constant to any rules Now this division of the minde stands thus The heart on the one side is taken up with the pleasures of sinne for the present and on the other with the desires of salvation for the future and now according as the workings and representations of the one or other are at the time more fresh and predominant in like maner is sinne for that time either cherished or suppressed Many men at a good Sermon when the matter is fresh and newly presented while they are looking on their face in the glasse or in any extremitie of sicknesse when the provisions of lust doe not relish for the present when they have none but thoughts of salvation to depend upon are very resolute to make promises vowes and professions of better living but when the pleasures of sin grow strong to present themselves again they returne like a man recover'd of an ague with more stomacke and greedinesse to their lusts againe As water which hath been stop'd for a while rusheth with the more violence when its passages are opened A double heart is like the boles of a Scale according as more weight is put into one or other so are they indifferently over-rul'd unto either motion up or downe When I see a vapour ascend out of the earth into the aire why should I not thinke that it will never leave rising till it get up to heaven and yet because the motion is not naturall but caused either by expulsion from a heat within or by attraction from a heat without when the cause of that ascent is abated and the matter gathers together into a thicker consistence it growes heavie and fals downe againe Even such is the affection of those faint unresolved desires of men who like Agrippa are but halfe-perswaded to believe in Christ. But now lastly wee must observe that in the day of Christs power when he by his word and Spirit worketh effectually in the hearts of men they are then made free-will offerings Totally willing to obey and serve him in all conditions The heart of every one stirreth him up and his Spirit maketh him willing for the worke and service of the Lord Exod. 35.21 They yeeld themselves unto the Lord and their members as weapons of righteousnesse unto him 2 Chron. 30.8 Rom. 6.19 They offer and present themselves to God as a living Sacrifice and therefore they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an oblation sanctified by the Holy Ghost Rom. 12.1 Rom. 15.16 Therefore they are said to come unto Christ by the vertue of his Fathers teaching Ioh. 6.45 To runne unto him Esai 55.5 To gather themselves together under him as a common head and to flow or flock together with much mutuall encouragement unto the mountaine of the Lord Hos. 1.11 Esai 2.2 3. To waite upon him in his Law Esai 42.4 To enter into a sure covenant and to write and seale it Nehem. 9.38 In one word To serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing minde 1 Chron. 28.9 when the heart is perfect undivided and goeth all together the minde will bee willing to serve the Lord. This willingnesse of Christs people sheweth it selfe in two things First in begetting most cordiall and constant Enmitie against all the enemies of Christ never holding any league or intelligence with them but being alwayes ready to answere the Lord as David did Saul Thy servant will goe and fight with this Philistime Hee that is a voluntary in Christs armies is not disheartned with the potencie policie malice subtlety or prevailing faction of any of his adversaries Hee is contented to deny himselfe to renounce the friendship of the world to bid defiance to the allurements of Satan to smile upon the face of danger to hate father and mother and land and life to be cruel to himselfe and regardlesse of others for his masters service Through honor and dishonor through evill report and good report through a Sea and a wildernesse through the hottest services and strongest oppositions will hee follow the Lambe whither soever he goeth though he receive the word in much affliction yet hee will receive it with joy too Secondly in begetting most loving constant and deare affections to the mercy grace glory and wayes of God an universall conformity unto Christ our head who was contented to take upon him the forme of a servant to have his eare bored and his will subjected unto the will of his Father I delight to doe thy will ô my God yea thy Law is within my heart Psal. 40.8 And as hee was so are all his in this world of the same minde judgement Spirit conversation and therefore of the same will too Now this deare and melting affection of the heart toward Christ and his wayes whereby the soule longeth after him and hasteth unto him is wrought by severall principles First by the Conviction of our naturall Estate and a through humiliation for the same Pride is ever the principle of disobedience They were the proud men who said unto Ieremie thou speakest falsly the Lord hath not sent thee Ier. 43.2 And they were the proud men who hardned their necks and withdrew the shoulder and would not heare and refused to obey Nehem. 9.16 17 29. A man must bee first brought to denie himselfe before hee will bee willing to follow Christ and to lug a crosse after him A man must first humble himselfe before he will walke with God Mic. 6.8 The poore onely receive the Gospell The hungrie onely finde sweetnesse in bitter things Extremities will make any man not onely willing but thankfull to take any course wherin hee may recover himselfe and subsist againe when the soule findes it selfe in darknesse and hath no light and begins to consider whither darknesse leads it that it is even now in the mouth of Hell under the paw of the roaring lion under the guilt of sinne the curse of the Law and the hatred and wrath of God it cannot chuse but most willingly pursue any probability and with most inlarged affections meete any tender of deliverance Suppose wee that a Prince should cause some bloudy malefactor to bee brought forth should set before his eyes all the racks and tortures which the wit of man can invent to punish prodigions offenders withall and should cause him to tast some of those extremities and then in the middest of his howling and anguish should not onely reach out a hand of mercy to deliver him but should further promise him upon his submission to advance him like Ioseph from the iron which enters into his soule unto publike honor and service in the state would not the heart of such a man bee melted into thankfulnesse and with all submission resigne it selfe unto the mercy and service of so gracious a Prince Now the Lord doth not onely deale thus with sinners doth not onely cause them by the report of his word and by the experience of their own guilty hearts to feel the weight fruitlesnesse
a right of Conquest 297 By a right of Covenant 297 By a right of Communion 298 VVee may belong unto Christ by Externall profession 299 VVee may belong unto Christ by Reall Implantation 299 Christ bringeth selfe-evidencing properties into the soule 300 Christs proprietie to us the ground of his Caring for us 305 Christs proprietie to us the ground of his Purging of us 306 Christs proprietie to us the ground of his Sparing of us 307 Christs proprietie to us the ground of his Praying of us 307 Christs proprietie to us the ground of his Teaching of us 308 Christs proprietie to us the ground of his chastising us in mercy 308 Christs people militarie men 308 Satans wayes and Methodes of assaulting the Church 309 Christs people are willingly subject unto him 312 By nature men are utterly unwilling 312 Apt to charge the wayes of God as Grievous 313 Apt to charge the wayes of God as Vnprofitable  Apt to charge the wayes of God as Vnequall 314 The Spirit of Bondage compelleth many to unwilling services 314 The power of the word in naturall men worketh a velleitie or incomplete will 315 Willingnesse in Christs people wrought by the Evidence and sense of their naturall estate 320 Willingnesse in Christs people wrought by the Spirituall illumination of minde 321 Willingnesse in Christs people wrought by the Comâ—union and adspiration of the Spirit 324 Willingnesse in Christs people wrought by the Apprehension of Gods deare Love 324 Willingnesse in Christs people wrought by the Beauty and pretiousnesse of heavenly promises 325 Willingnesse in Christs people wrought by the Experiences of peace comfort and security in Gods wayes 326 Willingnesse in Christs people wrought by the Beauty of holinesse 327 Such as the will is such is the service Because the will is the first mover 328 Because God esteemeth himselfe most honoured thereby 330 Whether those who are truly Christs people may not have feares and unwillingnesse in his service 330 1 They may have a feare of Suffering Gods wrath 331 1 They may have a feare of Of medling with his service 331 2 They may have deadnesse wearinesse and a mixture of unwillingnesse in his service 332 From the Strength of corruptions 333-334 From the Weaknesse of graces 333-334 From the Importunitie of Temptations 333-334 From the Weight of some fresh sinne 333-334 From the Spirituall desertions 333-334 3 Yet still their wills are sincerely carried towards God 335 Christs people are made willing to obey him by an act of power 337 The ground hereof is the universall fleshlinesse and reluctancy of the will naturally against grace 344 The more earnest should wee bee to serve Christ when wee are his 347 Holinesse a glorious and beautifull thing 349 In regard of the Author of it 351 In regard of the Nature of it 352 Properties of it Rectitude 354 Properties of it Harmonie 354 Properties of it Maturitie 356 Properties of it Indeficiency 357 In regard of the Operations of it 357 All Christs people are Priests unto God 359 Holinesse the character of Christs subjects 359 None willing to come to Christ till they see beauty in his service 363 Multitudes borne unto Christ by the Gospell 365 Whether universality and visible pompe bee a note of the Church 369 All Christs subjects are withall his Children 374 And should expresse the affections of Children 376 The Birth of a Christian is a heavenly worke 377 Therefore the seed must bee received with heavenly affections 379 Therefore wee must looke unto God in his Ordinances 380 The Birth of a Christian a secret and undiscerned worke 380 The Birth of a Christian is a sudden Birth 381 How the Lord sweareth 384 VVhy the Lord confirmed the priesthood of Christ by an oath 385 Christs solemne Ordination unto the office of a Priest 387 Which is the foundation of all the Churches Comfort 388 in regard of Christs Fidelity 390 in regard of Christs Mercy 391 in regard of Christs Power ibid. in regard of Christs Propriety ibid. in regard of Christs Sympathy 393 in regard of Christs Consanguinity ibid. How God is said to repent 393 Whether God hath repented him of the law 395 Why the Covenant of Grace is immutable 398 What a priest is 402 Grounds tending to discover the necessity of a priest for man 403 A discovery of that necessity 408 With the Application thereof 411 Qualifications of the person which was to be our Priest 416 He was to bee all in the unity of one Person 420 a Mediator 417 a Surety 418 a Sacrifice ibid. an Altar 419 Wherein the Acts of Christs Priesthood consisted namely Oblation 424 Wherein the Acts of Christs Priesthood consisted namely Intercession 424 Christs will made his death a Sacrifice 425 Christs Intercession or Appearing in Heaven for us 428 Christs death did merit and his life conferre Redemption 429 Wherein Christs Intercession consisteth 431 No Mediators of Intercession 433 The great benefits which come to us by Christs Intercession 434 What is the fruit and vertue of Christs Priesthood namely Satisfaction for our debt 438 What is the fruit and vertue of Christs Priesthood namely Acquisition of our inheritance 438 An Explication of the Doctrine of justification by righteousnesse imputed 440 How Christ being innocent might justly suffer the punishment of our sinnes 444 1. God may cast paines upon an innocent person 445 2. It is not against generall equity for one to suffer anothers sinne 446 3. This Equity in the present case is that all parties are both Willing and 446 3. This Equity in the present case is that all parties are both Glorified 446 4. In the innocent person thus suffering as a sacrifice for the nocent is required 1. An intimate conjunction with him that is nocent 447 2. A full dominion over that from which in suffering he parteth 448 3. A strength to breake through the sufferings 449 How sinne thus punished may be said to be pardoned 449 A double use of the doctrine of Righteousnesse imputed Selfe-deniall 450 A double use of the doctrine of Righteousnesse imputed Confidence 452 Redundancie of Christs merit purchasing for us Immunity from evils 455 Redundancie of Christs merit purchasing for us Priviledge of Vnion with him whence our Vnction 456 Redundancie of Christs merit purchasing for us Priviledge of Vnion with him whence our Adoption 456 Redundancie of Christs merit purchasing for us Priviledge of Vnion with him whence our Exaltation 456 Duties growing out of the consideration of Christs priesthood 457 Of Melchisedek his Person Order Bread and VVine Benediction Tithes Genealogie 461 Christ is a King of Righteousnesse 465 Christ is a King of Canaanites 467 VVhere Christ is a King of Righteousnesse he is a King of Peace 469 Christs forwardnesse to meete and to blesse his people 471 Christ a Comforter and Refresher of his people 472 Christ a Receiver of Homage and Tribute 473 Liberall maintenance due unto the Ministers of the Gospell 475 Christs priesthood is everlasting 482 VVhy
in dying rising and reviving he became Lord both of the dead and living Rom. 14.9 Revel 5.12 And thus he is Lord in two respects First A Lord in Power and strength Power to forgive sinnes Power to quicken whom hee will Power to cleanse justifie and sanctifie Power to succor in temptations Power to raise from the dead Power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him Power to hold fast his sheepe Power to cast out the accuser of the brethren Power to put downe all his enemies and to subdue all things unto himselfe Secondly A Lord in Authoritie To judge to anoint to imploy to command whom and what hee will He onely is Lord over our persons over our faith over our consciences To him onely we must say Lord save us lest wee perish to him onely wee must say Lord what will thou have me to doe And such a Lord Christ was to his owne fore-fathers They all did eate of the same Spirituall meate and all dranke of the same Spirituall drinke even of that rock which was Christ 1 Cor. 10.3 4. He was the substance of the Ceremonies the Doctrine of the Prophets the accomplishment of the Promises the joy and salvation of Patriarchs and Princes the desire and expectation of all flesh The Gospell to us a History and narration and therefore delivered by the hand of witnesses to them a promise and prediction and therefore delivered by the hand of Prophets The Apostles entered into the Prophets Labours and were servants in the same common salvation these as sowers and they as reapers these as preachers of the seed hoped and they as preachers of the same seed exhibited The ancient Iewes then were not saved by bare temporall promises neither was their faith ultimately fixed upon Ceremonies or earthly things but as their preachers had the same Spirit of Christ with ours so the Doctrine which they preached the faith and obedience which they required the salvation which they foretold was the same with ours As the same Sun illightens the starres above and the earth beneath so the same Christ was the Righteousnesse and salvation both of his fore-fathers and of his seed They without us could not be made perfect that is as I conceive their faith had nothing actually extant amongst themselves to perfect it but received all its forme and accomplishment from that better thing which was provided for and exhibited unto us For the Law that is the carnall Commandement and outward Ceremonies therein prescribed made nothing no grace no person perfect but the bringing in of a better hope that is of Christ who as hee is unto us the hope of glory so hee was unto them the hope of deliverance for he alone it is by whom wee draw nigh unto God doth perfect for ever those that are sanctified Heb. 7.19 Heb. 10.14 If Christ then be our Lord wee must trust in him and depend upon him for all our present subsistence and our future expectations For he never faileth those that wait upon him He that beleeveth in him shall not bee ashamed And indeed faith is necessary to call Christ Lord. No man can call Iesus Lord but by the Spirit Because other Lords are present with us they doe with their own eye oversee and by their owne visible power order and direct us in their service But Christ is absent from our senses Though I have knowne Christ after the flesh yet henceforth saith the Apostle know I him no more Therefore to feare and honor and serve him with all fidelity to yeeld more absolute and universall obedience to his commands though absent though tenderd unto us by the Ministerie of meane and despicable persons than to the threates and Scepters of the greatest Princes to labour that not only present but absent we may bee accepted of him to doe his hardest workes of selfe-deniall of overcomming and rejecting the assaults of the World of standing out against principalities powers and spirituall wickednes of suffering and dying in his service needs must there bee faith in the hart to see him present by his Spirit to set to our seale to the truth authoritie and Majesty of all his commands to heare the Lord speaking from heaven and to finde by the secret and powerfull revelations of his Spirit out of the word to the soule evident and invincible proofes of his living by the power of God and speaking mightily in the Ministery of his Word to our consciences Therefore when the Apostle had said Wee are absent from the Lord hee presently addes We walk by faith That is we labor to yeeld all service and obedience to this our Lord though absent because by faith which giveth presence to things unseen and subsistence to things that are yet but hoped wee know that hee is and that hee is a rewarder of those that diligently seeke him And indeed though every man call him Lord yet no man doth in truth and sincerity of heart so esteeme him but those who doe in this manner serve him and by faith walke after him If I be a Master saith the Lord where is my feare Malach. 1.6 It is not every one that saith Lord Lord but hee that doth my will that trembleth at my word that laboureth in my service who declares himselfe to be mine indeed For the heart of man cannot have two Masters because which way ever it goes it goes whole and undivided Wee cannot serve Christ and any thing else which stands in Competition with him First because they are Contrary Masters one cannot bee pleased or served without the disallowance of the other The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy that is grudgeth and cannot endure that any service should be done to the Lord. For the Friendship of the World is enmitie against God Iam. 4.4 5. And therefore saith the Apostle If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him and the reason is because they are contrarie principles and have contrary Spirits and lusts and therefore must needs over-rule unto contrary services Secondly because both Masters have employments enough to take up a whole man Satan and the World have lusts to fill the whole head and heart of their most active and industrious servants for the Apostle saith that all which is in the World is lusts And the heart of man is wholy or most greedily set in him to doe that evill which it is tasked withall Eccle. 8.11 The all that is in man all his faculties all his affections the whole Compasse of his created abilities are all gone aside or turned backward there is no man no part in man that doth any good no not one Psal. 14.3.53.3 Christ likewise is a great Lord hath much more businesse than all the time or strength of his Servants can bring about Hee requireth the obedience of every thought of the heart 2 Cor. 10.5 Grace and edification and profit in all the words
that proceed out of our mouth Eph. 4.29 a respect unto the glory of God in whatsoever workes wee goe about 1 Cor. 10.31 The whole soule body and Spirit should bee Sanctified throughout and that even till the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ 1 Thess. 5.23 Christ hath service much more than enough to take up all the might strength studies abilities times callings of all his servants Businesses towards God and himselfe worship feare Communion love prayer obedience service subjection businesses towards and for our selves watchfulnesse repentance faith sincerity sobriety growth in grace businesse towards other men as instruments and fellow members exhortation reproofe direction instruction mourning rejoycing restoring releeving helping Praying Serving in all wayes of love So much evill to bee avoided so many slips and errors to bee lamented so many earthly members to bee crucified so much knowledge and Mysteries to bee learned so many vaine Principles to bee unlearned so much good to bee done to my selfe so much service to bee done to my brother so much glory to bee brought to my Master every Christian hath his hands full of worke And therefore Christ expostulateth it as an absurd thing to call him Lord Lord to professe and ingeminate a verball subjection and yet not to doe the things which hee requires Luk. 6.46 The third thing observed touching the Kingdome of Christ is the Glorie and Power thereof intimated by his sitting at the Lords right hand Gods right hand in the Scripture is a Metonymicall expression of the strength power majesty and glorie that belongs unto him This is mine infirmitie saith the Psalmist but l will remember the yeares of the right hand of the most high Psal. 77.10 Where wee finde Gods power under the metonymie of a right hand opposed to the infirmitie of his servant My infirmitie and weake faith made me apt to sinke under the sense of Gods displeasure but when I called to minde the experiences of Gods former power in alike distresses I recollected my Spirits and was refreshed againe So the right hand of the Lord is said to spanne or extend the heavens Esai 48.13 And the Psalmist expresseth the strength and salvation of the Lord by his right hand Psal. 118.14 15 16. and his fury is the Cup of his right hand Hab. 2.16 And he strengthneth and helpeth and upholdeth his people by the right hand of his Righteousnesse that is by his Power and faithfull promises which in their weaknes strengthens them in their feare and flagging helps them in their sinking and falling upholds them Esai 41.10 So the Psalmist saith of wicked men that their right hand is a right hand of falsehood Psa. 144.11 that is either confidence in their owne power will deceive themselves or they will deceive others to whom they promise succour and assistance Therfore Gods right hand is cald the right hand of Majesty Heb. 1.3 and the right hand of power Luk. 22.69 To sit then at Gods right hand noteth that great Honor and Judiciarie Office and plenitude of power which God the Father hath given to his Sonne after his manifestation in the flesh in his nativity and justification by the Spirit in his resurrection he was then amongst other dignities received up into glory 1 Tim. 3.16 This wee finde amongst those expressions of honor which Salomon shewed unto his Mother that shee sate at his right hand 1 King 2.19 And herein the Apostle puts a great difference betweene Christ and the Leviticall Priests that they stood daily Ministring but Christ after his Offering Sate downe on the right hand of God Heb. 10.11 12. noting two things First That Christ was the Lord and they but Servants for standing is the posture of a Servant or Minister Deut. 10.8.17.12 Ezek. 44.24 and not sitting Luk. 17.7 Secondly that their worke was daily to bee repeated wheras Christs was consummate in one offering once for all after which hee rested or sate downe againe This fitting then of Christ at the right hand of Majestie and glorie notes unto us first The great Exaltation of the Lord Christ whom God hath highly honoured and advanced and given a name above every name First his Divine nature though it cannot possibly receive any intrinsecall improvement or glory all fulnesse of glory essentially belonging thereunto yet so farre forth as it was humbled for the oeconomie and administration of his office so farre it was readvanced againe Now he emptied and humbled himselfe not by putting off any of his divine glory but by suffering it to be overshaddowed with the similitude of sinfull flesh and to be humbled under the forme of a Servant as the light of a candle is hidden in a darke and close Lanterne So that Declaratorily or by way of Manifestation he is in that respect magnified at Gods right hand or as the Apostle speakes declared to be that Sonne of God by Power in rising from the dead and returning to his glory againe Rom. 1.4 Againe how ever in Abstracto wee cannot say that the Deitie or Divine nature was exalted in any other sense than by evident manifestation of it selfe in that man who was before despised and accused as a blasphemer for that he made himselfe equall with God yet in Concreto and by reason of the Communication of properties from one nature to another in the unitie of one person it is true that as God saved the World by his bloud and as it was the Prince of life that was crucified and the Lord that lay in the grave so God likewise was in the forme of a servant humbled and at the right hand of Majestie exalted againe Secondly the humane nature of Christ is most highly exalted by sitting at Gods right hand for in the right of his Hypostaticall union hee hath an ample and immediate claime to all that glory which might in the humane nature bee conferr'd upon him So that though during the time of his conversation amongst men the exigence and oeconomie of the Office which he had for us undertaken made him a man of sorrowes and intercepted the beames of the Godhead and Divine glorie from the other nature yet having finished that dispensation there was in the vertue of that most intimate association of the natures in one person a communicating of all glory from the deitie which the other nature was capeable of For as by the Spirit of Holinesse he was filled with treasures of wisdome and knowledge and grace and thereby fitted for the Office of a Mediator and made the first fruits the first borne the heire of all things the head and Captaine of the Church furnished with a residue and redundancie of the Spirit to sanctifie his brethren and to make them joynt heirs and first borne with himselfe so by the Spirit of glory is he filled with unmatchable perfections beyond the capacitie or comprehension of all the Angels of Heaven being not onely full of glory but having in him all the fulnesse of glory
enriched to be stedfast unmoveable abundant in the worke of the Lord to doe his will as the Angels in heaven doe it yet in many things they faile and have daily experience of their owne defects But here is all the comfort though I am not able to doe any of my duties as I should yet Christ hath finished all his to the full and therefore though I am compassed with infirmities so that I cannot doe the things which I would yet I have a compassionate advocate with the Father who both giveth and craveth pardon for every one that prepareth his heart to seeke the Lord though he be not perfectly cleansed 1 Ioh. 2.2 2 Chron. 30.18 19. Secondly Against the pertinacie and close adherence of our corruptions which cleave as fast unto us as the very powers and faculties of our soule as heat unto fire or light unto the Sunne Yet sure we are that he who forbad the fire to burne and put blacknesse upon the face of the Sunne at midday is able likewise to remove our corruptions as farre from us as he hath removed them from his owne sight And the ground of our expectation hereof is this Christ when he was upon the earth in the forme of a servant accomplished all the Offices of suffering and obedience for us Therefore being now exalted farre above all heavens at the right hand of Majestie and glory he will much more fulfill those Offices of Power which he hath there to doe Which are by the supplies of his Spirit to purge us from sinne by the sufficiencie of his grace to strengthen us by his word to sanctifie and cleanse us and to present us to himselfe a glorious Church without spot or wrinckle He that brought from the dead the Lord Iesus and suffered not death to hold the head is able by that power and for that reason to make us perfect in every good worke to doe his will and not to suffer corruption for ever to hold the members It is the frequent argument of the Scripture Heb. 13.20 21. Col. 2.12 Eph. 1.19 20. Rom. 6.5 6. Rom. 8.11 Thirdly against all those firie darts of Satan wherby he tempteth us to despaire and to forsake our mercie If he could have held Christ under when he was in the grave then indeed our faith would have been vaine we should be yet in our sinnes 1 Cor. 15. 17. But he who himselfe suffered being tempted and overcame both the sufferings and the temptation is able to succor those that are tempted and to shew them mercie and grace to helpe in time of need Heb. 2.17 18. Heb. 4. 15 16. Lastly against death it selfe For the Accomplishment of Christs Office of redemption in his resurrection from the dead was both the Merit the Seale and the first fruits of ours 1 Cor. 15.20 22. Thirdly The sitting of Christ on the right hand of his Father noteth unto us the actuall Administration of his Kingdome Therefore that which is here said sit at my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstoole the Apostle thus expoundeth He must raigne till he hath put all enemies vnder his feete 1 Cor. 15.25 And he therefore died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of dead and living namely by being exalted unto Gods right hand Rom. 14.9 Now this Administration of Christs Kingdome implies severall particulars First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The publication of established Lawes For that which is in this Psalme called the sending forth of the rod of Christs strength out of Sion is thus by the Prophets expounded Out of Sion shall goe forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Ierusalem Esai 2.3 Mich. 4.2 Secondly The conquering and subduing of subjects to himselfe by converting the hearts of men and bringing their thoughts into the obedience of his Kingdome Ministerially by the word of reconciliation and effectually by the power of his Spirit writing his Lawes in their hearts and transforming them into the image of his word from glorie to glorie Thirdly Ruling and leading those whom he hath thus converted in his way continuing unto their hearts his heavenly voice never utterly depriving them of the exciting assisting cooperating grace of his holy Spirit but by his divine power giving unto them all things which pertaine unto life and godlinesse after he had once called them by his glorious power Esai 2.2 Ioh. 10.3 4. 1 Cor. 1.4 8. Esai 30.21 1 Pet. 2.9 2 Pet. 1.3 Fourthly Protecting upholding succouring them against all temptations and discouragements By his compassion pittying them by his power and promises helping them by his care and wisedome proportioning their strength to their trials By his peace recompencing their conflicts by patience and experience establishing their hearts in the hope of deliverance Heb. 2.17 Ioh. 16.33 1 Cor. 10.13 2 Cor. 1.5 Phil. 4.7 19. Rom. 15.4 Fifthy Confounding all his enemies First Their projects holding up his Kingdome in the midst of their malice and making his truth like a tree settle the faster and like a torch shine the brighter for the shaking Secondly Their Persons Whom he doth here gall and torment by the Scepter of his word constraining them by the evidence thereof to subscribe to the Iustice of his wrath and whom he reserveth for the day of his appearing till they shall be put all under his feete In which respect he is said to stand at the right hand of God as a man of warre ready armed for the defence of his Church Act. 7.56 Fourthly the sitting of Christ on the right hand of God noteth unto us his giving of gifts and sending downe of the Holy Ghost upon men It hath been an universall custome both in the Church and elsewhere in dayes of great joy and solemnitie to give gifts and send presents unto men Thus after the wall of Ierusalem was built and the worship of God restored and the Law read and expounded by Ezra to the people after their captivitie it is said that the people did eate and drinke and send portions Nehem. 8. 10 12. The like forme was by the people of the Iewes observed in their feast of Purim Ester 9.22 And the same custome hath bin observed amongst heathen Princes upon solemne and great occasions to distribute donations and congiaries amongst the people Thus Christ in the day of his Majestie and Inauguration in that great and solemne triumph when he ascended up on high and led captivity captive he did withall give gifts unto men Eph. 4.10 Christ was notably typified in the Ark of the Testament In it were the Tables of the Law to shew that the whole Law was in Christ fulfilled and that he was the end of the Law for Righteousnesse to those that beleeve in him There was the golden pot which had Manna to signifie that heavenly and abiding nourishment which from him the Church receiveth There was the Rod of Aaron which budded Signifying either the miraculous incarnation of Christ in a Virgin or
up with joy Mal. 2.13 and of all Sacrifices a broken heart is that which God most delighteth in Psal. 51.16 17. there is joy in heaven at the repentance of a sinner and therefore there must needs be joy in the heart it selfe which repenteth in as much as it hath heavenly affections begunne in it Therefore as the Apostle saith Let a man become a foole that he may be wise so may I truly say let a man become a mourner that he may rejoyce If it be objected how one contrary affection can be the ground and inducement of another and that he who feeleth the weight of sinne and displeasure of God can have little reason to boast of much joy To this I answere First that we doe not speake of those extraordinary combates and grapplings with the sense of the wrath of God breaking of bones and burning of bowels which some have felt but of the ordinary humiliations and courses of repentance which are common to all Secondly that such Spirituall mourning and joy are not contrary in regard of the Spirit nor doe one extinguish or expell the other As black and white are contrary in the wall but meete without any repugnancie in the eye because though as qualities they fight yet as objects they agree in communi conceptu visibilis so joy and mourning though contrary in regard of their immediate impressions upon the sense doe not onely agree in the same principle the grace of Christ and in the same end the salvation of man but may also be subordinated to each other as a darke and muddie color is a fit ground to lay gold upon so a tender and mourning heart is the best preparation unto spirituall joy Therefore our Savior compareth Spirituall sorrow unto the paines of a woman in travell other paines growing out of sicknesse and distempers have none but bitter ingredients and anguish in them but that paine groweth out of the matter of joy and leadeth unto joy so though godly sorrow have some paine in it yet that paine hath ever joy both for the roote and fruit of it Ioh. 16.21 and though for the present it may haply intercept the exercise yet it doth strengthen the habit and ground of joy as those flowers in the spring rise highest and with greatest beautie which in winter shrinke lowest into the earth I trembled saith the Prophet in my selfe that I might rest in the day of trouble Hab. 3.16 Secondly the Spirit doth not onely Discover but heale the corruptions of the soule and there is no joy to the joy of a saved and cured man The lame man when he was restored by Peter expressed the abundant exultation of his heart by leaping and praising God Act. 3.8 for this cause therefore amongst others the Spirit is called the oile of gladnesse because by that healing vertue which is in him he maketh glad the hearts of men The Spirit of the Lord saith Christ is upon me because the Lord anointed me to preach good tydings to the meeke he hath sent me to binde the broken hearted Esai 61.6 and againe I will binde that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick Ezek. 34.16 Now this healing vertue of Christ is in the dispensation of his word and Spirit and therefore the Prophet saith the Sunne of Righteousnesse shall arise with healing in his wings Mal. 4.2 where the Spirit in the word by the which he commeth and preacheth unto men Eph. 2.17 1 Pet. 3.19 is called the wing of the Sunne because he proceedeth from him and was sent to supply his absence as the beame doth the Suns and this Spirit the Apostle calleth the strengthner of the inner man Eph. 3.16 Thirdly the Spirit doth not onely heale but renew and revive againe when an eye is smitten with a sword there is a double mischiefe a wound made and a faculty perished and here though a Chirurgian can heale the wound yet he can never restore the faculty because totall privations admit no regresse or recovery but the Spirit doth not onely heale and repaire but renew and reedifie the spirits of men As he healeth that which was torne and bindeth up that which was smitten so he reviveth and raiseth up that which was dead before Hos. 6.1 2. and this the Apostle cals the Renovation of the Spirit Tit. 3.5 whereby old things are not mended and put together againe for our fall made us all over unprofitable and little worth Rom. 3.12 Prov. 10.20 but are done quite away and all things made new againe 2 Cor. 5.17 The heart minde affections judgment conscience members changed from stone to flesh from earthly to heavenly from the image of Adam to the image of Christ Ezek. 11.19 1 Cor. 15.49 Now this renovation must needs be matter of great joy For so the Lord comforteth his afflicted people Esai 54.11 12 13. Fourthly the Spirit doth not renew and set the frame of the heart right and then leave it to its owne care and hazards againe but being thus restored he abideth with it to preserve and support it against all Tempests and batteries And this further multiplieth the joy and comfort of the Church that it is established in Righteousnesse so that no weapon which is formed against it can prosper Esai 54.14.17 Victory is ever the ground of joy Esai 9.3 And the Spirit of God is a victorious Spirit His judgment in the heart is sent forth unto victory Matth. 12.20 and before him mountaines shall be made a plaine and every high thing shall be pulled downe till he bring forth the head stone with shoutings Ezek. 4.6 7. To Stephen he was a Spirit of Victory against the disputers of the World Act. 6.10 To the Apostles a Spirit of liberty in the prison Act. 16.25 26. To all the faithfull a Spirit of joy and glory in the midst of persecutions 1 Pet. 4.13 14. Fifthly the Spirit doth not onely preserve the heart which he hath renewed but maketh it fruitfull and abundant in the workes of the Lord Gal. 5.22 Rom. 7.4 And fruitfulnesse is a ground of rejoycing Esai 54.1 Therefore they which are borne of God cannot commit sinne that is they are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 workers or artificers or finishers of iniquity because they have the seed of God that is his Spirit in them which fitteth them as seed doth the wombe or the earth to bring forth fruite unto God Partly by teaching the heart and casting it as it were in the mould of the world fashioning such thoughts apprehensions affections judgements in the soule as are answerable to the will and Spirit of God in the word so that a man cannot but set his seale and say Amen to the written Law partly by moving animating applying and most sweetly leading the heart unto the Obedience of that Law which is thus written therein Lastly those whom he hath thus fitteth he sealeth up unto a finall and full redemption by the Testimony
of their profession is not any experimentall goodnesse which they have tasted in him for by nature men have no relish of Christ at all but onely selfe-love and private ends wherby Christ is subordinated to their owne commodities Men are herin just like the Samaritans of whom Iosephus reports that when Antiochus persecuted the Iewes they then utterly disavowed any consanguinity with them denied their Temple on mount Gerosim to be dedicated to the great God and declared their linage from the Medes and Persians but when before that Alexander had shewed favour unto the Iewes and remitted the tribute of every seventh yeare they then claim'd kindred with that people and counterfeited a descent from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasse that thereby they might enjoy the priviledges of those people whom otherwise they mortally hated And so we finde that in the Vastation of the Citie of Rome by the Gothes and Barbarians when there was but one onely refuge allowed the Romanes for the safety of their lives namely to fly unto the Christians Churches those very enemies of Christ and his profession who before had persecuted him and after returned to their malice againe were yet then as hasty to fly unto his Temples and to assume the Title of his Servants as they were after ungratefully malitious in reproaching Christian Religion as if that had been the provocation of those calamities And may we not still observe amongst Christians at this day many men who contrary to the evidence of their judgment and peace of their consciences conforme themselves unto the vanities courses companies of this evill world and like cowards are affraid to adventure on a rigorous and universall subjection to the truth of Christ dare not keepe themselves close to those narrow rules of S. Paul to abstaine from jesting which is not seemly to avoid all appearances of evill to reprove the unfruitfull workes of darknesse to speake unto Edification that their words may minister grace unto the hearers to rejoyce alwayes in the Lord to give place unto wrath to recompence evill with good to be circumspect and exact in their walking before God and all this meerly out of suspicion of some disrespect and disadvantages which may hereupon meete them in the world of some remoraes and stoppage in the order of those projects which they have contrived for their private ends Now if such purposes as these doe staâ—tle men from a punctuall and rigorous profession of the Gospell of Christ and his most holy wayes notwithstanding our vow in Baptisme doe as strictly binde us therunto as unto the externall title of Christianity suppose we that the same or greater disadvantages should now as in the primitive times attend at the naked and outward profession of Christ would not such men as these fall into downright apostacy and deny the Lord that bought them certainly our Savior hath so resolv'd that case in the very best sort of unregenerate men noted in the stony ground when times of persecution happen that they are brought to the triall who it was whom in their profession they loved Christ or themselves the excellencie of the knowledge of him or the secure enjoyment of secular contentments they will then certainly fall away and be offended Matt. 13.21 so profound and unsearchable is the deceitfull heart of man that by that very reason for which men contend for the outward face and profession of Religion because they love their pleasures and profits which without such a profession they cannot peaceably enjoy they are deterred from a close spirituall and universall obedience to the power thereof because thereby likewise those pleasures and profits are kept within such rules of moderation as the nature of a boundlesse and unsatisfiable lust will not admit This is a certaine rule in love that the motions and desires thereof are strong and therefore in any thing which the soule loves it therin strives for excellency and perfection and this rule holds most true in religion because when the soâ—â—e loves that it loves it under the apprehension of the greatest good and therefore by consequence sets the strongest and most industrious desires of the soule upon it Therefore the Apostle saith that the Love of Christ namely that love of him which is by the Holy Ghost shed abroad in our hearts constraineth us to live unto him and to aspire after him who died for us and rose againe Love is as strong as death it will take no deniall It is the wing and weight of the soule which fixeth all the thoughts and carrieth all the desires unto an intimate unitie with the thing it loves stirreth up a zeale to remove all obstacles which stand betweene it worketh a languor or failing of nature in the want of it a liquefaction and softnesse of nature to receive the impressions of it an egresse of the Spirits and as it were an hast of the soule to meet and entertaine it Whence those expressions of the Saints in holy Scripture Comfort me with apples stay me with flagons for I am sick of love my soule breaketh for the longing which it hath unto thy judgments at all times The desire of our soule is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee My soule thirsteth for God yea for the living God when shall I come and appeare before God We that have the first fruit of the Spirit groane within our selves waiting for the adoption even the redemption of our Bodies O that my wayes were directed that I might keepe thy commandements with my whole heart have I sought thee I have stuck unto thy testimonies I will delight my selfe in thy commandements thy statutes have been my songs my soule fainteth for thy salvation c. By all which we see that a true love of Christ doth excite strong desires and an earnest aspiring and ambition of the soule to walke in all well-pleasing and to be in all things conformable unto him What the Apostle saith of Spirituall hope we may truly say of love which is the fundamentall affection and root of all the rest He that hath it indeed in him purgeth himselfe even as Christ is pure The Love of the World and the things and lusts of the world may indeed consist with the formall profession but no way with the truth or power of a true love to Christ or his government For love is ever the principle and measure of all our actions such as it is such likewise wil they be too Fourthly something like love there may be in naturall men unto Christ grounded upon the historicall assurance and perswasion of his being now in glory attended by mightie Angels filled with all the treasures of wisdome knowledge grace power and other excellent attributes which can attract love even from an enemie and that he hath and still doth procure such good things for mankinde in their deliverance from the guilt of sin and from the wrath to come as of which might
beleeve his kingdome of glory and salvation but they shall be made subject to the sword of his wrath and that without any hope of escape or power of opposition for God himselfe shall do it immediatly by his owne mighty power Hee will interpose his owne hand and magnifie the glory of his owne strength in the just confusion of wicked men So the Apostle saith that The Lord will shew his wrath and make his power knowne in the vessels fitted for destruction Rom. 9.22 Two meanes the Apostle sheweth shall be used in the destruction of the wicked to effect it The presence or countenance and the glorious power of the Lord 2 Thes. 1.9 The very terrour of his face and the dreadfull Majesty of his presence shall slay the wicked The kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe captaines and the mighty men those who all their life time were themselves terrible and had beene acquainted with terrours shall then begge of the mountaines and rockes to fall upon them and to hide them from the Face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe Revel 6.15 16. Esai 2.10 whence that usuall expression of Gods resolution to destroy a people I will set my face against them O then how sore shall the condemnation of wicked men bee when therein the Lord purposeth to declare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the glorious strength of his owne almighty arme Here when the Lord punisheth a people he onely sheweth how much strength and edge he can put into the Creatures to execute his displeasure But the extreme terrour of the last day shall be this that men shall fall immediatly into the hands of God himselfe who hath said Vengeance belongeth unto me and I will recompence Heb. 10.30 31. And therefore the Apostle useth this expostulation against Idolaters Doe we provoke the Lord to jelousie Are we stronger than he 1 Cor. 10.22 Dare we meete the Lord in his fury doe we provoke him to powre out All his wrath Psal. 78.38 He will at last stir up all his wrath against the vessels that are fitted for it And for that cause he will punish them himselfe For there is no Creature able to bring all Gods wrath unto another there is no vessell able to hold all Gods displeasure The Apostle telleth us that wee have to doe with God in his Word Heb. 4.13 but herein he useth the ministery of weake men so that his Majesty is cover'd and wicked men have a veile upon their hearts that they cannot see God in his Word When thy hand is lifted up namely in the threatnings and predictions of wrath out of the word they will not see for it is a worke of faith to receive the word as Gods word and therein before-hand to see his power and to heare his rod Mic. 6.9 Other men belye the Lord and say it is not he But though they will not acknowledge that they have to doe with God in his word though they will not see when his hand is lifted up in the preparations of his wrath yet they shall see and know that they have to doe with him in his judgements when his hand falleth downe againe in the execution of his wrath So the Lord expostulateth with them Ezek. 22.14 Can thine heart endure or thine hands bee strong in the dayes that I shall deale with thee The Prophet Esay resolves that question The sinners in Sion are affraid fearefulnesse hath surprised the hypocrites namely a fearefull looking for of judgement and fiery indignation as the Apostle speakes Heb. 10.27 Who amongst us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Esai 33.14 that is in the words of another Prophet Who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fiercenesse of his anger His fury is powred out like fire and the rockes are throwne downe by him Nahum 1.6 Confirmations of this point we may take from these considerations First the quarrell with sinners is Gods owne the controversie his owne the injuries and indignities have beene done to himselfe and his owne sonne the challenges have beene sent unto himselfe and his owne Spirit And therefore no marvell if hee take the matter into his owne hands and the quarrell so immediatly reflecting upon him if he be provoked to revenge it by his owne immediate power Secondly revenge is his royalty and peculiar prerogative Deut. 32.35.41 from whence the Apostle inferres That it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.30 31. And there are these arguments of fearefulnesse in it First it shall be in Iudgement without mercy Iam. 2.13 there shall be no mixture of any sweetnesse in the cup of Gods displeasure but all poison and bitternesse there shall not bee affoorded a drop of water to a lake of fire a minute of eafe to an eternity of torment Secondly it shall be in fury without compassion In humane judgements where the law of the state will not suffer a Judge to acquit or shew mercy yet the law of nature will force him to cōpassionate grieve for the malefactor whom he must condemne There is no Judge so senselesse of anothers miserie nor so destitute of humane affections as to pronounce a sentence of condemnation with laughter But the Lord will condemne his enemies in vengeance without any pittie I will laugh saith the Lord at your calamity I will mocke when your feare commeth Prov. 1.26 Thirdly it shall bee in revenge and recompence in reward and proportion that is in a full and everlasting detestation of wicked men the weight whereof shall peradventure lye heavier upon them than all the other torments which they are to suffer when they shall looke on themselves as scorned and abhorred exiles from the favour and presence of him that made them For as the wicked did here hate God and set their hearts and their courses against him in suo aeterno in all that time which God permitted them to sinne in so God will hate wicked men and set his face and fury against them in suo aeterno too as long as he shall be Judge of the world Thirdly this may be seene in the inchoations of hell in wicked men upon the earth When the doore of the conscience is opened and that sin which lay there asleepe before riseth up like an enraged Lion to fly upon the soule when the Lord suffers some flashes of his glittering sword to breake in like lightening upon the Spirit and to amaze a sinner with the pledges and first fruits of hell when he melteth the stout hearts of men and grindeth them unto powder what is all this but the secret touch of Gods owne finger upon the conscience For there is no creature in the world whose ministerie the heart doth discerne in the estuations and invisible workings of a guilty and unquiet spirit Fourthly the torments of wicked angels
excellent endowments but I have them all in an earthen vessell And shall the potsheard strive with the potter and provoke him that made it This would teach us to feare and tremble at Gods power Though wee looke upon death and judgment as a-farre off yet God can make them neere when hee will for hee hath said that the damnation of wicked men is swift and that they are neere unto cursing His judgments are like lightning and have wings suddenly to overtake a sinner Hee requires but a moneth nay but a morning nay but a moment to consume his enemies and bring desolation upon those who said they should â—it as a Lady for ever and did never remember the latter end Though a sinner doe evill an hundred times and his dayes bee prolonged namely by the patience and permission of God in whose hands his dayes are yet it shall goe well at last onely with those that feare God The wicked are not able to prolong their owne dayes Againe for Afflictions and Temptations it is a great fruit of the infidelity of mens hearts and a foolish charging and chiding of our Maker to accompt our selves swallowed up of any present pressure If we did but consider that it is as easie with God to subdue our enemies and to rebuke our afflictions as it is with us to put a stoole under our feete wee would then learne to waite on him in all our distresses and when we cannot answere difficulties nor extricate our selves out of our owne doubts or fears to conclude that his thoughts are above our thoughts and his wayes above our wayes and so to cast our selves wholly upon his power T is an argument which the Lord every where useth to establish his Church withall Feare not the feare of men nor bee affraid but sanctifie the Lord of hosts himselfe and let him bee your feare Who art thou that thou shouldst bee affraid of a man that shall dye and of the Sonne of Man which shall bee made as grasse and forgettest the Lord thy maker and hast feared every day because of the fury of the oppressor And where is the fury of the oppressor If it bee marvailous in the eyes of the remnant of this people should it bee marvailous in mine eyes saith the Lord of hosts Behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there any thing too hard for mee Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is Hee shall bee as a tree planted by the waters which shall not bee carefull in the yeere of drought When the poore and needy seeke water and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will heare them I the God of Israel will not forsake them Though the fig-tree shall not blossome neither shall fruite bee in the vines the labor of the olive shall faile and the field shall yeeld no meate the flock shall bee cut off from the fould and there shall bee no heard in the stals yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Hee is able to doe abundantly above all that wee can ask or thinke God would never so frequently carry men to the dependance upon his power if they were not apt in extremities to judge of God by themselves and to suspect his power Secondly as this Putting of Christs enemies like a stoole under his feete noteth Easinesse so also it noteth Order or Beauty too When Christs enemies shall bee under his foote then there shall bee a right Order in things then it shall indeed appeare that God is a God of Order and therefore the day wherin that shall bee done is called the Time of the Restitution of all things Act. 3.21 The putting of Christs enemies under his feete is an Act of Iustice and of all other Iustice is the most orderly vertue that which keepeth beauty upon the face of a people as consisting it selfe in a symmetrie and proportion Againe every thing out of its owne place is out of order but when things are all in their proper places and due proportions then there results a beauty and comelinesse from them In a great house there are many vessels some of wood and brasse others of gold and silver some for honorable others for base and sordid uses Now if all these were confusedly together in one roome a man would conclude that things were out of order but when the plate is in one place the brasse and wood in another wee acknowledge a decency and cleanlinesse in such a house Let a body bee of never so exact temperature and delicate complexion yet if any member therin bee misplaced the eye in the roome of the eare or the cheeke of the forehead there can bee no beauty in such a body So in the Church till God set every one in his right place the order thereof is but imperfect Therefore when Iudas was put under Christs feete hee is said to have gone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto his owne place Act. 1.25 Why then should any man murmure at the prosperity of wicked men or conceive of Gods proceedings as if they were irregular and unequall as if there were no profit for those who walke mournfully but the proud and wicked workers were set up This is to revile the workman while hee is yet in the fitting of his worke The pieces are not yet put together in their proper joints and therefore no marvell if the evennesse and beauty of Gods workes bee not so plainly discovered For every thing is beautifull in its time what though the corne in the field hang downe the head and the weeds seeme to flourish and overtop it stay but till the harvest and it will then appeare which was for the garner and which for the fire Goe into the Sanctuary of the Lord and by faith looke unto the day of the revelation of Gods righteous judgments and it will appeare that the wayes of the Lord are right though the transgressors stumble in them or bee offended at them Secondly from hence every man may learne how to bring beauty and order into himselfe namely by subduing those enemies of Christ those lusts and evill affections which dwell within him Lawes wee know are the ligaments and sinewes of a state the strings as it were which being touched and animated by skilfull governors doe yield that excellent harmonie which is to bee seen in well constituted common wealths the more they prevaile so much the more unitie is preserved and faction abated and community cherished in the mindes of men Even so where the Scepter of Christ the Law of the minde the roiall Law of Liberty and grace doe more prevaile over the lusts of the heart by so much the more excellent is the harmonie and complexion of such a soule Now the last thing in this verse is Scabellum pedibus tuis A stoole under thy feete Things are under Christs
Now then this Spirituall Gospell of Christ is the Scepter of his Kingdome and therefore as it is insigne regium an ensigne of roialty it importeth Glory and Majestie It is a Gospell full of glory Wee may observe that the very Typicall prefigurations of that mercy which is the sole businesse of the Gospell of Christ are in the Scriptures honored with the name of Glory The garments of the Priests being types of the Evangelicall Righteousnesse of the Saints were made for glory and beauty The Tabernacle which was ordaind for an evidence and seale of Gods Evangelicall presence with that people is called by the Prophet David a Tabernacle of honor the place which God did use to fill with his owne glory The Ark of God which was nothing else but Evangelium sub velo the Gospell under vailes and shaddowes is called by an excellency The Glory of Israel which is the attribute of Christ All Kings shall see thy glory The Temple at Ierusalem was the place of Gods Rest This is my Rest for ever here will I dwell Arise O Lord God into thy Resting place thou and the Arke of thy strength It was so called to note first the stability of Gods Evangelicall covenant in Christ it was not to bee changed nor to bee repented of but to bee sure and fixed in Christ for ever His Kingdome a Kingdome which was not to bee shaken his Priesthood a Priesthood which was not to passe away his teaching a teaching which was to continue to the worlds end And secondly to note the delight of God in Christ and in the mercy which through him was unto the world revealed Therein the Lord â—esteth and reposeth himselfe as in the crowne and accomplishment of all his workes And this Temple is called a glorious Rest a glorious high throne a house of glory of beauty and of holinesse It is said at the first Dedication thereof that the Glory of the Lord filled it It was not the gold or silver wherewith before that Dedication it was beutified wherein the glory thereof did consist but in the evidence of Gods presence which at that time was but a cloud whereas the true glory thereof himselfe was a Sunne as the Prophet cals him And with this did the Lord fill the second Temple which for this cause is said to have been more glorious than the former though in the magnificence of the structure farre inferior Now then as the Apostle in a case of just alike proportion useth a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a terme of excesse when hee speaketh of the substance in comparison of the type If the bloud of bulls and goates did Sanctify to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the bloud of Christ So may wee in this case If the Types of Evangelicall things were thus glorious how much more glorious must the Gospell it selfe needs bee And therefore as I before observed in other things so in this is it true likewise that Christ and his Gospell have the same attribute of glory frequently given unto them Christ is called the Glory of the Lord and of his people Israel And the Gospell a glorious mysterie a Royall Law a ministration of glory Nay glory it selfe for so I understand that place of the Apostle that yee would walke worthy of God who hath called you unto his Kingdome and glory that is unto the knowledge of his Gospell for of that in all the antecedent parts and in the verse immediatly following doth the Apostle speake A glory which draweth the study and amazement of the most glorious creatures of God unto it To consider this point more particularly The glory and majesty of the Gospell of Christ appeareth principally in foure things in the Author of it in the Promulgation and publishing of it in the Matter which it containes and in the Ends purposes or uses for which it serves First in the Author of it Many things of small worth have yet growne famous by the authours of them and like the unprofitable children of renowned progenitors hold their estimation and nobility from the parents which begate them And yet from men who are uncleane there will ever descend some uncleannesse upon the workes which they doe But the Gospell is therefore indeed a glorious Gospell because it is the Gospell of the blessed God There is glory in all the workes of God because they are his for it is impossible that so great a workeman should ever put his hand to an ignoble work And therefore the Prophet David useth his glory and his handy worke promiscuously for the same thing The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy worke to note that there is an evidence of glory in any thing which hee puts his hand unto And yet the Prophet there sheweth that there is more glory in the law of his mouth than in the workes of his hands The Lord is better known by Sion and his name greater in Israel than in al the world besides the more God doth communicate himselfe unto any of his works the more glorious it is Now there is nothing wherein God hath so much put himselfe wherin he may be so fully knowne communicated with depended upon and praised as in his Gospell This is a glasse in which the blessed Angels doe see and admire that unsearchable riches of his mercy to the Church which they had not by their owne observation found out from the immediate view of his glorious presence In the Creatures we have him a God of power and wisedome working all things in number weight and measure by the secret vigour of his providence upholding that being which he gave them and ordering them to those glorious ends for which he gave it In the law we have him a God of vengeance and of recompence in the publication thereof threatning and in the execution thereof inflicting wrath upon those that transgresse it But in the Gospell we have him a God of bounty and endlesse compassion humbling himselfe that he might be mercifull to his enemies that he might himselfe beare the punishments of those injuries which had beene done unto himselfe that he might not offer onely but beseech his owne prisoners to bee pardoned and reconciled againe In the Creature he is a God above us in the Law he is a God against us onely in the Gospel hee is Immanuel a God with us a God like us a God for us There is nothing doth declare God so much to bee God as his mercy in the Gospell Hee is invisible in himselfe we cannot see him but in his Sonne Hee is unapproachable in himselfe wee cannot come unto him but by the Sonne Therefore when hee maketh himselfe knowne in his glory to Moses hee sendeth him not to the Creation nor to mount Sinai but putteth him into a rocke being a resemblance of Christ and then maketh
interpretatively in the constitution and preparation of heart the violation of all because they are all grounded upon the same divine authority and directed unto the same saving ends and therefore wee ought not to picke and choose either in the preaching or practising thereof Thirdly we are to answere for the bloud of the people if wee prevaricate if wee let their sinnes alone they will have a double edge to kill them and us both like the mutuall embracements of two in a river which is the meanes to drowne them both Speake unto them all that I command thee be not dismaied at their faces saith the Lord to his Prophet lest I confound thee before them If thou warne not the wicked from his wicked way that hee may live he shall dye in his wickednesse thy bashfulnesse shall doe him no good but his bloud will I require at thy hands Is it at all congruous that men should have boldnesse enough to declare their sinnes to speake them to proclaime them to weare them to glorie in them and that those officers who are sent for no other businesse but in the name and authority of Almighty God to fight against the corruptions of the world should in the meane time hang downe the head and be tongue-tied that men should have more boldnesse to destroy themselves and to doe Satans works than we to save them or to serve God Fourthly we are to speake in the person of Christ and in the vertue of his Spirit We must speake as the Oracles of God and with his words as if he himselfe did by us speake unto the people We must give manifestation of Christ speaking by us that men may be convinc'd that God is in us of a truth and that we are full of power by his spirit that his spirit setteth to his seale to authorize our commission and to countenance our ministery and therefore we must use judgement and might that is spirituall discretion and inflexible constancy against the sinnes of men for these two are contrary to the two grand props of Satans kingdome which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his craftinesse and his weapons of power for where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty his spirit will not be straightned neither will the Lord keepe silence hee that speaketh by the spirit of Christ must speake though not in equality which is impossible yet in some similitude and proportion as he spake that is as those that have Authority and power committed to them for the edification of the Church Lastly a partiall unsearching and unreproving Minister is one of Gods curses and scourges against a place the forerunner of a finall and fearefull visitation The dayes of visitation and recompence come saith the Lord. The Prophet is a foole the spirituall man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred If a man walking in the spirit and falshood that is professing the worke of a spirituall man and yet betraying his office or in a false and lying spirit prophesying of wine and strong drinke that is cherishing and encouraging sensuall livers in their pernitious courses he shall even be the prophet of this people And therefore when the Lord will punish with an extreme revenge the rebellion of a people against his Gospell who judge themselves unworthy of so great a salvation hee either removeth their Candlesticke and taketh it away from them or else sealeth up the mouth of his Prophets that they may bee dumbe and reprove them no longer and that they may not bee purged any more from their filthinesse or else infatuates their Prophets and suffereth Satan to seduce them and to be a lying Spirit in their mouthes that he may destroy them as wee see in the ruine of Ahab and in the captivity of Iudah Againe as the Ministers of the Gospell must use liberty so must they likewise use sinceritie in the dispensation thereof because it is a glorious Gospell This likewise is the Apostles inference for having spent a whole chapter in this one argument of the glory of the Gospell he presently concludeth Therefore seeing we have this ministery that is the dispensation of such a Gospell committed unto us wee faint not but have renounced the hidden things of dishonestie that is as I conceive the arts of dawbing and palliating and covering over uncleane courses with plausible reasonings and fleshly apologies which is the use of false prophets not walking in craftinesse that is not using humane sleights or cogging to carry men about with every wind of false doctrine as sinners are very willing to be deceived and love to have it as false prophets say it is nor handling the Word of God deceitfully that is falsifying and adulterating it with corrupt glosses and so tempering it to the palat of sinners that the working searching vertue thereof whereby of it selfe it is apt to purge out and wrestle with the lusts of men may be deaded and so it may well consist with the power of lusts still as Physitians use so to qualifie and allay poison by other correctives and crosse ingredients that it shall serve as an instrument to strengthen us not extinguish life or as immodest Poets may so tamper with the chast expressions of Virgil or Homer as by them both to notifie and in corrupt minds to kindle uncleane lustings but by manifestation of the truth that is by such spirituall and perspicuous demonstrations as under which there cannot subesse falsum there can no falsitie nor deceit lurke commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of God that is working not the fancies or humours or fleshly conceits of men which alwayes take the part of sinne but their very consciences which alwayes is on Gods side to beare witnesse unto the truth which wee speake to receive it not as the wit or learning of a man but as the Word and wisdome of God to acknowledge the conviction the judicature the penetration thereof and so to fal down upon their faces and to glorifie God and report that he is in us of a truth and all this in the sight of God that is so handling the Word as that wee may please and approve our selves to his eye whose servants we are and whose worke wee doe This is that which the Apostle calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vncorruptnesse gravitie sinceritie soundnesse of doctrine such as the very adversaries themselves shall not be able to picke quarrels withall or to speake against we must not then make account to adorne the Gospell with our owne inventions or with superstructions of humane wit and fancie though these things may to fleshly reason seeme full of beautie yet indeed they are but like the mingling of glasse-beads with a chaine of diamonds or of lime with pure and generous wine they are indeed but
according to the rules and courses and sinfull maximes of worldly men in such indifferency compliancie and connivence as may flatter others and delude himselfe he that is freely and customarily over-rul'd by the temptations of Satan that yeeldeth to loosnesse of heart to vanity of thoughts lusts of eye pride of life luxury intemperance impurity of minde or body or any other earthly and inordinate affection is little better in the sight of God than a perjured a runnagate person flinging off from that service unto which hee had bound himselfe by a solemne vow and robbing Christ of that interest in him which by a mutuall stipulation was agreed upon Lastly by the vertue of our communion with him and participation of his grace and fulnesse All that wee are in regard of Spirit and life is from him Wee are nothing of our selves And wee can doe nothing of our selves All that wee are is from the grace of Christ. By the grace of God I am what I am And all that wee doe is from the grace of Christ I am able to doe all things through Christ that strengthneth mee As when we doe evill it is not wee our selves but sinne that dwelleth in us So when wee doe good it is not wee but Christ that liveth in us So that in all respects wee are not our owne but his that died for us Now this being a point of so great consequence needfull it is that wee labor therein to try secure our selves that wee belong unto Christ. For which purpose wee must note that a man may belong unto Christ two manner of wayes First by a meere Externall profession So all in the visible Church that call themselves Christians are his and his word and oracles theirs In which respect they have many priviledges as the Apostle sheweth of the Iewes Yet notwithstanding such men continuing unreformed in their inner man are neerer unto cursing than others and subject unto a sorer condemnation for despising Christ in his word and Spirit with whom in their Baptisme they made so solemne a covenant For God will not suffer his Gospell to be cast away but will cause it to prosper unto some end or other either to save those that beleeve or to cumulate the damnation of those that disobey it Hee will be more carefull to cleanse his garner and to purge his floore than of other empty and barren places A weed in the garden is in more danger of rooting out than in the open field Such belong unto Christ no otherwise than Ivy to the tree unto which it externally adheres Secondly a man may belong unto Christ by Implantation into his Body Which is done by faith But here wee are to note that as some branches in a tree have a more faint and unprofitable fellowship with the roote than others as having no further strength than to furnish themselves with leaves but not with fruit so according unto the severall vertues or kindes of faith may the degrees of mens in grafture into Christ bee judged of There is a dead unoperative faith which like Adam after his fall hath the nakednesse thereof covered onely with leaves with meere formall hypocriticall conformities And there is an unfained lively and effectuall faith which is availeable to those purposes for which faith was appointed namely to justifie the person to purifie the heart to quench temptations to carry a man with wisedome and an unblameable conversation through this present world to worke by love to grow and make a man abound in the service of the Lord. And this distinction our Savior giveth us That there are some branches in him which beare not fruit and those he taketh away And others which beare fruit and those hee purgeth that they may bring forth more Those onely are the branches which hee desires to owne And thus to belong unto Christ is that onely which maketh us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A purchased a peculiar people unto him And there are severall wayes of evidencing it I will onely name two or three and most in the Text. First wee must know that Christ is a Morning-starre a Sunne of Righteousnesse and so ever comes to the soule with selfe-evidencing properties Vnto him belongeth that royall prerogative to write Teste Meipso in the hearts of men to bee himselfe the witnesse to his owne Acts purchases and covenants Therefore his Spirit came in tongues of fire and in a mighty winde all which have severall wayes of manifesting themselves and stand not in need of any borrowed or forraigne confirmations If Christ then bee in the heart hee will discover himselfe His Spirit is the Originall of Grace and strength as concupiscence is of sinne It is a seed in the heart which will spring up and shew it selfe And therefore as lust doth take the first advantage of the faint and imperfect stirrings of the reasonable soule in little infants to evidence it selfe in pride folly stubbornesse and other childish sinnes So the Spirit of grace in the heart cannot lie dead but will worke and move and as a Spirit of burning by the light heate purging comforting inflaming combating vertue which is in it make the soule which was barren and settled on the lees and unacquainted with any such motions before stand amazed at its owne alteration and say with Rebekah If it bee so why am I thus Externals may bee imitated by art but no man can paint the soule or the life or the sense and motion of creature Now Christ and his Spirit are the internall formes and active principles in a Christian man Christ liveth in us when Christ who is our Life shall appeare c. Therefore impossible it is that any hypocrite should counterfeite and by consequence obscure those intimate and vitall workings of his grace in the soule whereby hee evidenceth himselfe thereunto It is true a man that feareth the Lord may walke in darknesse and be in such discomforts as he shall see no light and yet even in that condition Christ doth not want properties to evidence himselfe in tendernesse of conscience feare of sinne striving of Spirit with God closenesse of heart and constant recourse to him in his word and the like onely the soule is shut up and overclowded that it cannot discerne him The Spirit of Christ is a Seale a witnesse an earnest an hansell a first fruit of that fulnesse which is promised hereafter It is Christs owne Spirit and therefore fashioneth the hearts of those in whom it is unto his heavenly image to long for more comprehension of him for more conformity unto him for more intimacie and communion with him for more grace wisedome and strength from him it turneth the bent and course of the soule from that earthly and sensuall end unto which it wrought before as a good branch having been ingrafted into a wild stock converteth the sappe of a Crab
into pleasant fruit Againe if a man be one of Christs people then there hath a day of power passed over him the sword of the Spirit hath entred into him hee hath beene conquered by the rod of Christs strength he hath felt Iohns axe laid to the root of his conscience and hath beene perswaded by the terrour of the Lord for the comming of Christ is with shaking the conscience hath felt a mightie operation in the Word though to other men it hath passed over like emptie breath for the Word worketh effectually in those that beleeve and bringeth about the purposes for which it was sent To those that are called it is the power of God 1 Cor. 1.22 Againe where Christ comes he comes with beautie and holinesse those who lay in their bloud and pollutions before bare naked are made exceeding beautifull and renowned for their beauty perfect through the comelines which he puts upon them He comes unto the soule with beauty and pretious oile and garments of praise that is with comfort joy peace healing to present the Church a Holy Church without spot or wrinckle to his Father Lastly where Christ commeth he commeth with a wombe of the morning with much light to acquaint the soule with his truth and promises and with much fruitfulnesse making the heart which was barren before to flow with rivers of living water to bring forth fruit more and more and to abound in the workes of the Lord. These are the particular evidences of our belonging to Christ in the Text and by these we must examine our selves Doe I finde in my soule the new name of the Lord Iesus written that I am not onely in title but in truth a Christian Doe I finde the secret nature and figure of Christ fashioned in mee swaying mine heart to the love and obedience of his holy wayes Doe I heare the voice and feele the hand and judicature of his blessed Spirit within me leading me in a new course ordering mine inner man sentencing and crucifying mine earthly members Am I a serious and earnest enemie to my originall lusts and closest corruptions Doe I feele the workings and kindlings of them in mine heart with much paine and mourning with much humiliation for them and deprecation against them Is Christ my center Doe I finde in mine heart a willingnesse to be with him as well here in his word wayes promises directions comforts yea in his reproches and persecutions as hereafter in his glory Is it the greatest businesse of my life to make my selfe more like him to walke as he also walked to be as he was in this world to purifie my selfe even as he is pure Hath the terrour of his wrath perswaded me and shaken my conscience out of its carnall securitie and made me looke about for a refuge from the wrath to come and esteeme more beautifull than the morning brightnesse the feet of those who bring glad tidings of deliverance and peace Hath his Gospell an effectual seminall vertue within me to new forme my nature and life daily unto his heavenly Image Is it an ingrafted word which mingleth with my conscience and hideth it selfe in my heart actuating determining moderating and over-ruling it to its owne way Am I cleansed from my filthinesse carefull to keepe my selfe chaste comely beautifull a fit spouse for the fairest of ten thousand Doe I rejoyce in his light walking as a childe of light living as an heire of light going on like the Sunne unto the perfect day labouring to abound alwayes in the work of the Lord Then I may have good assurance that I belong unto Christ. And if so that will be a seminary of much comfort to my soule For first if we are Christs then he careth for us for propriety is the ground of care Hee that is an hireling saith our Saviour and not the shepherd whose owne the sheepe are not seeth the wolfe comming and leaveth the sheepe c. Because hee is an hireling he careth not for the sheepe But I am the good Shepherd and know my sheepe and am knowne of mine because they are mine therefore I am carefull of them He watcheth over us he searcheth and seeketh us out in our stragglings and feedeth us This is the principall argument we have to beleeve that God will looke upon us for good notwithstanding our manifold provocations because he is pleased to owne us and to take us as his owne peculiar people Though the Church be full of ruines yet because it is his own house he will repaire it though it be blacke aswell as comely yet because it is his owne Spouse he will pitie and cherish it though it bring forth wilde grapes and bee indeed meet for no worke yet because it is his owne vine planted by his owne right hand and made strong for himselfe he will therefore be carefull to fence and prune it This is the onely argument we have to prevaile with God in prayer that in Christ we call him Father wee present our selves before him as his owne we make mention of no other Lord or name over us and therefore he cannot deny us the things which are good for us Secondly if wee are Christs then hee will certainely purge us and make the members suteable to the head I sware unto thee and entred into covenant with thee saith the Lord and thou becamest mine and immediately it followes then washed I thee with water yea I throughly washed away thy bloud from thee Every branch in â—e that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit He purifieth to himselfe a peculiar people If wee be his peculiar people and set apart for himselfe as the Prophet David speakes he will undoubtedly purifie us that we may be honourable vessels sanctified and meet for the Mâ—sters use and prepared unto every good worke He will furnish us with all such supplies of the spirit of grace as the condition of that place in his body requires in the which he hath set us Grace and glory will he give and no good thing will he withhold from those who walke uprightly our proprietie to Christ giveth us right unto all good things All is yours and you are Christs Thirdly if we are Christs then he will spare us This was the argument which the Priest was to use betweene the Porch and the Altar Spare thy people O Lord and give not thine heritage to reproch Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land and pitie his people They shall be mine saith the Lord in the day that I make up my jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his owne sonne that serveth him Of my servant to whom I give wages for the merit of his worke not out of love or grace I expect a service proportionable to the pay hee receives But in my childe I reward not the dignity
of the worke but onely the willingnesse the loving and obedient disposition of the heart and therefore I passe over those failings and weaknesses which discover themselves for want of skill or strength and not of love praising the endevours and pardoning the miscarriages Thus doth the Lord deale with his children Fourthly if we be Christs he will pray for us I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine and all mine are thine and thine are mine c. so that wee shall be sure to have helpe in all times of need because we know that tho Father heareth his Sonne alwayes and those things which in much feare weaknesse and ignorance we aske for our selves if it bee according to Gods will and by the dictate and mouth of the Spirit in our heart Christ himselfe in his intercession demandeth for us the same things And this is the ground of that confidence which we have in him that if wee aske any thing according to his will hee heareth us and we have the petitions that we desire of him For as the world hateth us because it hateth him first so the Father loveth and heareth us because he loveth and heareth him first Fifthly if wee be Christs then hee will teach us and commune with us and reveale himselfe unto us and lead us with his voice He calleth his owne sheepe by name and leadeth them and putteth them forth and goeth before them Because Israel was his owne people therefore he shewed them his words The Law was theirs and the Oracles theirs when hee entreth into covenant with a people that they become his then he writeth his Law in their hearts and teacheth them This is the Prophet Davids argument I am thy servant give me understanding Because I am thine in a speciall relation therefore acquaint me with thee in an especiall manner The earth is full of thy mercy there is much of thy goodnesse revealed to all the nations of the world even to those that are not called by thy name but as for mee whom thou hast made thine owne by a neerer relation let mee have experience of a greater mercy Teach mee thy Statutes Sixthly if we be his he will chastise us in mercy and not in fury though he leave us not altogether unpunished yet he will punish us lesse than our iniquities deserve he will not deale with us as with others Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have driven thee yet I will not make a full end of thee but I will correct thee in measure I will correct thee to cure but not to ruine thee The second thing considered in the words was the Present condition of the people of Christ which was to be military men to joyne with the armies of Christ against all his enemies As he was so must we be in this world no sooner was Christ consecrated by his solemne Baptisme unto the worke of a Mediatour but presently hee was assaulted by the Tempter And no sooner doth any man give up his name to Christ and breake loose from that hellish power under which hee was held but presently Pharaoh and his hoasts Satan and his confederates pursue him with deadly fury and powre out flouds of malice and rage against him Hell and death are at truce with wicked men there is a covenant and agreement betwixt them Satan holdeth his possession in peace but when a stronger than he commeth upon and overcommeth him there is from that time implacable venomâ— and hostility against such a soule the malice power policie stratagems and machianations of Satan the lusts and vanities the pleasures honours profits persecutions frownes flatteries snares of the wicked world the affections desires inclinations deceits of our owne fleshly hearts will ever plie the soule of a Christian and force it to perpetuall combates There is in Satan an everlasting enmitie against the glory mercy and truth of God against the power and mystery of the Gospel of Christ. This malice of his exerciseth it selfe against all those that have given themselves to Christ whose Kingdome he mightily laboureth to demolish by his power persecuting it by his craftinesse and wily insinuations undermining it by his vast knowledge and experience in palliating altering mixing proportioning and measuring his temptations and spirituall wickednesse in such manner as that he may subvert the Church of Christ either in the purity thereof by corrupting the doctrine of Christ with heresie and his worship with idolatrie and superstition or in the unity thereof by pestering it with schisme and distraction or in the liberty thereof by bondage of conscience or in the progresse and inlargement thereof endevouring to blast and make fruitlesse the ministery of the Gospell And this malice of Satan is wonderfully set on and encouraged both by the corruption of our nature those armies of lusts and affections which swarme within us entertaining joyning force and co-operating with all his suggestions disheartning reclaiming and pulling backe the soule when it offers to make any opposition and also by the men and materials of this evill world By the examples the threats the interests the power the intimacie the wit the tongues the hands the exprobrations the persecutions the insinuations and seductions of wicked men By the profits the pleasures the preferments the acceptation credit and applause of the world By all which meanes Satan most importunately pursueth one of these two ends either to subvert the godly by drawing them away from Christ to apostacie formalitie hypocrisie spirituall pride and the like or else to Discomfort them with diffidence doubts sight of sinne opposition of the times vexation of spirit and the like afflictions And these oppositions of Satan meet with a Christian in every respect or consideration under which he may be conceiv'd consider him in his spirituall estate in his severall parts in his temporall relations in his Actions or imployments and in all these Satan is busie to overturne the Kingdome of Christ in him In his spirituall estate if he be a weake Christian he assaulteth him with perpetuall doubts and feares touching his election conversion adoption perseverance christian liberty strength against corruptions companies temptations persecutions c. if he be a strong Christian he laboureth to draw him unto selfe-confidence spirituall pride contempt of the weake neglect of further proficiencie and the like There is no naturall part or facultie which is not aimed at likewise by the malice of Satan for Christ when hee comes takes possession of the whole man and therefore Satan sets himselfe against the whole man Corporeall and sensitive faculties tempted either to sinfull representations letting in and transmitting the provisions of lust unto the heart by gazing and glutting themselves on the objects of the world or to sinfull executions finishing and letting out those lusts which have beene conceived in the heart The phantasie tempted
temptation and infirmitie and so may be either in part the sin of another that tempteth us or at least not the sinne of our whole selves but of those remainders of corruption which dwel within us But our love is all our owne Satan can but offer a temptation the heart it selfe must love it and love is strong as death it worketh by the strength of the whole man and therefore ever such as the will is which is the seat of love such is the service too And the reason is First because the will is the first mover and the master-wheele in spirituall workes that which regulateth all the rest and keepeth them right and constant that which holdeth together all the faculties of the soule and bodie in the execution of Gods will In which sense amongst others I understand that of the Apostle That love is the bond of perfection because when love resideth in the heart it will put together every facultie to doe that worke of God perfectly which it goes about And therefore by a like expression it is called The fulfilling of the Law because love aimes still at the highest and at the best in that thing which it loves it is ever an enemie to defects He that loves learning will never stop and say I have enough in this likewise love is as death And he that loves grace will be still Ambitious to abound in the worke of the Lord and to presse forward unto perfection to make up that which is wanting to his faith to be sanctified throughout to bring forth more fruit to walke in all pleasing to be holy and unblameable and unreproveable without spot or wrinkle It is an absurd thing in religion to dote upon mediocrities of grace in eo non potest esse nimium quod esse maximum debet Hee that with all the exactnesse and rigour of his heart can never gather together all grace can surely never have too much In false religions no man so much magnified as he that is strictest that Papist which is most cruel to his flesh most assiduous at his beads most canonicall in his houres most macerated with superstitious penance most frequently prostrated before his idols is of all other most admired for the greatest Saint O why should not an holy strictnesse be as much honoured as a superstitious why should not exactnesse purity and a contending unto perfection be as much pursued in a true as in a false religion Why should not every man strive to be filled with grace since he can never have enough till hee have it all till he is brimme-full Hee that truely loves wealth would be the richest and he that loves honour would be the highest of any other certainly grace is in it selfe more lovely than any of these things Why then should not every man strive to be most unlike the evill world and to be more excellent than his neighbour to be holy as God is holy to be as Christ himselfe was in this world to grow up in unity of faith and in the knowledge of him unto a perfect man Certainely if a man once set his will and his heart upon grace he will never rest in mediocrities he will labour to abound more and more he will never think himselfe to have apprehended but forgetting the things which are behinde hee will reach forth to those things which are before him for all the desires of the heart are strong and will over-rule any other naturall desire The griefe of Davids heart made him forget to eat his bread The desire of Christs heart to convert the Samaritan woman made him carelesse of his owne hunger It is my meate to doe the will of him that sent me and to finish his worke A true heart will goe on to finish the worke which it hath begunne The wicked sâ—eepe not saith Salomon except they have done mischiefe And the enemies of Saint Paul provided to to stop the clamors and demands of an empty stomack with a solemne vow that they would neither eate nor drinke till they had slaine Paul Lust never gives over till it finish sin and therefore the Love of Christ should never give over till it finish Grace Secondly because God is more honoured in the obedience of the will than of the outward man Humane restraints may rule this but nothing but Grace can rule the other for herein we acknowledge God to bee the searcher of hearts the discerner of secret thoughts the Iudge and Lord over our consciences Whatsoever ye doe saith the Apostle doe it heartily as to the Lord and not to men Noting unto us that a man doth never respect the Lord in any service which commeth not willingly and from the inner man Now he worketh in vaine and loseth all that he hath wrought who doth not worke for him who is master of the businesse he goes about and who onely doth reward it Therefore saith the Apostle Doe it heartily as to the Lord knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the Reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. He onely is the pay-master of such kinde of worke and therefore doe it onely as to him so that he may approve and reward it Before I leave this point touching the willingnesse of Christs people here is a great case and of frequent occurrence to be resolved Whether those who are truely of Christs people may not have feares torments uncomfortablenesse wearinesse unwillingnesse in the wayes of God Saint Iohn in generall states the case There is no feare in love but perfect love casteth out feare Because feare hath torment 1 Ioh. 4.18 so that it seemes where there is torment and wearinesse there is no love for the cleering of this case I shall set downe some few positions First in generall where there is true obedience there is ever a willing and a free spirit in this degree at the least a most deepe desire of the heart and serious endevour of the spirit of a man to walke in all well-pleasing towards God a longing for such fulnesse of Grace and enlargement of soule as may make a man fit to runne the way of Gods Commandements Secondly where there is this will yet there may upon other reasons be such a feare as hath paine and torment in it and that in two respects First there may be a feare of Gods wrath the soule of a righteous man may be surpriz'd with some glimpses and apprehensions of his most heavie displeasure he may conceive himselfe set up as Gods mark to shoot at Iob 7.20 that the poisoned arrowes and terrors of the wrath of God doe sticke fast upon him Iob 6.4 that his transgressions are sealed up and reserv'd against him Iob 14.17 The hot displeasure of the Lord may even vexe his bones and make his soule sore within him Psal. 6.1 2 3. Hee may conceive himselfe forgotten and cast out by God surprized with fearefulnesse trembling and the horrour of death Psal. 13.1 Psal. 55.4 5.
that so we through the vertue and merit of his Sacrifice might bee sanctified likewise Iohn 17.19 Hee was to be God as well as man Medium participationis before hee could bee Medium reconciliationis that so he might bee himselfe supported to undergoe and breake through the weight of sinne and the Law and having so done might have compasse enough in his Sacrifice to satisfie the Iustice of God and to swallow up the sinnes of the world Fifthly in as much as the Vertue of the Deitie was to bee attributed truly to the Sacrifice else it could have no value nor vertue in it and that Sacrifice was to be his Owne Life Soule and Body who is the Priest to offer it because hee was not barely a Priest but a Suretie and so his person stood in stead of ours to pay our debt which was a debt of bloud and therefore hee was to offer himselfe Heb. 9.26 1 Pet. 2.24 And in as much as his person must needs bee equivalent in dignity and representation to the persons of all those for whom hee mediated and who were for his sake onely delivered from suffering for these causes necessary it was that God and man should make but one Christ in the unity of the same infinite person whose natures they both were that which suffered and that which sanctified The humane nature was not to bee left to subsist in and for it selfe but was to have dependence and supportance in the person of the Sonne and a kinde of Inexistence in him as the graft of an apple may have in the stock of a plumb From whence ariseth first the Communication of properties betweene the natures when by reason of the unity of the person wee attribute that to one nature which is common to the other not by confusion or transfusion but by Communion in one end and in one person as when the Scriptures attribute Humane properties to the Divine Nature The Lord of Life was slaine Act. 3.15 God purchased the Church with his owne bloud Act. 20.28 They crucified the Lord of Glory 1 Cor. 2.8 Or Divine to the Humane Nature As the Sonne of Man came downe from heaven Ioh. 3.13 and the Sonne of Man shall ascend where hee was before Ioh. 6.62 Or when both natures worke with their severall concurrence unto the same worke as to walke on the waters to rise out of the grave c. By which Communication of properties vertue is derived from the Altar to the Sacrifice in as much as it was the Lord of Glory which was crucified So that his passions were in regard of the person which bare them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both Humane and Divine because the person was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and Man Secondly from the unity of the person supporting the Humane Nature with the Divine ariseth the Appliablenesse of one sacrifice unto all men Because the Person of the Sonne is infinitely more than equivalent to the persons of all men as one Diamond to many thousand pebbles and because the obedience of this sacrifice was the obedience of God and therefore cannot but have more vertue and well-pleasingnesse in it than there can bee demerit or malignity in the sinne of man Now this Person in whose unity the two Natures are conjoyned is the second person in the Holy Trinity He was the person against whom the first sinne was principally committed for it was an affectation of wisedome and to bee like unto God as the falling-sinne now is the sinne against the third person and therefore the mercy is the more glorious that hee did undertake the expiation By him the world was made Col. 1.16 17. Ioh. 1.3 and therefore being spoiled hee was pleased to new make it againe and to bring many Sonnes unto glory Heb. 2.10 Hee was the expresse image of his Father Heb. 1.3 Col. 1.15 And therefore by him are wee renewed after Gods image againe Col. 3.10 He was the Sonne of God by Nature and therefore the mercy was againe the more glorified in his making us Sonnes by Adoption and so joynt heirs with himselfe who was the heire of all things So then such an high Priest it became us to have as should bee first an equall middle person between God and Man In regard of God towards man an officer appointed to declare his Righteousnesse and in regard of man towards God a suretie ready to purchase their pardon and deliverance Secondly such an one as should bee one with us in the fellowship of our nature passions infirmities and temptations that so hee might the more readily suffer for us who in so many things suffered with us and one with God the Father in his Divine Nature that so by the vertue of his sufferings and resurrection he might bee able both to satisfie his Iustice to justifie our persons to sanctifie our Nature to perfume and purifie our services to raise up our dead bodies and to present us to his Father a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle And both these in the Vnitie of one Person that so by that meanes the Divine Nature might communicate vertue merit and acceptablenesse to the sufferings of the humane and that the dignity of that person might countervaile the persons of all other men And this person that person of the three by whom the glory of the mercy should bee the more wonderfully magnified In one word two things are requisite to our High Priest A Grace of Vnion to make the person God and man in one Christ and a Grace of Vnction to fit him with such fulnesse of the Spirit as may enable him to the performance of so great a worke Esai 11.2 By all which wee should learne First to adore this great mysterie of God manifested in the flesh and justified in the Spirit the unsearchablenesse of that love which appointed God to bee man the Creator of the world to bee despised as a worme for the salvation of such rebels as might justly have been left under chaines of darknesse and reserved to the same inevitable destruction with the Devils which fell before them Secondly to have alwayes before our eyes the great hatefulnesse of sinne which no sacrifice could have expiated but the bloud of God himselfe and the great severity and inexorablenesse of Gods Iustice against it which no satisfaction could pacifie no obedience compensate but the suffering and exinanition of himselfe O what a condition shall that man bee in who must stand or rather everlastingly sinke and bee crushed unto the weight of that wrath against sinne which amazed and made heavie unto death the soule of Christ himselfe which made him who had the strength of the Deitie to support him the fulnesse of the Spirit to sanctifie and prepare him the message of an Angell to comfort him the relation of a beloved Sonne to refresh him the voyce of his Father from heaven testifying unto him that hee was heard in what hee feared the assurance of an ensuing glorie
separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 Hee came not into the world but for us and therefore hee neither suffered nor did any thing but for us As the colour of the glasse is by the favor of the Sunne-beame shining through it made the color of the wall not inherent in it but relucent upon it by an extrinsecall affection so the righteousnesse of Christ by the favor of God is so imputed unto us as that wee are quoad gratiosum Dei conspectum righteous too In which sense I understand those words Hee hath not beheld iniquitie in Iacob neither hath he seen perversenesse in Israel Num. 23.21 Though it is indeed in him yet the Lord looketh on him as cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ and so is said not to see it as the eye seeth the color of the glasse in the wall and therefore cannot behold that other inherent color of its owne which yet it knoweth to bee in it Now of this Doctrine of Iustification by Christs righteousnesse imputed wee may make a double use First it may teach us that great dutie of selfe-deniall wee see no righteousnesse will justifie us but Christs and his will not consist but with the deniall of our owne And surely what-ever the professions of men in word may bee there is not any one dutie in all Christian Religion of more difficultie than this to trust Christ onely with our salvation To doe holy duties of hearing reading praying meditating almesgiving or any other actions of charity or devotion and yet still to abhorre our selves and our workes to esteeme our selves after wee have done all unprofitable servants and worthy of many stâ—ipes to doe good things and not to rest in them to owne the shame and dung of our solemne services when we have done all the good workes wee can to say with Nehemiah Remember mee ô my God concerning this and spare me according to the greatnesse of thy mercie Nehem. 13.22 and with David To thee ô Lord belongeth mercie for thou renderest to every man according to his worke Psal. 62.12 It is thy mercy to reward us according to the uprightnesse of our workes who mightest in judgement confound us for the imperfection of our workes To give God the praise of our working and to take to ourselves the shame of polluting his workes in us There is no Doctrine so diametrally contrary to the merits of Christ and the redemption of the world thereby as justification by workes No Papist in the world is or can bee more contentious for good workes than wee both in our Doctrine and in our prayers and in our exhortations to the people We say no faith justifieth us before God but a working faith no man is righteous in the sight of men nor to bee so esteemed but by workes of holinesse without holinesse no man shall see God hee that is Christs is zealous of good workes purifieth himselfe even as hee is pure and walketh as hee did in this world Here onely is the difference we doe them because they are our Dutie and testifications of our love and thankfulnesse to Christ and of the workings of his Spirit in our hearts but wee dare not trust in them as that by which wee hope to stand or fall before the tribunall of Gods Iustice because they are at best mingled with our corruptions and therefore doe themselves stand in need of a high Priest to take off their iniquity Wee know enough in Christ to depend on we never can finde enough in our selves And this confidence wee have if God would ever have had us justified by workes hee would have given us grace enough to fulfill the whole Law and not have left a Prayer upon publike record for us every day to repeat and to regulate all our owne Prayers by forgive us our trespasses For how dares that man say I shall be justified by my workes who must every day say Lord forgive mee my sinnes and bee mercifull unto mee a sinner Nay though wee could fulfill the whole Law perfectly yet from the guilt of sinnes formerly contracted wee could no other way bee justified than by laying hold by faith on the satisfaction and sufferings of Christ. Secondly it may teach us confidence against all sinnes corruptions and temptations Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died c. Satan is the blackest enemie and sinne is the worst thing hee can alleage against mee or my soule is or can bee subject unto for Hell is not so evill as sinne In as much as Hell is of Gods making but sinne onely of mine Hell is made against mee but sinne is committed against God Now I know Christ came to destroy the workes and to answer the arguments and reasonings of the Devill Thou canst not stand before God saith Satan for thou art a grievous sinner and he is a devouring fire But faith can answere Christ is able both to cover and to cure my sinne to make it vanish as a miste and to put it as farre out of mine owne sight as the East is from the West But thou hast nothing to doe with Christ thy sinnes are so many and so foule surely the bloud of Christ is more acceptable to my soule and much more honourable and pretious in it selfe when it covereth a multitude of sinnes Paul was a persecutor a Blasphemer and injurious the greatest of all sinners and yet hee obtained mercy that hee might be for a patterne of all long-suffering to those that should after beleeve in Christ. If I had as much sinne upon my soule as thou hast yet faith could unlade them all upon Christ Christ could swallow them all up in his mercy But thou hast still nothing to doe with him because thou continuest in thy sinne But doth hee not call mee invite me beseech mee command me to come unto him If then I have a heart to answer his call hee hath a hand to draw me to himselfe though all the gates of Hell and powers of darknesse or sinnes of the world stood betweene But thou obeyest not this call True indeed and pittifull it is that I am dull of hearing and slow of following the voice of Christ I want much faith but yet Lord thou dost not use to quench the smoaking flax or to breake the bruized reed I beleeve and thou art able to helpe mine unbeleefe I am resolved to venture my soule upon thy mercy to throw away all mine owne loading and to cleave onely to this planck of salvation But faith purifieth the heart whereas thou art uncleane still True indeed and miserable man I am therefore that the motions of sinne doe worke in my members But yet Lord I hate every false heart I delight in thy Law with mine innerman I doe that which I would not but I consent to thy Law that it is good I desire to know thy will to feare thy name to