hope that wee may prevail with Christ for corporal kindnesses First In what cases may wee go to the Lord Jesus and set Prayer and Faith on work for corporal kindnesses It is a Case of Conscience which is not oftentimes touched upon Three things I shall tell you to regulate you and then in any case you may go to Christ and act Faith for corporal mercies First When the thing is lawful that you ask There are many things that are not lawful for us to ask Like Neroes Mother ask and say I will have my Son King though I dye for it You may not begg of the Lord that your childe may bee thus great or thus honourable but you may begg of the Lord life and health creature accommodations so far as necessary these things you may begg and go to Christ for Secondly You must look that your spirits bee not inordinately set upon the things When ever thou findest thy heart inordinately set upon any thing then do not pray for it And then Thirdly When you can appeal to Jesus Christ that the end for which you begg a corporal kindness it is for his glory then you may begg it As David there in Psa 119.17 Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word You may go and say Lord Jesus Let my childe live for what end that hee may bee a great man a rich man c. No the Lord will abhor it But that my childe may live to serve the Lord if that bee your end you may pray for it And then Quest 2. But you will say When shall I know or may I guess that I shall prevail with Christ What are the signs of the time and season when I may hope I shall prevail with Christ for mercy c Answ I answer When the frame of your spirit is as the frame of the spirit of the Woman of Canaan I pray mark it a little what the frame of the spirit of this Woman was Take it in some particulars I will name onely two viz. First Shee had this frame of spirit That though shee mentioned her childes case yet shee seems to minde her own soul most And Secondly Shee had this as the frame of her spirit To beleeve for both Now to urge it in a few words to you The first frame of her spirit was That though shee did begg this mercy for her childe yet the frame of her spirit was principally set upon her soul This poor Woman did desire her Daughters life but however Lord bread for my poor soul Oh Sirs when you can go to God and say Lord I would have such a corpotal mercy but however Lord soul-mercy when you can desire a sick childe may bee made well but especially an evil heart mended when your soul is set mostly upon your soul and its concernments then are you in a good frame Secondly This Woman was raised up to measure of Faith Indeed some great and considerate Divines do think that that Text of James 5. where it is said The prayer of Faith shall save the sick is to bee understood in reference to a particular Faith And my Beloved howsoever yet let mee tell you it is not alwaies necessary wee should have a particular perswasion yet when the Lord doth intend to answer in a corporal kindness hee doth secretly either out of the word or by providence hint some word that may bring the soul to a beleeving frame Something is presented to us which raiseth up a Faith in us so that when wee are in such a frame of heart as to minde spiritual things most and yet to beleeve that in a temporal thing God will gratifie us then may wee expect that wee shall not bee ashamed of our Faith and that wee shall have the particular corporal mercy granted to us But to end This is that I would press upon the whole As ever you would have mercy for body and soul go to Jesus Christ But now there is some general word that I would draw from the whole story Wee have now dispatched this whole discourse of the Woman of Canaan What is there that is upon my spirit to begg of the Lord for you and for my own soul but this That this story may bee alwaies a good story to us First of all therefore I say Look about you that the story of the Woman of Canaan may not bee a sad story to any Is there any such as may have cause to fear that you will say Yes man or woman whoever thou art who dost not faithfully go to Jesus Christ the story of the Woman of Canaan shall condemn you you have no excuse to keep you off from going to Jesus Christ but this Woman will condemn you