his mouth and walk in the way that is pointed out by his Word and Spirit you shall have enough to direct you in all your ways 2. It doth warn us of all our dangers It doth not only in the general call upon us to watch Mat. 13. 37. and walk circumspectly Eph. 5. 15. but it discovers all those deceits particularly whereby we may be surprized diverted and turned out of the way There are snares in Prosperity snares in Adversity Temptations you meet with in praying trading eating drinking in your publick undertakings and in your private converse it shews your danger in all your ways before you feel the smart of them therefore give up your selves to God's direction reading hearing meditating believing and practising read hear it often then the deceits of Satan will be laid open and the snares of your own hearts Christians an exact Rule is of little use if you do not consult it Gal. 6. 16. Peace and mercy be upon all them that walk according to this Rule That order their conversations exactly the word signifies that try their work as a Carpenter doth by his square they examine their actions by the Word of God what they are now a doing therefore consult with it often then meditate of it ponder it seriously 2 Tim. 2. 7. Consider what I say and the Lord give thee understanding in all things If we would have understanding by the Word there must be consideration Man hath a discursive faculty to debate things with himself Why this is my duty what would become of me if I slep out of God's way here 's danger and a snare What if I should run into it now it is laid before me And then believe it surely Heb. 4. 2. The Word profited not not being mixed with faith in them that heard it Believe God upon his Word without making tryal You hear much of living by sense and by saith living by faith is when we bear up upon the bare Word of God and encourage our selves in the Lord but living by sense is a trying whether it be so or no as they that will not believe Hell shall feel Hell and they that will not believe the Word of God shall smart for it Heb 11. 7. Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark. It may be there were no preparations to the accomplishment of the Curse and Judgment the Word threatned it 's a thing not seen yet he prepared an Ark. When a man is walking in an unjust course all things prosper for awhile the misery the Word threatens is unseen Ay but if you would grow wiser by the Word than men can by Experience you must look to the end of things Psal. 73. 17. I went into the sanctuary of God then understood I their end And then practise it diligently A young Practiser hath more understanding than an ancient Notionallist Psal. 111. 10. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments It is not they that are able to speak of things and savor what the Word requires but they that do what they hear and discourse of Gregory saith We know no more than we practise and we practise as we know these two always go together The Word doth us no good unless there be a ready obedience therefore this is wisdom when we give up our selves to God's direction whatever it cost us in the world Doct. 2. That young ones may have many times more of this wisdom than those that are ancient Divers instances there are Ioseph was very young sold into Egypt about 17 years of age and when he was in Egypt Psal. 105. 22. He taught his Senators wisdom speaking of the Senators of Egypt With how much modesty did he carry himself when his Mistriss laid that snare Isaac was young and permitted himself to be offered to God as a Sacrifice Samuel was wise betimes 1 Sam. 2. 26. It is said The child Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men From his Infancy he was dedicated to God and God gives him wisdom to walk so that he was in favor with God and men yea God reveals himself to Samuel when he did not to Eli. David when he was but 15 years of age fought with the Lion and Bear and somewhile after that with Goliah when he was a ruddy youth Iosiah when he was but eight years old administred the Kingdom before he was twelve sets upon serious Reformation Ieremiah was sanctified from the womb Ier. 1. 5. And Iohn the Baptist leapt in his Mother's womb Luke 1. 35. In the 32d of Iâ—…b the Ancients Iob's Friends are spoken of pleading their Cause wise young Elihu brings wiser words and better arguments than those that came to comfort Iob. Solomon asked wisdom of God when he was young Daniel and his Companions those four children as they are called Dan. 1. 17 18. it is said The Lord filled them with wisdom above all the ancient Chaldeans And Timothy the Apostle speaks of his youth and bids him flee youthful lusts he was young yet very knowing and set over the Church of God Our Lord Iesus at 12 years old puzled the Doctors In Ecclesiastical Stories we read of one at 15 years of age dyed with great constancy for Religion in the midst of sundry tortures Ignatius pleads the cause of the Bishop when he was but a very youth but a man powerful in doctrine and of great wisdom and therefore he saith He would have them not look to his appearing youth but to the age of his mind to his wisdom before God And he saith There are many that have nothing to shew for their age but wrinckles and gray hairs So there are many young ones in whom there is an excellent spirit and in all Ages there are instances given of youth of whom it may be said That they are wise beyond their years For the Reasons why many times young ones may have more wisdom than those that are aged God doth so 1. That he might shew the freedom and sovereignty of his grace He is not bound to years nor to the ordinary course of nature but can work according to his own pleasure and give a greater measure of knowledge and understanding to those that are young and otherwise green than he will to those that are of great age and more experience in the world You have this reason rendred Iob 32. 7 8 9. I said days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom There 's the ordinary course But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding Great men are not always wise neither do the aged understand judgment Though all men have reason and a spirit yet the Spirit of God is a wind that blows where he lists Those that exceed others in time may come behind them in grace He gives a greater measure many times of grace and knowledge to shew his
happiness will never attain to true peace and sound satisfaction of conscience nor to true grace or an hearty subjection to God but by consulting with the Word No other rule and direction will serve the turn 1. It is the only rule to teach us how to obtain true peace of conscience The whole world is become obnoxious to God and held under the awe of Divine Justice This bondage is natural and the great inquiry is how his anger shall be appeased Micah 6. 6 7 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God shall I come before him with burnt-offerings with calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul Now here is no tolerable satisfaction offered no plaister for the wounds of conscience no way to compromise and take up the controversie between us and God but by the Propitiation which the Gospel holdeth forth all this is effected The Gentiles were at a loss the Iews rested in the Sacrifices Which yet could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience Heb. 9. 9. Therefore they fled to barbarous and sinfully cruel customs offering their first-born c. There was no course to recover men from their intanglements and perplexities of soul how to pacifie God for sin but they were still left in a floating uncertainty till God revealed himself as reconciling the world to himself in Christ. Now no Doctrine doth propound the way of reconciliation with God and redemption from those fears of his angry Justice which are so natural to us with such rational advantages and claimeth such a just title to humane belief as the Doctrine of the Gospel Oh then if the young man would cleanse his conscience and quiet and calm his own spirit he must of necessity take up with the Word as his sure direction in the case Look abroad where will you find rest for your souls in this business of attonement and reconciliation with God What strange horrible fruits and effects have mens contrivances on this account produced What have they not invented what have they not done what not suffered upon this account and yet continued in dread and bondage all their days Now what a glorious soul-appeasing light doth the Doctrine of satisfaction and attonement by the blood of Christ the Son of God cause to break in upon the hearts of men The testimony of blood in the conscience is one of the witnesses the believer hath in himself 1 Joh. 5. 8. And there are three that bear witness on earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood And vers 10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself 2. It is the only rule of true Holiness Never was it stated and brought to such a pitch as it is in the Scriptures nor enforced by such arguments as are found there it requireth such an holiness as standeth in conformity to God and is determined by his will Now it is but reason that he that is the supreme Being should be the rule of all the rest It is an holiness of another rate than the blind heart could find out not an external devotion nor a civil course but such as transformeth the heart and subdueth it to the will of God Rom. 2. 15. If a man would attain to the highest exactness that a rational creature is capable of not to moral vertue only but a true genuine respect to God and man he must regard and love the Law of God that is pure A man that would be holy had need of an exact rule for to be sure his practice will come short of his rule and therefore if the rule it self be short there will no due provision be made for respects to God or man But now this is a rule that reacheth not only to the way but the thoughts That converteth the soul Psal. 19. 7. The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. Take the fairest draughts of that moral perfection which yet is of humane recommendation and you will find it defective and maimed in some parts either as to God or men It is inferioris Hemisphaerii as not reaching to the full subjection of the soul to God There is some dead fly in their box of ointment either for manner or end 2. The Word is considerable as an instrument which God maketh use of to cleanse the heart of man It will not be amiss a little to shew the instrumentality of the Word to this blessed end and purpose It is the glass that discovereth sin and the water that washeth it away 1 It is the glass wherein to see our corruption The first step to the cure is a knowledg of the disease it is a glass wherein to see our natural face Iam. 1. 23. For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass c. In the Word we see Gods Image and our own It is the copy of Gods Holiness and the representation of our natural faces Rom. 7. 9. What fond conceits have we of our own spiritual beauty but there we may see the leprous spots that are upon us 2 It sets us a work to see it purged it is the water to wash it out The word of command presseth the duty 't is indispensibly required What doth every command sound in our ears But wash you make you clean This is indispensibly required 1 Ioh. 3. 3. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure And Heb. 12. 14. Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Some things God may dispense with but this is never dispensed with Many things are ornamental that are not absolutely necessary as wealth riches Wisdom with an inheritance is good so learning Many have gone to heaven that were never learned but never any without holiness 3 The word of promise incourageth it 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And 2 Pet. 1. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust God might have required it upon the account of his Soveraignty we being his creatures especially this being the perfection of our natures and rather a priviledg than a burden but God would not rule us with a rod of iron but deal with rational creatures rationally by promises and threatnings On the one side he telleth us of a pit without a bottom on the other of blessed and glorious promises Things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard
not a waste either God is there framing gracious operations or the Devil who worketh in the children of disobedience Ephes. 2. 2. will you give them to God to be saved or to the Devil to be damned Whos 's they are now they are for ever 5ly If you love any you give him the heart and you are wont to wish that there were windows in your bodies that they might see the sincerity of your hearts towards them Surely if you have cause to love any you have much more cause to love God No such friend as he no such benefactor as he if you consider what he hath done for us what blessings he hath bestowed internal external temporal eternal He hath given his Son the great instance of love Ioh. 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting life His Gospel that his love might be preached to us His Spirit that not only sounded in our ears but is shed abroad in our hearts Rom. 5. 5. His Christ to save us his word to enlighten us his Spirit to guide and direct us till we come to Heaven where he will give himself to us an eternal inheritance Certainly unless void of all sense and common ingenuity thou wilt say as the Psalmist Psal. 116. 12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me What indeed wilt thou render to him love will tell thee but lest thou shouldst miss God himself hath told thee Prov. 23. 26. My Son give me thine heart There is no need to wish for windows in thy body He searcheth the heart and trieth the reins Psal. 7. 9. The righteous God trieth the hearts and reins And 1 King 8. 39. Thou knowest the hearts of all the children of men The whole world is to him as a sea of glass He knoweth how much thou esteemest and honourest him If thou givest him the whole world and dost not give him thy heart thou dishonourest him and settest something else before him 6ly This is that all may give him if God should require costly sacrifices rivers of oyl thousands of rams then none but the rich would serve him and he would require nothing but what many Hypocrites would give him Then the poor would be ashamed and discouraged not being able to comply with the command Yea then God would not act like the true God Who accepteth not the person of Princes nor regardeth the rich more than the poor for they are all the work of his hands Job 34. 19. Say not Mica 6. 6 7 8. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the High God shall I come before him with burnt-offerings with calves of a year old will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul But go to God and give him thy heart this will make thy mite more acceptable than the great treasures of the wicked Luk. 21. 1 2 3 4 And he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury and he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites and he said Of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all for all these have of their abundance cast unto the offerings of God but of her penury she hath cast in all the living that she had We read in Pagan-story of one that when many rich Scholars gave gifts to Socrates every one according to his birth and fortunes a poor young man came to him and said I have nothing worthy of thee to bestow upon thee but that which I have I give and that is my self others that have given to thee have left more to themselves but I have given all that I have and have nothing left me I give thee my self The Philosopher answered Thou hast given me a gift indeed and therefore it shall be my care to return thee to thy self better than I found thee So come to God he needeth us not but 't is for our benefit we should give our hearts and selves to him He knoweth how much it is for our advantage that he should have our hearts to make them better to sanctifie and save them 2ly The whole heart Here I shall shew you 1. what it is to keep the Law with the whole heart 2. Why we must keep the Law with our whole heart 1. What it is to keep the Law with the whole heart It is taken Legally or Evangelically as a man is bound or as God will accept what is required in justice or what is accepted in mercy 1st According to the rigor of the Law The Law requireth exact conformity without the least motion to the contrary either in thought or destre a full obedience to the Law with all the powers of the whole man This is in force still as to our rule but not as to the condition of our acceptance with God This without any defect and imperfection like mans love to God in innocency since the fall is no where found but in Christ Jesus who alone is harmless and undefiled and will never thus be fulfilled by us till we come to Heaven For here all is but in part but then that which is in part shall be done away Then will there be light without darkness knowledg without ignorance faith without unbelief hope without despair love without defect and mixture of carnal inclinations All good motions without distraction Here is folly and confusion here flesh lusteth against the Spirit in the best Gal. 5. 17. They have a double principle though not a double heart 2ly In an Evangelical sense according to the moderation of the second Covenant and so God out of his love and mercy in Christ Jesus accepts of such a measure of love and obedience as answereth to the measure of Sanctification received When God sanctifieth a man he sanctifieth him as to all the parts and faculties of body and soul inlightneth the understanding with the knowledg of his will inclineth the heart to obedience circumciseth the affection filleth us with the love of God himself and holy things But being a voluntary agent he doth not this as to perfection of degrees all at once but successively and by little and little Therefore as long as we are in the world there is somewhat of ignorance in the understanding perversity in the will fleshliness and impurity in the affections flesh and spirit in every faculty like water and wine in the same cup but so as the gift of grace doth more and more prevail over the corruption of nature light upon darkness holiness upon sin and heavenliness upon our inclinations to worldly vanities As the Sun upon the shadow of the night till it groweth into perfect day Prov. 4. 18. The path of the
Heathens as their Interests did fall or rise So there are many that do intend or remit the Conscience of their duty according to their Interests and therefore when trouble ariseth they are offended 4 Mark 17. Use 2. For Exhortation to press you thus to keep Gods Law for ever and ever To this End Direct 1. First Be fortified within After you have gotten Grace I suppose men that they are in a good way O be fortified from that which may shake you from without Three things are wont to hurry men from one extreme to another Errors Persecutions and Scandals 1. Errors Be not troubled when differences fall out about the Truths of God nor shaken in mind 1 Cor. 11. 19. For there must be also Heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you Many question the ways of God and all Religion because there are so many differences about them therefore they think nothing certain These winds God lets loose upon the Church to distinguish the Chaff and the solid Grain God saw this Discipline necessary that we might not take up Religion upon trust without the pains of Study and Prayer 2. Persecutions are an offence 11 Matth. 6. Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me that is offended because of Troubles that accompany the Profession of the Truth The whole drift of the Christian Religion is to draw us off from the Interest and Concernments of the present world to look after another 3. Scandals of Professors All that profess the Name of God are his Witnesses their Lives should be a Confirmation of the Gospel but indeed they often prove a Confutation of it we should Confirm the Weak and we Offend the Strong Many have been gain'd by Persecution when they have seen the courage of Gods Servants O but the scandals of those that profess the Name of God have proved a Stumbling Block Those that are offended by Crosses yet they have a secret liking of the Truth but those that are offended by Scandals they loath the Truth it self and so are hurried away against the Profession of God therefore be fortified against all these Direct 2. Secondly Be fortified within by taking heed to the Causes of Apostacy and falling off from the Truth either in Judgment or Practise What are those things 1. Ungrounded Assent A Choice lightly made is lightly altered when men do not resolve upon Evidence We are to try all things 1 Thess. 5. 21. When we take up a Profession without Evidence we soon quit it men waver hither and thither for want of solid rooting in the truth 2. Ungrounded Profession want of solid rooting in Grace when not rooted either in Faith 2 Col. 7. or grounded in Love 3 Eph. 17. or established by Grace 13 Heb. 9. There must be a Foundation before a Building a through sence of the Love of God and a being rooted when our hearts are sound in Gods Statutes 3. Unmortified Lusts That which is Lame is soon turned out of the way while men keep up their respects to the pleasures profits and honours of the world unbroken they are sure to miscarry though they should stand for a while yet Temptation will come that will take them away Lusts put us upon great uncertainty as fear or the favour of men or as carnal hopes sway 2 Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken us having loved this present world 4. A fond Easiness Men change their Religion with their Company out of a desire to please all as the Camelion changeth colours according as it touches True Religion is indeed easie to be intreated 3 Iames 17. but now to make bold with God and Conscience to please men is a sad adventure it is not a good disposition but Pusillanimity 5. Self-Confidence When we think to bear it out with Natural Courage and Resolution and will be playing about the Cockatrice's hole and dallying with temptation As Peter's Confidence you know how dear it cost him 18 Iohn 16 17. It is God which keepeth the feet of his Saints and he will be known to be their Guardian 1 Sam. 2. 9. therefore he will be depended on 3. Thirdly Take heed of the first decays and look often on the State of your hearts A man that never casts up his Estate is undone insensibly It is the Devils Policy when once we are a declining to carry us further and further A gap once made in the Conscience grows wider and wider every day The first declinings are the cause of all the rest Evil is best stopped in the beginning When first you begin to be careless mindless of God and neglectful of Communion with him O then take heed It is easier to crush the Egg than kill the Serpent He that keeps the House in constant Repair prevents the Ruine and Fall of it So do you keep your Soul in constant repair take notice of the first swerving lest it carry you further and further Men fall off by degrees and grow worse and worse neglect this Duty and that till they cast off all Like Nebuchadnezar's Image which was of Gold Silver Iron Clay from worse to worse they presently run from one extremity to another There are degrees of hardness Heb. 3. 14. Let us hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end The first Sence Tast and Liveliness of it learn from whence you are fallen and then a stedfast expectation of the reward 1 Cor. 15. 58. You have but a few years service more a little while to be put upon labour and striving then you shall be as happy as heart can wish Then a Religious use of the Lords Supper for here you renew again the Oath of Allegiance to God The great purport of this Duty is to bind your selves to this firm and close walking The Lords Supper is a renewing of Covenant to fix our hearts by new Promises of Obedience When we begin to waver and faint and stand we receive new strength As they when they had a little refreshing then they went on from strength to strength Psal. 84. 78. The Lords Supper 't is our viaticum our Well and refreshing by the way that we may hold out to our Journeys end SERMON LI. PSAL. CXIX 45. And I will walk at liberty for I seek thy Precepts THE Copulative in the front of the Text sheweth some dependence which the Words have upon the former His last Request was ver 43. for an opportunity and heart to own the ways of God His Arguments are 1. His present Hope in the end of that Verse 2. His perseverance in Obedience ver 44. Now 3. The freedom of his Heart in that continued course of Obedience A free and open confession of the Truth may seem to cast us into bonds and straits but yet it giveth us liberty The Truth sets free Iohn 8. 32. If it bring the Body under fetters yet it enlargeth the Heart We never have greater freedom than when we are pleasing God though
confirmed 2. Love to God increased 3. Hope made more lively Now these Providences of God suited to his Word comforted David had more power and force to confirm and increase these Graces then all their Atheistical Scoffs to shake them for he concluded from these Instances that though the Wicked flourish they shall perish and though the Godly be afflicted they shall be rewarded and so his Faith and Hope and Love to God and Adherence to his Wayes was much incouraged Comfort is sometimes spoken of in Scripture as an Impression of the Comforting Spirit sometimes as a result from an Act of our Meditation as here I comforted my self These things are not contrary but subordinate It is our Duty to meditate on God's Word and Providence and God blesseth it by the Influence of his Grace and the Spirit may be said to comfort us and we also may be said to comfort our selves Doctr. That the Remembrance of Gods former dealings with his People and their Enemies in all Ages is a great Relief in distress The Man of God is here represented as lying under the Scorns and Oppressions of the Wicked What did he doe to relieve himself I remembred thy Iudgments of old and have comforted my self So elsewhere this was his Practice Psal. 77. 5. I considered the days of old the years of ancient times again in the 11 and 12 Verses I will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember thy works of old I will meditate also of all thy works and talk of thy doings Yet again Psal. 143. 5. I remember the days of old I meditate on all thy works I muse on the works of thy hands Thus did David often consider with what Equity and Righteousness with what Power and Goodness God carried on the work of his Providence toward his People of old The like he presseth on others Psal. 105. 5. Remember the marvellous works which he hath done his wonders and the Iudgments of his mouth Surely it is our Duty and it will be our Comfort and Reliefe I shall dispatch the Point in these Considerations 1. That there is a Righteous God that governeth the World All things are not hurled up and down by Chance as if the Benefit we receive were onely a good hit and the Misery a meer misfortune No all things are ordered by a Powerfull Wise and Just God his Word doth not onely discover this to us but his Works Psal. 58. 11. So that a man shall say Verily there is a reward for the Righteous verily there is a God that judgeth the Earth That is many times there are such Providences that all that behold them shall see and say that Godliness and Holiness are matters of Advantage and Benefit in this World abstracted from the Rewards to come and so an infallible Evidence that the World is not governed by Chance but administred by an Almighty All-wise and most Just Providence So elsewhere Psalm 9. 16. The Lord is known by the Iudgments which he executeth By some eminent Instances God sheweth himself to be the Judge of the World and keepeth a Petty Sessions before the day of General Assizes Upon this account the Saints beg the Lord to take off the Vaile from his Providence and to appear in protecting and delivering his Children and punishing their Adversaries Psalm 94. 1 2. O thou Iudge of the Earth shew thy self He is the Supreme Governour of the World to whom it belongeth to doe right 2. This Righteous God hath made a Law according to which he will govern and established it as the Rule of Commerce between him and his Creatures The Precept is the Rule of our Duty the Sanction is the Rule of his Proceedings so that by this Law we know what we must doe and what we may expect from him Man is not made to be lawless and ungoverned but hath a Conscience of Good and Evil for without the knowledge of God's Will we cannot obey him nor can we know his Will unless it be some way or other revealed No Man in his wits can expect that God should speak to us immediately and by Oracle we cannot endure his Voice nor can we see him and live Therefore he revealed his Mind by the Light of Nature and by Scripture which giveth us a clearer and more perfect Knowledge of his Will Certainly those that live under that Dispensation must expect that God will deale with them according to the Tenour of it The Apostle telleth us Rom. 2. 12. As many as have sinned without the Law shall perish without the Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law God hath been explicite and clear with them to tell them what they should doe and what they should expect 3. In the Course of his Dispensations he hath shewed from the beginning of the World unto this day that he is not unmindfull of this Law that the observance of this Rule bringeth suitable Blessings and the Violation of it the threatned Judgments Rom. 1. 18. The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men The Impious and the Unrighteous are breakers of either Table and the Wrath of God is denounced and executed upon both if there be any notorious Violation of either For in the day of God's Patience he is not quick and severe upon the World Heb. 2. 2. every Transgression and Disobedience received a just Recompence of Reward thereby his Word is owned Execution we say is the Life of the Law it is but Words without it and can neither be a ground of sufficient Hope in the Promises nor Fear in the Comminations When Punishments are inflicted it striketh a greater terrour when the Offenders are punished the Observers rewarded then it is a sure Rule of Commerce between us and God 4. That the Remembrance of the most Illustrious Examples of his Justice Power and Goodness should comfort us though we do not perfectly feel the Effects of his Righteous Government 1. I will prove we are apt to suspect God's Righteous Administrations when we see not the Effects of it when the Godly are oppressed with divers Calamities and the Wicked live a life of pomp and ease flourishing in Prosperity and Power according to their own hearts desire they are apt to think that God taketh no care of Worldly Affairs or were indifferent to Good and Evil as those profane Atheists Mal. 2. 17. Every one that doth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in him or where is the God of Iudgment as if God took pleasure in Wicked men and were no impartial Judge or had no Providence at all or hand in the Government of the World Temptations to Atheism begin ordinarily at the matter of God's Providence First Men carve out a Providence of their own that God loveth none but whom he dealeth kindly with in the matters of the World and if his Dispensations be cross to their apprehensions
any thing for something cannot come out of nothing therefore we must stop in some first Cause and Eternal Being 3. That Eternity belongeth to God is to be seen in all his Attributes for if God be Eternal his Wisdom Power and Goodness are Eternal also First His Wisdom is Eternal for all things are present to the knowledge of God Things come to our knowledge successively some before and some after We see and know things according to their duration and existence We compute by days and years yesterday to morrow last year and next year one Generation passeth and another cometh but in God's understanding there is no succession of before and after Known to God are all his works from the beginning Acts 15. 18. God that doth all things in time knew them all before time otherwise his knowledge was not infinite and eternal they are all present to his understanding Hence is that expression 2 Pet. 3. 8. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day All those differences of Duration which to the Creatures are longer or shorter are all alike to God for all things are constantly present to God and under his view and prospect Indeed the Lord is pleased to condescend to our shallow capacities and to give us leave to express his Duration in our own terms whil'st he calleth himself yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13. 8. And Rev. 1. 4. From him which is which was and which is to come Yet in proper speaking God always is I am is his Name and all things to him are present either past present or to come Time hath no succession to him he beholdeth at once what is not at once but at several times there is nothing past to him to come to him but all present He knoweth the end of all things before he giveth them a beginning 2dly His Power is Eternal Therefore 't is said Rom. 1. 20. that his Eternal Power and Godhead is clearly understood from the Creation of the world and seen in the things that are made how could else so many things be educed out of nothing and still kept from returning into their original nothing if there were not an infinite and eternal power then and still at work So Isa. 26. 4. Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Iehovah is everlasting strength We may depend upon him for his Arm is never dried up nor doth his Strength fail there is no wrinkle upon the Brow of Eternity God is where he was at first he continueth for ever a God of infinite power able to save those that trust in him 3dly His Goodness and Mercy they are Eternal Psal. 136. 't is often repeated For the mercy of the Lord endureth for ever 'T is true à parte antè his mercy did not begin of late but was towards us before we or the world were from all Eternity we were thought upon that he might do us good himself 'T is said With an everlasting love have I loved thee and therefore with loving kindness I have drawn thee Jer. 31. 3. Whomsoever God draweth to himself in time he loved them before all time and à parte post it holdeth good his love and affection continueth the same and shall do for ever he is not weary of doing good nor is his mercy spent you have both Psal. 103. 17. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him The mercy was decreed and prepared before the beginning of the world and we shall have the fruits and effects of it when the world shall be no more 'T was from everlasting for God foreseeing the Fall of Adam provided us a remedy in Christ and having all lapsed Mankind in his prospect and view did out of his free love chuse some whil'st others are passed by to life and salvation by Christ. That God did from Eternity decree and purpose this is manifest because he doth in time effect it otherwise he should not work all things according to the counsel of his will Ephes. 1. 11. or else his Will would be mutable willing that in time which he willed not from Eternity whereas in him there is no variableness or shadow of turning And that his mercy is to everlasting appeareth because he doth in time convert and sanctifie them and so brings them to glory and blessedness for the eternal God will make his people eternally happy with himself 4. That God sheweth himself as an Eternal Being both as a Governor and Benefactor First As a Governor His Eternity is seen in his Government in threatning eternal misery to the wicked and appointing eternal happiness to the godly Mat. 25. 46. These shall go away into everlasting punishment and the righteous into life everlasting The joys of the blessed are everlasting there shall never be a change of nor an interruption in their happiness but after millions of years they are to continue in this life as if it were the first moment Thy Crown will be thy Crown for ever Thy Kingdom thy Kingdom for ever This Glory will be thy Glory for ever Thy God will be thy God and thy Christ for ever We affect the continuance of this life though it be a life of pain and misery Skin for skin and all a man hath he will give for his life Oh! how much more valuable should this eternal life be which is a life of uninterrupted joy and felicity On the other side the punishment is everlasting the loss is eternal the wicked are everlastingly deprived of the favor of God The Disciples wept when Paul said Ye shall see my face no more Oh! how much more terrible will it be to be banished everlastingly out of God's presence Mat. 25. 41. Besides the pain will be eternal as well as the loss This worm never dieth this fire shall never be quenched Mark 9. 44. Neither Heaven nor Hell hath any period or end either of them are eternal Now this way God ruleth and governeth the creature as becoming his infinite and eternal Majesty The Laws of Kings and Parliaments can reach no further than some temporal punishment their highest pain is the killing of the Body their highest Reward is some vanishing and fading Honour or perishing Riches but God's Law concerneth our everlasting estate our eternal well or ill being eternal life or eternal death is wrap'd up in these Commandments These are Rewards sutable to the Eternal Majesty of the Law-giver And if thou do evil there is an eternal loss of Heaven and an eternal sense of the wrath of God If you believe and obey the Gospel there is eternal salvation provided for you for Christ is the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. 2dly As a Benefactor he sheweth himself also an Eternal Being There is a double beneficial goodness of God common and special His common goodness runneth in the channel of Creation and common
useful and refreshing when used in the day but if kept all night it perished and was useless It was useful in the Wilderness but ceaseth when they came to Canaan Uses are many First comfort to the Godly for their own particular He is an eternal God that ordereth and guideth all things that he may bring them to their eternal felicity and will in time admit them into it Psal. 48. 14. For this God is our God for ever and ever and he will be our guide even unto death After death he will be their God still death doth not put an end to this relation for God is Abraham's God when he is dead Matth. 2â—… 32. God is the same still both in himself and to those that believe in him he will constantly guide them all the days of their life and after death receive us to the everlasting enjoyment of himself and revive our dust Oh what a blessedness is this to have an interest in such an eternal God! 2. As to the Community and Society to which they do belong God's Eternity is the Churches stability and so 't is urged in Scripture Mal. 3. 6. For I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Iacob are not consumed Psal. 102. 27 28. Thou art the same and thy years shall have no end The children of thy servants shall continue So when the flourishing of the wicked is spoken of when they spring as grass Psal. 92. 8. But thou O Lord art most high for evermore If they be high God is higher and they are but upstarts to him their power is of a late rise and short continuance So Psal. 93. 2. Thy throne is established of old thou art from everlasting God's Throne is as eternal as his Being So Lam. 3. 17. Thou O Lord remainest for ever and thy throne from generation to generation Is the life of thy Enemies long God endureth for ever Is their power great 't is but dependent God had power before them and will have power when they shall be no more Second Use Is Terror to the wicked Heb. 10. 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God They may out-live other Enemies but they cannot out-live God who abideth for ever to avenge his quarrel against them and judge you if his Controversie against them be not just since they are such impious Fools and Brutes as that they prefer the creature before the Creator and chuse temporal things rather than everlasting and prefer Earth before Heaven and the satisfaction of their bodily lusts before the saving of their souls Can you blame God of any injustice in dooming them to everlasting misery What part of the punishment would you have relaxed the Loss or the Pain the Loss is double of God's favor or their natural comforts Would you have God admit those to the sight and everlasting fruition of himself who never cared for him Or return again to their natural comforts that they may eternally run Riot with them or abuse them to an occasion of the flesh Or is it the pain Would you have God take off that when the sin and impenitent obstinacy doth still continue since they preferred a temporal good before that which is eternal and would sell their birthright for one morsel of meat Heb. 12. 16. How just is it for God to make them everlastingly to lie under the fruits and effects of their own evil choice Third Use. Is to press us to seek after the everlasting fruition of this blessed and ever glorious God because many live as if they had never heard of things eternal most live as if they did not believe any such thing the best do not improve those things as they ought therefore I shall a little insist upon a quickening exhortation to stir you up to seek an eternal happiness in God 1. As we are reasonable Creatures we were made for Eternity for God hath given us an immortal spirit and there is no proportion between an immortal soul and temporal things it cannot be content with any thing that shall have an end for then we may survive our happiness if we had souls that would perish it would be more excusable to look after things that perish What will you do when your Souls shall be turned out of doors when ye fail Luke 16. 9. To what Region will the poor shiftless harborless Soul betake it self when you dye All your thoughts that concern the present world perish and if you did perish too it were no such great matter But you shall live and what will you have to comfort your selves if you have not an interest in the Eternal God in whose hands will you be if you have slighted him while you were upon earth and the eternal happiness he offereth to us and could not find enough in God and his Eternal Salvation to take off your hearts from the pleasures and vanities of the world Can you expect that he will favour you and be kind to you 2. Eternity is made known to us Christians and clearly set before us in the doctrine of the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 10. he hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel Nature hath but guesses at it the Law but shadows but here 't is clearly certainly and fully revealed You know that you have an Eternal God to please and an infinite and eternal reward to expect The whole drift of our Religion is to call us off from Time to Eternity from this world to a better Christ came not to settle us here in a state of prosperity nor to make this world our Rest and Portion but to draw us up to God and Heaven 3. The same Religion sheweth that we are already involved in an Eternal misery and stand under a sentence binding us over to the Curse and Everlasting wrath of God Ioh. 3. 18. He that beleiveth not is condemned already and this is the Condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness more than light because their deeds are evil God hath offered Life and Immortality to them who have so miserably lost it and involved their souls in Eternal death Therefore if we know what it is to be liable to the wrath of an eternal God and to be interessed in the hopes of eternal glory we should awaken and be more serious in a business of such concernment 4. You will shortly be summoned to give an account Luke 16. 2. You have received so much from me such Riches Honours Parts Sufficiencies such Invitations to draw you home to me what will you answer Nay there is not only a little time between you and Judgment but a little time between you and Execution nothing but the slender thread of a frail life which is soon fretted asunder and will you can you sleep in sin so near Eternity and laugh and dance over the brink of Hell you cannot soon enough flee from wrath to come 5. Consider what poor deluded
Gospel thus stated hath more stability than the foundations of Heaven and Earth Therefore expect nothing to be altered for thy sake the Gospel constitution it was setled long before thou wert born and it is an unalterable decree which cannot be reversed All this is spoken to confute them that look upon the Gospel as true and to be believed till they meet with something which crosses them and then they hope it is not so In short God is true when he promises true when he threatens true when he commandeth Or thus If the Gospel Covenant be false thou hast no ground of hope if true it doometh licentious sinners to eternal destruction SERMON XCV PSAL. CXIX VER 90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations thou hast established the earth and it abideth THese words contain a Truth which is 1. Asserted 2. Represented by a fit and lively Emblem Thou hast established the earth and it abideth He had before said Thy word is setled in the heavens now he speaketh of it as manifested in the earth Here the constancy of God's Promises was set forth by the duration and equal motion of the heavenly bodies now by the firmness and unmoveableness of the earth God's powerful Word and Providence reacheth to the whole world this lower part here upon earth as well as the upper part in Heaven DOCT. That in all Ages God ever shewed himself a true God and faithful in all his Promises 'T is here confirmed by Experience and represented by an Emblem 1. God's Faithfulness relateth to some Promise wherein he hath engaged himself to his People Heb. 11. 11. She judged him faithful who had promised It is his Mercy to make Promises but it is his Faithfulness and Truth to fulfill them His Truth is pawned with the Creature till he discharge it Micah 7. 20. 2. His Truth dependeth upon his unchangeable nature but 't is confirmed to us by experience His unchangeable nature Heb. 6. 18. If a promise can be made out to be of God we have no more reason to doubt of it than of the nature and being of God yet quoad nos 't is confirmed by experience Psal. 18. 30. The word of the Lord is a tryed word We are led by sensible things and what hath been done doth assure us of what shall be done or may be expected from God 3. That therefore God hath been ever tender of his Truth that the event may answer the promise and we might know that God that hath been faithful and kept touch with the world hitherto will not fail at last The Heathens ascribed a double perfection to their gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the true God is known by his Mercy and his Fidelity he never failed to perform his part of the Covenant with any Psal. 138. 2. I will praise thy Name for thy loving kindness and thy truth for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy Name As he hath made us admirable and great promises of giving his Son and with him all things so he will certainly perform all to the utmost importance of them The matter of his word is mercy and loving kindness and in the performance thereof there is great truth and fidelity as he hath made great and excellent promises so he performeth them most punctually So that in fulfilling his Word God will be known above all that is named or famed or believed or apprehended and spoken of them here is his great glory and excellency 4. That the Experience of all Generations doth confirm God's Faithfulness in his promises for 't is said in the Text His faithfulness is unto all generations in the Hebrew it is from generation to generation The Point may be amplified by two Considerations First That some Promises have been received by one Generation and fulfilled in another Secondly That the same common promises have been fulfilled to the Faithful in all Ages First That some promises have been received by one Generation and fulfilled in another when the matter so required as for instance Israel's going out of Egypt Gen. 15. 13 14. And he said unto Abram Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years And also that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards they shall come out with great substance Compare now Exod. 12. 41. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years even the self-same day it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt Thirty years were added because of their Fathers dwelling in Canaan but God kept touch to a day So for the promise of the Messiah and calling the Gentiles that God fulfilled in due time and sent a Saviour into the world Gal. 4. 4. In the fulness of time God sent his Son When the Scepter was gone from Iudah Gen. 49. 10. when the Crown was possessed by Herod a Tributary and Foreigner during the Roman Monarchy which at length Christ should utterly destroy Dan. 2. 35. Nebuchad-nezzar had a Vision of an Image of four different Metals the head of gold arms and breasts silver belly and thighs brass and the feet part iron and clay while he beheld the Image and surveyed it from head to foot he saw a stone hewen out of the mountain without hands which stone smote the Image not upon the head breast or belly but upon the feet of iron and clay upon which it vanished away and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth This Vision Daniel expounded of four Gentile Kingdoms which should succeed one another with great extent of dominion The first of the Babylonians which then was The second of the Medes and Persians The third of the Grecians The fourth of the Romans which subdued all the other and because possessed of the riches and glory of the former during this last Kingdom was the stone hewen out of the mountain and smote the iron feet this stone was the Kingdom of the God of Heaven which Christ set up but not to trouble you with mysteries and nice debates the Apostle telleth us Rom. 15. 8 9 10. That Iesus Christ was a Minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made to the Fathers And that the Gentiles might glorifie God for his mercy as it is written For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy Name And again it is said Rejoice ye Gentiles The Event in all these cases afterwards did speak for its self so in all that is yet to come we should depend upon the Veracity of God as the calling of the Iews the destruction of Antichrist a more ample effusion of gifts on the Church together with a dilation of its borders as the Patriarchs all dyed in faith Heb. 11. 13. Having not received the promises but having seen
to the Creature Christians if we meet with any change in our outward condition any new impediments oppositions and discouragements that we were not aware of when we first entred into our Oath it was our rashness for we should sit down and count the charges we should allow for it The first Article of the New Covenant was that we should deny our selves Mat. 16. 24. and after Vows we should not make enquiry but before Prov. 20. 25. When we are bound we must take our lot and hazard and whatever comes we must perform them to God 2. Because our Oath is a further aggravation of our sin therefore better never swear than not to keep it Eccles. 5. 5. Better it is that thou should'st not vow than vow and not pay God is mocked by an Oath and a Covenant when it is not observed A man that refuseth to be listed doth not meet with the like punishment as he that runs from his Colours so he that never came under the Oath of God doth not sin so much as he that hath sworn to his Covenant that which is but simple Fornication in the Gentiles in Christians it is Adultery breach of Vow Indeed in things that are absolutely and indispensibly necessary to salvation we are bound to consent ay but when a consent thus solemnly made is broken it aggravates the sin but when we shall be like the man in the Gospel that was possest with the Devil whom no chains could hold fast when neither the bond of duty nor the bonds of our own Oaths and Engagements will hold us but we break all Cords the greater is our rebellion and disobedience to God 3. Therefore must we perform the Obedience that we have sworn to God because God hath been ever a severe and just avenger of breach of Covenants by way of argument à minori ad majus those made with man and therefore certainly he will avenge his Covenant so solemnly made with himself and everywhere in Scripture you will find it is propounded as a sure mark of vengeance When one man hath sworn to another and hath called upon the Most High God to confirm that Covenant that he makes with him if there be a failure a trespass though it be in point of Omission God hath avenged that Covenant An instance for this you have Amos 1. 9. For three transgressions of Tyrus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom and remembred not the brotherly Covenant Tyrus and Iudah they were in Covenant one with another a mutual League offensive and defensive that were solemnly sworn now though God had many causes of his vengeance and many quarrels with Tyrus because of their Idolatries but chiefly because of breach of Covenant they forgat the friendship that was between the children of Israel and Iudah and did not assist the people of Iudah as they should and were bound to do but suffer'd them to be led into captivity and spoil'd by the Edomites and other Nations So for a sin of Commission it is spoken of as a mark of sore vengeance Psal. 55. 20. He hath put forth his hand against such as be at peace with him he hath broken his covenant In those faederal Transactions and Oaths that pass between Man and Man God takes himself to be specially interessed and will see that the breach of them be severely punish'd The next step is not only between Equals but when a Covenant hath been made with Servants and poor Underlings and would not set them free at the year of Jubilee see how severely God threatens them Ier. 34. 16 17 18. for the breach of it nay a Covenant made with Enemies Ezek. 17. 18 19. Nay carry it one gradation higher though the Covenant were extorted by fraud as the Covenant made vvith the Gibeonites Josh. 9. 19 20. They vvere part of the Canaanites and God severely enjoin'd the Israelites that they should cut off all those Nations yet vvhen they craftily got them into Covenant vvhen this people vvere vvronged by Saul the Lord takes notice of it 2 Sam. 21. 1 2 3. see hovv God judgeth for them there vvere three years Famine and Pestilence vvhich vvas not appeased until Saul's Sons vvere hang'd before the Sun Novv the Lord hath ever been such a severe avenger of an Oath betvveen Man and Man betvveen his People and their Servants betvveen his People and their Enemies and vvhen extorted from them certainly in such a solemn Covenant as he hath made betvveen us and himself and that in things absolutely necessary in things enjoin'd before the Covenant vvas made it is not safe to break vvith God Ananias vvhen he vovv'd a thing to the Lord though he vvas free before God strikes him dead It is not free vvith us vvhether vve vvill obey yea or no vvhat is enjoin'd upon upon us therefore vvhen vve vvill break vvith God vvhat shall vve expect but that he should avenge the quarrel of his Covenant SERMON CXV PSAL. CXIX VER 106. I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments Doctr. 4. I Now come to the fourth Point That our Oath of Obedience to God should be often revived and renewed upon us David recognizes and takes notice of the Oath wherein he was bound to God and here he renews it again I will perform it It should be so 1. Because we are apt to forget and not have such a lively sense of a thing long since done so that we either break the Oath or perform our duty very negligently our old Baptismal Covenant we are apt to forget it especially by being under the Bond of it in Innocency and dedicated to God by the act of another viz. our Parents The Apostle instanceth in those that were baptized in grown years 2 Pet. 1. 9. he intimates they were apt to forget they were purged from their old sins I suppose it relates to Baptism in that Clause forgotten his Baptismal Vow and obligation of renouncing his sin and giving himself to the service of the Lord and therefore there should be a purpose to revive it upon our heart and the obligation should ever and anon be made new and fresh to quicken us to our duty 2. This forgetfulness it will cost us dear it will be an occasion of many and great troubles Iacob had forgotten his Vows of building an Altar at Bethel God quickens him to his duty by sharp affliction Gen. 35. 1. Arise go up to Bethel c. God was fain to quicken him with a scourge Sampson when his Vow was broken into how many dangers is he thrown into taken and bound and made a sport of by the Philistines God will rub up the memories of his servants by some sharp and severe dispensations of his Providence when they are not sensible of their Vow and Faith plighted to God Never forget your obligation to God Deut. 4. 23. Take heed to your selves