excelling in Holiness himself loveth the Vertue and Holiness of his Creature Prov. 11. 20. For how can he be imagined but to love his own Image And as Goodness and Holiness are loved by him so he hateth the Workers of Iniquity Psal. 5. 5. and abhorreth those that despise that which is most glorious in Himself his Holiness And then if God loveth the Good and hateth the Evil he will express this in answerable Effects Good with Life and Evil with Death In short The Difference between Good and Evil is not more naturally known than it is naturally known that the one is to be punished the other rewarded Whether we consider the Wisdom of God which sorteth and joyns all things according to their natural Order and therefore Sin which is a Moral Evil is joyned with Sufferings a Natural Evil that is a feeling of something painful to Nature and afflictive to it Or the Justice of God which dealeth differently with Men that differ in themselves Or the Holiness of God who therefore will express his Love to the Good in making them happy and his Detestation of the Wicked in the Misery of their Punishment 2. The Greatness of both these Life and Death they are both Eternal Punishment in one Scale holdeth Conformity with the Reward in the other The full Reward is an Eternal and far more exceeding Weight of Glory called everlasting Life so is the full Punishment the Eternal Abode of Body and Soul under Torments expressed by everlasting Fire If we did only deal with you upon slight and cheap Motives you might refuse to hearken but when we tell you of Life and Death Eternal you ought most seriously to consider Whatever can be hoped or feared from Man is comparatively of little moment because his Power of doing Good or Evil is limited But on the one side it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God Heb. 10. 31. On the other side Rom. 5. 2. We rejoyce in the Hope of the Glory of God God will act like himself infinitely gloriously especially when he is All in All when he doth not act by the mediation of the Creatures but immediately punishing the Wicked and rewarding the Good The Vessel can convey no more than it receiveth When the Creature is an Instrument of Vengeance God acteth according to the proportion and rate of that Creature as if a Giant should strike one with a Straw If God doth us good by an Ordinance the Water runneth but as the Pipe will contain he cannot manifest himself in that Latitude but then God is All himself immediatly Consider 1. The Greatness of the Death that accompanieth Evil. The Afflictions and Sorrows of this Life are a part of this Death When Moses here had insisted on many temporal Plagues which should befall his People he saith I have set Life and Death before you There are many Miseries in this Life which are the Fruit of Sin which would make your Hearts ake and your Ears tingle to hear of And then Death which consists in the separation of the Soul from the Body is the King of Terrors But we speak of the second Death which is far more terrible which consists in an Eternal Separation from the blessed and glorious Presence of the Lord no Death like this In all Creatures that have Sense Death is accompanied with Pain but this is a perpetual living to deadly Pain and Torment from whence there can be no Release In the first Death the Pain may lie in one place but in the second it extends all over The first Death the more it prevaileth the more we are past feeling but in this Death the Sufferer has a greater vivacity than ever the Capacity of every Sense is enlarged and made more receptive of Pain While we are in the Body Vehemens sensibile corrumpit Sensum the more vehemently and violently any thing strikes upon the Senses the more doth it dead the Sense as the Inhabitants about the Fall of Nilus are deaf with the continual noise Too much Light puts out the Eyes Taste is dulled by Custom But here the Capacity is improved by feeling The Power of God sustains the Sinner whilst his Wrath torments him As the Saints are prepared for the Blessedness of Heaven we cannot bear the least Glimpse of that Happiness which they enjoy above so the wicked are fitted to endure those inconceivable Pains When the first Death approaches there is strugling for Life Men would not dy but in the second Death they desire a final Destruction they would not live 2 The Greatness and Excellency of that Life that ensueth Good All manner of Blessings in this Life is the lowest step of it At Death when the Spirit returneth to God that gave it then it beginneth to be discovered but it is consummated when Body and Soul shall be translated to Heaven This is Life indeed Nescio an ista Vita mortalis Vita an vitalis Mors dicenda sit the present Life is a kind of Death always in fluxu like a Stream it runneth from us as fast as it cometh to us Iob 14. 1. He fleeth away as a Shadow and continueth not We die as fast as we live like the Shadow of a Star in a flowing Stream This Life is annoyed with a thousand Sorrows and Calamities but there is a freedom from all Sin and Misery and a full fruition of Pleasures for evermore Psal. 16. 11. And our Capacities are strong to bear them This Life is patched up with Supplies from the Creatures there is a full Fruition of God himself 1 Cor. 13. 12. And in this Life such Days may come wherein we have no pleasure Eccl. 12. 1. Life it self becomes a Burthen but that Life as it lasteth for ever so we are never weary of it The Enjoyment of God is new and fresh to us every moment As the Angels for thousands of years are beholding the Face of God but never weary of so doing so shall we always delight our selves in seeing God as he is 3. The Certainty of both these Life and Death Hell and Heaven as the Fruits of Good and Evil. 1. Reason sheweth it certainly that there is Eternal Life and Death or a State of Torment and Bliss after this Life All Men are perswaded that there is a God and very few have doubted but that he is a Rewarder of Vertue and and a Punisher of Vice Now neither the one nor the other is fully accomplished in this World even in the Judgment of those that have no great knowledg of the Nature of Sin nor what Punishment is competent thereto Therefore there must be after the sojourning in the Body a time in which retributive Justice shall be executed and Punishments and Rewards that here are dispensed so disproportionably even to what natural Reason would expect from the Hand of God shall most equally be dispens'd to Persons If any say Vertue is a Reward to it self as in some sence
no Sacrifice without it Not that he tasted of their Meat-offerings or did eat the Fat or Flesh of Bulls and Goats and drink their Blood and so would have it seasoned for his Pallate and Appetite it is not so to be understood but in Types as well as in Similitudes there is a condescension to our sense and apprehension of things That that is salted is savoury therefore God would note his acceptation of our persons and services this way By nature we are all odious unsavoury and distasteful to God by reason of Sin Psal. 14. 3. They are all become filthy there is none that doth good no not one in the Hebrew it is putrified stinking like corrupt and rotten Flesh. We must be salted and seasoned by the Grace of Christ and so we become amiable and acceptable in the sight of God The more upright we are the more he delighteth in us 2. To Men the more we are thus salted and mortified the more shall we do good to others Our Lord tells his Disciples Mat. 5. 13. Ye are the Salt of the Earth but if the Salt lose its savour wherewith shall it be salted it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of Men. This is spoken to the Disciples as Disciples not as Apostles and publick Persons It is a mistake to think that only Ministers are the Light of the World and the Salt of the World No all Christians must shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation all Christians must be as the Salt of the Earth Christ's whole Sermon contains general Duties and the Disciples were not yet sent abroad as Apostles nor ever heard of such a Commission or that their Master would send them abroad for the proselyting the World to the Kingdome of God that was done afterwards Chap. 10. and therefore here he speaks to Christians as Christians Now they are said to be Salt even as they season all those among whom they live A Christian is never savoury in his Conversation with others till he hath Salt in himself then all his actions are seasoned with Grace and beget a remembrance of God then his words are seasoned with Grace and do good to others The Apostle saith Eph. 4. 29. Let no corrupt Communication come out of your Mouths that rotten and corrupt Communication which vents it self in slandering rayling ribaldry foolish jesting at holy things lyes cursing and the like all these come from a corrupt Heart as a stinking Breath argues rotten Lungs These want the Grace of Mortification so are all sapless Spirits that cannot speak any thing of God seriously but in their most serious discourse are as fresh as Water But go among the mortified and you receive the savour of good things from them you have not only savoury Prayers and savoury Sermons but savoury Conferences and Discourses Col. 4. 6. Let your speech be alway poudered with Salt that is do not speak idely much less profanely but in an edifying manner Now Christians ought to take heed they do not lose their savouriness for then they do not please God nor profit Man and are fit for nothing but the Dunghil Thus I have proved the second thing that the Grace of Mortification is the true Salt that seasons Christians III. There is a Necessity of this Salt in all those that have entered into Covenant with God and have dedicated and devoted themselves to him 1. By our Covenant Vow we are bound to the strictest Duties and that upon the highest Penalties The Duty to which we are bound is very strict We have answered God in all the demands of his Covenant 1 Pet. 3. 21. For Baptism saveth as the answer of a good Conscience towards God The Lord demands and puts in effect this Question Will you die unto Sin and live unto Righteousness this is the tenour of the Baptismal Covenant that is so often so solemnly renewed at the Lord's Supper and you are to reckon your selves Rom. 6. 11. to be dead unto Sin and alive unto Righteousness through Christ Iesus our Lord reckon your selves that is in Vow and Obligation And the Penalty is very high Heb. 10. 26. that we sin wilfully so that our admission into Christ's Family will be in vain yea to our further ruine If you do not stand to the Covenant if you keep Sin still alive and add Fuel to the Flames 2. The Abundance of Sin that yet remains in us and the marvellous activity of it in our Souls we cannot get rid of this cursed Inmate till our Tabernacle be dissolved and this House of Clay tumbled into the Dust. Paul groaned sorely under it Oh wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Rom. 7. 24. And it is called Sin that doth easily beset us Heb. 12. 10. Well then since Sin is not nullified it must be mortified It works it wars there is a marvellovs activity in it it is very active and restless Rom. 7. 8. Sin wrought in me all manner of concupiscence he means sinful nature And the Apostle Iames tells us Iam. 4. 5. The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy there is not a sleepy but a stirring Principle always inclining us to evil and hindring that which is good Sin doth not only make us a little flexible and yeelding to Temptations but doth hurry us and impel us thereunto It is a Law warring in our Members that brings us into Captivity to Sin Rom. 7. 23. Corrupt Nature is not a tame thing that works not till it be irritated by the suggestions of Satan or temptations of the World but is like a living Spring that pours out Water of its own accord it will not let us alone the Heart of Man is evil continually and so it always hinders us from that that is good Rom. 7. 21. When I would do good evil is present with me it blunts the edge of our Affections it seeks to weaken our purposes by unbelieving thoughts or drawing us away from God by the lure of some sensitive delight in stealing our Hearts from him in the very duties and solemn addresses we make to him distracting our minds with thoughts of the World and the Pomp and Glory thereof and so turns our very Duties into Sin and makes us lose the comfort and sweetness of them it blasts and perverts our most sincere endeavours Well then without this Salt of the Covenant if this be so what shall we do have we not need to keep humble and watchful if Sin be stirring we must be stirring against it and improve the grace of the Holy Spirit upon the account of Christ's Death and use all good means that it may be subdued in us 3. Consider the sad consequences of letting Sin alone both either as to further Sin or Punishment 1. As to further Sin For Christ speaks here of Scandals If Lust be not mortified it grows outragious it has foil'd us before God
weakned by Almighty Grace 2. It may come from Libertinism And these harden their Hearts in sinning by a mistaking the Gospel 1. Some vainly imagine as if God by Jesus Christ were made more reconcilable to Sin that it needs not so much to be stood upon nor need we to be so exact to keep such ado to mortify and subdue the Inclinations that lead to it They altogether run to the Comforts of the Gospel and neglect the Duties thereof Christ died for Sinners therefore we need not to be troubled about it Some actually speak out these things as if all the Mortification required were but to quell the Sense of Sin in the Conscience not to destroy the Power of Sin in their Hearts and if they can but believe strongly they are pardoned all is well If this were true then in the hardest Heart would be the best Faith for they have the least trouble about Sin and least Conscience of Sin This is to cry up the Merit of Christ to exclude the Work and Discipline of this Spirit yea to set the Merit of his Death against the End of it and so to set Christ against Christ. He bore our Sins He bore our Sins in his Body upon the Tree that we might be dead to Sin and alive to Righteousness to promote this Mortification that we speak of 2. Another Sort think such Discourses may be well spared among a Company of Believers and they need not this Watchfulness and holy Care especially against grievous Sins that they have such good Command of themselves that they can keep within Compass well enough 'T is well if you be come to this height of Christian Perfection that Temptations make none or no considerable Impression upon you But we must warn you and that of the most gross Sins Christ thought fit to warn his Disciples Luk. 21. 34. Take heed lest your Hearts be overcharged with Surfetting and Drunkenness and the Cares of this Life And the Apostle every where warns Christians of Malice of Hypocrisy of Envy of Lying of Evil-speaking 1 Thess. 4. 6. Take heed that you do not over-reach and defraud one another for God is the Avenger of all such But these Men would be fed with refined Strains of Contemplative Divinity and have no Sins reproved but such kind of Sins as would seem a Credit rather than a Disgrace like those Diseases that are incident only to the best Complections and Constitutions If you speak against something that may rather argue their Excellency than shame them of their Sin you shall be welcome This over-spiritual Preaching ends in an aery Religion Is Sin grown less dangerous or Men more skilful to avoid it than heretofore Certainly he that considers how many scandalous Professors there are that would be accounted the People of God hath no cause to think so If Paul saw need of Mortification 1 Cor. 9. 27. We are not more strong but more fool-hardy 3. A third Sort are such as think Believers are not to be scared with Threatnings but only oiled with Grace But then consider the words of Christ were to his Disciples And to whom did the Apostle Paul write to Believers questionless If you live after the Flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the Deeds of the Body ye shall live Rom. 8. 13. No part of the Spirit 's Discipline must be omitted If one end of Christ's coming was to verify God's Threatnings and that the Curse of the Law should not fall to the Ground surely there is use of Threatnings still 3. It may arise from another Cause that is the Passionateness of carnal Affections Men are so wedded to their Lusts they cannot leave them and so strangely besotted they are even ready to sit down and say they will venture their Souls rather than live a strict Life Is the pleasing of the Flesh so sweet to you or Hell so slight a Matter And will the Day of Judgment be so slubber'd over There is a raging Despair and there is a sottish Despair The raging Despair of a Cain Gen. 4. 13. My Evil is greater than can be born when we are ready to sink under the Burden of our Sins And a sottish Despair when we are not sound with God and loth to improve the Grace of the Redeemer but say There is no hope we will go on in the Imaginations of our own Heart Jer. 2. 25. There is no Hope it is an Evil and I must bear it If I be damned I cannot help it I must bear it as well as I can What! will you bear the Loss of Heaven the Wrath of the Almighty and Eternal God Surely you know not what Eternity means what Hell and Heaven means You will know when the Eyes that are now blinded by the delusions of the Flesh shall be opened when you shall see others sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God and you shall be shut out Canst thou bear this If Rachel could not endure the want of Children and Iacob the supposed Loss of Ioseph when all his Sons and Daughters rose up to comfort him If Ahitophel could not endure the loss of his Credit in Counsel How wilt thou endure the Loss of thy Soul and the Glory of the Blessed to all Eternity When thou hast nothing to beguile thy Mind and thou art devested of all other Comforts and thou must feed upon this for ever So for the Pains of Hell Thou that canst not endure to be scorched a day or two in feaverish Flames or the Pain of the Stone or Gout when God arms the Humours of thine own Body against thee and canst not endure the Torment of an aking Tooth how canst thou endure the Wrath of an Eternal God Can your Hearts endure or your Hands be made strong in the Day that I will deal with you saith the Lord 2d Use is To perswade you not to neglect the Salt of the Covenant It may be fretting but it is healthful as the most salutary Medicines are usually most troublesom To help you to improve this kind of Argument which our Lord here useth 1. Consider There are but two Sorts of Men in the World and you are one of them There is no Neutral no middle State there are but two Principles that Men are influenced by the Flesh and the Spirit and there are but two Ends Men propound to themselves either the pleasing of the Flesh upon Earth or the enjoyment of God in Heaven And two Places they issue into Heaven or Hell The Scripture is peremptory and tells you who shall go to Heaven and who shall go to Hell Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the Deeds of the Body ye shall live Gal. 6. 8. He that soweth to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting Or consider that Prov. 14. 14.
be salted with Fire and every Sacrifice shall be salted with Salt Serm. 6 7. pag. 104. On 2 Thess. 3. 5. And the Lord direct your Hearts into the Love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. Serm. 8. pag. 142. On Ephes. 1. 8. Wherein he hath abounded towards us in all Wisdom and Prudence Serm. 9. pag. 157. On Mat. 27. 46. And about the ninth hour Iesus cried with a loud voice saying Eli Eli lama sabacthani that is to say My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Serm. 10. pag. 175. On Rom. 1. Part of the 29 30 Verses Whisperers Backbiters Serm. 11. pag. 192. On Gal. 5. 16. This I say then walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the Lusts of the Flesh. Serm. 12. pag. 207. On Job 19. 25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth Serm. 13. pag. 231. On 1 Tim. 6. 8. And having Food and Raiment let us be therewith content Serm. 14. pag. 247. On Eccles. 9. 11. I returned and saw under the Sun that the Race is not to the Swift nor the Battel to the Strong neither yet Bread to the Wise nor yet Riches to Men of Understanding nor yet Favour to Men of Skill but Time and Chance happeneth to them all Serm. 15. pag. 269. On Acts 21. 14. And when he would not be perswaded we ceased saying The Will of the Lord be done Serm. 16. pag. 262. On John 3. 16. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting Life Serm. 17. pag. 323. On Deut. 30. 15. See I have set before thee this Day Life and Good Death and Evil. Serm. 18. pag. 345. On Mat. 7. 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets Serm. 19 20. pag. 371. On Ephes. 2. 10. For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good Works which God hath before ordained that we should walk them SERMON I. 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 THE Title of this Psalm is A Psalm of Instruction and so called because David was willing to shew them the way to Happiness from his own Experience Surely no Lesson is so needful to be learned as this We all would be happy The Good and Bad that do so seldom agree in any thing yet agree in this A desire to be happy Now happy we cannot be but in God who is the Only Immutable Eternal and Alsufficient Good which satisfies and fills up all the capacities and desires of our Souls And we are debarr'd from access to him by Sin which hath made a breach and separation between him and us and till that be taken away there can be no converse and Sin can only be taken away by God's Pardon upon Christ's Satisfaction God's Pardon is clearly asserted in my Text but Christ's Satisfaction and Righteousness must be supplied out of other Scriptures as that 2 Cor. 5. 19. God was in Christ reconciling the World to Himself not imputing their Trespasses to them Where the Apostle clearly shews that not-imputing Transgressions is the effect of God's Grace in Christ. And we do no wrong to this Text to take it in here for the Apostle citing this Scripture Rom. 4. 6 7. tells us that David describeth the blessedness of the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth Righteousness without works when he saith Blessed are they whose Iniquities are forgiven whose Sin is covered blessed is the Man to whom the Lord will not impute Sin In the words you have 1. An Emphatical setting forth of a great and blessed Priviledg that is Pardon of Sin 2. A Description of the Persons who shall enjoy it In whose spirit there is no Guile The Priviledg is that I shall confine my thoughts to It is set forth in three Expressions Forgiving Transgression Covering of Sin and not imputing Iniquity The manner of speech is warm and vehement and it is repeated over again Blessed is the Man I shall shew what these three Expressions import and why the Prophet doth use such vehemency and emphatical inculcation in setting forth this Priviledg 1. Whose Transgression is forgiven or who is eased of his Transgression Where Sin is compared to a burden too heavy for us to bear as also it is in other Scriptures Mat. 11. 28. Come to me all ye that are weary and heavy laden 2. Whose Sin is covered alluding to the covering of filth or the removing of that which is offensive out of sight As the Israelites were to march with a paddle tied to their arms that when they went to ease themselves they might dig and cover that which came from them Deut. 23. you have the Law there and the reason of it ver 14. For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy Camp therefore shall thy Camp be holy that he see no unclean thing in thee and turn away from thee And then the third expression is To whom the Lord imputeth no Sin that is doth not put Sin to their account Where Sin is compared to a Debt as it is also in the Lord's Prayer Mat. 6. 12. Forgive us our Debts as we also forgive our Debtors Thus is the Act set forth The Object of Pardon about which it is conversant is set forth under divers Expressions Iniquity Transgression and Sin As in Law many words of like import and signification are heaped up and put together to make the Deed and Legal Instrument more comprehensive and effectual I observe it the rather because when God proclaims his Name the same words are used Exod 34. 7. Taking away Iniquity Transgression and Sin Well we have seen the meaning of the Expression Why doth the holy Man of God use such vigor and vehemency of inculcation Blessed is the Man and again blessed is the Man partly with respect to his own case David knew how sweet it was to have Sin pardoned he had felt the bitterness of Sin in his own Soul to the drying up of his Blood and therefore he doth express his sense of Pardon in the most lively terms Blessed is the Man whose Iniquity is forgiven c. And then partly too with respect to those for whose use this Instruction was written that they might not look upon it as a light and trivial thing but be throughly apprehensive of the worth of so great a Priviledg Blessed happy thrice happy they who have obtained Pardon of their Sins and Justification by Jesus Christ. The Doctrine then which I shall insist upon is this That it is a great Degree and Step towards yea a considerable Part of our Blessedness to obtain the Pardon of our Sins by Christ Iesus I shall evidence it to you by these three Considerations 1. I
the Heart is an Introduction into our glorious State and the more sanctified the more meet to be Partakers thereof Col. 1. 12. Now that which doth positively make us capable of Glory and Happiness is a greater Priviledge than that which only removes the Impediment 4. That is the greatest Benefit which makes us more amiable in the Sight of God and is the Object of his Delight now he delights in us as sanctified rather than pardoned We love him indeed for pardoning and forgiving so great a Debt she loved much because much was forgiven her But God delighteth in Holiness and the Reflection and Impress of his own Image upon us Prov. 11. 20. The Upright in the Way are his Delight When the Spirit hath renewed us according to the Image and Nature of God that makes us amiable in his Sight and an Object of Divine Complacency Therefore surely this is the great Priviledge and Blessing we have by the Mediator here in this World I come to the fourth Thing IV. In what way doth Christ turn us from our Iniquities 1. He doth purchase this Grace for us And 2. He works it in us 1. He purchaseth this Grace for us that we may be turned 1 Pet. 1. 24. He bore our Sins in his own Body upon the Tree that we being dead unto Sin should live unto Righteousness That was his end not only to lay the Obligation upon us but to procure the Grace whereby we may be enabled to do so This Sacrifice was a truly propitiatory Sacrifice whereby God was appeased and forfeited Blessings restored The Loss of God's Image was a great part of our Punishment and it is a part of our Deliverance that Christ hath purchased this Grace as well as Pardon He hath given himself for us that he might cleanse us and sanctify us and make us a pure and holy People unto God Eph. 5. 25 26. 2. As he hath purchased it for us so he works it in us partly by the power of his Internal Grace and partly by blessing and sanctifying External Means and Helps for such an End and Purpose First I say by the Power of his Internal Grace changing our Hearts and Minds Tit. 3. 9. He saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy-Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour And he acteth in us as Christ's Spirit and as we are Members of Christ. It is the Spirit enlightens the Mind so that we begin to see the Evil that is in Sin the Necessity to get rid of it After I was instructed I smote upon the Thigh and also to overcome the obstinate Heart of Man and turn it to God and to fix the Inclination of the Soul against Sin In short by his preventing Grace he doth convert us by his exciting Grace sanctify us by his assisting Grace he makes us persevere in turning us more and more from Sin to Holiness Secondly He sanctifies and blesses External Helps and Means I shall instance in two Ordinances and Providences 1. Ordinances such as the Word and Sacraments Ioh. 17. 19. I sanctified my self that they might be sanctified by the Truth that is the preaching of the Word He gave himself for his Church that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of Water through the Word Mark these and other places of Scripture and you will find the Merit of Christ doth reach the Ordinances that by them Grace may be conveyed and Sin might be mortified and subdued in us The Word calls us to excite our Resolutions against Sin and strengthen them to avoid Occasions to cut off the Provisions of the Flesh to make it our daily Task to war and strive against it And none conscienciously wait upon the Word but something by every attendance is given out for the weakning of Sin and setting them afresh against it And then the Sacrament that represents the Death of Christ as the Price of our dying to Sin and it represents him as the Pattern according to which we must be conformed that we may know that our old Man is crucified and that we may renew our Covenant with God and our Resolutions and bind our selves to more serious Endeavours against Sin The Lord Jesus after he had procured the Spirit and this wonderful Grace to turn us from our Sins hath appointed congruous and and fit Ordinances whereby he may dispense this Grace to us more and more And as he sanctifies Ordinances so 2. Providences for we are thresh'd that our Husks may fly off Wherefore doth he chasten us sometimes and very sorely but to make us out of love with Sin The Fruit of all shall be to take away Sin Isa. 27. 9. And he chastens us verily for our Profit that we may be made Partakers of his Holiness Heb. 12. 10. By all these means we are sanctified by Ordinances and Providences and by the all-powerful Grace of his holy Spirit Thus I have opened the fourth Thing how the Lord Jesus doth turn us from our Sins The Uses we may make of this Point are 1. Of Information It informs us 1. Of the vain Hopes of the Carnal and such as yet live in their Sins for at present they have no Interest in him and so living and dying will find him rather a Judge than a Saviour for the greatest part of their Work is undone We must be saved from the Guilt and Power of Sin and the latter is the proper Sign of our Recovery We are justified in the Name of the Lord Iesus and sanctified also in the Spirit of our God Christ did not purchase our Salvation by piece-meal nor can we receive it by piece-meal a whole Saviour we must have or no Saviour She was the true Mother that pleaded against the dividing of the Infant They are true Christians I am sure who would have Christ undivided who would have him Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption for if you take him in one respect and neglect him in another especially the chief thing you should make use of him for you do not take him at all Therefore the Carnal that live in their Sins are at present excluded from all Claim to Christ. 2. It shews us what we should mainly seek in our Prayers Leave not the Redeemer till he hath blessed you with his principal Blessing Our Prayers for temporal Happiness are not so welcom to Christ as our Prayers for sanctifying Grace and Power against Sin Natural Sense will put us upon asking Corn and Wine and Oil but the new Creature saith Lord take away Iniquity Every Man hath a sence of outward Evils and would fain be at ease but every Man hath not a sence of Sin and an hunger and thirst after Righteousness Self-love will prompt us to beg exemption from Trouble but Sin is the worst Burden to a tender Heart When your Children ask you for Apples and Plums and such things as are pleasing to their childish Appetite they do
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
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
Principle Eph. 4. 24. It is created after God in Righteousness and true Holiness as suiting us to these things So the Spirit is promised to enable us to walk in God's ways Ezek. 36. 27. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Iudgments and do them It helps us to avoid Sin 1 Joh. 3. 9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God They that give back cannot yeild to those Sins with which others are surprized and captivated 2. It prepares us for Heaven Thither is the tendency of the new Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. 1 Joh. 5. 4. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the World it moveth us to mind love and seek after Heavenly things This Grace came from Heaven and there it is perfected 2. There is an other Principle of corrupted Nature remaining in us which is sometimes called Flesh as before sometimes the old Man Eph. 4. 22. Sin that dwelleth in us Rom. 8. 17. The Body of Sin Rom. 6. 6. The Law of the Members warring against the Law of the Mind Rom. 7. 23. By this Principle they are inclined to that which is evil This Principle also may be known 1. By the manner how it was derived to us 2. By its Tendency and Operations 1. The manner how it was derived to us from Adam in his Apostacy and as faln from his chief Good and last End Ioh. 3. 6. When Man fell from God he fell to himself The Temptation was Ye shall be as Gods Gen. 3. 5. He would set up Self as a God And what was that Self which Man sought to idolize but himself rather considered as a Body than as a Soul And therefore when God sought to reduce Man where lay the difficulty that Text will inform you Gen. 6. 3. My Spirit shall not always strive with Man for that he is also Flesh that is sunk or lost in Flesh altogether wedded to the Interests of the bodily Life 2. By its Tendency and Influence it prompts us to do those things which are most acceptable to Sense or agreeable to our worldly and carnal Ends. The Flesh operateth several ways according to Mens callings occasions or constitutions Isa. 53. 6. 1 Ioh. 2. 16. As every Soil beareth such Weeds as are most suitable to the Nature and Quality of the Ground so some are enslaved by this some by that particular Sin yet all of them alike opposite to God Differences there are as to the choice of their way wherein they please the Flesh some in a more gross some in a more cleanly manner yet they all walk in the Lust of the Flesh following inbred Corruption as their Guide or obey it either in a way of Worldliness Ambition or Sensuality Some ways are more blameless before the World because they less deserve a Worldly Interest some are so prodigiously wicked that they cause a Horror even in Mankind though degenerated Now after Conversion some of our former Sins cripple us and we halt of the old Maim still and it is not enough to stop one gap while corruption runneth out at many more but we must make Conscience of not fulfilling the Lusts of the Flesh in any kind Well now I have shewed you the two Principles which are in a Christian That we may have a Sence of our imbecillity and that we are but regenerated in part II. I will prove to you that there is a Liberty in a Christian of walking according to each Principle either the Spirit or Flesh. 1. That the Christian hath Liberty of walking according to the Spirit is out of question for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty 2 Cor. 3. 17. Surely the Spirit of Christ can free us and doth free us from the bondage of Corruption Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ hath freed me from the Law of Sin and Death otherwise there would be no distinction between Nature and Grace If we should be still shackled and manacled by our Lusts and be as unable to pursue our last End as we were before if there were no inclination to God and Heavenly things what have they gotten by Grace and therefore though we are still weak yet we have the gift of the Spirit to free us from Sin The Force and Efficacy of the new Nature appeareth in three things Scire Velle Posse in knowing our Duty and willing and purposing and doing our Duty suitable to the three Faculties of Man his Understanding Will and vital Power So the Spirit received from Christ 2 Tim. 1. 7. is a Spirit of Power Love and a sound Mind 1. For Scire The new Nature partly consists in the internal Light of the Mind by which we understand the things of God revealed in the Scriptures concerning our Duties and Priviledges and so the Unction is said to teach us all things 1 Joh. 2. 20. That is all things which belong to our necessary Duty and Happiness God's Children in necessary things have a good Understanding or as it is said Isa. 11. 3. They are quick of Understanding in the fear of the Lord. By this it doth warn us of our danger mind us of ourduty upon all occasions 2. For Velle To be willing The force of the new Creature lieth in the love of God for we are never converted to God till he hath our Hearts till we love him with all our Soul with all our Might and Strength and hate what is contrary to him Psal. 17. 10. Ye that love the Lord hate evil Now surely they that love God and hate evil are at liberty more than others to serve and please God and avoid Sin Hate Sin once and it hath little Power over you 3. For Posse or the active Power The wonder is rather how he can sin deliberately voluntarily than how he cannot sin 1 Ioh. 3. 9. and for doing good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2. 13. I can do all things Eph. 2. 10. A Spiritual Man is prepared for every good work 2. The Assistant Power which accompanieth the new Creature in all his Actions doth certainly give him a great advantage of Liberty to know will and do things pleasing unto God As he doth first convert us unto God and quicken us when we are dead in Trespasses and Sins so after Conversion when the Principles of a new Life are put into us he still helpeth us and as all Creatures depend upon God in esse conservari operari Acts 17. 28. So doth the new Creature depend on the Spirit he leadeth and guideth all the Children of God to their Everlasting Estate Rom. 8. 14. He assists the Will and the vital Power Phil. 2. 13. Otherwise we may complain with Paul Rom. 7. 18. For to Will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not There may be a Will or an
which we could neither imagine nor hope for partly because the chief of our Blessings lie in another World and Nature cannot see so far off 2 Pet. 1. 9. Partly because Christ's most sincere People are afflicted with so many Difficulties and so seemingly forsaken and Temptations to Unbelief are many and pressing that it is hard to maintain any Life in our selves unless we have Faith that is a strong Assent and invincible Trust. Well now consider for what good reason God requireth Faith Sense only looks to things seeen and felt Reason seeth Effects in their Causes and yet but probably but Faith is a believing such things as God hath revealed because he hath revealed them and surely this only can sustain us in the expectation of God's Grace and Mercy unto Eternal Life Whilst we are employed in Duties so opposite to the bent of the carnal Heart and have so many Temptations to the contrary what can support us but a strong and lively Faith 2. Till we believe in Christ we can have no Comfort or Use of all his Offices How can we learn of him the Way of Salvation till we believe him to be the Prophet sent of God to teach the World the Way to true Happiness Mat. 17. 5. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him How can we obey him unless we believe in him that he is our Lord who hath power over all Flesh at whose Judgment we must stand or fall Acts 17. 30 31. Now commandeth all Men every where to repent because he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the dead How can we depend upon the Merit of his Obedience and Sacrifice and be comforted with his gracious Promises and Covenant and come to God with boldness and Hope of Mercy in his Name and be confident that he will justify sanctify and save us unless we believe that he is a Priest who once made an Atonement and continually makes Intercession for us Heb. 9. 25. In the days of his Flesh when any came for any Benefit to him he put him upon his Trial Believest thou that I am able to do this Mark 9 23. Iesus said unto him If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth Believest thou that I am able to Martha Joh. 11. 26. Thus they were not capable of any Benefit till they believed 3. With respect to that Holiness and Obedience which God expected from the Creature Christ came to restore us to God which he doth both as a Saviour and Law-giver to his Church and till we believe in him both these Qualities and Functions miss of their Effect 1. As a Saviour he came to take away the Curse of the Law and to put us into a capacity to serve and please God by giving us his Spirit to renew our Natures and heal our Souls Isa. 53. 5. The Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our Sins in his own Body on the Tree that we being dead unto Sin should live unto Righteousness by whose Stripes ye were healed We shall never mind our Duty nor be capable to perform it unless we believe that he is such a Saviour 2. As a Law-giver obliging us by his Authority to live in obedience unto God The Kingdom of the Mediator is clearly subordinate to the Kingdom of God for he came not to vacate our Duty but to establish it he came to restore the lost Groat to the Owner the lost Sheep to the Possessor the lost Son to the Father As the Grace of Christ doth not vacate the Mercy of God so the Authority of Christ that novum Ius Imperii doth not free us from the Authority of God Now who will submit to an Authority that is not convinced of it or doth not believe it But when once we believe then we bow Heart and Knee 4. With respect to our Comfort Often in Scripture Faith is represented as a quieting Grace The Comfort Quietness and Peace of the Soul dependeth much upon Faith in Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour which banishes our Fears and makes us in our greatest hardships to trust Christ with all our Happiness and to feast the Soul with a constant Peace and everlasting Joy Whether this World be turned upside down and be dissolved whether we be in Poverty and Sickness or in Health or Wealth whether we be under evil Repute or good whether Persecution or Prosperity befall us how little are we concern'd in all these if we know in whom we have believed 2. Tim. 1. 12. Heaven is where it was before and Christ is at the right hand of God how little then should all these things disturb the Peace and Comfort of that Soul that shall live with God for ever Psal. 112. 7. But Sin is our greatest trouble If Sin be your Trouble I answer Is it your Infirmity or Iniquity If Infirmity There is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Iesus c. Rom. 8. 1. If Iniquity break off your Sin by Repentance and then there may be Comfort for you for Christ came to save us from our Sins USE 1. Is to confute Mens Presumptions of their Eternal good Estate whereby many damnably delude their own Souls 1. Some when they hear that whosoever believeth shall be saved have a carnal Notion of Christ that if he were alive they would own him and receive him into their Houses and use him more friendly than the Iews did This is but a knowing Christ after the Flesh 2 Cor. 5. 16. He is not to be received into your Houses but into your Hearts Besides we do not know our own Hearts or what we should have done if we had lived then a Person of such contemptible appearance as Christ was and so free in his Reproofs of the Sins of the Times would not have been for our turn no more than theirs The Iews said Mat. 23. 30. If we had lived in the days of our Fathers we would not have been guilty of the Blood of the Prophets The Memory of Corah Dathan and Abiram was as detestable to the carnal Iews as that of Iudas and Pontius Pilate to Christians but they were not a whit the better Men no more are we 2. They do great reverence to his Name and Memory profess themselves Christians and abhor Turks and Infidels No this will not do neither Many prize Christ's Name that neglect his Office honouring the Physician without taking his Remedies never brought Health They have learned to speak well of Christ by rote after others but they do not savingly and sincerely believe in him to cure and heal their Souls and suffer him to do the work of a Mediator there The other Respect is to be ascribed to the Chance of their