works and no otherwise for I know this no trouble nothing can befall a Saint that is rightly principled according to the Gospel but it is exceeding amiable If there be sorrow for sin or any thing that you account bitter in it self if it fall on such a soul that is indued with such a principle that is as sweet as any thing else I may say though it be Nonsence to carnal ears his sorrow is as sweet as his joy his sorrow for sin is as sweet as his joy for mercies if he be one that is rightly transplanted from Mount Sinai to Mount Sion Therefore see how the Apostle lays it down look on it and you shall see nothing but what is truly amiable But ye are come to Mount Sion Now Mount Sion was a beautiful place saith the holy Ghost the beautifullest place in all Ierusalem where the Kings house was Davids house covered with gold Therefore beautiful things in Scripture are laid down by the name of Sion and usually it is called the Virgin Sion for fairness and beauty Ye are come to Mount Sion And to the City of the living God What is that The heavenly Ierusalem Not to the old Ierusalem that was subject to be taken and to be burned and subject to pestilence and famine and sword but to the heavenly Ierusalem the Ierusalem that comes down from heaven And to an innumerable company of Angels You are come now to the place where there are Myriads of Angels In the state of the Saints in the new Testament there are innumerable companies of Angels that God hath ordered to waite on them to protect and preserve and to save them In the old Testament we read of one Angel here and another there one Angel was sent to Sennacheribs Camp to destroy it but here is an innumerable company of Angels this is the state of the Church in the new Testament To the general assembly and Church of the first born I cannot go over all the particulars but if you read All things amiable to a man rightly built upon Christ them over you shall see that there is no object but what is throughly amiable and that is the onely thing I would commend to you Let him be a man that is rightly laid upon Jesus Christ and hath the right knowledg of him according to the Gospel by his holy Spirit I do not say that there is a little but there is nothing that he can conceive or imagine but it is sweet and amiable and pleasant to him as For instance look which way you will if he behold God there he seeth infinite sweetness how he is his Father reconciled to him and ful of eternal bowels of affection towards him before the world was one that loves him infinitely and takes care of him perpetually If he look on Jesus Christ he sees that he is his husband he is one with him as Christ is one with the Father If he look upon the Ordinances he sees them as blessed pipes that have many sweet promises to convey more of the love of God and of his Spirit to his soul If he look upon the creatures he sees the glory of God upon them in creating them and the goodness of God in providing them for him and he tasts the love of God in them If he look on afflictions he sees them as sweet wise and seasonable corrections from his heavenly Father to bring him nearer to him If he look on sin as sin is the transgression of the Moral Law he sees all forgiven by the righteousness that is in Christ and all nailed to his Cross and he knows that sin in him shall work for the best that it may make him prize the grace of God more and come nearer to God If he look on persecution and the plotting of wicked people against the Church a Saint that is rightly set in the new Testament he sees nothing but what is beautiful and amiable Not but that there are objects that in themselves are not amiable as sin is not amiable in it self properly considered neither is affliction but he hath such a glass the Lord casts such a light in him through which he sees every thing the light of the Gospel through the holy Spirit that there is nothing but joy and comfort That is the reason that the Apostle commands which is a strange command Rejoyce saith he in the midst of afflictions rejoyce when ye fall into divers temptations And rejoyce and again rejoyce Phil. 4. And presently after Let your patience and moderation be known unto all men As if he had said Ye are in great afflictions yet rejoyce evermore If these Philippians had been as we are and had had those principles of Mount Sinai in them they would never have rejoyced in those great afflictions but having clearly the love of God in them and justification rightly placed on Christ and the principles of the Gospel rightly planted in them there was no affliction or temptation whatsoever but they could rejoyce in it Rejoyce evermore I do not know whether you yet fully understand it the Lord teach you that you may know what is the hope of you calling what a glorious condition God hath called you to I will conclude with three or four words of Exhortation to you from this Lesson that every object that a Saint that is in the new Ierusalem can behold is altogether amiable The uses are here mentioned in the Chapter before Then in the first place learn not to faint under afflictions 1. Use Not to faint in afflictions for that is the reason the Apostle brings this in do not so much strive or struggle how to get out of afflictions as to get more Gospel light to see afflictions for that is all one nay better then the other Therefore if the Lord do but give you a little Eye-salve that is his Spirit to look on them you shall see no gall nor taste nor see any misery or evil in them at all That is the Use that is here spoken of Therefore what ever thy afflictions be labor to understand rightly their nature and thy station in the new Testament and no doubt but thou shalt bear them through Another Use that the Apostle teacheth us is this 2. Not to undervalue the glorious condition of Saintship and me thinks in my apprehension it is a very considerable word Beware least there be any fornicator or prophane person among you as Esau that for one morsel of meat sold his Birthright for saith he we are not come to the Mount that might be touched I apprehend the meaning to be this that this being so the estate of a Saint being so glorious then beware you that are Professors least any of you be so prophane as to sell your birth-right that is all your glorious priviledges and unconceiveable happiness in your condition for a mess of pottage that is that you do not relinquish basely these mercies to forsake your
can get himself in those three things Saints under the Law in three respects out from it then he is wholy clear The Saints are under it partly either In respect of their Persons Actions Afflictions For their persons that is we do conceive that we do 1. As to their persons deal with God in some measure according to his law we think that God doth deal with us according to his law and that we deal with God in some measure according to his law Whereas we should conceive that God doth not look on me or speak to me or deal with me at all according to the law Christ having fulfilled it and I being dead to it but only in reference to grace so I deal with God as he is my Father as he is revealed to me in grace in the Doctrine of the Gospel so that if we could conceive that our persons are fully justified that all my weaknesses thoughout the day or week or year do not make me according to his Law one jot more unjust nor all my good doth not make me more just for Christ Jesus his Death and Resurrection doth that wholly therefore my person for ever is freed from the power of the Law and if I sin grace may call me to account for it and whip and scourge me with his Ferula but for the Law what have I to do with that what have I to do with a husband that is dead and buried what have I to do with the Covenant of works that Jesus Christ hath fulfilled and cancelled Therefore get your persons clear of the Law for that is it that evidenceth many times that you are not because when you sin against God then there ariseth storms within you that were once without you on Mount Sinai that blackness and darkness then you fear you are hypocrites then you finde wrath in your consciences as oft as you finde wrath that is the work of the Law for the Law worketh wrath it shews clearly that your persons are not quite freed from the Law for though there should be sorrow and more kindly and abundant sorrow then ever you felt before and care and other things yet even that wrath and horror and hardness of heart and risings of spirit against God will testifie that in some measure your persons are under the Law Ye are not under the Law Secondly Your actions I say should not be under 2 In respect of their actions the Law for as one saith as our persons are justified fully by Christ so are our actions that is whatsoever action I do or commit however that action may not be pleasing to God according to Grace or the Gospel it may not be an acceptable sacrifice as all our actions should be yet notwithstanding we should not conceive that our actions are to be squared and measured according to the rule and life of the Law which is the Covenant of works As for Instance when a man is under the Law whose actions are under the Law he labors all the day long to please God to serve and obey him but if he fail but once or twice that day in his duty there is some confusion whispered in his soul that all is lost there is more trouble for that one failing then he hath comfort for all that he hath done that day that is just the Law for the Law saith if he fail in one he is guilty of all Now if a man be under grace he rejoyceth in his sincere indeavor to honor God and he rejoyceth in the passages of that day that he hath had communion with God and where there is weakness there would be a sweet clear mourning for it in reference to God as a Father and not to have the heart estranged from God and straitned Our actions in a great measure are under the Law Our actions are freed from the Law in this life but we know not our freedom They are freed thus all arise either from flesh or spirit for those are the two beginnings the two first beeings of all Now those of the flesh for a Christian may do an action that is purely flesh that hath no good in it then that is a sin Christ Jesus hath done it away Now if it be an action that ariseth from his holy Spirit that flows from the principle of Iesus Christ that is in him the Lord accepts of it that is done already if he were able to do it yet it comes too late but onely he doth it as the honest upright indeavor of a loving childe to a dear father So could we measure our actions according to that rule our lives would be more holy and more sweet and comfortable Thirdly our afflictions or sufferings it were well 3 Relating to their afflictions if we could get out from under the lash of the Law in all these there we are deeply under it as soon as ever we are whipped then we say God hath found me out and it is true God may whip me for it because I will not take notice of it though God will not hide his countenance and his smiles from his childe one jot further then he must needs do it for fear of cockering him therefore I know if God frown and hide his face that God loves me and he would shew it but I have a base heart that at such times as that would like some sin and be wanton otherwise God hath no delight to hide his face a moment Now all my afflictions and sufferings I am not to look on them under the Law that is as though God in reference to these had a purpose to satisfie himself and his vengeance and to let his wrath fall upon me that is clearly to frustrate the death of Christ but I am to look on that as fully satisfied and done by Christ and God is more faithful then to be paid twice but I am to look upon all my afflictions as proceeding from the love of a dear father and I can take notice of many sins that displease him and he hath many Gospel-ends to do me good therefore in afflictions I admit not one hard thought of God but love him more for his favor in the Gospel If we see afflictions under grace aright then afflictions do exceedingly kindle love to God and increase our communion with him and whereas they make us run from God they would make us run to him and delight in him but we are under the Law and that makes our persons and actions and afflictions to be a burthen O that the Lord would help us to get clear of it that every one would labour to get his spirit his person his actions and his corrections and all clear of that and dead to that But ye are under grace Grace in this place as I conceive hath a very large extent and is not taken onely for that favor of God as it is usually in Scripture but there is something meant by it that shall
be equivalent in all respects to a Christian to the Law for ye are not under the Law but under Grace they are opposites Now what that is that is meant by it I conceive and can give divers Scriptures also if I had time that by Grace here is meant the whole Doctrine of the Gospel Indeed the substance of the Law is contained in it for the substance of the Law is one and the same for ever I say the whole Doctrine of the Gospel that is called Grace because it is a gracious Doctrine it is a Doctrine full of Grace The stream and the maine thing of our Preaching is or should be the Grace of God the love of God and the goodness of God If it be taken for the whole Doctrine as that in Tit. 2. The grace of God hath appeared to all men teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live holily and soberly c. Grace that is the Doctrine of Grace or the Doctrine of the Gospel 2 Cor. 6. I beseech you receive not the grace of God in vain that is the Doctrine of the Gospel which hath in it grace and mercy and life and salvation and the like Grace and the Law are opposites as we see Iohn 1. The Law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Iesus Christ So grace in this place is to be understood in a large sense You are under grace That is not onely you are freed from the Law and you are now in a condition wherein God will have mercy on you and save you but far more then that For beloved as the Law hath Precepts and Commands and Teaching so Grace hath its Precepts also and commands as well as Promises therefore he saith The grace of God teacheth us He saith not the grace of God tells us and promiseth us or the like but it teacheth us Grace hath a School as the Law had the Law had a School and those that lived under it according to its method it did train and teach them so a Christian now in the School of Grace under grace he hath all that was good or necessary in the Law and much more that it is sufficient in all respects For a Christian if he be under grace there he shall have Precepts and Promises and Directions and Comforts any thing that is necessary for him So that it were well if you would indeavor to conceive that the onely master you have is Grace the onely rule by which you walk is Grace it is the Gospel which implies in it all the substantiall Precepts of the Law so in that respect we are bound to the Law and the Law is of use and will be to the end of the world Now then I would conclude with this to shew you a little concerning this Argument Sin shall not have dominion over you because ye are not under the Law but under Grace There are three main Reasons Sin hath less power over those under grace upon three reasons why a man that is under Grace that is clearly freed from the Law why sin should have less power over him then when he was under the Law for those that live under Grace though they be not perfect yet they are eminently holy in comparison of what they were and of what others are that are under the Law One reason is because that Grace hath clearer and more spiritual instructions and directions to holiness then the Law hath It hath what the Law hath but it teacheth a great deal of exactness that cannot be exprest for what the Law teacheth we may express it by natural understanding and you by natural understanding may comprehend it and if you miss it we may by natural understanding convince you of the breach of the Law but the precepts of the Gospel are spiritual and cannot be conceived by natural understanding I say the course of a Christian the main walk of a Christian under grace is such that a natural man cannot see or understand which way he goeth because a natural man conceives not the things of God By the Law a man may convince and shew it clearly but the precepts of Grace are so sublime and spiritual that they must be understood spiritually And thereupon being that the Precepts and Instructions and Directions of Grace being clearer and brighter and higher that is the reason why a man under Grace is brought into fuller obedience to a freer service then a man under the Law Besides Secondly when a man is under grace there is a kinde of ingenuity a Spiritual ingenuity of the heart yet though it may be there are not so many Covenants and Resolutions and Vows and the like yet there is a kinde of ingenuity that understanding the grace of God he cannot sin as another doth that is under the Law and that is the meaning of those Phrases of the Apostle how abhorrent such a thing would be As for instance Shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound God forbid As if he should say our hearts are against it we cannot endure to render an answer of all Gods grace and goodness in such a manner as that and so in 2 Cor. 5. whether we be mad or sober The love of God constraineth us for we thus judg that if one died then all were dead that we should not henceforth live to our selves but to him that died for us That is this is our reason we have a kinde of ingenuity in us that makes us thus reason that if one man did come and die and purchase everlasting life we cannot but live to him that died for us That is the reason why a man under the Law that it may be is a Swearer a Drunkard a Spendthrift and this consumes his soul and body and family and all and he knows this yet notwithstanding he goes on he cannot help it why because he is under the Law because when he hath had his pleasure all day the Law whips him at night and thereupon he hardens his heart and it grows more and more against God and his Commandments Now if God would let it into his soul to see what Christ hath done for him and how righteously the Law is fulfilled through Christ and thereupon he is freed from Satan and sin and death If God would shew him the hope of his calling and the glorious condition that he stands in there would be such an ingenuity that he could not do it he need not make Vows and Promises that he would be drunk no more but he would abhor to do so basely and unworthily to so gracious a God that had done so wondrously and incomprehensibly for his soul Lastly There is a power in grace The Law was a voyce of words it did teach just as the Commandments upon a wall a poor man may come in and read them but his heart is not the warmer there is no disposition to observe the Law but Grace comes and in some measure gives a
blessed power and strength to do that it teacheth therefore saith the Apostle Sin shall not have dominion over you because ye are not under the Law but under Grace Expositions and Observations on EPHESIANS 3. 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us THe Apostle ends his Prayer for the Ephesians in a general manner with a kinde of Thanksgiving Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly according to the power that worketh in us According to the power that worketh in us There is a mighty power that worketh in the Saints and you shall see that power Ephes 1. 19. saith he I desire that you may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward that believe according to the working of his mighty power It is not weakness but power and not a small power but a mighty power a great power an exceeding great mighty power That worketh in you The Saints are strong creatures If you ask what this power is you shall see in the verse following The power which wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers c. That is the power of his holy Spirit that dwells in us greater is he that dwelleth in us then he that dwelleth in the world We have a greater power in us then can be from the world or hell against us And that power is illustrated here by the raising of Iesus from the dead and setting him up in heavenly places There was no active power that ever God expressed that can be compared to that of raising Christ from the dead It was a power and a great power and Gods power too to make this world and it is a power to preserve it but that power is not comparable to this when Jesus Christ was dead under the curse of the Law and under the wrath of God and under all our sins under the malice of men and under a great stone that was rowled on him and for a dead man to be raised up through all those oppositions of heaven and earth and hell and to be set in peace at the right hand of glory and majestie on high It must be an exceeding great power The Saints do not consider what strength they have If thou didst consider what strength thou hast in thee thou wouldest not be afraid to hear a Cross thou wouldst not be discouraged to attempt any work for God thou wouldest not be dismaied at the threatnings of men no nor at the temptations of the devil there is such an exceeding great and mighty power that works in them that believe This power is the power of the Spirit of God for that is the power of the most High the holy Ghost shall overshadow thee and the power of the most High shall come upon thee The holy Ghost is the power of God which dwelleth in the Saints And therefore my aime is to fasten that word on you and to shew you how you come short of that life and strength and grace that otherwise you might have for want of magnifying and exalting the Spirit of God which is the Conduit the Intelligencer that which brings light and life and strength to our souls from God The Spirit of God is lightly esteemed therefore we have little grace a low esteem of the Spirit will keep a Saint low all his days I thought to have instanced in a few things wherein you undervalue the Spirit One is that you do not hearken enough nor regard and observe enough the teaching of the Spirit of God and that is one cause why we are left to our selves and do so often miss the will of God For I know not according to the Covenant of Grace why a Saint should at any time miss the will of God but that he doth not observe his Leader For I will give you the Spirit saith Christ that shall lead you into all truth Now if you observe not this Leader this Teacher it is very just that you should be left to wander and go out of the way If a Christian would observe his way and observe his leader a Christian might easily finde when he is in and when he is out for truly if a man would ask himself Why did I miss the will of God so often since I have such a Teacher promised me and given me by Christ he must needs say that oftentimes I did not observe him I did not hearken to him I hearkened only to men and not to the Spirit of God And so he would easily finde when he began to give over harkning where he left the teaching of the Spirit for in my apprehension a Saint follows the holy Ghost with a kinde of sagacity if I may compare it with reverence just as we see the Dog follow the Hare there is something in Nature that the Dog knows which way the Hare went when a wiser creature knows not so there is something in a poor Saint that when all the wise men in the world know not which way God went a Saint can tell Onely the Dog may hunt upon a cold sent and think the Hare went that way and it grows colder and colder and he misseth So a Saint shall finde when he misseth the will of God that the Spirit of God hath not left him unless it be very rare as the Spirit left Christ to be tempted in the wilderness so he may leave thee to pull down thy pride and to humble thee Isay that is rare but ordinarily the Spirit leaves not thee but thou lettest goe thy leader and thou goest all the while on a cold sent A Saint though he headlong follows this or that conceit yet notwithstanding he may know when he comes to look upon himself surely I went upon a cold sent in those things though I followed them headlong and giddily it was not of the Spirit it was not the same teaching that I had ordinarily Therefore observe your leader hearken to the Spirit of God If God give you him as a master he expects that his children should learn and see when you go in the way of the Spirit of God and you may easily finde that if you will avoid headlongness and giddiness and rashness I speak not this as if the Spirit were contrary to the Word as some men to advance the Spirit set the Word and Spirit by the ears but the Spirit leads by the Word That which I chiefly intended to shew you was The power of the Spirit set out in four things to give you a few instances that you may have a little light to see the exceeding greatness of the power of the Spirit working in you I shall not shew in all respects nor in many as I might but onely in a few I will instance in these three or four things As first
and elsewhere and yet when there is any work to be done really for God no body mindes it I will give you an instance as clear as the Sun There hath been of late a great deal of consulting and making Petitions and Remonstrances and Representations and Modelizing the Common Councel c. And yet we have had the Superstition of Christmas worse then it hath been this four yeers to my knowledg every one shutting up their shops and giving themselves up to Superstitious ways that we thought had been dead Come to the Ministers and Assembly Is there any complotting to draw people from false gross Popery No they deal falsly There is no assembling or meeting about that but the Ministers let the people go I speak it with the grief of my soul If it were on the Mountains of Wales it were no wonder but to see people here to go in droves to Popery I behold it as I go along in the street and think I with a heavy heart how neatly doth Popery become this City They go in their best clothes and make gallant chear and they are ready to throw stones if any open their shops It is not the people so much but where are our Prophets they lie as if they were dead all the while This is dealing falsly it is not plain square dealing with God If people did hate Schism as there are Schisms and Blasphemies I favor them not they would hate prophaneness and all other evils as well But this is false dealing and jugling this shews their design If they did hate one they would hate all if they did seek Reformation in one they would seek it in all But this is false dealing the Prophets deal falsly Then fourthly here is the sin of the people laid down grievous revolting horrible backsliding from God the people grow worse and worse it was time for God to take them in hand in Verse 28. This people are all grievous revolters They were for God but now they are revolted In this City four yeers ago there was abundance of Reformation how did people hugg poor Saints when they were persecuted in other Countries they did cloath them and feed them And these Superstitions of Christmas were almost quite out of the way but we are gone back we are as bad as we were twenty yeers ago A poor Saint dares hardly appear at Guildhal though he be not a member of a Church yet they cry An Independent an Independent as if he were an Owl among Birds And strangers godly men that have seen us within this half yeer they think we are grown mad and have wished I would to God I could get over the line to go home London is grown the worst place in the Kingdom it was not so three or four yeers ago Men did love the Saints and were ready to save the Kingdom but now there is a bitter root to destroy the Saints and to lay stumbling blocks we are grievous revolters For matter of sin we are as like Jerusalem as may be I but will sin destroy a people I pray observe in the next place The carriage of Jerusalem under their sins What was that There are three things laid down in their carriage For it is not onely sin that ruines men but their carriage under it It is not faling into the water that drowns a man but his unwilness or unskilfulness to get out In the first place they were not ashamed in the least measure for all these things Were they ashamed He puts it to the question and answers himself Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination nay they were not ashamed neither could they blush saith the Lord for all this wickedness Were they ashamed As if he had said If they had been ashamed I had been somewhat satisfied If the people had mourned for their grievous revolting and backsliding and oppression and covetousness in the middest of them it were some comfort but they were not ashamed they cannot blush Then the second thing is this That as they could not be ashamed so they would not hear nor receive any instructions to amend their ways therefore the Lord would turn them as a dish is turned upside down Verse 10. To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear Where is any Creature that will hear notwithstanding all this Behold their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken behold the Word of the Lord is unto them a reproach they have no delight in it This was their condition The people were full of sin and they had no delight to hear the Minister of God sincerely to lay open their sins nay it was a reproach they reproached the Minister that should do so they would question him and throw him into the dungeon as they did Jeremy for shewing them their sins So in Verse 17. I set watchmen over you saying Hearken to the sound of the trumpet but they said We will not hearken That is They said so in their hearts at least And so in Verse 19. Hear O Earth because they have not hearkened unto my words nor to my Law but rejected it And judg whether this be not our condition Then thirdly and lastly This is the aggravation of their sins as they were not ashamed and would not hear one word So lastly God was weary as it were he was tired with correcting and afflicting them and yet they did not amend For that is the drift of that place Verse 29. The bellows are burnt the lead is consumed of the fire the founder melteth in vain for the wicked or wickedness or mischief is not plucked away That is saith the Lord I was as a founder blowing with the bellows till they were worn out The very fire and all is consumed and the dross is not taken away Some particular men especially have had many afflictions and so after afflictions upon others in the Kingdom There have been touches of Gods rod and truly we are worse Now thus you have the sins of Jerusalem and the carriage of this people under their sins In the next place there is the dealing of God with this people because of their sins And the first thing iâ— God prepares war That is set down from the beginning of the Chapter to Verse 7. Hew down trees cast a mount against Jerusalem This is the City to be visited saith God God comes to visit Ierusalem he looks upon her as if a Carpenter went to a Wood to chuse Timber This is the Oke that will serve to make such a beam So God looks on all Countries the Amonites and Amorites c. But this is the City fit for judgment therefore saith he Hew down trees prepare war I will not be peremptory in this but the Lord may do it He hath done it with others like our selves Hew down trees prepare war against this City If the Lord should say London is the City to be visited Bristol hath been visited and most places in the Kingdom
but now London must there my wrath shall be poured out The Lord grant that it may not be so but I greatly fear it Secondly The Lord brings them to imprisonment the Lord took them prisoners Verse 11. The husband with the wife shall be taken the aged with him that is full of days And then comes their plunder Their houses shall be turned to others with their fields and wives together For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of this Land saith the Lord. O if the Lord should say This is the City to be visited and make war against it and then take you prisoners take the aged men the Aldermen Common Councellers and all prisoners and then plunder all and say their fields and their wives shall be turned to others That were sore that you should not onely lose your goods but your fields that your houses and trades and shops should be taken away and your very wives Thus the Lord did with others I will not say that he will do so with you Now there were stumbling blocks in Ierusalem before it was destroyed so there are in this City it is filled with stumbling blocks every little difference in opinion is a stumbling block that some men become Atheists because every Saint doth not agree one with another And then there is the fear and horror that did fore-run this misery Verse 24. But in a word the course that the Lord would have them take and that therefore I shall speak of that you may beseech the Lord that this poor City may prevent those evils One thing is the Lord would have them seriously and sincerely humble themselves before him to acknowledg their sins and bewail them Verse 26. Saith the Lord O daughter of my people gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thy self in ashes make thee mourning as for an onely son Not a formal day of fasting and humiliation for that is almost become all form but really humble thy soul and call upon the Lord that the Lord would be pleased to turn away his wrath Then the second thing laid down is That we should hearken to instruction Be thou instructed O Jerusalem least my soul depart from thee be ready to hear the Word of the Lord be ready to hearken what Gods will is how he may be glorified and we preserved Then thirdly here is a word that I exceedingly desired to open but I must but name it Verse 16. Stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall finde rest for your souls saith the Lord. This is the way to save you Stand in the wayes ask for the old way What is the meaning of the old way That is Iesus Christ That was the old way of Abraham Isaac and Iacob Iesus Christ and the way of righteousness and holiness and truth He alludes as I take it to the Patriarchs for that is called the old world and the old way Saith he Ye are not like your fathers heretofore Abraham he was not covetous and full of oppression they were willing to hear that which was for their good and they were not the worse for their afflictions Look to the old way and labor to get such a Spirit as the Saints had heretofore that were in Iesus Christ What of all this notwithstanding this counsel that the Lord had given them what if they will not turn to him what if they will not amend Then there is a terrible word that we read of in Verse 8. Lest my soul depart from thee It is not sin onely that makes Gods soul depart from a people nor their hardness nor wickedness but when they refuse all means and helps then his soul departs from them Therefore Be instructed saith he lest my soul depart or lest my soul be disjoynted as it is in the Margin What is the meaning of that It is a terrible word we have that word expounded in Ierem. 15. 1 2. See what it is for to have Gods soul to go from a people I beleeve that Gods soul is not gone from us if we will hearken to him and do not give our selves up to wrath and rage against Gods people Then said the Lord to me Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my minde or my soul could not be towards this people There is before the ferventest blessed prayer for this people that I know in the Book of God Ieremy prayes And now their destruction was coming saith the Lord Though Moses and Samuel should come before me my heart could not be on them I have put them out of my heart my minde and soul is gone from them I will never be troubled more with them What follows Cast them out of my sight let them go forth And if they say Whether shall we forth Then thou shalt tell them such as are for death to death such as are for the sword to the sword such as are for the famine to famine and such as are for captivity to captivity Let them go whether they will some of them will be hanged some killed some to the sword some starved they can come to no good because they are gone out of my sight My heart and soul is from them that is the last gasp that is hell above ground Therefore the sum of all is That we hearken to God for these things were not written for Ierusalem onely but for our instruction God hath laid down their sin and wickedness and their oppression and the blessed remedy that they should have taken and if we take it not but go on in our wickedness we see what we may expect That when that shall come on us which God if it be his will forbid you may remember that you were told before I have one thing in my sad and serious thoughts to comfort me that this shall not befal this City and that is this That the Lord delt with them according to the administration of the Old Testament and so went by Cities and Nations but now every man and every person that calls upon God is respected in every Nation and City whatsoever But this comes in and cools it wonderfully and puts me to a non-plus If we in this City did go according to the administration of the New Testament I am perswaded that the Lord would not send desolation upon the City but because we would go according to that old administration we have chosen it and said so and do so Now as they chose that administration to deal with God he chose that to deal with them for the Lord will deal frowardly with the froward the Lord will deal with men according to their own law Those that sin against the Law of Nature shall be punished so those that sin against the Law of Moses shall be punished so those that go according to the administration of grace shall be delt with accordingly Now we are going according to the old administration
more and more for we are setling like the Jews in an outward formal Reformation without heart Now it would be terrible if the Lord should chuse our own administration and give us according to our own heart I hope he will not But this lay heavy upon my spirit to tell you of therefore the Lord direct you to make the best use you can that if it be his blessed will this place that is the honor and glory of the Kingdom and the refuge of the Saints that the Lord would not come against it FINIS THE TABLE  Page A  Abiding  ABiding with God in evil times 72 Actions  Saints not under the Law in their actions 157 Afflictions  Afflictions of godly and wicked how different 31 Afflictions turn to the good of Saints 119 The life of Faith in afflictions 130 Saints not under the Law in regard of afflictions 150 Afflictions not to be fainted in 194 Amend  All should amend when the wicked are punished 104 Angels  Angels pry into Gospel mysterie 201 Angels good and bad do it ibid. Apostacy  Apostacy a provoking sin 11 Assurance  Life of Faith in Assurance 130 Awake  Christians duty to awake God 86 B.  Betray  Not to betray Gods cause 88 Blasphemy  Blasphemy a provoking sin 9 Blessing see latter  Bristol  Gods mercy in recovering Bristol 107 C  Christ See cleaving  Christ makes all things amiable 192 Cleaving  Blessedness of cleaving to the Lord 70 Honor of cleaving to Christ in ill times 73 Special times of cleaving to God 77 Comfort  What should help Christians comfort 175 Conceits  Vain conceits of wicked men 33 Confidence  Ground of a Christians confidence 27 Consolation  Consolation a duty 40 Four things that hinder consolation ibid. Covenant  Spiritual understanding of the New Covenant effects of it 66 Covetousness  Covetousness a provoking sin 237 Creature  The vanity of the Creature why discovered 61 Conjunction  Conjunction of those that cleave to God 70 D.  Difference  Difference of Gods dealing with Saints 36 Difference between Saints and sinners 208 Discouraged  Weak Saints not to be discouraged 143 Distrust  Distrust in times of danger to be avoided 87 Division  Division among Saints a provoking sin 9 Duty See Consolation  Four grounds of Duty 149 E.  Enemies  Assurance of victory over enemies the effects of it 64 How God destroyes his enemies 85 Equality  Equality that should be between Saints 144 Evil see good  Example  Example of Saints a ground of prayer 150 F.  Faith  Faith the want of it what it doth 40 Faith the life of it 44 Faith how God tries it 83 Faith how the just live by it 128 See Affliction Assurance Sanctification  False  False dealing 237 Fondness  Holy fondness between God and the Saints 54 Holy fondness in five things 55 Fondness wrought four ways 61 Formality  Formality in duties a provoking sin 4 See Reformation  G.  Garison see Minde  God see Hypocrisie Persecutors  Good  To call evil good a provoking sin 11 See Afflictions Work  Gospel  Gospel precepts highest 162 Gospel Mysteries to be attended 202 Gospel riches to be admired 204 Gospels simplicity 225 Government  Government how to be affected 204 Greater  How to argue from less mercies to greater 120 Grace  Grace weak how to comfort it 45 Grace what meant by it 160 Of those that are under Grace 162 Power in Grace more then the Law 164 H.  Heart  Heart hardened 8 Hidden  Saints Gods hidden ones 90 Holiness  Holiness desired on wrong grounds 41 Right laboring for holiness 198 See Comfort  Hypocrisie  Hypocrisie hateful to God 48 Hipocrites honor creatures above God 50 Hypocrisie dishonors God ibid. I.  Judg.  Saints not to judg one another 143 Judgments  Maner of Gods proceeding to judgment 2 Cause of judgments what 3 Judgments why sent 103 Ingenuity  Ingenuity of right Saints 163 Justification  How to live by Faith in Justification 128 133 K.  Kiss  Holy Kiss what 145 L.  Latter Last  Blessing of the latter times 122 First shall be last how 138 Law  Saints under the Law how 156 See Persons Actions Afflictions Gospel  Learning  Learning humane wherein useful 211 Life see Faith Sanctification  Lord see cleaving  Love  Love of God what it works 62 To love though we be not loved 181 Mutual love how attained 184 M.  Minde  Garison of the minde what 16 Mingled  The life of a Christian mingled 133 Ministers  Ministers sins provoke God 149 N.  Nature  Duties grounded in nature 6 O.  Officers  Officers sins provoke God 8 Oppression  Sin of oppression 236 Ordinance  Prayer an Ordinance of God 149 Ordinances not to be neglected 152 Ordinances needful 153 P.  Patience see waiting  Peace  Peace to be studied by Saints 196 Perpetual see Prayer Persecutors Persecution  To cleave to God in persecution 78 Persecutors design 91 God persecuted in the Saints 93 Children of the godly may prove fierce persecutors 99 Persons  Persons of Saints how under the Law 156 Power  Power that Saints have 166 The Spirit called power how 173 See Grace  Prayer  Prayer a perpetual duty 151 Prayer whence it proceeds 169 Wants of prayer how supplied 170 See Ordinance Nature Precept Example Promise  Precept  Precepts ground of prayer 150 See Gospel  Promises  Promises ground of prayer 151 Protection  Protection of God who have right to it 21 Pride  Pride how discovered 185 R.  Reflect  Reflect acts hard to man 177 Saints to reflect on their estate 178 Reformation  Formal Reformation a provoking sin 5 Refuge  God a refuge 14 To repair to God as a refuge 17 Religion  Religion wherein it consists 211 Riches see Gospel  Revolting  Revolting a provoking sin 239 S.  Saints see Weak Sanctification  Life of Faith in Sanctification 129 131 Saintship to be prized 194 Satan  Grounds of Caution against Satan 202 Security  Security why to avoyd it 140 Self-love  Self-love a provoking sin 10 Shame  Iudgments sent to shame men 103 Simplicity  Simplicity of Religion 212 Simplicity of the Gospel 223 Sin  What sins provoke judgments 3 Carriage of Saints faln into sin 43 Saints carriage in a deluge of sin 77 Aggravations of sin 240 Silent  God silent in danger why 83 Soul  The soul of God departs from incorrigible sinners 244 Spirit  Spirit powerful in Saints 166 Spirit undervalued how 167 Spirit wherein powerful 169 Spirit differs Saints and Sinners 208 Spirit how known 210 Spirit to be labored for 213 Spirits excellency 215 Spirits grieving dangerous 220 Spirit to be prized 221 See Word Teaching Work Power  T.  Teaching  Teaching of the Spirit 170 Testament  Testaments compared 188 Trouble  Trouble in Saints whence 190 V.  Vengeance  Vengeance of God against the wicked 27 Union  Union between Christ and Christians 229 Upright  Uprightness ground of it 22 Uprightness how tried 84 W.  Waiting  Ground of waiting on God 112 Weak  Weak Saints not to be contemned 141 Weak Saints their carriage to stronger 142 Weak Saints to be encouraged 196 Word  Spirit to be advanced as speaking in the Word 168 Work  Who works in and for us 172 To be ready to every good work 206 FINIS
a good look yet this is our disposition if the Saints do not observe us if one go by and do not observe us in the street and put not off his hat and speak and give us idle visitations when he knows not what to do he loves us not It is a great deal if a Saint do but come over the threshold or look upon me in the street This is that that breeds endless quarrels for they are here put together Strife and Vain glory and the like for thou wilt be alway like the Salamander feeding upon some quarrel for every man naturally hath some one thing that he feeds on principally children feed on one cate more then another and so do men some upon Husbandry some upon Navigation some upon Policy every one upon one thing or other All men have some one thing that carries the stream of their hearts some Professors the very stream of their spirits goes in quarrelling with others they no sooner end a quarrel with one Saint but they begin another they can no more live without jangling and quarrelling and strife then the Salamander can live without fire This is the reason a proud heart therefore can never close with the Saints it cannot be content with a little measure of love from the Saints A Saint if he be as he should be can love though he be not loved and can rejoyce wonderfully if he have the least measure of love from others The Lord make this short word spiritual and powerful to thee and me If this lesson were rightly learned a world of division among the Saints would cease Expositions and Observations on HEBREWES 12. 18 19 20 c. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest And the sound of a trumpet and the voyce of words which voyce they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more For they could not endure that which was commanded and if so much as a beast touch the mountaine it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake But ye are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Ierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels To the general assembly and Church of the first born which are written in heaven and to God the Judge of all and the spirits of just men made perfect And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven THe Apostle in these words doth compare The old and new Testament compared the old Testament the old Covenant with the new or if you will the estate of the Saints under the old Covenant of Sinai with the glorious estate of the Saints under the new Covenant Therefore he tells them Ye are not come to that mountaine that burned with fire that mountain that might be touched you are not set under the old Covenant that was terrible in which there was nothing but that that was terrible that brought horror upon all that feared God in it but ye are Come to mount Sion to the glorious state in the new Testament and there is nothing but what is amiable and what is beautiful for that is it that I mean to pitch on you shall observe in the description of the Saints in the old Testament under the old Covenant I mean not the Books of the old Testament I suppose you know what I mean in that Proposition I say there was nothing in all Gods administration with them but it was full of terror it was terrible it begat horror in them and there is nothing in the state of a Saint that is rightly setled in the Gospel but what is throughly amiable and beautiful and therefore you shall see how the Apostle reckons them First for the old he saith they were come but to a Mount that might be touched that is an earthly mountain a mountain or hill as one of our hills And that burned with fire that was terrible And there was blackness and darkness and storm and tempest covering the heavens and the hill this was terrible And there was the sound of a Trumpet you know that signifies war And there was a terrible voyce of words also and so terrible that they that heard it intreated that they might hear it no more And the Lord was so strict that if but a beast touch but the hill that was black and dark he was to be stoned or thrust through with a dart he was to be killed nay Moses himself that was to be the Mediator of the people in that Testament he did exceedingly fear and quake So that there is nothing in that old Covenant of works that God saith is done away Heb. 8. there was nothing in the old Testament but what was terrible and full of horror To come a little more particular there is nothing in the state of a Professor who is yet on Mount Sinai as many Professors are who are not yet dead but alive to the Law they are not free-men they are not sons and daughters they have not the principles of the Gospel clearly wrought in them I say those people take them in the bulk and frame of their profession there is nothing in their whole life in all the course of their profession but what is ful of horror and terror If they look upon God they see him more or less as an angry Iudg ready to stand at the catch to consume them If they look on grace in them that is so little that they continually conclude that they are hypocrites If they look on sin they look every moment when God will be avenged on them because of it If they look on affliction they say Now God hath found me out I knew it would be so that the wrath of God would be on me If they look on Christ saith he He doth not belong to me and the Promises are not mine A man that is a Professor on Mount Sinai as far as he walks in the Covenant of works or as it were by the Covenant of works so far of necessity his soul within is as Mount Sinai was without that is full of blackness and darkness and storms and tempest inevitably and unavoidably it will be so Therefore clearly this is the reason of all the troubles and horrors and terrors and uncomfortableness of your spirits because you have one foot on Mount Sinai you are not come up to Pauls pitch I through the Law am dead to the Law you are not dead to the Law you are not delivered from it I mean the Law as it is a Covenant of