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A66100
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The fountain opened, or, The great gospel priviledge of having Christ exhibited to sinfull men wherein also is proved that there shall be a national calling of the Jews from Zech. XIII. I. / by Samuel Willard ...
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Willard, Samuel, 1640-1707.
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1700
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Wing W2277; ESTC R38934
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107,750
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Priests and for all the People of the Congregation Intimating that all had defilement cleaving to them by reason of imperfections in those who were concerned in them And for this reason we are to seek acceptance through Christ for our best duties and the very prayers of the Saints must come through his hands and be offered with his incense Rev. 8. 3. There was given him much incense that he should offer it with Prayers of all Saints c. And why so but to perfume them and take away the unsavouriness that cleaves to them which would not be needed if there were no sin adhering to them 5. The best of Gods People do profess themselves to be short of perfection and engaged in the pursuit of farther degrees of Holiness If a man hath reached so far as is expected of him by the tenour of the Covenant of Grace under which God hath taken him there is no need or occasion for him to aspire after any more inasmuch as that is the Covenant which he is to stand to and by the terms whereof he is to judge of his duty Certainly the holy men of old knew what they did when they professed their own great defects bewailed them It was the same Covenant that Old-Testament Saints were under and yet we find them acknowledging sinful defects in the best Prov. 20. 9. Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin And Eccl. 7. 20. There is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not Nor have believers in Christ in Gospel days been otherwise perswaded or thought that their New-Covenant state took from their imperfect actions the nature and denomination of sinful 1 Joh. 1. 8. If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us and this apprehension hath put them upon it earnestly to prosecute more perfection not being content with the degrees obtained of this we have a full instance in Paul Phil. 3. 13 14. I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things than are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before I press toward the mark Paul when he wrote this Epistle was a Prisoner aâ— Rome and so it was not long before his death he was not only a sincere Christian but one that had made a very great progress in Godliness and arrived to an high pitch in Grace and yet he assures us that he was a great way short of that perfection which he was in pursuit of and counted it his duty to use utmost endeavours after the obtaining it and it was not a Legal perfection which he sought for that he utterly disclaims but it was Evangelical or that which according to the Rule of the Gospel he was to pursue 6. The Children of God when they do their best do still bitterly bewail themselves that they can do no better It must needs be granted that such imperfection in us as is a just ground for the sorrow and mourning of the people of God and which they do and ought to cry out of as their burden and bitterness is a short coming in them which ought not to be else all those complaints and self judgings about it must needs be superfluous and unreasonable Not that the sense of this should drive them to despair of Gods gracious acceptance of them sinâ—â— he hath provided for that in Christ notwithstanding all this but yet it exciteâ— Godly Sorrow in them and helps to keep them humble and mournful all their days and directs them where to fix their hope viz. upon Gods free mercy in and through Christ We find therefore how Paul amplifieth in his bemoaning of himself on this account in Rom. 7. And though it hinders not but helps his thanksgiving verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yet â—he complains of it as a thing that was grievous to him verse 15. That which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I. And verse 23. I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members And upon the review of all this he cries out as one that was in very sore distress verse 24. Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death And this was not a representation of his natural state when under the legal convictions of sin and remorses of Conscience by reason of it but under the conflict between Grace and Corruption in him as the whole tenour of his expressions doth evince Nor was it on the account of bold Transgressions and more enormous and scandalous prevaâ—ications â—or he could make that challenge 1 Thes 2. 10. Ye are witnesses and God also how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved our selves among you that believe But it was the mixture which he experienced of sinful corruption with his grace which discovered him not as yet arrived at full perfection 7. The best of men do deprecate the rigour of God in his animadverting upon them which they would have no occasion to do if they did not know themselves to be short of that perfection which they ought to seek after and that the want of it belongs to the remaining sin in them They do indeed hope in his Grace and accordingly look to receive free Salvation from it and they believe that this failing of theirs shall not hinder their partaking in it because God hath laid in for their pardon and acceptance in another but there is a way in which they come to have a title to this Salvation and on account whereof they may claim it according to or consistent with the Justice of the first Covenant under which they once were and they dare not to put themselves on the tryal of their own holiness for this and the reason is because they know it to be so short and defective that if God should take advantage from what his holy eye sees to be wanting therein he would have occasion and provocation offered him to make severe animadversions upon them on this account David so pleads Psal 130. 3 4. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities O Lord who should stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared And makes that deprecation in Psal 143. 2. Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant for in thy sight shall no man living be Justifyed And though they can plead their interest in his favour from the evidence of their integrity and comfort themselves in it it being an effect of his distinguishing Grace in them and having the promise secured to it yet they dare not plead any personal Righteousness of their own for the procuring of any favour for them but renounce it Dan. 9. 18. We do not present our Supplications before thee for our Righteousnesses but for thy
Psal 32. 5. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin And this confession hath been full and free and without any covers for he there saith Mine iniquity have I not hid It is a false heart that petitions help against sin and in praying for it pleads excuses and extenuations This proceeds from â— spirit of bondage and not from a spirit of Adopâ—ion 5. Have you humbled your selves to Gods foot in your Prayers to him A spirit of Prayer is a Soul humbling a Soul-abasing spirit hence that Psal 9. 12. He forgetteth not the cry of the humble and 10. 17. Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart thou wilt cause thine ear to hear He that prays as he ought to God for pardon and acceptance in Christ is deeply sensible of his great vileness by reason of sin and of his utter unworthiness of mercy and hence he goes with â— rope on his head and sackcloth on his loyns i. e. He reâ—â—gns himself to God with all the Testimonials of his acknowledging that he hath no dependence on any thing but free Grace that he hath nothing of his own nor can he oblige God he therefore carries that with him in Dan. 9. 8. 9. To us belongs confusion of face to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses And his address is in that form Psal 25. 11. For thy name sake O Lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great 6. Have you Prayed for the Purging as well as earnestly as for Pardon Doubtless he that knows what it is to be Guilty before God will be very importunate in asking forgiveness and well he may for who can stand before Gods angâ— But a kindly resentment of Guilt so as to justify God who condemns will be accompanied with an apprehension of the vileness of sin and that will make us weary of the presence of it and to loath our selves for it which will draw out our cryes to have it taken away both these therefore are included in that Hoâ— 14 2. Take away all iniquity 7. Are your Prayers importunate or in good earnest There are many that pray in good words and it may be with much of noise too and yet not from a Spirit of Supplication they are not importunate and cordial requests which they put up He that is in earnest will take no denial but will press with greatest urgency and resolution One of the Ancients complains of himself that when he prayed against his Lusts he was afraid lest God should answer him this was not from the Spirit of Grace and if you are in good â—arnest you will watch the answer of your prayers to see what return there is of them Psal 85. 10. I will hear what God the Lord will say 1â—0 5. My Soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning 8. Do you persevere in Prayer As it is the duty of all Gods People so to do Eph. 6. 18. Praying always c. watching thereunto with all perseverance So it is one property of the Spirit of Prayer and there is a double perseverance to be eyed in this you are constant and unwearied in your duty you pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. You resolve as Psal 116 2. I will call upon him as long as I live And you hold on in it against all that would discourage you If you have not a present answer according to desire it doth not beat you off but quickens your ardour and you say as Isa 8. 17. I will wait on the Lord who hideth his face If he repulse you you turn his very repulses into arguments as that poor woman did Mat. 15. 25 26. 9 And doth the sense of sin always drive you to Prayer Do your Consciences at any time reflect and charge Guilt on you Doth this always bring you upon your knees and cause you to pour out your hearts in supplication Do you find the stirrings of inward Concupiscence and the Law in your members warring against the law of your mind What course do you take to get it mortified Is prayer now not neglected These are the motions of a Spirit of Supplication in a Child of God This course we find David is on all occasions taking in the Psalms USE III. For Exhortation in several particulars 1. Let this point awakened Sinners in what way to seek after Christ Certainly when God sets Sin home upon the Conscience of a Sinner it calls aloud to him to repair to the fountain And would you go to it so as to participate in the saving efficacy of it then 1. Do it mournfully Dry addresses to God are insignificant things and will find no acceptance Beg of God then to bestow such a Spirit upon you and labour to express it with all suitable deportment Labour therefore to embitter your Sin to your selves with all the proper considerations that may make it vile and fill you with the deepest sense of your misery by reason of it This is the only way for you to give God his glory both of his Righteousness in condemning you and his rich mercy in pardoning and healing you You will never come humbly unless you come mourning and this is the way to obtain the blessing from him God takes distinct notice of this and he is pleased with it see Jer. 31. 18 with 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself c. Is Ephraim my dear Son c. And we find that Christ was anointed purposely for the relief of such Isa 61. begin 2. Do it with Supplications If ever God giveth you the experience of the vertue of the Fountain in you for the taking away of your Sin and Uncleanness he will make you to pray for it he hath said Ezek. 36. 37. I will be sought to c. Seek his face and favour confess your sins and keep not silence seek to him in Christ's name and present your petition before him this is the right returning to God Joel 2. 12. By thus doing you will acknowledge Christ to be the Fountain of Grace when you do seek it of him and call upon him for it And for your encouragement know it that if you do indeed thus seek him you shall find him If a persecuting Saul prays to him he observes it and accepts it of him Acts 9 11. Behold he prayeth Yea he hath said Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me 2. Let this stir up mourners to pray Are there any whose sins are made their burden and they are in bitterness by reason of them instead of nourishing despondent and despairing thoughts in you and making you to hide away from God let it drive you to him to seek his face and favour his pity and pardon let it draw forth that request from you in Psa 41. 4. Heal my Soul for I have sinned against