In all these God hath shewed great Wisdom I. As to the purchase and impetration of Grace by the Death and Incarnation of the Son of God 1. There is Wisdom in this that in our faln estate we should not come immediately to God without a Mediator and Reconciler God is out of the reach of our commerse being at such a distance from us and variance with us The wise Men of the World pitched on such a way 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. The Heathens saw so far that it was an uncomfortable thing to make their immediate approaches to their Supream God But here is the true God and the true Mediator But to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him One God the Father from whom we derive all Graces to whom we direct all Services one Lord Iesus Christ who conveyeth the Graces and Benefits to us and returneth our Prayers and Acts of Obedience to God This is a mighty relief to our thoughts for the apprehensions of the pure God-head do amaze us and confound us when we come to consider of that glorious and infinite Being As heretofore before they found out the use of the Compass they only coasted as loth to venture themselves in the great Ocean So by Christ we come to God He is the true Iacob's Ladder Joh. 11. 50. 2. That this Mediator is God in our Nature Therein the Wisdom of God appeared in crossing and counter-working Satan's design Satan's great design was double to dishonour God and depress the Nature of Man 1. To dishonour God to Man by a false representation as if he were envious of Man's Happiness Gen. 3. 5. God doth know in the day that ye eat thereof your Eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil His first Battery was against the Goodness of God to weaken the esteem thereof Now by the Incarnation of Christ the Lord's Grace is wonderfully manifested he is represented as lovely and amiable in our Eyes not envying our Holiness and Happiness but promoting it and that at the most costly rate and shewing love to Man above all his other Creatures God is Love 1 Joh. 4. 8. 'T is eminently demonstrated to us in the Son of God assuming our Nature and dying for us Rom. 5. 8. When Christ was incarnate Love was incarnate Love walked up and down and healed all Sicknesses and Diseases Love died and Love hung on a Cross Love was buried in the Grave When that ill representation was suggested to us it was necessary there should be some eminent demonstration of the Love of God to Man Especially after we had made our selves liable to his Wrath and were conscious to our selves that we had incurred his displeasure and so it was necessary that we should have some notable discovery of his Philanthropy or Love to Mankind Many Believers are harrast with doubts and fears and cannot come to be perswaded that God loves them Herein is Love and God commended his Love to us in that his Son died for us 2. The next design of Satan was to depress the nature of Man which in its innocence stood so near to God Now that the humane nature so depressed and debased by the malicious suggestion of the Tempter should be so elevated and advanced and set up so far above the Angelical Nature and admitted to dwell with God in a personal Union it is a mighty counter-working of Satan and sheweth the great Wisdom of God When he laboured to put God and us asunder the Lord sent his Son who took the unity of our Nature into his own Person 3. That being in our Nature he would set us a Pattern of Obedience by his Holy Life for he lived by the same Laws that we are bound to live by He imposed no Duty upon us but what he underwent himself that he might be an Example of Holiness unto us we learn of him Obedience to God at the dearest rates contempt of the World and contentation with a low and mean Estate and to be lowly and meek in Heart Mat. 11. 29. Now Man being so prone to imitation it is the greatest effect of the Wisdom of God thus to oblige us unless we would be utterly unlike him whom we own as our Lord and from whom we have all our Hopes and Expectations 4. That he should die the Death of the Cross to expiate our Sins Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us c. Phil. 2 8. He humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the death of the Cross. That the Justice of God might be eminently demonstrated the Law-giver vindicated and the breach that was made in the frame of Government repaired and God might keep up his just Honour without prejudice to his Peoples Happiness that he might be manifested to be Holy and an hater of Sin and yet the Sinner saved from Destruction Rom. 3. 25 26. An absolute Pardon without satisfaction might have exposed God's Laws to contempt as if the violation of them were not much to be stood upon therefore God dispensed his Grace with all Wisdom and Prudence would shew eminent Mercy but withal a demonstration of his Justice and Holiness that the World might still be kept in awe and there might be a full Concord and Harmony between his Mercy and Justice 5. That after his Death he should rise from the Dead and ascend into Heaven to prove the reality of the Life to come 1 Pet. 3. 21. Guilty Man is faln under the power and fear of Death strangely haunted with doubts about the other World therefore did Christ in our Nature arise from the Dead and ascend into Heaven that he might give a visible demonstration of the Resurrection and Life to come which he had promised to us and so encourage us by a Life of Holiness and Patience in Sufferings to follow after him into those Blessed Mansions So that from first to last you see the Wisdom of God II. The Publication of it in the Gospel or Covenant of Grace 'T is ordered in all things and sure 2 Sam. 23. 5. The Messengers by whom it is published are not extraordinary ones but Men of like Passion with our selves The great thing in a Minister is love to Souls Christ saith he came not to be ministred unto but to minister In the Covenant of Grace you see the Wisdom of God in two things 1. The Priviledges offered 2. The terms or Duties required 1. In the Priviledges offered to us which are Pardon and Life In these Benefits Pardon and Life there is due Provision made for the desires necessities and wants of mankind Pardon answereth the fears of the Guilty Creature and Life those desires of Happiness which are so natural to us and therefore are the most powerful and inviting Motives to draw our Hearts to
necessary Business for their welfare Sion said the Lord hath forsaken me my God hath forgotten me Isa. 49. 14 15. In the misgivings of our Hearts God seems to have cast off all Care and Thoughts of us God's affectionate Answer sheweth that all this was but a fond Surmise Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that she should not have Compassion on the Son of her Womb Yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee So we think that we are cut off when God is about to help and deliver us Psal. 31. 22. Many times we think he has quite cast us off when we are never more in his Heart Surely when our Affections towards God are seen by mourning for his Absence he is not wholly gone his Room is kept warm for him till he come again We mistake God's Dispensations when we judge that a forsaking which is but an emptying us of all carnal Dependance Psal. 49. 18 19. When I said my Foot slipped thy Mercy O Lord held me up In the multitude of my Thoughts within me thy Comforts delight my Soul He is near many times when we think him afar off as Christ was to his Disciples when their Eyes were with-held that they knew him not but thought him yet lying in the Grave Luk. 24. 16. But this cannot be imagined of Christ who could not be mistaken If he complained of a Desertion surely he felt it It was a real Desertion he could not mis-interpret the Dispensation of God he was now under for such Misapprehensions are below the Perfection of his Nature 2. Though it were real the Desertion must be understood so as may stand with the dignity of his Person and Offices Therefore 1. There was no Separation of the Father from the Son this would make a Change in the Unity of the Divine Essence Ioh. 10. 30. I and my Father are one Joh. 12. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Eternal Union of the Person of the Father with the Person of the Son always remained for the Divine Nature though it may be distinguished into Father Son and Holy-Ghost yet it cannot be divided 2. There was no Dissolution of the Union of the two Natures in the Person of Christ for the Humane Nature which was once assumed was never after dismissed or laid aside 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ ever remained Immanuel God with us or God in our Nature He was the Lord of Glory even then when he was crucified 1 Cor. 2. 8. It was the Son of God that was delivered up for us all Not a meer Man suffered for our Redemption but Acts 20. 28. God purchased the Church with his Blood Death that dissolved the Bond and Tie between Soul and Body did not dissolve the Union of the two Natures They resemble it by a Man drawing a Sword and holding the Sword in one Hand and the Scabbard in another the same Person holds both though separated the one from the other 3. The Love of God to him ceased not We read The Father loved the Son and put all things into his hand Joh. 3. 35. Now he was his dear Son or the Son of his Love Col. 1. 13. In whom his Soul delighted Isa. 42. 1. Eph. 1. 6. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved Primum amabile He was the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Heb. 1. 3. Therefore he could not but love him in every State Yea he never more loved him as Mediator than when on the Cross that being the most eminent Act of his Self-denial and Obedience Phil. 2. 7. and so a new Ground of Love Ioh. 10. 17. Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my Life to take it up again The Father was well pleased with the Reconciliation of lost Sinners he loveth Christ for undertaking and performing it therefore it is unreasonable to imagine that now he was about the highest Act of Obedience there was any Decrease of his Love to him No his Dispensation might be changed but not his Love As the Sun shining through a clear Glass or through a red Glass casts a different Reflection a bloody or a bright but the Light is the same 4. His personal Holiness was not abated or lessened The Lord Jesus was full of Grace and Truth Joh. 1. 14. He had the Spirit not by measure Joh. 3. 34. He had in perfection all Divine Gifts and Graces to accomplish him for this Office Col. 1. 19. Ioh. 1. 16. He was anointed by the Holy-Ghost and the Oil that was poured on him never failed Therefore he was always most holy and pure one that never knew nor did Sin Neither his Nature nor his Office could permit an Abatement of Holiness Heb. 7. 26. Such an High-Priest became us as was holy harmless undefiled separate from Sinners The Son of God might fall into Misery which is a natural Evil and so become the Object of Pity not of Blame but not into Sin which is a moral Evil a Blot and a Blemish When he died He died the Iust for the Unjust 1 Pet. 3. 18. The Death of Christ had profited us nothing if he had been a Sinner for a moment Therefore this Desertion was not a Diminishing of his Holiness but a Suspension of his Comfort 5. God's Assistance and sustaining Grace was not wholly withdrawn for the Lord saith of him Isa. 42. 1. This is my elect Servant whom I uphold And every where the Lord is said to be with him in this work Psal. 101. 5. The Lord is at thy right hand And Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before me he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Which Passage is by Peter applied to Christ Acts 2. 25. For David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord always before my Face for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved The Power Presence and Providence of God was ever with him to sustain him in his difficult Enterprize When his Agonies began he told his Disciples Ioh 18. 32. Ye shall leave me alone yet I am not alone but the Father is with me The Father was with him when his Disciples forsook him and fled every one to his own to carry him through and that his Arm might work Salvation for him and that he might not sink under the Burden Secondly Positively 1. God's desertion of us or any Creature may be understood with a respect to his communicating Himself to us We have a twofold Apprehension of God as an Holy and Happy Being And when he doth communicate Himself to any reasonable Creature it is either in a way of Holiness or in a way of Happiness He doth now in the Kingdom of Grace communicate Himself more in a way of Holiness but in the Kingdom of Glory fully in a way of Happiness both as to the Body and the Soul These two have such a respect to one another that he never gives Felicity and Glory
the God of all Comfort 2 Cor. 1. 3. And yet Christ's Soul was troubled and heavy unto Death The Godhead suspending its Virtue and Operation both might well consist for though the Presence of the Divinity be necessary with the Humanity of Christ yet the Effects are voluntary God worketh not out of necessity no not in the Human Nature of Christ all kind of Communications are given out according to his own pleasure The Divinity remained united to the Flesh and yet the Flesh might die so it remained united to the Soul and yet the Soul might want Comfort The Bond by which the two Natures were united in one Person remained firm and indissoluble but the Influx of Sweetness and Comfort was suspended Some Effect there is of the Union but not that which affords Comfort and Felicity and this was suspended but for a time There is a Desertion indeed which agreeth not with the dignity of Christ. There is a total and Eternal Desertion by which God so deserteth a Man both as to Grace and Glory that he is wholly cast out of God's Presence and adjudged to Eternal Torments which is the Case of the Reprobate in the last Judgment this is not compatible to Christ nor agreeing with the dignity of his Person There is a partial temporal Desertion when God for a moment hideth his Face from his People Isa. 54. 7. This is so far from being contrary to the dignity of Christ's Nature that it is necessary to his Office for many Reasons 2. That it is very grievous This was an incomparable Loss to Christ. 1. Partly because it was more natural to him to enjoy that Comfort and Solace than it can be to any Creature To put out a Candle is no great matter but to have the Sun eclipsed which is the Fountain of Light that sets the World a wondering For poor Creatures to lose their Comforts is no great wonder who though they live in God are so many degrees distant from him but for Christ who was God-Man in one Person that is a difficulty to our Thoughts and a wonder indeed for by this means he was so far deprived of some part of Himself 2. Partly because he had more to lose than we have The greater the Enjoyment the greater is the Loss or Want It was more for David to be driven from his Palace than a poor Israelite to be driven from his Cottage We lose Drops he an Ocean A poor Christian that hath some Heaven upon Earth in the fore-enjoyment of God and the first-fruits and earnest of the Spirit hath more to lose than another that hath had only some vanishing Tast in the Offer of Eternal Life and receiving the Word with Ioy. Proportionably judge of Christ who was Comprehensor while he was Viator had the beatifical Vision whiles on Earth 3. Partly because he knew how to value the Comfort of the Union having a pure Understanding and heavenly Affections God's Children count one Day in his Presence better than a thousand Psal. 84. 10. One Glimpse of his Love more than all the World Psal. 4. 7. If they have any thing of the Love of God shed abroad in their Hearts they would not part with it for all the sensual Enjoyments which others prize and value so much and if they lose it they are touched to the quick they lose that which is the Life of their Lives which they account their chief Happiness Now Christ was best able to apprehend the Worth and Value of Communion with God having such a clear Understanding and tender Affections and therefore it must needs be grievous to him to have his wonted Conversations suspended 4. Partly because he had so near an Interest and Relation to God Prov. 8. 30. One bred up with him and daily his Delight Col. 1. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Look among the Children of God if they have any Interest in him how mournfully do they brook his Absence Mary Magdalen Woman why weepest thou They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him Luk. 24. 14. She sought a Christ and found a Grave Christ's words my God do not only express his Confidence but Affection when his God and Father hideth his Face from him 5. Partly from the Nature of Christ's Desertion It was Penal All Desertions may be reduced to these three Sorts for Trial for Correction or Punishment For Trial so God left Hezekiah to prove what was in his Heart 2 Chron. 32. 31. For fatherly Correction so God leaveth his People for a while to teach them Repentance Humility Hatred of Sin more entire Dependance on Himself Isa. 54. 7. I have left thee for a small moment but with everlasting Mercies will I love thee For Punishment so he left Saul 1 Sam. 28. 6. When he answered him neither by Dreams nor by Urim nor by Prophets So he leaveth the wicked to a reprobate Mind Now Christ's Desertion was not for a Trial. Fallible Creatures may be put upon Trial but the Son of God needs it not It would not agree with the Goodness and Wisdom of God to put his beloved Son on such a Trial. He was neither unknown to his Father nor did he vainly presume of his own Strength as to need to be confuted by Trial. Nor can it properly be called Fatherly Correction for there was no Sin in Christ that needed to be corrected Indeed the Chastisement of our Peace was upon his Shoulders Isa. 53. 5. Therefore it remains that this Desertion was penal and satisfactory such as came from the vindictive and revenging hand of God Our Sins met in him and he was forsaken in our stead There was no Cause in Christ himself wherefore he deserved to be forsaken of God but we had done the wrong and he maketh the amends There was nothing in Christ's Person to occasion a Desertion but much in his Office so he was to give Body for Body and Soul for Soul And this was a part of the Satisfaction He was beloved as a Son forsaken as our Mediator and Surety II. Why was Christ forsaken Answ. With respect to the Office which he had taken upon him to expiate our Sins and to recover us from the deserved Wrath and Punishment into the Love and Favour of God This Desertion of Christ carrieth a suitableness and respect to our Sin our Punishment and our Blessedness 1. Our Sin Christ is forsaken to satisfy and make amends for our wilful desertion of God When Adam sinned we all turned the back upon God who made us Yea all actual Sins are nothing but a forsaking of God for very trifles an Aversion from God and a Conversion to the Creature Ier. 2. 13. They have forsaken me the Fountain of living Waters and have hewen out unto themselves broken Cisterns that will hold no Water Now we that forsook God deserved to be forsaken by God therefore what we had merited by our Sin Christ endured as our Mediator He himself
SERMONS PREACHED BY The Late Reverend and Learned Divine THOMAS MANTON D. D. LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Sign of the three Pigeons over-against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1678. The PREFACE IT may seem a just discouragement from publishing more Sermons at this time when there are such numbers abroad in the hands of all for the abundance of things useful is fatal to their value and the rareness exceedingly inhances their price If Men were truly wise Spiritual Treasures should be excepted from this Common Law yet plenty even of them causeth satiety But the following Sermons have that peculiar Excellence that will make them very valuable to all that have discerning Minds and such a tincture of Religion as makes them capable of tasting the goodness of Divine things I shall say nothing particularly here of the intellectual Endowments of the Author in which he appeared Eminent among the first nor of his Graces to adorn his Memory for a Saint that is ascended into Heaven and crown'd with Eternal Glory by the righteous Iudge needs not the weak fading testimony of Praise from Men. Besides that universal esteem he had from those who knew his Ability Diligence and Fidelity in the Work of God makes it unnecessary for them who were his Admirers and Friends And for those who are unacquainted with his Worth if they take a view of his Works formerly printed or the present Sermons that deserve equal approbation they will have the same opinion with others I will give some account of the Sermons themselves The main design of them is to represent the inseparable connexion between Christian Duties and Priviledges wherein the Essence of our Religion consists The Gospel is not a naked unconditionate offer of Pardon and Eternal Life in favour of Sinners but upon most convenient terms for the Glory of God and the good of Men and enforc'd by the strongest obligations upon them to receive humbly and thankfully those Benefits The Promises are attended with Commands to Repent Believe and persevere in the uniform practice of Obedience The Son of God came into the World not to make God less holy but to make us holy that we might please and enjoy him not to vacate our Duty and free us from the Law as the Rule of Obedience for that is both impossible and would be most infamous and reproachful to our Saviour To challenge such an exemption in point of right is to make our selves Gods to usurp it in point of fact is to make our selves Devils But his end was to enable and induce us to return to God as our rightful Lord and proper Felicity from whom we rebelliously and miserably fell by our disobedience in seeking for Happiness out of him Accordingly the Gospel is called the Law of Faith as it commands those Duties upon the Motives of eternal Hopes and Fears and as it will justifie or condemn Men with respect to their Obedience or Disobedience which is the proper Character of a Law These things are managed in the following Sermons in that convincing perswasive manner as makes them very necessary for these times when some that aspired to an extraordinary height in Religion and esteemed themselves the Favourites of Heaven yet wofully neglected the duties of the lower Hemisphere as Righteousness Truth and Honesty and when carnal Christians are so numerous that despise serious Godliness as solemn Hypocrisy and live in an open violation of Christ's Precepts yet presume to be saved by him Though no Age has been more enlightned with the knowledge of holy Truths yet none was ever more averse from obeying them I shall only add further that they commend to our ardent Affections and Endeavours true Holiness as distinguish'd from the most refin'd unregenerate Morality The Doctor saw the absolute necessity of this and speaks with great jealousy of those who seem in their discourses to make it their highest aim to improve and cultivate some moral Vertues as Iustice Temperance Benignity c. by Philosophick helps representing them as becomming the dignity of the Humane Nature as agreeable to Reason as beneficial to Societies and but transiently speak of the Supernatural Operation of the Holy Spirit that is as requisite to free the Soul from the Chains of Sin as to release the Body at the last Day from the Bands of Death that seldom preach of Evangelical Graces Faith in the Redeemer Love to God for his admirable Mercy in our Salvation Zeal for his Glory Humility in ascribing all that we can return in grateful Obedience to the most free and powerful Grace of God in Christ which are the vital principles of good Works and derive the noblest forms to all Vertues Indeed Men may be compos'd and considerate in their Words and Actions may abstain from gross Enormities and do many praise-worthy Actions by the rules of moral Prudence yet without the infusion of divine Grace to cleanse their stained Natures to renew them according to the Image of God shining in the Gospel to act them from Motives superiour to all that Moral Wisdom propounds all their Vertues of what elevation soever though in an heroick degree cannot make them real Saints As the Plant Animal has a faint resemblance of the sensitive Life but remains in the lower rank of Vegitables so these have a shadow an appearance of the Life of God but continue in the corrupt state of Nature And the difference is greater between sanctifying saving Graces wrought by the special Power of the Spirit with the holy Operations flowing from them and the vertuous Habits and Actions that are the effects of Moral Counsel and Constancy then between true Pearls produced by the Celestial Beams of the Sun and counterfeit ones formed by the smoaky heat of the Fire In short the Lord Iesus our Saviour and Iudge who purchas'd the Heavenly Glory and has sole power to give the actual possession of it assures us that unless a Man be born of the Spirit he can never enter into the kingdom of God The Supernatural Birth entitles to the Supernatural Inheritance Without this how fair and specious soever the Conversation of Men appears they must expect no other priviledge at last but a cooler place in Hell and the coolest there is intolerable W. BATES The Contents Sermon 1 and 2d Pag. 1. ON Psal. 32. 1 2. 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 Sermon 3. Pag. 44. On Acts 3. 26. Unto you first God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities Serm. 4th Pag. 66. On 2 Pet. 1. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust. Serm. 5. pag. 81. On Mark 9. 49. For every one shall
without Holiness Heb. 12. 14. And an holy Creature can never be utterly and finally miserable He may sometimes give Holiness without Happiness as when for a while he leaveth the Sanctified whom he will try and exercise under the Cross or in a state of Sorrow and Affliction therefore Holiness is the more necessary In his internal Government God doth all by his Spirit now the Spirit is more necessarily a Sanctifier than a Comforter It was by the Spirit that Christ was with God and God with Christ therefore his Desertion of Christ or any Creature must be mainly understood with respect to the Spirit working in any either as to Holiness or Comfort When God withdraweth either Holiness or Happiness one of them or both or any degree of them from any Creature he is said to desert them Now apply this to Christ. It is Blasphemy to say that Christ lost any degree of his Holiness for he was always pure and holy and that most exactly and perfectly Therefore he was deserted only as to his Felicity and that but for a short time 2. The Felicity of Christ may be considered either as to his outward and bodily Estate or else to his inward Man or the Estate of his Soul 1. Some say his Desertion was nothing else but his being left to the Will and Power of his Enemies to crucify him and that he was then deserted when his Divine Nature suspended the exercise of its Omnipotency so far as to deliver up his Body to a reproachful Death so to make way for this Oblation and Sacrifice for the Redemption of Mankind God could many ways have protected Christ and hinder'd his Passion Mat. 26. 52 53. Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father and he shall give me more than twelve Legions of Angels But how then could the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be If the Lord had seen it fit to glorify Himself by the Deliverance rather than the Sufferings of Christ he could have found ways and means enough to save him but how then could our Redemption be accomplished Christ himself by his Divine Power could have protected his bodily Life for he telleth us Ioh. 10. 18. No Man taketh my Life from me but I lay it down of my self I have Power to lay it down and I have Power to take it up again But it pleased God to appoint and Christ to submit to another Course and therefore was he so far deserted and left in the hand of his Enemies He telleth them Luk. 22. 53. This is your Hour and the Power of Darkness This some say was all Christ's Desertion and that he cried out with a loud voice in the hearing of all My God my God why hast thou forsaken me to give notice of the Price that was to be paid for our Ransom He complained not of the Iews that had accused him nor of Pilate that condemned him nor of Iudas that betrayed him but of God that had forsaken him and left him in the hands of his Enemies as if this were the most grievous thing to the Son of God But certainly this was not all the Desertion was not only in his outward Estate and with respect to bodily Death for these Reasons 1. Why should Christ complain of that so bitterly which he did so readily and willingly undergo and might so easily have prevented and which was most obvious and so clearly foreseen in his Sufferings He foretold it again and again to his Disciples and spake it to his Enemies and should he now represent it as a strange thing Surely these strong Cries were not extorted from him by the meer Fear and Horror of bodily Death I confess he died not insensibly but shewed the reality of all human Passions yet there was no reason why he should so bitterly and lamentably complain if nothing else but bodily Death had been in the Case and that brought upon him by his Enemies 2. If we look meerly to bodily Pains and Sufferings certainly others have endured as much if not more as the Thieves that were crucified with him lived longer in their Torments and the good Thief did not complain that he was forsaken of God Peter was crucified and that with his Head downwards as Ecclesiastical History tells us which as it was greater Cruelty in the Adversaries so also greater Pain to him and yet he trusted that God would sustain him and support him under it Therefore certainly there was something greater and more grievous to the Soul of Christ than these bodily Pains which drew this lamentable and loud Cry from him 3. It would follow that every holy Man that is persecuted and left to the will of his Enemies might be said to be forsaken of God which is contrary to Paul's holy Boasting 2 Cor. 4. 9. Persecuted but not forsaken Therefore there was something more than to be left to the will of his Enemies 4. This Desertion was a Punishment one part or degree of the Abasement of the Son of God and so belongeth to the whole Nature that was to be abased not only to his Body but his Soul We read often of his Soul-sufferings Isa. 53. 10. He was to make his Soul an Offering for Sin And to see the Travail of his Soul v. 11. His Soul was deprived of Consolation and some Effects of the Spirit as to Joy and Comfort 2. As to the Felicity of his inward Estate the State of his Soul Christ carried about his Heaven with him and never wanted sensible Consolation spiritual Suavity the comfortable Effects of the Divine Presence till now they were withdrawn that he might be capable of suffering the whole Punishment of Sins and fell not only Pains and Torments of Body but Troubles of Soul such as we have when God hideth his Face from us but without Sin The Divinity kept back those Irradiations of heavenly Light and Comfort or for a while suspended that Joy and Comfort which otherwise he felt in himself though it gave out that Virtue and Strength which was necessary to support and sustain him under so great Sufferings As when the Sun is eclipsed the Light of it ceaseth not but is only hidden from the Earth by the Interposition of a dark Body So here Christ had not the participation of that heavenly Joy which before his Soul felt by dwelling with God in a personal Union though there were no Separation of the Human Nature from the Divine the Ground of it was not taken away but only the Sense suspended no dissolution of the Union but a ceasing of the Comfort of it In short I will shew how this Sort of Desertion is 1. Possible 2. Grievous 1. Possible the Union between the two Natures remaining For as the Divine Nature gave up the Body to Death so the Soul to Desertion Christ as God is the Fountain of Life Psal. 36. 9. And yet Christ could die So the God-head is the Fountain of all Joy and Comfort for he is called
God and the everlasting Fruition of Him By a wonderful Exchange he taketh our evil things upon Himself that he might bestow his good things upon us and took from us Misery that he might convey to us Felicity Application First by way of Information 1. How different are they from the Spirit of Christ that can brook God's Absence without any remorse or complaint Christ cried with a loud voice My God my God why hast thou forsaken me These go on securely never observe God's Accesses and Recesses when the Comforts of his Spirit and the Communications of his Grace are wholly suspended and with-holden from them they never lay it t Heart Stupid and insensible Creatures It is all one to them whether God go or come whether He manifest Himself propitious to them or his Face be hidden from them They take up with the vain delights of the present World Micah shewed more respect to his Idols than they do to God Iudg. 18. 24. Ye have taken away my Gods and what have I more And do you ask What aileth thee When God is gone they are not troubled The Christians wept when Paul said Ye shall see my Face no more Acts 20. 25. And will ye not mourn and lament your Loss when God hideth his Face and shutteth up Himself in a Vail and Cloud of Displeasure Much of serious Christianity lies in an Observation of God's coming and going and a sutable Carriage Mat. 9. 15. A serious Christian will be affected with the Loss of comfort and quickning and lament after a withdrawn God 2. It informeth us of the Grievousness of Sin It is no easy matter to reconcile Sinners to God It cost Christ a Life of Sorrows and afterwards a painful and an accursed Death and in that Death Loss of actual Comfort and an amazing Sense of the Wrath of God We make a Mock of Sin jest and sport away our Souls but Christ found it hard Work to save them and recover them to God When you make Sin a light matter you slight the Sufferings of Christ. O therefore take heed you do not break with God for every Trifle 3. The Greatness of our Obligation to Christ who omitted no kind of Sufferings which might conduce to the Expiation of Sin He exchanged his Heaven for a kind of Hell to do you good the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily and therefore he had a Heaven upon Earth If one could say Anima iusti Coelum est because Heaven is begun there in Peace of Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost How was it with Christ This Heaven he wanted for a while felt no Comfort yea he was amazed at the sence of God's Wrath due to Sinners therefore it was said in the Type of him The pains of Hell got hold upon me Psal. 116. 3. Oh let this excite us to love Christ that you may count nothing too dear for him 4. The Infiniteness of God's Mercy who appointed such a degree of Christ's Sufferings as in it he gives us the greatest ground of Hopes to invite us the more to submit to his Terms There is nothing standeth in the way but our own impenitence and unbelief Now God is so amply satisfied shall we deprive our selves of Eternal Blessedness This is the worst Cruelty and Hatred to our own Souls SERMON X. ROM 1. part of the 29th and 30th Verses Whisperers Backbiters THe Context sheweth how corrupt and miserable Man's Nature is without Christ his Heart was first withdrawn from God and then became a Sink of loathsom Sins and Vices Therefore the Apostle telleth us how after Men were false to God how little they were true to themselves whether considered singly and apart or as to Commerce and Society singly and apart defiling themselves with uncleanness of all sorts as to Commerce and Humane Society full of Malice and Contention which sometimes goeth as far as Blood at other times sheweth it self in falseness and baseness of Disposition generally in Self-Love and Detraction from others Of all Judgments Spiritual Judgments are the sorest When God leaveth Mankind to its own degeneracy and corruption and one great Branch of this corruption is Detraction which venteth it self either by Whispering or Backbiting So it is in the Text Whisperers Backbiters These two words agree that they both wound the Fame of our Neighbour and they both do it behind his Back or in his absence But they differ 1. In that whispering doth it secretly and closely but backbiting openly The one being privy the other open Defamation and are like Theft and Rapine what Theft and Robbing are to our Goods the same are Whispering and Backbiting to our good Names 2. Whispering tendeth to breed strife among our Friends or to disgrace us to some who are well conceited of us but backbiting to our general disgrace before all the World or amongst whomsoever The one seeketh to deprive us of the good will of our Friends the other to destroy our Service But however they agree and differ they are often conjoyned in Scripture 2 Cor. 12. 20. I fear lest when I come among you I shall not find you such as I would and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not lest there be Debates Envyings Wraths Strifes Backbitings Whisperings Swellings Tumults The Apostle foresaw it as too probable that neither of them would be much pleased with their meeting together nor he with the Corinthians when he should find them corrupted with Partialities and Divisions nor the Corinthians with him when he should be forced to inflict censures upon them for their Factions and Emulations too much bewrayed by their backbitings and whisperings against each other So here in the Text they are conjoyned Whisperers Backbiters when the Apostle speaketh of the reigning Sins among the Gentiles Doct. One great Sin wherein the corruption of Humane Nature bewrayeth it self is Detraction or depriving others of a good Repute Here I shall shew I. What is Detraction II. The Hainousness of the Sin I. What it is 1. The Nature of it 2. The Kinds of it First The Nature of it in general It is an unjust violation of an others Fame Reputation or that good Report which is due to him God that hath bidden me to love my Neighbour as my self doth therein bid me to be tender not only of his Person and Goods but of his good Name And indeed one Precept is a Guard and Fence to another I cannot be tender of his Person and Goods unless I be tender of his Fame For every Man liveth by his Credit and therefore certainly this is 1. A Sin against God 2. A wrong to Men. 3. It proceedeth from evil Causes 1. It is a Sin against God who hath forbidden us to bear false Witness against our Neighbour and to speak evil of others without a cause Eph. 4. 31. Let all evil speaking be far from you by evil speaking is meant there disgraceful and contumelious Speeches whereby we seek
that are sanctified are all of one He is of the same Stock with all Mankind but the Kindred is reckoned to the Sanctified because there it holdeth of both sides Christ is born of a Woman and they are born of God and so he is a Kinsman doubly ratione incarnationis fuae and regenerationis nostrae In regard of his own Incarnation and our Regeneration He partaketh of the humane Nature and we partake of the Divine Nature And it followeth therefore he is not ashamed to call us Brethren We are said to be ashamed when we do any thing that is filthy dishonest or base or misbecoming our Dignity and Rank which we sustain in the World The former Consideration is of no place here For the latter those that bear any Port and Rank in the World are ashamed to shew too much familiarity towards their Inferiors but such is the love of Jesus Christ towards his People that though he be infinitely greater and more worthy than these yet he is not ashamed to call us Brethren Well then here is the first step of our Comfort and Hope to see God in our Natures The Eternal Son of God became our Kinsman that he might have the Right of Redemption and recover the Inheritance which we had forfeited We could not have such familiar and confident recourse to an Angel and one who was of another Stock and different Nature from ours nor put our selves into his hands with such trust and assurance Now he and we are of one Nature we my be the more confident 'T is a motive to Man Lev. 8. 7. Thou shalt not hide thy self from thine own Flesh. In Christ all the perfections of Man were at the highest This made Laban though otherwise a churlish Man kind to Iacob Gen. 29. 14. Surely thou art my Bone and my Flesh. One of our Stock and Lineage will pity us more than a Stranger 2. This Kinsman was to pay the Price and Ransom of his captivated Brother that also is implied in the Notion of a Redeemer Lev. 25. 48 49. After that he is sold his Uncle or his Uncles Son may redeem him or any that is nigh of Kin to him of his Family may redeem him So when we had sold our selves Jesus Christ who only of the Kindred was free and able to do it paied a price for us 1 Cor. 6. 20. We are bought with a Price And this Price was no less than his own precious Blood 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. A Price was necessary for God was not an Enemy that could be overcome but must be satisfied and Amends made for the Wrong done to his Majesty that the Notions which are ingrafted in Mans Heart concerning God might be kept inviolate The Lord knows how apt we are to please our selves with the thoughts of Impunity as if it were nothing to sin against God and a small matter to break his Laws Now to prevent this thought in us before his Justice would let go the Sinner he demandeth Satisfaction and equivalent Satisfaction to the Wrong done to expiate the Offence done to an infinite Majesty Therefore no less could be a sufficient Ransom for lost Sinners than the Blood of Christ. This is the Price which our Kinsman hath paid down for us In short the Wrong was done to an infinite Majesty the Favour to be purchased was the Eternal Enjoyment of the Ever-blessed the Sentence to be reversed was the Sentence of everlasting Death And therefore Christ alone could serve the turn Here is another Ground of Comfort Cyril calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. This Kinsman was to revenge the Quarrel of his slain Kinsman upon the Murtherer So he is a Redeemer and that not only by Merit but by Power not only as a Lamb but as a Lion There needed no Price to be paid to Satan we are redeemed from him not by Satisfaction but by Rescue The Apostle tells us Col. 2. 15. He spoiled Principalities and Powers Luk. 11. 21. He bindeth the strong Man and taketh away his Goods Heb. 2. 14 15. That through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil And deliver them who through Fear of Death were all their Life time subject to Bondage The Devil had partly an usurped Power over Man as the God of this World or at least as the Enemy of Mankind so Christ rescues us by force partly a ministerial and permitted Power as the Executioner of God's Curse and Vengeance so he over-aweth him and puts him out of Office by the Merit of his Passion Satan had no Power over Death as Dominus Mortis as the Supreme Lord that hath power to save and to destroy but as Minister Mortis as an Hangman and Executioner hath power from the Law to put the Malefactor to death So Christ destroyed him not in regard of Essence as if there were no more a Devil to tempt and hurry us to Destruction nor in regard of Malice as if he did no longer seek to devour but in regard of Office and Ministry he is put out of office and hath no more Law-power to destroy those that have fled to Christ for Refuge and so hath freed us from all the fears of Death and Hell which our Guilt and Satan's Temptations subjected us to 2. That he is their Redeemer is the next Ground of Comfort Iob doth not profess Faith only in a Redeemer but in his Redeemer I know that my Redeemer liveth not by an uncharitable Exclusion shutting out others and engrossing the Redeemer to himself But 1. By a fiducial Application making out his own Title and Interest Some things in Nature are common Benefits not lessened to any because others enjoy them As a Speech heard and the Sun shining c. The Saints do not exclude others 1 Ioh. 2. 2. And he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World 2 Tim. 4. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness not for me only but for all them also that love his Appearing This doth not lessen the Benefit to us and our Obligations to him Plato thought himself obliged in kindness to one that paid his Fare for his Passage over a River and reckon'd it positum apud Platonem Officium a Courtesy that obliged Plato but when he saw others Partakers of the same Benefit he disclaimed the Debt and onely took part of it on himself Upon which Seneca groundeth this Aphorism That it is not enough for him that will oblige me to him to do me a good Turn unless he do it to my self directly non tantùm mihi sed tanquam mihi otherwise quod debeo cum multis solvam cum multis I will only pay my Portion and Share of Thanks and Respect But this cannot be applied to this extraordinary Kindness of Christ for every Man is indebted for the whole not every Man for a part of Redemption God's Love to every
me again and shew me both it and his Habitation But if he say thus I have no delight in thee let him do with me as seemeth good unto him Such an holy Indifferency should there be upon our Spirits that we should be like a Die in the Hand of Providence to be cast high or low according as it falls When we are over-earnest for temporal Blessings we do but make a Scourge a Snare and a Rod many times to our selves For when God's Will is declared to the contrary this fills us with bitter Sorrow and obstinate Desires pettishly sollicited put us upon great Vexation and Disappointment and that layeth us open to Atheism and Distrust of God the Conduct of his Providence and the Promises of the Invisible World Therefore until God hath declared his Pleasure there must be such Moderation as to be prepared for all Events 4. When the Event depends upon a Duty we must do the Duty and refer the Event to God 1 Cor. 9. 16. Necessity is laid upon me yea wo is me if I preach not the Gospel It is a base Principle to say we must be sure of Success before we will engage for God No when there is an apparent Duty we must do our Duty and trust God with the Event 5. In a dubious Case observe the Ducture and Leading of Providence The Israelites were not to remove but as they saw the Pillar of Cloud before them And so in all things the Happiness of which depends upon God's secret Will see what God's Providence will lead you to Acts 16. 10. We endeavoured to go into Macedonia assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the Gospel unto them Sometimes we are left to gather and collect from our own Reason what such or such a thing means Now after earnest Prayer when the fair Course and Tendency of outward Circumstances lead us we may look upon it as the Way of God's Providence for our Good It is said Ezra 8. 21. I proclaimed a Fast that we might afflict our selves before our God to seek of him a right Way for us and for our little Ones and for all our Substance How did they know the Lord was intreated for them Why after Prayer they found such an over-ruling Instinct such a fair Invitation of Providence that from thence they apparently gathered this is the right Way the Lord would have us walk in This is the Direction to be given to Christians when the Event is uncertain But when the Event is declared in God's Providence then we have nothing to do but plainly to submit and that very quietly and contentedly with Hope and Encouragement in the Lord. And that is the main Point Doct. That it is the Duty of all God's Children to be willing to submit themselves to the Dispensation of God's Providence in whatever befalls them or theirs In this Point there is 1. Something implied That all things come within the Guidance of God's Providence There is Nothing so high but God doth it Dan. 4. 35. He doth according to his Will in the Armies of Heaven and among the Inhabitants of the Earth and none can stay his Hand and say unto him What doest thou The Sun doth not shine by Chance nor the Rain fall by Chance There is nothing so Mean but it is under God's Providence Mat. 10. 29 30. Not a Sparrow lights to the Ground without your Heavenly Father A mighty Support unto Christians in their Affliction There is nothing so bad but the Lord can turn it to good Gen. 50. 20. Ye thought it for Evil but God meant it for Good There is nothing which happeneth from wicked Men to his Children but the Lord hath a hand in it Iob 1. 23. The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken c. It is Chrysostom's Gloss upon that Place He doth not say the Thief the Sabean the Chaldean hath taken no but the Lord hath taken the same God that gave it If it come from Satan God hath a hand in it for many of Iob's Troubles and Afflictions especially upon his Body came immediately from Satan and yet he saith Iob 6. 4. The Arrows of the Almighty stuck fast in me They were the Arrows of the Almighty though shot out of Satan's Bow This certainly is implied that God hath a Will Hand and Providence in all those things which are most contrary to us The Will of the Lord is to be seen II. That which is exprest is That we ought to submit to the Providence of God I shall prove it 1. By the Example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mat. 20. 39. Father not as I will but as thou wilt He had more to lose than any of us have or possibly can have the Comfort and Influence of the Presence of God in a personal Union and more to suffer yet he submits and professeth a full Subjection to his Father's Will His Cup was a bitter Cup which made him sweat Drops of curdled Blood yet he was willing to drink it even the Dregs since it was his Father's Will But let me fully vindicate the Will of our Lord Jesus Christ. Obj. You will say Christ desires it to pass Mat. 26. 39. Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me How could Christ make an Offer of Prayers repugnant to God's Will and Purpose He knew it was the Will of his Father that he should suffer many things and be slain and had rebuked Peter resisting the Souldiers The Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it Joh. 18. 11. Many Answers may be given for the clearing of this Matter 1. We must know contrary to the Monothelites That there was a double Will in Christ as there was a double Nature Divine and Humane These are not contrary but yet distinct The Divine Nature would because it was necessary to our Redemption The Human Nature was to shew a reasonable Aversation of what was destructive to it and yet the Human Nature did not contradict the Will of God because he did it not absolutely but only conditionally Father if it be possible 2. There is a deliberate Elective Will and a Natural Velleity Now mark the Human Nature did except against his Suffering not with a deliberate elective Will but only by a natural Velleity There is a resolute Will which overcometh all Impediments and there is an innocent Desire shewing it self in a simple Complacency in that which is good or a Displicency to that which is evil but goes no farther Apply this to the Business in hand When Christ would have the Cup pass it is not meant of his resolute and effective Will but only of his Will expressing a simple Displicency of the Human Nature to what is destructive to it Aquinas gives us another Distinction There is a Will natural and indeliberate and a Will deliberate and elective The one sheweth the sudden Inclination of Nature to what is good for us as we are living Creatures the other
think they deserve it would as much exalt them and advance them beyond the Line of their due Worth and Value The Apostle steereth a middle Course between both Extreams they are necessary not meritorious they go before Eternal Life not as a Cause but a Way for they are wrought in us by God and are Effects of the begun Salvation so that the good that we do is a part of the Grace that we have received a fruit of Regeneration For we are his Workmanship c. In the Words are two things I. The state of Believers For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Iesus II. The End why we are brought into this Estate Unto good Works which c. I begin with the former and there note 1. God's efficiency 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His Workmanship 2. The Manner of his Efficiency 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Created all proceedeth from the infinite creating Power of God 3. The meritorious Cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Created in Christ Iesus From the whole Observe Doct. That those that are renewed and recovered out of the Apostacy of Mankind are as it were created a-new through the Power of God and Grace of the Redeemer I. Let us explain the Words of the Text. II. Prove it I. For Explication of what is here asserted three things must be explained 1. Our Relation to God 2. His way of Concurrence to establish this Relation 3. How far the Meditation of Christ is concerned in this Effect First Our Relation to God We are his Workmanship We are so two ways 1. By Natural Creation 2. By Supernatural Renovation 1. By Natural Creation Which giveth us some kind of Interest in him and hope of Grace from him As Psal. 119. 73. Thy Hands have made me and fashioned me give me Understanding that I may learn thy Commandments God is our Creator and the end of our Creation is to serve God therefore he gives some kind of encouragement to ask the Grace whereby we may serve him But the Apostle speaketh here not of the first Creation But 2. Of Regeneration or Renovation which is called a second or new Creation as 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any Man be in Christ he is a new Creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a new Creation hath passed upon him By the first Creation we are made Men by the second Holy Men. Holiness is a thing of God's making we are regenerated and sanctified by his Grace and made capable of doing good by his Spirit Now this new Workmanship bestowed on us implieth 1. A Change wrought in us so that we are other Persons than we were before as if another kind of Soul came to dwell in our Bodies This Change is represented in Scripture in such terms as do imply a broad and sensible difference between the two States that wherein we were before and that into which we are translated such a difference as is between Light and Darkness Eph. 5. 8. Life and Death 1 Joh. 3. 14. The new Man and the old Eph. 4. 22 24. We seem to be as it were Creatures transformed out of Beasts into Men instead of being governed by Sense and Appetite we are led by Reason and Reason is not only put into Dominion but Grace which is Reason sanctified directing and enclining us to live unto God 2. This Change is such as must amount to a new Creation There are some Changes which go not so far As 1. A Moral Change from Prophaneness and gross Sins to a more sober course of Life for there are some Sins which Nature discovereth and may be prevented by such Reasons and Arguments as Nature suggesteth Rom. 2. 14. This may be done by ordinary discretion and advisement But the new Creature signifies such a change whereby not only of Vitious we become Vertuous but of Carnal we become Spiritual Ioh. 3. 6. Man naturally enclineth to things pleasing to the Flesh and only seeketh savoureth and affecteth these things but in this Change the Spirit interposeth and maketh him Spirit Before Man only lived as a nobler and better natur'd Animal or living Creature and pleased himself that is his Flesh either in a grosser or more cleanly manner being ignorant mindless of God and another World But new Creatures become Spirit have a Spiritual Inclination cannot content themselves with an Happiness on this side God and Heaven Meer Humane Nature can never bring Men to this but only the Power of God 2. A Temporary Change as to fall into a sudden religious frame which is soon worn off as Ahab's Humiliation 1 Kings 21. 27. Or those That howled on their Beds c. Hos. 7. 14. Frighted into a little Religiousness in their Straits and deep Necessities like Ice in thawing Weather soft at top and hard at bottom Or those the Prophet speaketh of Jer. 34. 15. Ye were turned to Day and had done right but ye returned again and polluted my Name They seem to be changed a while from Evil to Good and then they change again from good to evil this will not amount to the new Creature for that is a durable thing 1 Iohn 3. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His Seed remains 3. A Change of outward Form without a Change of Heart as when a Man changeth Parties in Religion and from an Oppressor becomes a Professor of a stricter Way No the Scripture opposeth this to the new Creature Gal. 6. 15. The new Creature lieth more in a new Mind new Will and Affection than in a new Form of Religion Lead is Lead still whatever stamp it beareth 4. A partial Change Men are altered in some things but the old Nature still remaineth their Religion is but like a new Piece in an old Garment the Heart is not new moulded so as to leave an Impression upon all our Actions The renewed are holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15. 2 Pet. 3. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 5. 17. They drive a new Trade for another World and set upon another Work to which they were Strangers before must have new Solaces new Comforts new Motives The new Creature is entire not half new half old but with many the Heart is like a Cake not turned 3. When thus new framed and fashioned it belongeth to God it hath special relation to him Iam. 1. 18. It must needs be so they have God's Nature and Life 1. Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. They are made like God bear his Image and Superscription it is a curious piece of workmanship in which God hath shewed his Wisdom Goodness and Power and so they are sealed and marked out for his peculiar Ones 2dly The Life of God that came from him and tendeth to him Others are alienated from the Life of God Eph. 4. 18. They recover it 1 Pet. 4. 6. His Spirit is a Principle of Life in them so that they are really alive to God and dead to Sin and the World 4. This Workmanship on us as new Creatures far surpasseth that
turn unto the Lord. Psal. 119. 59. I thought on my ways and turned my Feet unto thy Testimonies Man is very inconsiderate his Soul is asleep till consideration awaken it again We are to search and try our Estate whether it be good or bad Lam. 3. 40. Let us search and try our ways and turn unto the Lord. We are to observe God's Rebukes Prov. 1. 23. Turn ye at my Reproof To set our selves to seek after God in the best Fashion we can Hos. 5. 4. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God that is think of recovering themselves and bending their course to him chiefly we are to take heed that we do not hinder God's work and obstruct our own Mercies Prov. 1. 25. They set at nought my Counsel and would none of my Reproof Sometimes Conscience is startled either as being excited by the Word Acts 24. 25. or some notable Affliction and Strait Gen. 42. 21. by one means or another the Waters are stirred great helps are vouchsafed to us observe these Seasons However check Despair He that did turn Water into Wine can turn Sinners into Saints Lions into Lambs he hath not excluded you from his Grace therefore do not exclude your selves When did he ever forsake the anxious and waiting Souls that would not give over seeking till they did obtain the sanctifying Spirit SERMON XX. EPH. 2. 10. For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good Works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them WE come now to the End why we are brought into this Estate created unto good Works c. the End is not to live idly or walk loosly but holily according to the Will of God In this latter Clause Created unto good Works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them Observe 1. The Object Good Works that is Works becoming the new Creature in short we should live Christianly 2. God's Act about it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which God hath before ordained The word signifies both prepared and ordained 1. God hath prepared these Works for us 2. God hath prepared us for them He hath prepared them for us either by his Decree or Precept if you understand it in the first sense God that hath ordained the End hath also appointed Means as Acts 27. 31. compared with 24. Or else appointed by his Precept and express Will. Micah 6. 8. And he hath prepared us for them by his Spirit making our Hearts fit for our Work Heb. 8. 20. enlightning the Mind inclining the Will The first sheweth the necessity of them the second the easiness of them God hath accomodated all things to that End enabling us to know our Duty and to do it 3. Our Duty that we should walk in them Walking noteth both a Way and an Action 1. It implieth a Way that good Works are the way to obtain Salvation purchased and granted to us by Jesus Christ. Unless we walk in the Path of good Works we cannot come to Eternal Life 2. An Action Walking notes 1. Spontaneity in the Principle not drawn or driven but walk set our selves a going 2. Progress in the Motion he that walketh sets himself forward and gets ground he doth not stand still or lie down but goeth on still Doct. That new Creatures are both obliged and fitted or prepared for good Works I. What is meant by good Works II. What Obligation lieth on the new Creature to make Conscience of them III. How they are fitted and prepared by that new Nature which is bestowed upon them by and through Christ 1. What is meant by good Works 1. The Kinds 2. The Requisits First The Kinds all acts of Obedience more particularly they are divided and distributed into five sorts or ranks 1. Opera Cultus Acts of God's immediate Worship both internal and external The Internal Acts are Faith and Love Trust Delight Reverence The Children of God are often described by these by believing in his Name Iohn 1. 12. Love to God and Delight in him Psal. 97. 10. Ye that love the Lord hate Evil. Psal. 37. 4. Delight thy self also in the Lord. Trust. Psal. 62. 8. Trust in him at all times ye People Fear or Reverence Psal. 130. 4. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared External as to Pray Read Hear to be much in Communion with God in all the parts of his Worship Without Works of Piety we are practical Atheists Psal. 36. 1. and Psal. 14. 1 2 4. God's People do certainly make Conscience of these The Internal Acts are the Life of their Souls the External are their Solace Strength and Support their Songs in the House of their Pilgrimage their refreshing by the way Cornelius Acts 10. 2. feared and prayed to God alway Daniel would not omit Prayer one Day though in danger of Death Dan. 6. 10 11. There is little Zeal in them that are not frequent with God but forget him days without number Ier. 2. 32. 2. Opera Vocationis Every Man must labour in the Work to which he is called God is pleased to appoint and accept the Duties of our Callings as a good Work Are they never so mean yet Servants may Honour God by diligence in their Duties Tit. 2. 9 10. Exhort Servants to be obedient to their Masters c. That they may adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things To be profitable to Humane Society in your place is good the new Nature helpeth us so to be Phil. 11. Onesimus in time past was to thee unprofitable but now profitable to thee and me All have their work from the Mediator to the poorest Creature in the World John 17. 4. I have glorified thee on Earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do So Tit. 3. 14. Let ours also learn to maintain good Works for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful When Iohn's Hearers came to know what they should do he referreth every one to their Callings Luke 3. 10 11 12. Walk conscionably therein glorify God Souldiers Publicans c. Without these good Works we are Drones in the common Hives yea Burdens upon the Earth 3. Opera Iustitiae Works of Righteousness and Justice to hurt none to give every one his Due to use Fidelity in our Relations Acts 24. 16. The Credit of Religion is much concerned in the just dealing of them that profess it God will have the World to know that Religion is a good Friend to Human Society Neh. 5. 9. Ought ye not to walk in the Fear of our God because of the Reproach of the Heathen our Enemies This was the Primitive Glory of Christianity Dent Exercitum talem tales Exactores fisci c. Some carry it so that they deal with God's Commandments as Hanun with David's Messengers as if they had cut off the whole second Table and so prove a Stain and Blot to Religion In short they that do not make Conscience of paying their