with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins And as they are pardoned freely so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The gracious gift of God Charisma signifies a gift flowing from the free-grace and favor of God John 10. 28. they shall be saved freely Rom. 6. ult For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus you see O despairing souls that all is of free-grace from the lowest to the highest round in Jacobs Ladder all is of Grace Christ is a Donative the Covenant of grace is a Donative Pardon of sin is a Donative Heaven and Salvation is a Donative Why then O despairing souls should you sit down sighing under such black sad and dismal apprehensions of God and your own state and condition Verily seeing all happiness and blessedness comes in a way of free-grace and not in a way of doing not in a way of works you should arise Revel 21. 6. 22. 18. O despairing souls and cast off all despairing thoughts and drink of the waters of life freely What though thy heart be dead and hard and sad what though thy sins be many and thy fears great yet behold here is glorious grace rich grace wonderous grace matchless and incomparable riches of free-grace spread before thee O let this fire warm thee let these waters refresh thee let these Cordials strengthen thee that it may be day and no longer night with thee that thy mourning may be turned into rejoycing and that thy beautiful garments Isa 52. 1. may be put on that so the rest of thy days may be days of gladness and sweetness and free-grace may be an everlasting shade shelter and rest unto thee Again tell me O despairing souls do you understand and most seriously and frequently ponder upon those particular Scriptures that do most clearly sweetly and fully discover the mercies of God the bowels of God the grace and favor of God to poor sinners as that Psal 86. 5. For thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee Gods mercies are above all his works and above all ours too his mercy is without measures and rules All the acts and attributes of God sit at the feet of mercy the weapons of Gods artillery are turned The Rainbow is signum gratiae foederis into the Rainbow a Bow indeed but without an Arrow bent but without a string The Rainbow is an emblem of mercy it is a sign of grace and favor and an assurance that God will remember his Covenant it is fresh and green to note to us that Gods mercy and grace to poot sinners is always fresh and green Again tell me O despairing souls have you seriously pondered upon Nehe. 9. 16 17. But they and our Fathers dealt proudly and hardned their necks and hearkned not to thy Commandments And refused to obey neither were mindful of the wonders that thou didst among them but hardned their necks and in their rebellion appointed a Captain to return to their bondage but thou art a God ready to pardon gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and forsookest them not Thou art a God says he ready to pardon or rather as it is in the Original and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou a God of pardons There is a very great emphasis in this Hebraism a God of pardons it shews us that mercy is essential unto God and that he is incomparable in forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Here Nehemiah sets Micah 7. 18. him forth as one made up all of pardoning grace and mercy as a circle begins every where but ends no where so do the mercies of God When Alexander did sit down before a City he did use to set up a light to give those within notice that if they came forth to him whilest that light lasted they might have quarter if otherwise no mercy was to be expected O but Luke 13. 7. Jere. 3 1. to 15. such is the mercy and patience of God to sinners that he sets up light after light and waits year after year upon them When they have done their worst against him yet then he comes with his heart full of love and his hands full of pardons and makes a proclamation of Grace that if now at last they will accept of mercy they shall have it Why then O despairing soul dost thou make thy life a hell by having such low and mean thoughts of Gods mercy and by measuring of the mercies and bowels of God by the narrow scantling of thy weak and dark understanding Again tell me O despairing souls have you seriously pondered upon those words in Isai 55. 7 8 9. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Veish Aven The man of iniquity i. e. One that makes a trade of sin man or rather as it is in the Original the man of iniquity his thoughts And let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon or as it is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He will multiply to pardon or he will increase his pardons as the sinner increases his sins He will multiply to pardon For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher then the Earth so are my ways higher then your ways and my thoughts then your thoughts Turn O despairing souls to these Scriptures Numb 14. 19 20. Exod. 34. 6 7. Micah 7. 18 19. Isai 30. 18 19. Psalm 78. 34 to 40. 103. 8. to 13. Jere. 3. 1. to 12. Luke 15. 20. to 24. 1 Tim. 1. 13. to 17. and tell me whether you have seriously and frequently pondered upon them O how can you look so much grace and mercy so much love and favor and such tender bowels of compassion in the face as appears in these Scriptures and yet rack and tear your precious souls with despairing thoughts O there is so much grace and goodness so much love and favor so much mercy and glory sparkling and shining thorow these Scriptures as may allay the strongest fears and scatter the thickest darkness and chear up the saddest spirits c. Again tell me O despairing souls do you not do infinite wrong to the 1 Pet. 1. 19. precious blood of the Lord Jesus Three things are called precious in the Scripture the blood of Christ is called precious blood and faith is called precious 2 Pet. 1. 1 4. faith and the promises are called precious promises Now what a reproach is it to this precious blood that speaks better things then the blood of Abel Heb. 12. 24. for you to faint and sink under the power of delpair what doth this speak out O doth it not proclaim to all
in blood it made the Martyrs to complement with Lions to dare and tire their persecutors to kiss the stake to sing and clap their hands in the flames to tread upon hot burning coals as upon Beds of Roses The assured Soul knows that Death shall be the Funeral of all his sins and sorrows of all afflictions and temptations of all desertions and oppositions He knows that Death shall be the Resurrection of his joyes he knows that death is both an out-let and an in-let an out-let to sin and an in-let to the souls clear full and constant injoyment of God And this makes the assured soul to sing it sweetly out O 1 Cor. 15. 35 36 37. death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory I desire to be dissolved Phil. 1. 23 Make haste my beloved Come Cant. 8. ult Revel 22. Lord Jesus come quickly Now Death is more desirable then life Now says the Soul Ejus est timere mortem qui ad Christum nolit ire Let him fear Death that is loth to go to Christ So I may be with Christ though I go in a Cloud I care not sayes the assured soul so I may be with Christ I care not though I go in a Fiery Charriot sayes the assured soul The Persians had a certain day in the year in which they used to kill all Serpents and venomous Creatures The assured Christian knows that the day of Death will be such a day to him and that makes Death lovely and desirable he knows that Sin Morimur dum non morimur was the Midwife that brought Death into the World and that Death shall be the Grave to bury Sin Ambrose said to his friends about him when he was dying I have not so lived that I am ashamed to live nor yet fear I death because I have a good Lord c. And therefore Death is not a terror but a delight unto him he fears it not as an enemy but welcomes it as a friend As Crook-back Richard the Third in his distress cried A Kingdom for a Horse a Kingdom for a Horse So souls that want assurance when they come to die will cry out A Kingdom for Assurance a Kingdom for Assurance And as Severus said If I had a thousand worlds I would now give them all for Christ So a Soul that wants Assurance when he comes to enter upon a state of eternity will cry out O had I now a thousand worlds I would give them all for assurance whereas the assured soul would not for a thousand worlds but die When his glass is out and his sun is set he cryes not out as that Lady did A World a World for an inch of time but rather why is it why is it Lord that thy chariots be so long a coming Eightly Assurance will very much sweeten that little oyl that is in the 1 King 17. 12 c. Cruse and that handful of meal that is in the Barrel Assurance will be sauce to all meats it will make all thy mercies to taste like mercies it will make Daniels pulse to be as sweet as Princes Dan. 1. delicates it will make Lazarus Rags Luke 16. as pleasurable as Dives Robes it will make Jacobs bed upon the stones to be Gen. 28. Amos 6. 4. as soft as those Beds of Down and Ivory that sinful great ones stretch themselves upon Look as the want of assurance imbitters all a sinners mercies that he cannot taste the sweetness and the goodness of them so the enjoyment of assurance casts a general beauty and glory upon the Believers meanest mercy And hence it is that assured souls Prov. 15. 16. live so sweetly and walk so chearfully when their little all is upon their backs and in their hands whereas the great men of the world that have the world at will but want this assurance that is more worth then the world live as slaves and servants to their mercies in the midst of all their abundance they are in straits and perplexities Job 20. 22. full of fears and cares and nothing pleases them nor is sweet unto them because they want that A Believer knows 1. That his little mercies are from great love Secondly That they are pledges of greater Thirdly That his blessings are blest unto him Fourthly That they shall not at last be witnesses against him assurance that sweetens to a Believer the ground he stands on the air he breaths in the seat he sits on the bed he lies on the bread he eats the cloaths he wears c. Ah were there more assurance among Christians they would not count great mercies small mercies and small mercies no mercies no no then every mercy on this side hell would be a great mercy then every mercy would be a sugared mercy a perfumed mercy Look as the Tree that Moses cast into the Exod. 15. 23 24 25. waters of Marah made those bitter waters sweet so Assurance is that Tree of Life that makes every bitter sweet and every sweet more sweet Ninthly Assurance will make a man The Rabbins say That the Angels attend in all Judicatories very Angelical it will make him full of motion full of action it will make him imitate the Angels those Princes of glory that are always busie and active to advance the glory of Christ they are still a singing the Song of the Lamb they are still pitching their Tents about them that Psal 34. 7. Heb. 1. ult fear the Lord they are Ministering Spirits sent forth for the good of them that are Heirs of Salvation Assurance will make a man fervent constant and abundant in the Work of the Lord as you may see in Paul The Assurance makes a Saint all fire it makes him like â—he burning Seraphims Isal 6. 2 3 4. assured Christian is more motion then notion more work then word more life then lip more hand then tongue When he hath done one work he is a calling out for another What is next Lord sayes the assured soul what is next His head and his heart is set upon his work and what he doth he doth it with all his might because there is no working in the Grave An assured Christian Bellarmiâ—â— is of opinion that one glimpse of Hell were enough to make a man not onely turn Christian but a Monk to live after the strictest rules to be abounding in wel-doing Surely assurance of Heaven will make a man do more will put his hand to any work he will put his shoulder to any burden he will put his neck in any yoke for Christ he never thinks that he hath done enough he always thinks that he hath done too little and when he hath done all he can he sits down sighing it out I am but an unprofitable servant In a word Assurance will have a powerful influence upon thy heart in all the duties and services of Religion nothing will make a man love like
Ah souls have not some of you found it so surely you have God deals sometimes with rebellious sinners as Princes do with those that are in arms that are in open rebellion against them You know Princes will This hâ—â—h bâ—â—n a practise among all Princes whether they have been Christians or Heathens put such hard to it they shall fare hard and lie hard Chains and Racks and what not shall attend them and yet after the sentence is past upon them and they are upon the last step of the Ladder of Life ready to be turned off and all hope of escape is gone then the Princes pardon is put into their hand So the Lord brings many poor souls to the last steps of the Ladder to a hopeless condition and then he puts their pardon into their bosoms then he sayes Be of good chear I have received you into favor I have set my love upon you I am reconciled to you and will never be separated from you You know how God dealt with Paul after he had awakned Acts 9. 3 4 5 6. Vide Bezam Grotium Calvin and convinced him after he had unhorsed him and overthrown him after he had amazed and astonished him then he shews himself graciously and favorably to him then he takes him up into the third Heaven and makes such manifestations of his love and favor of his beauty and glory of his mercy and majesty as he is not able to utter So upon the prodigals return the fatted Calf is killed Luk. 15. 22 23. and the best Robe is put upon his back and the Ring is put on his hand and shoes on his feet Some understand by the Robe the Royalty of Adam others The dignity which Adam lost nay I think in this parable God sets forth his goodness and our happiness in restoring to us more by the death of the second Adam then we lost by the sin of the first Adam the Righteousness of Christ and by the Ring some understand the pledges of Gods love Rings being given as pledges of love some the seal of Gods Spirit men using to seal with their Rings Among the Romans the Ring was an ensign of Virtue Honor and Nobility whereby they that wore them were distinguished from the common people I think the main thing intended by all these passages is to shew us That God sometimes upon the sinners first conversion and returning to him is graciously pleased to give him some choice and signal manifestations of his love and favor of his good will and pleasure and that upon these following Grounds First That they may not be swallowed up of sorrow nor give up the ghost under the pangs and throws of the new birth Ah did not the Lord set in some beams of love upon the soul when it is magor Missabib a terrour to its self when the heart is a hell of horrour the conscience an An awakned conscience is like Prometheus Vulture it lies ever gnawing Acheldema a Field of black blood when the soul is neither quiet at home nor abroad neither at Bed nor Board neither in company nor out of company neither in the use of Ordinances nor in the neglect of Ordinances how would the soul faint sink and despair for ever But now when it is thus night with the soul the Lord sweetly comes in and tells the soul that all is well that he hath found a ransom for Job 33. 24. the soul that the Books are crost that all debts are discharged and that his favor and love upon the soul is fixed And so God by his sweet and still voice speaking thus to the soul quiets and satisfies it and keeps it from sinking and despairing Secondly God gives in assurance sometimes at first conversion that he may the more raise and inflame their love and affections to him Ah! How does a pardon given in when a man is ready to be turned off draw out his love and raise his affections to that Prince that shews bowels of mercy when he is upon the brink of misery So when a poor sinner is upon the last Titus Motro was Priâ—câ—ps bonus orbis amor All the world falls in love with a good Prince with a merciful Prince step of the Ladder upon the very brink of Hell and misery now for God to come in and speak peace and pardon to the soul Ah how does it inflame the soul and works the soul to a holy admiration of God and to a spiritual delighting in God King Antigonus his pulling a sheep with his own hands out of a dirty ditch as he was passing by drew his Subjects exceedingly to commend him and love him So King Jesus pulling of poor souls out of their sins and as it were out of Hell cannot but draw them to be much in the commendations of Christ and strong in their love to Christ Christ hath nothing more in his eye nor upon his heart then to act towards his people in such ways and at such seasons as may most win upon their affections And therefore it is that sometimes he gives the strongest consolation at first conversion Thirdly Christ sometimes at first conversion grants to his people the sweetest manifestations of his love that they may bee the more active servent abundant and constant in Amor Dei â—unquam otiosus est operatur enim magna si est fi vero operari renuit amor non est the love of God is never idle for if it is it worketh great things but if it resuse to work it is not love wayes of grace and holinesse hee knows that divine manifestations of love will most awaken quicken and engage the soule to wayes of piety and sanctity Look what wings are to the bird oyle to the wheels weights to the clock a reward to the coward and the load-stone to the needle that is the smiles and discoveries of God to a poore soule at his conversion The manifestations of divine So said Bradford and other blessed souls love puts heat and life into the soule it makes the soule very serious and studious how to act for God and live to God walk with God Ah saies a soul under the beams of divine love It is my meat and drinke it is my joy and crowne to doe all I can for that God that hath done so much for me as to know me in darknesse and to speak love to me when I was most unlovely to turn my mourning into rejoycing and my hell into a heaven Fourthly Christ sometimes at first conversion gives his people the sweetest manifestations of his love to fence and fortifie them against Satans fiery temptations before Christ shall bee led into the wildernesse to be tempted Mat. 3. 16 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an emphatical word and signifies that infinite affection delight and contentt hat God the Father did take in Christ Eph. 6. 16. by the devill the Spirit of the Lord shall
the world that there is no such worth and vertue no such power and Una guâ—tula plus valet quam caelum terra Luther efficacy in the blood of Christ as indeed there is O how will you answer this to Christ in that day wherein his blood shall speak and plead not onely with the profane that have trodden it under their feet but also with despairing Heb. 10. 29. souls that have undervalued the power vertue and merit of it Hath not the blood of Jesus Christ washed 1 John 1. 7 8 9. away the sins of a world of notorious sinners and is it not of vertue to wash away the sins of one sinner Hath it Sanguis Christi clavis coeli The blood of Christ is the Key of Heaven that hath let in millions Revel 7 9. Isai 66 8. A nation shall be born in a day When the Jews shall be converted a very glorious converting power shall accompany the means of salvation that Christ may rain from Sea to Sea c. had that vertue and power in it as to bring many thousands to glory already and is there not so much vertue left in it as to bring thy soul to glory Hath it actually delivered such a multitude from wrath to come as cannot be numbred and is the vertue of it so far spent as that it cannot reach to thy deliverance Are there not yet millions of thousands that shall hereafter be actually saved and justified by this blood Why then shouldst thou despair of being justified and saved from wrath to come by the vertue and power of this precious blood There were five Monks that were studying what was the best means to mortifie sin One said To meditate on death the second To meditate on judgement the third To meditate of the joyes of Heaven the fourth To meditate on the torments of Hell the fifth To meditate on the blood and sufferings of Jesus Christ and certainly the last is the choicest and strongest motive of all to the mortifying of sin O despairing souls despairing souls if ever you would cast off your despairing thoughts and get out of your present hell then dwell much muse much and apply much this precious blood to your own souls So shall sorrow and mourning flee Isai 5. 11. 56. 5. 60. 19 20. 62. 4 5. away and everlasting joy shall rest upon you and the Lord shall give you an everlasting name and be everlasting light and glory to you and you shall be no more called Forsaken for the Lord will rejoyce over you and be a wel-spring John 4. 21 23. of life unto you and make his abode with you and turn your sighing into singing your trembling into rejoycing and your prison into a paradise of pleasure so that your souls shall be able to stand up and say O blessed be God for Jesus Christ blessed be God for that precious blood that hath justified our persons and quieted our consciences and scattered our fears and answered our doubts and given us to triumph over Sin Hell and Death Who is Rom 8. 33 to 38. he that condemneth it is Christ that died The Apostle upon the account of Christs death of Christs blood cryes out Victory Victory he looks upon all his Enemies and sings it sweetly out Over all these we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Supervincimus We do over-overcome are more then conquerors or above conquerors O despairing souls to all your former sins do not adde this Of making light and slight of the blood of Christ as there is no blood that saves souls like the blood of Christ so there is no blood that sinks souls like the blood of Christ a drop of this blood upon a mans head at last will make him miserable for ever but a drop of it upon a mans heart at last will make him happy for ever In the day of vengeance the Exod. 12. 7. destroying Angel will spare you if this blood be found upon the door posts of your hearts otherwise you are lost for ever Lastly I can tell you O despairing souls that God hath brought some out of the very gulf of despair out of the very belly of hell and therefore thou mayest hope that thy sins that are thy present burden shall not be thy future ruine Doth not Asaph resemble the despairing soul to the life My soul Psal 77. refused to be comforted I remembred God and was troubled I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed Thou holdest mine eyes waking I am so troubled that I cannot speak Will the Lord cast off for ever and will he be favorable no more is his mercy clean gone for ever and will his promise fail for evermore Hath God forgotten to be gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies Now out of this gulf God delivers him Verse 10. And I said This is my infirmity or this maketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 me sick as it is in the Original Here Asaph checks himself for casting the cordials the comforts of the Spirit against the wall and for his having such hard sad and black thoughts of God And in the thirteenth Verse he speaks like one dropt out of Heaven Thy way O God is in the sanctuary who is so great a God as our God Formerly the thoughts of God troubled him and overwhelmed him but now at last the thoughts of the greatness of God and of his interest in God is matter of admiration and consolation to him So Heman sighs it out thus My Psal 88. All conclude that he was very holy and his soul very happy even while he was in this gulf of misery soul is full of troubles and my life draweth nigh unto the grave Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness in the deeps Thy wrath lieth hard upon me and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted Thy fierce wrath goeth over me thy terrors have cut me off And yet for all this Hemans state was good his soul was safe and happy he calls God in the same Psalm The God of his salvation So Jonah when he was in the belly of Jonah 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Garash signifies to expulse and cast out as Adam was expulsed out of paradise Gen 3. 24. It signifies an ignominious expulsion Hell concludes That he was cast out of the sight of God The sense of his sin and of Gods anger and wrath was so eminent and transcendent upon him that it even distracts him and makes him speak like a despairing soul I am cast out from the presence of the Lord I am expulsed out of Gods sight as Moses was expulsed out of Egypt God hath cast me out as one in whom he can take no pleasure nor delight as a Husband
the soul makes a man sit cheerful and thankful Noah-like in the midst of all tempests and storms Look as the playing with a bosom sin speaks out Hypocrisie so the mortifying of a bosom sin speaks ouâ— Sincerity The second Motive to provoke Motive 2. doubting souls to trample upon their bosom sins is Solemnly to consider that the conquests of their darling sins will render the conquests of other sins easie When Goliah was slain the rest 1 Sam. 17. 51 52. of the Philistims fled when a General in an Army is cut off the common Souldiers are easily routed and destroyed Ah complaining doubting The Lacedemoniaâ—s in all battles resolved to go home conquerors or to die conquered souls did you but take the courage and resolution to fall with all your might and spiritual strength upon those particular sins that stick so close unto you and that do so easily captivate you you would finde that the great Mountains Zach 4 7. that are before you would soon be made a Plain Other sins will not be long lived when Justice is done upon your bosom sins thrust but a dart thorow the heart of Absalom 2 Sam. 18. 14. ult and a compleat conquest will follow The third Motive to provoke you Motive 3. to crucifie your bosom sins be they what they will is Seriously to consider the very great damage that your souls have already sustained by your bosom sins Saul by casting an amorous Some there be that had rather lose their hearts then their conceits others had rather lose their souls then their sins these shall be chronicled in hell for Fools and Bedlams eye upon Agag lost his Crown and Kingdom Samson by dallying with his Delilah lost his strength sight light liberty and life But what are these losses to thy loss of Spiritual strength to thy loss of communion with God to thy loss of the Spirit of Light Life Liberty and Glory to thy loss of Joy unspeakable and Peace that passes understanding and to thy loss of those fresh and sparkling hopes of glory that were once sparkling in thy Brest Mark Anthony was so far bewitched with his Cleopatra that in the heat of the battle of Actium when the Empire of the world his life and all lay at stake that he fled from Augustus to pursue her to the ruine and loss of all So many there are so bewitched to some Cleopatra to some darling sin or other that they pursue the enjoyment of them to the loss of God Christ Heaven and their Souls for ever Ah Christians that the sense of what you have formerly lost and of what you daily loose by your playing with sin might provoke you to set upon some effectual course for the mortifying of them It was a blasphemous speech of Henry the second who said when Mentz his City was taken That he should never love God any more who suffered a City so dear to him to be taken from him But it will be a blessed and a happy thing for you in uprightness to say O we will never love we will never favor we will never dally with our bosom sins more for they have damnified us in our Spiritual enjoyments and in our Spiritual returns from Heaven Shall the sense Nay how many in these days are mad against publick Instruments for seeming losses of outward losses by this and that instrument work us out of love with them and shall not the senâ—e of our Spiritual losses by bosom sins work us much more out with them Ah Lord of what Iron mettal is that heart that can look upon those sad losses that hath attended playing with bosom sins and yet still dally with those Delilahs The fourth Motive to provoke you Motive 4. The Heathens as many Professors now had not the right art of mortifying sin Sapientia eorum plerumque abscondit vitia non abscindit All their wisdom was to hide a lust not to quench it therefore their joy was like the crackling of thorns under a pot to be the death of your darling sins is Solemnly to consider that the conquest and effectual mortifying of one bosom sin will yeeld a Christian more glorious joy comfort and peace then ever he hath found in the gratifying and committing of all other sins The pleasure and sweetness that follows victory over sin is a thousand times beyond that seeming sweetness that is in the gratifying of sin The joy that attends the subduing of sin is a noble joy a pure joy a peculiar joy an increasing joy and a lasting joy but that joy that attends the committing of sin is an ignoble joy a corrupt joy a decreasing joy a dying joy the truth is were there the least real joy in sin there could be no perfect Hell where men shall most perfectly sin and be most perfectly tormented with their sin Ah doubting Christians as ever The Leper under the Law was still to keep his hair shaven Levit. 14 5. So should we be still a cutting and shaving that though the roots of sin remain yet they may not grow and sprout you would have good days as ever you would walk in the light as ever you would like the Angels have always Harps in your hands and Allelujahs in your mouths be restless till in the Spirit and Power of Jesus you have brought under the sin that sticks so close unto you Remember this nothing below the conquest of bosom sins can make a jubilee in the heart it is not a mans whining and complaining over sin but his mortifying of sin that will make his life a paradise of pleasure If notwithstanding all that hath been said you are still resolved to dally with sin then you must resolve to live as a stranger to God and as a stranger to assurance and peace You must expect sad trials without and sore troubles within you must expect to finde Satan playing his part both as a Lion and as a Serpent both as a Devil and as an Angel of light you must expect either no news from Heaven or but bad news from Heaven and you must expect that Conscience Conscience is Index Judex Vindex will play the part both of a scolding Wife and of a Lion that wants his prey And this shall be your just reward for playing with sin if you like the reward then take your course and dally with sin still if otherwise then sacrifice your Isaac The fifth Motive to work you to Motive 5. Some Heathens and many profane persons have earnestly desired that they had done that at first that they would fain have done at last but could not the worst would be good and do good at last But at last they will be found the best and wisest who have made it their business to do that every day that every one would do upon a dying day trample upon your bosom sins is Wisely to consider that it is your duty and glory to do that every day
that you would willingly do upon a dying day Ah how would you live and love upon a dying day how would you admire God rest upon God delight in God long for God and walk with God upon a dying day how would you hate loath and abhor your bosom sins upon a dying day how would you complain of your bosom sins and pray against your bosom sins and mourn over your bosom sins and watch against your bosom sins and flie from all occasions that should tend to draw you to close with your bosom sins upon a dying day Ah doubting souls would you not for all the world gratifie your bosom sins upon a dying day and will you gratifie them on other days which for any thing you know to the contrary may prove your dying days Thrice happy is that soul that labors with all his might to do that at first that he would fain do at last that doth that on every day that he would give a thousand worlds to do on a dying day No way to Assurance like this no way to joy and comfort like this no way to rest and peace like this no way to the Kingdom to the Crown like this I earnestly beseech you trembling souls when you finde your spirits running out to bosom sins that you would lay your hands upon your hearts and thus expostulate the case O our souls would you thus dally and play with sin upon a dying day would you thus stroke and hug sin upon a dying day would you not rather shew all the dislike and hatred that is imaginable against it would you not tremble at sin more then at Hell and abhor the very occasions of sin more then the most venomous Serpent in all the world would you not rather suffer the worst and greatest punishments then to smile upon a darling sin upon a dying day Yes O would you fain do this upon a dying day why not then every day why not then every day O our souls The sixt and last Motive to provoke Motive 6. One flaw in a Diamond doth not onely take away the beauty glory and price of it but it puts men to question whâ—ther it be a Diamond Psal 40. 12. you to fall with all your might upon bosom sins is Seriously to consider that till this be done fears and doubts will still haunt the soul the soul will still be fearing that surely all is naught and that that work that is wrought upon it is not a real but a counterfeit work that it is not a peculiar and special work but a common work that a man may have and perish Till 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this be done the soul can never be able I am not able to see sin had put out Davids eyes to see grace in its own native beauty and glory the hugging of sin in a corner will raise such a dust in the soul that it cannot be able to see those Pearls of glory sparkling and shining Till this be done doubting souls you will be but Babes and Shrubs and Dwarfs in Christianitie the hankering of the soul after sin is the casting of water upon the Spirit it is the laming of Grace it is the clipping the wings of Faith and Prayer so that the soul can neither be confident nor fervent frequent nor constant in religious services so that it will unavoidably follow such souls will be like Pharaohs Gideon had seventy sons and but one Bastard and yet that one Bastard destroyed all the rest you may easily apply it lean Kine poor and starveling Look as many men are kept low in their outward estates by having a back door to some Herodians so many doubting souls are kept low in spirituals by their hankering after some particular sin Remember Christians sin is the souls sickness the souls weakness if the body be weak and diseased it grows not sin is poyson that turns all nourishment into corruption and so hinders the growth of the soul in grace and holiness Ah Christians as ever you would be rid of your fears and doubts as ever you would see the beautie and glory of grace as ever you would be eminent and excellent in grace and holiness see that effectual justice be done upon that Achan that Jonah that darling sin that hath occasioned storms within and tempests without It was a grievous vexation If there be but one crack in the honey-glass there the Wasp will be buzzing and where there is but some one sin favored there Satan will be rempting and upbraiding to King Lysimachus that his staying to drink one draught of water lost him his Kingdom Ah Christians it will grievously vex you when you come to your selves and when you come to taste of the admirable pleasure that attends the conquest of sin to consider that your hankering after this or that particular sin hath been the loss of that joy and comfort that peace and assurance that is infinitelie more worth then all the Kingdoms of the world But you may say to me O! we would Quest fain have our bosom sins subdued we desire above all that they may be effectually mortified these sons of Zerviah we would have slain to chuse But what course must we take to bring under our darling sins to get off our Golden Fetters to get out of these Silken Snares To this Question I shall give these Answers First If ever thou wouldst have Means 1. masterie over this or that bosom sin then engage all thy power and might against thy bosom sin draw up thy spiritual forces and engage them wholly against the sin that doth so easilie beset thee As the King of Syria said to his Captains Fight neither 2 Chro. 8. 30. with small nor great save onely with the King of Israel So I say your wisdom and your work O doubting souls lieth not in skirmishing with this or that sin but in coming up to a close sharp fight with the King of Israel with that darling sin that hath a Kingly interest in you and a Kingly power over you Constantine the Great his Symbole was Immedicabile vulnus ense rescindendum est when there is no hope of curing men must fall a cutting Believe it souls you must fall a cutting your bosom sins in pieces by the Sword of the Spirit as Samuel cut Agag in 1 Sam. 15. 33. pieces in Gilgal before the Lord or else you will never obtain a perfect cure Slight skirmishes will not do it you must pursue your bosom sins to the death or they will be the death of your souls The second Means to bring under a Means 2. As when one Bucket of a Well goes up the other goes down as when one of the two Lawrels in Rome flourishes the other withers so when grace gets up sin goes down when grace flourishes sin withers bosom sin is To labor to be most eminent and excellent in that particular grace that is most opposite to a mans bosom sin
As it is a Christians glory to be eminent in every grace so it is a Christians special dutie to excel in that particular grace that is most contrary to his darling sins Is it pride is it the world is it hypocrisie c. that is thy bosom sin that is the cheif favorite in thy soul O then labor above all to be cloathed with humilitie to abound in Heavenly-mindedness to transcend in sinceritie c. I know no surer no choicer no sweeter way effectually to crucifie a bosom sin then this He that comes up to this counsel will not be long held in golden fetters it will not be long before such a soul cries out Victory victory The third Means to help us to trample Means 3. upon bosom sins is To look upon bosom sins now as they will appear to us at last to look upon them in the time of health as they will appear to us in times of sickness to look upon them in the time of our life as they will appear to us in the day of our death Ah souls of all unpardoned sins your bosom sins will be presented by God Conscience and Satan at last as the most filthy and ugly as the most terrible and dreadful your bosom sins at last-will appear to be those Many there be that have found these things by woful experience Wo wo to that soul that shall put it to the tryal monsters those fiends of Hell that have most provoked God against you that have shut up Christs bowels of Love and Compassion from you that have armed Conscience against you that have barred the Gates of Glory against you that have prepared the hottest place in Hell for you and that have given Satan the greatest advantage eternally to triumph over you Ah Souls at last your bosom sins will more press and oppress you more sad and sink you more terrifie and amaze you then all your other transgressions Those sins that seem most sweet in life will prove most bitter Job 20. 11 to ult at death those pleasant morsels will prove thy greatest Hell when there is but a short step between thy soul and eternity Ah Christians never look upon bosom sins but with that eye which within a few hours you must behold them and this you will finde by experience will be a singular means to bring under your bosom sins The fourth Means to subdue bosom Means 4. sins is To apply your selves to extraordinary means as Fasting and Prayer c. Ordinary Physick will not remove extraordinary distempers nor ordinary duties will not remove bosom sins who by long and familiar acquaintance with the soul are exceedingly strengthned and advantaged You read of some devils in the Gospel that could not be cast out but Matth. 17. 14 to 22. by Prayer and Fasting So bosom sins are those white devils that will not that cannot be cast out but by fervent and constant Prayer joyned with Fasting and Humiliation Souls that are serious and conscientious in observing of this rule will finde such a Divine power to atâ—end their endeavors as will give them to lead captivity captive and to triumph Col. 2. 14 15. over those white devils within as Christ triumphed over Principalities and Powers upon the Cross Fifthly and lastly As you would Means 5. have victory over bosoms sins keep off from all those occasions that tend to lead thee to the gratifying of them He that shuns not the occasions of sin tempts two at once Satan and his own heart he tempts Satan to tempt him to taste of forbidden fruit and he tempts his own heart to feed upon forbidden fruit Abstain from all appearance of 1 Thes 5. 22. Jude v. 23. evil hate the garment spotted by the flesh What ever carries with it an ill show or shadow savor or suspition that abstain from that you may neither wound God nor the Gospel your own Consciences nor others If there be any fuel to feed thy bosom sin in thy house remove it or before thine eie remove it or in thy hand remove it put it far away thy soul cannot be safe it cannot be secure so long as the occasions of sin are thy companions Wouldst thou have a clear evidence of the truth of thy grace then shun the occasions of sin wouldst thou imitate the choicest Saints then shun the Gen. 39. 10. Job 31. 1. Psal 26. 4 5 6. occasions of sin wouldst thou stand in shaking times then keep off from the occasions of sin wouldst thou keep alwaies peace with God and peace with Conscience then keep ofâ— from the occasions of sin wouldst thou frustrate Satans greatest designes and countermine him in his deep 〈…〉 plots then keep off from the occasion of sin wouldst thou keep thy bones from breaking and thy heart from bleeding then keep off from the occasions of sin wouldst thou keep down fears and doubts and keep up faith and hope then keep off from the occasions of sin wouldst thou have assurance in life and joy and peace in death then keep off from the occasions of sin Do this and you do all if you do not this you do nothing at all And thus I have done with the Impediments that hinder Souls from Assurance as also with the Means to remove those Impediments CHAP. IV. Containing several Motives to provoke Christians to be restless till they have obtained a wel-grounded Assurance of their Eternal Happiness and Blessedness NOw the first Motive that Motive 1. I shall lay down to provoke you to get a wel-grounded Assurance is Solemnly to consider that many are now dropped into Hell that have formerly presumed of their going to Heaven as those that came bouncing at Heaven gate crying out Lord Lord open to us for we have prophesied Matth. 7. 22 26 27. So few in the old world feared an eternal miscarriage Matth 25. So were the Jews that cryed out The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord. in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out devils and in thy Name have done many wonderful works and yet that direful and dreadful sentence is past upon them Depart from me ye workers of iniquities The foolish Virgins were in a golden dream that they were as happy as the best and yet when they were awakned they found the Bridegroom entred into his glory and the door of mercy shut against them Men are naturally prone to Isa 40. 27. Deut. 29. 19. flatter themselves that their sins are not sins when indeed they be and that they are but small sins when they are great and grievous and they are apt to flatter themselves that they have grace when they have none and that Prov. 30. 12. their grace is true when it is but counterfeit and that their condition is not Revel 3. 17 18. so bad as others when it is worse and with Agag that the bitterness of Micah 3. 11 death is past when God hath his
evil report and good report They went thorow many weaknesses sicknesses wants and deaths they had nothing and yet possest all things they had burden upon burden cast upon them by the Churches by false Apostles and by an uncharitable world and yet they chearfully bore all burdens without a burden thorow the power of a wel-grounded assurance Assurance makes heavy afflictions 2 Cor. 4. 16 17 18. light long afflictions short bitter afflictions sweet Where a man wants assurance there the shadow of a burden frights him and the weight of the least burden sinks him such a man is still a crying out No mans burdens to my burden my burden is greater then others my burden is heavier then others The want of assurance often times makes mens very mercies a burden their comforts a burden their relations a burden yea their very lives a burden unto them Job 7 20. Ah Christians you will never bear burdens without a burden till you come to attain an assurance of better things This will inable you to leap under the weight of any cross to rejoyce under the weight of any Mountain Assurance fits a mans heart to his condition and when a mans heart is fitted to his condition nothing proves a burden to him Assurance of better I have read of Albas Paulus who handled Serpents and Scorpions and cut them in pieces without any hurt and said If a man be holy all things are subject to him as to Adam before his sin in paradise Surely assurance will inable a man to do much this way things takes away the sting the poyson that attends these lower things and the sting and the poyson being taken away the very worst of these things are so far from being a burden to a man that they become rather a pleasure and a delight unto him When the sting is taken out of this or that venomous Creature a man may play with it and put it in his bosom Ah assurance pulls out the sting that is in every cross loss c. And this makes the assured soul to sit down singing when others under far less crosses and losses sits down sighing mourning and complaining Our burdens are greater then we are able to bear If there were but more assurance of better things among Christians there would be less complaints among them of this burden and that Mole-hills then would be no longer Mountains Christians it is not new notions new opinions new nothings as I may say in your heads but the gaining of a wel-grounded assurance in your hearts that will inable you to bear all kinde of burdens without a burden The eighth Motive to provoke you Motive 8. to get assurance is drawn from those particular commands of God whereby he engages Christians to get assurance The Saints in Heaven have felix necessitas an happy necessity of obeying God alway but we infelix necessitas an unhappy necessity of disobeying continually The precepts of God saith Lactantius do so change the whole man and make him new that you can hardly know him to be the same Lactant. de falsa sapient lib. 3. cap. 27. A thing which Philosophy hath much labored in but could never archieve Christians The pressing of those very commands last cited upon your own hearts may produce that comfort and peace and make such a blessâ—d change in your inward condition as may bespeak much admiration as that in the 2 Pet. 1. 10. Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure for if ye do these things ye shall never fall So 2 Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates or unapproved as the Greek imports So Heb. 6. 11. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end Ah you dull doubting drousie Christians you should take all these commands of God and press them with all the power and authority you can upon your hearts to awaken them and provoke them to get assurance of your eternal wel-being Take one command and charge that upon the heart if the heart be stout and will not yeeld then take another command and press that upon the heart if that will not do it then take another and lay that home upon the heart and never leave this work till your souls be effectually stirred up to labor for assurance with all your might Christians on should tell your souls that the commands of God binds directly and immediately that they binde absolutely and universally You must obey God intuitu voluntatis upon the bare sight of his Will and in one thing as well as another Christians if I am not much mistaken you should make as much conscience of those commands of God that requires you to get assurance of your future happiness as you do of those commands that requires you to pray to hear c. It is very sad to consider that many that complain much of the want of assurance should make no more care and conscience of those commands of God that requires them to get assurance then some of the Heathens have done of the commands of their gods who when they have called for a man have offered a candle or as Hercules who offered a painted man in stead of a living Verily Christians while you make light of any of Gods commands God will make as light of your comforts Did you make more conscience to act answerable to the forementioned commands I am very apt to believe that the Sun of Righteousness would certainly and speedily cause his love and glory to beam out upon you Minde Gods commands more then your own wants and complaints and light will break in upon you By obeying Christs commands you shall gain more then you can give by kissing the Son you shall even command him and make him and assurance yours The ninth Motive to provoke you Motive 9. to get assurance is this You cannot gratifie Satan more nor injury your selves more then by living without assurance by living without assurance you lay your selves open to all Satans snares and temptations yea you do instigate and provoke Satan to tempt you to the worst of sins to tempt you to the greatest neglects to tempt you to the strangest shifts and to reduce you to the saddest straits Ah Christians in what in what hath Satan so gratified you that you should thus gratifie him hath he not robed you of your glory in innocency hath he not kept your souls and your Saviour long asunder when with Joshua you have been standing before Zech. 3. 1 2. the Lord hath not he stood at your right hand as an adversary to resist you hath he not often set the glory Matth. 4. of the world before you that he might bewitch you and ensnare you hath he not often
They know that it is not their profession but living up to their principles that will effectually stop the mouths and convince the consciences of vain men 1 Pet. 2. 15. For so is the Will of God that by wel-doing that is by living up to your own principles you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men There is no such way in the world to still and silence wicked men to make them dumb and speechless to muzzle and tie up their mouths as the Greek word notes as by living up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to your own principles The lives of men convince more strongly then their words the tongue perswades but the life commands thirdly They know by living up to their principles they cast a general glory upon Christ and Matth. 5. 16. 1 Pet. 2. 11 12. his ways This makes Christ and his ways to be well thought on and well spoke on fourthly They know that the ready way the onely way to get 2 Pet. 1 5. to 13. and keep Assurance Joy Peace c. is to live up to their principles fifthly They know that by their living below their own principles or contrary to their own principles they do but gratifie Satan and provoke wicked men to blaspheme that worthy Name by which they are called They know Jam. 2. 7. The very Heathen as Salvian observes did thus reproach Christians that walked contrary to their principles Where is that good law which they do believe they read and hear the holy Scriptures and yet are drunk and unclean they follow Christ and yet disobey Christ they profess a Holy Law and yet do lead impure lives that by their not living up to their own principles they do but multiply their own fears and doubts and put a sword into the hand of Conscience and make sad work for future Repentance Now these and such like Considerations do exceedingly stir and provoke Believers to labor with all their might to live up to their own principles to get to the very top of Holiness to be more and more a pressing towards the mark and to think that nothing is done till they have attained to the highest perfections that are attainable in this life It is true many Hypocrites may go up some rounds of Jacobs Ladder such as make for their Gen. 28. 12. profit pleasure applause c. and yet tumble down at last to the bottom of Hell as Judas and others have done Hypocrites do not look nor like nor love to come up to the top of Jacobs Ladder to the top of Holiness as you may see in the Scribes and Pharisees and all other Hypocrites that the Scripture speaks of Thirdly It is their greatest desire and endeavor that sin may be cured rather then covered Sin most afflicts a gracious soul David cryes not perii Psal 51. out peccavi not I am undone but I have done foolishly Daniel complains Dan. 9. 5. not we are reproached and oppressed but we have rebelled Paul cryes not Rom. 7 23. If a Snake should sting thy dearly beloved Spâ—use to deaâ—h wouldst thou preserve it alive warm it at the fire hug it in thy bosom and not rather stab it wâ—th a thousand wounds You are wise and know how to apply it out of his Persecutors but of the law in his members rebelling against the law of his minde A gracious soul grieves more that God by his sin is grieved and dishonored then that for it he is afflicted and chastned The heart feeling within her the operation of the Serpents poyson runs from the thorns and thickets and runs over he green and pleasant Pastures that she may drink of the Fountain and be cured So gracious souls being sensible of the poyson and venom of sin runs from the Creatures that are but as thorns and thickets and runs over their own duties and righteousness which are but as pleasant Pastures to come to Christ the Fountain of Life that they may drink of those Waters of Consolation of those Wells of Salvation that be in him and cast up and cast out their spiritual poyson and be cured for ever Believers know that their sins do most pierce and grieve the Lord they lie hardest and heaviest Amos 2. 13. upon his heart and are most obvious to his eye The sin of Judah is written Jere. 17. 1. with a Pen of Iron and with the point of a Diamond their sins are When Brutus went to stab Julius Caesar he cried out What thou my sen Brutus c. So may God well cry out what thou my Son what wilt thou stab me wâ—th thy sins is it not enough that others stab my honor but wilâ— thou my Son against beams of strongest light they are against the bowels of tenderest mercy they are against the manifestations of greatest love they are against the nearest and dearest relations they are against the choicest and highest expectations And this makes believing souls cry out O a cure Lord a cure Lord O give me purging grace give me purging grace though I should never taste of pardoning mercy yet give me purging grace It was a notable Speech of Câ—smus Duke oâ— â—lorence I have read saith he that I must forgive my enemies but never that I must forgive my friends The sins of Gods friends of Gods people provoke him most and sad him most and this makes them sigh and groan it out Who shall deliver us from this body of death O but now wicked men labor not that sin may be cured but onely that sin might be covered and that the consequents of sin viz. Afflictions and the stingings Hosea 7. 10. to ult of Conscience may be removed as you may see in Cain Saul Judas and divers others In their affliction they Hosea 5. 14 15. will seek me early saith God they wâ—ll then seek to be rid of their affliction but not to be rid of their sins that hath brought down the affliction upon them Like the patient that would fain be rid of his pain and torment under which he groans but cares not to be rid of those evil habits that hath brought the pain and torment Sin doth ill in the eye worse in the tongue worser in the heart but worst of all in the life upon them Psal 78. 34 35 36 37. When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God And they remembred that God was their Rock and the High God their Redeemer Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they lied unto him with their tongues For their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant In these words Ah England England as face answers faee so doth thy carriâ—ge towards God answer the carriage of these people whose baseness and falseness God hath put upon record to this very day c. you see plainly that these people are very early and earnest in
person of Christ the more it buds and blossoms like Aarons Rod. Faith looks upon him as the express Image and Character of his Father Faith beholds him as the chiefest of ten thousand Faith sees him to be the most glorious object in all the World The second object that Faith is exercised about is the Righteousness of Jesus Christ Phil. 3. 9. I desire to be found in Christ not having my own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is thorow the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith Paul would not be found in a legal righteousness for he knew all his legal righteousness was but as filthy rags Isa 64. 6. all his legal righteousness sowed together would but make up a coat of patches a beggars coat that is good for nothing but to be cast away therefore he desired to be found in the righteousness of Christ by Faith he knew that Christs righteousness was a pure righteousness a spotless righteteousness a matchless righteousness a compleat righteousness a perfect Col. 2. 10. righteousness an absolute righteousness a glorious righteousness Faith loves to fix her eye upon that rich and royal Robe that blameless and spotless Cant. 4. 7. Revel 145. Ephes 5. 27. righteousness of Christ wherewith the soul stands gloriously cloathed before God as being all fair as being without spot or wrinkle in divine account O it is the actings of Faith upon this blessed object this glorious righteousness of Christ that makes a man familiar and bold with God that makes a man active and resolute for God that strengthens a man against temptations that supports a man under afflictions that makes a man long for the day of his dissolution that makes him prefer his Coffin above a Princes Crown the day of his death above the day of his birth that makes him triumph over Sin and Satan Hell and Wrath. Adams righteousness Rom. 3. 21. 10. 3. was but the righteousness of a Creature but the righteousness about which Faith is exercised is the righteousness 2 Cor. 5. 21. of a God Adams righteousness was The righteousness of Angels is but the righteousness of Creatures but the righteousness that the Saints are cloathed with is the very righteousness of God and in this respect the meanest Saint is more excellent and glorious then the most glorious Angel a mutable righteousness a righteousness that might be sinned away but the righteousness that a Believers Faith is exercised about is an Everlasting Righteousness a righteousness that cannot be sinned away Prov. 8. 18. vide Dan. 9. 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy City to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy Psal 119. 142. Thy Righteousness is an Everlasting Righteousness and thy Law is the Truth The righteousness of Adam was a righteousness subject to shaking and we know that Satan did shake all his righteousness about his ears as I may say O but that glorious Righteousness about which Faith is conversant is an unshaken Righteousness a Righteousness that cannot be shaken Psal 36. 6. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains or rather as it is in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God What more stable then a mountain The Hebrew useth to note excellent things by adding the name of God as Cedars of God Psal 80. 11. Rivers of God Psal 65. 10. Wrastlings of God Gen 30. 5. Harps of God Revel 15. 2. and what Mountain so stable as the Mountain of God The Mountains cannot be shaken no more can that glorious Righteousness of Christ about which a Believers faith is exercised Adams righteousness was a low righteousness a righteousness within his own reach and a righteousness within Satans reach it was not so high but Adam could lay his hand upon it as I may say it was not so high but Satan could reach to the top of it yea to the over-topping of it as we have all found by woful experience O but that righteousness that Faith is conversant about is a righteousness of such a height as that neither Satan nor the world can reach to it Psal 71. 15 16 19 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day For I know not the numbers thereof I will go in the strength of the Lord God I will make mention of thy righteousness even of thine onely Thy righteousness also O God is very high who hath done great things O God who is like unto thee This glorious Righteousness of Christ about which Faith is busied is called The Righteousness of Faith Rom. 3 28. because Faith apprehends it and applies it and feeds upon it and delights in it Rom. 4. 13. For the promise that he should be the Heir of the World was not to Abraham or to his Seed thorow the Law but thorow the Righteousness of Faith Chap. 9. 30. What shall we say then That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained to righteousness even the righteousness which is of faith The Righteousness of Rom. 10. 6. But the righteousness which is of Faiâ—h i. e. Which is apprâ—hended by Faith c. Christ about which Faith is imployed is called The Righteousness of Faith because Faith puts on this Righteousness upon the Soul Faith wraps the soul up in this Righteousness of Christ and so justifieth it before God instrumentally The actings of Faith Mark Faith is onely the instrument it cannot be the substance of that righteousness as it were whereby we are justified and saved First Because it is imperfect Secondly The acts of Faith are transient Thirdly Then should man have something within him whereof to boast Fourthly faith is a part of inherent holiness Fifthly Then some men should be justified more and some less according to the different measures of Faith in them on this glorious Righteousness doth most strengthen the soul Isai 45. 24. Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousness and strength The actings of Faith on this blessed Righteousness doth most glad and rejoyce the soul Isa 61. 10. I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath cloathed me with the garments of salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness The actings of Faith upon this compleat Righteousness of Christ renders souls just and righteous pure and holy in the account of God Rom. 10. 4. For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth Christ fulfils the Law for Believers and they by believing do fulfil the Law in him and so Christ by doing and they by believing in him that doth it do fulfil the Law and so are reputed fair and spotless
of things not seen Faith makes absent glory present absent riches present absent pleasures present absent favors present Faith brings an invisible God and sets him before the soul Moses by Faith saw him that was invisible Faith brings down the recompence of reward and sets it really though spiritually before the soul Faith sets Divine favor before the soul it sets peace it sets pardon of sin it sets the Righteousness of Christ it sets the Joy of Heaven it sets Salvation before the soul it makes all these things very near and obvious to the soul Faith is the evidence of things not seen Faith makes invisible things visible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Index or clear conviction by disputation absent things present things that are afar off to be very near unto the soul By convincing Demonstrations by Arguments and Reasons drawn from the Word as the Greek word signifies 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To look with a diligent eye as men do at the mark whereat they shoot things which are seen but at the things which are not seen For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal Faith trades in invisible things in eternal things its eye is always upwards like the Fish called by Galen Urano Scopos that hath but one eye and yet looks continually up to Heaven Faith Heb 6. 19. Rom. 8. 18. Heb. 10. 34. Acts 7. 55 56. An adopted Heir to a Crown cannot but have his heart at Court his minde and thoughts will be upon his future glorious condition He will be still a creating Idea's and Images of it enters within the vail and fixes her eye upon those glorious things of eternity that are so many that they exceed number so great that they exceed measure so precious that they are above all estimation Sayes Faith the spangled Firmament is but the Footstool of my Fathers house and if the Foot-stool the outside be so glorious O how glorious is his Throne Verily in Heaven there is that life that cannot be expressed that light that cannot be comprehended that joy that cannot be fadomed that sweetness that cannot be dissipated that feast that cannot be consumed and upon these Pearls of glory I look and live sayes Faith And thus I have shewed you the choice and precious objects about which that Faith is exercised that accompanies Salvation I shall now in the next place shew you the Properties of that Faith that accompanies Salvation and they are these that follow The first Property of that Faith Quid est igitur fides Opinior fideliter hominem Christi creder◠i. e. Fidelem esse boc est fideliter Dei mandata servare saith one that accompanies Salvation is this It puts forth it self into vital operations it makes a man full of life and activity for God it will make a man diligent and venturous in the work and wayes of God Faith is a most active quality in it self and so it makes a Christian most active it is a doing thing and it makes the person doing Faith will not suffer the soul to be idle Faith is like the vertuous Woman in the last of the Proverbs who put her hand to every work who would suffer none of her Hand-maids to be idle Faith puts the soul upon grieving for Zach. 12. 10. sin upon combating with sin upon weeping over sin upon trembling at the occasions of sin upon resisting temptations that leads to sin upon fighting it out to the death with sin Faith puts a man upon walking with The eleventh of the Hebrews is a full proof of these things Gal. 2. 20. God upon waiting on God upon working for God upon wrastling with God upon bearing for God and upon parting with any thing for God Faith makes Religious duties to be easie to the soul to be delightful to the soul to be profitable to the soul Faith makes the soul to be serious and conscientious in doing to be careful faithful in doing to be delightful chearful in doing to be diligent and faithful in doing Jam. 2. 17. to the end Faith looks to precepts as well as to promises Psal 119. 66. Teach me good judgement and knowledge for I have believed thy Commandments That faith that is not a working faith is no faith that faith that is not a working faith is a dead faith that faith that is not a working faith is a deluding faith that faith that is not a working faith is a worthless faith that faith that is not a working faith will leave a man short of Heaven and happiness in the latter day Faith that accompanies Salvation is better at doing then at thinking at obeying then at disputing at walking then at talking Tit. 3. 8. This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works Faith will make a man endeavor to be good yea to be best at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word signifies to bend their wits and beat their brains to maintain good works every thing he undertakes It is not leaves but fruit not words but works that God expects and if we cross his expectation we frustrate our own Salvation we further our own condemnation Faith makes the soul Isa 65 24. Gen. 4 4. 1 Pet. 3. 11. Cant. 2. 14. Luther prefers the meanest work of a Country Christian or poor Maid above all the victories and triumphs of Alexander and of Julius Caesar Matth. 27. ult Isa 41. 10 11. Heb. 13 5 6. Ezek. 36. 26 27 c. much in doing abundant in working and that partly by perswading the soul that all its works all its duties and services shall be owned and accepted of God as in Isa 56. 7. Even them will I bring to my holy Mountain and make them joyful in my House of prayer Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine Altar for mine House shall be called an House of prayer for all people Faith assures the soul that every prayer every sigh every groan every tear is accepted And this makes the soul pray much and sign much and mourn much Again Faith spreads the promises of Divine assistance before the soul O sayes Faith here O soul is assistance suitable to the work required And this makes a man work as for life it makes a man work and sweat and sweat and work Again Faith sets the Recompence the Reward before the soul O Heb. 11. 25 26. One good work of a Christian is more precious then Heaven and Earth saith Luther sayes Faith Look here soul here is a great reward for a little work here is great wages for weak and imperfect services here is an infinite reward
cleanse the hearts of his people from all and to set their soul◠against all Jere. 33. 8 Ezek. 36. 25 29 33. 1 Iohn 1. 9. Repentance for sin is nothing worth without repentance from sin I love So in Ezek. 18. 30. Therefore I will judge you O house of Israel every one according to his ways saith the Lord God Repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruine So in Ezek. 33. 11. As Noahs flood drowned his neerest and his dearest friends so the flood of penitent tears drowns mens neerest and their dearest lusts Be they Isaacs or Benjamins be they right eyes or right hands Repentance that accompanies Salvation puts all to the Sword it spares neither Father nor Mother neither Agag nor Achan it casts off all the rags of old Adam it leaves not a Horn nor a Hoof behinde it throws down every stone of the old building it scrapes off all Leviathans skales it washeth away all leprous spots Ezek. 14. 6. Therefore say unto the house of Israel thus saith the Lord God Repent and turn your selves from your Idols and turn away your faces from all your abominations Sin is a turning the back upon God and the face towards Hell but Repentance is a turning the back upon sin and a setting the face towards God He that looks upon Jerusalem and upon Thus did Herod and Judas to their eternal ruine Jam. 2. 10. Babylon with a learing eye at the same time He that looks upon God and at the same time looks upon any sin with a learing eye hath not yet reached unto this Repentance that accompanies Salvation his Repentance and Profession cannot secure him from double damnation He that serves God in somethings and his lusts in other things sayes to God as David 1 Sam. 19. One stab ar the heart kills one hole in the ship sinks her one act of treason makes a Traytor So one sin not forsaken not turned from will undo a soul for ever Sin ever ends tragically and this puts the penitent in battel array against every sin said to Mephibosheth concerning his Lands Thou and Ziba divide the Lands So thou and Satan divide my soul my heart between you Ah doth not such a soul deserve a double Hell Christ takes every sin at a penitent mans hands as Caesar did his wounds from him of whom he merited better usage with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thou my son What thou wound me what thou stob me that shouldst venture thy own blood to save mine There are no wounds that are so grievous and terrible to Christ as those that he receives in the house of his friends And this sets the penitent mans heart and hand against every thing that makes against Christ A true penitent looks upon every sin as poyson as the vomit of a dog as the mire of the Isa 30. 22. Nihil in lege menstruato immundius Hieron street as the menstruous cloath which of all things in the Law was most unclean defiling and polluting Pliny saith that the very Trees with touching of it would become barren And his looking thus upon every sin turns his heart against every sin and makes him not onely to refrain from sin but to forsake it and to loath it more then Hell Thirdly That Repentance that accompanies Salvation is not onely a Isa 1. The Hebrew word for Repentance is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shob which signifies to return implying a going back from what a man had done turning from all sin but it is also a turning unto God it is not onely a ceasing from doing evil but it is also a learning to do well it is not onely a turning from darkness but it is also a turning to light as the Apostle speaks Acts 26. 18. To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and It notes a returning or converting from one thing to another as from sin to God from evil to good from Hell to Heaven from the power of Satan unto God So in Isa 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord c. It is not enough for the man of iniquity to forsake his evil way but he must also return unto the Lord he must subject his heart to the power of Divine Grace and his life to the Will and Word of God As Negative goodness can never satisfie a gracious soul so Negative goodness can never save a sinful soul It is not enough that thou art not thus and thus bad but thou must be thus and thus good or thou art undone for ever Ezek. 18. 21. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die Negative Righteousness and Holiness is no Righteousness no Holiness in the account of God It was not the Pharisees Negative Righteousness nor Luke 18. 5. Matth. 20. 13 14. his Comparative Goodness that could prevent his being rejected of God his being shut out of Heaven his burning in Hell It is not enough that the Tree hears no ill fruit but it must bring forth good fruit else it must be cut down and cast into the fire that Tree that is not for fruit is for the fire Every Matth. 7. 19. He that holds nor wholly with Christ doth very shamefully neglect Christ Aut totum mecum tene aut totum omitte Greg. Nazian And therfore if Christ trample upon them at last it is just tree that brings not forth good fruit sayes Christ is hewn down and cast into the fire Men that content themselves with Negative Righteousness shall finde at last Heaven Gates bolted upon them with a double bolt All that Negative Righteousness and Holiness can do is to help a man to one of the best Chambers and easiest Beds in Hell That Repentance that accompanies Salvation brings the heart and life not onely off from sin but on to God it makes a man not onely cease from walking in the wayes of death but it makes him walk in the wayes of life They do no iniquity they walk in his wayes Psal 119. 3. Fourthly That Repentance that accompanies Salvation strikes most Augustine a great sinner wrote Twelve Books of Repentance and walked most cross to the particular sins he had most lived in effectually and particularly against that sin or sins that the sinner was most apt and prone to before his Conversion The hand of Repentance is most against that sin it is most upon that sin that the soul hath looked most with a learing eye upon The chief and principal sins that Israel was guilty of was idolatry and sinful compliance Now when God works kindly upon them they put the hand of Repentance upon those particular sins as you may see Isa 27. 9. By this therefore shall the This
was the great sin of Israel but after their return out of captivity they never set up Idols more but were wonderful zealous to keep their Temple from such defilements both in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes and of the Romans and do accunt them as a menstruous cloth to this very day iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin When he maketh all the stones of the Altar as Chalk stones that are beaten in sunder the groves and images shall not stand up Here you see when God appears and acts graciously for and towards his people they put the hand of Repentance upon their Groves and Images these must down these must no longer stand The Groves and the Images shall not stand up they shall be utterly abandoned and destroyed demolished and abolished So in Isa 30. 22. Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven Images of Silver and the ornament of thy molten Images of Gold Thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth thou shalt say unto it Get thee hence Here you see the hand of Repentance is against their Idols of Silver and Gold and not onely against their Idols but also against whatsoever had any relation to them Now they shew nothing but a detestation of their Idols and a holy indignation against them Get you The Jews were willing in the Romans time rather to die then to suffer the Eagle the Imperial Arms to be set up in the Temple hence The hand of Repentance makes a divorce between them and their Idols between their Souls and their especial Sins Now they are as much in hating abhorring abominating and contemning their Idols and Images as they were formerly in adoring worshipping and honoring of them So Mary Magdalen in the seventh of Luke walks quite cross and contrary to her former self her sinful self she crosses the flesh in those very things wherein formerly she did gratifie the flesh So the penitent Jailor in that sixteenth of the Acts washes those very wounds that his own bloody hands had made He acts in wayes of mercy quite contrary to his former cruelty At first there was none so fierce so furious so cruel so bloody so inhumane in his carriage to the Apostles at last none so gentle so soft so sweet so curteous so affectionate to them The same you may see in Zacheus in the nineteenth of Luke In Paul Acts the ninth and in Manasse in that of the second of Chronicles chap. 33. 6. Fifthly That Repentance that accompanies Salvation is very large and comprehensive it comprehends and takes in these following particulars besides those already named 1. It takes in a sight and sense of sin Men must first see their sins they must be sensible of their sins before they can repent of their sins Ephraim had first a sight of his sin and then he repents and turns from his sin After I was instructed I smote upon my thigh Jer. 31. 18 19. A man first sees himself It was so with Paul who thought himsâ—lf in as good a way for Heaven as any Acts 9. and 26. compared out of the way before he returns into the way till he sees that he is out of the way he walks still on but when he perceives that he is out of the way then he begins to make inquiry after the right way So when the sinner comes to see his way to be a way of death then he cryes out O lead me in the way of life lead me in the way everlasting Psal 139. 24. 2. For I shall but touch upon these things That Repentance that accompanies Salvation doth include not onely a sight and sense of sin but also confession and acknowledgment Act 19. 18. Confessio peccati est vomitus sordium animâ— Aug. of sin Psal 51. 32. 3 4 5. While I kept close my sin my bones consumed but I said I will confess my sin and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin Job 33. 21 27. The promise of remission is made to confession 1 John 1. 9. If we Non dico ut confitearis conservo tuo peccata tuâ— diceto Deo qui curet ca. Chrys in Psa 50. confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins So Prov. 28. 13. He that hideth his sin shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh it shall finde mercy If we confess our sins sincerely seriously humbly cordially pardon attend us Homo agnoscit Deus ignoscit Confession of sin must be joyned with confusion of sin or all is lost God is lost Christ is lost Heaven lost and the Soul lost for ever The true Penitent can say with Vivaldus I hide not my sins but I shew them I wipe them not away but I sprinkle them I do not excuse them but I accuse them Peccata enim non nocent si non placent My sins hurt me not if I like them not The beginning of my Salvation is the knowledge of my transgression 3. That Repentance that accompanies Salvation doth include not onely confession of sin but also contrition Jer. 13. 17. Joel 2. 13. David cryes not perii but peecavi not I am undone but I have done foolishly Basil wept when he saw the Rose because it brought to his minde the first sin from whence it had the prickles which it had not while man continued in innocence as he thought You know how to apply it for sin Psal 51. 4. 1 Sam. 7. 2. Zach. 12. 10 11. Ezra 10. 1 2. 2 Cor. 7. 11 c. It breaks the heart with sighs sobs and groans for that a loving Father is offended a blessed Saviour crucified and the sweet Comforter grieved Penitent Mary Magdalen weeps much as well as loves much Luke 7. Tears instead of gems were the ornaments of Penitent Davids Bed and surely that sweet Singer never sung more melodiously then when his heart was broken most penitentially How shall God wipe away my tears in Heaven if I shed none in Earth And how shall I reap in joy if I sow not in tears I was born with tears and shall die with tears why should I then live without them in this valley of tears saith the true Penitent The sweetest joys are from the sourest tears Penitent tears are the breeders of spiritual joy When Hannah had wept she 1 Sam. 1. 18. went away and was no more sad The True Repentance is a sorrowing for sin as it is Offensivum Dei aversivum à Deo Bee gathers the best Honey of the bitterest Herbs Christ made the best Wine of Water the strongest the purest the truest the most permanent and the most excellent joy is Peters was for sin Judas his for punishment Peter grieves because Christ was grieved Judas grieved because he should be damned Psal 42. 5. made of the Waters of Repentance If God be God they that sow in tears shall reap in joy But that no mourner may drown
deliver me from my Bonds but O Rom. 7. 23. wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from my sins from this body of death David cryes not Perii but Peccavi Psal 51. Not I am undone but I have done foolishly But wicked men strive in Prayer more to get off their chains then to get off their sins more to be delivered from enemies without then lusts within more to get out of the Furnace then to be delivered from their Spiritual Bondage as the Scriptures Psal 78. 34. Zach. 7. 5 6 7. Isai 26. 16 17. in the Margent do evidence Thirdly The Stream and Cream of a gracious Mans spirit runs most out in Prayer after Spiritual and Heavenly Psal 4. 6 7. 27 4. things as is abundantly evident by those Prayers of the Saints that are upon record throughout the Scripture But the Stream and Cream of vain mens spirits in Prayer runs most out after poor low carnal things as you may see in comparing the following Scriptures together Hos 7. 14. Zach. 7. 5 6 7. Jam. 4. 3 c. Fourthly A gracious Soul looks and lives more upon God in Prayer then upon his Prayer He knows though Prayer be his Chariot yet Christ is his food Prayer may be a staff to support him but Christ is that Manna that must nourish him and upon him he looks and lives Psal 5. 3. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee or Martial and set in order my Prayer as it is in the Hebrew and will look up or look out as it is in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Pihil as a watchman looks out to dâ—scover the approaches of an enemy But vain men they live and look more upon their Prayers then they do upon God Nay usually they never look after their Prayers they never observe what returns they have from Heaven they are like those that shoot Arrows but do not minde where they fall Wicked men think it is Religion enough for them to pray and to look after their prayers to see how their prayers speed is no Article of their Faith But a gracious Soul is of a more noble spirit when he hath prayed he will stand upon his watch-tower and observe what God will speak Psal 85. 8. I will hear that God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people and to his Saints But let them not return to folly or as the Hebrew may be read And they shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will lissen and lay my obedient ear to what the Lord shall speak not return to folly Veal iashubu le Chislah Wicked men would have God to be all ear to hear what they desire when themselves have never an ear to hear what he speaks But deaf ears shall always be attended with dumb answers Justice always makes mercy dumb when sin hath made the sinner deaf Fifthly No discouragements can take gracious Souls off from Prayer but the least discouragements will Aristotle though a Heathen could say That in some cases a man had better lose his life then be cowardly Ethic. 3. c. 1. take off carnal hearts from Prayer as you may see in the following Scriptures compared together Psal 40. 1 2. 44. 10-23 Matth. 15. 21-29 Mal. 3. 14. Isai 58. 1 2 3. Amos 8. 3 4 5 c. When one of the Ancient Martyrs was terrified with the threatnings of his persecutors he replied There is nothing saith he of things visible nothing of things invisible that I fear I will stand to my profession of the name of Christ and contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints come on it what will It is neither the hope of life nor the fear of death that can take a real Christian off from Prayer He is rather raised then dejected he is rather quickned then discouraged by delays or denials he will hold up and hold on in a way and course of Prayer though men should rage and Lyons roar and the Furnace be heat seven times hotter c. But it is not so with carnal hearts Job 27 9 10. Sixthly When a gracious man In his course his heart is in his Prayer he findes by experience that the heart is the Primum mobile the great wheel that moves all other wheels It is the chief Monarch in the Isle of Man prayes he hath his heart in his Prayer when he falls upon the work he makes heart-work on it So David in Psal 42. 4. When I remember these things I pour out my heart So Hannah in 1 Sam. 1. 15. I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit saith she and have poured out my soul before the Lord. So the Israelites in 1 Sam. 7. 6. Poured out their souls like water before the Lord. So the Church in Isa 26. 8 9. The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee With my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early Gracious Souls know The voice of God is Da Mihi cor that no Prayer is acknowledged accepted and rewarded by God but that wherein the heart is sincerely and wholly It is not a piece it is not a corner of the heart that will satisfie the Maker of the heart The true Mother would not have the childe divided As God loves a broken and a contrite heart so he loaths a divided heart God neither loves halting nor halving he will be served truly and totally The Royal Law is Thou shalt The heart as a Prince gives Laws to all other Members The Heart is Christs Bed of Spices it is his Presence Chamber it is his Royal Throne it is one of those four Keys that God keeps under his own girdle love and serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul Among the Heathens when the Beasts were cut up for Sacrifice the first thing the Priest looked upon was the heart and if the heart was naught the Sacrifice was rejected Verily God rejects all those Sacrifices wherein the Heart is not Now wicked men are heartless in all their Services in all their Prayers as you may see in comparing the following Scriptures together I shall not transcribe the words because I must cut short the work Isai 29. 13. Matth. 15. 7 8 9. Ezek. 33. 30 31 32. Zach. 7. 4 5 6. 2 Chro. 25. 1 2. As the body without the soul is dead so Prayer Prayer without the heart is but an empty ring a tinckling symbal without the heart be in it is but dead Prayer in the eye and account of God Prayer is onely lovely and weighty as the heatt is in it and no otherwise It is not the lifting up of the voice nor the wringing of the hands nor the beating of the brests but the stirrings of the heart that God looks at in Prayer God hears no more then the
see the worth of Assurance I have long sought Assurance and now I finde the sweetness of Assurance Ah it is such a Pearl of price it is such a Beam of God it is such a spark of glory that makes my Soul a rich amends for all its waiting weeping and wrastling So when it pleased Gal. 1. 15 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In me God to call Paul by his grace and to reveal Christ in him and to him Ah how doth he labor as for life to bring others to an acquaintance with Christ and to an acceptance of Christ and to an Assurance of Everlasting Happiness and Blessedness by Christ After Paul had been in Paradise he makes it his 2 Cor. 12. all to bring others to Paradise So the Spouse in the Canticles having assurance Cant. 5. 10 ult 6. 1 c. of her interest in Christ how doth she labor by all holy and heavenly Rhetorick and Logick by all the strains of love and sweetness to draw the daughters of Jerusalem to a sight of Christ and to an assurance of the love of Christ When a Beam of Divine light and love had shined upon Andrew John 1. 40 41 42. he labors to draw his Brother Simon to the Fountain of all light and love and when Philip had but a cast of Vers 43 44 45 46 47. Christs countenance his pulse beats and his heart calls upon Nathaniel to come and share with him in that loving kindness that was better then life The constant cry of Souls under the power of Assurance is Come taste and Psal 34. 8. see how good the Lord is Ah sinners sinners his wayes are wayes of pleasantness Prov. 3. 17. 1 John 5. 3. and all his paths are peace his commands are not grievous but joyous his yoke Matth. 11. 30. is easie and his burden is light not onely for keeping but also in keeping of Psal 19. 11. his commands there is great reward Assurance will strongly put men upon winning of others by counsel by example by prayer and by communicating their Spiritual Experiences to them Assurance will furnish a man with will skill and experience to confute all those false reports that vain men frequently cast upon the Lord and his ways It will make a man proclaim to the world That one Psal 84. 10. day in the Lords courts is better then a thousand years elswhere That there are more glorious joyes more pure comforts more abiding peace more royal contents more celestial delights in one dayes walking with God in one hours communion with God c. then is to be found in all things below God And by these and such like wayes Souls under the power of a wel-grounded Assurance do endeavor to make others happy with themselves A Soul under Assurance is unwilling to go to Heaven without company he is often a crying out Father bless this Soul too and crown that Soul too Let us to Heaven together let us be made happy together Sixthly A wel-grounded Assurance of Gods love and of a mans Everlasting Happiness and Blessedness will exceedingly arm and strengthen him against all wickedness and baseness No man loaths sin and himself for sin Ezek. 16 60 61 62 63. as such a man no man wars and watches against sin more then such a man no man sighs and mourns Rom. 7. 22 ult bleeds and complains under the sense of sinful motions and sinful operations Luke 7. 44. ult more then such a man Every stirring of sin makes a man that is under the power of Assurance to cry out O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Psal 85. 8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people and to his Saints And let them not turn again to folly or as the Hebrew will bear And they shall not return to folly Gods speaking peace to his people fences and fortifies them against folly and vanity The Assurance that Joseph had of his Masters love armed him against the lascivious assaults of his lustful Mistress and will not Divine love that is stronger then death do this Cant 8. 6 7. and more Assurance makes a man say to his sins as he to his Idols get you hence for What have I any Hosea 14. 8. compared with the 2 3 4 5 6. versâ—â— more to do with Idols So sayes the assured Soul away pride away passion away worldly mindedness away uncleanness away uncharitableness c. For what have I any more to do with you Assurance makes the Soul speak to sin as David speaks to sinners Psal 119. 115. Depart from me ye workers of iniquity for I will keep the Commandments of my God So sayes the assured Soul depart from me O my lusts for I have tasted of the love of God and I have given up my self wholly and oneâ—y to God and I cannot but keep the Commandments of my God The Jewish Rabbins report that the same night that Israel departed out of Egypt towards Canaan all the Idols and idolatrous Temples in Egypt by Lightning and Earthquakes were broken down So when Christ and Assurance comes to be set up in the Soul all the Idols of Satan and a mans own heart are cast down and cast out as an abomination Sound Assurance puts a man upon purifying himself even as Christ is 1 John 3. 2 3. pure The assured Christian knows That it is dangerous to sin against light that it is more dangerous to sin against love that it is most dangerons to sin against love revealed and manifested God may well say to such a Christian Is this thy kindness to thy friend To sin under Assurance is to sin against the Bowels of Mercy it is to sin against the choicest Remedy it is to sin against the highest Hopes of Glory and this will certainly provoke God to be angry 1 Kings 11. 9. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord was angry with Solomon because Vaiithannaph in Pihil to shew that the Lord was greatly angry with Solomon the Root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies properly to snuff with anger It notes such anger as appeareth in the paleness of the face and snuffing of the nose his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel that had appeared to him twice To sin under Assurance is to sin in Paradise it is to sin under the flaming sword it is to sin in the Suburbs of Heaven it is to run the hazard of losing that favor that is better then life of that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory and of that peace that passes understanding To sin under Assurance is to cast reproach upon Christ to grieve the Spirit to wound Conscience to weaken your Graces to blur your Evidences to usher in Calamities to imbitter your Mercies and to provoke the Tempter to triumph over your Saviour Verily that Assurance is but