time to die a time to weep and a time to laugh c. v. 4. One hath this observation That there are two things Solomon allots no time for viz. for sin and for serving God He allots no time for sin because that ought never to be committed he allots no time for serving God because that ought never to be neglected Sin is never in season and obedience never is out of season It is not enough to shew our respect to the Command at one time and not at another it must reach to all times Psal 119.20 Psal 106.3 Blessed are they that keep judgment and he that doth righteousness at all times And this seems to be the sense of that 119. Psal 96. vers I have seen an end of all perfection but thy commandment is exceeding broad the breadth of the Command is set in opposition to the finiteness of all Creature-perfections it is therefore exceeding broad because it ingages to that duty that is never throughly finished so long as we are in this world Therefore we are never to be weary of well doing Gal. 6.9 Why should we Is not Christ as sweet always at at first The Commands of God as equal The ways of God as lovely Heaven as desirable as ever However the Yoke of Christ be always the same yet a Christian in regard of himself hath more reason to keep it on than he had at first to take it up because by reason of use he hath had his senses exercised to discern between good and evil Heb. 5.14 He hath had such tastes of God in the course of his obedience as he was a stranger to at the first entrance His experiences are now greater Christ upon tryal is sweeter and the recompence of reward is nearer Your salvation is nearer than when ye first believed Rom. 13.11 Therefore there must be no declining The righteous shall hold on his way Job 17.9 He that hath once put his hand to the plow Luk. 9.62 must not look back this Yoke being once put on should never be put off till God take it off which e're long he will do and instead of a Yoke upon the neck put a Crown upon the head Rev. 2.10 and so reward your present obedience with an eternal blessedness Thus you have an account what the Yoke of Christ is It consists of the Commands of Christ which are the Conditions of our Salvation And this Yoke is pure spiritual absolute extensive laborious and lasting That is the first thing I will be briefer in the next Quest 2. Why are the Commands of Christ called a Yoke Answ 1. With respect to the corrupt nature of man 2. With respect to the nature of the Commands themselves 1. With respect to the corrupt nature of man which accounts them so They are the lusts of the flesh that make Duty a Yoke or else the Precept would be a Law but no Yoke As it is the soreness of the foot which makes the shooe a burden which otherwise would be an help The Angels in Heaven are under a Law but not under a Yoke and so are glorified Saints for in them there is no manner of unsuitableness to or regret at the will of God Man with respect to the Law of God is to be considered either as carnal or converted unregenerate or born again First As carnal and unregenerate and while he is in that state the Law of Christ is not only a Yoke but an intolerable Yoke flesh and blood cannot bear it because of that enmity that is between the Law of God and his lusts He is under the prevalency of a quite contrary Law the Law of Sin and where the Law of sin rules the Law of Christ can take no place He is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be Rom. 8.7 How can an evil tree bring forth good fruit How can darkness have communion with light How can the old nature do the works of the new creature The carnal mind can never bear Christs Yoke because of that opposition that is in lust to the Divine Law it is not only averse to it but adverse it doth not only draw the heart from God but opposeth him Christ commands one thing and the flesh another the Command says Mortifie the flesh Lust says Make provision for the flesh the Command is for self-denial Lust is for self-pleasure Christ is for obedience and holiness and therefore Lust says Luke 19.14 This man shall not rule Because the Law opposes lust therefore lust opposes the Law Jer. 23.34 it crys out The burden of the Lord Joh. 6.60 it complains of hard sayings and grievous commands Secondly Man is to be considered as in a regenerate state which yet is but the imperfection of Grace for though the new creature hath a perfection of parts yet it hath not a perfection of degrees there are remains of corruption in every part though lust be dethroned it is not ejected though it hath lost its regency yet it retains a residence it hath a great power though not a reigning power it hath the power of a Tyrant though not of a King and often captivates Rom. 7.23 though it don't command Now though so far as Grace prevails the command of Christ is no Yoke no burden no task it is a pleasure and delight Rom. 7.22 it is no more a Yoke than it is to an Angel in Heaven or than it was to Christ Is it a Yoke to a man to eat and drink to take his meals and satisfie his hunger No more is it to the renewed nature to obey the will of God I delight to do thy will O my God Psal 40.8 yet so far as corruption remains unsubdued and unmortified in a child of God so far the commands of Christ are a yoke still for though with the mind he serves the Law of God yet with the flesh he serves the Law of sin Rom. 7.25 the body of death will not bear the yoke of the Lord of life And this is the reason why the Soul so oft crys out and complains of it because it opposes and hinders that subjection to Jesus Christ which the Soul longs and labours to come up to He would be holy as God is holy that he might stand compleat to all the will of God but he finds a Law that when he would do good evil is present Rom. 7.21 2. The commands of Christ are called a Yoke with respect to the nature of the commands themselves which lay the strongest obligation upon the Creature both as to Sin and Grace First As to Sin it injoyns the mortifying every lust and that upon pain of eternal death Rom. 8.13 Secondly As to Grace it requires the getting of grace the growing in grace the exercise of grace and that through the whole course of our lives No such tye upon the Soul as the Yoke of Christ therefore some say Religio is à religando it
of Antichrists followers by this That they had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thess 2.12 By all which the pleasures of sin appear to be forbidden pleasures so that no man can injoy any one lust but he must resolve to controul God to violate his Authority and break his Command and he that breaks this hedge a serpent will bite him Eccles 10.8 But where are we forbid to take pleasure in Godliness Are spiritual delights forbidden fruit May not a man rejoyce in God O yes For 1. This is so far from being forbidden as a sin that it is commanded as a duty Delight thy self in the Lord Psal 37.4 Rejoyce in the Lord always and again I say rejoyce Phil. 4.4 2. It is the true Character of a godly man His delight is in the law of the Lord Psal 1.2 I will delight my self in thy commandments which I have loved Psal 119.47 I delight in the law of God after the inner man Rom. 7.22 This no unregenerate man can attain to Will he delight himself in the Almighty says Job of the Hypocrite Chap. 27.10 He may do much but this he cannot do He may pray and read and hear and make profession of God but he cannot delight in God 3. This makes us sharers in the very pleasures and joys of Saints and Angels in Heaven for the joy and pleasure of that state is in God and Holiness 4. This shall have a sure reward Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart Psal 34.4 Thou shalt delight thy self in the Lord and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father Isai 58.14 Sometimes delight in God is required as a duty but here it is promised as a reward So that here is a double reward promised to delighting in God First Such shall delight in God They that make it their duty it shall be their reward As God sometimes punishes sin with sin Hos 8.11 which is a great punishment so he rewards delight in God with delight in God which is a great reward They shall find such rich consolations such abundant sweetness and matter of satisfaction in God and his ways as shall fill the Soul with delight Thy comforts delight my soul Psal 94.19 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures Psal 36.8 That is one reward promised Secondly I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father That is literally the blessings of the land of Canaan given for an inheritance to him and his seed but this being a Type of Heaven therefore it is the glorious inheritance above that is chiefly intended So that these spiritual pleasures shall have a sure reward And hence it appears that though the pleasures of sin are forbidden fruit yet the pleasures of holiness are not They are lawful pleasures Sixthly The pleasures of sin are dangerous pleasures full of danger What Solomon says of the Harlot Isai 59.7 Her house inclines to death and her paths to the dead Prov. 2.18 is true of every sin it is a way that takes hold of hell and death Never any went on in it but have miscarried And what pleasure can there be in a way so full of danger But in the pleasures of godliness there is no danger no fear of miscarrying An high way shall be there and it shall be called the way of holiness the way-faring men though fools shall not err therein Isai 35.8 Where there is life without death there must needs be pleasure without danger and so it is here In the way of righteousness is life Prov. 12.28 and in the path-way thereof there is no death O what dangers do men run into for the pleasures of sin dangers of Soul and body dangers of present judgment and eternal torment but here is pleasure without danger Seventhly The pleasures of sin are disturbed pleasures the smarting reflections and checks of Conscience do greatly interrupt the free injoyment of sins delights There are but few sinners but their pleasures in sin are attended with an upbraiding Conscience The best part of a natural man is his Conscience when will and affections are wholly for lust Conscience many times takes part with God when affections intice conscience troubles and gives such an amazing prospect of the dreadful consequences of sin as doth very much abate its pleasures and imbitter its sweetness Nay many have been in great troubles and horrors for sin upon this account the gnawings of this worm within have been such as have utterly extinguished the pleasures of sin for the present Conscience reflects guilt guilt causes fear and fear hath torment 1 John 4.18 And in this case the pain of sin is far more than the pleasure for no man can act with much pleasure against the checks of his own conscience And therefore many have been forced to find out ways to quiet conscience or at least to silence its clamors that they may have a more free and undisturbed injoyment of their lusts and this is that which hath made so many Hypocrites both among Papists and Protestants taking up a little outside devotion and taling over a few prayers to God and then thinking this a full amends to him for what is past and so sin upon a new score Lust can't be freely injoyed unless conscience is silent conscience will not be silent unless God be some way owned and hence though the sinner in his heart hates God and the life of God yet he is forced to mingle somewhat of the practice of devotion with a vicious conversation that he may at once injoy the sweet of his lusts and yet quiet a quarrelling conscience Or if custom in sin and a seared conscience have worn out the sense of such checks and regrets the case is so much the worse where-ever sin is practised and conscience not pained the man is dead past life and past hope Dr. Preston relates of one in Cambridge that falling into a great sin his conscience was troubled but having this temptation upon him That if he did the same sin again his conscience would trouble him no more he complied with the temptation and ran into the same sin again after which his conscience was silent and from that time he went on in his lusts without trouble or controul But the pleasures of godliness are undisturbed pleasures Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace Prov. 3.17 The sinner hath pleasure but no peace but in the ways of God the good man hath pleasure and peace And it must needs be sweet where pleasure is attended with peace There is a twofold peace that doth attend the life of godliness peace supernal and peace internal The one is a peace between God and Conscience The other is a peace between conscience and a mans self And where this peace is the pleasure of the Soul must needs be an uninterrupted pleasure
concealed it is out of the reach of those means that should give check to it It is the most rational way to cure Soul troubles and settle our comfort Sin is like an impostume while it is gathering it is painful but when it is broke or lanced and runs then there is ease Or like a wind lockt up in the Earth which causes great Earthquakes till it finds a vent and then the Earth is quiet It commends the vertue of Christ's Blood when we open to him those mortal wounds which none but he can cure It puts an edge upon prayer he that hath no sin to acknowledge hath but little mercy to beg It is the next way to forgiveness If any say I have sinned and it profited me not he will deliver his Soul from going into the pit Job 33.27 28. In the first Covenant it was He that commits sin shall dye But in the second Covenant he that confesses sin shall be forgiven 1 Joh. 1.9 Confession speakes out such a sensibleness of sin as works the Soul to a ready compliance with any terms of deliverance And a heart brought over to submit to Gods remedies is in a fair way to a cure Though sin be a desperate Disease yet it is never deadly where the Patient is ready to use Gods Medicines This confession leaves such a dread of sin upon the heart that it dare not return to it as it was wont I do not say but that possibly a Believer may through the prevalency of lust and temptation fall into the same sin he hath confessed to God yet it shall not prevail as formerly But it is not every kind of Confession that speaks out an enmity to sin It is possible a man may often confess sin and yet ne-ver forsake it but persist in it all his days and perish in it at last Saul confessed and yet perished Judas confessed his sin and yet lost his Soul Therefore It must be free and voluntary not forced and extorted It must be in sincerity and uprightness of heart Psal 38.18 It must be with brokenness of heart I will declare mine iniquity I will be sorry for my sin It must be with a hearty resolution against sin This is another thing the Hypocrite comes short in he cannot thus confess sin he flatters himself in his own eyes till his iniquity be found to be hateful Psal 36.2 He covers his Transgression as Adam by hiding his iniquity in his bosom Job 31.33 3. This odds in Believers against sin appears in the hating of sin There is odium abominationis and odium inimicitiae One is a hatred that causes aversation the other is a hatred that causes opposition Both ways the Believer hates sin 1. He turns from it as being a thing offensive and loathsome to the Spiritual Appetite and Renewed Will. No natural man can thus hate sin because there is a sutableness between the Heart and Lust He may possibly hate that which is sin but he cannot hate it as it is sin for then he would hate all sin One of a tenacious gripple humour may hate pride and prodigality One that is prodigal and profuse may hate Covetousness And yet he may not hate sin formally considered though he hates that which materially considered is sin This kind of hatred of sin is usually for the sake of some other sin it is only a reserving the affections for some Lust that suits him better So that it may be said of Lust in this case as is said of the Sea what ground it loses in one place it gains in another Whilst he hates one sin he loves another whilst he turns from one he cleaves to another He cannot hate sin as sin this is peculiar to Believers There is no Hypocrite in the World that can unfeignedly hate every sin he cannot say with David Psalm 119.128 I hate every false way but the Believer can and doth I don't say that he ceaseth from all acts of sin that is impossible so long as Grace is imperfect and he carries a body of death about him but he hates all sin and darling sins above all as being the worst of sins for these are they whereby God hath been most dishonoured the Mind most blinded the Heart most bewitched Satan most gratified and the Soul most wounded To dislike some sins and not others is not hatred If the heart be right with God the same reasons that induce us to hate one sin will induce us to hate all God hates all and wherever the Divine Nature is wrought it shews it self in suitable dispositions It is a Universal Principle which as it inclines the heart to all good so it sets it against all sin And it must needs be so or else how can a man be said to be in subjection to Jesus Christ for one sin keeps possession for Satan as well as a thousand And this discovers many that would prove their subjection to Christ by their hating sin when as they do not hate all sin There is ever some lust in reserve of which they say as Jacob of his beloved Benjamin Gen. 42.38 He shall not go Or as Naaman of his bowing to Rimmon when I bow my self in the house of Rimmon 2 Kings 5.18 the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing Now suppose a Woman should love her Husband better than a thousand and a thousand men yet if there be any one that she loves and embraces and desires more than him would ye not say she was a harlot yes as really as she that prostitutes her self to all that pass by He that indulges to any one sin was never yet truly under the Yoke of Christ Though a Believer may possibly fall into many sins yet there is no Believer but hates every sin And let me tell you I know not a surer sign of a mans being under the power of Grace than this For what else is it that can make a man loath that sin that he loved as himself Many a man may be angry with sin but that is consistent with love Many a man may forbear sin for fear of shame or punishment But this is not to hate sin as sin When sin is loathed as being a violation of Gods Law a contempt of his Authority contrary to his Nature an Enemy to his Service and Honour a grief to the Spirit this is to hate sin as sin and he that thus hates sin must necessarily hate all sin for all sin violates his Law is contrary to his nature opposes his Service and grieves his Spirit Secondly as he hates it with a hatred of abomination so he hates it with a hatred of enmity and this appears in a vigorous activity against sin 1. He prays against it Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me Psal 119.133 Prayers and Tears are the Christians Weapons not only against the malice of enemies without but also against the mischief of sin within He don't
pray against his sin as it is said Austin did in his Natural State who was afraid that God should grant his request He prayed one thing and desired another But he prays as David did wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Psal 51.2 Oh the sighs and groans that a gracious heart sends up to God under the load and burden of sin We groan being burdened 2 Cor. 5.4 Hence that of the Apostle Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death never did poor Prisoner more long and wish to be freed from his chains then the Believer doth to be rid of his sins None can know what the wrestlings of a gracious heart are with God against Corruption but they that have been wearied with the burden of it 2. He mourns and sorrows under it as the daily burden of his Soul Grace softens the heart and then sin makes it mourn They shall be on the mountains like Doves of the valleys all of them mourning every one for his iniquity Ezek. 7.16 And this is sorrow of the right kind There is a great deal of sorrow caused by sin that is not right therefore the Apostle speaks of being made sorry after a Godly manner I rejoyced not that ye were made sorry but that ye sorrowed to Repentance for ye were made sorry after a Godly manner 2. Cor. 7.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye sorrowed according to God And it is known from all other sorrow By its object and that is sin Sin more than any thing and special sin more than any sin 1. Sin more than any thing more than suffering more than affliction more than Hell Nothing in the world causes that sorrow in a gracious heart as sin doth Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight sayes the poor prodigal Luk. 15.21 he doth not say I am full of wants ready to famish for bread but here is his wound father I have sinned So as it was with David 2 Sam. 24.10 I have sinned greatly in that I have done and now I beseech thee take away the iniquity of thy servant He doth not say take away this judgment this pestilence nay he is willing to bear it ver 17. Lo I have sinned and done wickedly but those Sheep what have they done Let thine hand be against me He is willing to indure the smart so as God would remove the guilt He would quietly bear his hand in chastisement for sin so that his heart were but towards him in the pardon of sin It is not smart but guilt that is the chief cause of sorrow in a gracious heart Now the hypocrite cryes out more because of smart then guilt Punishment causes sorrow when sin doth not Pharaoh is under a plague of Frogs and he presently calls for Moses and Aaron and what must they do Intreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me Exod. 8.8 he doth not say that he may take away my sin from me he was very sensible of the plague of frogs but had no sense of the plague of his heart So that here you see the difference between David and Pharaoh David is for the taking away of sin rather then of judgment Pharaoh is for the taking away of judgment but not a word of the taking away of sin 2. True sorrow for sin is more for special sins then for any other sin Though all sin is matter of sorrow yet special sins above all And it must needs be so for by these God hath been most dishonoured By these he hath so often broke with Jesus Christ By these he hath given the deepest wounds to his own Conscience By these Satan hath so long maintained his power and rule in the Soul And so easily insnared and overcome him The hypocrite never sorrows for his special sins His sorrow as it is feigned so it is either for some petty sins or such as are common to him with others But he feels no remorse for his bosom lusts nor comes near to that which is the chief cause of controversie between God and his Soul His beloved lust lies secure in his heart without the least disturbance or notice taken of it 3. He maintains a constant conflict against sin And this is a natural effect of hatred for hatred stirreth up strife Prov. 10.12 hence ye read of striving against sin Heb. 12.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a military word and implies an opposing and fighting as against an enemy to whom a man is resolved not to yield And the enemy is here said to be sin which is the greatest enemy in the world and makes the fiercest war for it wars against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 against the grace of the Soul against the peace and comfort of the soul against the life and salvation of the Soul Hence it is that the life of a Christian is a continual warfare The Age that men observe in Civil Wars is from sixteen years old to sixty but this war commences from the first moment of taking up the Yoke of Christ to the last moment that a man lives in the world Every man that is born again is born a man of strife as Jeremy speaks in another sense he keeps up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jer. 15.10 a truceless war with sin Cant. 6.13 what is the company of two armies in the Shulamite but the lusts of the Flesh and the Graces of the Spirit in continual conflict and opposition of each other So the Apostle explains it Gal. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh And mark the Tense it is not said it did lust viz. at the first working of grace or it will lust viz. when grace is come to more strength and maturity but it lusteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the present Tense and so it notes two things 1. That so soon as ever Grace is wrought in the heart it shews it self in strifes and contests with lust and corruption it lusteth against the Flesh or else it is not Grace 2. That this contest once begun will never end so long as any one lust remains in the heart Nor can it for this hatred of sin wrought by grace in the heart is so radicated in the new nature and so essential to it that as grace is increased so this hatred is heightened and needs it must for all hatred springs from love amor odii causa it is love to God and Christ which works to hatred of sin and therefore as love grows stronger so our hatred of sin still grows greater so that this contest can never end but in the death and destruction of every lust Other enemies a Christian can love and pity and forgive and pray for but he hath no pity for sin It is a hatred wrought by the Spirit of God which is full of indignation and revenge What indignation it wrought in you yea
service and subjection therefore call'd Ministring Spirits Heb. 1.14 and said to do his Commandments Psal 103.20 The Angel sayes to John Rev. 22.9 I am thy fellow-servant and of them which keep the sayings of this book So that the highest liberty is consistent with the service of God therefore David puts them together I will walk at liberty Ps 119.45 for I seek thy Precepts Many decline the ways of God and cleave fast to their Lusts for the sake of liberty Whereas it is the greatest slavery in the world to serve sin the little finger of lust is heavyer then the whole loyns of Christ Nothing makes a man such a slave as sin He that lives in the love and service and injoyment of God hath the truest freedom But every sinner is a vassal to lust at the command of every unclean motion Is not he a slave that is at the will and command of Satan That is moved and acted by Satan in his whole course You pity men made slaves by the Turks laid in chains condemned to the Gallyes grinding in Mills broken with burdens drub'd and beat after all I tell you it is an eligible condition to this Nay sin doth not only make a man a slave but a bruit for it bereaves him of all reason and judgment their is no judgment in their goings Isa 59.8 2. This finding rest under the yoke of Christ implyes an easiness in his service And so it follows Matt. 11.29 30. Ye shall find rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light A Believer in the ways of obedience hath those aids of God those divine quickenings those daily supplyes of the Spirit that Communion with God in all that no duty is difficult or burdensome 3. This finding rest to your souls implyes an after good by your present obedience There remains a rest for the people of God Heb. 4.9 The service of sin is best at first and worst at last Sin in the temptation is taking but sin in the conclusion is vexing It is sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly Satan shews the pleasure and profit of sin to insnare you and then comes the guilt of sin to torment you But now the service of Christ is worst at first and best at last All the difficulty is in the beginning but the end is peace Psal 37.37 4. This finding rest implyes an end of your service and duty as it is labour So sayes the Holy Ghost Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 for they rest from their labour your yoke shall be put off then But when shall the vassalage of sin end This is such a yoke as shall never be put off an everlasting servitude The sinner goes from a present slavery to a worse His present condition is servile but hereafter it will be dreadful First chains of Lust then chains of death and at last chains of darkness Jude 6. The sinner lyes in yokes and chains for ever for what is guilt of Conscience This is a chain that binds wrath upon the soul for ever He shall be holden with the cords of his own sins Prov. 5.22 What is utter despair This is another Chain the sinner is held in What is Gods power that is another chain And what is the everlasting sentence Mat. 25.41 go ye cursed into everlasting fire He is an Eternal Prisoner there God shuts him up and there can be no opening Job 12.14 He hath the Keys of Hell and Death Rev. 1.18 and who can get them out of his hand O what an everlasting slavery doth sin bring upon the soul Will you therefore hearken to the counsel of Christ and take his Yoke upon you 1. Consider How reasonable a thing this is For 1. God commands nothing that is unsuitable to our reason Look upon this Yoke in such duties as refer more immediately to God Either in External Worship or Internal 1. In External Worship As Prayer how reasonable is it that an indigent creature should go to God for what he wants seeing he can't support himself let him go to him that can Hearing how reasonable it is that if God be to be obeyed and this obedience is not to be by the creatures arbitrement but by Gods precept that then I should labour to know what Revelation he hath made of this 2. Look on Internal Worship Faith How reasonable is it that he who is the Eternal Truth should have credence in all the discoveries of his will and that I should trust him upon the credit of his promise Love It is the most reasonable thing in the world I should love God because he is the chief good and because he is always doing me good Gods love to us comes under no reason but what is in himself but our love to God is founded in the greatest reason 1 Joh. 4.19 we love him because he first loved us The fear of God how rational a duty is it he being the highest Lord and his supremacy absolute He is great and therefore greatly to be feared Look upon the most difficult dutyes Repentance Self-denyal Mortification of lusts c. These may be troublesome to the flesh but not unreasonable What more equal than that I should do whatever God would have me do how contrary soever to flesh and blood and the dictates of a carnal mind 2. He commands nothing that is prejudicial to our interest The end of every Precept is our felicity both our spiritual and eternal good are promoted by it And is there any thing more reasonable then that a man should persue his own good 3. He commands nothing but what answers the end of our being The end though last in execution is first in intention Now what is the great end of your being young ones what do you do in the world let me say as God said to Elijah what make you here What do you think God gave you being for was it to please the flesh to suck the sweet of the creatures to pass away your years in mirth and jollity to live to your selves Hath an immortal soul no other end of being but this Surely yes as God is the Fountain of being so his glory should be the end of being You are come into this world to make provision for another to avoid the snares of death and lay hold on Eternal Life To walk so before God here as that you may secure his favour for ever This is the great end of being and how reasonable is it that every man should attend to that which he was born for and came into the world for Or else the being of man is in vain as David expostulates the case Psal 89.47 Wherefore hast thou made all men in vain 2. Consider the great advantage that comes by this and that whatever your condition be Suppose your extract be mean that you are a branch of a poor Family What an advantage will your subjection to Christ
of an ingaged Providence 3. Is that profitable which brings its own reward with it This Religion doth In keeping thy commandments there is great reward Psal 19.11 The Prophet seems here not to intend the future recompence of reward which the obedient shall receive at last in Heaven for that is a reward for keeping his commandments though it is a reward not of merit but of grace but this is a reward in keeping his commandments The full harvest will be hereafter but yet the Christian hath a present reaping time for God meets them that rejoyce and work righteousness that remember him in his ways Isai 64.5 Our Lord Christ tells Peter Mark 10.30 31. That whoever hath left house or relations or lands for his sake and the Gospel's shall receive an hundred fold now in this life So that there is a reward in obedience as well as for it As beaten Spices recompense the pains by their grateful smell so the practice of Religion causes a sweet reflection upon the Soul and is thereby its own recompence Therefore David elsewhere speaks of what he had as a reward of obedience as well as what he hoped for Psal 119.56 This I had because I kept thy precepts This I had but he doth not tell you what but that may easily be guessed at by the dealings of God with him He had peace of Conscience he had the quicknings of God he had increase of grace he had frequent communion with God he had joy in the Holy Ghost he had many great experiences many deliverances and salvations and all this was the fruit of his obedience This I had because I kept thy precepts to be sure it was some great Boon because he mentions it so gratefully as a reward of mercy for his close walking with God So that the obedient Christian hath not all in hope there is much in hand he possesses much though he expects more For godliness hath both the promise of this life and of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 4. Is that profitable which fills the Soul with such joy as nothing else can This Religion doth It reconciles the Soul to God stamps it with his image lays it in with Divine principles whereby he is inabled to take the testimonies of God for his heritage for ever which become the rejoycing of his heart Psal 119.111 The Promises believed do not only create a joy in the Soul filled with peace and joy in believing Rom. 15.13 but the Precepts obeyed minister joy also The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart Psal 19.8 So that the good mans joy arises from a double spring Faith secures his interest in the promise and so he rejoyces in hope of the glory of God Rom. 5.2 Holiness subjects him to the precept and so he rejoyces in his conformity to the will of God I rejoyced in the way of thy testimonies more than in all riches Psal 119.14 This is a joy appropriated to the Children of God none partake of this oyl of gladness but they who have the oyl of grace in their vessels Disobedient sinners are strangers to this joy Prov. 14.10 Theirs is a joy arising either out of perishing comforts the joy of corn and wine and oyl Psal 4.7 or which is worse out of sinful acts and objects Who rejoyce to do evil Prov. 2.14 Now this is a poor weak unfruitful joy it wets the mouth but cannot warm the heart In the midst of laughter the heart is sorrowful Prov. 14.13 It is rather revelling than rejoycing and therefore the Wise-man calls it mad mirth I have said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it Eccles 2.2 What satisfaction doth it afford what profit doth it bring with it Will it ease the smart of affliction will it remove the fears and doubts of Conscience will it bear us up against reproaches will it help us against the fear of death and judgment If not then what doth it it emasculates the spirits discomposes the judgment displaces reason feeds the senses and starves the Soul and the end of that mirth is heaviness Prov. 14.13 So that carnal joy is but a cold armful as one saith of a bad wife * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud Sophocl in Antig. Like Adonijah's feast 1 Kings 1.9 49. that began in mirth but ended in fear 2 Sam. 13.26 82. or like Amnon's entertainment at Absolom's sheep-shearing who met with death at the banquet Solomon compares it to the crackling of thorns under a pot Eccles 7.6 where there is much noise but little fire much light but little heat and soon extinct As Comets make a great blaze but when their exhaled matter is spent they end in a pestilent vapor Such is the sinners joy soon lighted and soon wasted when his candle is put out as it quickly will be it leaves a stink behind Wo to you that laugh now for ye shall mourn Luke 6.25 The sinner purchases his joy with guilt and shame possesses it with an accusing vexing Conscience and at last it is extinguished if not in present terrors yet to be sure in eternal torments But the joy of obedience and holy walking is another thing it is a spiritual and heavenly joy wrought by a spiritual power drawn out by spiritual arguments fixed upon a spiritual object and serves to spiritual ends and uses to give check to worldly lusts to extinguish sensual appetite and abate the relish of carnal pleasures to support under losses wants reproaches to fence against the quarrels of Conscience to arm us against the fear of death and damnation In all these things the joy of the Lord is the good mans strength Nehem. 8.10 and therefore it is called strong consolation Heb. 6.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prevailing consolation It is prevalent against all opposition both from corruption within and temptation without It gives relief against all fears doubts and troubles either it prevents them or prevents the mischief of them by supporting the Soul under them This is such a good that as no good can match it so no evil can over-match it A heart full of grace and a conscience full of comfort makes a man sit either for doing or suffering it makes him insuperable under durances and unsatisfiable in duties for that hereby every cross becomes tolerable and light and every command delectable and sweet 5. Is that profitable that at once serves our temporal our spiritual and our eternal interest and advantage This Religion doth First It serves our temporal interest Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you Mat. 6.33 In the Christians Charter the World is put in as well as Heaven and things present as well as things to come 1 Cor. 3.21 22. It is said of Wisdom that is Christ Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Prov. 3.16 And what doth Christ do with
these blessings in his hand but bestow them upon those that keep his precepts with their whole heart And therefore the same thing is said of obedience v. 1 2. Let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life and peace which comprehends all the rest shall they add unto thee Pray mind they are in the hand of Christ for the Father hath put all things into his hand and yet they are handed-out by the Commandments How is that why thus Obedience to the commands qualifies us to receive the blessings of the Promise and then Christ hands out to us the promised blessings Unless these things were in the hand of Christ obedience would never add them to us and unless we are found in the way of obedience Christ will never bestow them upon us for we have no claim It is Godliness that hath the promise of this life and so it serves our temporal interest Though the temporal rewards of godliness must be expected with much submission yet so far as they are good for us they are as much secured to us as Heaven and Glory He will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 Secondly Godliness serves our spiritual interest and that is the thing we are chiefly to mind the Soul is far more than the body and therefore a spiritual good is to be preferred before a corporal Religion serves our spiritual interest two ways First It secures to us the chief good that good that is comprehensively all good and without which nothing can be good and that is God God with all his Attributes God with all his Treasures God with all his Promises if we perform our part of the Covenant God will not fail of his part Ye shall keep my judgments and do them And what then ye shall be my people and I will be your God Ezek. 36.27 28. Secondly It secures the life of the Soul And that is more worth than all the world This Christ intimates in that question Mat. 16.26 What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul Two things are here intimated 1. If a man should gain the whole world with the loss of his Soul it would be but a losing bargain 2. When the Soul is once lost nothing in the world can regain or redeem it And therefore what so profitable as Religion that secures the life of the Soul All the gold in the world can't secure the Soul but grace can Riches profit not in the day of wrath but righteousness delivers from death Prov. 11.4 In the way of righteousness is life and in the path-way thereof there is no death Prov. 12.28 Thirdly Godliness serves our eternal interest It tends to an everlasting blessedness And herein the greatest gain of godliness consists in that it hath the promise of the life that is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 The Soul is immortal and therefore cannot be satisfied with any perishing good man that lives for ever must have a happiness that will endure for ever and there is but one way to secure it and that is by an obedient subjection to the Yoke of Christ This is the appointed means to that blessed end Being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life Rom. 6.22 God hath not absolutely promised Salvation and eternal life to any but he hath annexed it to certain dispositions and qualifications without which we shall never share in the blessing promised Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the Law of the Lord Psal 119.1 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Mat. 5.8 So that holiness and obedience is a necessary disposition for eternal blessedness For God will render to every man according to his works To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life Rom. 2.6 7. And therefore it plainly appears how profitable a life of godliness is in that it hath so direct a tendency to our temporal to our spiritual and to our eternal benefit Why then should any one refuse to take up the Yoke of Christ in his youth Sixthly Is that profitable which will abide by us for ever which is a durable good Such grace and holiness is As of evils they are the most detrimental that are most durable and therefore sin is the worst of all evils because it is durable though the act of sin ceases yet it binds an eternal guilt upon the Soul of the wicked which shall never wear off And besides his corrupt nature and vicious disposition his hatred and enmity to God remain in him for ever And therefore of all evils sin is the most detrimental So in genere boni that is the most beneficial good that will abide by us for ever and such is grace and holiness It shall abide in the Soul for ever and hence it is called the true riches Luke 16.11 and durable riches Prov. 8.18 It may be thy riches lie in houses lands money ships or the like Alas these are not durable yet a little while and thy title to all these things will be extinguished but thy grace thy love to God thy holiness thy conformity to his will thy obedience shall never be extinguished From all that hath been said the benefit of Religion plainly appears and that conclusion of the Apostle stands firm 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness is profitable to all things And this is a second branch of the reason why every one should take up the Yoke of Christ betimes because it is a good so much conducing to our benefit As it sanctifies every condition As it is advantageous to a man in all his circumstances As it brings its own reward with it As it fills the Soul with such a joy as nothing else can As it serves our temporal spiritual and eternal interest As it abides by us for ever Therefore it is not in vain to serve God it is every way for your benefit to be early Converts and if so who would not be religious betimes and take up the Yoke of Christ in his youth seeing God is such a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 Thirdly Subjection to the Yoke of Christ is an honourable good The Heathens made Honour the effect of goodness and the Egyptian Hieroglyphick painted it between humility and labour and the Romans so placed their Temples that he that would go to the Temple of Honour must pass through the Temple of Virtue Nothing is truly honour to a man but Religion and Vertue Prov. 22.4 By humility and the fear of the Lord and that takes in the whole of Religion and obedience are riches and honour and life And therefore in Scripture good men are called Vessels of honour 2 Tim. 2.21 And sanctification
pleasure in Unrighteousness no but the contrary Who can reckon up the clamours it causes without and within Who can number the troubles of strife and variance How great is the pain of malice and envy What torments and horrours do blood and murder fill the Soul with Add to this that while unrighteousness is the bane of conversation which turns the world into a den of savage beasts where one devours another righteousness is the bond of humane Society which consults glory to God honour to Religion quietness to Conscience and happiness to Mankind And the same may be said of Godliness there can be nothing so truly pleasant and sweet Look upon the knowledge of God in Christ and how pleasant is that The Scripture calls it life eternal Joh. 17.3 One part of the pleasure of Heaven consists in knowing God and therefore this light must needs be sweet here And if it be sweet to know him how sweet is it to be united to him And that whether ye consider the misery of a state of distance and enmity Heb. 12.29 in which God is a consuming fire and we as briars and thorns and this is the state of every man by nature Eph. 2.12 without God in the world Or whether you consider the objects to which all are united that are not in union to God Their union is with their corruptions they are in Covenant with sin their Souls are glewed to their lusts some to pride some to covetousness some to uncleanness and how transcendently sweeter must the pleasure of union to God be than this Or whether ye consider the nature of this union as it is spiritual and indissoluble It is a spiritual union and therefore the pleasure of it is spiritual it is not to be seen nor felt nor tasted by common senses and therefore the natural man is so far from receiving it 1 Cor. 2.14 Prov. 24.7 1 Cor. 1.18 that he scoffs at and derides it Such wisdom is too high for a fool and therefore it is to him foolishness but the more spiritual and sublime the greater must the pleasure of it be to the Heaven-born Soul It is an inseparable union which can never be dissolved nothing can break it Death it self which can untye all other unions that of friend and friend that of man and wife that of body and soul which of all is the nearest yet it cannot râ—â—ch to dissolve this though the Soul and the body part yet God and the Believer part not neither as to body nor Soul for while the Soul is hereby taken up into a full communion the body is not left alone in the grave Rom. 8.38 39. Death cannot separate from the love of God in Christ. Therefore ye read of the dead in Christ 1 Thess 4.16 Mark it dead and yet in Christ though Dead This is meant of the body for the spirit dies not The body is in union to God when rotting in the dust therefore it is said to sleep in Jesus 1 Thess 4.14 O how sweet must union to God be upon this account that it is indissoluble though it had a beginning it shall never have an end Or whether ye look to the many and great blessings which flow from this union to God Such as pardon of sin the grace of Adoption the indwelling of the Spirit a participation of all Grace a title to all the Promises and blessings of the Gospel Oh how pleasant and sweet must these things needs make out union to God to be And where there is this union to God how delightful and sweet must all worship and service and all obedience to his commands be For by virtue of this union to God the Believer derives such power and strength from him as makes every duty not only possible but pleasant And where a man is much in obedience he is much in communion and much communion with God brings in much comfort and much comfort makes the life sweet and pleasant Therefore no life to the life of godliness Is there pleasure in living in Heaven Why a life of godliness is a conversation in Heaven our conversation is in heaven Phil. 3.20 Hath God pleasure in his own life why godliness is the life of God Eph. 4.18 As Holiness is the Divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 so the acting of Holiness is the Divine life Now as the life of God being the highest life must necessarily be filled up with the highest pleasures and delights so a Believer partaking of the life of God which is of all the highest must proportionably partake of the pleasures of God which are of all the greatest And thus you have the first consideration which makes the Yoke of Christ pleasant and that is the matter of his service Secondly Consider the state in which this service is commanded and this Yoke injoyned to be put on and that is a state of regeneracy and renovation Without this obedience is not only difficult but impossible The proud neck of nature cannot bow to the Yoke of Christ Luke 19.14 Mat. 12.33 We will not that this man rule over us The tree must be good before the fruit can be good Good works don't make a man good they prove his state to be good but they do not make it good that is God's work Hence that in Ezek 36.26 27. A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them So that it is first a new heart and a new spirit and then a new life first a good tree and then good fruit first spiritual habits and then spiritual acts In Creation every creature is fitted and furnished with such faculties and powers as are suitable to those actions which are proper to its nature So it is in the new Creation We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2.10 First a new creation and then a new conversation and this makes Duty a delight Things are easie or unpleasant according to the inclination and poise of our spirits All pleasure and delight in doing arises from a suitableness between the heart and the work if there be Precepts upon us and a defect of Principles within us much may be done but there can be little pleasure in doing A sick man may eat and drink as a healthful man doth but he hath no pleasure in it all things are savourless and against stomach he hath no delight in it But it is for other ends that nature may be supported and life preserved he can't live without taking something But a man of a sound body and healthful temper acts not only his judgment in eating but his pleasure and delight his appetite is stirred up by the sweetness that
have time to spare for your lusts for your sports and pastimes and pleasures and why not for Christ so that you can lay the blame no where but upon a cursed corrupt Heart thy destruction is of thy self Hos 13.9 CHAP. XI Wherein the tryal of our state is pressed with seven reasons for it USE 2. Of examination If it be the great concernment of every one to take up Christs Yoke betimes then the question is what progress have you made in this duty what Yoke are you under that of sin or that of Christ for all men young and old rich and poor high and low bond and free are under one of these Yokes either the Yoke of sin or the Yoke of Christ These are the two great Lords of the world and have the most extensive rule and dominion and therefore as ye read of the rule and Government of Christ so you read of the rule of lust Rom. 6.17 18. and the dominion of sin and of being servants of sin and servants of righteousness Now whose Yoke are ye under Matt. 6.24 no man can be said to be under both no man can serve these two masters He that is under the Yoke of sin is free from righteousness Rom. 6.20 And he that is under the Yoke of Christ is free from sin Rom. 6.14 Can ye make it out that ye are under the Yoke of Christ this is a question of very great importance and therefore every man should labour to be satisfyed about it And that for these seven reasons 1. Because every one of us are naturally under the Yoke and thraldom of sin not only ignorant of God and Christ but enemies to God and Christ and not only enemies by natural depravation but by actual opposition enemies by wicked works Coloss 1.21 serving divers lusts and pleasures Tit. 3.3 Every man naturally is the servant of sin Rom. 6.17 till he be made free by Christ and brought under his Yoke by the power of converting Grace Now what do ye know of this in your selves can ye say being made free from sin ye became the servants of righteousness Rom. 6.18 2. So long as a man is under the power of sin he is in a state of wrath The reign of sin subjects the soul to the wrath of God and no wonder for it is the highest contempt and affront the creature can put upon God to give up himself to the dominion of sin 1 John 3.4 Amos 2.4 he that doth sin transgresseth the law but he that subjects himself to the power of it contemns the law and despises the Authority of him that gave it and there is nothing can lay man under the wrath of God more than this 3. Because many there are that deceive themselves about the Yoke of Christ thinking they have put it on when they are mistaken Few will deny that subjection to Jesus Christ is a duty but the misery is they undo themselves with a self-deluding confidence that they have taken the Yoke of Christ upon them when they have not Many bless themselves in the goodness of their condition and the uprightness of their hearts with Christ when it is no such matter Solomon says there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness Prov. 30.12 This was the case of Laodicea she thought her self rich her state good her interest firm her heart right when it was quite otherwise wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Revel 3.17 who better perswaded of the goodness of his case than Paul and yet he was an utter enemy to Jesus Christ at the same time Rom. 7.9 4. To be deceived in a matter of this moment is a thing of very dangerous consequence If you take counterfeit money for true the loss is not great but if you take common Grace for saving Grace an hypocritical obedience to Christ for subjection to the Yoke of Christ a deceit in this matter is as much as the soul is worth It is an undoing mistake Matt. 25. v. 1. the foolish virgins that went out to meet the bridegroom thought their hearts had been right with Christ that they had had oyl enough in their lamps v. 3. and of the right kind till the coming of Christ discovered the mistake v. 10. and it was such a mistake as proved their utter undoing 5. It is a good argument of the goodness of thy condition and of thy sincerity of heart to be willing to come to the touchstone Some are great enemies to trying Doctrines they can't indure the searches of the word but cry out against such preachers as censorious these men will take Gods work out of his hand and be judges of mens hearts and states say they This is a very great sign of an unsound heart John 3.20 they come not to the light lest their deeds should be reproved Tertullian says of Hereticks they are lucifugae scripturarum they cannot indure to be tryed by the word So it is with an unsound professor 6. The knowledge of this is of great use living and dying First It is very useful in life it is that which you will be forced to have recourse to a thousand times before you dye When temptations or desertions are upon you the sense of the uprightness of your heart in your walking with God will be an admirable support So it was to Job when he was under the hidings of God and had lost the wonted comfort of the light of his countenance he comforts himself in his own uprightness He knows the way that I take my foot hath held his steps his way have I kept and not declined neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips Job 23.11 12. Secondly It is of great use in death For what is it that can support the soul in a dying hour but a sense of interest in Christ evidenced by the uprightness of the heart in walking with him This was that Hezekiah had recourse to when the sentence of death was upon him Isai 38.3 Remember O Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which was good in thy sight O it is a blessed thing in a dying hour to have a witnessing conscience to the sincerity of our obedience For if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 1 John 3.21 It is of great use therefore to put this matter to the tryal For 7. The day is coming when God will put it to the tryal The fire of that day shall try every mans work of what sort it is 1 Cor. 3.13 It is not the livery of Christ nor the badge of baptism nor the name of a Christian nor outward profession of Religion that will stead us in that Day It is not saying Lord Lord Matt. 7.21 but doing the will of God that will then stand us instead not a profession of
that was not right in the beginning Job sayes of the Hypocrite will he always call upon God Job 27.10 No he will not where the heart is not made right with God by renewing grace it can never hold out long in the ways of Obedience Sappy Timber in the building will quickly fail Counterfeit Grace cannot last There is something in the beginning of the way and something in the end that distinguishes every true Believer from a Hypocrite He begins in sincerity and that never any hypocrite did He perseveres to the end and that never any Hypocrite could Direct 3. Practise daily the duty of Mortification of sin not this or that or another sin but every sin for if there be any one Lust indulged in the heart that one Lust will at one time or other make the yoke of Christ an offence to you Therefore they that are Christs have Crucified the Flesh with the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 Direct 4. Labour for weanedness of heart to all carnal and worldly interests that you may be able to say with David Psal 131.2 My Soul is even as a weaned child While our respects to worldly advantages are kept up in their strength we are sure to miscarry when a temptation comes This was Balaams bane he loved the wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2.15 And this caused Demas his downfall Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world 2 Tim. 4.10 This Scripture hath occasioned a great question and that is whether Demas was a good man or an Hypocrite whether his Apostacy was final or whether he did repent of his fall Some are of opinion that he was a good man and that though the love of the world prevailed upon him to leave the Apostle Paul in his troubles and to mind his present advantages yet he afterward repented of his sin and returned to the Apostle again And the ground of this opinion is from two Scriptures One is Col. 4.14 Luke the beloved Physitian and Demas greet you the other is Philemon 24. There salute thee Epaphras my Fellow-Prisoner in Christ Jesus Marcus Aristarcus Demas Therefore say they Demas his fall was but partial and though he fell yet he arose again But how weakly this opinion is founded appears in this that both those Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon were written before this second Epistle to Timothy which was written when Paul was in Bonds at Rome the second time as the conclusion of the Epistle which was but a few Months before his death doth make manifest And he tells you ver 6. The time of my departure is at hand And if so then those salutations of Demas to the Colossians and to Philemon were written while Demas was a Professor and before his fall and therefore can be no proof of his rising again by Repentance In all probability therefore Demas was but an Hypocrite who made a profession for carnal ends and such a one can never persevere in the ways of Christ He may follow him so long as Christs way and his lye together but where the way parts there the Soul departs from Christ From that time many of the Disciples went back and walked no more with him Joh. 6.66 Direct 5. Preserve tenderness of Conscience This is an excellent remedy against back-sliding It binds wherever God binds and gives every Precept its full force upon the Soul It consults neither safety nor danger but Gods honour and its own peace Nothing stands in competition in such a heart with the authority of God and the securing his favour Keep Conscience tender and that will keep thy path pure no man makes shipwrack of Faith but he first violenceth Conscience So sayes the Apostle Holding Faith and a good Conscience which some having put away concerning Faith have made shipwrack 1 Tim. 1.29 Direct 6. Live much in the lively exercise of Faith The Apostle saith in one place we walk by Faith 2 Cor. 5.7 that speaks its influence into our Obedience And he sayes in another place we stand by faith 2 Cor. 1.24 which imports its influence into our perseverance In nature standing is before walking but in grace walking is before standing Obedience must be before perseverance but both obedience and perseverance are by Faith We walk by faith and we stand by faith All Apostacy from Christ is the fruit of unbelief Heb. 3.12 Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Nothing can keep the heart close to duty in all conditions but Faith firmly fixed upon the Authority of the Precepts and the good of the promises By faith Abraham when he was called to go out obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went Heb. 11.8 Faith is an excellent Grace not only for the undertaking of duty but also for persevering in it There are but 2 things that make perseverance in the service of Christ difficult Some good which we can't not part with Some evil which we know not how to undergo Now there is no good but Faith can part with at Gods command By faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son Heb. 11.17 And there is no evil but Faith will undergo at Gods call Through faith they were stoned they were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the Sword c. Hebrews 11.37 Faith fetches constant supplies from Christ as head of the body and he is not only a head of guidance for the way we are to walk in but a head of influence for strength to walk in it Therefore it is said Isa 40.31 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Direct 7. Take heed of first declensions and watch daily against them Apostacy begins in little decays at first nemo repente fit turpissimus A breach of waters which is but little at first may end in a great deluge Many a fair house goes to utter ruine which timely repairs might have prevented at a small charge A little breach made in the Conscience grows wider and wider It is easier to crush the egg then to kill the serpent And therefore it concerns us to watch against first declinings Is your Spiritual fervour abated doth love decay is duty omitted doth Conscience grow less tender This if let alone and not timely remedyed will end in a casting off the Yoke of Christ Hence that counsel of Christ to the Church of Sardis Rev. 3.2 Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to dye Direct 8. Remember the terms of the Covenant you are in with God and renew them often by a fixed and setled resolution There is no man takes up Christs Yoke but he doth therein enter into a Covenant with God and this Covenant stands in mutual agreements and