the Grave than to be raised for Damnation their Sentence of Condemnation and their vain Pleas and Pleadings for mercy But O that Men would come in at God's time and cry for mercy as they will do out of time How much better would it be for them God's time is now to day the present time 2 Cor. 6.2 Now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation If Men refuse God's mercy in his time he will deny his mercy when sought in their time and out of his Isa 30.18 He waits to be gracious and willing to be exalted in having mercy Notwithstanding all the mercy with the Lord all the mercy that is offered in the Promise the Lord never promised a Sinner his mercy to morrow If you will beg his mercy to day you may have it and it shall endure for ever But God never gave an Allowance and Liberty to any Man to spend one Day or Hour in consulting whether he should beg God's mercy or not David had indeed a sad choice of Judgments laid before him 2 Sam. 24.13 and is bid by the Prophet Advise now and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me But for a perishing Sinner that hath an Offer of God's mercy in Jesus Christ there is no delay allowed but only he is bid ask it presently 2. Receave God's mercy Receaving is easier than asking Asking requires some pains Receaving is but a consent of the Heart to take what is offered Asking supposeth a great and needful Blessing that he that wants it would fain have and therefore he begs it Receaving implies that this great Blessing is in his Offer fully and freely and therefore he must accept it Here is the State of things betwixt God and Men in the Gospel The Lord brings his mercy near to them offers it to them bids them take and receave it but many will not God offers Quarter to Rebels in Arms against him but they stand upon their Sword and will not take Quarter Ministers Work is to entreat and beseech in Christ's stead 2 Cor. 5.20 God only can perswade and prevail with Men. Mercy comes prepared and ready for Men. It is prepared in the Purchase of Christ it is prepared in the well-ordered Covenant and as prepared and ready it is tendered freely to Sinners All things are ready Come to the Marriage Matth. 22.4 All things are ready God himself is ready to give mercy Christ is ready he is slain for us let us come and keep the Feast 1 Cor. 5.7,8 The Holy Spirit is ready to seal you to the Day of Redemption if you will accept of God's mercy in the Redeemer Heaven is ready the Way is plain and all hinderances of Law and Justice removed Heb. 10.19,20 The City of Refuge is ready and its Gates are open continually to receave and give entrance to all that flee for safety Heb. 6.18 Alas all things are ready but Men are not willing there is not a moments time needed to ripen God's mercy for Men. No perishing Sinner that seeth his need of God's Mercy and is willing to receave it needs stay a moment till mercy be ready for him or he more ready for it Rom. 10.6 The Righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise how very few have Ears to hear such a Speaker and such a Speech Say not in thine heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ dowu from above Or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the dead Christ is come down already from Heaven and is gone back again to Heaven ver 7. But what saith it The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of Faith which we preach Mercy and Salvation for lost Sinners is prepared by Christ's coming down and going up again and he hath lodg'd the Power and Vertue of his Undertaking in the Gospel suck at that Well with Faith and thy Soul shall be saved There thou wilt find Christ and all his fulness There was never such a Treaty made in the World We can fetch no Similitude fully like this amongst Men. Thus the Lord pleads with Men in the Gospel You are already undone with sin and misery lying on you and you are every hour sinking into greater Let but my mercy in my Son enter in and it will cure all that is past and present and prevent all the misery that is coming on you And will not miserable Sinners receave God's mercy Are you afraid of saving mercy Will it hurt you Why do ye not give it entrance It is one of the greatest demonstrations what Monsters sin hath made Men that they are unwilling to be saved by free mercy in Jesus Christ Open a Door for God's mercy by a free receaving of it or else you will find the Door of his mercy shut against you when you need it most Your giving way to his mercy is your receaving of it Say with the Heart Let God's mercy enter in upon me and save me its own way A yielding and giving and putting of a lost Soul into the hand of Christ is the nature of saving Faith in him Will ye not trust in his mercy Is it not able to save you Your want of a sense of your need of his mercy is a giving the lie to all the Threatenings and Curse of the Law Your doubting of the Ability of his mercy to save you is to give the lie to all the Faithfulness and Truth of God declared and sworn in the Gospel 3. Plead mercy When you beg it use no other Plea for mercy but mercy When you beg mercy you must beg mercy only for Mercy 's sake That that moves God to shew mercy must be our Argument in pleading for mercy Wherefore doth God show mercy because he will show mercy and delights in it Micah 7.18 and therefore should we plead it Mercy in his Heart is the only spring of mercy from his Hand David who knew God's mercy well had tasted of it often and needed it greatly when fallen into a foul Pit Psal 51.1 thus pleads for mercy Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving kindness according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions Have a care of making any other Plea for mercy from the Lord but that of mercy with him And stick to this Plea and it will prevail If the Lord for trying of your Faith or Satan for shaking it should say How dare such a vile sinner as thou art beg so great a Gift as saving mercy from so holy a God The poor Pleader hath a ready answer I want mercy as much as my Soul is worth in vain do I seek it of any Creature nothing but his mercy can save me I beg mercy only for mercy's sake I bring nothing but a starving Soul and an empty hand I beg his mercy as an Alms which will eternally enrich the Receaver
as if there was no Throne of Grace at all They that never hear of Christ must perish It is an idle dream that the efficacy of Christ's Death may be apply'd and profitable to the saving of adult persons that never heard of him There is no Salvation for Men but by Jesus Christ there is no knowing of it or partaking of it but by the word of Truth the Gospel of our Salvation Eph. 1.13 Christ and his name go together Acts 4.12 Neither is there Salvation in any other No Saviour but he For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved No other way of getting good by him but by hearing of his Name and believing on his Name How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard Rom. 10.14 It is a wonderful Mercy to hear of Him But Wo to them that hear and do not believe None can believe without hearing Rom. 10.17 But alas many hear and believe not Isa 53.1 2. Consider the great advantages of this priviledge of having a Throne of Grace erected for us and revealed to us All blessings may be had here by coming for them If there was such a Throne in this world for Silver and Gold and Health and outward Mercies what strange crowding would there be to it The Blessings to be had here are innumerable for multitude All spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus Eph. 1.3 Blessings invaluable for their worth Eternal in their duration most free in their Tenure and all given in Love Every act of favour from the throne of grace is more worth than all God's common Mercies Lord lift up upon us the light of thy countenance Psal 4.6,7 that will put joy into the soul Every thing given at the throne of grace is a blessing of Grace It s very name should teach people how to come and how to call what they get at it If it be a throne of Grace we should come to it as empty needy Beggars and when we recieve any thing there we should call and count it Grace Ask all Saints on Earth and they will witness that great and good things are to be had at the throne of grace Try it your selves and you will find it is not invain to beg here Nay the damned in Hell do bear sad witness that great are the blessings that are to be had at the throne of grace which they feel and know by their woful and eternal loss of them The glorified in Heaven know what a rich throne of grace this is Only sinners on earth will not believe this nor use this throne as they should 3. Consider that this Court and Throne is of short continuance It will not be kept up always There is a limitation of the time of its lasting As Heb. 4.7 He limiteth a certain day The day of the continuance of the throne of grace is bounded and limited with four days The day of a mans life the Gospel day the Worlds day and the Spirits day 1. The day of every mans life This hath bounds set to it by God Job 14.5 The throne of Grace continues unto men no longer than they live When men die they go not to the throne of grace but of Glory and Judgment If we have sped well at the throne of grace we shall be welcome to the throne of glory The uncertainty and shortness of life with the certainty of the expiring of all Treaties betwixt God and us about Salvation at the end of Life should make people careful to secure the main matter in Gods time 2. There is the Gospel day this is also set and limited by the Lord. He hath determined how many offers you shall have of Christ and when they come to an end there will not be one more And then the throne of grace is taken down as to you Luke 19.42 If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes saith our Lord to Jerusalem This was the ending determining day to Jerusalem as a City and to its Inhabitants as a Body though many particular persons had another day of grace Yet the slipping of that day hangs on that poor people and their Posterity to this very day 3. There is the Worlds day and then the day of grace will end as to all when the Bridegroom cometh they that are ready enter with him to the marriage and the door was shut Matth. 25.10 There was no more grace to be dispensed to men and we know not when that day will come Miserable is their case who shall see Christ coming in the Clouds of Heaven before they have seen him by Faith in the Gospel who heart the voice of the Archangel and the Trump of God before they have heard the quickning voyce of the Son of God from the throne of grace who have neglected calling on him in time and begin out of time Luke 13.25 When the Master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying Lord Lord open to us Is it not just that they should be kept at the shut door that would not enter at an open door in Christ's time and when he called When Christ comes and hath shut the door no man will be let in knock as he will Now while the throne of grace is patent no man will be kept out be what he will that hath a mind to enter and knocks for entrance 4. There is the Spirits day Here is a great depth of Gods Soveraignty and Wisdom a great depth of his Severity an unaccountable and awful Judgment how the Spirit of God strives with men in the Gospel how near he comes to them sometimes how close he besiegeth them that they seem to be on the point of yielding and are not far from the kingdom of God and yet he draws back his hand and leaves them I believe that many ungodly men many reprobates have been sometimes in their life nearer to Heaven if such may be said to be near to Heaven that never come there then many an Elect person was half an hour before his Conversion Gen. 6.3 My Spirit shall not always strive with man What kind of striving this was and what became of them striven with we have 1 Pet. 3.19,20 Nothing will more bitterly aggravate the eternal misery of the Damned than the remembrance of this that they had a day and in that day grace offered to them and that they did reject the offer Mens carnal hearts are now full of cavils against the unsearchable methods and ways of God towards the Sons of Men but the last days Judgment will determine and declare That in the perdition of the Ungodly there was and is most pure and unspotted Justice and Righteousness and in the salvation of all the Elect pure perfect and predominant grace that
Peace and Acceptance only in that blessed Beloved beloved of the Father both as his Son and our Saviour and beloved of all that ever saw but a little of his saving Face and Glory Let such go and prosper the Lord is with you the Lord is before you He will welcome the Mediator in his bringing you to him 1 Pet. 3.18 and welcome you with Salvation who come in his Name for it The Prodigals Welcome Luke 15. is but a Shadow of what ye shall meet with Christ welcomes dearly all that come to him And the Father welcomes the Believer that cometh in Christ's Name and is brought in Christ's Hand to this Throne SERMON VI. HEB. IV. 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need FROM this Text I have already spoken to three of the things I did take up in it 1. Unto the Throne of Grace it self that is erected for and revealed to Sinners in the Gospel That new Court of Grace which the Lord invites the fallen Seed of Adam to come unto 2. I have spoke to that Boldness that is allowed and commanded in coming to it We are not only allowed to come but we must come or perish and bring the guilt of our own Souls Blood upon our Heads by refusing Acts 18.6 We not only may come and try but we may and must come boldly and confidently expecting to speed in coming 3. I have spoke to the great Ground of this Confidence couched in the Word therefore in the Text and relating to ver 14 15. Were it not for Christ's Place and Business and Heart in Heaven no Man on Earth could have boldness at the Throne of Grace The fourth and last thing in the Verse is the end we should come for and the great Blessings we may receave by coming expressed in two Words That we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need God's Mercy and Grace are the most comprizing comprehensive Blessings and these Expressions of them contain all that is needful for our Happiness Nothing can be added to them No Blessing but is in them no Blessing is without them It is the common Apostolick Prayer and such Prayers made by the Pen-men of the Holy Scripture under the immediate guidance of the Holy Ghost are equivalent to Divine Promises yea are such Grace be to you sometimes Grace Mercy and Peace be to you So that these Words as they stand in the Text do equally answer those two Inquiries 1. What good things shall we get at the throne of grace The Spirit of God answers You may and shall obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need And are not these well worth coming for Are they any where else to be had And here they may surely be found How should this endear the Throne of Grace to us and engage to coming to it 2. Wherefore should we come with what design What end should be in our Eye Come saith the Spirit by the Apostle's Pen that ye may obtain the one and find the other Come that ye may get both Design this getting in your coming I would first speak of our coming that we may obtain Mercy and on it discourse of these three things 1. Of the Mercy that is to be got at the throne of grace 2. Of the import of the Phrase Obtaining of Mercy 3. Of the Duty required of coming with this Design that we may obtain this Mercy 1. Of the Mercy that is to be obtained at the Throne of Grace You see it is only Mercy that is named without any mention made whose Mercy it is or of what sort it is But when miserable Sinners are invited to come to God's Throne of Grace for Mercy it may be easily known whose it is and what it is It is God's Mercy in Jesus Christ who is the Mercy-seat or Throne of Grace it is uot Angel-mercy or Creature-mercy but God's Mercy And who can tell what a great and vast thing his Mercy is Mercy in the proper Notion of it is a kind relieving Compassion to the miserable The Object of Mercy is a miserable creature Divine Goodness shines in giving Being to Nothing and in creating all things Wisdom in ordering them and guiding them to his Glory Justice in disposing of them according to his Will the essential Rule of Righteousness But Mercy hath no fit Object till Misery appear for Mercy to act on The Shower of Mercy is a compassionate Person its Nature and End is to relieve the miserable Mercy with God is another sort of Mercy than what is required of and can be practised by Creatures We may and should have compassion on the miserable whom we are not able nor allowed to relieve The Judge that condemns the Criminal should do it with Mercy and Compassion but he breaks the Law if he suffer his Mercy to delay or divert a Righteous Sentence and Execution But the Lord's Mercy is not only Tenderness and Compassion in his own Heart so we borrow Words by the pattern of sound Words in the Scripture to speak of God after the manner of Men but it is always relieving to the Person on whom it is bestowed Let the misery be never so great and of what kind soever it be whoever they be that are the Objects of his Mercy they are certainly relieved thereby There is no Redemption out of the Pit though their Misery that are there is the greatest Why because there is no Mercy for them If it were possible that God's Mercy in Christ could enter into Hell it self as it falls on many very near to it that Mercy would bring them out But the Door of Mercy is quite shut upon them and the Lord hath resolved and declared that his Mercy shall never visit them That we may the better understand what this Mercy of God is the getting whereof we should make our great Errand to the Throne of Grace it will be needful to consider that misery in men that renders them needy of this mercy And this I would consider as it actually lies on them and is incumbent or as it is coming on them and imminent 1. The misery that all natural Men lye under It 's true they do not see it nor feel it but this makes not their misery the less but the greater For insensibleness of misery especially where it is removeable and when this insensibleness is a hinderance of using the right means of removing it is a great plague and an aggravation of the misery I shall give you a few Scripture-accounts of this misery 1. The misery of a natural Man and of all natural Men is that they are utterly destitute of all true good In me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Rom. 7.18 Must it not be so much more with them that are Flesh and in the Flesh and have nothing in them but Flesh The first notion we
of this Mercy of God We do not reckon a man miserable only on the account of what he feels but also on that of his just Fears And generally the smart of misery is raised from fear rather and more than from feeling If any thing renders a man's present State miserable the apprehension of the duration or increase of what he feels adds greatly to his misery Many things would be little complained of as great Evils were a man sure that in a moment they shall be removed But in a Sinner's Case for as bad as it is at present it will surely be worse with him shortly if mercy prevent not There is certainty of its coming and an eternal duration of it when it comes It is called the Wrath to come 1 Thes 1.10 Nothing like it ever came on them Present Wrath though dreadful is but a trifle to that that is to come It is Wrath to come for it will surely come As surely as God lives as surely as God is true in his word of Threatning this Wrath will come on the World of the Ungodly No putting of this evil Day far away but in vain Thoughts no diverting or keeping it back a moment All the united Force of the rebellious part of the Creation will not be able to stem or stop this fearful Tide of Wrath. It is Wrath to come for it is still coming and approaching As many Days and Years as an ungodly sinner counts in his life as many Days and Years Journeys hath God's Wrath made towards him Think on this Old Sinners God's Wrath and you are near to meet except mercy interpose You think you run from it but it runs after you it will come upon you and pursue you and overtake you as Deut. 28.45 It 's Wrath to come because it is always a coming and never past The Tide of God's Wrath on the Damned is an eternal Flood there will never be an ebbing Look down to Hell and see how they fare there Alas Men will not believe and fear and fly and therefore must feel How many daily hear of this Wrath to come and yet never have any fear of it till they be irrecoverably plunged into it Who never awaken out of the sleep of security till awakened by the Flashes of Hell fire Who will never believe God's Wrath till they feel it No true Believer goes to Hell all Unbelievers are sent thither but as soon they come there they become woful Believers because eternal feelers of this Wrath to come Mens danger of this dreadful State should make them cry mightily for God's Mercy as it renders them unspeakably needy of it But your own serious Thoughts about it would do you more good than many Words can The second thing proposed is What is the obtaining of mercy A frequent manner of Speech in Scripture 1 Tim. 1.13 Who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious But I obtained mercy 1 Pet. 2.10 Which in time past were not a people but are now the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy This Phrase of obtaining mercy speaks forth 1. That the mercy is God's Gift Our obtaining is the fruit of his giving I obtained mercy saith Paul and may every Believer say How so he gave it he showed he demonstrated it as 1 Tim. 1.16 It is the Lord 's shewing it tendering and giving of it that is the only spring of our obtaining it We do not buy it we do not work it out we are no way meet for it but by misery God's mercy springs not out of the Earth but comes down from Heaven It is the Gift of God And as such must all seek it that would obtain it and as such will all eternally own it that do obtain it 2. This Phrase speaks forth a particular application of mercy to the Receaver by the Giver of it I obtained mercy saith Paul general mercy would not do my business another man's mercy would not save me I must have it of my own for my self and so I got it Mercy came to me made me a Visit and applyed it self to me in particular So must it be with you You will never be saved you shall never see God's Face in Glory unless his mercy deal with you and apply it self as particularly to you as if there were no other Person in the World to be saved by Mercy besides thy self There is indeed a blessed multitude of the Vessels of Mercy and the Captain of our Salvation brings many Sons to Glory Heb. 2.10 But yet there is a personal particular Application of saving mercy to every saved sinner And for this Application of mercy we should come to the Throne of Grace Though there be infinite mercy at this Throne and though many receave of this Mercy yet you must have of this Mercy for your selves or you cannot be saved Your Soul is your own and no man's else your danger sin and misery is your own and no man's else and the mercy that saves you must be as much your own and not another body's mercy That deep Discourse of of the Apostle looks this way Rom. 11.30,31,32 For as ye in times past have not believed God yet now have obtained mercy through their unbelief Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they may also obtain mercy For God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all It is a great mystery of Judgment and Mercy the Apostle is speaking of the rejecting of the Jews and calling in of the Gentiles Mercy took occasion from the just casting off of the Jews to visit the Gentiles and will in due time bestow it self again upon the Jews But both of them must have mercy of their own Mercy to the Jews will not save the Gentiles mercy to the Gentiles will not save the Jews both must have their own mercy The Fountain is the same the Streams are the same but the Vessels are not the same and every Vessel of mercy must have its own measure of its own particular mercy So must it be with you if you be saved by mercy it must be your own and no man's else 3. Obtaining of mercy speaks forth the Receavers possessing of it Obtained mercy is not only bestowed and applyed mercy but it is possessed mercy Such things as cannot be possessed and kept are worth little pains in seeking But God's mercy is well worth the seeking because it may be both had by seeking and kept when obtained and is unspeakably beneficial when enjoyed Psal 103.17 The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him As if the Psalmist said Man is but a Flower his Life is a Wind and Vapour that quickly and surely passeth away but it is not so with God's mercy it eternally abides on all it falls upon O that Men would think on this As God lives and is true in his Word God's
sense of his own great misery at least at sometimes 2 To come for mercy in Faith is to believe the Fitness and Sutableness of God's mercy to our misery Here many stumble wofully Their Question is Am I fit for mercy when it should rather be Is his mercy fit for me And this Question every sensible Soul can answer the other none in Heaven or Earth can answer If any man think himself fit for mercy of all men that man is most unfit for it and farthest from receaving of it But every sensible Soul will say Though I be unfit for and unworthy of mercy yet mercy is very fit for me Is there pardoning mercy with God who is it so fit for as a guilty vile sinner Is there saving mercy with him Who is it so fit for as for a lost man as I am Come to the Throne of Grace for mercy in Faith of this mercy is fit for me exactly though I be utterly unworthy of it They that think they are fit for mercy will never get it nor indeed can ask it But they that think they are needy of it and that it is fit for them will both ask it and get it 3. To come to the Throne of Grace in Faith for mercy is to believe that there is all good will in him that sits on this Throne to give and shew mercy It is implyed in the Text Let us come to obtain mercy But what if when we come he will not shew mercy That is an ungodly Supposition mischievous to our selves and reflecting upon God He hath mercy in abundance to give he delights in giving he never refused mercy to any that came for it he hath promised he never will and why should men harbour such a suspicion that we may come and not obtain Benhadad could adventure on a report that the Kings of Israel were merciful Kings and yet Ahab was one of the worst of them 1 Kings 20.31 And shall not sinners come upon a more sure Report of the mercifulness of the King on this Throne of Grace It is on this Truth of the Lord 's good will to shew mercy that our Faith so readily halts Many think they ought not to believe this good will to shew mercy I would have you consider some instances of Christ's dealing with Sinners John 4.10 Jesus answered and said unto her If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee Give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water Where we are to regard 1. To whom these Words were spoke by our Lord to a Samaritan a vile Creature as to the former course of her life a blind ignorant sottish Sinner that was guilty of refusing Christ a Cup of Water the greatest Sin she ever committed in her Life 2. What our Lord saith to her If thou knewest me thou wouldest have asked if thou hadst asked I would have given thee living Water And before he had done he made her know him made her ask and gave her of his living Water But that I mainly observe from the Word of Christ is a Truth which few will believe when they hear it even few Believers themselves will believe it as they ought That Christ is more ready to give begging Sinners eternal Life than they can be to give Christ himself a Cup of cold Water Our Lord saith it but men will not believe it Another of Christ's Words is in Luke 11.13 If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your Children how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him Christ makes the comparison favourably ver 11 12. Of a Child's asking Necessaries will a Parent refuse that desire and give what is hurtful But consider our Lord's design in this saying It is plainly to encourage to seeking and the Argument he useth is from the greater Love and readiness in God to give the best things than earthly Parents have to give their Children the Necessaries of this life The preference is not here given to God's greater Riches and fulness than that of parents who may have their Children beg of them what they have not to give as in Lam. 4.4 But it is a preference given to God's greater willingness to give Now who believes this and makes the just Application to their own Case and say confidently The Lord is much more willing to give me saving mercy if I ask it than I am to give a bit of bread to maintain the life of the nearest and dearest Relation I have in the World Appl. I shall only add a few Words of Application 1. There is no principle of natural Religion engraven more deeply on the Hearts of men than that there is misery in men and mercy in God and that God's mercy only can relieve men under this misery This runs through the whole World in all Ages and will continue as long as sense of misery is in men and any Notions of God are preserved in the minds of men And these Sentiments are not to be defaced Attempts of Atheists are damnable to themselves but vain Efforts against the Rock of Ages 2. Notwithstanding of this God's true mercy in Jesus Christ is the greatest Riddle Offence and Stumbling-block to all natural men God's mercy they like well enough and would have applied to their own relief under misery But God's only and true mercy in Christ they cannot away with That there is no mercy with God for Sinners but what flows through the Blood of Jesus Christ That God's Love should appear in sending his own Son under the charge of mens Sin and under the smart and feeling of their miseries That as God shews mercy only this way so men that would have it must only seek it this way the World never did never can never will understand nor relish it nor betake themselves to it They would have mercy to come to them another way and so seek it and look for it in vain and perish by the miss of it 3. There is no Address made to God more honourable to God more acceptable to him and more becoming a miserable Sinner than an Address to God for his mercy It is his Glory to be the Sovereign Lord of mercy it is his Honour to be attended with the Addresses of miserable men it is his delight to dispense mercy to the Addressors What is more becoming God than to shew mercy and what can be more fit than that a miserable Sinner should beg his mercy 4. There is no Provocation more common than sinful ways of begging God's mercy I shall briefly instance in a few Many profane careless Creatures have this Word frequently in their mouths God be merciful to me who yet have no more sense either of God or of themselves of his mercy or of their misery than the Ground they go on This is a gross taking of God's Name in vain Undue Addresses to God
for mercy are great Provocations Some beg only outward mercies Such people would like this Text well if it had been Let us come that we may obtain Gold and Silver and Health and long Life If Prayer was ordained by God for such mercies the Throne of Grace would be crouded with Supplicants But you will never ply Prayer rightly till you understand that there is something to be got at the Throne of Grace that is better in it self more needful for you and that will do you more good than all that the World hath to give Some beg mercy only when they are under God's afflicting hand Psal 73.34 When he slew them then they sought him Some beg God's mercy limitedly they only beg one mercy and desire no more His mercy is of a large extent and we should beg it all We may beg a particular mercy according to our present felt necessities yet we must not make an exception against any act of mercy We must not beg the mercy of Pardon with a Heart-quarrel against the mercy of Sanctification The Lord be merciful to thy servant in this thing 2 Kings 5.18 was a faulty Prayer if there was any sincerity in Naaman Though we may ask any particular mercy yet we must lay open our Hearts to the whole flood of mercy Psal 119.132 Look thou upon me and be merciful to me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy Name So Psal 106.4,5 Lastly Some beg mercy for themselves and for their Idols in the same Address One part of their Prayer is for mercy to themselves and another part of it is for mercy to their Idols Is not that a woful ill-made Prayer and yet how frequently is it done Idols are such things as have a greater nearer room in the Heart than God hath Whatever is more loved feared trusted and delighted in more than God that is an Idol be it the best or basest thing we can name or think on These Idols are of two sorts Lawful and Vnlawful Not that it is lawful to have any Idol but many make Idols of lawful things Such things I mean that in their proper place may be sought and lawfully used but are wofully abused when put in God's room These are the most dangerous because least perceaved Idols Christian it is lawful to love thy Relations to pray for Wife and Children to beg God's Blessing on thy lawful diligence in thy Calling but watch well that none of these lawful things come in betwixt thy Heart and God if they do thou will fall into this Snare of begging God's mercy to thy self and Idols in the same Prayer Vnlawful Idols or Idols in unlawful things are Sins Lusts and Heart-plagues Wo to him that begs God's mercy to them We should daily beg God's mercy against them The more mercy that is forbearance God sheweth to such Idols the more Wrath and the less mercy he showeth to the man himself God's mercy cannot be shown both to a man and his Idols The purest mercy is then shewn â—o a Man when the Lord dealeth severely with his Idols Kill my sinful Idols and save me is a fit Prayer at the Throne of Grace and he is a happy man that gets it answered 5. Sinful Addresses for God's mercy are great Provocations of his Wrath. His mercy is so Sacred a Name of God that he will hold no man guiltless that taketh it in vain In this matter the best contract much Guilt All have many sins in their holy things and in their Approaches to the Holiest of all the Throne of Grace and do stand in need of Attonement And we should all come to the Throne of Grace for mercy to pardon the Sins that are in our seeking of mercy But where then shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear He perisheth for want of mercy he should come for it and he cannot come for mercy while he is what he is but he provokes the Lord to more Wrath against him This is one of the inextricable Straits that every Unbeliever is in that nothing but Sovereign Grace and mercy can bring one out of Look to him for this deliverance and he will shew you mercy SERMON VII HEB. IV. 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need THE last thing in this verse is What is to be had at the Throne of Grace and what we should come for And that is Mercy and Grace and we need no more and we should come that we may obtain and find them and we should in our coming design no less Of the first I began to speak last day and did open these three things 1. What is this mercy we should come for It 's God's saving mercy in Christ sutable unto and for relieving of that misery that every natural man is perishing under Mercy in God and misery in man are Relatives and happy is that person that hath them well married and matched together 2. What is in this Phrase Obtaining of mercy I told you that it implied three things 1. That mercy is God's free Gift We only come by it because he gives it 2. That there is a personal particular Application of this mercy to the Obtainer of it 3. That it is given as a Possession not as a Gift that may be recalled and retaken but is given for an everlasting Possession Whoever is made Partaker of God's special saving mercy it shall never be taken from him it shall never waste nor spend nor wear out but shall stay with him follow him and grow up with him to eternity The Burden of that heaven-like Song Psal 136. is 26 times repeated for his mercy endureth for ever How sweetly will it be sung from all the Mansions in Heaven and by all the blessed Dwellers in them O Give thanks to our God for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Can you learn this Song as the Word is Rev. 14.3 Only the Redeemed of the Lord can say so but all they should say so Psal 107.1,2 His mercy is most sweet a Crumb of it will save a starving Soul as Matth. 15.27 A large measure of it on Earth is a Heaven But the eternity of this mercy is the mercy of this mercy Time-mercies in regard of this are no mercies 3. I spoke of the Design and End we should have before us in coming to the Throne of Grace Come that we may obtain mercy That which I would do at this Exercise is to apply this Truth And the Lord apply both Doctrine and Application And 1. I would put this Question to your Consciences and let them speak as in God's sight Whether have ye obtained mercy or not Can you say with Paul but I obtained mercy You must have it as well as he and may know it as really as he did though ye receave not so much nor know it so clearly as so great a Believer as Paul did See to get
your Consciences well resolved in this main Case that you may be able to give a peremptory answer The Importance of this Question is very obvious Can a Man retire within and look up to God and consider this I am a miserable Sinner in my self as all are nothing but God's special mercy can relieve me And not think it a matter of vast consequence to know whether he hath obtained this mercy or no Wo to them that never asked the Question and they are but in a sorry case that cannot answer it I would propose a few things to enforce the Duty of trying your selves in this matter 1. It is mercy you have been seeking If ever you made any fashion of Prayer surely it was mercy you sought most of you if not all pray at least sometimes Now whenever you pray unless you be wofully formal and stupid your Consciences must tell you it is mercy you seek Have you long and often begged God's mercy and will ye never enquire whether or not you have got it None ask in earnest but they will try how they speed There is no surer and plainer Argument of trifling in Prayer than when men are careless what they get by Prayer We would be called of the Generation of them that seek God's Face and shall we not enquire if we have found him Our Lord bids us ask that we may receave and shall we ask and not think of receaving nor try if we have receaved 2. A great many round you have obtained mercy therefore it becomes you to enquire whether you have obtained it If the mercy of God were so very rarely dispensed that none if any in an Age did partake of it this neglect would be a little more excusable But when mercy falls round about thee when one on thy Right Hand obtains Mercy and another on thy Left Hand obtains Mercy when this Mercy falls on some of the Family thou lives in on some of the Congregation thou hears in when this mercy falls on one that hath the same natural Parents that thou hast Will none of these things make you ask Have I also obtained mercy We find our Lord aggravating the misery of the damned by their seeing of the blessedness of the saved Luke 13.28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out A most dreadful Passage Christ is telling Men that were to be excluded from Heaven what they would think say and do in that dismal Case Prevent this Misery in time by enquiring whether you have obtained mercy And do so the rather that ye may see others partaking of this Mercy When you see the saving mercy of God sought and obtained by others it should provoke you greatly not to envy them their share but to desire a share of your own for there is enough and to spare And the Lord doth shew mercy to some on purpose that he may encourage others to come and ask and obtain So Paul tells wherefore he got his Mercy 1 Tim. 1.16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first or the chief Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting There were other ends Christ had in shewing mercy to Paul The Lord shewed him mercy that he might be saved eternally he shewed him mercy that he might be an able Minister of the new Testament 2 Cor. 3.6 and a successful Apostle 1 Cor. 15.10 and the Church of Christ hath good Cause now for many Ages to bless our Lord Jesus for that rich mercy which that chosen Vessel obtained and was filled with But the Apostle in that place takes notice of another design of Christ's in his mercy to him and that was to set up Paul as a Pattern and Copy of the Freedom Riches and Power of saving mercy And Christ can when he will write another Copy like Paul and somewhat like it he doth in all that he calls savingly Eph. 2.4 Take in this Argument many obtain mercy and why not I none deserve it yet many have it None deserve it less and need it more than I Why then not I If you see the Lord shewing mercy to others and you care not for mercy to your selves how can you expect it or think you have got it 3. Inquire whether you have receaved God's saving mercy because this mercy is brought so near you that it must either be receaved or refused there is no midst No Man doth neither no man doth both All that have the offer of God's saving mercy in the Gospel do and must necessarily either receave or reject it This should make people inquire the more narrowly whether they have obtained mercy If ye have not obtained it ye have refused it Acts 13.46 It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you but seeing you put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life lo we turn to the Gentiles This last is a strange Phrase I am perswaded in the Lord that no man shall ever get everlasting life that thinks himself worthy of it It is always to be sought by us always given by the Lord and always taken by the Receavers of it as an Alms of Grace for Christ's sake Nothing surely was further from Paul's mind than to have these foolish Jews to count themselves deserving of eternal life or that on the account either of their Priviledges or Works they did or could deserve Salvation at the hand of God But all the Apostle meant was this Everlasting Life is brought near to you in this Word of the Gospel you put the Word from you thereby you declare you are unwilling to receave everlasting life and God counts you unworthy of the Offer of it and we will carry it to others as he tells other Unbelieving Jews at Rome Acts 28.28 Be it known to you that the Salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and that they will hear it Now for resolving of this Question whether you have obtained special saving mercy or not This seems easily determinable There is so great a difference betwixt that State of sin and misery that mercy finds Men in when it first visits them and that State that mercy brings them to That we are apt to think the change may be easily known See Eph. 2.1,18 Yet there are so many things that obstruct both them that have obtained mercy from owning it and them that have not obtained it from acknowledging their want of it of which I shall not now speak that searching is needful and for your help in that work I offer these few plain Marks 1. A high value of special saving mercy above common mercy is a good sign of one that hath obtained saving mercy There is a special mercy of God and there is a common mercy Special mercy
is saving it comes from the Heart and Love of God Eph. 2.4 and is treasured up for and laid out only upon his chosen It is the favour he bears to his people Psal 106.4 Common mercies are thrown about with a large and indifferent hand He maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust Matth. 5.45 Now these two sorts of mercies are as far different as Heaven and Earth The excellency of the one is far beyond that of the other though we be unworthy of either I am less than the least of all thy mercies said a great Saint Gen. 32.10 And so should all say But few do perceave this great difference and many give the preference to common outward mercy Who but a Christian doth count it a greater mercy to have the Conscience sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus than to have a large and prosperous Estate in the World That the light of God's Countenance and an hour spent in his Courts when the King's presence is in them is better than all the Enjoyments of this World Moses was a Man that obtained singular mercy from the Lord it appeared in this that he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt Heb. 11.26 He had excellent Balances and true Weights He put in the one Scale Egypt's Honours Treasures and Pleasures and how weighty are such things in the Worldlings Balances and in the other the reproach of Christ and affliction with the people of God His Judgment on this weighing is That this Reproach because of Christ's concern in it and this Affliction because it is of and with God's people is better than all the other things The true Test of Mens Spirit is justly taken from their setled inward Apprehension of the worth and value of spiritual saving mercy above all outward mercy Psal 4.6,7 There be many that say Who will shew us any good Most Men are for any good they know not well what and from any hand that can show it and give it But David knew what good he would have and who could show it Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Why is he so earnest for this Blessing Thou hast put gladness in my heart Carnal Men seek Gladness and make it and take it to themselves as well as they can But Gladness of God's putting in their Heart they know not more than in the time that their corn and their wine encreased David doth not here compare though he doth discover the holiness of his Heart with the earthliness of that of others he compares not the tenderness of his Conversation with theirs But he compares the Joy God gave him by the Light of his Countenance not with the Joy he had but with that the Ungodly have in their sensual Satisfactions Try your selves by this Where is your Esteem lodged What sort of things are they that relish with your Spirits Common outward Mercies carry away the Hearts of the most part of Men and this shews that few Men have obtained special mercy 2. He that hath obtained special mercy hath a love to it and to the Giver of it and to the way God gives it and in which he receaves it He that is a lover of God's mercy in Christ is an Obtainer of it A natural Man may have a liking of God's mercy in general But mercy as from God through Jesus Christ mercy shown on the account of a full Satisfaction made to Justice in and by his Blood mercy given freely to glorious Ends and Purposes every natural Man seeth no Glory no Goodness no Beauty in it But every Obtainer of it doth admire every thing in it It is rich mercy saith he it flows from a blessed Fountain Free-love runs in a blessed Channel the Redemption of Jesus comes to me in a well-ordered Covenant and was shown me for his Praise in my Salvation from sin and misery 3. An Obtainer of mercy is a daily Beggar for more mercy Whenever God's special mercy is tasted hunger and thirst after more is raised No sooner did Paul obtain mercy but behold he prays Acts 9.11 There is more of mercy yet to be had mercy quickens the Soul's Desires and enlargeth them The greatest Receivers are the greatest Beggars 1 Pet. 2.2,3 Desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious This Mark is plain and will never fail They that drive not a Trade of Prayer for special mercy have not yet obtained it 4. An Obtainer of mercy from the Lord is a shower of mercy to others He is a merciful Man to others Matth. 5.7 Col. 3.12,13 Put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindness c. forbearing forgiving as Christ forgave you And Eph. 4.32 even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you How unbecoming it is that such should have Bowels of Brass on whom God's Bowels of mercy have been poured out This is a Mark that will never fail but in a high fit of Temptation All that have obtained God's mercy will be disposed to shew their mercy Forgiving one another is an easie thing it costs nothing but to think a kind thought Yet how hard is this to many through the power of Corruption There are some acts of mercy as Bounty and Charity that poor Christians have no ability for But the principal Act of mercy is in every Christians Power and that is mercy to Mens Souls We cannot give them that mercy we have obtained but we can and should wish the like to them Never did a Man obtain mercy from the Lord for himself but he wisheth that others should partake of it also The Woman of Samaria John 4. of whose Conversion we have the largest account of any Convert in the Bible as soon as she obtained mercy she forgot what she came to the Well for she had got somewhat better than the Water of Jacob's Well she met with Jacob's God and had got Jacob's Blessing she goes to the City and turns a sort of a Preacher to them Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did Is not this the Christ ver 29. She obtained mercy and would have all the City come and get mercy also And a great many came and obtained mercy Christ caught that Woman by his Grace and made her as a Bait to catch many more No Believer can deny his sense of such a Frame as this There are some Persons thou dost love and shouldst love thou prayest for them What dost thou mainly ask for Wife Children Brothers Sisters and all or any thou lovest heartily Is it not O that they might share in God's saving mercy If thou ask it for others as the greatest mercy thou thy self art an Obtainer of mercy Paul obtained mercy He loved his Countrymen the Jews dearly and on good grounds Rom.
9.1.5 What prays he for them Roin 10.1 My hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved All right Prayer should be the Hearts desire Salvation is the best thing we can pray for to our selves or to them we love And no Man can heartily pray for Salvation to others who hath not got it himself 2. I would now direct some Words to them that have obtained mercy and know it Blessed be the Lord that there are not a few in the World not a few in this City and I hope not a few in this Meeting that have obtained mercy of the Lord and know it also Who can remember when their misery was great and when the mercy of the Lord made a visit to them and what great things it brought to them and wrought in them 1. Let such be very thankful for special saving mercy Praise is a great Debt as well as a great Blessing Let none take this as an ordinary Duty but let all Christians know that the main point of the Life and Practice of Christianity lies in the performance of it 1 Pet. 2.9 Praise should rise according to the worth of what we praise for Greatest Favours call for highest Praises and special mercy from the Lord is the highest favour It is a good Custom and a Duty also that people when they receave their daily bread from God do give him thanks for it as well as beg his Blessing on it Pray then how do you think the Lord will take unthankfulness for his special mercy How many hath the Lord to give in this Charge against I never gave thee a nights rest but thou gave me thanks for it in the morning but I have by my mercy raised thee up to newness of Life and I was never thanked for it I never fed thy Body but thou blessed me for my Bounty but I have given thee my Son for the bread of thy Soul but no praise for this Gift When thou wast near death I did in mercy restore thee and was praised for it but special mercy hath delivered thy Soul from eternal destruction but when didst thou praise for that Have a care this Charge be not given against you Live to his Praise and let Praise be the main Work of your Life 2. Walk tenderly under God's special mercy The more special the mercy be the more carefully it should be improved God's saving mercy is a Load a Burthen not indeed hard to be born but it is hard to bear it aright A Burden that will not break the Back but will weigh heavy on the Shoulders of the Bearers and such as are under it are in no small danger of stumbling Isa 38.15 What shall I say he hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my Soul And that there was special mercy in his Eye see ver 17. Thou hast in love to my Soul delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back Here is a right sense of mercy and a good Resolution about the guiding of it I will walk softly all the Years fifteen of them that God hath added to my Life But what performance was there 2 Chron. 32.25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done to him for his heart was lifted up 3. Obtainers of mercy should ask grace to guide mercy and ask it the more earnestly and confidently because they have obtained mercy Be not discouraged in asking more mercy because you have made so poor improvements of what you have received Every mercy lays us under an Obligation for more service and Grace to enable for that Service must be given and therefore should be asked We need mercy God gives it when we get it we should guide it well and in order to that we must beg more New mercy to enable us to guide the old No mercy from the Lord but it may be ill guided but the last eternal Life Jude 21. A Christian is not out of all danger of abusing any mercy of the Lord till he receave perfecting mercy in Heaven To them that have not obtained mercy or at least do not know that they have only four things I would say to such Ask mercy Receave mercy Plead mercy Hope in his mercy 1. Ask mercy The Lord hath two designs in offering and dispensing his mercy to Men To be honoured by the Prayers of them that want it and to be glorified by the Praises of them that get it This Duty of asking mercy is frequently commanded by the Lord commonly practis'd by his people and never in vain 1. Ask mercy like it self Ask some way according to your Need and its Worth If our begging bore any tolerable proportion to the great Blessing of God's saving mercy what mighty praying would there be Let not mercy be sought as a small thing it 's the one thing needful and it 's the one thing we should seek of the Lord. God's mercy Saving mercy Free mercy Mercy great vastly above all our misery O how would it be asked if asked like it self 2. Ask mercy at the right Door There is not a Crumb of saving mercy that comes to any perishing Sinner but by Jesus Christ. There is no Corn in Egypt but what comes through this Joseph's Hand He is a mad Beggar of mercy that forgets Christ 3. Ask mercy in God's time He that commands us to ask and tells us at what Door to beg and promiseth to give tells us also when we should ask Men have their times as in great distress when dying and at Judgment Beware of putting off asking till God's time of giving be past It is an awful Word of Christ Luke 13.25 When once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying c. There are two sad beginnings here Beginning to stand without when the door is shut such will eternally stand without Beginning to knock at the door Such as begin to knock at God's shut Door will never get in There is no good answer to be given by God to such for eternity Is not that a very unhappy beginning So our Lord tells us in the Parable of the Ten Virgins Matth. 25.10 The foolish came when the Door was shut They were foolish that they came no sooner and miserable that they came too late I believe the Damned will see more of the Blessedness of the Saved than the Saved will see of the Misery of the Damned Christ expresly aggravates the misery of the Damned by what they shall see of the Bliss of the Saved Luke 13.28 But all we see in the Word that the Saved shall see or hear of the misery of the Damned is their Resurrection to Damnation John 5.29 which is a most miserable one better were it for them to have their Bodies lye eternally in
way of thy Commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart When he draws we run Song 1.4 When such helping Influences of grace come on Believers holy Obedience becomes in a manner as sweet easie and natural to them as it is to a Man that hath bodily strength to use it in speaking walking or working Isa 40.31 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew or change their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Psal 103.5 Thy youth is renewed like the Eagles is one of the Notes in the Psalmist's sweet Song No Saint is ignorant of this in his own Experience Who knows not that at some times their Work is heavy and is a Burden too heavy for them at other times it is as light as a Feather and as pleasant and easie to them as for a Bird that hath Wings to fly Lastly The grace of God helps very mysteriously Sometimes its help is very secret and at other times it is very plain to be discovered It s help is sometimes so secret that the Saints cannot know or discern it at present but they are made to know it afterwards Psal 73.2 But as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had well nigh slipt ver 22. So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee This is the account he gives of the power of the Temptation he was under and of the bad frame it had brought upon him ver 23. Nevertheless I am continually with thee thou-hast holden me by my right hand He did not know this till he was brought out of the darkness of the Temptation but then he did discern that there had been a secret support given him otherwise he had fallen utterly 2. What Encouragement have we to come to the Throne of Grace for this helping Grace 1. The Proposal and Revelation made to us of this grace as helpful is an Encouragement to come for it Hath the Lord revealed his grace as only helpful to his people and should they not come for that help Your Faith is not very strong and active unless you can catch at the grace of God without a plain particular Promise I say not but there are Promises many and great of this helping grace and that Faith must build upon them and doth But I only mean that the bare Revelation of the Treasures of grace that are with the Lord should when an Interest in the Promises is dark encourage a poor Soul to come for a share of this grace of God Psal 130.4 But there is forgiveness with thee He saith not there is forgiveness for me but there is forgiveness with thee So ver 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption Wherefore is this forgiveness this mercy this redemption with the Lord and why is it revealed but that the guilty should come for this forgiveness the miserable for this mercy the many-wise Captives for this plenteous redemption The Lord's fulness of grace is an Argument for our Faith as well as his Goodness and Faithfulness in making and performing Promises of grace 2. But we have Promises also for our Encouragement Promises imply God's fulness of grace but do express his Good will to dispense it and do bind and engage his Truth to fulfil them to all that take God at his Word and trust him on his Word It is a pity that ever the exceeding great and precious Promises 2 Pet. 1.1,4 and precious Faith should be parted Mark 10.49 And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called and they call the blind man saying unto him be of good comfort rise he calleth thee They had no Promise but they understood Christ's calling of the blind Man was an Act of mercy and on a design of shewing more mercy But we have many Promises of grace 3. We have all the experience of the Communication of his grace according to his Promises for our encouragement in coming for grace Every Supplicant for grace should encourage his Heart by all the Lord's dispensings of his grace How many of these are reyealed in the Word and many like them daily are to be seen in the Church of Christ. If you have such Experiences of your own build upon them praise for them and beg more If you have none of your own behold the Showers of Grace that have fallen upon many as bad as your selves and which have changed them into that same blessed State that you desire to be in Appl. 1. Is the grace of God thus helpful and should we come to the throne of grace for the help of grace Then we see that weak Christians should pray most Such as can do least for themselves have most need of grace to help them and should seek it most Is any Man under a clear Conviction by the light of the Word and his own sensible Experience that he is extreamly weak and utterly unable for any good Word or Work This Man of all Men should pray most Manage your sense of weakness as a Call to ask much of this helping grace of God 2. Surely then Coming to the throne of grate for grace to help must be hopeful work If at any time Satan or an ungodly World should tempt you or your own Heart fail you in fears of the unprofitableness of seeking God have this as a ready answer I am fit for nothing his grace can help me in every thing whither should I go but to a throne by grace what can I beg there but his grace Say with David Psal 57.2,3 I will cry unto God most high unto God that performeth all things for me He shall send from Heaven and save me God shall send forth his mercy and his Trath And will not these save any Man Exhort I would give you a few directions in the practice of this Duty of coming to the throne of grace for helping grace 1. Come to seek this helping grace 2. When you seek it expect it 3. When you expect it receave it 4. When you receave it guide it 1. Come to the throne of grace to seek helping grace Seeking as is already remarked is not expressed in the Text yet it is plainly implyed both in the Duty of Coming and in the Blessings of obtaining and finding You must seek grace to help you Grace will not help to Sin but helps against it yet blessed be God grace can and will help sinners otherwise we were in a forlorn state indeed Grace will not help to laziness that were an hinderance and no help but grace will help lazy people and help them out of it To engage your diligence in seeking helping grace I would shew you what help grace gives 1. Grace helps to save you If people come to the throne of grace if Men pray and have not Salvation in their Eye they come not aright they pray not We are
know what is to be sick to be in great pain to faint and fall into a swoun which is a little Image of death as also the Heathen Poet called Sleep Death 's elder Brother But none knows what dying is It was a very sensible Word a dying Christian in this City spoke to my self when visiting him a few Hours before his Death No Man can tell another what dying is I feel I am dying but I cannot tell you what it is Death is a Path that you never trode before you never walked in it hitherto you may have thought your selves to have gone a good way in the Valley of the Shadow of Death but you never walked through it Paul died daily 1 Cor. 15.31 he was in deaths often 2 Cor. 11.23 Yet he was a living Man then when he said so and he dyed but once All new Tryals require new supplies of Grace And the Tryal of Death is quite new When we are tempted one day we may know what Temptation is thereby and be thereby fitted for the next but no past Experience can teach us fully what dying is 3. Dying is not only a necessary and new Tryal but it is such a Tryal in which a Man 's All is concerned for Eternity Immediately on Death follows Judgment Heb. 9.27 Death is the dark Trance betwixt Time and Eternity While we live we are in time when we are a dying we are leaving time and passing into eternity When we are dead we are quite and for ever out of time and are in eternity for ever If a Man miscarry in this Passage if a Man stumble in the dark Valley of death if he fall here he falls for ever I would not have people to imagine that the stress of their Salvation depends on their Frame when a dying For some Christians when near to death have neither the use and exercise of Sense or Reason much less of Grace But surely when the case of Mens Bodies permits Acts of a Man or of a Christian there is great need of grace to enable us to die well 4. Dying is a great Tryal of Faith Tho' we know not fully what dying is yet we may know so much of it as to be convinced that it is much harder to die in Faith than to live by Faith and yet living by Faith is the hardest thing we have to do in this World To trust in an unseen God to believe his unchangeable Love when we feel his Anger to trust his bare Word when we see no appearance of Performance but many to the contrary are no easie things to the hest Our frequent Experience of the difficulty and of our many failings in this daily Exercise of living by Faith may justly make us sensible of our need of great help of Grace when we shall be called to the new and more hard Work of dying by Faith To enforce this a little consider 1. Usually when death draws near to Men and they draw near to it the Eye of the Mind is clearer and the Conscience more tender and sharp-sighted in the review of their Life and Actions Many never saw their Lives well till they are just at the end of them And many Believers walk so as a spiritual review of their ways breeds no small Storm in their Consciences and Tryal and shaking to their Faith Though Death be a dark Valley yet great light of Convictions and Challenges springs up in it Wo to them that never knew till they are a dying what an awakened Conscience is Ways that are pleasing to Men when the evil day is put far away look frightfully on them when that day approacheth and is very nigh 2. A dying time is a time wherein the Devil is very busie He fetcheth then his last stroke on Saints and on Sinners He doth his utmost to secure the Damnation of Sinners that he may not lose them at last The Devil 's Deathhold of a dying Sinner is a strong one He also doth his utmost against Believers if not to marr their Salvation yet to hinder their Consolation The Devil 's parting Blow hath been dreadful to many a Saint It is a weighty Word Heb. 2.14 Where he is said to have the power of death It is true there it is said also that Christ overcame him and through death Death is properly and strictly in the Devil's Dominions Sin and Death are properly the Devil 's though the Lord hath the wise ordering of both he permits Sin and inflicts Death and Death lyes near the Devil 's great Prison Hell Through the Valley of death there are two Passages one leading to Hell and another to Heaven Most fall into the Pit others are brought through safe and sound by the Skill and Mercy of their blessed Guide Christ It fares here with Believers as with Israel and with Vnbelievers as with the Egyptians Heb. 11.29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry Land which the Egyptians essaying to do were drowned 3. Judgment and Eternity when near and seen at hand are awful things And a near view of them will try Faith greatly This view blows away the Presumption and Hope of the Hypocrite Job 27.8 What is the hope of the Hypocrite though he hath gained when God taketh away his Soul Job 11.20 Their hope is as the giving up of the Ghost His Hope lived as long as he lived and when he dies it dies also Wo to them that have a dying hope a hope that cannot out live Death Christians are begotten to a living or lively hope 1 Pet. 1.3 He hath hope in his death Prov. 14.32 The Man's body dies but the Christian's Hope and Faith lives He lyes down in the Grave in hope Psal 16.9 He dies in that Faith he lived by Heb. 11.13 2. What is the helpfulness of Grace in this time of great need a time of dying I am speaking to living Men but to such as must die and know not how soon I shall only insist on one thing at this time The Grace of God helps Believers by strengthening of their Faith That is the help they mainly need in that hour And this help stands in these 1. When a dying Believer is helped by Grace to see death in Christ's hand There is a vast difference betwixt Death in the Devil's hand who hath the power of it and Death in Christ's hand who is Master both of Death and the Devil Betwixt a Man's seeing Death approaching and the Devil behind it and with it and a Man's seeing Death coming on him and Christ with it Paul's Triumph rose on this ground 1 Cor. 15.55,56,57 O death where is thy sting O grave or Hell where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That by which Death stings Men is Sin unpardoned and God's Holy Law binding Sin and Wrath on their Persons Victory over both Sin