Though now for a season you are in heavinesse through manifold temptations yet it is that the triall of your faith being much more precious than of gold which perishes though it be tried with the fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory In temptations they leane upon God and they come out of these temptations leaning beleeving upon God too having found that he is able and knoweth how to deliver the godly out of all temptations 2 Pet. 2. 9. A fifth wildernesse in which the Spouse of Christ leaneth upon her Beloved and out of which she commeth leaning is the wildernesse of desertion And this is one of the saddest wildernesses that the Spouse of Christ comes in and she hath an hard work to leane here when Christ seemeth to pull away his shoulder yet even here she leanes Christ himselfe did so My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me Mark the phrase Forsaken yet not forsaken the Bridegroome cryes out he was forsaken yet my God Gods forsaking us is no ground for us to forsake him If he seemes not to owne us it is no warrant nor policy in us not to owne him It is the duty of a pious soule when God clouds himselfe yet to cry My God The bowels of the father must yearne upon the childe againe if the childe cryes and will not shake him off It is a remarkable expression of Job chap. 13. ver 15. Though he kils me yet will I trust in him How now if thou beest kill'd blest Job how canst thou trust O immortall faith that puttest Spirits of confidence in the dust and ashes of Job Let God hide himselfe from the soule and so kill it For Gods separation of himselfe from the Christians soule is a worse death than the separation of his soule from his body Yet the soule must trust in him it must it will leane upon him The Spouse loseth not but quickens her faith in a fit of desertion That place of the Prophet is remarkable Isa 50. v. 10. Who is amongst you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darknesse and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God They that feare the Lord though they may walke in a darke wildernesse and see no such light as they were wont to see have no such comfortable enjoyments of their God as they were wont to have yet they will trust and rest themselves upon the Lord and come out of this wildernesse leaning In all the wildernesses of this life the Spouse will leane upon her Beloved yea and upon him alone in all states in all conditions upon him for directing grace upon him for quickning grace upon him for whatsoever she hath need of either pardon or guidance or direction or assistance or comfort or heaven at all times she must trust in the covert of his wings for all blessings The Spouse of Christ is a most dependent creature The Babe of grace is never old enough to goe alone it hangs like a childe upon the mothers hands and leanes like a Bride upon the Bridegroomes bosome Thus have I done with the Doctrinall part having shewed you how she hath had and sometimes hath her dwelling in the wildernesse and how out of every wildernesse she commeth up but leaning and what strength there is in her Saviour to beare her up leaning upon him even in every wildernesse Who is this commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her Beleved Now let us see what use we may make of it And first here may a word of reproof and a brand of folly be fastened upon divers erroneous opinions and practices First is it so that the Spouse of the Lord Christ that comes and is married to the Lord Christ comes out of the wildernesse of sinne Then this may reprove the errour and folly of those that dreame of heaven and flatter themselves with the hopes of glory but yet never regard comming out of this wildernesse Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance These men dreame of Heaven and yet never thinke of Repentance Christ came to seeke and to save that which was lost friend how lost what insensibly lost as all of us were by Nature This is an idle construction that giddy headed Sectaries have of late devised to help themselves to heaven with The Devils are so lost yet Christ never came to save them No no friend it is those that are lost in their own apprehensions those that know not what to dot o be saved those that feel themselves even in the jawes of hell he makes apprehensions of his wrath precede the apprehensions of his love But woe and alas how many thinke they have a part in Christ That the Devill hath as great a part in Christ actually as they have Heaven is growne the common journeyes end and let men ride which way they list Not the most debauched wretch in a Congregation but aske him what he thinks shall become of him if he dyes in that condition why he hopes he shall goe to heaven nay I wish he doth not say he is sure of it too All men are sinners He is lost but Christ came to seek and save that which was lost Tell him of mourning for his sinnes if he meanes to be comforted of humbling himselfe if he meanes to bee exalted of feeling hell if ever he means to feele heaven O then you are a legall Preacher Heare what the other side saith what those you call Antinomian Preachers O these are the only Gospell-preachers to them This makes them to passe for such honest men O they shew a fine Cushion-way to Heaven that you shall not need wet a foot or eye in But let them preach what they will friend beleeve him who although he knowes but little yet knowes you must go out of the wildernesse if ever you come there The way is neither the Drunkards Ale-way nor the Adulterers uncleane way nor the Covetous man his dirty way nor the Ambitious mans high way nor the Hypocrites hidden way nor the Carnall-Gospellers formall way nor the Antinomians easie way It is a way through a wildernesse not a way in a wildernesse The Spouse is not described by her staying in the wildernesse but by comming out of the wildernesse Who is this commeth out of the wildernesse Secondly Doth the Spouse of the Lord come out of a wildernesse of sorrow leaning upon her Beloved First she is in then she commeth out then this reproves the folly of those that preach men found before they were lost and of those that dreame of leaning before they are in the wildernesse The Spouse leans but it is when she is comming out of the wildernesse Is there any that preacheth down a needlesnesse of duties that mockes at mourners that learne people a way to be found before they are lost Examine the Scriptures before you trust them under a pretence of exalting
did it freely we buy without money or money-worth Isa 55. 1 2. 2. If you aske to what end hee did it It was his own glorie that he might get himselfe glory from poore dust and ashes that little thanke him for all this mercy declared to their souls He Predestinated Redeemed and Adopted us meerely to the praise of the glorie of his grace Ephes 1. verse 6. The end which he aimed at in Calling us was his glory Rom. 9. 23 24 25 26. If you aske me why God that could as well have been glorified in the damnation of poore wretches would chuse rather to be glorified in their salvation and bringing them to life I must run back again to the Fountaine againe meerly because so it pleased him because it was his will There wee must rest I shall now proceed to the Application of this mysterious sweet and precious Doctrine and it might be applyed severall wayes But I shall onely apply the consideration of it as offering you ground and matter First of Humiliation Secondly of Instruction Thirdly of Examination Fourthly of Exhortation Fiftly of Consolation Use 1 First of all for Humiliation Harke Christians is it so that thou wert so lost and undone that none but Jesus Christ could raise thee and hee hath done it when none else could and wil raise thee higher yet and this hee could not have done without taking thy flesh dying upon the Crosse suffering the bitternesse of his Fathers wrath consider then what cause thou hast to be humbled for thy sins 1. Considering that these were they put Christ to death 2 that by these since that time thou hast crucified the Lord of life 1. Consider that thy sins were those that put Christ to death Rom. 4. 25. He was delivered to death for our sinnes Me thinks every one when they heare of Christs Agony and bloudy Sweat of his Whippings Buffetings of his bitter Sufferings c. should be ready to cry out with Pilate Quid mali fecit What evill I pray hath he done Ah none Christian it was to raise thee thou wert dead lost undone he dyed to raise thee thou stolest the fruit he climbed the tree thou enjoyedst the sweetnesse of sinning and he for that was acquainted with the bitternesse of suffering He bore thy iniquity even thine and mine too if we be elected Certainly it was a great griefe of heart to David to remember that he had an hand in the bloud of Uriah that was surely the great transgression that hee complained of to be sure that heart-troubling sinne for which hee puts up that particular Petition Deliver mee from bloud-guiltinesse O God And questionlesse it was no small Trouble of Spirit to Paul afterwards to consider that he was one of them that were consenting to Stephens death Acts 7. 59 60. Chap. 8. verse 1. he afterwards repeats it with shame I was a persecuter Christian here is one murdered by cruell hands not an Uriah not a Stephen but hee that is worth ten thousand of these not an Abell yet his bloud troubled Cain all his life time but one whose bloud cries for better things than the bloud of Abell did here 's the Lambe of God slaine slaine by thy hands he was bruised for thine iniquities and his soule was made an Offering for thy sinnes Is it nothing to thee O Christian when Pilate was but about to condemne him his wife came startled in and cries Have nothing to doe with that just man and when Stephen charged the Jewes Acts 7. 52. for being the betrayers and murtherers of the Lord Jesus they apprehended it as a thing so hainous that they would not endure him beyond that word but were cut to the heart and gnashed upon him with their teeth verse 54. Christians there is none of you here but your sinnes were the betrayers and murtheres of the Lord Jesus that Christ that had such eternall sure and unchangeable thoughts of love to your soules Ah! how great were those sins which could not be remitted without the bloud of the immaculate Lamb of God Me thinks every one of you should sit downe and say Ah Lord that ever I should be such a wretch so farre to provoke the fire of thy wrath that nothing could quench it but the bloud of thy Sonne that I should throw my selfe so deep into Hell that nothing could raise mee but the bloud-shedding of the deare Sonne of Gods love You have had to doe with that just man Christians not to doe with condemning him but even with the vildest acts of Barbarisme were done unto him your hypocrisie was the kisse that betrayed him the sinnes of your hands and feet were the nailes that fastened his hands and feet to the Crosse the sinnes of your body were the Spears that pierced his sacred side the sinnes of your soules were they that made his soule heavy to the death that caused the with-drawings of his Fathers love from him and made him in the heavinesse of his panged soule to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me O sit downe goe alone weep and weep bitterly for him whom you have pierced for those stripes by which you are healed 2. But secondly if any thing will move your soules to make your head a Fountaine of water and your eyes Rivers of teares Consider That this Christ you have crucified even since his death upon the Crosse for you When the Apostle St. Peter Acts 2. had made a long Sermon of Christs love shewing the Auditors what Christ had done and what he was he summeth up all verse 36. God hath made that same Jesus whom yee have crucified both Lord and Christ Now saith the Text verse 37. When they heard this viz. that they had crucified this Christ they were pricked at the heart This Christ my beloved whom you have crucified by your youth sinnes and life sins this was he that was crucified for you O be pricked at the hearts at this saying Was it not enough that he once was pierced scoffed wounded crucified for you but must you againe crucifie him and which of you doe it not daily Causinus tels us a story of Clodoveyus one of the Kings of France that when he was converted from Paganisme to Christianity while Remigius the Bishop was reading in the Gospell concerning the Passion of our Saviour and the abuses he suffered from Judas and the rest of the Jewes he brake out into these words If I had been there with my Frenchmen I would have cut all their throats In the meane time not considering that by his daily sins he did as much as they had done Which of us is not condemning the crucifiers of Christ for their cruelty and in the meane time we condemne not our selves who by our daily sinnes make him to bleed againe afresh Ah let us judge our selves and sit downe and mourne we are they that have added to Christs bonds that have increased his wounds and the pangs of his grieved soule
love to them you have heard of killing with kindnesse let the kind of death be never so sweet yet the death will be bitter Take heed not of killing the bodies alas that were nothing but of damning your childrens soules and your owne too with miscalled kindnesse 3 Obj. But wil another Christian say I have not forgot my honour and glory I am not low enough I feare to get in at heavens gate I answer first 1. This is like the melancholy conceit of her that a Divine of our owne speaks of of a woman that conceited she was so fat shee could not get to heaven it is the lownesse of mind that God looks at Lords and Ladies if their hearts be not as high as their titles may sit in heaven as well as meaner persons I doe not say they shall have chaires of state set for them but they may have a roome there it may be one or two may sit above them if there bee degrees in glory that gave them place here but as Master Rutherford sayes the least place in Heaven is Heaven though it bee behind the doore But secondly 2. Is not thy outward Pompe and glory that which thou affectest and delightest in it and huntest after Does not thy title tickle thy eare nor swell thy heart if not it can doe thee no hurt all the feare of those swelling things is lest they should breed tympanies in the soule 3. Doe you look upon the title of the servant of Jesus Christ the title of Christian as the farre more honourable title Are you of Theodosius his temper which would you rather chuse to be call'd my Lord or Madam or to be called the servant of Christ which doe you preferre if the latter it is a signe you have forgot the former though you retaine it 4. Is your outward greatnesse and pompe no snare to your soule in the wayes of God Great persons are too ready to think they are above prayers above hearing above meane Saints should such ones as they pray in their families no let their boy do it should they pray in secret and runne up and downe to lectures O no forsooth it is a dishononour to them Heaven was made I confesse for the most part for people of lesser quality 1 Cor. 1. 26 27. James 2. 5. should such as they go to private meetings no better go to a taverne there they shall only foule their soules but keep their clothes cleane But now hath the Lord given thee another spirit it is true thou art great but thy greatnesse is no such snare to thy soule thou canst pray for all thy greatnesse and heare sermons and kneele in a duty for all thy silk stockings and entertain communion with the meanest Saint yea and for a need preferre a lether dublet in honour before thy selfe Though thou beest great it seemes thou hast forgot it 4 Obj. Ah but will a Christian say I am so addicted to mirth and pleasure I must have my vagary and tickle my sense sometimes c. 1 Answ Christian dost thou love thy pleasures more than thy God that indeed were something art thou more pleased with hearing a song than hearing a sermon this sounds high But love God best and for ought I know thy eye for thy recreation may bee delighted in seeing and thy care with hearing too 2 Answ Wilt thou baulk an opportunity of communion with Christ or with his Saints for a vaine pleasure Wilt thou bee a loser in thy heart to gaine a little pleasure for thine eye or eare or any sense wilt thou misse a family duty an opportunity of hearing Gods word privatly or publiquely thy time of secret duty a time of communion with the Saints to wait upon thy pleasure In such a case I would have thee suspect thy heart otherwise thou mayest recreate thy selfe with them and yet have forgotten them 3 Answ Suppose thy pleasures have been such and are such as are in themselves sinfull as wantonnesse drunkennesse c. Dost thou love them so that thou wilt have them whether God will or no thou wilt break with God to enjoy thy lust this is an ill and a very ill signe But possibly thy pleasures are such as God allowes thee temperately used if such thou mayest so use them and yet the King desire thy beauty I have finished this branch of application I have but one word more to adde It shall be of Use 4 Exhortation Let mee now perswade with you Christians And oh that the Lord would help mee to perswade 1. with you who have not at all yet forgate your fathers house and so consequently your beauty is not at all desirable to Christ 2. With you that have begun to doe well I have a word to both sorts 1 Br. Is there alas is there any poore soule before me this day whose heart smites him and tells him that his soule is not at all yet desirable in the eyes of Jesus Christ is there any poore creature so sadly miserable possibly the world dotes on you for beauty wit parts behaviour c. but in the meane time doe your soules tell you in plaine English that you are despised in Christs eyes As though God did beseech you by mee I pray you in Christs stead be reconciled to God Ah poore soule wouldst thou be desired of Jesus Christ Hearken then O daughter and consider and incline your eare forget thy owne people and thy fathers house I know I am pleading with you for an hard thing especially for you that have all the world at will But I beseech you by the love you bear to your precious soules which shall last for ever doe it ah doe it I had need now have the Rhethorick of an Angell yea if I had yet God must perswade Japhet to come and dwell in the tents of Shem. Let mee offer but a few considerations and venture at a perswading of you and leave the issue with God 1. Consider How will you live when your fathers house failes you for the present it is a full house and you live as wee say as well as a carnall heart would wish you have pleasures and honours and riches even what you would aske the colour is in your cheeks and the marrow in your bones But will this last alwayes doth not the fashion of this world passe away and will not the fashion of your bodies passe away what will you doe in that day of your visitation These things may last a while till God comes to keep a Court in your Conscience or hee summons you to a particular judgement or layes you upon your back in a bed of affliction or comes to his last judgement But in any of these dayes poore creature what wilt thou doe when thy perfumed body shall come to stinke in the nostrils of men thy soule shall be more loathed of God a future livelihood would be thought of This will perswade a virgin to marry sometimes But besides 2. Christian Dost
5 6 11 12. numbred with the transgressors that bare the sinne of many and made intercession for the transgressor That same Christ is he that bore my griefs and carried my sorrowes that was smitten of God and afflicted that was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for mine iniquities the chastisement of my peace was upon him and by his stripes I am healed When he looks upon himselfe as a daily backslider renewing his sins as the dayes of his life and the mercies of his dayes are increased and is ready to swoone in these sad thoughts the name of Christ is a cordiall againe Ah! saith the soule that same Christ is that righteous one that is my advocate 1 Joh. 2. 1. with the Father and makes intercession for me When hee looks upon himselfe as unfit to doe any duty and upon all his prayers as poore livelesse heartlesse duties and considers the deadnesse dulnesse distraction vanity that constantly accompanies him and is ready to swoone in the thoughts of this the naming of Christ is a cordiall to him againe Ah! saith the Christian that is he that is the Angel that stands at the Altar having a golden Censer and to him there is given much incence that he should offer it up with the Prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which is before the throne Rev. 8. 3. Thus now try Christian whether thou hast tasted of the fruit of the Apple-tree is Jesus Christ a Cordiall to thy soule in soule-swoonings 3. The apple is Nutritive Eaten moderately and seasonably it affords nourishment and maintaines life and strength This is a plain consequence from the other were it not nutritive it would not be cordiall Try thy selfe by this Christian whether Christ be in thee yea or no If he be thou derivest strength from him and he maintaineth spiritual life in thee Observe that place Joh. 4. v. 14. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life Dost thou find that thy heart is growing that by a strength derived from Jesus Christ thou walkest and goest on from strength to strength Doest thou find that from a digestion of Jesus Christ's death resurrection and Ascension the fruits that grow upon that Apple-tree of free grace thou gettest strength against thy Corruptions against the Devels temptations that upon thy tasting of Christ thou growest in grace when thou tastest him afresh in the Sacrament if thou hast a part in him thou wilt find that he is Nutritive to thy soul thou wilt quicken thy life and increase thy strength by all the ordinances which hold out and set forth Jesus Christ unto thy soule God sayes that those that are of cleane hands shall grow stronger and stronger And that the Righteous shall grow up like the calves in the stall which grow apace and fat Nay thou wilt find not only a growth but that thou growest from that Nourishment that Christ Jesus affords thy soule that thou walkest in his strength and that all the strength of thy soule is purely derived from him not from thy owne indeavours and walkings Try therefore thy heart Christian if thou hast eaten of the Apples thou wilt find them Nutritive it will not be like the swallowing of a dry stone or stick that have no nourishing quality in them Lastly the Apple Eaten is diffusive the Vertue and Nutritive or comforting quality and juce of it diffuseth it selfe into all the body If thou hast tasted of Jesus Christ and hast swallowed the Apples of free grace the vertue of them diffuseth it selfe into thy whole soule and body Grace is in every veine of thee There is something of Jesus Christ in thy eyes face tongue hands and abundance of him in thy heart Thy head is full of thoughts of Christ and plottings and designes for Christ The wantonnes of thy eye is restrained by the law of Christ the vanity of thy tongue is taken away and the Lord hath made thee one of a pure lanquage thy hand is awed by Christ that it dare not stretch forth it selfe to doe any iniquity thy feet are guided by Christ His word is a light unto thy feet and a lanthorn unto thy paths And now for thy soule and inward man thy Understanding is full of the knowledge of Jesus Christ Yea thou hast determined with thy selfe to know nothing but Christ and him crucified Thou seest abundance of Christ in the rich dispensations of free and infinite grace Thy Will hath taken the oath of Allegeance to Jesus Christ Thy will is subordinated to his his will is thy law and thy will Thou art ready to do his will or suffer his will Thy Affections are wholly carried out to Christ him thou lovest desirest delightest in above all things in the world whatsoever In short It makes thee to present thy body as a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God this thou judgest thy reasonable service Thou art not conformed to the world but thou art transformed by the renewing of thy mind that thou mayest try and prove what that good and acceptable and perfect will of thy God is Rom. 12. 1. 2. Is it thus now with thee Christian is the vertue of the Apple thus diffused throughout thy whole Soule then thou mayest be of good comfort So I have done with the second note of Triall If thou hast not tasted of the fruit of the Apple-tree thou art yet but under it 3. A third note of Triall may be this Thou mayest be sure thou couldst not pluck and eate of the fruit of the Apple-tree without an hand to reach and a mouth to eate Christ is the Apple-tree faith is the hand without faith it is impossible to please God saith the Appostle to the Hebrewes He that beleeveth not is condemned already Therefore the Apostle 2 Cor. 13. 5. sayes Examine your selves whether you be in the faith or no prove your selves And this goes before the next words Know yee not that Christ is in you except yee be reprobates Christ is in you except yee bee reprobates that is his position Now if you would know whether Christ bee in you or no you must examine whether you bee in the faith or no. In Scripture you shall frequently finde the worke of faith set downe as the Action of the feet comming to Christ Come unto me all yee Joh. 6. 35 37 45. that are weary and heavy laden who so commeth to mee hath everlasting life c. As the Action of the hand receiving Jesus Christ as the Action of the mouth eating the flesh and drinking the bloud of Christ All unbeleevers Joh. 6. 51 53 54. are yet out of Christ Nay more you must not onely have an hand but such an hand as will reach to this end 1 A true hand 2 A perfect hand 3 A lively hand 1 It must be a true hand A
washed and sanctified You heare what you were by Nature borne out of Christ Children of wrath as well as others hath the Lord raised you up hath hee given you to taste of the Apples of free-grace let the remembrance of your former condition perswade you 1. To get thankfull hearts 2. To get pittying hearts 3. To keep humble hearts A word or two of each of these 1. Let this consideration perswade with you to get thankefull hearts Let every soule of you say sing that 103 Psalme verse 1 2 3. Blesse the Lord O my soule and all that is within mee blesse his holy Name Blesse the Lord O my soule and forget not his benefits who hath forgiven all thine iniquities who hath healed all thy diseases c. to the 6. verse Christians I have heard a Story of a Gentleman that having rid over a dangerous Passage in the night returning in the morning to see it at the beholding of it sunke down and dyed Astonishment kild him Ah Christian wouldst thou be but perswaded in the morning of thy Conversion when the Lord hath brought thy soule to himselfe wouldst thou bee but perswaded to look with a serious eye of meditation what dangers thou hast escaped now many times in the mad age of thy youth thou ranst over everlasting burnings and wert just sinking wouldst thou but remember how often thou dividedst an haire betwixt thy soule and hell and this not once but againe and againe that the Devill had not thy soule onely in chase but was bearing at thee many a time and hell was opening its jawes upon thee and thy soule was just going alive into the pit Ah Christian wouldst thou but thinke of this me thinks thou shouldst even be ready to sink downe and dye in astonishment nay rather live Christian ascend let thy heart ascend in praises O say Blesse the Lord O my soule My heart and all that is within me praise his holy Name My tongue and all that is without me sing unto his glory Ah! what a miracle of mercy it is that ever one poor soule should come to heaven Stand amazed at it O my soule were not wee all borne blinde How doe any of us see O now let us all say with David Psalme 116. verse 16. O Lord truely we are thy servants we are thy servants and the children of thine hand-maidens for thou hast loosed our bonds I shall shut up this first Branch of the Exhortation with the words of the blessed Apostle Rom. 12. verse 1 2. Now I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that you offer up your bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service And bee not conformed to this world but be yee transformed by the renewing of your mindes that yee may prove what is that good that acceptable and perfect will of God Ah Christians God deserves your hearts and hands O bee thankfull But I shall now passe over this first Branch of the Exhortation and the rather because I shall have a more full opportunity to meet with it againe and presse it more home in the next Doctrine which I shall note from those words I raised thee Secondly were you even you Christians also out of Christ when your Mother brought you forth Ah methinkes then the sense of your owne misery should call for the yernings of your soules to those poore creatures that are yet in it I beseech you therefore brethren to put on as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercies It was the Apostles exhortation Col. 3. vers 12. though in another case Ah how many objects of such Charity is there every where How many poore wretches in every Congregation in every family that the Lord knoweth are yet in the state of Nature It is ten to one but all of us have either an Husband or a Wife a Father or a Mother or a childe or a brother or a sister or a friend so As the Elect of God put on bowels of mercy for them pitty them pray for them mourne before God for them pluck them as brands out of the fire you know what their condition is how sad and deplorable and what an object of pitty they are Wee that never were yet in the Spanish Inquisition nor ever were yet in the Turkish Captivity yet from but the meer reports of the slavery that poor Creatures suffer there our soules yerne towards their sufferings and wee sometimes could weep to thinke of them and could bee content to part with some pence to contribute towards their reliefe So for our poore brethren of Ireland though praised for ever be our God wee have not seene such butcherings and rapes as they have done nor felt such penury and pinching want as they have done yet he scarce deserves the name of a Christian amongst us that hath not a yerning soule towards them that doth not pray for them that is not afflicted to heare those sad and dolefull relations concerning their sufferings and that would not to his ability contribute something to relieve them Ah Christians that you would be but as sensible of soule-evills as bodily trifling calamities Is not think you the Captivity of hell as sad and dreadfull as to be a Turkish Gally-slave Is not it as sad to be under the Devills clutches as it can be to be in the fingers and under the power of the Irish Rebells Alas let them doe what they can they shall doe no more but kill the body there is their malice spit if that bee done but here both body and soule are in danger for ever And my friends do you think that the Turke hath the tenth part of the Captives that the Devill hath Do you thinke there is not ten thousand times more poore soules under the Devills Lashes than there is Christians under the power of the Irish Rebells and have they a sword have they torments like him and where is the soule mournes over the Drunkard vaine person the swearer or blasphemer where is the soule that sayes to him what are you about to doe and yet I dare say here is not one in this Congregation that hath not a Father or a Mother a childe a brother or a sister or a friend in that Captivity O Christians consider did not you need pitty and prayers thinke you when you were there O save others with feare pulling them out of the fire O pray pray It may bee it is but yet a day and this Herod the Devill intends to make an end of these poore soules Cry cry mightily to God for your poor Children Friends Acquaintance Hark how the Church of the Jewes prayed for the Church of the Gentiles when they were strangers to God Cant. 8. verse 8. We have a little sister and she hath no breasts what shall wee doe for our sister in the day when shee shall bee spoken for So say O Lord I have a little Childe a Father a Mother an Husband a
so he hath no company The paths in the Wildernesse are not trodden no beaten high wayes are there no company but the Owles and the Ostriches the beasts of the field and creeping things of the earth Nothing fit to be a companion for man No it is a Wildernesse 5. The Wildernesse is a disconsolate place no curiosities of nature to refresh his spirits with Terror is round about him no pleasure to delight him 6. Lastly the Wildernesse is a place voyd of all provisions There is neither bread for the hungry nor water for the thirsty soule no necessaries much lesse superfluities The expression is very apt such a Wildernesse yea many a such Wildernesse the Spouse of Christ hath had and may have her dwelling in 1. A Wildernesse of Sinne. 2. A Wildernesse of Sorrow 3. A Wildernesse of Affliction 4. A Wildernesse of Temptation 5. A Wildernesse of Desertion Nay lastly This whole life is but a wildernesse to her Shee hath been in some of these and may be in all of them but out of all Shee cometh up leaning Every one of these is the soules Wildernesse and as they come up to Christ they come up from some of them and in their walking with the Lord Christ they goe through some of them and some goe through all of them The first is Eremus peccati The Wildernesse of sinne and every soule is born in this Wildernesse Man at first created dwelt in Paradise but alas he threw himselfe out into the Wildernesse and God lockt the Garden gate against him Sinfull man perferr'd the Wildernesse before Paradise and God allots him his dwelling there There was man thrown all mankind born in it We are all Wildernesse brats by nature Ephes 2. 3. You were children of wrath by nature even as others And sinne may well be call'd a Wildernesse it is status naturalis our naturall condition We are in a Wildernesse habit when we are clothed with the raggs of iniquity Ay and it is a state as dangerous as the Wildernesse The Lion claims him in the Wildernesse as his prey and if he scapes his teeth it will be hard to escape the Cockatrice and young Lion and Adder the lesser fry of destroyers If in this sinfull naturall condition we do escape the mouth of the roaring Lion the Devill it is greatly to be feared that the Beare and the Wolfe and the Cockatrice the lesser judgments of God will swallow us up we are children of wrath as well passively as actively in a dangerous condition Lastly as the Wildernesse is a place void of all necessary provisions for the body so is sinne a state voyd of all necessary provisions for the soule We are hungry and naked and bloudy and filthy in our sinnes it is a wildernesse dresse Ezek. 16. As for thy nativity in the day that thou wert born thy navell was not cut neither wert thou washed in water to supple thee thou wert cast out in the open field Verse 5. Every spouse of the Lord Christ hath been in this Wildernesse Who is this that cometh up of this I have spoke before and therefore passe it over The second Wildernesse is Eremus contritionis The wildernesse of contrition or sorrow for sinne Every soul is naturally in the Wildernesse but every one that is in it seeth not that it is there Every soul is born blind though most think they see When God opens the soules eyes and shewes it the hell that it treads over every houre and makes the soule apprehensive of its danger it conceives it selfe in a worse Wildernesse than before the physick works the Patient thinks it is nearer death than before it took it Here it cryes out Oh I am a lost undone creature Oh whither should I goe on one side behold terror on the other side despaire If it lookes up to heaven there is an angry God if downward there is a gaping hell Oh! whither should it goe Now it cryes out with the Iaylor O what shall I doe to be saved I am lost in my sinnes I am lost in my owne righteousnesse I know not what to doe If I stay in my sinnes I perish if I go out of the world I perish Here stands the soule turning it selfe every way and seeing comfort no way till the Lord Christ bowes the heavens and thrusts out his arme of salvation his shoulder of merits and takes the soule by the hand saying Come my Beloved I will tell thee what thou shalt doe I am the way out of this wildernesse come out leaning leane thy arme of faith upon the shoulder of my merits Free grace is able to beare thee I am thy Welbeloved and thy Welbeloved is thine And ordinarily the soule when it comes to the Lord Christ comes through this wildernesse this losing place of conviction and contrition and weeps her selfe a path where she would drown in the waters of Marah if Christ did not hold her up Indeed God could have brought the Israelites a shorter Journey than through the wildernesse to Canaan and sometimes God miraculously drawes a soul to himselfe onely by the cords of mercy God is not tyed alwayes to bring a soule the same road to heaven Elijah was carried to heaven in a fiery chariot but the more ordinary way is by Jacobs ladder The common way to heaven is by the gates of hell the way to life is through the chambers of death through a wildernesse Who is this that commeth up out of the wildernesse The third Wildernesse in which Christ's Spouse may somtimes have her dwelling in is the Wildernesse of affliction bodily afflictions I meane A Wildernesse is a place full of bryars and thornes and through such a wildernesse the holy Ghost tells us lies the Saints way to heaven By much tribulation much pricking of thrones thornes in the flesh somtimes must we enter into the kingdome of God The Spouse hath a dirty way to go to marrying in and when shee is marryed she hath a dirty way home too A wildernesse on either side The Apostle speakes plain Heb. 11. 37 38. They wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skines being destitute afflicted tormented they wandred in deserts and in mountaines and in dens and in caves of the earth And who were these that wandred thus in the wildernesse They were such of whom the world was not worthy the Spouses of the Lord Christ And truely afflictions may be called a wildernesse for the disconsolacy of them too they are times of sorrow no delights please the spouse in affliction is in a wildernes 4. A fourth wildernesse that the Spouse sometimes dwells in is the wildernesse of temptations The Bridegroom himself was in this wildernesse He was led into the wildernesse to be tempted of the Devill The spirit took him thither Matth. 4. vers 1. and Paul was in this wildernesse troubled on every side this is Satans wildernesse that he leads many a poore soule into and it had been a sad wildernesse had not our
gallant explcit or great service Their wives were somtimes given them for wages Jacob served 14 years for Rachell Gen. 29. 17. David for his Soveraignes daughter encountred great Goliah and afterwards robbed the Philistines of their foreskins he paid more for her than she proved to be worth By this right the beleeving soule is the beloved of Christ he hath served a long service for her not fourteene but above thirty yeares he hath vanquished the Goliahs of our soules and hath conquered our Spirituall Enemies 4. He is hers and she is his by right of possession he dwels in her and she dwels in him The second person in the Trinity is an inmate with the beleeving soule He dwels under the roofe of her heart He hath a chamber in the soule and hath pitched his tent within her and she is in him too united each unto other this is very plainly exprest Gal. 2. 20. I live but yet not I but Christ lives in me I am the Carcasse Christ the Soule the soule moveth the body so Christ moves my soule I move not from any principle in my selfe but from a principle of Grace The life I live in the flesh I live by the life of the Sonne of God who dwelleth in me who loved me and gave himselfe for me Thus you see she may well call Christ her Beloved and Christ may well call her his Beloved He hath a propriety in her and shee hath a propriety in him also hee hath marryed her and dwels with her yea and in her dilectum suum her wellbeloved indeed Thirdly It is her beloved not anothers beloved Every soule hath a Beloved the Drunkard hath his beloved cups the wanton hath his beloved Queanes the Covetous person his beloved gold The soule that leanes upon Christ goes not a whoring after other Gods The Spouse of Christ leanes not upon the Papists beloved merits nor upon the Turks beloved Mahomet nor upon the Pharisees beloved duties nor upon the Idolaters beloved Saints she sayes Abraham knowes her not and Israel is ignorant of her but Isa 63. 16. the Lord is her Father Christ is her Redeemer and her Maker her Redeemer is her Husband Creator tuus est sponsus tuus Her beloved not anothers Beloved Fourthly He that is her Beloved not that which was her Beloved She once loved her sins and her lusts were the beloveds of her soul The name of Baalim was in her mouth her lusts were her Lords and they ruled over her But now the name of Baalim is taken out of her mouth she calls the Lord Ishi God alone is her beloved Sin was the dearly beloved of her soule but now shee calls sinne no more Naomi shee calls it Marah that which was once the sweetnesse is now the bitternesse of her soule shee takes no pleasure in it no nor doth she account her duties her beloved she useth them but shee dares not trust her soule upon them she dares not plead any desert in them though once perhaps she had a Pharisaicall conceit that her duties would be her healing yet when she comes to the Lord Christ to leane upon his Arme though she useth duties and is as full of Prayer and humiliation as ever shee knocks her hand upon her breast and cryes she is a sinner Oh but what remedy the knocking her hand upon her breast shee knowes cannot save her no for that God be merciful to her she leanes upon Christ that is her now Beloved not upon any duties or any other merits that was before her Beloved Fifthly Her beloved not her beloveds The soule that comes to the Lord Jesus Christ loves him intensly and as she loves him best so she loves him onely As nothing shall have her whole heart so neither will she divide her heart betwixt him and another he shall have her heart and he onely shall have her heart and he shall have her whole heart too she dare trust her strength upon Christ and upon him alone she desireth only to be found in the Lord Jesus who is her Bridegroome shee is a Virgin not a Whore she leanes not upon Christ with one hand and her owne Merits with another no nor dares shee leane upon the Merits of another shee durst not trust the weight of her soule upon the wings of an Angel nor to the Prayers of a Saint she relies upon God and upon God onely The Papists leane upon Christ but not upon him alone shee knowes it wil be a dishonour both to her and her husband to take any thing in partem amoris to share with her husband in his love shee will keep her honour in being the wife of one Husband And so I have shewed you how she leanes what is her hand who it is she leanes upon what title she hath to him what rules she observeth in her leaning I have but one thing more and that is to shew you what strength there is in the Lord Christs shoulders to beare her how she leanes even in every wildernesse and what fulnesse of strength there is in her husbands arme to keep her up from falling The first wildernesse you may remember was the wildernesse of sinne Here the Spouse cannot be said properly to leane upon her beloved for she wants the hand of faith to lay hold upon Christ and indeed she is not weary yet I doe not know why in some sense even in this estate the elect soule is not beholding to free grace he is her Christ here though he hath not yet manifested himselfe to be her Jesus her Saviour The elect soule in sin is elect and decreed to be saved though shee be not declared to be elect she is beloved in decree though God hath not actually manifested his love unto her he is not her beloved but the soule is his beloved not actually but decretally he hath thoughts of good to her but his thoughts are kept within himselfe till he is pleased to reveale them to her at his best time she is his beloved though there be no correlation she is in his thoughts his Spouse aye and positively not conditionally The Arminians falsely dreame of Gods conditionall decrees because they comprehend not the wayes of God Beleeving is necessarily required yet it was not a condition in Gods decree The soule is his beloved though yet there be no correlation though she be not his wife yet yet she is intended for his wife To speake according to the wayes of men I may intend to make a woman my wife before I actually declare my intentions to her she is my wife in my determinations and thoughts before I wooe her though not actually my wife â—â—fore I have wooed her and she hath yâ—elded too there lyes only this difference my determination must be but conditionally if she will accept of my proffer'd love There lyes a power in her to refuse We may therefore make the simile a little higher A great Emperour buyeth a woman that is a slave which he
intends to marry and will whether she will or no yet he will wooe her and if it be possible marry her will as well as her person yet whether she will or no he will and may marry her for she is his purchase she is his wife in his determination before he hath married her But yet even this simile is lame Every simile comparing the wayes of God with the wayes of man must at least halt of one foot for though this Emperour hath power to force the womans body to the action yet hee hath no power to force her will to be willing to the action The will is alwayes independent sui juris but God hath power not only to marry the soule which he hath bought from being a slave to the Devill but to make her willing to marry him yet she is in Christs decree his Spouse before â—e hath actually revealed his decree unto her so though strictly and properly the soule cannot be said to lean upon Christ in the wildernesse of sinne yet she may be said to be beholden unto the Lord Christ and that thus 1. Every soul hath the like principles of corruption and would act to the full of it's depraved operations were it not for Gods preventing and restraining grace She is beholding unto God for his preventing and restraining grace though here she is meerly passive Secondly She is beholden unto God for his exciting grace The soule heares and fasts and prayes meditates of her owne sad condition though for the substance of the action it is her owne yet it is Gods exciting grace makes her willing to heare fast pray though not his speciall saving-grace yet his common grace But this is not the leaning meant in the Text she leanes here upon Christ but not upon Jesus a Saviour upon God but not as her Beloved And here the soule is brought into a second wildernesse 2. The wildernesse of Sorrow Contrition Repentance call it what you please though I know the later tearme Repentance be controverted by some Yet I know not why we may not say That a man may repent without saving-grace And for that Repentance which they say must be the effect of faith If I were a School-man I should rather call it Godly Sorrow but I desire not to play upon tearmes And for their defining Repentance To be a sorrow for sinne out of the sense of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ it is a definition they have devised for their owne purpose And give them their premises according as they please they would be poore Logicians if they made the conclusion to displease them For from hence they argue If the love of God be the ground and cause of Repentance viz. the love of God manifested and sensible to us we having apprehended it by faith the speciall love of God then faith must goe before Repentance viz. an apprehension of Gods saving love and reliance upon it But I answer the definition which they give us of Repentance is deceitfull it is a definition of a Species in stead of a Genus as we say in Logick As some unwary Divines define Faith to be an assurance of Gods love in Iesus Christ This is true but this is a faith of the highest stamp and many a precious soule is without this faith to his dying day Faith of adherence is another thing as if I should goe to define a man to be a reasonable creature skil'd in all sorts of Learning Any man would understand me that I did not goe about to describe a man in generall but this or that particular man And I say once againe if I were a School-man I should rather call this A godly sorrow and define Repentance in generall to be A sorrow for sin there is the genus and differentia Or if there be required a fuller definition with the ground though I conceive such a definition would be more proper to give of Repentance in it's severall kinds than of Repentance in generall yet we may give it thus It is a sorrow for sinne arising out of the feare of Gods wrath or apprehensions of Gods love And I know not why we may not say That a man may repent without saving grace Bishop Davenant sayes A man by exciting the grace of God may Peccata propria considerare ad sensum eorundem expavescere liberationem ab hoc metu exoptare tremble for his sinnes and mourne for them and desire deliverance out of them and if this be not Repentance I know not what is not taking Repentance for the whole worke of conversion as sometimes it is taken in Scripture but taking Repentance for a wearinesse of sinne and sorrow for it But those of our Brethren here that are so afraid of Babylon that they will run quite beyond Jerusalem so afraid of being Arminians or Papists to ascribe any desert to duties or tye that God hath to concurre with our duties that they are resolved they will not be sober Protestants So afraid of being Heterodox that to avoid it they will not be Orthodox tell us that this is a legall not a saving Repentance It sounds ill to distinguish between a legall and saving Repentance I will digresse a little to rend this Fig-leafe being all they have to cover the nakednesse of their opinion I would faine understand that tearme saving Repentance in what sence they take it the Scripture warrants no such distinction 1. If they meane by saving Repentance such a repentance as merits Salvation or such a Repentance as God is tyed necessarily to concurre with with his saving grace I say no Repentance can be saving repentance No Repentance saith Learned Davenant can so dispose the heart Ut ex merito congrui teneatur Deus gratiam cuiquam infundere 2. If they meane by saving Repentance such a repentance as of it selfe without any more adoe shall be sufficient to Salvation I say againe no Repentance can be called a saving Repentance For Without Faith it is impossible to please God 3. If they meane by saving Repentance a repentance that conduceth to Salvation I say this kind of Repentance let them call it legall or what they please is a saving Repentance 4. If they meane by saving Repentance such a repentance as is wrought ordinarily in such as shall be saved I say in that sense this Repentance is a saving Repentance Now Whether it ought not to be preacht as Well from law as Gospell-motives is a question lyes not in my way to determine only I here my Saviour though he were Gospel it self preaching it from a Law-motive Luk. 13. 2. Except yee repent yee shall all likewise perish Let the unprejudiced Reader judge if damnation be not there preached as a terrible motive to Repentance Surely I then may learne to preach from the Best of Preachers and preach Repent or you will goe to Hell Repent or you will be damn'd as well as Repent because God hath loved you Yea and John too
but a fained joy that the sinner hath a sudden short lived flame without any coales underneath to preserve it There is no peace to the wicked saith God and if no peace there can be no joy when the sinner is serious he cannot rejoyce his rejoycing is like the skipping of mad men that know not what they doe Thirdly Consider it is a starving condition The sinners soule starves whiles he feasts his body like a glutton his soule dyes for thirst when his body is overslowne with drunkennesse It is impossible the puffe-past of iniquity should nourish a soule Doth an Angell feed upon the earth doth a Saint feed upon hell The soule is of an Angelicke substance it cannot feed upon sinne sinne starves it Dost thou love to be in the middest of thornes dost thou delight to lye downe in sorrow canst thou endure to see thy better part starved whiles thou pamperest thy filthy Carcasse O let this deterre thee from the wildernesse of sinne and perswade thee to come out of it unto Paradise There First Thou shalt be in a safe condition Out of the feare of judgements out of hells gunshot There life or death will be either peace temporall or else eternall either grace or glory unto thee here thy soule shall be in a harbour if thousands fall at thy left hand and ten thousands at thy right none shall make the afraid thou shalt laugh at trouble when it comes Thou shalt be sure to goe to heaven either by land or water If thou goest through the fire thou shalt be sure to have Christ with thee Heaven is a security in all estates a protection from all Arrests if the King of glory hath a mind to sue thee thou shalt not be arrested like other men with a writ of wrath but invited to sup with him in glory onely by a letter of love and he will send his Ushers of glory to waite upon thy soul to the chambers of glory Luke 16. 22. The soule of good Lazarus was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome you shall not live like other men haunted with the blood-hounds of wrath nor dye like other wretches that goe out of the world haled by the Sarjeants of hell to everlasting prison but quietly sleepe and awake againe one day in glory O who would not desire such a protection for himselfe such a security for his soule who would not throw off his raggs of sinne to put on Christs livery of grace when Christs badge upon his shoulder shall free him from all Arrests That he shall walke up and downe and nothing shall make him afraid Secondly Consider that Heaven is a place as full of joy as ever the wildernesse was full of sorrow and trouble of this I spake before O thinke of the joy of the Saints you children of vaine pleasure you mad-men of the earth that can dance over the hole of the Aspe and put your hands on the Cockatrices den Your false and flattering joy is nothing to the reall joyes of heaven There is joy like the joy of the harvest like the joy when men divide the spoyle The yoake of their burthen is broken and the rod of the oppressour O you that love your drinking meetings and dancing dayes that you would but love heaven where you might drink new wine with your Lord Christ where you might dance in glory and make all your dayes dayes of joy and every houre an houre of pleasure Thirdly consider that there and there onely is provision for your soule Christs robes is the only cloathing that will cover the nakednesse of it his flesh is meat indeed and his bloud is drinke indeed there my friends Eate and drinke and be merry there you may have wine and milke without money or without price O spend not your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which profits not Here you may eate that which is good and let your soule delight it selfe in fatnesse Here is a Feast of fat things The fatlings are killed O come to the wedding Why should your roomes be emptie in the day of the Lords Espousals You shall bee welcome to my Masters Table Now O now Behold he stands at the doore and knocks Lord breake where thou knockest If any man will heare his voice and open the doore he will come into him and sup with him and he shall sup with him O let me intreat you to pittie the yerning of your Saviours bowels toward you pittie the groaning of his tender heart for you pittie your selves if not your Christ and O come come out of the wildernesse of sinne into this wildernesse of sorrow that of a drunken profane creature thou mayest be a mourning pious soule of a proud carelesse sinner become a poore humbled paenitent that the world may admire Saul amongst the Prophets and Paul amongst the Apostles and thee amongst the Saints of Christ and say of thee who art now a profane Swearer and Blasephemer Behold he Prayeth Of thee that wert a filthy Wanton Behold he Mournes Of thee that wert a filthy Drunkard and Glutton Behold he fasts And may in time say of thee Who is this that commeth up from the wildernesse leaning upon her Beloved But Secondly Is there any before the Lord this day that is in any other wildernesse of Sorrow Affliction Temption Desertion c O leane Come out of your wildernesse leaning upon your Beloved First Is there any one here to whom the Lord hath shewne their owne sad condition too and yet hath not revealed the fulnesse of his free grace to them O leane upon the Lord Jesus Christ and leaning come out of thy wildernesse Beleeve and thou shalt be saved But here 's the hard taske to perswade such a soule to beleeve Consider but these few things 1 That now thou art in a capacitie of beleeving Povertie of spirit is the nearest capacitie of faith Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after Righteousnesse Now thou art weary Christ hath promised to ease thee now thou art heavy laden he hath promised to help thee Secondly Consider that thou hast ground enough to build thy faith upon Christs power and love are two Pillars able to hold up the weakest faith First Beleeve leane upon Christ for he is able to pardon thy sinnes thou shouldest blaspheme in thy thoughts if thou shouldest not thinke this Can infinite mercy be fadomed thinkest thou Can any one plead his underservings against free grace Were thy burthen farre heavier then it is cast it upon Christ for he is able to beare it Art thou thick darknesse he is infinite light Art thou all sinne he is all pardon Art thou altogether lovely why Christ is altogether lovely Secondly Beleeve because Christ is as much love as he is power he is not only able but he is willing to pardon thee free grace thirsts after thee Nay beleeve me thou canst give Christ no greater satisfaction then to receive his mercies Christ is with child
or draw away the heart too much from God take up our Church-time or family duty-time or secret duty-time c. in such case they must bee forgot too 4. Comparatively they must be forgot God must be greater than they in the throne of our heart wee must not love father nor mother nor daughter nor wife nor child more than Christ So Mathew expounds that place Luk. 14. 26. in Matth. 10. 37. wee must not be lovers of any pleasures more than of Christ nor of house or lands or honour or any piece of vanity under the Sunne This is plaine for we must love Christ with all our heart and soule and though the second commandment bee thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe yet it doth not say Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy Christ 5. Lastly In effect they must be forgot Christians must doe as if they had no relations they may rejoyce and buy and sell and purchase and use the world but marke how it is in a forgetting manner 1 Cor. 7. 30. they that rejoyce must be as if they rejoyced not and they that buy as if they possest not and they that use the world as if they used it not Christians may be called by their titles of Rabbi and my Lord and Madam but while they are so they must have a scornfull low slight esteeme of these swelling words of vanity not despising the meanest of Gods Saints but ready in honour to preferre them above themselves and accounting the title of Christian of a servant of God to be a greater title of honour than worldly dignities can invest them with And now I have finished my first taske in the explication of the doctrine in which I have shewed you what of our fathers house must be forgotten 2. How farre we must forget it The second thing I propounded was to shew you how that soule is beautifull with what beauty the soule is beautifull that thus forgets its owne people and its fathers house This I shall shew you 1. Negatively 2. Positively 1. Not with a corporall beauty this makes not the flesh beautifull It ads no lustre to flesh and blood possibly it may discolour that 2. Not by a native beauty no naturall beauty The beauty that will appeare in the soule upon this selfe deniall is not like the beauty of the face which appears after washing off dirt which clouded natures colours 3. Not in the eye of the vaine creature nor in its owne eyes Aske a vaine creature he will tell you that the leaving of vaine dresses and patches and plaitinge of the haire is the way to make the creature look like no body to make it despised in the world c. and such a one perhaps lothes and abhors it selfe as a vile creature Jo. 42. 6. Thus it shall not be beautifull and it is no matter whether it be or no. But secondly such a soule shall bee beautifull these three wayes 1. Imputatione By the beauty of Christ put upon it see for this that notable place Ezech. 16. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14. Then wast thou decked with silver and gold and thy rayment was of fine linnen and silke and broidered worke and thou wert exceeding beautifull And thy renowne went forth amongst the heathen for thy beauty for it was perfect through the comelinesse which I had put uppon thee saith the Lord God Christ makes the reflexion of his beauty to bee cast upon such a soule and it becomes beautifull through his comelinesse the soules doing these things doth not make it spiritually any more than corporally beautifull but they being done it becomes comely through Christs comelinesse comely through a comelinesse that is put upon it that 's the first way Secondly It is beautifull 2. Through Christs Acceptation Of free grace Christ said to the young man in the 19 of Matth. Sell all thou hast c. and thou shalt have treasure in heaven not thou shalt earne it but thou shalt have it Christ accepts the soule as beautifull and accounts the soule as beautifull that for his sake will forget its owne people and its fathers house Cant. 4. 1. Behold thou art faire my love behold thou art faire thou hast doves eyes c. 3. Such a soule is beautifull though not in the worlds eyes yet in the Saints eyes The world will hate and despise them but the Saints will love and value them Cant. 6. 1. the Daughters of Hierusalem say unto the spouse whither is thy beloved gone O thou Fairest amongst women the daughters of Hierusalem the Saints account such a soule beautifull It may bee that shee may call her selfe black the greatest of sinners and the least of Saints yea and the world may so call her but those that are godly shall esteeme her comely and the King shall desire her beauty And that leads me to the last particular in the explication of the Doctrine 3. What is the meaning of that phrase The King shall desire thy beauty 1. Generally It is a speech according to the manner of men Gen. 4. 7. it is said of the husband toward the wise Vnto thee shall be his desire And wee meet with that phrase Deut. 21. 11. when thou seest amongst the Captives a beautifull woman and thy desire shall be towards her to make her thy wife 2. But more particularly I think the true meaning of the phrase may bee understood in these particulars First of all it implies That the Lord Jesus Christ shall discover and see an excellency in such a soule we can desire nothing but we shall first discover some excellency in it Now the Lord discovers an excellency in such a soule hee shall eye such a soule as an excelling soule as a lovely soule worthy of him though not through its owne worthinesse and suitable for him 2. It implies That the Lord Jesus Christ shall love such a soule discovering in it a suitable excellency he shall love it his heart will be ravished with it Cant. 4. 9. Thou hast ravished my heart my sister my spouse thou hast ravished my heart Christs affections will be drawne out to a soule that so forgets it selfe his heart will bee melting towards it and on fire for it there must first bee a love in the soule to the object before the heart bee drawne forth to covet an union with it 3. It implies That the Lord Christ will in his heart preferre such a soule when a mans desire is towards a particular woman to make her his wife he preferres her above other women his desire is not to her sex but to her to her rather than ten thousand others The Lords desire shall bee towards such a soule As you have heard described to you that hee will preferre her above ten thousand of his creatures though the Lord sees thousands of his creatures hundreds in a congregation that the world dotes upon some for their faire faces and on others for their brave parts this Eliab and the
Heaven and live in a state of life on this side of glory be it what it will yet if it be in this world if there way be here they shall meet with rubs In the world they shall have trouble But what troubles That 's the next thing to bee enquired into What are those troubles which Saints must look to meet with in the world The word translated Troubles is 1. What troubles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it will helpe us to understand what troubles the Saints shall meet with et in specie et in gradu both in the kind and in the degree For the Kind first The word doth generally signifie all kinds of troubles bee they upon our soules or bodies in respect of our estaies or relations Acts 14. 22. Wee must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdome of God the word there used is the same and it were easie to prove by an induction of particular instances that the word comprehends all troubles of all sorts 1. It is taken for bodily sorrow and pangs like the pangs of a woman in travaile Joh. 16. 21. 2. For outward crosses and afflictions that men meet with from others and relate to their outward estate and take away their prosperity and happinesse Acts 7. 10 11. 3. For spirit-troubles and burthens in that sense the Apostle useth the word 2 Cor. 2. 4. where hee tells them that hee wrote to them in much affliction and anguish of heart c. So then for the kind of them it is plain that they must meet with all sorts of troubles afflictions in their body crosses in their estates relations in all their outward enjoyments and contentments Adversity on all hands yea and they shall meet with anguish of heart too spirit-burthens and troubles and vexations Now if you enquire into the degree of them The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will help you to 2. What degree find out that too Criticks tells us it comes either from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to teare and oppresse and weare out or from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to break Saints must look for troubles on all hands both without and within from friends and foes in bodies and soules and estates and they shall not be light ones neither but such as shall even weigh downe their spirit and weare out their strength and break their heart in pieces breaking-troubles and heart-rending and oppressing-troubles such degrees of heavinesse as shall make the heart to stoop as the wise man speaks such as shall make their hearts groane and their backs break againe such troubles such afflictions are meant so much the word imports But may some say whence shall this trouble this affliction arise to the Saints shall it come out of the dust from what root of causes shall these branches of bitter fruit spring forth That is the third thing which I propounded 3. What are the causes of the Saints trouble and shall now speak to I conceive first and last they may spring from a three-fold cause from God from themselves and from the world 1. First of all the cause may lie in God and it doth so originally and primarily God may bee the cause of it 1. In respect of his just ordination God hath determined that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution 1 Tim. 3. 3. The Apostle saith wee are appointed thereto 1 Thes 3. 3. The Apostle layes our suffring here upon the will of God 1 Pet. 3. 17. It is better if the will of God be so that you should suffer and so againe 1 Pet. 4. 19. Let them that suffer according to the will of God Marlorate sayes Meminerimus nos sub hac conditione esse Christianos c. Wee may remember wee are Christians upon this condition He that will be my disciple let him deny himselfe and take up the crosse and follow mee No following of Christ without a crosse on our back Frustrà conamur Christum a cruce disjungere saith Mr. Calvin It is a lost labour to think to part Christ and the crosse they are nailed together Me thinks it is worth the taking notice of our crosses and afflictions come to us from the same hand the same cause that heaven and glory and happinesse come Christ saith feare not little flock it is your fathers will to give you a Kingdome Wee hold that from Gods will and he also saith It is your fathers will to give you a crosse it is the will of God that you should suffer surely then hee wills us the first as the end the second as the meanes the first ultimately the crosse mediately The cause may lie yea and doth lie in Gods ordination 2. It may lie nearer in Gods wise providence hee sees it best for his Saints either to purge them according to that I will purely purge away thy drosse and take away thy trim and that Is 27. By this shall the Iniquitie of Jacob be purged and all the fruit shall be to take away his sinne or else to trie them I will melt them and trie them saith the Lord so the Apostle saith that their afflictions and temptations were that the truth of their faith might appeare more precious than that of gold which perisheth or else 3. to weane them them from the world therefore are the bigs of it rubd with wormewood Ideo saith the father Deus terrenis foelicitatibus amaritudinem miscet ut alia quaratur foelicitas cujus dulcedo non est fallax God therefore here puts gal into our sweetnesse and imbittreth our happinesse that we might look after another happinesse whose sweetnesse is not deceitfull Thus God is the cause of the Saints troubles while they are in the world But secondly 2. Themselves may be a great cause yea and are 1. Through the infirmity of their natures and that 's the reason I conceive why outward crosses and trials and afflictions are called our infirmities as because they doe infirmos reddere make us weak by 1 Cor. 12. 5. bowing downe the soule and drinking up the spirits or enervating the body before they leave us So also because through the weaknesse of our natures they are troubles to us Saints have flesh and bloud in them and that is not able to beare such a crosse such a triall the losse of such a friend of such a neere and deare relation but it must even break them in peeces and oppresse them This is through their weaknesse You know that the tendernesse of the skin and body will double every lash so the weaknesse of our nature makes every crosse a double trouble and of a double weight to a Christian and so he is in a great measure through the meer weaknesse and inability of his nature a cause of his owne trouble Secondly Wee may be yea and are the proximate causes of them through the sinfulnesse of our soules wee are here full of sinne and it is but
or the transcript it is a peace with the whole Trinity The Father is he with whom it is made the Sonne is he by whom it is made the Spirit seales it and becomes Nuntius pacis the Messenger of that peace to the soule being hee to whom it belongs of office to set the broad seale of the Court to every pardon Eph. 1. 13. Eph. 4. 30. But why then is it called Christ's peace I easily answer 1. Because hee is the meritorious cause of it Eph. 2. 14 15. hee is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken downe the middle wall of partition betweene us having abolished in his flesh the enmity c. v. 16. and that hee might reconcile both to God in one body by the crosse having slaine the enmity thereby And the spirit which conveyeth the newes of this peace to the soule is sometimes called his spirit hee was hee that while hee lived upon tho earth came and preached peace to them that were afarre off and to them that were nigh Eph. 2. 17. and through him wee have an accesse by one spirit unto the father vers 18. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himselfe not imputing their sinne 2 Cor. 5. 19. Wee that preach the Gospell of peace to you as though God did by us beseech you are Ambassadours for Christ and as in Christ's stead wee entreat you to be reconciled to God therefore it is called his peace and it is said to bee laid up in him and from this peace of justification and peace of conscience proceeds A third peace which is the peace of the members each with other a peace which is too sadly broken and too little pursued in our dayes 1 Joh. 1. 3. The Saints have fellowship one with another and their fellowship is with the father and the sonne Jesus Christ and could they walk together except they were agreed And thus I have now though in a discourse something too large shewed you what peace is and what this peace is that is Christ's peace and that is laid up in Christ for the Saints and they may find it in him in the midst of their earthly troubles But yet more particularly In what of Christ is this peace laid up for the Saints 2. How shall they come by it in the day of trouble To each of these give me leave to speak a word or two To the first In what of Christ is this peace laid up I answer in three particulars 1. It is laid up in the bloud of Christ in his bitter death and passion as the meritorious cause This peace Christian is written and sealed with the bloud of the Lambe the immaculate Lambe of God this is cleare in that place I before quoted Eph. 2. 16. Hee reconciled us both unto God in one body by the crosse vers 13. you are made nigh by the bloud of Christ his bloud was the bloud of expiation 2. It is laid up in the word of Christ in his precious promises That is plaine from the very words of the Text These things have I spoken that in mee you might have peace David had peace many a time out of a promise the word of the Lord quickned and comforted him hee had once a trouble that had sunk him had he not found peace here they are his owne words Psal 119. I had perished in my affliction if thy law had not beene my delight The Gospell is therefore call'd the Gospell of peace and the word of Christ is as well the word of peace as the word of truth how many poore soules have found this true by many precious experiences they hove been in spirit-troubles heavinesse hath made their heart to stoop till a good word hath come and made it better 3. It is in the spirit of Christ who is the Nuntius pacis hee that declares and seales up the peace to the soule and is the messenger of peace betwixt God and Christ and the soule that truly believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and believing in him hath life Thus it is in him Now if you aske how the child of God may draw this peace from Christ I answer these three wayes 1. By Meditation of him thus David Psal 104. 34. my meditation of him shall be sweet the soule-feeding upâ—◠〈…〉 of 〈…〉 â—â—on the gracious acts of grace in which the Lord Jesus Christ hath declared the yernings of his love to poor soules shall rather peace a quietment and establishing of spirit in the midst of all its troubles when the poore Christian is in the midst of troubles to sit down and think well yet my sinnes are pardoned yet God and I are at agreement this affliction this crosse comes not to me as a law demand not as a piece of vindicative justice but as a fatherly chastisement this shall administer peace to his soule his meditation of Christ shall be sweet to his soule That 's one way to gaine it 2. By a believing application both of what Christ hath spake and what he hath done Faith is the hand that the soule reacheth out for peace and by which the soule brings in peace to it selfe Rom. 5. 1. Beeing justified by faith wee have peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ Those that believe shall bee established and the more a soule believes the more it is established it is from some unbeliefes or other that any soule is disquieted Faith brings in peace it is not the bare knowing of the promise or the bare knowing of what Christ hath done but the chosen with the promise the chosen with Christ in what hee hath done and suffered for the soule that brings in peace to the soule 3. The soule gaines this place by a close walking with Iesus Christ a walking in the spirit Is 32. 17. The work of righteousnesse shall bee peace marke the upright man consider the just man the end of that man is peace the wicked mans conscience is continually throwing out myre and dirt There is no peace to the wicked saith our God Peace indeed is not the wages of a day well spent not a naturall result and fruit of a strict walking but peace is the reward of righteousnesse the reward not of debt but of grace The words of the Psalmist hint thus much to us To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God Psal 50. 23. When a Christian hath ordered his conversation aright the salvation of God must be shewne him I have onely one thing remaining as to the doctrinall part of my discourse that is to shew you what paines what order Christ hath taken for his Saints peace in him while in the world they meet with trouble It may easily be gathered from what I have already spoken in short take it in these three words 1. He hath died upon the crosse that he might doe it Eph. 2. 14 15 16. It cost him his bloud to work out our peace 2. He hath
but especially Puritanes Ride on Gallants but take heed of breaking your necks in hell what will you doe in the day of the Lords visitation when the reckoning day comes friends what will you have to pay when the showre of divine vengeance comes will your huffled suit of worldly vanities cloath you will your sack cheare your heart when it is wounded with an arrow of divine vengeance drawne by the strength of an Almighty arme and let flie at the very eye of your pleasures Nay suppose on this side of such a time you should meet with a showre of worldly crosses two or three as Job a better man than any of you did Job 1. Suppose the Lord should take away the delight of your eyes with a stroke as from Ezechiel your deare children as from Eli and Aaron your husband as from Phinehas his wife all your pleasures riches comforts al your castles of greatnesse riches Suppose you should be throwne into prison and have nothing given you but the bread of affliction to eat and the water of affliction to drink What shall beare up your spirits in such a day what will you doe ah what can you doe in the day of the Lords visitation The conie if it be started and pursued by a dog it hath a burrow in the rock thither it runnes and is safe But the Hare and such like beasts of sport that have no burrowes no holes if once they bee found out in their covert and be pursued by dogges they are wurried down why alas they have no places of security The poore wretch that hath no part in Christ if a day of trouble comes he hath no place of security but hee is like a poore manslayer pursued by the avenger of the blood and either knowes not where a City of refuge was or at best is at such a distance from it as hee could not possibly have hopes of reaching it before the pursuer and avenger of bloud overtook him and he died without mercy Poor creatures this is your condition the Lord give you an heart to consider it you have no way of peace that you will be able to find in a day of trouble Br. 4 Thirdly from hence wee may bee instructed in the happy condition of all those that have a true interest in the Lord Jesus Christ they are provided for Winter and Summer if in the world they meet with trouble they may retire to Christ and be at peace if they be pursued by the dogges of the world they have a burrow in the rocke of ages What Iob sayes of the grave wee may say of that hiding place There the wicked cease from troubling there the weary be at rest they can never be so tost never be in such a deep of troubles but they can cast anchor in the Lord Iesus Christ when the kitchin of the world is on fire they have an upper-roome that they can go sit and sleep in and the heat shall never trouble them No totus si fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum feriant ruinae They can but runne up the staires and sit with Jesus Christ and they are at peace they are at any time within a reach of peace and may in any condition say to their soules as David Psal 42. 11. Why art thou cast down O my soule why art thou disquieted within mee trust still in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God See a notable experiment of this in David 1 Sam. 30. 6. It was a sad day with him his City was burnt with fire and his and his mens wives his sons and their daughters were taken captives and to none of the kind'st enemies neither the Amalekites had done it David was greatly distressed v. 6. and to adde affliction to affliction when hee was almost dead of griefe the people were almost of the mind to have helpt him on to his grave for they also spake of stoning him What doth David doe doth not his back breake with all this load upon it doth not his heart sink to the very bottome of dispaire with all this weight of lead hung upon it marke the latter end of the sixth vers But David encouraged himselfe in the Lord his God for all this hee encouraged himselfe in his God In the world he met with trouble in his Christ hee finds peace Thus may all that feare the Lord why is there a disturbed sad heart amongst them Happy is the people that have the Lord for their God Happy are those creatures that have an hole in the rock But to proceed Br. 5 Lastly from hence may all that fear the Lord be instructed what is the onely way to find true peace in a day of trouble it is to look for it only in the Lord Jesus Christ Acquaint thy selfe now with Christ and be at peace thereby shall good come unto you fetch peace from Christ O yee Saints and be at peace thereby shall good come unto you There bee many courses which men use to gain peace in a day of trouble whether outward or inward many wayes by which men wring their spirits out of trouble and patch up peace to their owne spirits but the right way of peace few have known 1. Some let nature worke out peace like some foolish countrey people that conceive nature will work out all distemperatures and they need no Physick Some of them are confuted by their grave others of them that are of more stout iron natures possibly recover their health but their diseases make a truce onely not a peace with their bodies the latent cause remains and watcheth its advantage of the next heat or cold the body takes or the next intemperate season comes And thus many deale with their soules never regarding when their spirits are troubled to heale up the wound with the balme of Gilead but go on in their worldly way at last their wiled spirits are quiet againe so they get their peace of course but alas the latent cause of their trouble watcheth but the next advantage their soule festers within and within a while they are ready to hang themselves againe 2. Other wretches in a time of trouble are like those that upon that principle Satanas per Sathanam expellitur one Devill drives out another If they be in an ague or the like will drinke hot-waters or store of sack to prevent their cold-fit and out burn nature but alas all the good comes is they fall into a burning-feaver and perhaps burne their dust to ashes So there are such profane wretches that if their conscience alarum's them if their spirit troubles them or if they meet with crosses c. think there is no way to wind out of the Devils fingers but by going into his armes and making themselves twice more the children of the Devill than they were before they must runne to the alehouse seek out drunken company drink away melancholy c. But
31 32. Sweetnesse of Christ to the soule that tasts him p. 1. p. 48. T TEmptations a Saints wildernesse why p. 3. p. 10. How the soule in them leanes and comes out of them leaning on Christ p. 3. p. 54 55. Thankfulnesse how highly the duty of Saints p. 1. p. 71 72 73. Motives to it p. 2. p. 68 69. Traditionall faith nothing p. 1. p. 64 65. Trial of our selvs whether we be in the state of nature or grace how it may be made p. 1. p. 43 44. Notes of Triall whether we be raised or no. p. 2. p. 57 58. Whether we be the Spouses of Christ or no. p. 3. p. 76 77 78 79 80 81. V VNbeleevers sad condition opened p. 3. p. 83 84. They are exhorted to look out for a part in Christ p. 3. p. 93. 94 95. W WEaknesse of the soule how helpt by Christ p. 2. p. 43. Wearinesse in the soule that will leane on Christ p. 3. p. 27 28. Wellbeloved of the soule who p. 3. p. 26. Will of man doth not first stir in the soule for God p. 3. p. 71 72. Wildernesse what it meanes what manner of place it is opened in six particulars p. 3. p. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. 76 77. Saints may dwell in a sixfold Wildernesse p. 3. p. 5 6 7 8. Wildernesse company what it is p. 3. p. 78. How sad a condition it is to be in the wildernesse p. 3. p. 84. Willingnesse how and when in us p. 3. p. 17 18 19. willingnes in the soul that comes to Christ how p. 3. p. 21. An Index of the severall Contents of each Sermon in the following Treatise In the first Sermon and Part. THe words considered Relatively Absolutely p. 4 5. Severall senses of the words given by Expositors declared and rejected with reasons for the rejection p. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. The true sense given according to the Authors judgement with his reasons for it p. 16 17 18 19. The words analysed 19 20. 3 Doctrines propounded to be insisted upon 21. 1. Doct. The best of Gods Saints by nature were borne in a lost condition 22 23. The doctrine proved by Scripture ibid. 24. Adams sin how it goes over all and how all are Originally defiled ib. 25 26. How Christ came to be free of this guilt 29. Saints beget not Saints why 28 29. St. Austines and Mr. Perkins his opinion 28 29. Mr. Perkins his counsell to such as are inquisitive to know how Originall sin came to bee propagated 29 30. 1. Use of the Doctrine to discover the errors of Pelagians Manichees Anabaptists and Universalists 30 31 32. Christ by his death hath not taken Originall sinne out of our nature 32. Christ payeth no debts by halves for any 33. Christ useth not to do things to no purpose 33. 2 Use for Instruction 34. 1. What a sad condition most men and women are in 34. It is a miracle if withered sinners be saved 34. 2. Whom we have cause to thank that wee are this day out of hell 36. Not our Noble Parentage there is a great deale of bragging of that in the world to little purpose 36 37. Vain-glorying will have an end in hell 37 38. Religious Parentage best most noble most to be gloryed in 38 39. but not enough 39. It was the Jewes brag 39 40. Parents faith wants a way of conveyance to save our soules 40. This made plain by a familiar instance 40. 3. Br. From hence we may be instructed what a soule-cheating-Principle it is of Libertanisme to say we have no need of Repentance c. If we be elected we shall be saved if not damned 41. 3. Use Let us try our selves whether wee bee not yet in a state of disunion to Christ 4â— 43. 4. Notes of Triall 43 44. 1 Note If none have done more for us than our Mother hath done we are yet in the state of Nature 43. Mothers convey Nature 43. Nature is either corrupted or refined neither enough 45 46. 2. Note If we have not tasted of the fruit of the Apple-tree we are yet but under it 47. Christ is the Apple-tree ib. 1. The Apple if tasted is sweet 48. Christ sweet to Saints 48 49. High thoughts of Christ argue a spirituall tast of him ib. 2. The tasted Apple is cordiall 50. 1 In taste 2. In smell ib. Christ how cordial to swooning Saints ib. No Cordiall to unbeleevers ib. 50 51 52. 3. Tasted Apples are nutritive 53. Soules that have tasted Christ will from him draw nourishment 54. 4. The tasted Apple is diffusive of its vertue 54 55. 3. Note of Triall If thou hast pluckt the fruit of the Apple-tree thou hast a hand to do it 56. Faith is the hand 57. This hand must be 1 True 2 Perfect 3 Lively 58 59. Painted hands pluck no fruit ib. Faith how perfect is necessary 58 59. Dead hands pluck nothing 59 60. Faith is lively Internally Externally 60. It must be given us from above 62. Perswasions various Natural Moral Traditionall Diabolicall c. 63 64 65. All these good for nothing ib. Nature's Legacy of faith 63. Natures faith is sickly ib. Morall perswasions nothing 64. Legacies of faith from Parents will not bring heaven and Christ 65. Most men believe there is a God and Christ c. because their Father taught them so and their Mother so learnt them their Catechisme 65. This was the good womans Religion 65. Most believe as their Fathers believed 65 66. True faith is the gift of God 68. it is grounded upon divine perswasion What that is c. 68 69. Use 4. Exhortation in severall Branches 70 71 72 73 74. 1 Br. To perswade Saints to thankfull hearts what cause they have 71 72. 2 Br. Put on Bowells of mercy to other lost undone soules 73 74. We pitty bodies but not souls 74 75 76 3 Br. The consideration of this Doctrine cals to Saints for humble hearts 77 78 79. Use 5. It may bee applyed to give us a ground 1 of Consolation 2 of Hope 80 81 82. Hope for those yet in the state of Nature 81. Hope for Saints concerning their friends yet in the state of Nature 82 83. An Index of the severall things contained in the second part 2 Doct. It is the Lord Jesus Christ that helps his redeemed ones out of their lost condition 4. The Doctrine inlarged in five particulars 4 5 6 7 8 c. 1. Christ was assigned to doe it 5 6 7 8 c. The Covenant of Grace was made betwixt the Father and Christ personally and us representatively in him 6. God in laying our Redemption on Christs shoulders laid help on one that was mighty 7 8. 2. Christ alone was able to goe through with the work of our Redemption 8 9. Reason for it ib. Angels Creatures man could not do it 9 10. Foure things necessary to accomplish our Redemption which alone could be found in Christ page 12. 1. One that could