forth It is the express Condition of all the Promises and without Faith it is declared That we cannot look for Mercy Pardon or eternal Life And this is not a new thing introduced by the Gospel But the Divine Oeconomy from the beginning of the World did require Faith which is a Second Proof of its being absolutely necessary now As it appears now to be the chief Condition required of Men under the Gospel so it was under the Law as St. Paul declares Heb. ii Nay before the Law as appears from Abraham and the other Patriarchs Of Abraham it is said That he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness Gen. xv 6. Moreover Faith was exacted of Man even before the Fall while he was in a State of Innocence For the two Trees of Knowledge and of Life which God set apart in Paradise and the Interdiction of the First by that severe Sanction in that day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die was to try and exercise Man's Faith Thus the Divine Oeconomy before the Fall and ever since before the Law under the Law and by the Gospel hath always required Faith as a necessary Condition to the obtaining God's Favour In respect to the certain and unalterable Order and Method of which Oeconomy it is that St. Paul saith without faith it is impossible to please God And tho' the Counsel of God be secret and his Methods for the most part unaccountable yet the Reasonableness of this doth appear from this that without Faith in this present State we neither can acknowledge all the Divine Attributes nor yet worship him with all our Faculties His Veracity Truth and Faithfulness cannot be owned otherwise than by Faith by believing his Word assenting to his Declarations relying on his Promises and trembling at his Threatnings And as all those Divine Attributes can only be acknowledged by Faith so it is only by Faith that we worship him with our Understandings It is reasonable that we worship God with the whole Man all our Faculties ought to pay him Homage But how can he have Homage from our Understandings unless we believe It is only by Acts of Faith that we declare the Submission of our Judgment to God for if we will admit or receive nothing but what is demonstrable and what we can clearly comprehend then we deny God's infinite Wisdom and Knowledge and refuse to own his Reason to be above our own which is intolerable Pride and Insolence For this Cause even to try our Faith and to give us occasion to pay him this due Homage of our Reason and Understanding it is that God proposeth to us Mysteries which are incomprehensible and hence it is also that he often absconds himself as it were he worketh not always in a God-like manner that is in a splendid glorious or such a visible Way as may force Acknowledgment from Men but often after a secret and covert manner under the Shadow of Means and Instruments of divers sorts that hereby it may be proved whether we believe him Almighty and the wise Disposer of all things and Author of all Events In the other World Faith shall cease there will be no place for it because there will be a present immediate Intuition of the Divine Nature and Attributes but now that we are absent from the Lord we walk by Faith Thus you see that as Faith is required here so it is necessary and why it is so I have also briefly laid before you And as the Text obliged us to speak of this so the times we live in make it necessary for Atheism and Infidelity are setting up their Heads and some have the Impudence in this licentious Age to dispute both the Reasonableness and Necessity of what God has clearly revealed As for you My beloved I beseech you build your selves up in your most holy Faith and let not the weak Efforts of insolent Wits shake your Faith Stand up and strive vigorously for the Faith of the Gospel which has been confirmed by so many Miracles and Prophecies by such evident Demonstrations of the Spirit and Power that if it be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not least the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them Take heed Brethren saith St. Paul lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God When we let go Faith and entertain an Heart of Unbelief we depart from God lose the Promises forfeit Heaven render our selves uncapable of Mercy and give our selves to a reprobate Mind here and to Damnation hereafter He that layeth aside Faith may also put off the Name of a Christian and all the Pretensions which that Name may give to Blessings earthly or heavenly bodily or spiritual temporal or eternal For Faith is necessarily implyed in that Name and as requisite to him that would deserve it as the Skill of Law or Physick to one that sets up for a Lawyer or Physician or Philosphy to a Philosopher Seeing therefore we own our selves to be Christians that we may be worthy of so sacred a Name let us evermore pray God with the Man in the Gospel Saying Lord encrease our Faith and help our Unbelief But now it may be very pertinently asked what this Faith is which is thus required In answer to this St. Paul hath told us the first and lowest Acts of Faith when he saith He that cometh to God must first believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him We must begin with the Belief and Perswasion of God's Existence Power Wisdom Providence and what else Reason and the Light of Nature teacheth of him But then that our Faith may be perfect we must add to it Knowledge and extend it to all the Manifestations which God hath made of himself from time to time we must embrace all the Divine Revelations and what they contain All the Declarations Laws Promises and Threatnings in God's Word are proposed as Objects of Faith and by Faith we ought to receive them that is we must own and acknowledge them to be of God and by a constant regard to them in all our Actions testifie the Firmness and Sincerity of this Belief and Perswasion More particularly our Faith must respect the Person Offices Doctrine and Actions of the Lord Jesus Christ we must receive him as the Person who was promised to Adam Abraham and the Patriarchs who was foretold by the Prophets prefigured by the Law expected by the Jews and even waited for by the Gentiles we must receive him and rely upon him as the Son of God and Saviour of the World we must embrace him as the Person whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation for Sin and the Mediator by whom and through whom only we have access unto
into the World and has manifested himself to Men by him This Manifestation is the fullest and most glorious and so particular that it is a certain Mark to distinguish the true God from false Gods and the Worshippers of the one from the Worshippers of the other Jews Turks and Pagans and all those who worship their own Imaginations will readily say Blessed be God But none will add the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ but such as know and own the true God indeed Ever since this Manifestation of the true God he hath stiled himself by it and will have all to acknowledge him under this Title And they who own it not not only dishonour God and rob him of a great deal of Glory which thereby redounds to him but also they may be said to revolt from the Knowledge and Acknowledgment of the true God He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him saith Christ Iohn viij 23. And St. Iohn himself tells us Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also 1 Epistle ii 23. Wherefore such Acts of Worship as do thus particularly discriminate the true God and are so appropriate to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that they are applicable to none other are very necessary For this Reason our Initiation into the Worship and Service of the true God is by baptizing us into the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost And for the same Reason we ought often to receive the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper for hereby we make an express and peculiar Acknowledgment of this one true God viz. the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this also it appears how suitable a part of Christian Worship the usual Doxology is and how proper to annex it to the Psalms of David whereby they are adapted to the New Revelation of the Gospel and rendered so much Christian that neither Jews nor any but Christians will join in the Use of them Having thus considered the Author of our Happiness the Motive which induced him to bless us comes next to be considered The Obligation which ariseth by the conferring a Benefit is more or less according to the Motive or Cause which prompted it if it was extorted by Force and Compulsion if one be so driven to it that he cannot shun a Courtesie scarce any Obligation accrueth thereby if it be done out of respect to after Requitals it is but a mercenary Kindness and tho' it obligeth somewhat yet the Obligation is none of the greatest it only bindeth us to make some Recompence and particularly that which the Person might have an Eye to if it be reasonable as the Services of Servants bindeth to the paying their Wages which is all they have before them and when that is done the Obligation of their Services ceaseth But if a Favour be conferred freely out of pure Love and good Will the Obligation is both perpetual and of the highest Nature Such a Favour ought never to be forgotten and if it be great in it self too it bindeth to the utmost Love and Thankfulness Now such is our Obligation to God for as he hath blessed us with the highest Blessings as shall be seen afterwards so he hath done it most freely meerly out of his abundant mercy as the Text saith And the same is intimated every where throughout the Scripture Through the tender mercy of our God the day spring from on high hath visited us said Zachary Luke i. 78. Of his own will begat he us saith St. Paul Titus iii. 5. and Rom. ix 15. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion so then that it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Therefore in the same Chapter they who are saved and prepared unto Glory are called Vessels not of Justice or of Righteousness but of mercy to teach us that if it had not been for Mercy none would have been saved And indeed to what can our Salvation be ascribed but to the Mercy of God It cannot be said that he was constrained thereto by some external Cause for who can compel the Almighty Who can prescribe Laws to the absolute Sovereign of Heaven and Earth It was not the Hope of Profit that moved him for as Eliphaz said Can a Man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself Is it any Pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect My Goodness extendeth not to thee saith David for if thou be righteous what givest thou him Or what receiveth he of thine hand Thy wickedness may hurt a Man as thou art and thy righteousness may profit the Son of Man But we cannot make God either better or worse He stands in no need of us nor is it possible for any either in Heaven or Earth to add or take from his Greatness Happiness or Glory for what can be added to or impaired from an infinite Being Suppose God was obliged to give those celestial Mansions to such as could merit them yet who could claim them even on that Account His Angels he chargeth with folly What is Man then that he should be clean And he which is born of a Woman that he should be righteous If he did enter into Iudgment who could stand What Man could be justified in his sight Whatever God would have been obliged to if Man had continued innocent yet sure considering us in our lapsed State it must be acknowledged that it is Mercy only which saves us unless we say that he is obliged by Rebellion Treachery impious Affronts wicked Insolencies and continued Provocations But being these can only be thought to irritate his Anger therefore we ought to conclude with the Scripture that it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed And that we are not only not consumed as we deserve but moreover called to Glory and eternal Life is not Mercy simply but abundant yea superabundant mercy as our Text speaks Would you but take a View of your Hearts and Actions for one Day and consider not only the lesser Follies and Impertinencies you are guilty of but the grosser Faults the unclean and wicked Thoughts which arise in your Hearts the rash and evil Words which proceed from your Mouth what Sins are committed and what Good is left undone in how many things you offend altogether and how light the best Actions would be if they were weighed in the Balance I say were those impartially examined the Guilt of one Day would be found exceeding great and then what would it be if the Sins of all the Days and Years we lived were added And seeing our Case is such tell me is it not Mercy only which tieth the Hands of Divine
Justice nay abundant Mercy which maketh God to pass over so many and so great Offences and not only to spare us but to be willing to make us happy Thus we see how free God's Love is to usward and that nothing but his own abundant Mercy could move him to set his Heart upon us and to do us good which partly encreaseth the Obligation of his Benefits though they be in themselves too as great as can be as will appear by taking a View of this Summ of them that St. Peter gives us here Which was The Third Point proposed The Apostle designed not to give a Catalogue of all God's wonderful Works to us the Children of Men this would have swelled his Epistle much beyond what it is He passeth by the many Thousand Mercies he hath done and daily doth for our Bodies and bodily Life and only takes notice of what he has done for our Souls because on their Welfare our Happiness mainly depends The good of the Body and present Life would yield small Content if the Soul were lost And if the Soul be saved if it have those things which are agreeable to it and which perfect it there is abundant Matter of rejoicing tho' the Comforts of the Body be much wanting Wherefore we see the Apostle here teacheth those to whom he writes who were Strangers scattered abroad and often persecuted to rejoice notwithstanding because through the abundant mercy of God they were begotten again to a lively hope c. The first Benefit reckoned up here is that we are begotten again and indeed it is the Foundation and Beginning of all our Happiness without this it were simply impossible to make us not miserable Now by this is meant the giving us a New or Second Birth a putting us into another State than what we are in by our present natural Generation If any ask what needed this Were we not well enough before It might suffice to answer That there was great need for it seeing God thought fit to do it and that his doing it is made an Instance of his great Mercy for Deus Natura nihil faciunt frustra But if this satisfie not the Necessity of this and the Greatness of the Benefit will evidently appear to such as view the Wretchedness of our State by ordinary natural Generation I say ordinary natural Generation and not our first Creation for Man as he came first out of the Hands of God was in a good State he was like his Maker Wise Holy Pure and Innocent If he had kept this State there would have been no need of renewing it or of making him over again But he kept not this first State but fell into a State of Sin and Corruption he lost the Favour of God incurred his Wrath and Displeasure and became liable to his Wrath and Curse and all the Miseries of this present Life and that which is to come And as all Mankind are descended from those first Parents since they fell from their original Righteousness and Purity and have been propagated in a State of Sin and Corruption so all are generated Sinners filthy and corrupt The sinful Leprosie of Adam is inherent in all his Children and the Curse he brought on himself is entailed on all his Posterity Behold saith David I was shapen in Iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me Psal. li. 5. And our Saviour tells us That which is born of the flesh is flesh for if the Fountain be corrupt what flows from it must be corrupt too who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one It is said Gen. v. that Adam was made after the Image of God but that he himself begat a Son in his own Likeness viz. in a State of Sin and Corruption And as this befalls all of us for Sin is an inseparable Consequent of ordinary natural Generation so that it renders us most ugly and loathsome Sin is the Disease of the Soul and causeth as great Deformity and Vileness to the Soul as the worst of Diseases to the Body If any be not sensible of this it is because it is so common and ordinary and is in a manner natural to them for so we see long Custom and Familiarity will lessen the Horrour of things which ought to be abhorred But whatever they think whose Senses are benumm'd with Sin yet others nauseat and abhorr Sin as the worst of Evils Sin is so abominable in God's Sight that his Eye cannot behold it Saints and such as are begotten again complain heavily of this Defilement of their Nature and look upon it with Grief and Indignation David sets it forth under the Similitude of a most filthy bodily Disease Psal. xxxviii and Ezek. xvi This our natural State is elegantly compared to an exposed Infant of wretched Parents lying wallowing in its Blood and natural Pollution and wanting those good Offices which are necessary to make it live But as there is Filthiness in this State so likewise much Pain and Misery All the Anguish and Trouble of our Spirits proceed hence from this Corruption and Depravation of our Natures come those inward Torments and Vexations of Mind which we feel were it not for this we could draw Contentment and Satisfaction from any external Condition as a Man in perfect Health can sleep soundly upon any Bed And if one be pained with the Gout Stone or other Disease how unreasonable were it to cast the blame of his Trouble and Uneasiness upon the Bed he lies or the House he dwells in So the Cause of our Grief and Trouble is more within than without us it is more to be ascribed to the Disorder of our Minds by Sin than to the outward Inconveniences of our external Condition in the World But besides the inward Pain of Sin which is the Result of its Nature it is loaded with external Misery for it is prosecuted by the Wrath of Almighty God and his Displeasure falls heavy upon it Upon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup Psal. ii 6. Now this Wretchedness of our first natural Generation shews both the Necessity and Advantage of being regenerated How happy a thing is it to be washen from the Guilt and cleansed from the Filth of Sin to be delivered from the Punishment and freed from the Power and Dominion thereof That is to be begotten again in the Language of the Text for all that is implied in these Words Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no guile Psal. xxxii 1. But though this be considerable ye 〈◊〉 it is not all God hath not only delivered us from the Miseries of a sinful State but he hath also designed for us greater Glory and Felicity than what we lost by Sin The actual Possession hereof is not till hereafter for
because I do not look upon them as matters of such moment in themselves or of such concernment to me But believing the Truth of the Gospel and knowing the importance of what is revealed therein I find it my duty to esteem it as my necessary Food and that it is as proper and necessary to refresh my Soul with serious and daily Meditations thereof as to give my Body those repasts which Nature daily calls for This made our Apostle desire to know nothing save Iesus Christ and him crucified and to say doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. And as such a Faith is required in all the Mysteries of the Gospel so more particularly in the Mystery of the Cross the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ and that Satisfaction he has made thereby for Sin These we should have an Eye to all in our Addresses to God and more especially such solemn Addresses as those we are now to make For he who believes this relies thereon and by vertue thereof draws near to God does confess himself a great Sinner that it had been just for God to have damned him eternally that it is only for the sake of Christ he is saved and that the Wisdom and Mercy of God is highly to be magnified in finding out such excellent Means and Methods for the Salvation of Man and by such Acknowledgments the greatest Sinner endears himself to God and conciliates his Favour and Kindness But he who denies this or has no respect thereto when he draws near to God must either not own himself a Sinner or not think it necessary to satisfie God's Justice or to repair his Honour which is provoked and affronted by Sin or he must not believe that Jesus Christ hath done this for us and that he is the only Mediator betwixt God and Man but must fancy he can come to God by himself or through some other besides Christ and which soever of these perswasions he has he is so far from finding acceptance that he at once both exasperates God and provoketh him who had undertaken to make his Peace and who only could do it I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me therefore it 's said He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God Secondly I told you the Faith here required must also have a respect to our acceptance with God that is we must not only be firmly perswaded of God's Mercy and his good Will to save Sinners But that we our selves in particular shall find Grace in his Sight if we approach as we ought and bring no Impediment along with us and 't would seem the Translators of our Bible have chiefly respected this act of Faith in the Translation of this Text. Christ required of all those who came to him to be cured of their bodily Distempers Faith both in his Power and good Will And St. Matthew tells us He did no mighty works in his own countrey because of their unbelief St. Mark saith further that he could not do it Which we are not so to understand as if our Lord's Power could be restrained by any or that he depended upon Men for the exercise thereof but only that the want of this Faith rendred those Men unworthy of his Benefits and indisposed them for receiving them And as these temporal and bodily Benefits were not commonly conferred without this precious Faith so neither will spiritual and temporal Blessings as Mercy and Salvation be granted except to those who are disposed for them by earnest Desires and a sincere belief of God's being ready and willing to bestow them or at least if they be given to any other 't is not according to those ordinary Rules and Methods of the Dispensation of Grace which we ought to walk by For this Faith is always required as a necessary condition All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive saith Christ. And St. Iames saith Let not that man who wanteth Faith think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. This Faith is requisite both to animate our Endeavours after the means of Grace and Salvation and also to excite God's love and to encline him to be merciful to us 'T is natural to love those who put confidence in us and he has no spark of generosity who will not do his utmost for those who altogether rely on him if a Sinner can confide in God notwithstanding that he hath offended him if he throw himself at his Feet and can but believe that God has so much Mercy as to forgive him all his Sins and upon his Repentance to receive him into Favour for the sake of Christ He by this act so honoureth God and so obligeth him to Mercy by his trust in him that he will not he cannot abandon him This is set forth to us in the Parable of the Prodigal for when the Penitent Son was yet a great way off his Father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him And as this Faith enclines God to Mercy so it animates our Endeavours it excites and quickens us to a cheerful Performance of all the Means and Conditions of Salvation The Husbandman soweth when he has Hope and the Merchant Tradeth when he has Hope of Gain and every Man plyeth heartily what he believes will succeed but Men are discouraged and made to give over their Endeavours when they take up a Perswasion that they shall but labour in vain A double minded man saith St. Iames that is one who hangs in suspence who is tossed with Doubts and Fears he is unstable in all his ways Such an one is inconstant he pursues not his Enterprizes but desists he is not steadfast and unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord as every one ought to be and as he will be who knows and believes that his Labour is not in vain When therefore we draw near to God let us do it in this full Assurance of Faith that we may do it heartily so as to please God let us not entertain Doubts and Fears which but disquiet our own Minds and cast dishonour upon God Would not a Servant reflect either upon the Ability or Honesty of his Master if he questioned his Reward for the sincere Performance of his Service If ye who are evil and sinful think your selves oblig'd to love and be faithful to those who seek to please you will not God think you be more faithful and just to forgive us and to receive us into his Favour if we approve our selves unto him Is there any thing surer than his Word Are not
other things a Man is sure of it Sow Righteousness and ye shall sow to your selves none shall come betwixt you and the blessed Fruits which is produced by that sowing Wherefore it is here added and reap in mercy Because the Verb here is the Imperative Mood some will have this a Command for a farther Progress in doing that good we have explained to be contained under the first Head But this cannot be admitted for besides the Tautology we must put a strain'd and unusual sense upon Reaping Wherefore certainly in this Phrase is set forth the gracious Reward wherewith God will bless Sowing in Righteousness Reaping follows Sowing and is the natural effect thereof so who Sows in Righteousness shall Reap in Mercy tho' what they thus Reap be neither the necessary natural effect of what they sow nor yet the just desert thereof if they merited what they Reap it should not be called Mercy But it is so called that they may not think what is given them to be their due If Men would consider themselves and their actions impartially and lay aside all proud thoughts they would adjudge their merits to ' be small and that little belonged to them on that account However all who ply Sowing in Righteousness sincerely may look for Mercy as the Husband-man doth for a Crop after he hath sown nay they may assure themselves of it which he cannot do they may claim it as their Privilege by virtue of the Divine Promise which can never fail With respect to which Promise and the undoubted certainty thereof the Prophet bids them here Reap Mercy Reap is Imperative to denote the certainty of the thing as if there were no more requisite than to put forth the hand and take it in which sense the Imperative is usually taken in Scripture as Ezek. xviii 32. They have not the promise nor are they capable of Mercy who sow not in Righteousness Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish shall be upon every soul of man that doth evil Rom. ii 9. As therefore Sowing must go before Reaping so Sowing in Righteousness must be previous to the Reaping in Mercy this is necessary not that we may merit but that we may be fit objects of Mercy And as naturally the Crop exceeds the measure of the Grain which was Sown so the Gifts and Expressions of God's Mercy towards righteous Persons shall infinitely exceed the Works done by them Wherefore a Iewish Doctor hath not ill express'd it Sow c. Do that which is good in mine eyes and the good Reward which ye shall receive of me shall be far greater than your good Works as he that soweth a Bushel hopes to reap two or more and therefore in the Command for sowing he useth the word Iustice but in the promise of Reaping the word Chesed Mercy or Benignity which is more than Iustice or what in strict Iustice can be required The Mercy which they who Sow in Righteousness shall Reap is like God himself the Author thereof infinite and so cannot be express'd We cannot particularize all the ways whereby God will shew his Mercy to such Persons It is written Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. ii 9. As long before the Harvest the Husbandman is refreshed with the sight and savour of his Field so God comforteth and refresheth the Souls of the righteous even in this World and hereafter he Crowns them with unspeakable Glory and blesseth them with eternal Life The Light of God's Countenance even in this Life where its beams are often intercepted do yet afford more Joy than in the time of Harvest when Corn and Wine and Oil abound with Men And what will it do in the other World where it shines fully and clearly and without interruption and where there is nothing to obstruct the Power and Efficacy thereof Lord What Joy is there in the very prospect of this Harvest How happy and blessed are they who are sure of it What a kindness is it that we have liberty to throw in our poor stock into such a profitable Bank and a Privilege to Sow where we may Reap so much With what Face can any refuse the Occasion or what Excuse is sufficient Have Men by their many Inventions found out any higher Felicity than what God and his Superabundant Mercy can confer or is there a nearer way or more proper to this than that which the Prophet directs to the Sowing in Righteousness Is it better to labour for Temporal than Eternal things for that Meat which perisheth than that which endureth to Life everlasting Will ye plough Wickedness and reap Iniquity and eat the Fruit of Lyes that is will ye die rather than live This were a mad and shameful Choice and yet one of them we must make for there is no middle Course left us It is certain the Wages of Sin are Death and that there is no way to Everlasting Life but to have our Fruit unto Holiness Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a Man soweth that shall he also reap He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting Gal. vi 7. The Prophet having told them what they would reap returns to exhort them to the Use of those means which are requisite in order to it and to the Performance of those Duties to which reaping in Mercy is promised which People have need to be put in mind of for ordinarily they are very slack and negligent Many would be at reaping but few set themselves to the Work and Labour that must go before it they would be putting in the sickle in Harvest-time though they have not sown nor made any Preparation for it But those who sow not shall not reap and that our sowing may be successful we are bid first break up our fallow ground for Interpreters make the Prophets Speech Elliptick and will have First or After that or some such Word to be understood If the Ground be not prepared sowing is to no Purpose the Seed was lost that fell on stony ground among thorns and in the high-way The good and precious Seed to be sown is the Word of God our Hearts are the Ground which must receive it and they cannot receive it till they be made honest and good as our Saviour speaks Luke viii 15. and in order to this they must be prepared Pains must be taken on them Break up your fallow Ground If the Husband-man did not till his Ground cast Furrows in it and root out the Weeds thereof he needed not sow and would in vain expect a Crop So our Hearts by their natural Constitution are like fallow ground which was never laboured which is indisposed for receiving Seed from the Sower and of it self brings forth only Thorns and Briars The natural Product of
Company doth not cure it only seemeth to give ease so when it is gone when the Night comes that the Sick is left alone then the Person grows weary because he feels his Trouble and is sensible of his Pain and gets nothing to divert it Just so if Men would retire from outward Diversions if they would seriously look into themselves and consider their Condition they should find themselves very loathsome they should see in themselves great Cause of Grief and Sorrow this would make their Souls restless and weary then would they turn from side to side and cry out of their wretchedness then the words of Rest and Ease to the Soul would be acceptable and heard with delight then our Text would be received as a Sovereign Cordial and indeed it is prepared only for such It speaks of rest shews where it is but none are invited but such as are sensible of their Misery the weary they who labour and are heavy laden And if such please to listen if such will receive these words and obey them their Minds shall presently be disburdened they shall be eased of all their Grief For the Words of Jesus cannot fail his Advice cannot chuse but be Proper and Effectual and he hath said Come unto me take my Yoke upon you learn of me for I am meek and lowly and ye shall find rest to your Souls In the former Discourse on this Text I shewed what was meant by labouring and being heavy laden and upon what account this Appellation may be given to all Mankind I shewed that all are under the Burthen of a four-fold Misery viz. Affliction Vanity and Dissatisfaction the Fear of Death and the Guilt of Sin As also that a due sense of this Misery was required as a Disposition to the Cure and a necessary Preparation to the obtaining true Rest and Ease to our Souls I intend at this time to consider the other Conditions required which you see are Three viz. 1. Coming to Christ. 2. Taking his Yoke 3. Learning of him The Conditions are not many and they are very reasonable I will begin with the First which is Coming to Christ. None can be so ignorant as to understand this of the Approach of our Bodies towards Christ for they to whom he spake could not come nearer unto him And we now cannot approach him with our Bodies The Rest to which we are called is a Rest of Soul and therefore to obtain this the Motion of the Soul and not of the Body is requisite and proper By this First is meant the giving our selves up entirely to his Counsel and Management The Sick are bidden go to the Physician and they who are injured and oppressed to the Lawyer The meaning of which is not that they should gaze upon their Persons look them in the Face and hear them talk for what Ease or Relief can that be either to the one or the other But thereby is understood the receiving their Instruction and following it And it is Folly to make Application if one be not resolved to take Advice What good can the Physician do if the Patient be willful if he will only receive the Potions which relish with his vitiated Palate and not what the Physician judges best and most proper If one desire to be cured throughly and speedily he ought to yield himself absolutely to the Physician 's Skill Even so if we would have our Souls cured if we would have them eased of all the Trouble with which they labour we ought to apply our selves to Jesus Christ who is the true and only Physician who only can restore Health and give Peace But then our Application ought to be an entire Resignation to his Conduct and should be attended with a full Resolution to be guided by him in every thing We ought not to carry towards him as some peevish and humoursome Patients to their Physician who judge his Prescriptions approve and condemn them as if they had studied the Art and did understand all the Rules of Medicine as well as he Alas Many are of the same unreasonable Temper and do behave themselves thus toward Jesus the great Physician of Souls They come to him but they bring their Humours with them which they will not part with And if his Advice and Prescriptions agree not with their Humours they reject and condemn them And hence it is that they are not the better by coming to Christ. Indeed when we have to do with Men there is no Reason that we should altogether lay aside our own Judgment and follow them in every thing for the most knowing is fallible But Jesus is Infallible he cannot be mistaken Can he err in whom are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And can any doubt of his Concernment for our Health Will not he love us who hath done so much for us Will not he seek our good who spared not his own Life for our sakes He has all the Skill and Knowledge and Affection and Concernment which can be desired Therefore we ought to come to him and to come without Reserve we ought to lay aside all Prejudice and should yield our selves wholly to his Conduct and Management that we may the sooner be sensible of his Skill and feel to our Comfort that he is a Physician of great Value But Secondly By coming to Christ is meant believing in him for so we find it expounded in Scripture as appears by these Places Heb. ii 6. He that cometh to God must believe that he is I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst And as by this and other places it appears That coming to Christ is to be understood of believing in him So the absolute Necessity of Faith in Christ in order to the Participation of his Benefits may be made evident many ways First From express Texts of Scripture I shall instance but in a few of some Hundreds which might be produced Thus Iohn iij. 14. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life ver 16. For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting live ver 18. he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God 1 John v. 12. he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life To whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest but to them that believed not so we see that they could not enter in because of Unbelief Heb. iij. 18 19. There is not a Chapter in all the New Testament in which the Necessity of Faith and the Danger of Infidelity is not held