with Stripes nevertheless my loving Kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail Psal. 89. 32 33. And Prov. 11. 31. The Righteous shall be recompensed in the Earth That is he shall smart for his Evil-doings A Child of God when he sinneth against him tho he be not executed yet he may be branded he may have a Mark of Shame put upon him his Pilgrimage may be made uncomfortable and these may be fully consistent with God's Grace and Love Therefore we beg a Release from these penal Evils that as the Guilt so the Punishment also my be abolished 2. The Right that a justified Person hath to the Pardon of his daily Sins Pardon of Sin is to be considered 1. In the Impetration of it 2. The Offer 3. The Judicial Application or legal Absolution of the Sinner 1. In the Impetration and Purchase of it So when Heb. 10. 14. By one Offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified there needed no more to expiate them to satify Justice 2. In the offer of it So God hath proclaimed Pardon upon the Condition of Repentance Ezek. 33. 11. Say unto them As I live saith the Lord God I have no Pleasure in the Death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye turn ye from your evil Ways for why will ye die O House of Israel 3. In the Judicial Application or legal Absolution of a Sinner God in Word hath pronounced the legal Absolution of every one that believeth in Christ. Assoon as we repent and believe a threefold Benefit we have 1. The state of the Person is altered He is a Child of God Iohn 1. 12. To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name He hath full leave to call God Father a kind of fatherly dealing from him Translated from a state of Wrath to the state of Grace from a Child of the Devil he is made a Child of God never to be cast out of his Family 2. The actual Remission of all past Sins Rom. 3. 25. To declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through the Forbearance of God 'T would be a Licence to sin if his Sins were remitted before committed 3. A Right to the Remission of daily Sins or free leave to make use of the Fountain of Mercy that is always running and is opened in the House of God for the Comfort of Believers Zech. 13. 1. In that day there shall be a Fountain opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem for Sin and for Vncleanness 2. The Utility and Profit of such a Course See Serm. on Psal. 32. 1. Serm. 20. Vse The Use is to press us to be often dealing with God about the pardon of our Sins by a general and daily Humiliation none are exempted from bewailing the Evil of Sin The Death of Christ doth not put less Evil into Sin it is still damning in its own Nature 't is still the Violation of an holy Law an Affront to an holy God an Inconvenience to thy precious Soul When Christ paid the Price for our Sins it was upon this Condition That we should renew our Faith and Repentance that we should sue out our Discharge in his Name that when we sin we may come and humble our selves before the Lord. Under the Law if a Man were unclean he was to wash his Cloaths before Evening He was not to sleep in his Uncleanness So if you have desiled your selves you should go wash in the Laver that God hath appointed The Lord taught his People under the Law of repeating a daily Sacrifice Morning and Evening If one be fallen out with another God hath advised us before the Sun be set to go and be reconciled to our Brother and wilt thou lie under the Wrath of God for one Night If we would oftner use this Course the Work of Repentance would not be so hard Wounds are best cured at first before they are suffered to fester and rankle into a Sore So are Sins before they grow longer upon us And if we did oftner thus reckon with our selves we should have less to do when we come to die Therefore do as wise Merchants at the Foot of every Page draw up the Account so help it forward So it will not be hard to sum up a long Account and reckon up our whole Lives and beg a Release of all our Debts therefore daily come and humble your selves before the Lord. The oftner you do this the sooner you will have the Comfort of Pardon but when you keep off from God and delay you suffer the loss of Peace and the loss of God's Favour and Hardness of Heart and Atheism and carnal Security increase upon you As we forgive our Debtors I come to the last Branch Hence observe Doct. 3. Those that would rightly pray to be forgiven of God they must forgive others First I shall give you the Explication 2. The Reasons For Explication I shall speak to three things 1. Who are Debtors 2. What respect our forgiving of others hath to God's forgiving of us 3. In what manner we must forgive others First Who are our Debtors It is not meant in a vulgar Sence of those only which stand ingaged for a Sum of Mony due to us but of all such as have offended us in Word or Deed. There is a Duty we owe to one another which when we omit or act contrary unto it we are not only Debtors to God but to one another and the Doers of the Injury are bound to repair the Wrong and to make Restitution In this large sence is the word Debtors here taken with respect to the Person that hath done the Injury He becomes a Debtor is to make Satisfaction and suffer the Punishment which the Wrong deserves Secondly What Respect hath our forgiving of others to God's forgiving us I shall speak to it Negatively and Positvely 1. Negatively 1. It is not a meritorious Cause or a Merit and Price given to God why he should pardon us for that 's only the Blood of Christ. Every Act of ours is due it is imperfect and no way proportionate to the Mercies we expect and therefore it cannot be meritorious before God It is due it is a Duty we are bound to do and paying of new Debts doth not quit old Scores God hath laid such a Law upon us that we are to forgive others that cannot expiate former Offences And it is imperfect too The Remembrance of Injuries sticks too close to us When we do most heartily and intirely forgive others even then we have too great a sense of the Injury and Wrong that is offered to us Now that which needs Pardon cannot deserve Pardon And it is disproportionate to the Mercy which we expect What a vast Disparity and Difference is there between God's pardoning of us
the Devil's work in us 1 John 3. 8. He that committeth Sin is of the Devil for the Devil sinneth from the beginning For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the Works of the Devil And Joh. 8. 34. Whosoever committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin The one cometh from a just God the other from our corrupt Hearts The one is the Act of an Holy God the other the Act of a sinful Creature 4. The Death of Christ falls more directly upon this Benefit exemption from Sin Mat. 1. 21. He shall save his People from their Sins Acts 3. 26. God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities not Troubles or Sorrows but Sins 5. Affliction is a more particular temporal Evil but Sin is an infinite universal Evil Sickness depriveth us of Health Poverty of Wealth c. And every adverse Providence doth but oppose some particular temporal Good But Sin depriveth us of God who is the Fountain of our Comfort the other but of some limited Comfort 6. Afflictions are sent to remove Sin Heb. 12. 11. Now no chastning for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby Isa. 26. 9. When thy Iudgments are in the Earth the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness But Sin is not sent to remove Affliction Now the End must be greater than the Means both as to Prosecution and Aversation As to Prosecution To dig for Iron with Mattocks of Gold and Silver So in Aversation If Death were not worse than the Pain of Physick no Man would take Physick to avoid Death 7. Affliction is the Effect of God's Love Heb. 12. 6. Whom the Lord loveth he chastneth But to be left to Sin is an Effect of God's Anger God doth not always exempt from Troubles yet if he keep from Spiritual hurt thereby if he sanctify the Trouble support us with sufficient Grace 2 Cor. 12. 9. if preserved from Evil howsoever tempted and exercised 't is enough Vse 1. To reprove our Folly We complain of other Things but we do not complain of Sin which is the greatest Evil. This is contrary to the Spirit of God's Children who rejoice in Troubles but not in Sins 2 Cor. 12. 9. Most gladly therefore will I rejoice in Infirmities that the Power of Christ may rest upon me They groan bitterly under Sins Rom. 7. 23. O wretched Man c. If any Man had cause to complain of Afflictions Paul had In Perils often Whipped Persecuted Stoned But the Body of Sin and Death was the greatest Burden Lusts troubled him more than Scourges his Captivity to the Law of Sin more than Prisons When Affliction sitteth too close Sin sits loose In Affliction there is some Offence done us but in Sin the wrong is done to God And what are we to God Afflictions may be good but Sin is never good The Body suffereth by Affliction but the Soul suffereth by Sin loss of Grace and Comfort which are not to be valued by all the World's Enjoyments The Evil of Affliction is but for a moment like Rain it drieth up of its own accord But the Evil of Sin is for ever unless it be pardoned and taken away Sin is the Cause of all the Evils of Affliction therefore when we complain we should complain not so much of the Smart as of the Cause of it 2. It directeth us 1. How to pray to God against Sin rather than Trouble This is indeed to be delivered from Evil 2 Tim. 4. 18. Paul reckoned upon that He will deliver me from every evil Work When afflicted you should rather desire to have the Affliction sanctified than removed you will be most careful for that Saints do not pray for the Interests of the Old Man rather than the New Man To be freed from Trouble is a common Mercy but to have it sanctified is a special Mercy Carnal Men may be without Affliction but Carnal Men cannot have experience of Grace Bare deliverance is no sign of special Love 2. In our choice 'T was an heavy Charge they put upon Iob Job 36. 21. Thou hast chosen Iniquity rather than Affliction Sometimes we are put upon the trial To loose the Favour of God or the Favour of Men Duty and Danger Here content my self gratify my Lusts and Interests there offend God Out of the Temptation we could easily judg that all the Misery in the World is to be endured rather than commit the least Sin But how is it upon a trial when a Worldly Convenience and a Spiritual Inconvenience is proposed By chusing Sin a Man cannot altogether escape Affliction here or hereafter Wickedness though it prosper a while yet at length it proveth a Snare 3. It directeth us to submit to God's Providence and to own Mercy in it Though God doth not exempt us from Troubles yet if he keep us from Hurt thereby if he sanctify the Trouble and support us with Grace sufficient 't is his Mercy to us For Daniel to be put into the Lion's Den was not so great a Judgment as for Nebuchadnezzar to have the Heart of a Beast To be given up to our own Hearts Lusts to commit any Sin 't is a greater Cross than any Misery that can light upon us therefore let us be patient under Affliction Our great Care should be not to dishonour God in any Condition God hath promised to be with his People in their Afflictions to comfort them but hath never promised to be with his People in their Sins I will be with you in the Fire and in the Water as the Son of God was with the three Childrâ—â— in the fiery Furnace But God is departed whâ— they siâ— I will go to my own place Sin hindreth Prayer but Afflictions quicken it Isa. 26. 16. Lord in Trouble have they visited thee they poured out a Prayer when thy chastning was upon them In Affliction 't is a time to put the Promises in suit it doth not hinder our access to God and the Throne of Grace but driveth us to it But Sin increaseth our Bondage maketh us stand at a distance and grow â—hy of God The Fruit of Sin is Shame Rom. â— 21. 4. It teaches us how to wait and hope for the issue of our Prayers Pray that ye enter not into Temptation yet be not absolute in that but to be kept from Evil that what way soever we are tried we may be kept from the Evil of Sin For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever Amen IN these words we have the Conclusion of all and that which giveth us confidence in the Requests we make to God First The Confirmation is taken from the Excellency of God to whom we pray where there is a declaration of what belongeth to God Secondly The Duration and Perpetuity for Ever Three things are mentioned
Prayers should be the Breathings of the Spirit and usually they are but the Belches and Eructations of the Flesh. And for these it is we are so instant and earnest with God We would have God bless us in some revengeful and carnal Enterprize We deal with God as the Thief that lighted his Candle at the Lamps of the Altar So many would make God a Party in their carnal Designs Prov. 21. 27. The Sacrifice of the Wicked is an Abomination how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked Mind It is an Abomination when it is at the best but when he hath an ill Aim then it is an Abomination with a witness Foolish Creatures vainly imagine to entice Heaven to their Lure Balaam buildeth Altars and sacrificed out of hope that God would curse his own People and engage in Moab's Quarrel like the Man in the Gospel that would make no other use of Christ than to compose his civil Difference Luke 12. 13. he comes to him as a Man of Authority Master speak to my Brother that he divide the Inheritance with me We all look upon God tanquam aliquem magnum as Austin said he did in his Infancy as some great Power that would serve all our carnal Turns In this Sence we make God to serve our Sins Isa. 43. 24. when we would have God to contribute to our Lusts to our Pride Wantonness Revenge This is such a foolish Request as if a Wife should beg of her Husband to give her leave to go on with her Adulteries Survey all the Petitions which are in this present Platform of Prayer there is not one that is calculated for such an evil purpose as our Revenge Pomp Pride Pleasure Carnal Self surely must give way to God 2. There 's a natural Self when we seek our own Temporal Felicity Christ hath allowed these natural Desires a Room in our Prayers but they must keep their Order and their Place first God's Glory and then our Safety The obtaining of natural Good is put in the last place And therefore when our Thoughts only run upon Temporal Felicity and outward Supplies it is not Prayer but a brutish Cry Hos. 7. 14. They howl upon their Beds for Corn Wine and Oil. Beasts are sensible of their Pain and are carried by natural Instinct to seek their own Welfare as well as Men. And therefore when this is our first and only Request it is a Perversion of that Order which Christ hath set down in this perfect Form of Prayer 3. There is Spiritual Self Which is valuable either in point of Justification or Acceptance with God or in point of Sanctification and Conformity to him Now as these Blessings cannot be severed from God's Glory where they are really enjoyed so they must not be severed in our Prayers nor preferred before it To ask Pardon as a separate Benefit as it concerns our Ease and Quiet not as it concerns God's Glory is a Perversion and a Diversion of our Prayers The main thing which God intends should be the main thing in our Requests is the Praise of his glorious Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved Eph. 1. 6. And therefore this is the main thing which the Soul intends Psal. 79. 9. Help us O God of our Salvation for the Glory of thy Name and deliver us and purge away our Sins for thy Names sake The Argument is not taken from themselves meerly or from their own Misery but from God's Glory If God could not be more glorified in our Pardon and Acceptance with him than in our Death and Damnation it were an evil thing to desire Pardon But now when God hath abundantly cleared up this to us he is no Loser by Acts of Mercy that this conduceth more to the exalting of his great Name to accept poor Sinners to Mercy the Soul goeth with the more confidence to beg it of God that he would purge us from our Filthiness for his Names sake But now Mens Thoughts are wholly taken up with their own Peace and Safety and take no care for God's Honour this is but a Selfish Request or an Offer of Nature after Ease For the other part to ask for Grace and Conformity to God's Will meerly as it is a Perfection of our Nature abstractly from God's Glory it is not a right Request It is contrary to the very Nature of Grace whose Tendency is to God in the first place that his Name may be glorified that we should be to the praise of his glorious Grace Grace wrought in us is but a Creature and not to be preferred before the Creator See how the Apostle prays 2 Thess. 1. 11 12. We pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this Calling and fulfill all the good Pleasure of his Goodness and the Work of Faith with Power That the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in him according to the Grace of our God and the Lord Iesus Christ That is a regular Prayer when all our spiritual Interests are swallowed up in God and we beg that his Name may be glorified in us and upon us 4. There is glorified Self which standeth in the eternal Fruition of God Man was made for two Ends to glorify God and to enjoy him Now our Crown of Glory must be laid at God's Feet as the Elders Rev. 4. 10. Saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power All our Desires must give place to this that he may be glorified in our eternal Happiness and we are to beg it no farther than as it may stand with his Honour Mans chief End and so his chief Request in respect of himself is to enjoy God but with respect to God so it is the highest only of subordinate Ends for the highest chiefly and absolutely is the glorifying of God Well then therefore this is put first to shew that our chiefest Care and Affection should mainly run upon the Glory of God and that God might be advanced and lifted up on high Secondly To give you some Reasons why those things which concern the Glory of God must be sought in the first place and with the greatest Affection 1. As we are reasonable Creatures it is fit it should be so In all regular Desires the End is first intended and then the Means But now the Glory of God that is the End of all things Prov. 16. 4. The Lord hath made all Things for himself that is for his own Glory for the manifesting of his Excellency And so our Redemption Luke 2. 14. Glory be to God on high When God came to shew his Good-Will in Christ it was to make way for his Glory As it begins in Good-Will so it must end in Glory This is the end of all the Privileges we have by Nature and Grace Now God's Glory is the end of our Being and Service and therefore must be first taken care of in our Prayers first his
only forbid Acts but Thoughts and Desires therefore is it lawful to long for Death Answer Yes but yet we are not anxiously to long after it till the time come not to grow weary of Life our of Desperation and Tiresomness of the Cross as Ionah did chap. 4. 3. but in order to God's Glory and Accomplishment of our Happiness See more at large Psal. 119. vers 17. pag. 104. Case 2. Secondly Do all that have an Interest in Christ desire to die Is not Death terrible Certainly Death is terrible both as a natural and a penal Evil. As in it self it is the Curse of the Covenant and as it depriveth us of Life the chiefest Blessing Yet we should train up our selves in an expectation of Death we should look and long for it that when the time is come we might be willing to give up our selves into the hands of God It is required of a Christian that he should not only be passive in his own Death to die in Peace but active How to hasten his Death No but to resign up himself willingly into the hands of God that his Soul might not be taken away but given up and commended to God We should be willing to be in the Arms of Christ to be there where he is to behold his Glory If Christ had such a good-will to Men as that he longed to be with us solacing his Heart with the thought of it before all Worlds Prov. 8. 31. He was thinking of us how he should come down and converse with Men Surely we should not be so backward to go to Christ. And therefore as Iacob's Spirit revived when he saw the Chariots Ioseph sent to carry him into Egypt so our Hearts should be more chearful and comfortable when Death approacheth Especially since Death is ours it is changed therefore we should be framing our selves to such a temper of Heart by degrees that we might be ready Vse 1. For Reproof to those that would be glad in their Hearts if Christ's Kingdom would never come As to the Kingdom of Grace in the external Administration they hate the Light and will not come to the Light lest their Deeds should be reproved Iohn 3. 20. A wicked Man is loth to be troubled God's Witnesses are the Worlds Torment Rev. 11. 10. They tormented them that dwelt on the Earth A Man that is bodily blind would have a sit Guide but these wretchedly blind Sinners nothing so troublesom and hateful to them as one that would lead them to the Kingdom of God And then as to Internal Grace when this Kingdom of Heaven breaks in upon their Hearts when any Light and Power darts in they seek to put it out they resist the Holy-Ghost Acts 7. 51. and refuse his Call And for the Kingdom of Glory they say It is good to be here and would not change their Portion here for their Portion in Paradise Vse 2. To exhort us to desire the Coming of Christ's Kingdom to our selves If you have any Love to the Lord's Glory or your own Good you should do it Rev. 3. 20. Behold I stand at the Door and knock If any Man hear my Voice and open the Door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me Will you not open to God that hath the best Right Will you not set open the doors to the King of Glory When Christ comes to bring entertainment to you to sup with you Again all Men will they nill they are subject to Christ either they must come and touch his Golden Scepter or feel the Bruises of his Iron Mace they must own him as King Every Knee shall bow Phil. 2. 10. Therefore be more willing to have the Kingdom of Glory come Again if God be not your King you will have a worse Master every Sin every Lust Tit. 3. 3. Serving divers Lusts and Pleasures You will be at the Beck of every Lust and carnal Motion and the Devil will be your Master to purpose for upon the refusal of Christ's Government there 's a Judicial Tradition you are given up to your own Hearts Lusts. Psal. 81. 12. Israel would none of me so I gave them up to their own Hearts Lusts and they walked in their own Counsels And to Satan to be insnared by him 2 Tim. 2. 26. Taken captive by him at his Will and Pleasure Not to buffet them as Paul was but to ensnare and harden their Hearts Again if you be not subject to God you go about to make God subject to you in effect You would have the Kingdom of Glory and yet continue in your Lusts. Isa. 43. 24. Thou hast made me to serve with thy Sins thou hast wearied me with thine Iniquities When you would have God patient hold his hand and be merciful to you and yet would continue in your Lusts then you make God serve with your Sins Again many temporal Inconveniencies will follow if we do not give way to the Kingdom of Christ to seize upon us when we make no difference between God's Service and the Service of other Lords then he gives us up to the Service of Men to a foreign Enemy to an oppressive Magistrate or breaks the Staff of Government among Men that we might know what it is to be under his Service and Government Therefore give willing Entertainment to the Kingdom of Christ. So much for the private Consideration of this Request Thy Kingdom come that is to us and our Persons both the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of Glory Secondly Having spoken of the Kingdom of Christ in a private now I come to speak of it in a publick Consideration And that is twofold 1. The publick visible Administration of the Kingdom of Grace 2. The publick and solemn Administration of the Kingdom of Glory at the Day of Judgment when Enemies shall have their final Doom and Saints have their Crowns set upon their Heads in the sight of all the World I shall speak of both but because the Discourse may be more fresh and lively upon other Texts 1. The publick visible Administration of the Kingdom of Grace on Psal. 51. 18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Sion build thou the Walls of thy Jerusalem 2. The Kingdom of Glory on Rev. 22. 20. Surely I come quickly Amen Even so Come Lord Iesus For the first Tho the Church be never so afflicted Psal. 102. 14. when all is defaced as to external appearance lying in a ruinous Heap yet it is beloved and pitied by God's Servants Thy Servants take Pleasure in her Stones and favour the Dust thereof There is nothing God's People desire so much as Zion's Welfare Psal. 106. 54. That I may see the Good of thy Chosen that I may rejoyce in the Gladness of thy Nation that I may glory with thine Inheritance And David in this Psalm Psal. 51. 18. having prayed for himself prayeth for Mercy to the Church and State Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion build
implicitely Amen Lord that it were so and surely Lord it shall be so we believe it and we desire it with all our Hearts 2. Explicitely Even so Lord Iesus Come quickly From this latter Clause I might observe many things 1. The sweet and blessed Harmony that â—is between Christ and the Church Christ's Voice and the Churches Voice are Unisons Christ saith I come and the Church like a quick Eccho takes the Word out of Christ's Mouth Even so come There is the same Spirit in Christ and in the Church for it is his Spirit that resides with us Christ he speaks in a way proper to him by way of Promise I come and the Church in a way proper to her by way of Prayer Even so come 2. I might observe That in the Close of the World we should most earnestly desire Christ's Coming We have the Advantage of former Times to us Christ saith I come quickly Now the set time almost is come therefore our Pulses should beat more strongly in putting up this Request to Christ. Tertullian shews that the Primitive Christians did pray prâ— mora finis that the End might not come too soon Christ having â—s yet but a small Interest in the World they expecting Enlargement upon Earth but we have more cause to look for the Accomplishment of his Kingdom in Heaven Thâ—ey expected the Revelation of Antichrist and we expect the Destruction of Antichrist They that God might be known in the World we that he might be no longer dishonoured in the World When great Promises are near their Accomplishment there is a more lively Spirit stirring in the Hearts of the Saints Dan. 9. 2 3. I understood by Books the Number of the Years whereof the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet that he would accomcomplish seventy Years in the Desolations of Jerusalem And I set my Face to the Lord God to seek by Prayer and Supplication But quitting these Notes I shall mainly insist upon this Point Viz. Doct. That the Church and all the faithful Members of it do really and heartily desire Christ's second Coming They look for it they long for it they wait for it They look for it Phil. 3. 20. Our Conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ. They reckon upon it as Rebekah espied Isaac afar off He is gone within the Vail he is appearing before God but he will come out again When they see the Clouds upon these one day will our Saviour come Then they long for it It is their Description 2 Tim. 4. 8. They love his Appearing Wicked Men and guilty Sinners hate and abhor it he being to come to them as a terrible Judg. Malefactors do not long for the Assizes But now the Saints who are absolv'd and washed in the Blood of Christ it doth them good to the Heart to think of it that one day Christ will appear in all his Glory And then they wait for it 1 Thess. 1. 10. They wait for his Son from Heaven even Iesus who hath delivered us from Wrath to come It is Wrath to come something behind the Coming of Christ which makes it so terrible Hell makes the Day of Judgment terrible The Devil could not endure to hear of Christ's coming Mat. 8. 29. Art thou come to torment us c. So wicked Men have the Spirit of the Devil it is a Torment and Bondage to them to think of the Judges Coming But those which have their Discharge they wait for it it supports and bears up their Hearts in the midst of their present Afflictions and they go on chearfully in their Work notwithstanding Lets and Troubles To give some Reasons why the faithful Members of Christ so really and heartily desire Christ's second Coming They are of three Sorts 1. Some in respect of the Person who is to come 2. Some in respect of the Persons which desire his Coming 3. Some in respect of the Coming it self I. In respect of him who is to come 1. His Person that we may see him The Children of God have delighted to look upon him through a Vail and have had a king of Heaven upon Earth from beholding his Face in the Glass of an Ordinance Looking upon him in the Vail of Ordinances hath been a mighty Comfort and Refreshing to them now they would desire to see his Person face to face They know by Hear-say this great Redeemer and Saviour of theirs he wooeth them by Proxy As Eleazar Abraham's Servant was to go abroad and seek for a Match for his Master's Son So the great Business of the Ministers of God is to set forth our Master's Son Now the Saints would fain see him Nay they have not only heard of him but believed in him and received him into their Hearts nay not only believed in him but they have loved him greatly 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen ye love in whom tho now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoice with Ioy unspeakable and full of Glory It hath been a ravishing thought to them to think of Christ. And they have tasted 1 Pet. 2. 3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious And they have felt him in the drawings of the Spirit they live by his Life they have found a Virtue going out from him Now all that they desire is that they may see this great Person who hath been their Redeemer and Saviour 2. Consider him as in his Person so in his Relations to them Here are two Titles Even so Lord Iesus He is Lord and he is Iesus He is Lord as a Master and Husband as Sarah called Abraham Lord. As a Master Good Servants will look for their Master 's coming Mat. 24. 46. And surely such a Master should be longed for and looked for for when he comes he will not come empty-handed Behold I come quickly and my Reward is with me Rev. 22. 12. Here Christ's Servants have their Vales but not their Wages Here they have present Maintenance that is all they have now but then they shall have their Reward and Wages here they have their Earnest but then they shall have the full Sum. Under the Law Masters were charged severely not to defraud their Servants of their Hire why He hath lift up his Soul to him that is in the middle of his hard Labours this was his Comfort when the Work of the Day was over he should have his Wages and his Hire at Night So you have lift up your Souls to him the great Pay-Day will come and this hath born you up in all your Labours and Travel of your Soul Therefore as he is our Lord so we should look for him And then as our Husband this is a sweeter Relation The Bride saith Come Rev. 22. 17. We are here contracted and betrothed to Christ I will betroth thee to me Hos. 2. 19. But the Day of solemn Espousals is hereafter Here we are betrothed to Christ in
Mankind God by his Almighty Grasp holdeth all things in his own Hands and if he should but let loose his Hand all would fall to nothing and disappear Iob. 6. 9. For it is from the intimate Support and Influence of his Providence that we have our Lives So our Comforts they are continued to us by God alas in themselves they are poor fugacious things Haman was to day high in Honour and to morrow high upon the Gallows Riches make themselves Wings and flie away as an Eagle towards Heaven Prov. 23. 5. The Holy-Ghost seems there to compare Riches to a Flock of Birds which pitcheth in a Man's Field to Night but to Morrow they are gone Who is the richer for a Flock of wild Fowls because they pitch in his Field now So all these outward things are so flying that they are soon gone by many Accidents unless he preserves them and continues our Possession of them For God he can give a Charge and Commission to the Fire to the Fury of Men one way or other to deprive us of these things Behold all he hath is in thy Hands Job 1. 12. When a Man hath gotten abundance of worldly Comforts about him and seemeth to be intrenched and provided against all Hazards the Man is taken away and cannot enjoy what he had heaped together with a great deal of Care and Sollicitude 4. We beg leave to use them It is good Manners in Religion to ask God's leave in all things It is Robbery to make use of a Man's Goods and to waste and consume them without his leave We must ask God leave upon this account because tho God gives these good things to Men yet he still reserves the Property in himself for by distributing Blessings to the Creature he never intended to devest himself of the Right As a Husbandman by scattering his Corn in the Field did not dispossess himself but still keeps a Right and means to have the Increase So when the Lord scattereth his Blessings we only receive them as Stewards not as Owners and Proprietors God still is the Supream Lord and only hath the Property and Dominion In Life it is clear Man is not Dominus Vits but Custos not Lord of his Life but only the Steward and Guardian of it he cannot live or die at his own Pleasure if a Man kills himself he runs the danger of God's Law What is said of Life is true also of his Estate he is not an Owner so much as a Steward that 's the Notion of our Possession we are Stewards and must render an account to God Hosea 2. 9. I will return and take away my Corn in the time thereof and my Wine in the season thereof and will recover my Wooll and my Flax. Though God hath communicated these things to the Children of Men yet he hath reserved the Dominion in his own Hands So Hag. 2. 8. The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts He never disposed any thing so into the Creatures Hands but still he hath reserved a Right and Interest in it and therefore it is Gen. 14. 19. that the Lord is not only called the Creator of Heaven and Earth but Possessor of Heaven and Earth He is not only the Possessor of Heaven where he dwells which he hath reserved to his own use but he is Possessor of Earth which he hath committed to the use of Men. And God will have his Right acknowledged from day to day 5. It is he that giveth us Ability to use them We beg that we may not only have the Comforts but Life and Strength to use them for God can blast us in the very midst of our Enjoyments It is the case of many when they have hunted after a worldly Portion and begin to think now I will sit down and enjoy it when the Gain is come into his Hands and he thinks to waste that which he hath got in hunting Death takes him away and he hath not power to use them Thus it was with the rich Fool when he began to sing Lullabies to his Soul and enjoy what he had got he is taken away by Death Luke 12. 20. Thou Fool this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided And it is said Numb 11. 33. when those People had gotten Quails That while the Flesh was yet between their Teeth ere it was chewed the Wrath of the Lord was kindled against the People and the Lord smote them with a very great Plague And that Noble Man which saw Plenty in Samaria but could not taste of it 2 Kings 7. 19. So Iob 21. 23. One dieth in his full Strength being wholly at ease and quiet When he has gotten abundance of worldly Comforts about him Death seizes on him of a sudden 6. God yet is further interested in these Mercies so as to give us a sanctified use of them that we may take our Bread out of God's Hands with Prayer and Thanksgiving and due Acknowledgments of God In 1 Tim. 4. 5. Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer Then are the Creatures sanctified to us when we enjoy God in them when our Hearts are raised to think of the Donor and can love him the more for every Gift Carnal Men like Swine raven upon the Acorns but look not up to the Oak from whence they drop In the Canticles the Spouses Eyes are compared to Doves Eyes They which make the Allusion say this is the meaning look as a Dove pecks and looks upward so upon every grain of Mercy we should look up to the God of Mercies It is not enough to taste the sweet of the Creatures but also to own God his Love and Bounty in them so to have them sanctified to us This is the Priviledg we have as Men that we can know the first Cause and who is the Benefactor All Creatures subsist upon the first Cause but are not capable of knowing it And this is our Priviledg as Christians to have this Capacity reduced into Act. It is of the Lord's Grace to give us a sanctified use of these things 7. We beg of God the natural Blessing upon the holy Use of outward Comforts so as they may continue us in Health and Vigor for the Service of God for nothing will prosper with us but by his Blessing Psal. 106. 15. He gave them their Request but sent Leanness into their Souls that is they had no natural Comfort by that which they had obtained God may give a Man Meat yet not an Appetite he may not give him the comfortable use of it a Blessing with it And therefore the Apostle makes it to be an Argument of God's Bounty to the Heathen that as he gave them Food so he gave them Gladness of Heart Acts 14. 17. He gave them Rain from Heaven and
Sins There is a twofold Debt which Man oweth to God 1. A Debt of Duty 2. A Debt of Punishment 1. A Debt of Duty Worship and Obedience this is a Debt we owe to God In this sence it is said Rom. 8. 12. We are Debtors not to the Flesh to live after the Flesh In which Negative the Affirmative is clearly implied that we are Debtors to God to live to God Debtors to the Spirit to live after the Spirit By the Law of Creation we were not appointed to serve and please the Flesh but to serve God Luke 17. 10. When you have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable Servants we have done that which was our Debt or Duty to do Obedience Worship and Service is a Debt we owe to God by virtue of that Interest which he hath in us and Command he hath over us And so you have that Speech Gal. 5. 3. that we are Debtors to the whole Law as we come under the Obedience of it 2. A Debt of Punishment which we are fallen into through the neglect of our Duty Punishment is due to us as Wages Rom. 6. 23. The Wages of Sin is Death God hath as it were made a Contract with us that if we will sin we must take our Wages we must take what it comes to Now in this Petition when we say Forgive us our Debts we do not desire to be discharged of the Duty we owe to God but to be acquitted of the Guilt and Punishment The Faults or Sins that we are guilty of oblige us and bind us to the Punishment and therefore Sins are called Debts The original Debt we owe is Obedience and in case of Default the next Debt we owe is Punishment Look as in a Contract and Bond if the Party observe not the Condition then he is liable to the Forfeiture So God dealt with Man by way of Covenant and the Tenor of it was exact Obedience and this Covenant had a Sanction or an Obligation annexed in case Obedience was not exactly performed we should be accursed and suffer all manner of Misery in this Life and the next Now by the Fall we incurr'd this Penalty and therefore as lost and undone Creatures we run to God's Mercy and beg him to forgive the Debt or the Forfeiture of that Bond of Obedience wherein Man standeth bound to God by the Law A little to make it good before I come to the Body of the Petition let me shew how Sin is a Debt wherein it agrees That will appear if you can consider 1. Our Danger by Sin 2. Our Remedy from Sin In both the Parts you will find Sin is considered as a Debt First If you consider our Danger by Sin 1. There is a Creditor to whom the Debt is due and that is God Luke 7. 41. when he would set out God's Mercy he saith There was a certain Creditor which had two Debtors c. God is there set forth under the Notion and Similitude of a Creditor God is a Creditor partly as our Creator and partly as a Lawgiver and partly as a Judg. As our Creator and Benefactor from whom we have received all that we have It was the Lord that gave to every Man his Talents to trade withal to some more to some less Mat. 25. Thus God hath trusted us with Life and all other Blessings But then as a Law-giver If God had given us Life Strength Parts Wealth that we should do with them what we would tho the Gift would oblige us in point of Gratitude to serve our Benefactor yet we had not been so responsible for our Defaults But we are under a Law to serve him and honour him that made us and gave us what we have God did not dispossess himself of an Interest in them He did not give them to us as Owners and Proprietors to do with them what we would but he gave them to us as Stewards our Life and Employment here is a Stewardship Nay God is not only a Law-giver but also a Judg he will call us to an Account He doth oblige us as a Creator but imposeth a Necessity upon us of obeying and serving him as a Law-giver and not only makes a Law but will take an Account of Men how they observe the Law of their Creation There will a Time come when the Lord of those Servants will come and reckon with them and require his own with Usury Luke 19. 23. He will require this Debt and Service at our Hands else we must endure the Penalty Well this is the Connection He that abuseth God's Mercy as a Creator offends him as as Law-giver and is justly punished by him as a Judg. There are many never think of this therefore are not sensible of these great Relations nor that they shall answer for all their Talents Strength and Time and Advantages they have in the World Thus there 's a Creditor 2. As a Debtor is bound to make Satisfaction to the Creditor or else is liable to the Process of the Law which may be commenced against him So are we all to God Bodies and Souls we are become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 guilty before the Lord Rom. 3. 19. So we translate it We are under the Sentence of the Law liable to the Process of his revenging Justice and one day God will pursue his righteous Law against us All the fallen Creatures are quite become Bankrupt we can never pay the original Debt of Obedience therefore must be left to lie under the Debt of Punishment 3. Look as Debts stand upon Record and are charged upon some Book of Account that they may not be forgot So God hath his Book of Account a Book of Remembrance as it is called Mal. 3. 16. All our Words Speeches Actions they are all upon Record what Means we have enjoyed what Mercies what Opportunities what Calls and what Messages of his Love and Grace Iob 14. 17. My Iniquity is sealed up in a Bag. As Mens Writings or Bonds which they have to shew for their Debts owing to them are sealed up in a Bag so Iob useth that Similitude Thus is Sin represented as a Thing that is upon Record and cannot be forgotten Many times we lose the Memory of what we have done in Childhood and Infancy but all is upon Record and your Iniquities vvill one day find you out tho you have forgotten and think never to hear of them more 4. A Day of Reckoning will come when God will put the Bond in Suit and all shall be called to an Account Sometimes God reckoneth with Sinners in part in this World but surely in the next Death is but the Summons to come to an Account with God Luke 16. 2. Give an Account of thy Stewardship for thou mayest be no longer Steward That Passage of the Parable is applicable to Death That when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting Habitations ver 9. When the Soul is turned out of Doors
when it is cited to appear before the Tribunal of God then vve give up our Account But especially at the great Day Rev. 20. 12. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened that is the Book of Conscience and the Book of God's Remembrance There are two Books that are written within and without upon which all our Actions are stamped they are now closed in a great measure we know not what is in these great Books One of the Books that of Conscience is in our own keeping yet we cannot deface and blot it out These Books at that Day will be opened Conscience by the Power of God shall be extended to the Recognition of all our Ways Conscience writes when it speaks not Many times it doth not smite for Sins we are guilty of but there stands the Debt charged upon which we shall be responsible 5. After this Reckoning there is Execution A Bankrupt that cannot satisfy his Creditor is cast into Prison So God hath his Prison for impenitent disobedient and obstinate Sinners 1 Pet. 3. 19. He went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison It is a dismal Prison where poor captive Prisoners are held in Chains of Darkness that is under the Horrors of their own despairing Fears looking for the Judgment of the Lord when they shall be cast into this Prison and no getting out again until they have paid the utmost Farthing Luke 12. 50. And that will never be as to the Sinner He is as it were always satisfying and can never be said to have satisfied the Justice of God Thus you see how Sin is a Debt and what correspondence there is between them the Obligation of Punishment that ariseth from Sin But now it differeth from all other Debts 1. No Debt to Man can be so great as our Debt to God both for number and weight Mat. 18. 24. compar'd with Vers. 28. You shall see there the Parable of the Lord forgiving ten thousand Talents and the Servant goes and takes his Brother by the Throat and requireth from him a Debt of an hundred Pence Mark Offences done to God are greater than Offences done to us for there 's as much Difference and Disproportion as between an hundred and ten thousand And then the Debt of the Fellow-Servant was but Pence an hundred Pence but the Debt due to the Lord that was Talents and a Talent is reckoned to be one hundred eighty seven Pounds ten Shillings Our Sins against God are more and more heavy than any which our Brethren can commit against us Pence Talents one hundred and ten thousand there 's the Difference and Disproportion O that we had a due sense of what it is to sin against God against an Infinite Majesty To strike a private Person is not so much as to strike an Officer of Justice and that 's not so much as to strike the supream Magistrate What is it to sin against God and how often do we All our Imaginations are only evil and that continually and therefore all our Sins against God will arise to a vast and heavy Debt because of the Infiniteness of the Object against whom Sin is committed 2. In other Debts there 's a Day of Payment set them in this Debt there 's none God doth not tell us when he will put the Bond in suit against us he may surprize us ere we are aware Luke 12. 20. when he dream'd of many Years Thou Fool this Night The Spirits now in Prison did as little think of that doleful place as those Sinners which are alive It may be to day to morrow the next hour Gen. 4. 7. Sin lyeth at the Door There 's a Sentence and Curse that way-lays him Sin for the Punishment of Sin it 's ready to seize upon him and pluck him by the Throat and bring him into God's Presence Still the Curse hovers over the Head of obstinate and impenitent Sinners 3. In other Debts if the Goods are taken by way of Execution and suffice the Person is free But here God aims at the Person and the whole Person Body and Soul are cast into Hell Fire Mat. 10. 28. 4. Here there can be no shifting no avoiding the Danger If you fly from God you do but fly to God from God as willing to be a Friend to God who is sure to be revenged Whither shall I fly from thy Spirit If I go into the Depths thou art there Psal. 139. God is here there and every where 5. All other Debts cease at Death when a Man dyeth we say his Debts are paid but here Execution begins then the Law takes the Sinner by the Throat and drags him to everlasting Punishment and doth in effect say pay me what thou owest Death is God's Arrest Assoon as the Soul steps out of the World presently 't is attached and seized and forfeited into the Hands of God's Justice How many are there that lie under this Danger and never think of it Spiritual Debts they are not so sensible of as literal A Man that 's deeply in debt and in danger of an Arrest cannot sleep eat walk abroad but his Fears are upon him Augustus bought his Quilt or Bed that could sleep soundly when he owed so many thousand Sestercies But poor sensless Sinners never think of danger until they are plunged into it and then there 's no escape Secondly The Metaphor will also hold good as to our Remedy and Recovery how we come out of this Debt A Debtor that is insolvent is undone unless there be some means found out to satisfy the Creditor So we must altogether lie under the Wrath of God unless Satisfaction be made Therefore Jesus Christ in the 1. Place comes under the Notion of a Surety Because he took the Debt of Man upon himself therefore Heb. 7. 22. he is called The Surety of a better Testament When Christ undertook the Business of our Salvation he did in effect say as Paul to Philemon Vers. 18. If he hath wronged thee or oweth thee ought put that on mine Account So did Jesus Christ in effect say to God Let me be made a Sin and made a Curse for them He that was a Judg was willing to become a Party and to pay what we owed David in the Type of Christ saith Psal. 69. 4. I restored that which I took not away He did not take away any Honour from God It was we that robbed God of the Glory of his Justice Authority and Truth that trampled them under our Feet but Christ made restitution and amends to God 2. Having condescended to become our Surety he made full Satisfaction by suffering the Punishment which was due to us Isa. 53. 4. Surely he hath born our Griefs and carried our Sorrows That which we should have born upon our own Backs and would have crusht us for ever that he hath born and he hath carried Christ was to be the Sinner in Law and was to suffer in our stead
for nothing but the Love of God will make us deny that which is so near and pleasing to us or that Affection which grows upon the apprehension of his Grace in Christ therefore the Grace of God is said to teach us to deny all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts Tit. 2. 12. 2. For the other Wile As Satan doth transform himself into an Angel of Light and cover his base Designs with plausible Pretences for instance Revenge shall be accounted Zeal He will difguise it so as that the very Apostles shall count it Zeal for the Glory of God when they called for Fire from Heaven to consume them even as Elias did Luke 9. 54. And Carnal Counsel shall be counted Pitty and Natural Affection Mat. 16. 22. Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying Be it far from thee Lord This shall not be unto thee He shall be the Devil's Agent to tempt Christ and his Carnal Counsel shall be looked upon as Pity to his Master And Licentiousness shall be Christian Liberty and our Liberty by Christ shall be used aâ— an occasion to the Flesh Gal. 5. 13. And an immoderate use of Carnal Pleasure shall be Christian Rejoicing or Christian Chearfulness Therefore as there needs Love to withstand the Potency of Temptation by the suitableness of the Bait to our own Affections so there needs the Fear of God Prov. 14. 27. The Fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life to depart from the Snares of Death When the Devil by his Wiles is laying Snares for us Snares of Death the Fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life A Man that is afraid to offend God and to abuse his Liberty or run into any Excess under colour of a Grace is very cautious and watchful and thereby is not so soon surprized Thus when the Soul is inflamed by the vehement heat of boyling Lusts or raging Despair Faith is necessary Luke 22. 31 32. Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as Wheat But I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not Faith laying hold upon Christ's Righteousness and waiting for his Grace teaches us to overcome in such Conflicts But why should I instance in these three Graces only when we are bidden to put on the whole Armour of God Eph. 6. 11 13. If we would come off with Honour in this Conflict we must be compleatly armed no Power of the Soul or Sense of the Body must be left naked and without a Guard therefore not one saving Grace can be wanting A Christian is set forth as armed from Head to Foot There 's for the Head a Helmet of Salvation which is Hope a Breast-Plate of Righteousness the Girdle of Truth for Shoes the Gospel of Peace the Shield of Faith the Sword of the Spirit These are the Graces necessary to resist Temptation and these we have from God A Christian hath not only Weapons Offensive but Defensive not only a Sword but also a Shiâ—ld Satan hath only Weapons Offensive as Darts he hath Darts to wound the Soul Again observe there is no piece of Armour for the Back why Because there is no Flight in this Spiritual Warfare we must stand to it Jam. 4. 7. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you But let us see what are the pieces of the Spiritual Armour The Apostle begins with the Girdle of Truth by which is meant not Truth of Doctrine for that 's the Sword of the Spirit but Sincerity or an honest Intention when a Man endeavoureth to be both to God and Man what he seems to be now it 's the Lord that must renew the right Spirit within us Satan he assaults us with Wiles but our Armour of Proof against him is the Girdle of Truth We stand against the Wiles of Satan but we must not fight against him with his own Weapons and put off Wiles with Wiles Sincerity and honest Intention that 's our Strength this is a Girdle to the Loins it gives Strength and Courage to the Soul And then there 's the Breast-Plate of Righteousness or that Grace which puts us upon a holy Conversation suitable to God's Will revealed in his Word whereby we endeavour to give God and Man their due it secures the Breast and Vital Parts the Seed of inherent Grace in the Heart an honest fixed purpose to obey God in all things The next thing the Feet must be shod we shall meet with rough Ways in our Passage to Heaven and what 's that which is Armour of Proof for our Feet The Preparation of the Gospel of Peace a Sense of our Peace and Friendship made up between God and us through Christ without this we shall never follow God in the way of Duty when we meet with Difficulties and Hardships But above all take the Shield of Faith a Shield covers the Body but that which gives Defence to all is Faith without this a Man is naked destitute of Christ's imputed Righteousness he wants his Covenant-Strength it applyeth Christ's Righteousness and engageth the Power of God on our behalf Then there 's the Helmet of Salvation which is Hope 1 Thess. 5. 8. A well-grounded hope of Salvation it makes us hold up the Head in the midst of all Waves and sore Assaults that is it is our great Motive and Encouragement in the work of Sanctification Then there 's the Sword of the Spirit which is both Offensive and Defensive it wardeth off Satan's Blows and makes him fly black from us as one wounded and ashamed These are the Graces now God gives them to us and therefore he is called The God of all Grace 1 Pet. 5. 10. Why because he requires it only No but because he giveth it also And it is called The Armour of God vers 11. God is the Author God is the Maker God is the Inventer of this Armour and he doth freely bestow it upon us The Apostle bids us Take the whole Armour of God vers 13. that is take it out of God's Hand this Armour is not of our making and procuring but made to our Hands by God himself Secondly He actuates these Graces by putting good Motions into our Hearts or sweet and gracious Thoughts whereby all the fore-mentioned Graces are drawn out When we are conflicting with Sin in an Hour of Temptation Faith is set a-work That God may fulfil all the good pleasure of his Goodness and the work of Faith with power 2 Thess. 1. 11. that is by a Divine Power and Influence quickning it into Acts. Ioseph when he was aâ—saulted by a grievous Temptation he had a gracious Motion and thought put into his Mind How can I do this Wickedness and sin against God Gen. 39. 9. Still there is a seasonable remembrance of things by the Spirit whose office it is to bring all things to remembrance Ioh. 14. 26. The Spirit doth not only teach us all things but brings thingâ— to our remembrance when we have need of any Truth to be set home upon the