3. 10. And if God remove the Gospel from among us as our delays and triflings provoke him to do then the Treaty is ended and there 's little probability that any thing further will be done betwixt Christ and you Luke 13. 25. 3. Bring this matter to an issue with all due speed because you are not capable to give one sound reason for a moments delay of so great and weighty a concernment can you be safe too soon Can you be happy too soon Certainly you cannot be out of the danger of Hell too soon and therefore why should not your close with Christ upon the terms propounded be your very next work For certainly if the buisness the main work and buisness of every Mans life be to fly from the wrath to come as indeed it is Mat. 3. 7. and to fly for refuge to Jesus Christ as indeed it is Heb. 6. 18. Then certainly all delays are highly dangerous in such a buisness as this the Manslayer when flying to the refuge City before the avenger of Blood when his Heart was hot within him did not think he could recover the City too soon and now set all your own reason to work upon this matter put the case as really it is I am fleeing from wrath to come the Justice of God and curses of the Law are closely pursuing me is it reasonable that I now sit down in the way to gather flowers or play with trifles For such are all our other concernments in this World compared with our Salvation 4. Bring this Treaty to an issue with all due speed because most Souls that perish perish by delays Men think they have time enough before them and that to morrow will be as to day and so Satan gets part by part what he had not confidence to demand in the whole lump Most that perish under the Gospel had convictions upon their Consciences and vain purposes in their Hearts but not 〈◊〉 them to a speedy execution that was their undoing Iames 1. 24. He beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straight way forgetteth what manner of person he was It is an allusion to a Man that looks in the morning into a Glass where he discerns a spot upon his Face and resolves with himself anon to wash it off but some diversion or other falls in other matters take up his thoughts and so the spot remains all day and he carries it with him to bed at night O these delays are the undoing of millions 5. Delay not to close this Treaty with Christ because all delay increases the difficulty and the longer you neglect the more will your Hearts be hardned by the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 13. Continuance in sin and quenching of convictions do sensibly harden the Heart and stiffen the Will Under the first convictions the Heart is tender the affections flowing O if this advantage were apprehended and pursued how soon might the work come to a comfortable conclusion but after a while those Soul-affecting words Sin Christ Heaven Hell Death and Eternity will become words of a common sound 6. And lastly Beware of delays in this matter because you can never expect a fitter and fairer opportunity and season for the dispatch of this great concernment than by the special indulgence of Heaven you enjoy this day 2 Cor. 6. 1 2. Now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation You have now the Wind and Tide with you if you will not weigh Anchor now you may lye Wind-bound to your dying day what advantages can you reasonably expect which God hath not furnished you with at this day You have the means of Grace among you you have liberty and freedom to attend on those means without fear Say not I have such or such troubles and encumbrances in the World for you must never expect to be without them except you only shall find the World another thing than all others find it have you health O what a precious season and advantage is that Art thou sick O what a spur is that What is to be done must be done quickly III. Vse for Direction But it may be some Souls will plead ignorance that they know not how to manage and transact so great a concernment with Christ and therefore set not about it and it is very likely there may be much truth in that plea. For the help and assistance of such Souls I will gather up the sum of what hath been and ought to be further spoken about this matter in the following Directions so that nothing but your unwillingness and slothfulness shall remain to hinder you I. Direction First If ever you bring the Treaty betwixt Christ and your Souls to an happy issue and conclusion you must as before was noted sit down and count the cost Luke 14. 28. 't will be in vain else to engage your selves in the profession of Religion it is not Christs design to draw you under a rash inconsiderate engagement and so to reap more dishonour by your apostacy and hypocrisie than ever he shall have glory by your Profession No he would have you to foresee and seriously bethink your selves of all the outward troubles and inconveniencies you may afterwards meet with for his sake You are to embark your selves with Christ and abide with him in storms as well as halcyon days you must follow the Lamb whether soever he goeth Rev. 14. 4. There 's no retreating after engagement to Christ If any Man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10. 38. 'T is eternal death by that martial Law of Heaven to run from Christs colours in the day of battle Well then retire thy self into the innermost closet of thy Soul sit quiet and patiently there till thou hast debated this matter fully with thine own thoughts and hast ballanced the good and the evil the profits and losses of Religion for want of this the Church is filled with hypocrites and Hell with inconsiderate and rash Professors the more we deliberate the better we shall conclude II. Direction Secondly Having debated the matter over and over in thy most sedate and serious thoughts let not Satan discourage thee from casting thy Soul at Christs Feet with an hearty consent to all his terms for want of such and such qualifications as thou canst not find in thine own Soul 'T is usual for Satan to suggest at this time the want of greater sorrow and humiliation for sin that the Soul hath not layen long enough under the humbling work of the Law that the aggravations of its sins have been such that there is no hope of acceptance free thy Soul from these snares of Satan by the consideration of this unquestionable truth That Christ expects from thee no more humiliation than what produceth such a hearty deliberate consent as thy Will is now to give and such a consent once gained no aggravation of sin is pleadable against the duty of believing III. Direction Thirdly Distrust not
might be pardoned did not this sin lye in the way were this gone all the rest were gone too but whilst Unbelief remains they also remain upon thee 2ly Of all the sins that are upon the Souls of men this is the most difficult sin to be removed and cured Other sins lye more open to conviction but this hath the most specious pretences to countenance and defend it Men commit this sin out of a fear of sin They will not believe lest they should presume They dare not believe because they are not qualified The strength of other sins meets in this sin of Unbelief it is the strongest Fort wherein Satan trusteth Take an Adulterer or a profane Swearer and you have a fair open way to convince him of his sin shew him the Command he hath violated and he hath nothing to say in his own defence but the Unbeliever hath a thousand plausible defences 3ly This is the great damning sin of the world I do not say but all other sins deserve damnation for the wages of sin is death but this is the sin in the virtue whereof other sins damn and ruin the Soul. This is the Condemnation John 3. 19. And as it is a damning sin so it is a sin which damns with aggravated damnation 2 Thess. 1. 8. O then let us mourn over and tremble at this dreadful sin which opposes and so often frustrates the great design and main end of the whole Gospel IV. Vse for Exhortation Is it the main scope of the Gospel to bring men to Christ by Faith then be perswaded heartily to comply with this great design of the Father Son and Spirit Ministers Ordinances and Providences in opening your hearts to receive Christ this day by Faith unfeigned And oh that I could suitably press this great Point which falls in so directly with the main stream and scope of the whole Gospel And oh that whilst I am pressing it you would list up an hearty cry to Heaven Lord give me faith whatever else thou deny me open my heart to Christ under the Gospel Calls I do not only press you to a general and common assent to the Truths of the Gospel that Christ is come in the flesh and laid down his life for sinners but unto an hearty Evangelical consent to receive him upon Gospel terms to close with him in all his Offices subjecting heart and life unto his Authority living entirely upon him for righteousness and to him by holiness The value of such a Faith as this is above all estimation For 1. this is the Grace which God hath dignified and crowned with Glory and Honour above all its fellow Graces It s singular Praises and Encomiums are in all the Scriptures This is called precious faith 2 Pet. 1. 1. Soul enriching faith Iames 2. 5. That 's a miserable poor Soul indeed that is destitute of it whatever the Largesses of Providence have been to him And he is truly rich to whom God hath given Faith whatever he hath denied him of the comforts of this life This Christ calls the work of God Iohn 6. 29. This is the work of God that you believe Why so are all other things that your eyes behold they are the works of God the Earth the Sea the Sun Moon and Stars they are his handy-work True they are so but this is the work the most eminent glorious and admirable work of God sine pari excelling all his other works which your eyes behold And 2. that which exalts and dignifies it not only above all the works of God's hands but even above its fellow Graces the works of his Spirit is that high Office unto which it is appointed in the justification of a Sinner God hath singled out this Grace from among all the other Graces to be the instrument of receiving and applying the righteousness of Christ for the justification of a guilty Soul Rom. 5. 1. You are never said to be justified by love hope or desire but by faith 'T is true all other Graces are supposed in the person justified but none apprehends and applies the righteousness of Christ for justification but this only And the justifying act of faith being a receiving act the Glory of God is therein secured therefore it is of Faith that it might be by Grace 3. The Grace of Faith which I am recommending to you this day is not only the instrument of your Justification but it is also the bond of your union with Christ Eph. 3. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith. 'T is the uniting Grace the Marriage Knot 't is that which gives interest in and title to the person and benefits of Christ. The great thing upon which the eyes of all the awakened world are intently and solicitously fixed Whatever apprehensions you have of an interest in Christ and whatever his benefits be worth in your eyes neither himself or them can ever be obtained without Faith. O Brethren there is a day coming when they that now sleight and neglect this interest and concern of their Souls would gladly part with ten thousand worlds for a good title to Christ could it be purchased therewith But it is Faith and nothing without Faith that intitles you to Christ and to his benefits 4. That which should yet more endear this Grace of Faith to you is this that it is the hand which receives your pardon from the hand of Christ the Messenger that brings a sealed Pardon to a trembling Sinner Acts 10. 43. And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Cleared of all those sins from which the Law could never clear them nor any Repentance Restitution or Obedience of their own without Faith O what a welcom Messenger is Faith and what joyful tydings doth it bring you would say so if ever you had felt the efficacy of the Law upon your Consciences if ever you had lain as some sinners have with a cold sweating horrour upon your panting bosoms under the apprehensions of the wrath God. This fruit of Faith is rather to be admired than exprest Psal. 32. 1. 5. Faith is not only the Messenger that brings you a Pardon from Heaven but it is as I may say that heavenly Herauld that publishes Peace in the Soul of a Sinner O Peace how sweet a word art thou how welcom to a poor condemned Sinner Beautiful upon the Mountains are the feet of them that publish peace Now 't is faith that brings this blessed News and publishes it in the Soul without which all the publishers of peace without us can administer but little support Rom. 5. 1. Faith brings the Soul out of the Storms and Tempests with which it was tossed into a sweet Rest and Calm Hebr. 4. 3. We which have believed do enter into Rest. Is the quiet Harbour welcom to poor weather-beaten Seamen after they have past furious storms and many fears upon the raging
the Soul of Man against Christ is Ignorance that obex infernalis that hellish Bolt which effectually keeps Christ out of the Soul. If Knowledge be the Key that opens the Heart to Christ as its plain it is from Luke 11. 52. where Christ denounceth a wo to them that took away the Key of Knowledge then Ignorance must needs be the shutter that makes fast the door of the Heart against Christ. Upon this ground Christ told the Woman of Samaria Iohn 4. 10. that her Infideliâ—y grew upon the root of her Ignorance If thou 〈◊〉 the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee Give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water Ah sinners did you but know what a Christ he is that is offered to your Souls in the Gospel did you see his beauty fulness and suitablness and feel your own necessities of him all the World could not keep you from him You would break through all reproaches all sufferings all self-denials to come into the enjoyment of him But alas it is with you as it was with those Cant. 5. 9. What is thy beloved say they to the Spouse more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us Unknown excellencies attract not Ignorance is Satans Scepter which he sways over all his Kingdom of darkness and holds his Vassals in miserable bondage to him Hence the Devils are called The rulers of the darkness of this World Ephes. 6. 12. Alas were the Eyes of sinners but opened to see their woful state and their remedy in Christ he could never hold them in subjection one day longer they would break away from under his cruel Government and run over by Thousands to Christ for so they do as soon as ever God opens their Eyes in the same hour they are turned from darkness to light they are also turned from the power of Satan to God Acts 28. 16. Oh that you did but know the worth of your Souls the dreadful danger they are in and the fearfâ—l wrath that hangs over them the willingness and ability of Christ to save them you could not sleep one night longer in the state you are The next cry would be what shall I do to be saved Who will shew me the way to Christ Help Ministers help Christians yea help Lord these would be the laments and cries of them that are now secure and quiet but the God of this World hath blinded the Eyes of them that believe not No cries for a Phisitian because no sense how their Souls are stabbed by sins of commission and starved by sins of omission Oh that the great Physitian would once apply his excellent eye-salve to your understandings which are yet darkned with gross ignorance both of your misery and remedy The Second Bar. The Second Bar or Lock that shuts Christ out of Mens Souls is the sin of Vnbelief this is one of the strongest holds of Satan wherein he trusteth this is a sin that not only locks up the Heart of a sinner but also binds up the Hand of a Saviour Matth. 13. 58. He could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief It obstructed his miraculous Works when he was on Earth and it obstructs his gracious Works now he is in Heaven A Saviour is come into the World but poor Unbeliever thy Soul can neither have Union nor Communion with him till this Bar of thy unbelief be removed The Gospel is come among us with mighty Arguments to convince and powerful Motives to perswade but little saving effect follows its main design is to many frustrated and all this through unbelief shutting up and hardning Mens hearts under it The Word preached did not profit them because of their unbelief Heb. 4. 2. Ah cursed Bar Which shuts up thy Heart shuts out thy Saviour and will effectually shut thee out of Heaven except the Almighty power of God break it asunder They could not enter in because of unbelief The ruin of Souls is laid at the Door of unbelief t is the damning sin Mark 16. 16. and truly called so because no other sin could damn but in the vertue of this sin That 's the Second Bar to Christ. Third Bar. The Third Bar denying entrance to Christ into the hearts of sinners is Pride and stoutness of Spirit The natural Heart is a proud Heart it lives upon its own stock it cannot stoop to a sincere and universal renunciation of its own righteousness Rom. 10. 3. Being ignorant of the righteousness of God and going about to establish their own righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Pride stiffens the Will that it cannot stoop or condescend to declare their own emptiness discover their own shame and live wholly upon the righteousness of another Proud nature had as live be damned as deny it self in such appoint as this is this makes Faith so exceeding difficult because it involves such deep points of self-denial in it to give up all to Christ to draw all from Christ and to be willing to part with all for Christ what Will can be brought to a deliberate consent to such things as these unless an omnipotent Power bow it 'T is natural to Men rather to eat a brown crust or wear a course ragged garment which they can call their own than to feed upon the richest dainties or wear the costliest garments which they must receive as an alms or gift from another Oh how hard is it to subdue this pride of the Heart even after light and conviction is come into the Soul to convince Men of their undone condition and the absolute necessity of an other and higher righteousness than their own When Souls are in a treaty with Christ and the match is almost made this is the sin that makes the last opposition Feign would they come to Christ ten thousand Worlds for a Christ but yet they think they must not approach him without some qualifications which are yet wanting But Soul if ever Christ and thou conclude the match thou must deny Self even in this the most refined form and interest of it and come as Abraham did naked and empty handed to him that justifieth the ungodly Down with this House-Idol thy self thy righteous self trimmed up like another Agag with such specious pretences of humility Fourth Bar. The fourth Bar forbiding Christs entrance into the Soul is custom in sin Sin hath so fixed it self by long continuance in the Soul the Soul is so setled and confirmed in its course that all arguments and perswasions to change our way are swept away by the power of custom as straws and feathers are by the rapid course of a mighty torrent Ier. 13. 23. Can the Aethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Soap and Nitre may as soon make a Blackmoor white or fetch the spots out of the Leopards
Satan to God. So Luke 11. 21 22. When a strong man armed keepeth his pallace his goods are in peace But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted and divideth his spoil Fourthly Thy present vileness and unworthiness can be no bar to Christs entrance into thy Soul because Christ never yet objected to any man his unworthiness but his unwillingness to come unto him Iohn 5. 40. You will not come unto me that you might have life And again Matth. 23. 37. How oft would I have gathered thy Children and ye would not Indeed you find something like a repulse from Christ to that poor Canaanitess Mat. 15. 24 26. Lord help me said that poor distressed Soul but he answered and said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and cast it to dogs However harshly and discouragingly these words sound yet certainly it was none of Christs intent to damp and discourage her faith but to draw it forth to a more excellent and intense degree which effect it obtained vers 27. Fifthly Neither would Christ have made the tenders of mercy so large and indefinite had he intended to have shut out any Soul upon the single account of personal unworthiness provided it be but willing to come unto him Cast thine Eye poor discouraged Soul upon Christs invitations and proclamations of grace and mercy in the Gospel and see if thou canst find any thing beside unwillingness as a bar betwixt thee and mercy harken to that voice of mercy Isa. 55. 1. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat come buy wine and milk without money and without price i. e. without personal desert or worthiness So again Rev. 22. 17. The Spirit and the bride say come and let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely Here you see personal vileness and unworthiness is no obstacle in the way of Christ. Once more see Iohn 7. 37. In the last day that great day of the feast Iesus stood and cried saying If any man thirst let him come to me and drink Thus you see what Christs coming into the Soul is and what evidences there are that when once the Soul is made truly willing Christ will certainly come into it and no former vileness or present unworthiness shall be a bar to obstruct his entrance Thirdly In the next place I shall shew you That when Christ comes into the Soul he will not come empty handed 'T is Christs marriage day and he will make it a good day a festival day bringing such comforts along with him as the Soul never tasted before he spreads as it were a Table furnishes it with the delicates of Heaven I will sup with him saith the Text What those Spiritual mercies are which Christ brings a long with him to the opening willing Soul comes next in order to be spoken to And 1. When Christ comes into the Soul of a sinner he brings a Pardon with him a full a free and a final pardon of all the sins that ever that Soul committed This is a feast of it self good cheer indeed Christ thought it to be so when he told the poor Palsey-man Matth. 9. 2. Son be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven thee He doth not say Be of good cheer thy Palsey is cured thy body recovered from the grave but be of good cheer thy sins are pardoned O how sweetly may the pardoned Soul feed upon this And this is not any peculiar mercy designed for some special favorites but what is common to all believers Acts 13. 43. By him all that believe are justified from all things Christ and pardon come together and without a pardon no other mercy would relish no feast no musick no money or honour have any favour or comfort with them to a condemned man but the comfort of a pardon reaches to the very Heart Isa. 40. 1 2. Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith the Lord Speak comfortably to Jerusalem or as in the Hebrew Speak to the heart of Jerusalem But what are the ingredients of that cordial that will comfort Ierusalems Heart Why Say unto her that her iniquities are pardoned that carries along with it the Spirit of all consolation And there are four things in the pardon of sin that make it the sweetest mercy that ever the Soul tasted comfort which is impossible to be communicated to another with the same sense that the pardoned Soul hath of it Rev. 2. 17. First That which makes the pardon of sin ravishingly sweet is the trouble that went before it The labourings and restless tossings of the troubled Soul which were antecedent to this pardon make the ease and peace that follows by it incomparably sweet As the bitterness of Hell was tasted in the sorrows of sin so the sweetness of Heaven is tasted in the pardon of it Secondly The nature of the mercy it self is incomparably sweet for it is a mercy of the first rank Pardon is â—uch a mercy as admits no comfort to come before it nor any just cause of discouragement can follow after it If God have not spoken pardon to the Soul it can have no fetled ground for joy Ezek. 33. 10. And if he have there can be no just ground for dejection whatever the troubles be that lye upon it Isa. 33. 24. The inhabitants shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities Thirdly The third thing that makes this mercy delicious and ravishingly sweet to the Soul are the properties of it which are four 1. God writes upon thy pardon frank 't is a free mercy which cost thee nothing Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his grace Thou hast bought me no sweet Cane with money yet I even I am be that blotteth out thy transgression for my own names sake 2. God writes upon thy pardon full as well as free the pardon extends to all the sins that ever thou committedst Acts 13. 43. By him all that believe are justified from all things The sins of thy nature and practice the sins of thy youth and age great sins and lesser sins are all comprehended within thy pardon Thou art acquitted not from one but from all Certainly the joy of Heaven must come down in the mercy of remission O what a feast of fat things with marrow is this single mercy a pardon free without price full without exception And then 3. its final without revocation the pardoned Soul never more comes into condemnation Thine iniquities are removed from thee as far as the East is from the West as those two opposite points of Heaven can never meet so the pardoned Soul and its pardoned Sins can never more meet unto condemnation Psal. 103. 12. 4. God writes upon the pardon another word as sweet as any of the rest and that is sure 'T
is a standing mercy never to be recall'd vacated or annulled Rom. 8. 33 34 35. The challenge is sent to Hell and Earth Men and Devils Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect 'T is God that justifies who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died c. Who can arrest when the Creditor dischargeth Who can sue the bond when the debt is paid 'T is Christ that died The Table is spread and the first mercy served in is the pardon of sin Eat O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved Now the labouring Conscience that rowled and tossed upon the waves of a thousand fears may drop Anchor and ride quiet in the pacifique Sea of a pardoned State. What joy must stream through the Conscience when the sweetness of that Scripture Rom. 8. 1. shall be pressed into thy cup of Consolation The pardoned Soul may speak and think of Death and Judgment without consternation yea may look upon it as a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord Acts 3. 19. This is heavenly Manna the sweetness of it swallows up all expression all conceptions no words no thoughts can comprehend the riches of this mercy II. And yet this is not all behold another mercy in consequence unto this brought in to refresh and cheer the consenting Soul and that is peace with God. Pardon and peace go together Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by faith we have peace with God. Peace is a word of a vast comprehension peace in the language of the Old Testament comprehends all Temporal good things 1 Sam. 25. 6. And peace in the New Testament comprehends all Spiritual mercies 2 Thes. 3. 16. the blessings of Heaven and Earth are wrapt up in this word The Soul that opens to Christ hath peace of reconciliation in Heaven the enmity that was betwixt God and that Soul is taken away through the blood of Christ Isa. 12. 1 2. O Lord I will praise thee though thou wast angry with me thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me This must be an invaluable mercy for the purchase of it cost the blood of Christ Isa. 53. 5. The chastisement of our peace was upon him He made peace by the blood of his Cross Col. 1. 20. and this peace of reconciliation is setled by Christ upon a firm foundation His blood gives it a more firm and steady basis and foundation than that of the Hills and Mountains Isa. 54. 10. And that which makes it so firm and sure is the Advocateship of Jesus Christ in Heaven 1 Iohn 2. 1. 2. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father There is also peace in the believers Conscience peace as it were by Proclamation from Heaven and this is built upon the peace of Reconciliation We cannot have the the sense of peace till we are brought into a state of peace the latter is the result of the former And this is a special part of that supper Christ provides to entertain the Soul that receives it How sweet this is is better felt than spoken A dreadful sound was lately in the Ears of the Law-condemned sinner but now his Heart is the seat of peace And this peace is 1. the Souls gard against all inward and outward terrors Phil. 4. 7. The peace of God shall keep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as the word is guard your hearts and minds The persons of Princes are secured by guards of armed and valiant Men who watch while they sleep Thus Solomon had his royal guard because of fear in the night Cant. 3. 7 8. This peace of God Christian is thy life-guard and secures thee better than Solomons threescore valiant men that were about him Time was when thou wast affraid to sleep for fear thou shouldst awake in Hell Now thou maist say with David I will both lay me down and sleep for thou Lord makest me to dwell in safety Now come life come death the Soul is safe the peace of God is its royal guard 2. This peace is ease as well as safety to the Soul 'T is heart-ease no sooner doth God speak peace to the Conscience but the Soul finds it self at ease and rest Heb. 4. 3. We which have believed do enter into rest It is with such a Soul as it was with the Dove Noah sent out of the Ark that poor creature wandred in the Air as long as her wings could carry her had her strength fail'd there was nothing but the waters to receive her O how sweet was rest in the Ark 3. This peace is news from Heaven and the sweetest tydings that ever blest the sinners Ear next unto Christ Heb. 12. 24. The blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of Abel And you are come to this blood of sprinkling the same day and hour that Christ is come into your Souls This is the voice of that blood Thou hast sinned I have satisfied Thou hast kindled the wrath of God And I have quencht it The Angels of Heaven cannot feed higher their joys are not more delicious than those prepared for believers are whereof this is a foretast whatever circumstances of trouble a man be in this effectually relieves him Paul and Silas were in sad circumstances shut up in the inner-prison their feet made fast in the stocks their cruel keeper at the door their execution designed in a few days God did but set this dish upon the Table before the prisoners and they could not forbear to sing at the feast Acts 16. 25. At midnight they sang c. III. After these two royal dishes Pardon and Peace a third will come in viz. Ioy in the Holy Ghost this is somewhat beyond peace 't is the very quintessence and Spirit of all Consolation The Kingdom of God is said to consist in it Rom. 14. 17. 't is somewhat near to the joy of the glorified 1 Pet. 1. 8. 't is Heaven upon Earth All believers do not immediately attain it but one time or other God usually gives them a taste of it and when he doth it is as it were a short Salvation O who can tell what that is which the Apostle calls The shedding abroad of the love of God into the Heart by the Holy Ghost which is given to us Rom. 5. 5. It is a joy which wants an Epithet to express the sweetness of it 1 Pet. 1. 8. Ioy unspeakable and full of glory It hath the very scent and taste of Heaven in it and there is but a gradual difference betwixt it and the joy of Heaven This joy of the Holy Ghost is a spiritual cheeriness streaming through the Soul of a believer upon the Spirits testimony which clears his interest in Christ and glory No sooner doth the Spirit shed forth the love of God into the believers Heart but it streams and overflows with joy Joy is no more under that Souls command and this will evidently appear if you consider the matter of it it arises from the light of