continue It is an Argument of spiritual pride for us not to wait and tarry begging though the Lord seem to keep off denying It was a proud speech of the King of Assyria in 2 King 6.33 Behold this evil is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer Nay hee should have said it is of the Lord and therefore it is meet I must I will wait so this Woman did and so must wee wait and not go away Many a soul is apt to give all over to cry I will pray no more seek no more this is evil and must be watched against An humbly wise soul will wait and wee ought so to do for that is another peece of this example and another part of our good behaviour But then Thirdly A third thing I do observe as the good carriage of this Woman that should bee ours to Christ is That shee doth really tell the Lord that her onely hope was in his help LORD HELP MEE c. The Lord seems to put her off shee comes and worships him c. and cries out Lord help mee a comprehensive speech it is My thinks there are three things in that expression which I shall briefly open unto you First It is as if sâ—ee should say Lord thou alone canst help mee Secondly As if shee should say If thou wilt not help mee no body will And Thirdly It is as if shee should say Lord If thou wilt not help mee I am resolved is go no where elsâ— and therefore O Lord help mee Well mark it It is your Copy you must 〈◊〉 if thou wilt carry it as thou oughtest and therefore lay it up in thy heart First Though the Lord reject thee tell the Lord yet hee is thy help there is no other Name whereby I can bee saved but thine no other Physician but thee no other balm but thee no other help but in thee this is good carriage Secondly Wee must not only look to Christ as the helper but as hee alone that will do it Tell Christ that if hee do not help thee none will therefore Lord help That speech is spoken out to that purpose Psal 69.20 Reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of bitterness and I looked for some to take pitty but there was none c. This poor woman might have said as the Woman with the bloody Issue I have been with all the Doctors and none can cure none cast the Devil out of my childe O soul it is a savoury speech to say Lord all help but thine is in vain I have gone here and there to this and that creature but all are empty all are hopeless all are helpless It is thee alone O Lord that I see can help therefore O Lord hear and O Lord help And then consider it further Thirdly Shee holds it out as one resolved to go to no body else Lord help shee will not leave him It is said They that forsake thee and go a whoring they shall all perish But it is good for mee to draw nigh to God as hee said Psal 73. vers last I have thought this to bee a part of the intendment of that expression in Psal 16.1 4. Preserve mee O Lord for in thee do I trust Their sorrows shall bee multiplied that hasten after another God their drink-offerings of blood I will not offer nor take up their names into my lips I have I say thought it to bee as if hee should say Lord help mee I will go no where else I will not go to an Idol thou canst do it and thou wilt do it and no body else can do it and I am resolved to go no where else here I lye here I will dye if I must none can none shall bee to mee a helper but thy self alone and therefore Lord help Well that is the third thing in this Womans carriage which is our Copy But to proceed Fourthly Mark it a little This good Woman carries it well to Christ in that shee doth not dâ—ny what the Lord did hint about her unworthiness Christ calls her dogg and shee doth not at all deny it Oh Sirs a beleeving soul acts highly but it goes humbly Mark but a little the phrase My thinks our Lord and Saviour doth speak two sad things to her in one word It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs In this speech it is evident that Christ First Hee calls her Dogg And Secondly Hee tells her It is not meet for Doggs to have childrens bread yet how humbly doth shee carry it Shee saith TRUTH LORD As if shee had said I may bee a Dogg and am so and it is not meet for mee to have childrens bread c. Oh Sirs if the Lord Christ in the day of your distress when you shall go to him under the sense of your sins if then I say hee rip up and charge upon us our sins and shall say to thee but thou wert a drunkard but thou wert a swearer c. then know how to he have your selves and say Truth Lord it is so I dare not I do not in the least deny it It is good carriage to confess the truth of what Christ laies to our charge I meet with two sad examples of the Lords own people that were got upon so proud a pin that they did deny what God charged them with In Jeremiah 2. God charges them with fooleries and going away from him saith God in vers 23. How canst thou say I am not polluted I have not gone after Baalim see thy way in the valley know what thou hast done thou art a swift Dromedary traversing her waies Now mark in vers 35. Yet thou sayest because I am innocent c. That God should charge them with Idols and they say that they are innocent it argues a very proud heart and it was very ill carriage a behaviour which did not become them yet so it was And just so bad a behaviour is theirs in Malachy 3.13 saith God there Your words have been stout against mee yet yee say What have wee spoken so much against thee Oh Sirs souls that are in a saving condition do know this that I am going to say when the conscience accuses flesh and blood will go to put all off what I a drunkard I a swearer c. I thou art and if God charge it upon thee it is and must bee thy good carriage in all humility to lye down and say nothing You have a notable word in Lam. 3. It is good for a man that hee bear the yoak in his youth vers 29. Hee putteth his mouth in the dust if so bee there may bee hope Oh do not deny any sin the Lord charges thee withall if there bee any hope it is in this putting thy mouth in the dust But of all examples I will commend you to that in Jeremiah 3. saith God in vers 20. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband so
especially considering the many former Presidents of persons coming to Christ that this woman should have been embraced presently How lowly doth shee come how loudly doth shee cry in the language of what Eaith doth shee speak yet Christ doth not answer her Remember yee the Lord Jesus may let a soul sometimes long lye before him and never take him up You indeed read of the Prodigal who when hee fell upon his face the Father fell upon his neck but beware thou promise not thy self this presently Christ may let thee fall upon thy face and not fall upon thy neck In Matthew 11. verse last You have there a sweet call Come unto mee yee that are weary c. Now I pray minde it a poor soul may go to Jesus Christ very weary and heavy laden and the Lord may let it lye a great while under the burthen of filth under the burthen of guilt and of fears and may seem for a while not at all to minde it Certainly it could not bee a little while that David lay under the burthen of Gods absence after hee had sinned against him See Psal 38. and the beginning where hee complains That his wounds did fester and were corrupt David was like a man going to a Chirurgion with many wounds and the Chirurgion lets the wounds stink before hee gives a plaister to him Sinners look about you The Lord Christ may let you lye without a plaister many a day without washing your wounds many a day Paul prayed three times for one thing and that thing denied him If ever you come and knock and cry and call and the Lord doth not presently open do not say never one was so dealt withall as I am the Woman of Canaan was so before thee that is clear shee was not presently made welcome Secondly The Lord did not onely not entertain her but did not speak a word to her So it is expresly vers 23. The Lord answered her not a word Oh my Brethren how harsh was this what not a word O! not a word Why if the Lord Jesus will not presently give the balm that the wounded soul doth beg will hee not speak No not a word And yet it is noted Shee cried after him yet not a word not a word It is upon record as the case of Saul setting forth the greatness of his distress when God did most severely deal with him That he Lord did not answer him by dreams or visions nor by Urim nor Thummim that is God did not speak a word And my Brethren let mee tell you It is a harsh dealing when the Lord shall let us lye crying and hee bee dumb as if hee did not hear It is harsh not to bee heard There are two waies by which the Lord speaks viz. 1 By his Spirit 2 By some actual dealing with the soul 1 Sometimes Christ saith by the Spirit Soul bee of good comfort thy sins are forgiven 2 At other times hee gives good signs by supporting and refreshing the soul but it may so fall out as that hee may carry it so seemingly harsh as not to answer a word to the soul either way And this is no new thing wee read in Psal 22.1 2. David there who was then a type of poor souls cries out there Why art thou so far from helping mee and from the words of my roaring O God I cry but thou hearest not So in Job 30.20 saith Job I cry unto thee and thou dost not hear mee I stand up and thou regardest it not Hee saith God did not so much as regard what hee said If the Lord Jesus would not presently entertain us to do as wee wish yet certainly one would think a word were but little but sometimes Christ will not speak a word Thirdly The Lord carries it so seemingly harsh that when others speak on her behalf hee refuses to hear Mark it here were as wee say good spokesmen for this woman Vers 23. His Disciples besought him saying send hâ—r away for shee crieth after us i. e. As if they should say Lord the poor woman cries very loudly shee cries after us as the beast after the Foal c. What saith Christ why I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Hee puts them by hee gives them a denial and something more as wee shall shew by and by In Numb 12. you read a sad story of Miriam Moses his Sister shee had provoked God and God had smote her with a Leprosie and Moses cried to the Lord for her saith the Lord If her Father had spit upon her face should shee not bee shut out of the Camp seven daâ—es Oh my Brethren sometimes the Minister may the Father may pray and the Mother may pray for the childe and yet the Lord will not speak but put them off If Moses and Samuel should speak to mee for this people yet my minde could not bee towards them Jer. 15.1 Oh my Brethren It is no new thing for the Lord to carry it so seemingly harsh as not to hear others when they speak on our behalf Possibly the soul may say I am unworthy to speak but had I some friend to speak on my behalf certainly then hee would hear why they may all speak for thee and yet Christ may put them all by Fourthly The Lord doth reject her though shee doth renew and reiterate her motion again to him This is harsh And pray minde how shee doth it Shee came and shee WORSHIPPED him saying Lord help mee It is not said in verse 22. that shee worshâ—pped him or that shee fell down But here it is said Shee worshipped him Shee renews her request with vehemency and with reverence and here was her humiliation put forth Weigh it but a while Lord help mee c. My Brethren shee speaks at this rate as if shee should say Lord help if thou do not help mee I perish Lord help mee if thou dost not help mee vain is the help of Man Shee adores him as the Lord But doth this prevail nothing less though shee renews her cry yet the Lord turns her off It is harsh not to bee bid welcome not to have a word not to have others heard when they speak for us but when the soul shall repeat and re-inforce and as it were heighten her humiliation and prayer then to bee rejected this is an addition to all the former yet sometimes the Lord doth thus And wee finde a like instance to this in oâ—hers saith Job in chap. 16.6 7. Though I speak my grief is not asswaged and though I forbear what am I eased but now hee hath made mee weary thou hast made desolate all my company The Lord may as it were tyre out the soul and make it weary And so in Psal 69. and the beginning I sink into the deep I am weary of crying my throat is dried mine eyes fail while I wait for my God The Lord may let the soul cry again and again till
say they hunger who yet have not a spiritual stomach at all to Christ the Bread of Life They ask bread but it is onely an asking Now Christ will try us and by this strange carriage hee trieth us indeed And for us to continue begging crying bread after Christ hath spoke to us as to this woman After hee hath said I am not sent for you it is not meet to give unto you bee gone what should a Dogg have childrens bread after this I say to wait and worship to beg and reiterate cries for bread this will make Christ say this longing is sincere and strong beleeve it here is a hungry soul indeed Many wish for Christ who do not heartily hunger for him Secondly Christ will try Faith too and it is good for us to bee tried in our Faith Saith Christ Here comes a soul to mee hee looks as if hee would take hold of mee I will try whether hee bee one of Jacobs children that will wrestle a fall and keep his hold when I seek and seem to cast him off I will see if I call him Dogg Whether hee will trust and beleeve hee may bee a Childe It was a trial and demonstration that Jobs Faith was right when hee would trust in a killing God and it will try our Faith indeed to wait upon and cling to a seemingly rejecting Redeemer And this was the great matter in the case of this poor woman Oh Woman great is thy Faith Jesus Christ did all this to try the womans Faith God will see whether the soul will take hold of an angry Christ and run after a going-away Christ In 1 Pet. 1.7 saith the Apostle there That the trial of your Faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth c. It is not spoken of Faith in it self that that is more precious than gold that perisheth though that is precious but of the trial of it The very trial of Faith is a precious thing Now that Christ may try our Faith as well as our Hunger therefore hee deals a little harshly with us Thirdly The Lord hath this design too By his harsh dealing with one hee will make many wise When two or three of the younger boles shall see the Father deal something harsh with the eldest it teaches them all something The Lord help us wee are a company of mad untoward children wee neglect many a precious opportunity Christ calls and wee will not answer c. Now when Christ shall deal harshly with some then wee shall bee made wise to hearken when Christ calls How many have preached this truth from that experience Children have some Parents said take a Christ while hee smiles take a Promise when it is tendered you do not know what it may cost you I neglected my seasons and I found it a hard matter for mee to close with Jesus Christ You have a great word in Heb. 3.7 8. Wherefore to day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness c. What doth hee allude to hee alludes to the story of the children of Israel in the wilderness and of Gods harsh dealing with them and all because of their unbeleef The Lord Jesus Christ hee doth deal harshly with many leads them thorow wildernesses stings them with Scorpions to make others wise to accept of mercy when and while it may bee had Ah! how many think it an easie matter to come to Christ and have bread presently and therefore defer and delay put by at best lay by many a choice tender till another time as they think wherein they may at pleasure take it But now when they shall see such examples as this that a man or woman may come and call and crouch and worship and begg and yet bee put off yet have no mercy No nor no kinde word as was this womans case this will make them wise to take heed how they refuse that which afterwards they may request with tears and yet bee rejected But besides fourthly The Lord Christ doth deal thus that indeed hee may bring the soul to Gospel-self-denial I say unto Gospel-self-denial The Lord is resolved that whosoever will bee his Disciple must deny himself Now some have observed that nothing doth so much tame any as hunger The Lord Jesus Christ will take the soul upon the hip and make the soul fully deny it self and now saith God If thou wilt come to mee in my way well otherwise no bread Bread bread saith the hungry man if I may have it this way or that way any way I will take it well saith Christ I see the soul is come pretty well too as wee say I will keep off a little longer make him fast a few daies more Deny him till hee is ready to dye for hunger and then I shall make him deny himself in his honour in his inheritance in his very birth-right I shall make him say what profit will that or any thing do mee if I dye for hunger and I am at the point of death Therefore whatever the terms are I will deny all part with all for this Bread of Life So that real universal self-denial is by the Lords grace effected through this delaying and seemingly-denying carriage And to this end or for this reason doth Christ sometimes deal with us as with the woman of Canaan Hee will seemingly deny us that wee may really deny our selves Hee will tame us and then put his own terms upon us and for that end carries it so strangely to us Fifthly Christ doth intend to heighten himself in our hearts Before Christ give us himself hee will greaten himself And my Brethren it is our sore misery that wee are too apt to have sleight thoughts of Jesus Christ Now Christ will make us prize him very highly and therefore wee shall come by him very hardly It is a Rule and a general Observation That wee prize that highly which wee come by very hardly Oh Sirs the Lord Christ knows how to heighten himself in your hearts by deferring to grant your request Possibly thou art a poor ignorant creature in thy first coming unto Christ one who thinkest well but not well enough of Christ Thou valuest him a little but not as the chiefest Now Christ is resolved to heighten himself in thy heart and will therefore keep off so long that thou shalt come thereby to prize him at a higher rate than all the world and shalt have cause to say I value him much and love him dear for I came by him very hardly and was fain to wait long before I did enjoy him Lastly The Lord Christ may have this end Namely That the soul might catch at him more hastily and keep him more fastly therefore hee doth hold off thus and deal thus harshly wee are not eager enough in closing with Christ My Brethren the soul is apt to linger in the matter of taking Christ but when Christ
little washing doth cure it another hath a wound in the thigh or the arm that must have a great deal of lancing and washing ere it bee whole Oh! sins are wounds the least vanities are knocks on the crowns but there are blasphemies and uncleannesses and unrighteousnesses with a witness and the Lord must deal a little harshly with thee how else should hee deal with thee Tremble at every little sin but tremble especially at great sins I say not that great sins shall hinder us from Christ but upon the account of them at our first beleeving wee may meet with harshness in Christ The deeper our wounds the sharper our cure alwaies Thirdly There are a third sort of people that cannot but expect Christ will deal harshly with them Those that do neglect many a sweet and gracious tender of mercy and salvation by Jesus Christ many a day Suppose two people in the same Congregation one is crouded here that never heard the Gospel all his daies another is here that hath heard the Gospel many years you that have neglected sweet calls and precious opportunities if Christ receive you at last it will bee rich mercy but it will bee harshly I have often thought of it young people do not know how much bitterness of spirit they avoid by closing with Christ betimes My thinks I see some souls under such a condition you have stayed out all day and come home at midnight I do not say you shall not bee received when you come but you may bee received with a whip and go to bed without a Supper as wee use to say to some children Now I am afraid of one snare of the Devil My thinks I hear the Devil whispering to some souls well bee it so as you say so long as Christ will receive you at last so long as I shall not go to Hell so long as I shall have mercy at last then I will go on c. I will speak three words to this First of all It is more than you know I say it is more than you know that you shall bee saved at last I say it is possible Christ may receive the soul but how do you know it who did tell thee that it thou didst sin so many years after all thou shouldest have Christ with a whip and a knock Secondly It is a thousand to one that it shall bee so The soul that puts off closing with Christ upon this presumption that hee shall have it at last and will presume to tarry because hee perswades himself of a sure reception though it may bee sore I say these of all persons in my judgement have ground to fear lest the Lord give them to a deluded heart to damning dreams and soul-cheating hopes I fear if any bee thus Christ will not receive them no not at first nor last neither sweetly nor severely therefore take heed of this delusion But let mee add Thirdly I will suppose this that thou shalt bee saved at last very harshly Consider the terms dost thou know how harsh they will bee Dost thou know what terrours of the Lord may bee upon thee what terrours of Hell may bee in thee c Oh Sirs who knows the power of Gods wrath who knows the terrour of a wounded conscience can you live seven years under the apprehension of Gods wrath fourteen years under terrour and every day to walk up and down under everlasting burnings Beware how you go on upon those tearms but let every soul bee wise now beware now bee watchful now that sith the Lord though hee bee sweet can bee bitter beware how you provoke him to bee so to you Last Use The third and last Use It is for Exhortation to exhort you all to receive this truth so as not to bee offended with it I say so to receive this truth c. I remember our Lord and Saviour in John 16. preaches the truth of persecution upon this account These things saith hee I speak that you may not bee offended c. My Brethren this Truth this great Truth this strange Truth that Christ may deal thus hardly with some souls that come to him I preach it and tell you of it that you may not bee offended not offended when it comes to pass as to your particulars There are two offences one is therefore to say I will never go to Christ The other offence is I finde it so that Christ is harsh and therefore I will go no further I pray bee not thus offended First Do not stumble upon this as a rock of offence and say I will not go to Christ this is but to some I do not say the Lord will deal thus with all say not were I in the Woman of Canaans condition I could never hold up and therefore I will stand off Do not say so who are you that walk uprightly and avoid sin and snatch at a tender of mercy and are willing to come at a call go to Christ and you will finde that hee will entertain you friendly or suppose it bee seemingly harsh yet remember better bee entertained by Christ seemingly harsh than not to go at all and bee shut out for ever bee not offended therefore do not stumble at going to Christ Secondly Let no soul bee so offended at this dealing as to say I will bee gone I will bee gone I will wait no longer By Brethren it may bee there may bee some poor soul here before the Lord that may say I am a second Woman of Canaan a woman of a bitter spirit of a grieved soul because I have gone to Christ and am not entertained I have got Father Mother Minister childe to pray for mee I am not yet answered My beloved for all this thou art but a Woman of Canaan and the Lord may deal with you as such what though hee speak not at all or but harshly this is not new neither do thou so wonder at it or bee offended by it as to think of drawing back or going away from Jesus Christ Therefore let mee speak two words to thee 1 One is Bee advised 2 The other is Bee encouraged The first word is of Advice I pray take advice O poor heart Thou sayest thou hast gone to Christ and hee frowns thou sayest thou hast looked up to the brazen Serpent and yet the sting of the fiery Serpent abides thou sayest thou hast called for a crum of bread and no answer comes bee advised to look about you to see why God deals thus with you you may bee bold with the Lord Jesus hee never checked the Woman with boldness ask Christ Lord is thy design to humble mee then do so or Lord what is thy design is it to try mee then do so but support mee Is it to heighten thy self in my heart Lord what is thy design look about you and consider for which of all the Reasons it is that the Lord deals thus with you Secondly Bee encouraged to wait upon the Lord yet a
little longer Tarry thou the Lords leisure yet a while In Psal 40. saith the Psalmist there I waited for the Lord and at last the Lord heard mee hee brought mee up also out of an horrible pit and hee hath put a new song into my mouth Oh it is a blessed Scripture wait thou yet for the Lord thou art yet in a horrible pit of sin and filth fear and doubt thou cryest yet the Lord doth not hear I but yet hee may hear this is no strange thing indeed the soul is ready to say as the Church Oh all you that pass by is there any sorrow like to mine Lam. 1.12 So it may bee your soul is ready to say was there ever any sorrow like mine my conscience disturbs mee Satan disturbs mee I go to Christ and hee doth not hear mee hee will not answer Oh bee of good comfort and wait still hee that calls thee as the Woman of Canaan Dogg now will say to thee Go thy way great is thy Faith Indeed my Brethren when I was drawing up the conclusion of this by my self I thought I should meet with a Woman of Canaan and I was bid to incourage her thus First All this harshness it is but in shew As wee told you the last day Joseph had bowels though for a time hee dealt roughly Secondly All this will not last Joseph will speak peace and the Lord Jesus that seems rough now hee will speak to thee in soft language at last Therefore you that are as the Woman of Canaan waiting upon Christ and yet hearing nothing from him bee comforted and counselled First Bee comforted your condition is blessed Blessed are they that wait at the posts of Wisdomes gates Prov. 8.34 c. This may bee the condition of a beleever and it is blessed Object I saies the soul If I did but know that or think that Repl. Did Josephs Brethren know hee knew them did they think hee wept and his bowels yearned It was their happiness Joseph knew them though they knew it not And it is comfort Christ knows us when wee are and may bee as ignorant of him as they of Joseph That is the foundation of our life and comfort that the Lord may and doth know us first before wee know him and hee still knows us even while wee know not him Minde that in the second Epistle of Timothy chap. 2. vers 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his Let that word bee for thy comfort But then Secondly Bee counselled to carry your selves very wisely Carry it well and it shall bee your wisdome I know indeed my Beloved wee need much wisdome to carry it wisely when Christ doth frown Oh! wee are apt to have impatient spirits murmuring spirits rising spirits nothing is so provoking as unkindness from Jesus Chrâ—st I look for no better from the Law or from the Devil but that Christ should speak death or Christ call Dogg or that hee that was sent to give the children bread should say hee was not sent to mee Oh this doth wound mee this doth kill mee saith the poor soul Well yet bee counselled to wait Do not think evil of nor speak hardly concerning Jesus Christ. Hee knows as wee say what hee doth there may bee many reasons of this carriage of his and therefore whatever bee his carriage to thee let thy carriage to him bee good if Christ deal with thee as with the Woman of Canaan do thou deal with him as shee did Now what that is wee shall come unto next Souls must still carry it well to Jesus Christ The Fourth SERMON Matthew 15.25 and 27. verses Then came shee and worshipped him saying Lord help mee And shee said Truth Lord yet the doggs eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters table AS a fine Copy fairly written which doth attract the eyes of all to look upon it and stir up the spirits of ingenious Scribes to imitate it Such my Beloved is the Example of the Woman of Canaan the history whereof is here recorded and which we are now handling It is a fine Copy and fairly written Here are great things glorious Mysteries held forth and you and I should look upon them and indeavour to read and imitate them There are four heads unto which wee did reduce the whole matter of this discourse First The Coming of the Woman to Christ Secondly The Carriage of Christ to the Woman Wee were ending of that the last day The Woman shee came with much devotion in much affection The Lord contrary to what hee was wont turns away makes as if hee did not hear hee would not vouchsafe to speak a word and when hee was intreated by the Disciples hee puts them off and when shee renews her request again hee speaks harshly c. The Lesson wee then did go upon from the whole you know was this That sometimes Christ is seemingly harsh to some souls that come to him Wee opened it and gave the Reasons of it and applied it And that which wee did aim at truly it was principally two words The first was to exhort you all that sith Christ doth sometimes seemingly entertain some souls harshly That you would not provoke him so to do As the Lord lives and as your souls live if you stand out too long if you put off Christ too often though at the last hee may save you it will bee by fire Therefore I beseech you especially you that bee young take a Christ while you may have a Christ while Christ knocks softly and speaks sweetly and wooes lovingly entertain him lest hee go away and make you come after him crying and it may bee a great while ere hee come back again The second word was To you poor souls that may bee the children of this Woman of Canaan that have gone to Christ and have found him stand at a distance Do not despair no new thing is fallen upon you The Lord Christ doth sometimes use so to deal with souls And my Brethren as you shall see afterwards though hee stand at a distance now hee will in time embrace you sweetly The Woman of Canaan that was entertained harshly went away joyfully But how did shee carry it under this harsh dealing That is the third head wee are now to speak to Here the carriage of the Woman is set out in these two Verses the 25. and 27. verses And mark it in vers 25. It is said Shee came and worshipped him saying Lord help mee My Brethren As the Lord said to Peter in another case wee must say of the Woman in this Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you Flesh and blood could not teach nor help the poor Woman to such a carriage What for the Lord to turn away for the Lord to put off and for her to re-inforce her devotion renew her suit afresh and to come and worship him c. The 27. verse Truth Lord yet the Doggs
the good liking and acceptance of my Labours this way gives mee grounds to hope that my service may extend it self beyond my own age Certainly books last longer than men and they speak when wee are dead and gone Hereupon I am encouraged once again to appear in the Press for the same service which is only to subserve the counsell of God for the good of thy soul Christian Reader by the following Sermons concerning which I will onely preface a few words about their Occasion Scope and Mode 1 For the Occasion take that thus there is extant among those choice labours of that Man of God Mr. William Bridge now of Yarmouth one Sermon pitty it is there were no more upon the story of the Woman of Canaan This Sermon I had a Childe who is now with him who gave it that was much taken with it I perceived shee read it often with savour and delight whereupon it was in my heart to inlarge a little more upon that subject which certainly is sweet to all those who have spiritual senses exercised to discern the glory and rellish of Gospel discourses This was indeed Reader the occasion of these Sermons 2 The Scope of them is to do good to many who are the sons and daughters of Mystical Canaan In the History of the example here opened wee may observe what ought to bee the carriage and what may bee the comfort of any soul that hath or shall come to Jesus Christ Indeed the way of coming to Christ I have not inlarged in having formerly done that in my Ministerial course the special thing attended and aimed at is to direct and help poor souls who know and are in the way to Christ but lie under temptations and troubles by reason of some seeming harsh delatory and denying entertainment which they meet withall And therein I hope this work will be unto thee Reader of advantage 3 Concerning its Mode or the manner of handling these Sermons truly it is without affectation or curiosity either as to phrases or fancies and in the same plainness wherein they were preached and taken are they now without any further polish printed And truly the bread of life is best when it is plain Experience hath put it beyond controversie that the truths of God take and work most sweetly and soveraignly where they are delivered most plainly and simply Not in the wisdome of man but in the simplicity of the Spirit and in that ordinary language wherein the Lord gives to each man utterance The way of such mens preaching is exceeding bad albeit the matter may bee truth and good who rather tickle the ear than touch the hearts of their hearers This last I studied and therefore that other I neglected And Reader if thou affect words thou maiest spare thy pains for upon that score the ensuing Sermons will yeeld thee no pleasure But in case thy heart bee set on things which may concern thy soul read humbly and seriously and I dare under Christ promise thee profit for thy pains My desire was and is to serve poor humble hungry souls that will be glad of any of the crumbs which Christ gives and if thou bee such fall to and the Lord be with thee in thy perusal of these Sermons which with thy soul I commend to the blessing of Christ desiring thee Reader in thy prayers to remember him who is Thine in soul-service for Christs sake John Durant THE Woman of Canaan coming unto Christ The First SERMON Matthew 15. from vers 22 to vers 29. And behold a Woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying Have mercy on mee O Lord thou Son of David my Daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil But hee answered her not a word and his Disciples came and besought him saying Send her away for shee crieth after us But hee answered and said I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Then came shee and worshipped him saying Lord help mee But hee answered and said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs And shee said Truth Lond yet the doggs eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters table Then Jesus answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt And her Daughter was made whole from that very hour IN all our addresses unto Christ which is the great business of our Life and Happiness it concerns us not onely to know the great Precepts that should guide us and the gracious Promises that may incourage us But also to bee well acquainted with all those Patterns and Examples of any that have gone to Christ before us and likewise with those occurrences which they did and wee are like to meet withall in this work Now my Brethren unto this purpose I know no one story in all the New Testament which speaks of any coming to Christ like that which I have read to acquaint us a little by way of Pattern what wee should expect when wee come to Christ In the coming of this Woman to Christ wee have something very patternable for us to minde And in the carriage of Christ to her wee may see what wee may expect at the hands of Christ even then when wee come to him There are fix heads unto which the whole story as it is here recorded may bee reduced First You have the coming of the Woman unto Christ in vers 22. Secondly You have the seemingly harsh entertainment that Christ gives her at first for hee answered her not a word and though his Disciples spake on her behalf hee puts them off Thirdly You have the Womans good behaviour notwithstanding all this vers 25. Shee worshipped him saying Lord help mee Fourthly You have the Repulse that Christ doth give to that in vers 26. But hee answered and said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs Fifthly You have her yet renewed recourse to Christ after that repulse in vers 27. Truth Lord yet the doggs eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters table Sixthly and lastly You have the blessed issue of all in vers 28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt c. My intention is not to confine my self to the Method but to the Matter In which you have The Coming of the Woman The Entertainment of Christ The Carriage of the Woman under all And the blessed Conclusion wherewith all is ended At present wee shall consider the first of these The Coming of the Woman of Canaan And behold a Woman of Canaan came out of the same Coasts and cried unto him saying Have mercy on mee O Lord thou Son of David my Daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil This Note Behold is observed to bee a Note of Attention and it is put in to usher in some matter that is more
whose soul was bitter coming to the Prophet and so soon as shee came to him shee fell down and caught him by the feet I pray behold and learn in all your addresses unto Jesus Christ put forth the highest affection put forth the most intenseness of your spirits that may bee cry and get hold of him Christ will not charge thee with unmannerliness Shee cried it notes the Agony of her spirit that shee was in Oh that our drousie careless souls would but learn of this Woman Many are so far from crying that they scarce lisp But remember it Sirs when you come to the Lord Jesus stir up all your souls let all your affection then go out Oh! when should wee ever let out all our souls to the utmost if not then when wee come to close with Jesus Christ There is a lawful and laudable passion to bee manifested in this matter Christ loves and likes to hear our cries O let not this poor womans crying cry any of us shame who are so far from a crying after Christ that wee do almost cry away Christ Well behold her praise-worthy passion and go thy way soul and imitate her therein Never approach Christ but with much passion with most earnest and ardent affection Secondly Shee cried Have mercy on mee Poor Woman shee speaks as one poor in spirit that is rich in Faith as Christ calls her afterwards shee had no Merit but shee knew the Lord had Mercy Behold it and know this as a lesson to bee learnt hence viz. That when you approach Christ let it bee by Mercy by meer Mercy That same poor Publican in the Gospel of Luke cries Lord bee merciful to mee a sinner My Brethren right closing with Christ right saving justifying Faith which carries the soul to Christ eyes nothing but Mercy This is the main incouragement that keeps up Faith yea and this is the great Motive that doth still prevail with the Lord therefore wee should take hold of it in Ephes 2.4 It is said But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith hee loved us c. Thou hast misery that pincheth thee but the Lord hath mercy that will pitty thee and thou that sayest thou hast no works know this the Lord hath much grace Behold the Woman of Canaan and see how shee doth and wee ought to eye and plead meer mercy and that onely and alwaies when wee come to Christ Thirdly Observe a little further what shee saith Lord thou Son of David Shee speaks in language beyond the learning of the Scribes and Pharisees though they were great Doctors of the Law yet they had not learned this mystery to look upon Christ as the Lord and as the Son of David It was indeed a miracle that a Woman of Canaan should have this knowledge and wee might say as it was said in another case of Christ whence hath this Woman knowledge why my Brethren what could any of us have said more to Christ to speak out our Faith what is it but that wee do beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ This phrase speaks Faith Learn hence In all your addresses to Christ to come in the language of Faith and speak to Christ as becomes Jesus Christ Still know hee is the Lord Davids Son the promised one indeed When you come to deal with Jesus Christ bee not hasty consider who hee is hee is the Lord and hee is the Son of David the true and the onely Messiah Remember this lesson in all your addresses to Jesus Christ remember this good example it is a Saints pattern There are two sorts of people I would desire to look upon this pattern The first are those who it may bee are but now beginning to close with Jesus Christ And secondly Those who it may bee have revolted and back slidden from Christ and are now returning again I pray Sirs make as much haste as you can but observe how you go Go to Jesus Christ with much affection with much humility renounce Merit and cry Mercy and still give the Lord his due So you see this Woman of Canaan doth and go thou O soul in any case and do likewise That is all I will speak to the second head To proceed to the third and last thing Behold once again the occasion of this Womans coming It was That her daughter was grievously vexed with a Devil The Evangelist Mark saies shee was vexed with an unclean spirit The one is a general the other is a particular expression of it I do not think it worth the while to dispute about this infirmity or this possession under which her Daughter lay what it was All that I shall note shall bee not of a Physical but rather of a Spiritual and Theological Nature from this Mothers coming to Christ upon this occasion In the general shee takes her childe to bee possessed with a Devil shee goes not to a figure-flinger not to any cunning man as simple ones use to say shee goes not to the Devil in a Doctor to cast out the Devil of her Daughter No but shee comes to Christ I pray in the general Learn in all cases distempers diseases c. to go first to Jesus Christ You may go to men to Physicians though not to Wizards but you must go to Christ and behold the Woman of Canaan to establish you in that good Christian custome of having recourse to Christ on all occasions in all necessities whether for yours and your selves But this is general There are two things in particular The first particular thing I would have you learn out of this Mothers coming upon this account Is Parentive pitty in compassion on children This Woman of Canaan pitties her childe and cries as if shee her self felt her Daughters pain and though shee was not sick simply yet shee was Sympathetically thou that canst let the little one cry and it may bee perish while thou art fooling abroad Oh remember the Woman of Canaan have pitty on your poor children and for their sakes go to Jesus Christ And do I mean onely you should go to Christ for them when they are sick no but Oh pray for thy childes sick soul It was a notable speech of one of the Antients said hee Wilt thou mourn over a body from whom the soul is gone and not over a soul from whom God is gone Oh shew that you have spiritual sympathy many of you have a natural sympathy if you see the childe burn and snake c. of a Feavour thou canst pitty him but it may bee thou seest him shake and reel with drunkenness and not pitty them at all It is Motherly pitty to sympathize with sick bodies but Christian pitty to sympathize with sick souls Friends put on bowels as the Elect of God as the Woman of Canaan and have compassion on your children In all their afflictions bee yee afflicted with all their sorrows bee yee affected and go to Christ on their behalf but not onely for bodies
but also and especially for their souls This is the first particular But the second is that which I would stand upon Considering that this distemper upon the Daughter did bring the Mother here unto Christ I would especially speak to this and intreat you to Behold this occasion of her coming and it will afford us a very profitable Note The Note is this Behold what occasions the Lord sanctifies sometimes to bring souls to himself What is the occasion My Daughter is sick The particular Doctrine is this That sometimes the Lord doth sanctifie corporal or external occasions and afflictions to bring souls home to himself The great means the standing Ordinance by which the Lord brings souls to himself is the Word and the Word Preached But yet I say besides that the Lord is pleased sometimes to make use of other means and among the rest sometimes the Lord doth sanctifie external afflictions to bring home poor souls to himself There are two things in all external afflictions that I would have all to minde First God sending Secondly God sanctifying of these afflictions First You should observe That God sends them Afflictions do not arise out of the dust if any evil be in the City or Family it is the finger of the Lord it doth not come by chance or fortune it comes from God and wee ought to behold him in it But then secondly Observe the Lord sanctifying afflictions The Lord doth not alwaies sanctifie affliction where hee sends it But sometimes God doth sanctifie it unto many good and gracious ends and purposes and in particular I say God doth sometimes to some souls sanctifie afflictions to this end to bring home the poor soul to himself There are three Comings unto Jesus Christ in all which the Lord doth sometimes to some persons make use of corporal afflictions First There is that which wee call our first fundamental Coming to Jesus Christ when the soul doth first come to Jesus Christ from his wandering rebellious estate and condition when it is first brought out of the wilderness Secondly There is our gradual Coming to Christ When the soul that is come to Christ in a good measure comes a little nearer hee comes from strength to strength and so by degrees appears before God in Sion Jacobs Ladder had many staves and coming to Christ hath many steps and stairs Therefore besides our prime or first coming unto Christ there is a perfecting progress or ascendent going to or growing up in Christ higher and higher which is as it were our coming nearer and nearer Thirdly There is our Coming to Christ which is our Return after some eminent Revolt when a soul hath left its first love Now in all these and unto all these the Lord doth sometimes sanctifie externall afflictions the Lord doth sometimes sanctifie external afflictions to bring the soul home to himself As Poverty The Lord makes many an one poor that they may look after a rich Christ And Disgrace from creatures the Lord permits and sanctifies that to make the soul long and labour that they may bee precious in his sight And Sickness upon us and ours the Lord doth sometimes kill the childes body to save the Mothers soul take away the husband the hee may bring the wife home to himself wee might give many notable instances As in Matth. 8.2 There you finde a Leper came to Christ and what occasion brought him truly this mans Leprosie brought him to Christ and for ought wee know had not this man been a Leper hee had never come to Christ In Matth. 9.27 There wee hear blind men calling after Jesus Christ but why you shall see in that place their blindness upon their eyes make them look after Christ And Matth. 21.14 The blind and lame came to him to the Temple to bee healed c. Thus it pleaseth Christ sometimes to sanctifie corporal afflictions to bring us home to himself There are two Reasons why the Lord doth this The first relates to us The second unto himself First of all I say The Lord doth sometimes take this course upon our account considering us the Lord works thus on us In Jer. 9. saith the Lord there I will melt my people for how else shall I do for the daughter of my people i.e. As if hee should say I cannot tell else what to do for them Oh my Brethren the Lord sees sometimes nothing else will do it but affliction Mee thinks I hear the Lord sometimes speaking of a poor creature after this manner There is such a one who so long as hee can bee well and do well as to externals I shall not hear of him I must therefore take some other course with him well I will go and melt him c. Oh Sirs this is our folly that whatever Arminians dream wee are so backward to come to Christ that except hee draw wee will not go nay except hee drive wee will not stir nor step forward all the perswasions of the Lord they will not work us up to free will except hee make hee add power to perswasion Indeed in the day of his power wee are potentially not perswasively onely made a willing people as Psal 110. Upon this account it is that Christ is as wee say fain to use the Rod sometimes to bring us home to himself How oft doth Christ say sith my Pipe will not my Rod shall fetch such a sheep and such a sheep i. e. It may bee thy soul and thy childes soul I will make it a day of power and by grace I will follow them with one means after another You know what is said by the Lord of a backward people in Hosea 5. verse the last In their affliction they will seek mee In 2 Sam. 14.30 You read Absolon sent for Joah to come to him and hee would not but Absolon sent and fired his fields and then hee comes My Brethren wee may very well parallel it God saith sometimes go Minister preach to him judgement and threatning and that will not do and go mercy that will not do then go sickness Oh! sickness must preach a Sermon before many will hear a word Well here is the first Reason which as I said relates to us Afflictions are sent and sanctified to bring us to Christ because often nothing else will Truly I say this is our naughty Nature that fair means will not work upon us and this is our Fathers grace that hee will take other means but hee will effect his work Secondly The Lord doth it upon another account which relates to himself To shew us That hee is not tied to means but can work by any providence if hee please The Lord hath more means than one and hee is a free Agent hee can use which hee pleases If Onesimus a naughty and bad servant will not bee wrought upon at home under a good Master hee shall bee brought to the Gaol to hear a Sermon there you have that intimated in the Epistle to
Philemon The account of it take in brief thus Philemon was a godly man and a good Master and hee had 2 Church in his house but Onesimus was nought for all that his Master could not by any means work upon him but hee breaks out and away it is likely hee runs And by the hand of Justice God ordering of it is brought to a Gaol where a Prison prepares him to hear and a prisoner is provided to preach and now hee is wrought upon God hath many waies if wee run from one hee hath another to meet with us in If a Pulpit do not a Prison shall if a soft word win not a hard shall hee will have us see that hee is not tied to any means and therefore sometimes will by a sickness a loss c. bring us home as well as by other waies There is onely one Objection that must bee answered Object But doth not his seem to give some advantage to those who cry down the preaching of the Word It hath been a seemingly fair but a really poor Argument of those to tell us that God can make any thing an Ordinance and therefore they cast off preaching and say what need that cannot and doth not God work sometimes without that Repl. I answer generally My Brethren One good means may very well go hand in hand with another And my Brethren none of the Lords means are Yea and Nay destructive one of another or inconsistent one with another All may and all shall stand and in vain do wee think to make one an Argument against the other It is certain God can alwaies and hee doth often work by afflictions But yet the Word is the chief known tried and standing means And after all that hath been said to the contrary I still think that though the Lord may make use of and sanctifie afflictions as sickness upon us and ours to bring us home to himself yet it is very rarely without the Word There are two Considerations in particular that I would have you minde First Many times Afflictions as poverty and sickness do make a word to work a word that wee have heard The words of the wise saith Solomon they are as Nails fastened Now it may bee the Lord fastens or rather puts in a Nail in the Assembly by his Word and the poor soul runs away now the Lord sends an affliction after him to fasten the Nail and the man is cast upon a sick-bed and now saies hee I remember such an instruction Affliction brings home and drives home a word formerly preached unto us which wee heard and did not regard or remember but now by an Affliction are made to do both I have thought Affliction doth that which Posset-drink doth in Physick it is a plain similitude yet mark it A man takes Physick and it works not then give him a draught of Posset-drink and that makes it work that helps it on so it is here A Word is given out and it works not then the Lord sends Affliction and that makes it work But still it is the Word that works the Word formerly heard c. You know what is said in Psal 141.6 It is said there when they are overthrown in stony places they shall hear my words for they are sweet Why the words were sweet before and heard before but then they shall bee made to relish and then they will minde them Well minde this though Affliction work it is rather as a help to the Word than of it self without the Word This is one Consideration Secondly Another Consideration is this That mostly the Lord makes use of Afflictions if not to back what wee have heard yet to bring them to hear Minde it Many a time the poor Creature hath lived without Sermon-hearing all his daies and Affliction comes and that drives him to the Word Now the soul will go to Lectures now the soul will wait on the Ministery so that Affliction doth rather bring him to the Word as the means that work and bee an effectual means without it I pray then mark these Considerations to keep up your highest thoughts of the Word and that preached as the prime means verily experience seals to these two things that the work of Affliction rather seconds a Word heard or brings the soul to hear the Word than simply works without it Now then for the Application of this There are five Uses that I shall lay before you First Doth the Lord this way use and sanctifie sickness and affliction sometimes upon us or ours Then look about you and see whether God hath sanctified any affliction upon you Wee live in a sickly time it may bee sickness hath been in all your families hath this like the Woman of Canaan brought you to Christ did the sickness of thy body advance thy foot to Christ You will say Wee are like the Woman of Canaan and God forbid but wee should go to Christ when wee were sick But did it bring you to Christ in a soul-way in a soul saving-way Quest How shall I know that Answ Let mee propose two things to you to let you try First When any affliction brings a soul to Christ besides the material sickness or affliction that is upon the outward man the soul is sensible of something like it lighted upon the inward Man There is a sense of the same spiritually as well as corporally As now when sickness brings a man to Christ hee speaks thus I am sick my head akes I and saith the man my heart akes too Oh wife I am a poor sinner I cried first out I am sick in body but now I am sick in soul still the soul sees something like it in spirituals if his sickness brings him to Christ If thou onely art sensible of a corporal disease and goest to Christ for that then it is but a corporal coming not a soul nor a saving coming unto Christ but when thy sick body leads thee to the sense of a sick soul when thy Feavour thy Ague brought thee to feel the like distemper in thy soul and thou thereupon wentest unto Christ for that then was sickness indeed sanctified in a soul-saving-way Secondly Observe this Hee that by any affliction or sickness is brought home to Christ whatever the issue of the affliction may bee his heart is for certain moving still towards Christ even after the sickness is gone You may have a man while the sickness is upon him then hee may bee up in prayer with his Lord have mercy c. but when it is gone his sickness is gone and devotion is gone too But if this bring him to Christ though the sickness bee gone yet the man follows after Christ still and mindes him The soul after sickness is as hee Luk. 8.38 who besought the Lord that hee might bee with him O soul if thou camest to Christ sick thou desirest to bee with Christ well I pray then look to it see if your afflictions have been sanctified
and if they have brought you unto Christ That is our first Use Use 2. Then secondly Let this teach us all to prize those afflictions by which wee can say the Lord brought us home to himself I say learn to prize such an affliction Never speak ill of that sickness by which the Lord Jesus brought thee nigh to himself You say it hath been an hard time with you sickness hath been sore in your families but did Christ bring thee nigh to him never speakevil of that affliction more Minde Psal 94.2 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest him out of thy Law Hast thou been afflicted hath that taught thee something of the bitterness of sin of the necessity of Christ and hath it taught thee to look after thy soul to look after a Christ happy man art thou Oh my Brethren many a man hath said to the praise of God blessed bee God for such a sickness c. I have heard of some that have blessed God for plundering for poverty for such and such a sickness on themselves and theirs c. And truly well they might so do because it brought them home to Christ Christ hath saved a parents soul by taking away a childes life Oh therefore if God hath done so by you you may sing happy time blessed affliction I pray speak well of all things which help you home to Christ Use 3. Thirdly This point will give us a Lesson of Hope in the behalf of any of our Relations whose souls wee love and labour with till Christ bee formed in them but at present is not Sickness Loss Affliction are a way sometimes Now hope in the Lord if thou that hast done thy indeavour upon thy poor Relation to bring him to Christ and yet hee is not come thou little knowest what affliction may do It may be that which thou couldest not work upon thy childe with all thy instructions that God may do with an affliction I cannot advise you to pray as I have heard of one who it may bee spake it honestly though not handsomely Lord break a legg or an arm c. Lord send him a Feavour an Ague c. I cannot advise you to that But this I can say for your incouragement God can send and sanctifie an affliction to bring home thy childe at last Christs Rod can do that which yours cannot Oh therefore pray and hope indeavour and hope yet God can work and win upon thy yoke-fellow thy childe thy brother c. For God sometimes you see sends and sanctifies afflictions to bring in to Christ Use 4. Fourthly Let this teach us patiently to bear any affliction that may bee upon us for present why so because for ought wee know God may sanctifie it to bring us nigh to himself should not wee then bee patient Possibly thou art a poor creature that hast been but a Talker of Christ onely a meer pretender but yet to this day didst never really come to nor rightly close with Christ and now thou art sick and weak Free Grace may design and intend thy real experimental and truly saving knowledge of and laying hold upon the Lord Jesus and to that purpose it may bee I say that God brings affliction O therefore learn patience who can tell but the Lord will bee gracious and by this affliction bring thee home to himself hee is chastening thee here that hee may not condemn thee hereafter True it is that no affliction as the Apostle saies for the present is joyous but afterwards it may bring forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness Oh therefore I say beware of repining and murmuring for possibly the Lord afflicts thee that hee may bring thee as this woman to himself The last Use Let all your hearts run out after this in all your afflictions that if it bee the Lords pleasure it may work upon you as it did upon the Woman of Canaan to bring you neer to Jesus Christ Minde and desire is then in all afflictions This is that you should look after in your afflictions not onely to consider that God sends it but to observe how God sanctifies it Say Oh Lord thou hast afflicted my body do good to my soul say thou hast afflicted mee and mine thus or thus in body or estate oh that indeed thou wouldest work upon mine heart thereby Consider to move you First It is your soul-concernments that do most of all ly upon you to consider in all your afflictions It may bee God hath taken away all thy estate and thou art considering how to make it up again why know it doth more concern thee to consider how thou mayest bee rich in Faith and come to a good estate in Christ rather than to vex thy self about thy estate and how to recover thy loss Or else it may bee you are ill and now your great care is to bee well again Oh thou oughtest rather to consider thy soul-sickness thy spiritual illness and indeavour to get that cured in Christ than thy poor carkass I beseech you beloved minde as you use to say the main and know that it is the soul that is that main and do noâ— altogether minde your bodies but sometimes minde your souls Oh that God would make people but to minde their souls more I could wish but as much as their bodies Secondly To move you Consider whatever the issue of any affliction may be blessed are you if your souls are brought to Christ It is well indeed if closing with Christ bee the conclusion Let childe live or die estate go or come so thou and Christ meet together all is well Blessed is the man that can say I lost my estate such a day and I found my Lord Jesus such a day c. Therefore suffer the word of Exhortation Above all things see how your souls are brought to Christ in every Affliction and make it your grand work to observe and obtain that by all the hand of God at any time upon you or yours But before I conclude I must answer this case of Conscience Case But will some poor souls say Alass If I should go to Jesus Christ upon such a carnal account shall I bee accepted Because my husband wife or childe is sick will hee hear mee Is this a fair foundation or a good first Motive to bring mee to Jesus Christ Resol I answer Truly my Brethren If thou goest onely to Jesus Christ upon a carnal account or occasion I cannot say Christ will bid thee welcome But if thy carnal occasion bee but a Motive to bring thee upon a higher account thou mayest go and finde entertainment Although a dirty shooe bring you into your Fathers house yet your Father will make you welcome Therefore I say in the Name of the Lord do not stick at this case but rather bless God that hath sent an affliction to awaken thee to bring thee home than question whether you shall bee accepted upon this account Let mee therefore end as I
began Behold the Woman of Canaan for it may bee her condition is yours in a sense you have a sick childe as shee had c. I pray thereupon go to Christ as shee did verily Christ will in no wise cast you off in case you come Suppose the first Motive bee low and corporal yet the Matter may prove high and spiritual Who knows but the Lord hath sent divers sicknesses up and down for this end to bring divers souls to Christ I pray therefore minde it and in all affliction look and long that it may have the same operation on you which it had on this Woman who was by this means brought to Christ And this shall suffice for this verse Christ may seemingly entertain at first very harshly The Second SERMON Matthew 15. from vers 23 to vers 29. But hee answered her not a word and his Disciples came and besought him saying Send her away for shee crieth after us But hee answered and said I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Then came shee and worshipped him saying Lord help mee But hee answered and said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs And shee said Truth Lord yet the doggs eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters table Then Jesus answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt And her Daughter was made whole from that very hour BEsides those Many Men which upon an eminent account are recorded in the Gospel there are also sundry Women who are in an eminent manner recorded likewise and concerning whom the Holy Ghost hath noted something for our special observation and imitation Among others there are Two Women in the Gospel which are very remarkable The one is the Woman that you read of in Luke 8. who is called a sinner And the other is the woman commonly known by the name of The Woman of Canaan and both these women are recorded for eminent coming unto Jesus Christ Wee have here in this place the story of The Woman of Canaan and indeed it is a very holy History and many things are in it which are to bee heeded by us The last day I gave you an account of the Method in which the Holy Ghost doth here record it But letting pass the Method I told you I would stand upon the Matter of the story wherein you have four heads First The coming of the Woman to Christ Secondly The entertainment that Christ doth give her Thirdly You have her carriage under that entertainment Fourthly and lastly The blessed issue of all Wee began the last day with the first The coming of the woman to Christ in vers 22. And behold a Woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying Have mercy on mee O Lord thou Son of David my Daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil There are three Circumstances in her coming that wee stood upon The Party coming The Manner of her coming And the Occasion of her coming The Party coming It was a woman of Canaan A Woman of Canaan neer Tyre and Sidon of a bad place in a bad Country But wee told you the way to Christ is open to all But then how did shee come Shee came with much affection shee cried Lord and shee came for meer mercy Justifying Faith still goes to Free Grace and Meer Mercy And shee came to him as hee was the Messiah the Son of David shee did and wee must eye Christ as hee is in all our addresses Lastly But what brought the good woman here Why truly it was a sick childe at home that was sore sick that brought her to Christ Whence wee observed That sometimes the Lord doth sanctifie sicknesses and other afflctions upon us and ours to bring us home unto himself I pray minde it For My Brethren wee have lived for some months under one sickness or other But now let mee ask you the question Have you done like the Woman of Cannan have you gone to Jesus Christ not onely for them but have you gone for your souls to Jesus Christ Mother hath thy sick childe brought thee savingly to Jesus Christ or husband let mee ask thee hath the sickness of thy wife done a cure upon thy own soul can any of you say blessed bee God the Lord took away a childe or husband but that was a strange cord that drew and brought mee to himself Oh! blessed is that sickness upon you or any of yours which as the Woman of Canaans brings you home to Jesus Christ Therefore I shall press it home a little further in four things by way of consideration for you to take the more special heed unto the things which I then spake and you heard viz. The improvement of all afflictions to bring your souls to Christ Consider first Possibly yea probably the Lord did therefore send such a sickness to thy soul that hee might bring thee home to himself The Lord saw nothing else would do thee good and therefore sent that Thou wert it may bee a poor vain creature that couldest scoff at a Sermon and no preaching would do thee good now it may bee the Lord sends sickness to bring thee in Hee doth by sickness as by a special servant send for you and it stands you upon to go to him therefore now Brethren look about you if ever God send a Messenger of a particular Errant if the Messenger have not his answer woe bee to you It is a great evil to neglect any of the Lords Messengers Secondly It is certain wee have all more reason to go to Christ for our souls than upon the account of any sickness for our bodies Our souls are our highest concernment and there is more sickness and more danger in and upon your souls which should carry them to Christ than can bee upon your selves and families There are but a few whose souls are better than their bodies Indeed wee read of one hee had a holy soul but a weak body holy Gaius in the third Epistle of John but generally our souls are worse than our bodies and therefore wee have more reason to go for our souls The Feavour it may bee is upon thy body and is it not in thy soul the Devil possesses thy childes body doth hee not possess thy own soul Oh therefore considering you have more reason to go for your souls than your bodies set every thing bee sanctified in you and have that work upon you Thirdly The Lord Jesus hath more bowels and hee is easier prevailed withall to do for the soul than in any case for our bodies or for the bodies of our Relations You never read of any that came to Christ for their souls that Christ did cast them off The Lord Christ may in wisdome and grace deny you when you come for your body hee may say it is not good you should bee well but hee will never
say It is not good your souls should bee well Fourthly and lastly The person that goes to Christ in and for his soul by any affliction gets more by the affliction than hee could get by all things else Minde it I beseech you Oh my Brethren what do you get when you come to Christ why saith Christ Hee that comes to mee shall never hunger nor thirst more that is in his soul And hee that comes unto mee I will in no wise cast out you get soul-satisfaction and soul-enjoyment and is not that above all bodily gettings And therefore I beseech you upon these accounts look about you how the hand of God is sanctified to you by the afflictions which are have been or may bee on you But wee shall now proceed How doth our Lord entertain this woman which is the second thing wee are to come to Christs manner of entertainment Why truly my Brethren very strangely very harshly wee may speak it with reverence very harshly In vers 23. Hee answered her not a word and though the Disciples spake on her behalf vers 24. Hee saies Hee was not sent but to the last sheep of the house of Israel though shee worships him and renews the request again hee tells her It was not meet to take the childrens bread and cast it to doggs vers 26 From the whole carriage of Christ to her observe this Doct. That sometimes the Lord Jesus is seemingly harsh to some poor souls when they come to him Or if you will thus Christ sometimes very roughly entertainâ— poor souls Mark the point well Indeed it is a strange point A point that seems to câ—oss all the Gospel What that Christ whose Name is Love and whose Nature is Love that Christ who is rich in Mercy who is full of pitty who hath made sweet Promises to invite and left great presidents to incourage us to come that ever hee should entertain us with frowns with harshness with severeness this is strange Yet sometimes this is true Wee have a great instance of it here in this poor woman and wee shall indeavour to open it to you onely before I proceed to the proof I pray consider and remember how I express the point to prevent mistakes It is easie to misunderstand this unto the dishonour of Christ and our own disturbance if wee minde it not well Therefore consider how I word or phrase the point Now there are three words which I put into the doctrine which are as so many limitations or cautions that neither you nor I may mistake Christ nor the text nor the president when ever wee speak of it First I say seemingly Secondly Some times Thirdly I put in to some souls First of all I say Christ is seemingly harsh in his entertainment My Brethren Jesus Christ is not really so but a man may seem to bee that hee is not It was said of Paul Act. 8.17 18. this man seems to set forth strange doctrines which yet hee did not hee preached true doctrine viz. The right way of the Living God It was a slander of him that said in the Parable of Christ that hee was a hard Master But yet it is a real truth Though Jesus Christ bee not so yet hee may SEEM to bee so Jesus Christ may seem to bee and to do that which neither hee is nor will do It is said in Luk. 24.38 that Christ made as though hee would have gone further Christ really did not intend it but made as wee say a shew of it and so here Christ doth not intend to deal harshly with any that come no certainly Christ intends all Love and all sweetness c. but yet hee may seem so to do Minde that word it is seeming or in shew Christ carries it harshly But then secondly It is so but sometimes it is not alwaies The Lord will not chide for ever as David said And so in Isa 57.16 hee will not contend alwaies nor bee wroth for ever My Brethren Jesus Christ may seemingly carry it so sometimes but not alwaies As first meeting in John 20.15 when Christ and Mary met in the Garden Christ ar first carries himself strangely but afterwards hee opened himself sweetly and clearly to her and so Christ may for a while carry himself seemingly harsh or rough it may bee for a moment a day a year a few years but not alwaies Christ cannot alwaies restrain his bowels nor cast off for ever Take these two truths as everlastingly and undoubtedly true The first is That Satan will not alwaies spare thee And secondly Christ will not alwaies chide thee Satan for a while will give a soul good words to tempt him to sin and folly and to that end may speak fair and smooth but at last Saran will bee like himself a Devil a dread and terrour And Christ may for a season carry it harshly but hee will not indeed cannot do so for ever To the end hee must bee as hee is very kinde And then thirdly It is but to some persons not to all My Brethren all that come to Jesus Christ are not entertained alike the most are entertained with present love but a few some there are that hee doth seemingly for a while entertain with frowns I do not read of any such story in the Gospel as this Wee read of many who came to Christ and all entertained by Christ sweetly none but this poor woman is left as a president of this point but yet one clear President is enough for proof And there are onely two things wee shall do in the amplification of the Point First of all Wee shall shew you How Christ may seemingly carry it harshly and strangely to poor souls when they come to him Secondly Whence it comes to pass that Jesus Christ thus strangely carries himself seemingly harsh For the first How doth Jesus Christ discover any seeming harshness in his carriage to those that come to him I will go no further than to the instance of the Text. I will gather six things out of this story wherein you and I may learn and see that sometimes Christ may discover as if hee were unkinde harsh and severe First It appears upon the first view of the whole Hee did not entertain her presently Secondly Possitively Hee did not so much as give her a word So it is vers 23. Thirdly When others spake to him on her behalf hee refuses to hear Vers 23 24. Fourthly The Lord doth reject her though shee doth renew and reiterate her motion again to him Vers 25. Fifthly Hee hints that which might as one would think dash the poor creatures hope Vers 26. Sixthly and lastly Hee may keep us long ere hee send us away with that wee come for As hee did her Now soul minde it and if Christ seem to frown and to carry it strangely let it not seem strange for it is no new thing First The Lord Jesus Christ doth not entertain her presently One would think I say one would think
the very moisture is dried up and yet to put it off so that the soul may cry out with Job Job 23.13 hee is of one minde who can chaâ—ge him c Therefore the Church hath a remarkable expression Lamentations 3.8 Also when I cry and shout hee shutteth out my prayer Shouting it is an addition unto crying Why here is the poor woman crying in vers 22. I and shee cries and shouts in vers 25. and yet the Lord puts her off Fifthly The Lord Christ may carry it so seemingly harsh that hee may hint that that may seem to dash the poor creatures hope Oh this is sad and sore indeed Beloved That the poor creature who it may bee came with a little Faith and a little Hope should bee entertained so harshly as the soul may bee ready to say Now farewel Faith and farewel Hope c. Thus the Lord hath carried it to some before as if hee had cut off all their hope It was a very sad expression that they used Ezek. 37.11 Then hee said unto mee Son of Man these bones are the whole house of Israel Behold they say our bones are dried and our hope is lost wee are cut off for our parts Why truly poor soul Jesus Christ may so speak to you that you may say Now our hope is gone and wee for our parts whatever may bee the portion of others for our own particulars wee are cut off and cast off And Christ may carry it so as if hee gave I say as if not that hee doth really but I say as if hee gave us ground so to say that hee hath cut off all our hope and destroyed all that upon which our expectations were bottomed You have Job complaining of this himself Job 19.10 Mine hope hath hee removed like a Tree But of all expressions that is the most remarkable which you have in Lam. 3.54 The waters flowed over mine head then I said I am cut off Oh Sirs Jesus Christ may for a while so speak that the soul may say now my hope is perished and now I will sit down and despair And mark it but a little in this great instance of this woman of Canaan For here are two words that Christ useth to this woman which indeed did seem for it was no more than a seeming to dash all her hope in peeces First TheÌ„ one is I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel i. e. As if Christ should say My good friends my dear Disciples you pitty the woman so it may bee do I but what shall I do I cannot go beyond my commission I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel this woman is none shee is a Canaanite Now how might the poor woman complain sadly Oh Lord are none of the Canaanites in thy commission am not I in thy commission then farewel Lord Hee speaks a word that might even dash all her hope So say some souls Christ is onely for the Elect I am no elect one and thus the soul goes away hopeless Secondly And the other word that Christ speaks which might dash all her hope is in the 26. vers It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs Oh what a killing word was that poor heart shee might rather have expected that the Lord would have looked upon her as upon a silly Lamb as upon a trembling Dove that hee would speak softly to her but how roughly doth hee speak And how might this poor woman have mourningly muttered and in secret sighs have hereupon spoke thus in her self What must not doggs have childrens bread what said hee c. Ah my soul didst thâ—u mark it Doggs and childrens bread and I none of them and it is not meet c. Brethren Christ may call a Lamb a Dogg this seems to bee very harsh It was a harsh speech that the Lord did use to his people when hee cried Go to your Gods that yee have served Christ may say you are a dogg get you gone Quest But how could Jesus Christ speak thus wee know hee did account her Israel in the Spirit though not in the Letter as a Lamb not a dogg how did Christ then say I am not sent but to the lost sheep and thou dogg must not have childrens bread Answ There are these kinde of Answers First Some there are that say thus Christ speaks after the manner of Men as a Minister in the way of his Ministery guided by his Commission So Mr. Cartwright those that were not of the Jewish Church either by birth or proselitism they were out of the commission that seems to satisfie some But I will tell you what satisfies mee The Lord speaks two waies 1 Either plainly and positive as hee intends and as things are 2 Or by way of Trial probationally to try us Mark it The Lord may speak that to try us that hee doth not intend neither doth hee mean as hee speaks The Lord may bid Abraham go offer Isaac yet hee meant no such thing John 6.6 When Christ spake of buying bread for the multitude it is said this hee spake that hee might try them Thus the Lord speaks that hee might try us The Lord may speak doubtingly and hint heavy words not that hee hath hard thoughts but onely that hee might try us Hee may speak doubtingly of our Election that wee may make it sure Sixthly and lastly Herein Christ may shew himself seemingly harsh in that hee may at last keep us long ere hee doth send us away with that wee come for This woman had at last her request but it was long first as wee say Christ may entertain us and not speak any way so as to trouble us yet for all that hee intends not to give us presently the thing wee come for My Brethren the Lord Jesus may make us wait daies weeks months and years though hee let us within his house and speaks to us now and then and yet hee may not presently give us the particular thing that wee come for this is usual for Christ to make some tarry which yet hee turns not away And truly wee that are hasty count this harsh Christ may make us wait a great while and that wee esteem and it seems to be very harsh But this is a known thing and I shall not enlarge upon it at all Therefore thus much of the first thing wherein Christ may seem to carry it harshly towards those that come to him The second thing is Whence comes this to pass that Christ doth so carry himself Truly my Brethren It is strange after so many clear Prophecies after so many comfortable Promises after so many experiences of Christs kinde dealing that hee should with any soul at any time upon any account carry it thus harshly to them I shall give you an account of this in general first and in particular afterwards My Brethren In the general you must know this That Jesus
Christ is not so tied by Prophecie nor obliged by Promise but that in all his dealings hee may act as in his Prerogative Hee is the freest Agent that is It is prophesied of Christ That hee will gently lead those that are with young and promised that those that come to him hee will in no wise cast off Now Christ is not so bound up by this Prophecie or Promise but that hee may act his own Preregative And there is a double Prerogative Christ will maintain First Of his Absolute Will Secondly Of his Infinite Wisdome First The Prerogative of his Absolute Will I say Absolute Will My Brethren Jesus Christ may give Mercy to whom hee will and hee may give Mercy how hee will I finde our Lord and Saviour two times in particular standing upon the Prerogative of his Will And let us in a word consider them One is in Matth. 20.15 where hee speaks of himself in a Parable May not I do with mine own what I will The other is in the last of John 21 22. where Peter asks Christ Lord what shall this man do saith Christ in vers 22. If I will that hee tarry till I come what is that to thee Christ will have all to know his will is free Hee wills as hee wills What if God will shew mercy this way to one and another way to another hee hath his Prerogative Royal what if hee will when Jairus comes for his Daughter go presently and what if hee will dispute it with the Woman of Canaan Christ will still so act as to maintain the Prerogative of his Will Secondly Hee will maintain the Prerogative of his Wisdome Though hee come with a commission yet hee is to act as his Wisdome is And thus though hee bee a servant as hee is the Fathers servant sent with absolute command to receive poor souls when they come Yet how and when and what way is left to his own Wisdome Rejoyce and bee of good comfort Christ is bound to receive all that come to him I but how hee should receive them that is left to his Wisdome And it may bee much wisdome in the Lord Jesus Christ to receive some harshly and some sweetly Two boyes go to School the one is of a rugged nature and the other of a sofr nature The Masters wisdome knows how to deal with either of them So that now this is the general account Jesus Christ being left to the Prerogative of his own Will and Wisdome hee doth therefore sometimes entertain some souls harshly There are six particular accounts of it that I cannot now name but must leave to bee inlarged the next time Use Onely for the Use of this My Brethren you have heard a strange yet a certain Truth That the Lord Jesus doth sometimes seemingly entertain some souls harshly Now all that I would say is this 1 Do not Mistake mee 2 Do not Mistake your selves 3 Do not Mistake this Truth There are these three Mistakes that all our hearts are liable to either the one or other of them one while they mistake the Preacher and say hee spake that which never entred into his heart to speak Another while they mistake themselves and a third time the Truth it self Now I pray thee take heed of all these Therefore first Do not Mistake mee Though I tell you the Lord Jesus may entertain some harshly I do not this to keep you off from Christ Oh the Lord knows here is my heart and this must bee my labour while I live to draw you to Jesus Christ But what said Christ in John 16.3 having before been telling them of great persecutions they must go thorow saith Christ These things I tell you that when they come yee might not bee offended Oh soul that is my aim intent that if thou art a poor soul coming to Christ thou mayest not bee startled I tell you before-hand Christ may frown hee may turn the deaf ear not that you should keep off but that when these things come to pass that you should not stumble nor bee offended but that you should go on And therefore is there ever a poor soul that saith God hath wrought upon mee lately but I have been going to Christ and I have knocked and hee speaks not a word Oh bee not discouraged the Lord sometimes will do thus Secondly Do not Mistake your selves Poor sinners are apt to mistake themselves as now when they hear of Christ that Christ is ready and willing to receive us what use do they make of it Why say they then wee may go when wee will and so live as they list and think to go to Jesus Christ No mistake not Christ may receive thee harshly do not deceive your selves Christ is a Lion and hee can roar though hee will not tear you to peeces yet hee knows how to carry it severely sometimes There is Hay and Stubble laid upon the foundation and yet they are saved but how but as by fire Sinners sinners you may bee saved coming to the Lord Jesus as the Woman of Canaan but beleeve it you may bee saved by fire hee may call you Dogg before hee gives you the childrens bread and make you wait long before hee answer Do not mistake your selves and provoke Christ to make you know this truth to your cost and sorrow Thirdly Do not Mistake the point A mistaken truth is the ground of some great errours as well as any thing else indeed many errours are truths mistook And there are two Errours that people may run into if they mistake this point First Doth the Lord Christ deal thus with some Therefore what therefore Why I was mistaken the Lord never dealt so with mee therefore I am not right Nay stay there I did not say the Lord dealt so with all nor alwaies but with some at sometimes there are some the Lord kisses presently Two humours coming to the Physician have not the same kinde of Physick Fine or thin humours and rough and strong humours are not alike purged the one is and may bee purged more gently the other more roughly You have an instance of two in one place viz. Lydia and the Jaylor Act. 16. Fine Lydia as I may so call her of a tender spirit the Lord takes up the latch and enters softly silently without any great noise without any rough hand but the rough Jaylor hee hath an Earthquake c. Do not say I am not right because the Woman of Canaan was so dealt with and I am not Secondly Do not mistake the point and say Well it is true and the Lord deals thus with mee and I think it will never bee better Oh say not it will never bee better No my Brethren though the Lord deal harshly with thee yet hee will use thee better Cry not Oh the Lord hath entertained mee harsh and hath been silent and not spoke and that which hee hath spoken hath been in wrath hee hath called mee dogg and therefore I can expect
nothing c. Why know the Lord doth do it but sometimes and know that that God that speaks harshly to thee now will speak sweetly afterwards Note that place Judges 10. The people of Israel there cry to God deliver us this once what saith the Lord in vers 13. You have forsaken mee go to your Gods I will deliver you no more get you gone saith God and yet mark they follow on their cry save us but this once and it is said in vers 16. his soul was grieved for them Oh my Brethren though the Lord do seemingly entertain you harshly at first yet bee of good comfort hee may yet speak well to you yea hee will at last Onely let mee conclude with a little peece of the story of Joseph It may bee there are some of the women of Canaan that have cried long pray remember Joseph and Josephs Brethren came down to him My Lord say they wee are the children of one Man and wee come to buy corn and Joseph answered them roughly by and by hee laies one by the heels hee lets them go and keeps but one Oh the poor Brethren of Joseph might think what shall wee do wee are come into a strange Country and wee meet with strange language wee came to buy bread and wee are made prisoners you all know the story how Joseph entertained his Brethren at last Three things are in Josephs story in the book of Genesis First Though hee speaks roughly yet his bowels were towards his dear Brethren Secondly Though hee spake roughly it was that hee might have Renjamin And thirdly Though hee spake roughly yet at last hee entertained them royally Jesus is our Joseph and wee go to him for corn the Lord may speak roughly to us as Joseph did to them But first Hee hath bowels when hee speaks roughly Oh Jesus his bowels did roll to this poor woman when hee spake roughly When I spake against him my bowels were turned within mee saith God of Ephraim Oh thou childe of Canaan thou sayest hee hath called thee Dogg beleeve it hee is grieved for it at his heart Oh the sounding of the bowels of Christ are often towards us when hee seems to carry it harsh And then secondly Why did hee speak so harshly at first it was all to get Benjamin let us allude to it and apply it to you You have a Benjamin the Lord loves your hearts your soul your spirit that is your Bejamin the Lord speaks roughly that hee may have Benjamin and when once that Benjamin comes a living heart is brought to him hee will quickly make friends Lastly Joseph made a large recompence for all and truly so will the Lord Jesus make a large amends for all Oh children of Canaan in the Promise and thou woman of Canaan in the letter though the Lord seem harsh at first yet at last hee will bee sweet they shall have corn and mony too they shall have enough to bring them where they shall have all the Land Thou shalt have soul and body-mercies mercy for the way and mercy for the Country The Lord Jesus will deal bountifully The Lord may deal roughly but hee will yet deal royally How did hee deal with this woman Oh Woman bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Jesus did never speak so to any body Christ may say at last Oh soul go to the pot of Manna and take and eat what thou wantest what thou wishest And poor soul bee it to thee even as thou wilt for soul body daughter and all Though the Lord Christ may speak roughly at first and entertain seemingly severe yet hee doth end really sweet Thus much at present Reasons why Christ at first seems to bee harsh The Third SERMON Matthew 15. from vers 23 and so on But hee answered her not a word And his Disciples came and besought him saying Send her away for shee crieth after us But hee answered and said I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel Then came shee and worshipped him saying Lord help mee But hee answered and said It is not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to doggs c. BEsides those things which are commonly experienced and which must bee certainly expected in the coming of every soul to Christ besides those there are some RARE extraordinary things that now and then fall out upon some souls in their coming to â—hrist And my Brethren it concerns us to bee acquainted with them that in case they should befall us as others wee may know what to think and how to carry our selves Now in this story of the Woman of Canaan wee have some of those rare and extraordinary things which may befall some souls when they come to Christ Indeed wee have not the like History in all the New Testament unto this you read of many that came to Christ and you read how Christ did entertain them but you never read that Christ did carry it so to any as hee did to the Woman of Canaan There were four heads of matter unto which I said we might reduce this story First The coming of the Woman to Christ that wee have dispatched The Woman came upon a low account at first shee had a childe-sick possessed with Satan and her sick childe did revive a dead soul and brings her to Christ But now the second head wee are come to It is Christs entertainment of this Woman How doth Christ entertain her shee comes with much affection shee speaks with great humility how doth Christ welcome her truly very strangely hee answers her not a word And when the Disciples spake on her behalf hee seems to reprove them when shee renews her request hee puts her off with a dreadful answer so strangely doth Christ sometimes carry it to poor souls The Doctrine wee are upon from the carriage of Christ to the Woman is Doct. That Iesus Christ is seemingly harsh sometimes to some souls when they come to him Wee expressed the Doctrine with more caution because it is rare and it must not bee mistaken Therefore wee told you the lâ—st day those three expressions are boundaries of the point 1 It is but seemingly There is harshness in the carriage when none in the heart 2 And that sometimes 3 And but to some persons wee do not read of any more but this one to whom Christ did carry it so There were two things I said I would open in the doctrinal part First Wherein Christ might shew some kinde of harshness sometimes to poor souls This wee opened by this instance of Christs carriage to this Woman 1 Hee doth not entertain her 2 Hee doth not speak to her 3 Puts off them that spake for her 4 When shee renews her request shee is not the better 5 Nay hee speaks that as might dash her hope 6 And at last hee doth for her but upon a great dispute and after denials and delaies Secondly But whence is it that the Lord should thus
sometimes unlike himself as wee may so speak carry himself thus to poor souls The Prophecies speak contrary the Promises speak fairer whence is it the Lord whose Name and whose Nature is love should deal so harshly with any when they come to him I answer Though God will fulfil the Prophecies and make good the Promises yet hee will keep up the Prerogative both of his WILL and of his WISDOME that in the general I spake unto the last time But there are six particular Reasons that I shall give of the point Christ may have six ends or six Reasons why hee will deal it may bee with you as with the Woman of Canaan First Christ hath a design to further humiliation Secondly Christ hath a design to make a little trial upon the poor soul Thirdly Christ hath a design to caution many by dealing harshly with some Fourthly Christ hath a design fully to bring the soul to Gospel self-denial Fifthly Christ hath a design to heighten himself in the heart And sixthly and lastly That the soul may catch more hastily and keep more closely hold of Christ Now pray minde it possibly this afternoon I may give an account of Christs dealing with some of your souls it may bee some of you are like the Woman of Canaan that have gone to Christ and found hard entertainment and you are ready to say Lord why dost thou do so such a one went and found thee friendly and favourably while I come and cry and have no kindness Nay seemingly and to my sense much harshness Consider now what I shall say to satisfie you in the Reason of this strange carriage of Christ And first It may bee Christ intends to humble thee Jesus Christ doth indeed humble all but not all alike nor all in the same manner Now by thus dealing with the soul in this manner hee doth humble the soul in the best and sweerest manner viz. in an Evangelical way Legal humiliation it is just as a Father deals with a very untoward childe hee will not bee ruled and the Father sends him to the Magistrate that hee may go to Bridewel But Gospel-humiliation is just like a Father dealing with his childe by himself The Father looks strange and speaks hard and thereby humbles the childe so Christ will not turn us over to Satan to buffer us and fear us and as it were break us but himself by a little unusual strange and rough carriage will that way humble us And truly what will humble us if that will not There are but three heads unto which humiliation doth relate and you shall see this same harsh dealing of Christ with us at first will tend very much to the accomplishment of them all First Humiliation relates to sin that sin may bee exceeding bitter Secondly It relates to self that the soul may bee exceeding low Thirdly It relates to Christ that a soul under the sense of the bitterness of sin and the lowness of self-thoughts may think of Christ very highly Now observe when Christ shall deal roughly with a sinner coming to him all these three are effected Oh now First Sin is made bitter by this dealing of Jesus Christ The Law made sin bitter but the Gospel makes it more bitter Oh! saith the soul mine iniquities make Christ look frowning they separate between God and mee A tormenting Devil with a fiery face doth not make sin so bitter as a frowning Jesus Christ with a harsh countenance when Christ looks angry thus saith the soul Oh that ever my sins should make my Father frown that is all love I had once thoughts that sin was that which would make the Devil roar and speak terribly but now I see it makes Christ himself harsh and speak roughly Oh vile sin Oh great evil now thy sin appears Oh my soul to bee indeed exceeding sinful the sole and principal evil that is for it makes my Saviour carry it sadly towards mee Secondly By this harsh dealing of Christ the soul is humbled in it self If Christ frown self must down and kneel It may bee the soul comes conceited hee is not so bad as the Preacher would make him but when the soul shall come to Christ for mercy and Christ shall frown and call him Dogg Now saith the soul though I thought Preacher and Father and Mother made mee worse than I was yet now I see I am very bad Christ hee calls mee Dogg and hee saith it is not fit I should come in house with the children and makes mee to see that for all my daintiness and high thoughts I am no 〈◊〉 than a Dogg Oh self how poor and mean and exceeding vile art thou Thirdly Christ is mightily exalted this carriage makes thee more to prize Christ Poor creatures onely thought Christ a common person one that might bee easily come and spoke unto yea and prevailed with But now when Christ carries it a little high and speaks something harsh bidding us as it were keep off Now hee comes to bee heightned in our heart and by casting us down hee doth lift up himself that now wee come with more reverence and fear with more self-abhorring and Christ-admiring thoughts than possibly wee did at first So that Christ by this carriage rendring sin more vile and self more base and himself more precious doth hereby sweetly and surely humble us and this may bee one reason of this strange carriage to us Secondly The Lord intends to make a trial upon the soul by this harsh dealing I pray minde it Beloved That Jesus Christ that will never burn the soul to ashes doth yet intend to make a trial of the soul in fire And my Brethren the harsh dealing of Jesus Christ it is a shrewd trial to us Two things I shall intimate in this the Lord by harsh dealing makes a trial of two things First Christ will make a trial of the reality of our humiliation and hunger by which wee pretend to hunger after Christ and to pant for him as those who do heartily prize him And Secondly Of the reality of our Faith too First Christ by this makes a trial of the reality of our spiritual hunger by which wee pretend to long after Christ All is not hunger and thirst for Christ which seems so to bee The soul comes to Christ as a man that is a hungry comes to bread and Oh saith the soul I am hungry and now â—â—â—ist will try him Hee comes and saies hee thirsts for Righteousness and Bread of Life now saith Christ I will try him a little will hee lye by the cupboard-door and if I say bread will hee say a crumb If I call him Dogg and bid him bee gone will hee yet lye at my feet A hungry man indeed will do so and I will try if this soul bee as hee saies really hungry So Christ hereby tries our spiritual longing Many pretend to long who do not so much as love for longing is the strength and height of love Many
shall stand off that will make the soul come on more hastily Jesus Christ doth catch us by craft as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 12.16 Truly Christ doth catch some poor souls by craft as the fisher-man doth the fish you know or may have heard how that is The fisher-man laies the bait and draws it as it were away hee draw it before the fish and when the fish is ready to take it hee doth make as if hee snatched it away and why so truly that the fish may catch at it more eagerly and bee held by it more surely So doth Christ with us when hee shall offer and seem to draw back when hee shall come neer and suffer us as it were to touch him and then snatch away again this will make us come on more earnestly and close with him more eagerly The soulby this means takes the bait I and the soul will hold it too when it hath it beleeve it Sins the Lord Jesus Christ is kinde to catch by craft Well this is the account of the Reason wherefore it is that sometimes Christ is seemingly harsh to some souls There are but three Uses I aim at in this Doctrine Use 1. The first Use is To let us all see that Christ is not so easily come by as the generality of people do think All have Christ freely but not easily Minde it My Brethren I think and I will tell you my thoughts because it may awaken you and do you good I think many will go to Hell as upon other mistakes so upon this that they do think it easie to go to Heaven and easie to come by Jesus Christ But if it bee true that Christ stands a loof off from a poor soul then it will appear to bee a hard work to come by him Remember this you will finde three things will make it hard work ere Jesus Christ and you bee brought together 1 The backwardness of your own hearts 2 The many hinder ances and puts in of Satan 3 And the seeming backwardness of Jesus Christ First Your own hearts will bee backward Ah soul unless the Lord make it a day of his power they are not a willing people Psa 110. hee that talks of free-will I am afraid was never sensible of free-grace nor of the backwardness of his own heart Secondly The Devil makes it hard work too Verily when the soul would go to Christ the Devil will hinder and set one to hinder another to keep the soul off from going to Jesus Christ But thirdly and especially The seeming harsh dealing of Jesus Christ makes it very hard work Oh say some poor souls My thinks the Lord makes mee willing and hungring after a Christ but when I come to Christ Christ hangs off My thinks God the Father is willing I should have Christ hee hath sent him the Spirit is willing hee hath revealed Christ to mee and my heart is willing but I come to Christ and hee doth not hear mee verily here you will finde difficulty and it will much pazzle and try Faith to beleeve upon and close with a Christ who seems to stand at a distance His seeming harsh dealing will make it real hard beleeving Use 2. The second Use is of Caution I pray learn by this to take heed how you provoke the Lord Jesus Christ to deal thus harshly with any of you My Brethren the Lord Christ can frown and look bitterly and deal severely c. and beware how you provoke him so to do The truth is there bee some souls that rationally I mean religiously rationally cannot expect otherwise that if Christ do receive them hee should receive them very harshly Let mee in a word touch upon this and do you remember it Two words I would speak my minde in that I may not bee mistaken First this I do not say that there are any souls that have reason to think Jesus Christ will reject them Whatever you are Canaanite Perisite or Jebusite c. Whoever you are before the Lord I do not say there is reason for you to conclude that there is no coming to the Lord. But This I say secondly That though you have no reason to think hee will cast you off yet you have reason to think hee will deal harshly with you you may have reason to fear hee will not presently entertain you First I think there bee some souls that may verily expect God may make them stand at the door and wait till they cool their heels and though Christ will let them in at last yet hee may set them stand all night Some souls Christ may let them bee hoarse with crying and yet Jesus Christ may stand off Secondly There are some souls that may expect that though hee should let them in yet it may bee with them as with some childe the childe is let in and hee sits at the table but the Father looks so strangely and harshly on him that his meat doth him no good thou mayest never rellish mercy sweetly till thou comest to Heaven it may bee Thirdly There are some souls that may expect that though Christ will give them mercy yet hee will dispure it out with them that they shall wrestle a whole night as Jacob and go limping all their life time and bee called Dogg many a time and as it were threatned with a cudgel before ever hee give them childrens bread Therefore I beseech you for the Lords sake souls look about you Now there are three sorts of people that have thus reason to think that though Christ may receive them at last yet it may bee very harsh at first First Those that have dealt very harshly with Jesus Christ With the froward I will bee froward saith God Grace will receive froward ones at last yet hee will bee harsh Why what was the matter Joseph looks so roughly upon his Brethren their consciences could tell them Wee had not pitty upon our Brother Gen. 42.21 Sirs there are many poor souls deal harshly with Jesus Christ I say deal harshly with Christ is there any deals harshly with him you will say how can that bee why bee not mistaken as you deal with Christs members so you deal with him You scoff at poor Saints and Christ takes it as against himself O minde it you that have been or are the persecutors of the Lords people you can expect no other but that Christ should deal harshly with you since you have done so by him It may bee there is a poor man or woman by thee that hath precious Faith I say that hath precious Faith thou dealest hardly with them and so thou dealest hardly with Jesus Christ in them and hee may do so with thee Secondly Those souls that have lived in any more notable prophaneness than others may expect if Christ receive them it should bee as the woman of Canaan harshly Take a plain similitude Let two men go to a Physician the one hath a little knock on the crown a little dressing a
eat of the crumbs which fall from their Masters Table The Lord had in a manner called her Dogg and said it was not for doggs to have childrens bread shee doth not deny it but shee grapples with grace and saith Truth Lord yet doggs may have a crumb c. I shall put all that is spoken here of her carriage into one Lesson but before I do that I shall name two other observable points The first is this A right Faith coming and carrying of the soul to Christ is a resolute Faith That is one point I would name pray mark it The Lord Jesus seems to put her off hee gives her nothing that was a visible incouragement yet shee will go on and yet shee will not bee put off When the soul comes to Christ hee comes as one that needs a Christ and wants a Christ will have and as one that must have a Christ and what then hee will have a Christ before hee goes away Though hee have not evidence hee will have adherence though the soul can see nothing and though no hope yet hee will bee resolute although Christ will not smile though conscience is not quiet though the wound bee not healed though the Lord put off angrily yet the soul keeps resolute to him and will not bee sent away empty Faith if right is still resolute The second Point that I shall name is this That a right Faith knows how to confess and beleeve at once A true Beleever will not conceal his sin yet will close with Jesus Christ A right Faith will deny nothing and yet it will beleeve all things My Brethren mark it a little there are a company of vile people that are as they say all for Faith and nothing for confession and what say they beleevers it is not for them to come and confess sin Why a beleever will confess sin doth the Lord say dogg yes truth Lord I am a dogg will the soul say as this Woman did There are others that will confess and not beleeve Oh they cry out they must confess and bewail and lye low and humble themselves c. but they cannot beleeve they dare not beleeve confession is their work c. Why poor hearts you may do both you may say Lord I am a sinner yet I beleeve for mercy is for sinners I am ungodly yet I beleeve for Abraham beleeved in him who justifieth the ungodly I am a dogg as thou sayest Lord yet I beleeve a dogg may gather up a crumb Well remember it True Faith doth not hinder confession nor confession should not hinder Faith But the particular Lesson of the place is this Namely That it is the duty the wisdome the glory of poor souls to carry it holily and humbly unto Christ when Christ seems to carry it harshly unto them So doth this poor Woman or if you will take it shortly thus It becomes Christians to carry it really well when Christ carries it seemingly ill I know my Brethren this is a hard work but as hard as it is wee must learn it and I will assure you if ever God intend to do you good though flesh and blood murmure yet the Lord will whip you into this Lesson but hee will make you learn it Namely to carry it holily to him when hee carries it seemingly harsh to you I remember that passage in 1 Pet. 2.18 Servants bee obedient to your Masters not onely to the good and gentle but also to the froward It is the duty of a servant professing the Name of God though hee have a froward Master yet hee must carry it well Now mark it Is it the duty of a servant to carry it well to a bad Master and is it not the duty of Saints to carry it well to Christ wee are the servants hee is the Master So in Heb. 12.9 Mark the Apostles argumentation saith hee Wee have had Fathers of our flesh which corrected us and wee gave them reverence shall wee not much rather bee in subjection unto the Father of spirits and lâ—ve Mark there is life in this our life depends on our reverent carriage in this case Alass if Christ bee gone our life goes with him carry it well therefore if thou love thy life you must bee subject and submissive even when hee seems to bee sharp otherwise death is at the door Minde it then would you have a pardon and doth Christ seem to deny you where can you go for it but to him and when you come if you submit there it is soul in the point is your life Therefore mark the lesson well It is the duty wisdome and glory of Saints to carry it well to Christ when hee carries it seemingly ill to them There are four persons in the book of God recorded that God did seem to deal very hardly withall and of all of them this Woman of Canaan was most rare Good old Aaron holy Job the Virgin Mary the Mother of our Lord and this Woman in the Text. But truly as the Apostle said now remains Faith Hope and Charity the greatest thereof is Charity so of these that are upon record the greatest of these is this Woman shee seems to excel in good carriage under hard usage For Aarons carriage you have it recorded in Lev. 10.3 The Lord had dealt very severely with him Nadab and Abihu his two sons were consumed with fire from Heaven before the Lord. Ah Lord how harsh was this to flesh and blood what meer man having nothing more than man could bear it a good Priest hath two sons taken away suddenly But how doth Aaron carry it The Lord spake to Moses and Moses to Aaron saying This is that the Lord spake I will bee sanctified in them that come nigh mee and before all the people I will bee glorified and Aaron held his peace The Lord seemed very severe against the old man hee took away two of his children at once when they were about his work the Lord satisfies him by Moses and hee held his peace A blessed behaviour it was well-becoming him and very patternable unto us The second is that of Job In the first and second chapters you may read and see that God carries it strangely to him yet it is said in all this Job carries it very well so well that the Holy Ghost bears him witness Hee sinned not nor charged God foolishly And when his Wife put him on to curse God Oh saith hee Thou speakest like one of the foolish women what shall wee receive good at the hand of God and not evil There was a carriage indeed very good and right according to our Doctrine Thirdly Our Lords Mother carries it well to the Lord when hee seemed to carry it harsh to her In John 2.3 There you have our Lord and his Mother at a Wedding and there was wanting some Wine and the Mother said to Jesus they have no Wine saith Christ Woman what have I do with thee mine hour is not yet come What
dost thou call upon mee for Wine in the middle of the feast shee was taken up as wee say sharply I but how sweetly doth shee carry it In vers 5. saith shee to the servants Whatsoever hee saith unto you do it Truly a very sacred speech it was and argued that her soul was really good and would appear so to Christ even when his carriage was to appearance very cross to her Lastly You have this story in the Text which in a sense as I said is the greatest of all four for beleeve it God never dealt so with Aaron Job and Mary as hee did with this Woman nor in some respects consideratis considerandis as they say did they carry it so well as shee There was something in those children of Abraham for so they were which did oblige and inable them to carry it better than could bee expected from this stranger this Canaanite yet shee transcends in her holy humble sweet behaviour to our Lord as I shall open by and by Well There are two things to bee opened for the explication of the point The first is How the soul should carry it well to Christ when Christ carries it ill to him Wherein doth this good behaviour lye Let the Lord carry it how hee will what is our good behaviour I say what is our good behaviour which wee should shew to him And then secondly Why wee ought so to carry it what are or may bee the reasons and grounds of such a carriage I begin with the first And shall not instance nor inlarge in any particulars but what wee may finde in this pattern and pray mark it well For my thinks in this Text there are six things in this Womans good behaviour shewing and evidently teaching all of us what should bee out carriage when wee come to Christ c. First of all Though the Lord dealt roughly with her shee kept up honourable thoughts of him Secondly Shee doth not suddenly nor sullenly go away but tarries and waits upon Christ Thirdly Shee speaks to Christ as professing her onely hope in his help Fourthly Shee denies nothing of what the Lord seems to charge her with Fifthly Shee doth gather upon Jesus Christ as it were and catches bold of that by which Christ would cast her off Sixthly and lastly Shee was content to have a little in the lowest manner when shee might not have her first and great request in the highest manner First of all This good carriage the Woman had Shee thinks honourably of Jesus Christ The Lord puts her off hardly what doth shee do doth shee in a carping censorious manner revile and speak evil of Christ Crieth shee out oh pride O stateliness O sowre man Doth shee say yee followers of his is this your good Lord and Master whatever hee may say or you think certainly hee is an austere man and beleeve it hee is a surly Master c. not a word of this but the Text saith Shee came to him and worshipped him and said Lord help mee If Jesus Christ had dealt never so well with her shee could not have dealt better with him It is the Royal Carriage of the Spouse of Jesus Christ The â—ueen in Psal 45. when shee was brought into the Kings presence and dealt withall best All that is advised and required of her is this Hee is thy Lord worship thou him But this poor Woman when shee is turned off shee comes to him and worships him and saies Lord help mee When the Lord seems to deal harshly with a soul the Devil is at hand to put on a poor soul to think hardly of Jesus Christ Oh Sirs Experimentally souls know this to bee true that they can hardly keep down murmuring thoughts when Christ doth not entertain them presently I remember it was the speech of Mr. Calvin intimating the moderation of his spirit about Luther saith hee Though Luther should call mee a Devil I would honour him as a Saint So truly do thou though Christ call thee a Devil do thou honour him as the Messiah In Psal 22. you have a very remarkable passage Why art thou so far saith the Psalmist from the words of my roaring O my God I cry in the day time but thou hearest not vers 1 2. It was harsh dealing for God to let David cry all the day long and not to hear him what then Read the 3. vers But thou art holy c. Oh Sirs Sirs look about you and learn your Lesson well you must carry it well to Christ though hee deal harshly with you you must speak to him and think of him honourably you must beware of blasphemy The Devil thought Job would curse God if God carried it cross but hee was deceived and set Satan bee deceived so in you hee will tempt and put you on to entertain dishonourable thoughts of Christ and if it may bee hee will make you charge God foolishly and speak of Christ fouly but take heed see your pattern of piety in this womans practice and carry it as shee did Whatever Christ do or say though hee put thee off and call thee dogg yet come neer and bow worship him and call him Lord Say hee is holy and honourable and thou wilt still count him so this is thy good behaviour which will bee thy wisdome and glory to strive for and to come up unto This is the first thing in this Womans carriage I proceed A second thing in her good behaviour is this Shee doth not suddenly nor sullenly go away from him Shee goes not away in a fume or a pet as wee use to say No but as the Disciples said Master Shee crieth after us Poor souls may come to Christ and cry and hee may go away knock and hee not open call and no body answer what shall you do Oh take heed of going away grumbling and sullen The Woman shee renews her cry shee comes and saies Lord help mee Truly my Brethren it was a proud speech of those in Isa 58.3 that said Wherefore have wee fasted and thou seest not Wherefore have wee afflicted our souls and thou takest no knowledge c And my Brethren it is spiritual pride for us to say Lord why do I cry and thou not hear keep on crying Soul that is thy duty Wee are apt to bee very sullen though the Lord bee very wise in not hearing what wee say It was a strange peece of sullenness in Jonah in Jonah 4.8 when hee wished in himself to dye and said It is better for mee to dye than live It will argue much hypocrisie in your coming to Christ if although Christ do deny you do not tarry and wait upon him begging In Job 27.10 It is said of the hypocrite Will hee cry alwaies Thou sayest thou dost hunger for Christ thou dost thirst for Christ thou hast a hungring and thirsting for righteousness well then because you have it not will you go away it is but an hypocritical hunger were it cordial it would
have you dealt treacherously with mee O house of Israel saith the Lord. What then do they deny it No. A voice was heard upon the high places weeping and supplâ—cation of the children of Israel for they have perverted their way and they have forgotten the Lord their God Oh here is good carriage when the Lord shall deal harshly bring all thy sins to remembrance rip up sin here and fin there Oh with a voice of weeping say truly it is so Let God charge any thing Let Christ say what hee will hee cannot lye whatever his language bee If Christ say Swine Dogg reply nothing onely say as this Woman did Truth Lord. That is the fourth thing But then again Fifthly This Womans good carriage lies in this Shee doth gather upon Jesus Christ as it were and catches hold of that by which Christ would seem to cast her off and doth take an argument from his harsh speech to plead for her self It is not meet to give the childrens bread to Doggs See how shee takes hold of it Truth Lord But the Doggs may eat of the crumbs that fall from their Masters Table Doth Christ say go Woman dogg Woman say thou I will take hold of this word a crumb Lord. It is good when a soul can catch hold upon a Christ even by that with which hee would put it off For instance suppose Jesus Christ should say to thee thou art an ungodly wretch come not to mee catch hold of that and say thou art a God that justifies the ungodly Saith God thou art a Rebel get thee gone catch at it and say truth Lord it is so but the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to give gifts to Rebels Doth the Lord yet say thou art an enemy answer true Lord but there is reconciliation for enemies in the blood of Christ c. Learn to catch at that hand by which Christ seems to thrust thee away hold that It is indeed a Mystery but so is all godliness and wee must learn it and out of this Womans example wee may bee helped therein That is the fifth But not to inlarge I will come to the next The sixth and last thing in her good carriage is this That shee is content with a little in the lowest manner if shee may not have a great deal in the highest manner For mark her expression A crumb Lord there is little and under the Table I will bee glad to stoop so low and lick that which lies there upon the ground Oh that this frame of spirit were in us surely it is a blessed thing to bee thus bowed in our hearts to stoop thus to Christ Wee cannot enough admire nor I fear imitate this Woman pray look upon her listen to her Truly my thinks the poor Woman saies thus Indeed I am a poor Canaanite I am not one of the children of the house of Israel I may not sit down at the childrens table nor take of the bread so soon as cut from the Loaf but I will bee content to take it under the table there I will lye c. And truly my Brethren this was the good carriage of the Prodigal mark how the Prodigal comes home Father make mee one of thy hired servants Hee doth not say Father remember I was a childe and let mee come in for a portion c. No but make mee but a servant and what servant would hee bee a hired servant the houshould servants had a priviledge that the hired servants had not I shall turn you to a Scripture for it Exod. 12.44 45. verses The hired servant might not eat of the Passeover when the houshold servant might Hee would bee a hired servant that if his Father would not take him into full grace and give him a childes place and portion again hee would bee contented with any thing Now the Lord help you and I to think of these things here is good carriage Here are six things you see wherein shee carries it well But now In the second place I should give you the Reasons why this same good carriage should bee notwithstanding Christ carry it harshly There are three heads of Reasons First of all If you consider who Christ is to whom you come Secondly If you consider what your selves are who come to this Jesus Christ And Thirdly If you consider the Errant for which you come to him at any time you will finde in all these three Matter and Motive enough to make you carry it thus well to Christ though hee carries it ill to you The Woman considered who Christ was the Son of David the Messias and shee considered who shee was a Canaanite and shee remembers that shee had a childe under the power of the Devil and let us touch a little upon them First Consider who Christ is to whom you come I shall hint out my meditations as to this in four particulars who Christ is First of all Hee is the Lord God blessed for evermore Therefore worship thou him saith the Psalmist Psal 45.11 FOR hee is thy Lord and because hee is thy Lord therefore worship thou him The Lord Jesus to whom you and I come hee is the Lord Jehovah God blessed for evermore and should wee not carry it well to him wert thou to come to a man but a meer man upon a weighty affair though hee were a little cross thou wouldest carry it well and shouldest thou go to the Lord God blessed for evermore and carry it ill Surely the consideration of a God ought to fill the soul with all reverence in every approach unto him and with all humbleness of carriage in our dealings with him If thou art an Arrian doubting and denying Christs deity there might bee the shadow of a Plea for an irreverent deportment but being thou art one who callest Christ Lord and professest at least to acknowledge him God this very thing obligeth thee to demean thy self well however hee deals with thee Secondly As hee is thy Lord so hee is thy Life My meaning is thou goest to him without whom thou canst not live and therefore thou hadst need to carry it well Whither should wee go saith Peter thou hast the words of eternal life Christ is your Physician for that you must carry it well to him you do carry it well and wait upon a Doctor fairly because your life lies upon it and will you not deal so with Christ when the life of your souls lies upon it I knew a Physician that was of great Name and Practice a man of a very cynical spirit as rugged crabbed a carriaged person as any of that Profession hee could scarce give a pleasing look and would often give course cross indeed very bad language and yet I have heard him so reverently spoke unto and so patiently waited on that I have admired it but what was the reason Oh hee was a Doctor and they came to him knowing his skill and therefore it made them carry themselves so respectfully to him Oh
this one word Who are you before the Lord that are of this house that this good Woman was That are under the frowns of Christ at present that have heard Jesus Christ call you Dogg that have prayed often and been put off alwaies I pray take a word of Advice carry it well even now unto Jesus Christ You know what the wise man tells us in Eccles 7.14 In the day of prosperity bee joyful but in the day of adversity consider I would but a little allude to it It may bee there sits a soul but it is a day of prosperity with him hee praies and the Lord hears hee looks and the Lord smiles But there is a Man or Woman with whom it is the day of adversity thou callest and Christ doth not answer it is thy day of adversity Now consider consider what consider how thou carriest thy self Look to thy lips do not sin do not murmure though thy wounds stink though thy conscience burn though thy soul tremble it is thy day of adversity and therefore consider Oh consider how the Lord eyes thee to see how thou wilt carry it Take heed the Lord do not see a cursed Canaanitish carriage in thee here is a good Canaanitish carriage in the Text. I remember what a godly man said within these seven years lying under a great pain of a great grief of which hee died as hee groaned exceedingly saith one you groan much I replied hee But though I groan I dare not grumble Though Christ keep thee a little at staves end and carry it harshly yet bee of good courage and confidence wilt thou but wait a little wait the Lords leisure carry it well hee will deal well with thee Bee therefore advised how thou behave thy self surely a waspish spirit and a murmuring tongue argue one is not well advised as wee say in his carriage Therefore go home as an advised Christian let the Lord Jesus do or say what hee pleaseth hold thou thy peace suppress thou thy passion and in all things shew a humble reverend blessed behaviour to him But of this more in the next Reasons why wee ought still to carry it well to Christ The Fifth SERMON Matthew 15.25 and 27. verses Then came shee and worshipped him saying Lord help mee And shee said Truth Lord yet the doggs eat of the crumbs which fall from their-Masters table AS to bee entertained by Christ really and readily is a great mercy so to bee rejected by Christ though it bee but seemingly must needs bee a great misery Indeed there cannot befall a poor soul a sadder evil than to come to Christ needing and expecting relief and to receive either an absolute denial or unusual delaies at the hands of Christ And yet my Brethren this is a case that sometimes hath befallen many and may befall us Wee have a notable instance of it before us in this story of the Woman of Canaan There were four things I told you that wee would principally speak unto in the handling of this story The first was the Coming of this Woman The second is the Manner of the Entertainment that shee had by Christ which was very sad not an absolute denial but a strange and unusual delay Thirdly Now wee are considering the Carriage of this Woman under this strange and rough entertainment that shee received from Christ The point is of concernment for us to consider that whensoever it will befall any of us upon any account wee may know how to carry our selves as shee hath done In these two verses wee have her Carriage and after wee had opened that wee gathered up all into this one Observation viz. Doct. That it is the duty the wisdome the glory of a Christian to carry it unto Christ very holily when hee seems to carry it to the soul very harshly Or shortly thus Wee must carry it really well when Christ carries it seemingly ill There were but two Principal things which I said were necessary to bee handled in the explication of the Point The First is What this good Carriage is wherein this holy and blessed behaviour to Jesus Christ doth lye And secondly Upon what account it is our duty and glory to have this Carriage Now for the opening of both of these I did onely confine my self to the example in hand to see how the Woman carried it and to see from her what were the Reasons that did prevail with her to carry it thus to Christ Here are six things wherein this good thing viz. this good Carriage of this good Woman appears First Though the Lord dealt roughly with her shee kept up honourable thoughts of him Secondly Wee shewed shee did not suddenly nor sullenly go away but still shee cries after him And Thirdly Shee speaks to Christ as professing her onely hope in his help Fourthly Shee denied nothing that Christ speaks against her Christ seems to say to her First That shee was a Dogg And then Secondly That shee should have nothing Truth Lord saith shee Fifthly Shee doth gather upon Jesus Christ and by that very hand which hee thrust her off shee gathers hope Lastly Shee was content to have a little in the lowest manner when shee might not have her first and great request in the highest manner Wee did the last day open these more largely But now whence is it that wee must have and labour for this good Carriage or what is the reason wee should carry it thus holily to Christ though hee seem to carry it roughly to us I referred the reason of it to three heads I told you if wee do consider either Jesus Christ or our selves or the Errand upon which wee come to him at any time wee shall see great reason to carry it well to Christ howsoever hee may seem to carry it ill to us And all these three considerations wee have here in the Woman First Consider who Jesus Christ is when you go to him Why truly my Brethren hee is the Son of David and our Lord Because hee is our Lord therefore wee must worship him It is because Masters are Masters therefore servants must carry it well wee did open that and therefore shall not repeat it now But Secondly Consider wee our selves who wee are that go to Jesus Christ and my Brethren you will see that such as wee are coming to Christ should carry it very well to him though hee should seem to carry it ill to us Alass what was this Woman Certainly the Holy Ghost did help her to look within to see her self as shee was viz. a poor Woman A Woman of Canaan of Tyre and Sidon a Woman that was a Dogg by Nature such a Woman had need to carry it holily when shee comes to Christ And my Brethren if you look upon your hearts as shee was so are wee you will see all the reason in the world to carry it holily and humbly to Jesus Christ though hee should carry it seemingly harsh to you First My Brethren wee are poor
Creatures and certainly our poverty doth speak for our humility Indeed wee are beggars and you know the speech of Solomon in Prov. 28.23 The poor useth intreaties It is but meet that those that come a begging and are poor that they should use intreaties And my Brethren let mee tell you it is an argument that wee have not the blessing of spiritual poverty if wee do not carry it well to Jesus Christ however hee carries it to us Indeed it is observed as the very natural disposition of the Spanish Nation that though they bee beggars yet they bee proud I wish in a spiritual sense that were not true of the most of us wee carry it too proudly and that because wee forget what wee are I remember Solomon when hee would strike fire out of the flint as it were that is reverence out of the hearts of irreverend ones falls upon this consideration Hee is in Heaven and thou art on Earth Eccles 5.2 Ah! it is folly as Solomon there intimates for us who are upon Earth wee dust and ashes to carry our selves hastily irreverently before the God of Heaven Our poor condition prompts us on were wee wise to minde it to a good Carriage This I finde to bee the proper reason of that good Carriage which wee opened from Psal 22. You finde there the Psalmist crying out Oh my God why hast thou forsaken mee and I cry and thou hearest not c but thou art holy O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel Here is excellent good Carriage but what is the ground of it See in the sixth verse But I am a Worm and no Man As if hee should say I am a worm a poor silly creature and therefore if I cry and thou hear not yet thou art a holy and honourable God But Secondly Wee are not onely poor but wee are polluted creatures And now my Brethren our pollution when wee come to Jesus Christ should have a power upon us to make us carry it so holily and humbly as wee opened The Leper under the Law had a liberty to cry out yet hee was to cover his face and to cover his lips My Brethren you and I are but Lepers when wee come to Jesus Christ and upon this account it is that wee should carry it holily and humbly This had an influence in Jobs good Carriage in the 40. and 42. chapters Behold saith Job I am vile what shall I answer thee I have spoken once but I will speak no more Surely it argues wee are not sensible of our own stench and pollution if wee dare stand upon terms and mis-behave our selves towards our holy Physician If thy poverty will not binde thee to the good behaviour let thy pollution do it Thirdly Yet add a third string to this cord that it may keep thee in Wee are not onely poor and polluted but wee are very enemies And my Brethren an enemy especially a conquered enemy coming to plead for his life for mercy had need come humbly When the servants of Benhadad came to the King of Israel as enemies and as conquered enemies they come with ropes about their necks and lye at his feet and snatch at a word 1 King 20.33 Oh sinner that is thy condition thou art an enemy thou hast been in rebellion and thou art suing for reconciliation and shouldest not thou carry it well Is thy heart so unsensible of thy former Carriage as to miscarry it self again Surely thou hast need and all the reason in the world to crouch and bend to yeeld and bow well to carry thy self who hast been an enemy with all reverence to the Lord Jesus otherwise you do much forget your selves But I shall not inlarge That is the second Reason why souls should carry it holily and humbly to Christ Namely if wee consider who wee are that come to Christ But then Thirdly and lastly Consider you the Errand for which you come to Christ at any time and you will see in that an Argument to make you carry it well This Woman came to Christ upon a great Errand Ah Lord My Daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil And Oh Lord I am troubled with him too might shee say A great business then shee came about and so do wee when wee come to Christ If wee were to speak with Christ for a trifle then if Christ spake roughly wee might go away but it is about what most concerns us For suppose it bee thy first coming to Jesus Christ thou art a poor creature under sin and now thou art made sensible of it what dost thou go to Christ for for ease of thy burden c. Suppose thou art coming to Christ after some backsliding under the guilt of some spiritual Adultery and now thou art coming to him that hee should receive thee again and is not this a serious thing Nay suppose thou goest to Christ but for the life of one of your children or your own life these are serious things and in serious things wee should carry it humbly when wee come to such a one as Jesus Christ is being such as wee are upon such a weighty Errand as all our occasions are I fear thou that mis-behavest thy self to Christ forgettest thy business with him Is the sentence past and art thou condemned already and art thou come to Christ with the chains about thy feet and the halter about thy neck and now carriest thou thy self ill to him Art thou suing for thy pardon and now proud art thou before the Lord for bread childrens bread at any time and is thy case such as death follows upon a denial of it and now mindest thou not thy Carriage Pray souls look about you as my phrase is what come you to Christ for is it for temporals or eternals come you for your selves or for yours are you seeking for things on Earth or in Heaven do you desire your childrens or your own or both deliverance from the Devil I pray minde your Errand what thing it is you come to Christ for and let it bee almost what it will that you are with Christ about the consideration of the one or other should and may prevail with us to carry it exceeding well though hee seem to carry it ill So much for the explication of the Point Why now then for the Application Indeed there is but one thing that I do aim at as the proper and principal intendment of this Point which is to direct and inable both my own heart and yours under God to carry it thus well to Jesus Christ though hee may carry it ill to us But before I speak to that I beseech you if it bee your duty to carry it well to Jesus Christ though hee should carry it ill to us then do you take heed as I was concluding the last time and would a little hint it again that you do not carry it ill to Jesus Christ when Christ carries it well to you Therefore all you that are before
it First Beware of ill Carriage Satan is at your elbow hee is tempting hee is busie to make you curse God and dye This was Satans main work to provoke Job to ill Carriage and that is his work upon thee now Satan seeth thee groaning under a sin that thou hast no ease now Satan is tempting thee to carry it ill but beware do not carry it ill Take heed of two things as the principal peeces of good Carriage First Beware of evil words and wishes Secondly Of unlawful works and indeavours First Beware of evil words and wishes My Brethren wee are apt in affliction to sin with our mouths But oh Sirs let mee tell you Mouth-sin is great sin Tongue-sin on Earth is tormenting-sin in Hell Do not speak ill nor wish ill Do not speak ill It was an ill speech yet that good man drops it in his trouble Psal 73.13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency And it was a very ill speech of the Church in Lam. 3.18 I said my hope is perished from the Lord. And a bad wish of Job Job 6.8 9. Oh that I might have my request and that God would grant mee the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy mee that hee would let loose his hand and cut mee off Beware of speaking unadvisedly with your lipâ— Saith the soul I cannot stand up under the frowns of Christ and I would to God I might dye now God notes what you say Jer. 45.3 Thou saidst woe is mee now Mark God noted what Baruâ—h saith But you will say may not the soul speak may not the bitter heart vent it self may not I speak of my condition as it is I pray mark but these two or three things First of all You may speak but it is our misery wee are apt to speak more than it is Many a time wee cry out of our misery more than it is But Secondly Mark this though wee may speak It it best to hold our peace Better is it for the soul to put his mouth in the dust then there will bee hope as wee opened Lam. 3.29 But then Thirdly In all your speaking you must distinguish between humble prayer and hasty speaking You may go before the Lord again and again and speak to him as the Woman of Canaan you may tell the Lord your wounds stink and fester your bones are broken c. but you must not do this unadvisedly or passionately Quest How shall the soul know even in prayer that hee doth not speak of his sad condition badly Answ I answer first When in all your prayers and expressions unto God you leave your complaint upon your selves This was Jobs practice Jeb 10.1 saith Hee My soul is weary of my life I will leave my complaint upon my self I will speak in the bitterness of my soul i. e. I will say Lord my wound is great but I made it c. you may expostulate with God but still leave your complaint upon your selves i. e. lay the fault of all upon your selves do not blame Christ Confess whatever thou feelest smart or sore that thou must onely thank thy self for it Lay not thy sorrow to thy Saviours charge whatever you say speak not as charging Christ but condemning self That is one thing And secondly As you must leave the complaint upon your selves so you must not absolutely and peremptorily condemn your selves The soul is apt to cry out my case is bad and it will never bee better I conclude I must perish there is no hope c. Ah! these condemning concluding absolute concluding speeches thus against our selves proceed from passion and are of that kinde of words which wee must avoid But it is not enough to watch words take heed especially to your works Therefore Secondly As you must beware of sinful words and wishes so beware of sinful works and indeavours When the Rod of God is upon thy back take heed of putting forth thy hand to evil Sauls way was a wicked way Indeed the Lord dealt sadly severely with him neither to answer him by vision nor dream by Urim nor Thummim was very sore and grievous And my Brethren to bee able to forbear at such a time any thing that may seem a way to help I confess it is very hard But although it bee difficult yet it is duty Wee must beware of going to Witches and Wizards for counsel in any case It was Sauls sin and I wish it had died with him but it remains too great a practice in these times Oh take heed of it Take heed I say you do not by any evil practice seek to ease your selves Though Christ should not answer thee no more at present than God did Saul though hee do neither speak to thee himself nor suffer his servants to speak on thy behalf as here in this Womans case yet beware of doing any unwarrantable thing to ease thy minde Bee not as Saul at Endor No neither bee as Saul in Mount Gilboa as the story is 1 Sam. 30. At Endor hee consults with a Witch At Gilboa hee took a sword and slew himself O take heed of that temptation viz. Self-Murther I have heard it often as observed heretofore and I know that to this day it is an evil practiue many take they will lay violent hands upon themselves this is to go back to hell for a plaister And surely such a plaister hath so much venome in it that it is madness to expect Virtue from it I beseech you therefore beware This is the first part of my advice Learn your duty at least thus far Not to carry it ill in word or work however in any thing the Lord deal with you But my Point saith more therefore I must press it Wee must carry it well to Christ however hee may seem to carry it to us And therefore to come to that in the next place Secondly Recompence not evil with evil but rather recompence evil with good It is true as I have often said Christ cannot carry it really ill but however do thou recompence evil with good Now to that end I pray minde this Woman of Canaan and imitate her write after her Copy do as shee did let your Carriage to Christ answer her Pattern in all the particulars which I opened and instanced in And to this end give mee leave to commend to you the exercise of three Graces in the exercise of which shee was and in them you should bee and so shall carry it well to God Namely Humility Prayer Resolute Faith First Observe her Humility and go thy way and do likewise However the Lord carries himself to thee humble thy self under his hand Christ could not speak a word never so bad but shee would hee viler If the Lord would say Dogg shee would â—ay so too Especially labour to carry it humbly in this one thing to accept of any measure in any manner of comfort that Christ gives you
Thou art perplexed comfort thou wouldest have Now observe Christ it may bee offers thee a crumb and thy proud heart will not accept of comfort unless thou mayest have much This is just like a little childe the Mother gives it a small peece of bread and it cries and throws it away if hee may not have his Brothers peece of bread Ah! Beloved look to your hearts Take heed of this proud peece of childishness If your hearts were humble you would accept of and thank Christ for a little As it is with the hungry soul so it is with every humble soul Hee admires mercy in a morsel and is willing to stoop under the Table to take up a crumb Put on therefore and bee cloathed with humility and put it forth shew it in your Carriage to Christ as this Woman of Canaan did It was the humility of her soul by which shee carried it so well and this is the first Grace in her Carriage unto Christ wee should indeavour to conform our selves I come to the next Secondly Observe in her the Grace of Prayer I do not say the Gift of Prayer But I observe it as the Grace of Prayer for here was no great gift Oh Sirs however the Lord doth keep up Prayer your case cannot bee so bad but pray you may and pray you must Do but observe an instance or two in the Book of the Psalms of very sad cases and yet they did not give over Prayer Psal 61. there you have the Psalmist crying after God in the first verse But when would hee cry Why when my heart is overwhelmed vers 2. Thou sayest thy heart is overwhelmed and thou canst not it is in vain to pray Mark the Psalmist prayed then Again Psal 88. observe how sad the case of Heman is set forth there My soul is full of trouble my life draweth nigh unto the grave vers 3. And so on But what saith hee in vers 13. But unto thee have I cried O Lord and in the morning shall my Prayer prevent thee Though the case was very sad yet it was not past praying Here is the Devils temptation What wilt thou pray it is in vain thou hast prayed and Christ doth not answer Nay hee hath returned thee a rough answer So indeed the Serpent subtilly suggests to take us off from Prayer But resist the Devil in that temptation do thou yet pray and give not over yet say I will pray unto him say with Jonah Yet I will look again towards his holy Temple Jonah 2.4 Quest But if the soul say But I cannot tell how to pray I have not a Gift of Prayer Answ If thou bee a Saint Thou hast a Grace of Prayer And observe this thou canst pray as much as the Woman of Canaan Lord help mee and Truth Lord c. Here are but three words Lord help mee And let mee in allusion tell you but three words that you should pray to the Lord let your case bee what it will First Lord thou onely canst help mee all the men in the world cannot help mee Secondly Lord thou didst help many as bad as I. Thirdly And Lord If thou didst never help any as bad then now thou wilt have the more glory by helping mee Object Possibly the soul will be ready to say But alass Jesus Christ puts mee off I would pray but hee turns away and will not hear and I would catch hold of him but hee runs away Repl. You know what Jacob did Gen. 32.26 27. Hee would catch hold of God though hee would bee gone and you must wrestle with him and cry after him You must not let him go You see the Disciples tell Christ that this Woman cried after them vers 23. Shee was as one that ran after another who went away Shee crieth after us say they do thou so if Christ seem to go run after cry after Bee not put off renew and re-inforce thy Prayer again and again Indeed in this the Grace of Prayer differs from the Gift the Grace lives and lasts the Gift dies and goes out Well then stir up thy self to take hold of God and keep thy hold having taken it Pray if thou canst but a little and go again and pray the same words again and again Christ himself did so Three times hee prayed in the same words Mat. 26.44 Bee not ashamed if thou want variety of expression A few words prevail with God and Jesus Christ Therefore I say Pray alwaies however Christ carry it cast not away thy Prayers but continue in it so this Woman did and wee must do likewise But Thirdly Bee resolute in your Faith And pray let mee mark this by the way Though shee doth not say Lord I beleeve yet shee did beleeve The Woman was acting the Grace of Faith all this while and shee acts it very resolutely shee speaks as one beleeving him to bee the Messiah as one whose onely hope and help was in him and as one that did cleave and adhere to him Our Lord Jesus witnesseth to the Womans Faith vers 28. It was strong and resolute shee did beleeve and was acted and upheld as I shall shew hereafter by Faith in all this address A Faith shee had and a Faith shee expressed really though it is not expressed literally as to the terms yet it is evident as to the Truth of it that shee did beleeve so do you Beleevers are ready to think that in time of trouble it is a time to pray and to hear but not to beleeve c. Thou thinkest thou mayest cry after Christ and wait upon Christ I but thou shouldest beleeve in him Isa 50.10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God So Job I wil trust in him though hee kill mee That act of Faith I am now pressing is Trusting and I pray minde it what kinde of Faith I press in this particular It is a Trusting Faith Job did trust and hee that feareth God must trust in him at all times yea in the dark And truly this word or term Trust doth very fitly set forth the thing I intend to press you in this particular unto Now that you may a little understand it consider that there are four words in the Scripture that set forth the great Mystery of Beleeving There is first The general word Faith I beleeve Lord help my unbeleef Secondly There is the particular word of Hope Hee hopeth Thirdly There is a particular word of Knowledge which is as much as Assurance I know whom I have beleeved And Fourthly There is this word Trusting And now what is the nature of Trust A man that beleeves hath a pretty deal of light of God but hee that hopes hath a little more hee hath more that knows but what hath hee that trusts I shall give it you in this similitude One comes to another Sir I know you can help mee
pray help mee pray help mee saith hee I cannot do it or I will not do it The other replies but I beseech you Sir do it undertake it for mee I pray promise mee The other returns No I will undertake nothing I will promise you nothing The man returns again but yet I will commit it to you I pray consider it I will leave it with your goodness and though you will not say you will do it yet Sir I will trust in you So thou goest to Christ and hee will not hear thee hee turns away and saith nothing after all thy cries hee seems silent thou art left without assurance and without visible hope Now say Lord I leave my case my soul with thee I will yet relye upon thy grace and although thou wilt not give mee in a particular promise why yet Lord I will trust in thee Oh trust to his Omnipotent Arm that hee can do it and because of his Tender Compassion and Rich Free Grace trust in him that hee will do it and this is that which Christ takes very well at our hands Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose minde is stayed on thee because hee TRUSTETH in thee Isa 26.3 When all fails Hope and Heart fails and Christ seems to speak contrary Cry out Yet Lord I will trust in thee To draw up my self to a close of this Use I beseech you all often remember the Woman of Canaan consider her Carriage and this point which I have been pressing from her practice and in your condition strive to have her Carriage especially in the exercise of those three things viz. Humility Prayer and Faith Besides what in the former Sermon I opened which I shall not now repeat For onely this is that I would press viz. have such a good carriage in all things You know what is the particular occasion wherein Christ and you trade or have to do upon any account Bee thy case what it will or Christs carriage bee as hee pleaseth cross or kinde as wee speak still know you ought to study and strive to demean your self holily However the Lord carries it to you your duty and wisdome is to carry it well to him Quest I but you will say This is very hard how shall I do it Answ I told you indeed it is a hard Copy but wee must indeavour to write it And blessed bee God the Copy is written in great letters so that wee may with the more ease see it and imitate it Quest But how shall wee do it Answ Take but these Three things First If ever you would imitate this Copy Bee sure that you take heed of those persons that will shake your hands while you are a writing Oh Sirs when you are to copy out the great Copy of the Woman of Canaan 1 Away from the Devil 2 Away from Carnal Reason And 3 Away from flesh and blood These will shake your hand The Devil will put on Job to curse God Satan will suggest a thousand things to a soul in the Woman of Canaans condition Mark saith hee hee doth not hear thee thou dost not belong to him Mark hee gives thee a terrible answer hee is rather a Judge than a Father So for carnal reason and flesh and blood I will put them both together they will rise what must I bee called Dogg must I bee put off as I must not have a crumb But if ever you would carry it well take heed of those that will hinder you if you hearken to those they will but shake thy hand and make thee rather blot thy Copy-book as wee say and onely make a few scrawls as boies when some jogg their hand instead of writing by thy Copy Bid the Devil stand further off If you resist James tells you Hee will flee Shake off carnal reason minde not what that judgeth or sayeth of Christs carriage to thee Eye thou thy lesson and regard not any that would hinder thy learning of it that is one thing But then Secondly If ever you would write well by this Copy I pray often look upon your Copy Wee see that children do mistake because they do not often look upon their Copy It is no shame to learn of a good Woman it may bee you begin at first to think of the Woman of Canaan but you do not read thorow you should again and again look over look thorow and thorow this Example content not thy self with once reading or hearing repeat the story again Remember the Doctrine a second and a third time Hee takes a Copy best who eyes it most and that soul will best imitate this Woman of Canaan who reflects upon and considers her Example often Thirdly and Lastly Strengthen your hands as much as may bee My Beloved a cold hand shall I say or a cold heart will write but very poorly if you do not warm your hearts with some other good considerations you will not write well I will give you one general warming heating word to consider that you may write after this Copy that you may carry your selves thus well As long as you have a heart to carry Nay but to indeavour to carry it well to Christ Christ cannot carry it ill to you In this sense I tell thee if thy indeavours bee humbly and heartily to carry it well to Christ Christ cannot carry it ill to you I read once it is said of Christ viz. John 4.4 That hee must needs do such a thing hee must needs go thorow Samaria There was a poor Woman of Samaria hee must bring home And it is said in 2 Tim. 2.13 If wee beleeve not yet hee abideth faithful and cannot deny himself Truly there is a must in some things upon Christ and there is a cannot which may safely bee spoke of the Lord Jesus Hee must bee kinde and hee cannot deny himself in that After our humble holy waiting hee must speak and hee cannot conceal his grace from those that as this Woman address themselves to him And therefore it is certain and warm thy fingers hand and heart that thou mayest write the better with this consideration that while you carry it thus as I opened unto him Hee cannot continue strange to you but must and will appear as you expect and desire Remember it and rejoyce in it I say unto you from my Master that albeit the Lord Christ may delay and demur yet at last hee will speak to us and do for us I need not send you to any man but onely to women to assure you of this who are upon record in Scripture as presidents for this purpose I intreat you to remember that there are three Women in the New Testament to whom Christ shewed much mercy though at first hee seemed not to minde them The one is in Luk. 7.37 One that is called a sinner shee came and sate down at his feet and wept but hee did not seem to minde her The other is the Woman that had the bloody Issue in
shee did not speak it But then in the second place Quest 2. Why doth our Lord say unto her Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Take a double Answer to this likewise Answ 1. The Lord Jesus saw that this Woman did want more things than one Jesus Christ saw all her wants and all her wishes too though shee did not express them That place in Romans 8. is known to all of you but the 27. verse is not so often taken notice of And hee that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because hee maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God The soul sighs and groans by the Spirit and many a time the soul doth not know his own sighing who shall know it why Hee shall know it that makes intercession this is particularly spoken of Jesus Christ The Spirit helps thee to sigh and thou canst not tell thy own sighs Jesus Christ can tell what it means I say Jesus Christ knows for that place is to bee understood particularly of Christ for it is hee that maketh intercession as it is there expressed It is a Scripture which may much stay our hearts Christ knows what wee want even then when wee cannot tell our selves onely in the general sigh Minde it Oh my Beloved you go to Jesus Christ with one word and a many sighs the Lord will answer all your sighs and will say Bee it to you not onely as you speak but as you groan and as you sigh too Answ 2. The Lord Christ loves to shew his bounty in rewarding any souls for any delay Isa 61.7 for your shame you shall have double And Zechariah 9.12 Turn yee to the strong hold yee prisoners of hope even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee Upon these accounts it was that our Lord doth not answer this Woman with a particular word take what you come for but in a general way bids her take all things any thing which shee could desire take what thou wilt as thou wilt But to proceed to the last Question The Third and last Question is Why doth the Lord give this in the last place Her Daughter was made whole One would have thought this should have been the first word Woman go thy way thy daughter is whole but first hee speaks of her Faith and then to her souls desire Why doth Christ so that is the Question Answ Now the Answer hereunto is easie and it may bee this Our Lord Jesus is wise and gracious and therefore knowing what wee need most and what is best to bestow upon us Hee doth still give that first which is most necessary and which is the chiefest My Beloved I pray remember it The Lord loves to give the best mercies first her Daughter was possessed with a Devil but that was but a corporal infirmitie her own soul was more under the power of the Devil and the deliverance of that most needful therefore hee gives the more necessary thing first O my Beloved you have a wise Christ a good Christ hee will satisfie particular desires but hee will first do the best things Indeed Christ reacheth us to begg the best things first Seek yee first the Kingdome of Heaven and therefore first pray Thy Kingdome come But wee are ignorant and apt to mistake wee often ask the best things last Now Christ will give the best first Therefore hee begins to speak to the Mothers soul here before hee mentions her Daughters distemper But let this suffice for these Questions To come to the words there are many Points observable from this place Particular Notes I shall take in by the by and therefore shall not touch upon them Neither shall I press the words too hard there is no need of it This Text like a brave hony-comb drops out in three things like hony without any pressing First Observe here What it was that carried the Woman on and thorow all this while what bladder kept his Woman from sinking It was Faith O Woman great is thy Faith Secondly Observe What rich bounty is here here is glorious Grace rich Grace Have what thou wilt And then Thirdly Observe That shee hath a particular grant of her special request her Daughter was made whole It is the second thing I do principally aim at but shall speak of the two other And first Observe from the first That it is true Faith alone that carries the soul thorow all difficulties and discouragements in the way to Christ I shall not bee large in the handling of this Point I have often spoken of Faith and the work of Faith as it doth receive Christ how that is performed c. therefore I shall confine my self to the Text and the boundaries of it to shew that in all the difficulties the soul meets withall in coming to Christ Faith bears the soul up under all And pray mark what I say I say true Faith nor strong Faith neither do I say a degree of Faith but a true Faith It is true this Woman had great Faith and shee needed it for she had great difficulties but the Point lies positively thus Faith if it bee true it is that and that alone that carries up the soul above all difficulties and discouragements in its coming to Christ I suppose I need not tell you that there are difficulties in the way of coming to Christ This Woman knew there were difficulties and discouragements but what carried her thorow did her Patience carry her thorow shee had that did her reverend esteem of Christ carry her thorow shee had that did the pinch of her wants carry her thorow No Christ doth not say Oh Woman great is thy patience or great is thy esteem of mee or great is thy want But O Woman great is thy Faith It was the Womans Faith that carried her thorow these difficulties I will demonstrate this Doctrine by some instances and therefore I shall mention some of the difficulties which are in our way to Christ and shew how that it is Faith and Faith alone by which the Lord doth use to help us against all these difficulties Now therefore I pray minde it and you may mostly observe in our-coming to Christ There are four waies from whence our difficulties and discouragements do arise and you will see that true Faith alone will carry the soul thorow all these The difficulties arise thus from 1 Self 2 Satan 3 The World 4 Christ himself may do that seemingly which may and doth make it difficult to come unto him But now yet see as to each how Faith carries the soul thorow all these To begin with the first which is Self that comes in to oppose us And pray good people look about you your selves are the greatest hinderances to keep you from Christ now what shall carry us up above our selves but Faith by Faith Moses denies himself And saith Christ Whoever will come after mee must deny himself how shall hee do
it nothing but Faith will do it I will give you but an instance of it Self doth hinder coming to Christ two waies 1 Either by too much diffidence 2 Or too much confidence One while it is too high and will nor stoop to come to Christ Another while too low it cannot bee raised up to such a work Sometime Self is arrogant and proud what I go to Christ not I I can shift well enough c. Other while it is diffident and fearful and crieth out that it is not fit or able not is it meet for his soul to go c. Well yet for all this I pray mark it is Faith makes Self go notwithstanding all this For as to the Pride of self Faith brings in so clear a light of the excellency and necessity of Christ that self-confidence is put to silence And the high thoughts are brought down by the obedience of Faith and so carried to the obedience of Christ Hee that beleeves the testimony which God gives of Christ in the Gospel must stoop and bow and Faith helping the soul in that business carries the soul out of proud Self so as that arrogancy shall not hinder the souls coming and closing with Christ And for diffidence and the working of Self that way why Faith doth evidently carry the soul over that hinderance For Faith seeth the arm of Christ stretched forth to receive the feeble soul Faith tells the weak heart that Christ will come to it if it cannot go to him Faith assures the soul that Christ will inable it to imbrace himself Faith shews Christ as able and willing to create a hand and heart in us to receive and to take hold of himself When Self cries but childe-like I am weak and same and cannot go to Christ then mark it Faith saies true thou hast no leggs but hee that bids the man arise gives him feet Faith saith thou hast no strength but hee that bids thee beleeve will make thee beleeve What did carry Abraham above and against himself It is said Rom. 4.19 Being not weak in Faith hee considered not his own body now dead when hee was about an hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb c. Faith raiseth up the soul and carries it on to Christ even notwithstanding the souls nothingness Faith incourageth the soul to go although it bee empty Faith saith though Christ bee a great King yet a poor soul may come to him without a present In a word Faith levels the mountains and fills the Vullies it carries the soul on its way to Christ notwithstanding any hinderance from Self Self shall not keep off where Faith is the soul denies Self and goes to Christ But then to proceed Secondly Satan hee binders And remember it Satan doth more oppose your going to Christ than hee doth oppose your leaving of sin If thou wilt leave thy fin Satan will bee content so thou wilt but trust to Self and not go to Christs Grace But when once the soul opposes sin and goes to Christ then Satan opposes now what shall help and carry on the soul and strengthen the opposed soul to oppose Satan In Ephestans 5. saith the Apostle Above all take the shield of Faith whereby you shall bee able to quench the fiery darts of the Devil Let Satan do his worst Faith will carry on the soul it will quench his darts and tread upon his devices and sweetly strengthen the heart to cloze with the Lord Jesus in despite and in defiance of Satan and all his hinderances But then Thirdly the world that opposes too The world hinders the soul by saying what will you go to Christ and leave my pleasures and leave my riches and my honour c Now what carries up the soul above the world why the Apostle tells 1 John 5.4 And this is the victory that overcometh the world even our Faith And then Lastly Christ himself seems to oppose The Lord doth not speak and that is sad and sometimes hee doth speak and that is as sad For as wee formerly noted hee seems to speak harshly and Christ may seem to deny and reject the soul in its approach to him Now what shall carry up the soul when Christ himself seems to put back nothing but Faith It is observed that it was Faith carried up Job to go to God it is therefore very observable that Job doth oftentimes profess his Faith in God As in Job 13.15 Though hee kill mee yet I will trust in him it is a known speech But that expression in Job 19. makes it more evident what carried him up to God you have very sad expressions in that chapter intimating how God himself seemed to oppose Job Hee hath overthrown mee verse 6. And hee hath stript mee of my glory vers 9. Yea Hee hath destroyed mee on every side and hath kindled his wrath against mee verse 10 11. Now what shall carry Job up See vers 24 25. I know my Redeemer liveth and oh that this profession of my Faith were written on a Rock for perpetual remembrance It is as if hee should say My friends my dispuring-friends do not break my heart with arguments you oppose and God opposes too but this carries mee up I have a Redeemer and I know that my Redeemer lives c. Had Job no other grace but Faith Yes You have heard of the Patience of Job but yet Jobs Patience failed Had hee not Humility Yes Hee that could lay his mouth in the dust at first and say Naked came I into the world and naked must I return Certainly Job had Humility also but it was not that which supported him Had hee not Prayer without doubt Job had a praying spirit and did call on God again and again as hee often intimates But yet it seemeth â—â—ayer failed and therefore hee is charged by Eliphaz with neglect of it in Job 15.4 Thou restrainest Prayer thou dost lessen Prayer thou dost diminish Prayer so the word signifieth I but mark though Patience failed and Humility and Prayer failed yet Faith carries Job thorow all Yet I will beleeve and trust I pray observe whatever Grace or Gift you have nothing will carry you thorow difficulties and discouragements in your way to Christ but onely Faith It was the Womans Faith that kept her up all the while And it is that and that alone which carries every soul thorow all hinderances as well as those which I have hinted unto Jesus Christ So you see the demonstration of the Point to come to the next thing then You will ask mee the Reason Whence is it that Faith should thus bee the onely Grace to carry up and carry out the soul in the midst of all difficulties in going to Christ I will name very briefly these two heads of Reasons The first is From the appointment of Faith by God Secondly The operation of Faith in us These are the two great pillars of this Truth First From the appointment of Faith
it with suggestions of Sense or Reason But then A second Direction is Let Faith have its perfect work Therefore as the Apostle faith about Patience so let Faith have its perfect work Faith goes at first to half a Promise but let it alone it knows where to fetch a whole Promise Let Faith alone it will go to a Promise for what for refuge for help for all Faith will go to and look upon Abraham as Isa 51.2 and finde incouragement from him Nay it can run back to Adam and help it self with the thoughts of his experience let Faith have its course and it will carry you to every Promise and Example to incourage you If it have its perfect work it will gather strength from all the Word of God to help you in your work of closing with Christ I beseech you in these Directions strengthen and labour to incourage Faith O soul minde it storms and trials may come and then you will need afresh to run to Christ Look to your leggs your Faith it is that must carry you If death come death and doubting will come together now remember what must carry you thorow nothing but Faith Trust to no parts duties c. onely trust to the Lord in the way of Faith I shall conclude with two things First Woe to thee poor soul whoever thou art that wantest Faith I do not say woe to thee that art a poor man nor woe to thee if thou beest mean in the world nor say I thou art a sick or weak man and therefore woe No No But art thou an unbeleever a soul without Faith then woe indeed to thee Ah woe bee to that man that wants Faith for without Faith it is not possible to please God or to go to Christ and how sad is the state of that soul that can do neither Woe to all unbeleevers Secondly Blessed are you that have Faith I say not that have so great a Faith but Faith true Faith I say Blessed are you that beleeve you that do beleeve though but a little yet your little Faith will do this great work it will keep you from drowning it will carry you to Christ That little Faith Peter had for all his fears kept him up from sinking I remember what our Lord said to Nathaniel who beleeved as I may say a little Beleevest thou thou shalt see greater things than these John 1.50 Do but go on beleeving and thou shalt see greater things than yet thou hast seen Two things your Faith will do First It will bee your Leggs to carry you to Christ and that thorow all difficulties so you see it did this Woman And Secondly It will if I may say so Compel as it were Christ to entertain you after all denials Ah souls what a glorious entertainment did Christ give this poor Woman at last Well therefore strengthen Faith and that will help you to do as this Woman did and then you shall in the Issue speed even as shee did But of that in the next Christ will bee certainly kinde at last The Seventh SERMON Matthew 15. vers 28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt c. YOu have sometimes seen or at least heard of a poor beggar who hath long lain and loudly cried at the gate of some great person and yet never liftened to never let in but anon it may bee the Master of the house himself hath opened the door and spake to the man kindly and dealt with him very comfortably how was the face of this beggar lightened how was his heart refreshed just so Nay greater than so was the heart of the Woman of Canaan cheared when our Lord answered and spake unto her the words that I have read Shee had as it were lain long and cried loud and begged hard and no answer but now at last the Lord answers and the Lord answers sweetly Oh Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even us thou wilt The last day wee came to this verse in it I told you wee had the last particular of the story of the Woman of Canaan which holds forth the blessed conclusion which our Lord doth make with this poor Woman After I had hinted and resolved three questions I told you there were three particulars which in an eminent manner are remarkable in this place The First wee did dispatch then and that was this The Grace which did carry on and carry out this poor Woman in all this address it was her Faith And thence wee noted this Doctrine Doct. That it is onely Faith which can carry the soul thorow all difficulties and discouragements in the way to Christ Onely Faith Remember it Sirs some of you have a little knowledge and others of you have a great deal of Profession some of you talk much and the poorest thinks it may bee as well of himself as hee that saith most but remember whatever you know talk or think nothing will carry you to Jesus Christ but Faith you may have fine words and good wishes but alass wording and wishing is not coming to Jesus Christ Why this Woman had other gifts and other graces shee had much humility and shee had much patience and shee had a fine gift of prayer c. yet it is not said Woman much is thy patience or great is thy love strong are thy prayers but oh Woman great is thy Faith c. Wee did open the point at large and pressed it upon you in the Application in divers particulars which I shall not add unto or repeat Onely I beseech you my Beloved let this abide upon your hearts streng then Faith When you come to dye you will then see a need of Christ if you do not now and if you have not a living Faith you cannot have a living Christ and then is your soul dead before death Faith is another kinde of thing than the world is aware of wee hardly know the notion now but wee shall never bee able to know the preciousness of it as indeed it is precious but by the experience of it Now the greatest experience of Faith is seen in that blessed business of going to Christ In that wee have this experience of the use power and price of Faith that whatever wee have and pretend unto nothing but sincere single Faith will carry us unto Jesus Christ But I proceed The second thing which indeed is the principal thing is this The kindness of Christ now to this Woman You see his commendation of her Faith well now mark his condescension to her how much doth Christ condescend to this poor Woman hee condescends to talk with her commends her Faith and complies with her wishes to heal her Daughter c. Oh blessed condescension The Observation from the whole will bee this Doct. That however the Lord Jesus may deal at first with poor souls that come to him in the issue hee will deal very kindly
Or if you will wee shall express the Observation to prevent mistakes thus That all those who truly come to Christ shall in the issue finde his carriage to bee very kinde howsoever at first it may seem very strange You see the Doctrine lies full in the words wee have opened in the story already how strangely Christ did carry it at first to this poor Woman but how sweetly doth hee carry it at last Sorrow and weeping may bee for a night saith David Psal 30.5 but joy comes in the morning Oh my Beloved it may thunder and lighten and bee tempestuous in the beginning of the day and yet it may prove a fair sun-shiny day after First coming to Christ may have clouds and darkness but the latter part shall have light and life This point is very comfortable certain and clear in this instance It is comfortable in all its branches and it is certain in its bottoming this example being a sure bottom to build the Doctrine upon And you will see it clear also if you will but minde the terms in which I express it Now there are two terms I keep in the Point that I would desire you to minde The first relates to the persons that are considered in this Point And the Second relates to the thing it self The first relates to the persons that are considered in this point And they are all those that truly come to the Lord Jesus My Beloved there are two sorts of persons who live under the sound of the Gospel that I cannot think upon but with a sad heart The one are those who never so much as pretend to go to Jesus Christ Notwithstanding all Christs tenders of himself notwithstanding all their own need of him upon no account one or other do they so much as pretend to go to Jesus Christ Some are enemies and opposire to very professing of coming to Jesus Christ Secondly There is another sort that pretend to go but go neither rightly nor truly They do not truly come to the Lord Jesus you have a type of both these and their miserie Matth. 22. in the parable of the Wedding There were some that would not go to the Wedding-supper and there was another hee went but hee went without his Wedding-garment why now how did the Lord deal with them for the one it is said in versf 7. Hee sent and miserably destroyed them with his armies And for the other It is said hee found him out and cast him out into utter darkness Therefore minde it all you that have heard of Jesus Christ all you that talk of Jesus Christ if you do not go at all or if you do not go aright this point doth not concern you I do not say Christ will deal well with you alass you deal ill with him and hee will deal sadly with you It is onely those that truly go to Jesus Christ that this point deals withall The Woman of Canaan came to him truly and shee came to him rightly also shee came to him as appears here in this story as to the Messiah the Son of David and shee comes with great humility shee worships him with great resolution shee would not bee put off but above all shee came with a good Faith and this Woman so coming though the Lord dealt strangely with her at first yet hee concludes kindely with her at last The second thing I put in the point is That in the issue and at last Christ will deal kindly with them that rightly come to him I do not say at first hee will do it No at first hee may seem to bee strange but at last in the issue hee will bee kinde Christ will not presently it may bee grant our request but in the issue hee will I will open it thus There is a Threefold Issue or end in which all that come to Christ shall experience his kindness The first is the Issue of the Act of comming it self Secondly The Issue of our whole life And The third is The Issue and End of all things Now in one of these three Issues all that come to Christ shall finde him deal kindely with them First In the Issue of the Act of coming it self I pray mark this Coming to Christ is an action made up of many steps wee do not at once come to Jesus Christ There is the Agress Ingress and Prâ—â—ress in every going The Agress or Address to it The Ingress The first setting upon it And then the Progress The going on in it Possibly when thou dost first set up a resolution of going to Christ hee will not come in and give thee an answer possibly when thou hast set thy foot in the way and gone a good way hee will not come and speak kindly to you but by that time you are come up to Christ fully then you shall finde Christ will deal kindly with you The soul doth not at first fully come up to Christ it is a great while ere the soul doth fully come off from fin ere the soul doth fully come out of Satans power ere hee doth fully come up to the proposals of Jesus Christ Now do not wonder if Jesus Christ do not deal kindly with you till the Issue of the whole Act but in the Issue of the Act when it is compleated then you shall finde him deal kindly with you You are now it may bee poor soul treating with Jesus Christ and as it is in a treaty of peace between differing states there are some preliminary treatments all is not presently concluded as soon as it is presented There are demurs and debates and there are seeming breakings off and departures no compleatings but as it were for a while complementings It is seldome seen that at first all things are fully concluded upon But when the Treaty is perfected then you have the sound of Trumpets and the noise of Drums and all the expressions pressions of joy that may bee It hath been said of old that comming to Christ it is a Marriage Act and so indeed it is Now there are not compleat Acts of kinâ—ness till the whole Marriage bee consummate Therefore though Christ may carry it strangely at first yet in the Issue when the Marriage is consummate then you shall finde Christ complying and shewing himself kinde Secondly There is that which wee call the Issue of our life And my Beloved at Death the Lord Jesus Christ will smile upon many a soul who have gone softly in the bitterness of their spirits all their daies Mark the just man and behold the perfect man For the end of that man is peace Psal 37.37 Though you have clouds and darkness upon you all your daies and though Jesus Christ doth seem to carry it roughly to you through the whole course of your pilgrimage yet when you are actually going into the good Land then you shall see Joshuah going before you Many that have had fears and terrours all their life time yet at the end of their
life when they have been going out of the world they have had joy and comfort The story of Mris. Drake is known shee had many terrours much sadness no smiles from Christ all her daies till at last when shee came to dye a little before her death Christ dealt so kindly that shee went out of the world in an extacy and ravishment of spirit full of peace and full of joy triumphing in the Lord so that in the Issue of our time and life wee shall finde Christ kinde however hee is at first to us But then Thirdly Or else in the Issue of all things When all things shall bee wrapt up by a final End and Issue put to them then Christ will shew himself kinde however strange hee did seem to carry it to poor souls before You read of a day in Mal. 3.17 in which the Lord will make up his Jewels and then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked c. And Matthew 25. there Christ speaks very sweetly when the Lord shall say to those on his right hand Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you c. Then hee shall say to this poor man and woman thou didst mourn after mee all thy daies thou didst wait upon mee all thy life and though I seemed to carry it strange thou wert sincere Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you c. I do observe that this carried up the heart of Job in Job 19. I know that my Redeemer liveth and hee shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth and then in my flesh I shall see him c. This Text in Job is worth its weight in Gold upon many accounts That that Jesus Christ that is now at the right hand of the Father Job many thousand years ago said hee should know upon the Earth and though hee set him up as a mark to shoot at then yet hee knew at last hee would deal kindly with him Well then I pray put all together Persons truly comming to Christ in the Issue either of the Act of coming or of their Lives or of all things shall finde this to bee a certain Truth that Christ will deal sweetly with them however now hee may seem to carry it strangely And my Beloved I shall not need to bring any other instance to prove it than this instance in the Text. Never was any so strangely dealt withall as the Woman of Canaan and yet what a blessed Issue doth hee make with heâ— Oh Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt c. There are onely two things that I aim at in the explication of the point And The first is to shew you wherein the kinde close of the Carriage of Christ in the Issue shall appear to poor souls however at first hee may carry it strangely And Secondly The ground of this Wee shall begin with the first And I shall out of this instance of the Woman of Canaan shew you how kindly Christ will carry it at last in the Issue though hee carry it roughly at first Pray observe this speech Jesus answered and said unto her c. I remember in the book of Ruth when Boaz had espied Ruth and talked of her to his servants hee spake to her himself in vers 8. and what saith shee in verse 10. Shee fell upon her face and bowed her self to the ground and said unto him Why have I found grace in thine eyes that thou shouldest take knowledge of mee seeing I am a stranger It was a marvelous act of kindness that Boaz should take knowledge of her to speak to her Just so mee thinks it was here Christ at first talks to his servants of this Woman hee did not speak at first to her but to the Disciples of her But now although before the Lord did not seem to take knowledge of this Woman yet I say now the Lord is so kinde as hee turns to her and takes notice of her and hee speaks exceeding kinde to her Oh Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt c. Let us open it a little Here are three Parts First Oh Woman great is thy Faith Secondly Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Thirdly At the same hour her Daughter was made whole First Hee answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith My Beloved wee must open this by degrees and it is very much which is here contained For First of all Hee answered and said unto her O blessed kindness that Jesus Christ that before answered her not a word hee now opens his lips and vouchsafes to speak to her David who knew what an act of kindness this is sets it forth both in the Negative and in the Affirmative Negatively speaking of his enemies in Psal 18.41 They cried but there was none to save them even unto the Lord but hee ANSWERED THEM NOT. And Affirmatively speaking of himself in Psal 118.5 I called upon the Lord in distress the Lord answered mee and set mee in a large place Oh my Beloved it is an act of kindness that Christ will speak Let not my Lord bee angry saith the soul do but speak to mee Oh it is mercy and kindness when the Lord breaks his silence and doth but speak to us Why now Christ you see speaks to the Woman And it is said Jesus answered and said unto her hee answers his Disciples before about her but did not speak to her now hee speaks to her Remember you not the expression in Cant. 8.13 Thou that dwellest in the Gardens the Companions hearken to thy voice cause mee to hear it Oh saith the poor soul sometimes Blessed Lord thy Companions hear thy voice Angels that wait upon thy Throne they hear it and the Saints in the Sanctuary they hear it and I am without knocking Lord let mee hear thy voice Here is the first step that hee vouchsafes to speak to her Secondly Hee saith unto her Woman c. how soft is this language Now hee doth not speak to her in a rough manner but Woman My Beloved you know what is said of Job Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind who is this that darkens words of wisdome without knowledge Job 38.1 2. But behold the Lord hee answers in a still voice hee speaks as a man to a woman By Beloved had the Lord spoken louder it may bee it would have broke her the Lord will speak to poor souls in a still voice I remember a prayer of Job Job 13. about verse 20. Onely do not two things unto mee then will I not hide my self from thee withdraw thine hand far from mee and let not thy dread make mee afraid c. And it is worth our considering because it will open what wee are upon hee doth as it were capitulate with God and hee makes but one Article Let not thy dread make mee afraid As if Job
should say Lord if thou wilt but take away thy dread if thou wilt not speak in thy Majesty as a great God then speak Lord. That this is the meaning appears by Elihu his interpretation of it in Job 33. about 6 7. verses Behold I am according to thy wish in Gods stead I also am formed out of the clay Behold my terrour shall not make thâ—e afraid neither shall my hand bee heavy upon thee Job was afraid to hear God speaking as wee say in high language and therefore desired God to forbear it Why you see Christ doth here forbear high words hee now speaks to this woman in a low and loving manner even as a man to a man or a woman to a woman Hee answered and said unto her Woman Without doubt this familiar word and way of speaking to this Woman did much chear her heart and shee might hereupon say as Ruth did to Boaz when hee spake familiarly to her saith Ruth in the story Ruth 2.13 My Lord hath comforted mee and hath spoke friendly unto mee It is much mercy that Christ will give us an answer But it is much more mercy that hee will give us a soft answer You know the story of Eliah God saith hee would speak to him but hee came in a whirlwind before hee came in a soft answer but Eliah was a strong man and could bear what wee cannot If Christ should not speak to a poor heart in a still voice but in a whirlwind alass it would over-power the soul Therefore it is that Christ speaks as a man to his friend yea as a Father to a childe so you know hee did use to speak Daughter bee of good chear Son bee of good chear And thus wee finde it in other places the Lord speaks friendly Zach. 1.13 And the Lord answered the Angel that talked with mee with good words and comfortable words If Jesus Christ do not speak at all or if hee do speak yet if it bee not comfortable words wee count it strange and harsh and so it is and may bee as wee have shewed at first But still know now for all this whatever hee saith at first yet at last hee will speak comfortable words Thirdly Christ condescends yet and speaks more kindly for hee owns acknowledgeth and commends this poor Womans Faith Mark it Oh Woman great is thy Faith Why here is our third step The Lord Jesus eyes and owns her Faith and that is a great act of kindness Poor soul Thou lyest at the feet of Christ thou sayest I have desire but no hope I have fear but no faith thou that art full of fears yet the Lord will call thee for all that Releever hee will spy out and acknowledge thy Faith and call thee a Daughter of Abraham as here Woman great is thy Faith It is the kindness of Christ hee will espy our gold under much dross our little coal of fire under many embers Christ will do for us as for the Church of Philadelphia Rev. 3.8 saith Christ Thou hast a little strength and hast kept my word Or as hee said in that same chapter to Sardis A few Names are among you O how doth Christ speak to this Woman now at last Mark it and see is not the language altered Christ at first spake to her as a Woman of Canaan calls her upon that account as some call Turks and Infidels Dogg but now hee speaks to her as a Daughter of Abraham for so are beleevers called in Gal. 3.7 saith the Apostle Know yee therefore that they which are of Faith the same are the children of Abraham In this speech Christ tells her in effect Shee is an Israelite Once it was poor soul a stranger an enemy a Canaanite a Hittite such were the words in which Christ at first did as it were speak to thee Well but yet stay a little and thou shalt hear Christ speaking in kinder language hee will yet call thee Son Daughter Saint Friend in a word no more a Canaanite but at last Christ will speak to thee as an Israelite and say of thee as of Nathaniel Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile I Pray minde it it is an admirable discovery this how kinde Christ will carry it at last Whatever sin hee charges in a spirit of conviction at first yet alwaies at last hee will acknowledge our Faith I say our faith and love and whatever is good in us I appeal to you O experienced souls are not you afraid to own your own faith One while your unbeleeving fears another while the humble working of your hearts will not let you see your own Grace I but you have a kinde Christ that will take notice of it and own it though thou bee a Canaanite in thy first address and in thine own account and Christ may seem therefore to deal harshly with thee yet still I say in this hee will at length bee kinde and shew it in eyeing and acknowledging any good every Grace that is in thee But I proceed unto the next thing here in Christs speech The fourth which is Great is thy Faith Hee doth not onely own but honour her Faith Oh my Beloved what an act of kindness is this commendation of Christ Praise is a fruit of love a sign of love why my beloved Jesus Christ will deal so kindly that hee will praise you at last Hee doth now praise this poor Woman whom hee seemed to sleight before And though Christ may at first seem to sleight and despise us yet at last hee will not only own but honour us And this is certainly his kindness How kindly did hee deal with the poor Woman in Luk. 7 hee was entertained by a Pharisee and had large entertainment yet how doth hee turn himself to the Woman and how kindly did hee deal with her Hee commends not the Masters Feast but the Womans Faith Nay hee seems to reproach the Pharisee that invited him and to exalt and honour the poor sinner that came unto him Her Love and Faith are very much praised by Christ there vers 46 47 50. Oh Sirs that Jesus Christ that you go unto truly however at first hee may seem not to own you much less to honour you at last hee will both own and honour you Look as Jesus Christ will deal severely with painted Sepulchres Hypocrites so hee will deal sweetly with sincere Beleevers That is one part of this kinde speech wherein our Lord deals very kindly though at first hee spake to her harshly The second part is Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Wee may say of these words as one of the Antients said of some others They are wonders and not words Oh how doth the Lord condescend in kindness now to this poor Woman of Canaan when hee saith Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Once hee said I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Once hee said It is not meet to take the childrens
bread and give it to Doggs But how well is the world mended with this poor creature Now the Lord doth not hint that hee was not sent to her but hee calls her beleever Now hee doth not tell her shee should not have childrens bread but now hee bids her take what shee would Once it may bee poor soul Jesus Christ said this to thy conscience Thou art a Rebel deserving no mercy at another time it may bee hee said this Thou art a filthy person and not yet prepared for mercy I but at last Christ will no more mention guilt or filth but hee will say to thee Rebel There is a pardon And to thee polluted sinnet There is purging and cleansing yea hee will say to thee poor soul There is Mercy All Mercy Any Mercy what thou wantest what thou wilt there it is c. As it is in this expression here to this Woman of Canaan I will open this too in two or three steps Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt First How fully doth the Lord spenk to this Woman Psal 81.10 Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it Woman take to the full as much as thou wilt As if our Lord Christ should say Woman Thou art a poor Woman of Canaan and art in want and I have a rich Treasure it is unsearchable go to the Mine take what thou wilt Woman I see thou art a poor hungry soul and I am Manna and bread from Heaven come to mee and take as much as thou wilt Woman thou hast made but one Petition but I see more in thy heart take what thou wilt My Beloved the Lord Jesus Christ hee gives like himself very largely to poor creatures Hee satisfies their souls even to the full David at last could sing such a song as this is Psal 103.3 Bless the Lord Oh my soul who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases c. You that lye hungring at the gate of Christ and cry bread Lord a Morsel Lord yea a Câ—umb Lord Christ will say There is a whole Loaf bee it to thee as thou wilt It was the speech of a dying Saint that lived long full of sorrow I am now as full of joy as my heart can hold See Zach. 9.12 Turn yee to the strong hold yee prisoners of hope even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee Good now minde it poor soul it may bee Jesus Christ may shut thee up in prison yet there thou wilt bee a prisoner of hope I but what shall you have at last Hee will render double unto thee All the Lords children at last they shall have double So it was with Joseph hee had hard usage at first cast into prison c. but at last hee is out and Governour of all the Land At last Christ will deal with you all as hee dealt with Joseph The Lord Jesus will deal with a bountiful hand full heaped up running over That is the first thing But then Secondly Bee it unto thee EVEN AS thou wilt It relates to the Manner eminently as well as to the Matter As thou wilt that is in such a manner as thou wilt When David came up to Araunah to have the threshing-floor and cattel for a sacrifice hee would have them so and so And Araunah said to him Do what seemeth good unto thee 2 Sam. 24.22 And there is very much in that The Lords people have their hearts many times set upon the manner of their mercy Deal bountifully with thy servant as thou usest to do unto those that love thy Name saith David in Psal 119.132 The poor soul that lies at the feet of Christ would have mercy and have such mercy as his Lambs have that lye in his bosome Thomas hee would have a sign from the Lord and hee would have such a sign John 20.25 and in vers 27. Christ condescends to him but a little to open this One while the soul will have Love I and it must bee immediate Love Let him kiss mee with the kisses of his mouth Cant. 1.2 It was a very elegant and holy allusion of Bernard and therefore I shall mention it There is the kiss of the foot of Christ and of the hand and of the mouth of Christ i. e. There are several sorts of kinde expressions now the Spouse specifieth what kinde of Love-expression shee would have as sometimes the soul doth and may do shee would have not the kiss of the feet but of the mouth and Christ gave it her as shee intimates vers 4. Minde it then One while thy soul will have immediate Love-Tokens and the Lord will give you as you will Another while the soul cries out as David in Psal 35.3 Say thou unto my soul thou art my salvation c. The childe will have bread and it will have it upon the Mothers lap Another while the soul is ready to say Shew mee a token for good that those that hate mee may see it and bee ashamed Psal 86.17 18. Oh my Beloved what infinite love is it in Jesus Christ that hee should condescend so low as to give us not onely what wee will but as wee will That expression is very full in Psal 145.19 Hee will fulfil the desire of them that fear him The soul hath what hee will and just as hee will have it his whole desire And so Jesus Christ will do and therefore bear up your hearts you that come to Christ hee may deal harshly with you at first but hee will let it bee as you will at last Thirdly and lastly Bee it unto thee Christ is very positive very peremptory hee speaks as one resolved to do The Lord Jesus doth not say I will think of it or I will take it into consideration and it may bee it shall bee so but hee is positive Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Two things there are that I eye in this expression Bee it unto thee First It is a Commanding word Secondly It is a Creating word First It is a Commanding word Bee it unto thee The Lord doth as it were command and say Woman I have commanded that it shall bee so In Psal 42.8 Saith the Psalmist there The Lord will command his loving-kindness in the day time and in the night his song shall bee with mee The poor soul while it is in the world it must deal with means as well as with grace and the soul is ready to say will the means give out Just as the poor petitioner that deals with a Lord but hee deals likewise with some of the Officers though the Lord grant his request yet hee doubts whether hee shall get it our of the Officers hand why saith hee I have commanded it Remember and rejoyce in this hint O poor heart who hopest Christ is free but doubtest what means may do Possibly thou hast said this I have good hope the Lord will speak kindly to mee but will the Ordinances give it out too why
saith God I have commanded it it shall bee so Bee it unto thee My Beloved Jesus Christ at last will say I command every Ordinance every Creature every word thou readest that it bee to thee as thou wilt Time was at first that Christ carried it so as nothing did subserve you or yeeld unto you any respect but when the Lord is reconciled at last hee will command all to bee yours Time was when no Man Means Creature Ordinance had any commission to smile on you or speak well to you and then it was sad But at length Christ will give a word send a Commission to all and command them saying Bee it so and so to such a poor soul as it will as it wisheth Secondly As there is a Commanding so there is a Creating Power in the Word and that is much Beleever Beleever though the Lord carry it at first like a man astonished hee will create mercy at last As in the Creation of the world God said Let there bee light and there was light c. So in Isa 57.7 saith God I create the fruit of the lips peace The Lord that creates light out of darkness peace out of trouble sweet out of bitter Hee will create for thee bee it light unto such a soul such a soul wants light and there is light created for him strength bee thou created for him c. I remember the Apostle Peter doth exhort Beleevers as their last refuge to eye the creating power of Christ and act Faith upon him not onely as a Redeemer but as a Creatour In 1 Pet. 4.19 Saith hee Commit the keeping of your souls to him in well doing as unto a faithful Creatour Soul if Creating Mercy can help you bee confident Christ will put it forth at length there shall bee another fiat another let there bee this or that for such a soul and that with creating influence in it And oh how kindly doth Christ carry it now at last that hee commands all and will create rather than fail comfort for this poor Woman Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Thus have wee in Christs speech to this Woman seen as in a glimpse what his last dealings will bee with those that come to him And is not this enough to confirm your hearts that at last Christ will bee kinde however hee is at first But I proceed to the other thing here in Christs Carriage to this Woman Thirdly Her Daughter is made whole the same hour Poor Creatures you are full of unbeleef and I must say to you as John said These things are written thâ—t you might beleeve Christ will deal so well with poor souls that at last hee will give them their desires to the full And that which may bee their request in an eminent manner more particularly will the Lord Christ give them that I pray mark it a little thus The soul wants many mercies wishes all but it hath some particular pinch for the present c. Now that shall bee given in to the soul You have a fine expression to import the condescention of God to particular mercies in Psal 21.2 4. Thou hast given him his hearts desire and hast not with-holden the request of his lips Hee asked life of thee and thou gavest it him even length of daies for ever and ever Why my Beloved you that wait upon the Lord and truly come to him know and remember however hee carries it as if at first hee will grant nothing yet at last hee will grant every thing and in particular that Mercy that particular special Mercy which thy heart is drawn forth to mention before the Lord. Oh saith the soul I would have all sin dead but let this sin dye Now the soul shall have his this thing In this thing the good Lord bee merciful to mee why the Lord will in that thing bee kinde Let the soul single out its particular request Oh in this matter in that childe in this cause c. And hee shall finde Christ at last will come down to that very thing But I shall speak to this in the last Sermon by it self therefore I will not urge it here Onely now put all together and tell mee if the point bee not certain That Christ at last will deal very kindly with souls that truly come to him however at first hee may seem to deal harshly What could the poor soul wish more than shee had hee spake kindly now hee doth what shee will and as much as shee will now her Daughter shall bee whole in a moment c. This is all I shall say for the demonstration of the point There are some Objections to bee answered I shall at this time mention one Object I but will the soul say This is a particular example and particular examples they are not foundations for general conclusions Here is a Woman of Canaan and the Lord deals well with her what is this to mee For Answ Beloved in the Lord know this That every example of Gospel-grace is not so particular but that it is a general pattern All this was written that wee might beleeve And you know what the Apostle saith in that same Rom. 15. and the beginning These things are written for our learning c. Do not say This was a Woman of Canaan and I am a poor other kinde of creature Know this was written for thee In 1 Tim. 1.16 saith Paul there That in mee first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter beleeve on him to life everlasting If the Woman of Canaan were alive shee would say I was a pattern for thee shee would say Christ dealt thus with mee first to shew how hee would deal with other poor creatures afterwards Let this bee an answer But then the Second Answer is this The account upon which shee had this grace it was not particular but common A particular thing with a particular account is too streight to bee made a general Rule but a particular example upon a general account may bee made a general Rule remember that Now this mercy was given to her not upon any personal particular account but upon a general account what is that account Woman great is thy Faith Shee hath this mercy not as a Woman nor as a Woman of Canaan nor as so and so speaking but as a Beleever Now upon this Reason Because the Lord dealth thus with her upon the account of Faith where-ever there is true Faith the Lord will deal thus It is the particular argument of Rom. 4. The Apostle proves that Abrahams Justification was a general type to others How doth hee prove it because it came to him by Faith The strength of the Argument lies thus Abraham was not justified as such a man upon any personal account but because hee was a beleever and therefore hee argues that all beleevers should bee justified as hee was Therefore do not say it was a particular example it
is a pattern and it is upon a general account There are onely two words of Application I shall make at present First I will gather one terrible Consequence from all this consolatory discourse And Secondly I shall gather one Rational Caution from the whole First I shall gather a terrible Consequence from all this When mercy is preached and comfort is held out wee have many snatch for it that have nothing to do with it And while I would comfort a Son or Daughter of Abraham I would not strengthen the hands of any in sin Well then sinners hear and fear Look about you as I use to say for certainly As Jesus Christ will deal kindly with those that truly come to him at last So hee will deal exceeding terribly with those who notwithstanding all his good carriage carry it ill to him If Jesus Christ Man or Woman will deal well with that soul that did tarry long because it tarried out to the end then hee will deal ill with thee whoever thou art who notwithstanding all his good carriage to thee dealest perversly with him though hee wooes you and beseeches you now yet at last hee will deal terribly with you at last there shall bee two in one bed the one shall bee taken and the other left Verily my Beloved Look as mercy and kindness will oblige the heart of Christ to bee kinde to waiters and commers at last so the justice and wrath of Christ will as it were ingage Christ to bee dreadful to Rebels and impenitent ones at last Husband thy Wife came to Christ and waited on him long Christ will in the issue bee kinde to her But thou standest it out still art a Rebel to this day Oh tremble to think what Christ will do at last Hee will judge and condemn and destroy thee upon whom hee hath waited long and who yet at last wouldest not come in The Jews are a sad example of this terrible Consequence that I am upon The poor Canaanites that Christ dealt so severely withall all the Prophecies of the Messiah were sealed books to them c. at last in the fulness of time Christ comes and hee speaks mercy to the Gentiles but how doth hee deal with the Jews the Jews that hee had been kinde to because they came not in hee turns away from them to the Gentiles Now therefore I beseech you look about you Christ hath been dealing well with you many a day beleeve it the Lord will deal harshly with you that stand it out and deal ill with him As hee will bee merciful at last to the home-commers so will hee bee cruel and yet just to you that have and do stand it out to the last all your daies Consider this then you that forget Christ lest the Lamb prove a Lion to tear you in peeces that yet continue in your sins and impenitence A second word I beseech you let mee give you all one Rational Caution If the Lord will deal so well at last then pray now bee so wise as not absolutely to conclude against this Truth Is there a poor Woman of Canaan before the Lord that hath had many a frown and many a hard put off many a frighting without and fear within Beware how you conclude against everlasting mercy for Christ may bee kinde at last That which I would press is in allusion to the 77. Psalm about the 7. vers Will the Lord cast off for ever and will hee bee favourable no more c. I observe that good man did never positively say so but onely hee questions it and before hee comes to conclude in vers 10. hee saith It was his infirmity Thou sayest shall I cry and never bee heard shall I beg bread and not have a crumb know that the Lord that hath a deaf ear at first will have a hearing ear at last Therefore it is but a reasonable request you that are waiting upon the Lord it is but a reasonable thing I beg of you Do not say the Lord will never bee gracious I shall inlarge it more hereafter But my thinks a Question is put now and I will in a word answer it Quest But what shall I do in the mean time I think the Lord will bee good at last but I shall starve in the mean time Answ Pray look once more into the story of Joseph Joseph carried it very roughly at first but hee carried it well at last but what do they do in the mean time Why they shall have bread to carry them unto their home The Lord Jesus is every way Joseph before hee doth reveal himself and deal kindly with you you shall have bread to live upon Though the Lord seem to carry it strangely now hee will do as Joseph did Give you bread to support you in your journey Look into the Scripture there is bread enough for you Never did the Lord let any perish but hee gave them sufficient to carry them up and to support them even in the way beside the best and abundance which is kept till last Therefore lift up thy hanging down hands and stay thy soul even at present Jesus Christ will give in necessary secret supplies before hee reveal himself in the open ample manifestations of his grace You shall even while in the Journey and the wilderness have a Viaticum travelling necessaries and at the end you shall have the full possession and inheritance of the Milk and Hony in Emanuels Land This I have proved and shall next time give you grounds for it Sure Grounds that Christ will bee kinde at last The Eighth SERMON Matthew 15. vers 28. Then Jesus answered and said unto her O Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt c. THat all Persons Conditions Affairs are exposed to alteration and change is a truth no less sweet in some respects than bitter upon others Indeed my Beloved upon some accounts it is our misery that wee are mutable but withall upon other accounts it is our happiness that things shall not as wee say stand alwaies at one stand This present season though it bee sharp and cold an alteration will follow and a warmer season will come Our very bodies though sometimes weak yet a change doth come and wee are rendered strong And as it is thus with us in corporals so blessed bee God it is thus with us in spirituals Though for a time wee may lye under the wrath of man and the frowns of God yet a change will come for God hath said Hee will restrain the wrath of Man as it is Psal 76.10 and for his own anger hee will take it away so hee promiseth Hosea 14.4 Though for a time this Woman of Canaan was under the frowns of Christ though hee seemed to take no notice of her yet behold what a change is here hee that before would not answer her a word doth now answer her many words and many comfortable words Hee answered and said unto her Oh
Woman great is thy Faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt Wee are now come to the last thing in the story of this Woman of Canaan and that is the consideration of that conclusion that Jesus Christ doth here make with her And you may remember the Observation wee did draw forth the last day was this Viz. Doct. That all those who truly come to Christ shall in the issue finde his Carriage to bee sweet and gracious however at the first it may seem rough and strange Wee did then open the Point and did go a good way in the confirmation of it There were onely two things which I said I would speak to in the Amplification of the Doctrine First To shew you wherein Jesus Christ would appear sweet and gracious in the end howsoever hee may carry it at first to poor souls Secondly Whence this should come to pass Now for the first of these Wee told you wee need go no further than the instance of the Text. And wee did then indeavour to set out the kindness of Jesus Christ to the Woman of Canaan Now here are many words to set it forth First generally Hee answered and said Oh Woman great is thy Faith Secondly particularly Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt And then Thirdly Hee doth particularly grant her particular request that shee had made And from that hour her Daughter was made whole I did then speak to those distinctly Two Objections there lye against this instance which being cleared up wee will come to the Reasons of the Point Object 1. The first Objection was this But this instance of the Woman of Canaan seems to bee so rare that it doth not concern us To that wee said two things Answ 1. That all Gospel-instances of Grace I intend not instances of miracles and extraordinary favours are perpetual examples for after ages And Answ 2. This kindness of Christ to the Woman of Canaan was not upon any personal or particular account but upon a general account namely her Faith But there is another Objection to bee cleared up and that is this Object 2. But though this example bee not so particular as to shut us out Yet Secondly There are some things in it so extraordinary and special as that wee cannot look for the same things in our cases To this I shall say two things Answ 1. That however some things indeed here may bee extraordinary and so not to bee expected yet as to the MAIN of all things wee may expect the like This is certain that those favours that God hath shewn in any one age to any of his children though they might have some particular circumstance wherefore wee may not expect the same yet in the general and by proportion wee may expect the same As in the instance of Joshua The Apostle makes the kindness of God to Joshua a general example in Heb. 13.5 Bee content with such things as yee have for hee hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Now wee cannot expect in a particular way as Joshua did In like manner the same Apostle in the same place doth argue from David in vers 6. And though wee cannot expect some rare circumstances as David did yet as to the main wee may say The Lord is our helper So though possibly wee may not expect some particular circumstances of the kindness that this Woman of Canaan had yet as to the main wee may bee certain to have the like Secondly However wee may not meet with all the particular Acts of kindness from Christ that this Woman had yet there are usually these three things wherein wee shall certainly finde Christ to deal sweetly with us at last however hee may deal with us at first Or There are three Demonstrations wherein the Lord will demonstrate himself to bee kinde to you at last however hee may carry it at first First At last the soul shall finde this that hee will not absolutely and peremptorily reject the poor soul Possibly thou wilt not finde so clear an entertainment so comfortable an assurance as this Woman had I but this thou shalt finde that Jesus Christ will never absolutely cast thee off hee will never peremptorily deny thee or cast thee off It is very remarkable hee did not peremptorily send the Woman away though hee did not answer her yet hee did not bid them send her away And this thou shalt finde that though Christ may not seem to answer yet hee will not absolutely deny though hee may say It is not meet thou shouldest have mercy yet hee will not deny chee mercy That speech is an eternal Truth in John 6.37 Him that cometh to mee I will in no wise cast out I remember an expression that wee have in the Prophecy of Isaiah which I think is mistook and therefore I shall mention it Isa 50. at the beginning Thus saith the Lord Where is the bill of your Mothers divorcement whom I have put away c. The meaning I take to bee this That though God did as it were separate Israel from himself for a while for sin yet hee did not divorce them hee did never give them such a bill as upon the account of which they might conclude I am divorced And that which I gather from it is this that at last the soul shall not bee able to produce a bill of divorcement from Jesus Christ No soul whoever thou art take this for a certain comfort Christ will not wholly cast thee off hee will not at last bid thee bee gone though at first hee may not presently entertain thee This is one thing And then secondly Howsoever Christ may deal with thee at present for thy comfort yet at last hee will insure thee of everlasting salvation Possibly now hee will not give thee bread so much as thou wouldest have but yet hee will absolutely save thy soul and have mercy upon thee to all eternity Therefore this is that Christ saith in John 6.39 This is the will of him that sent mee That of all which hee hath given mee I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day There lies this for certain At the last day Jesus Christ will raise up all those that come to him Now this is spoken not of a bare corporal resurrection but of a resurrection to life It is spoken of such a resurrection as is peculiarly the portion of true Beleevers Christ will at last raise up all Beleevers to life and glory albeit hee may not seem to carry it in this life to the poor soul as it desires So that is a second thing which wee may conclude in the general about Christs kindness to us however in some particulars hee may not deal with us as with others A third thing wee shall bee sure to finde at last is this That Jesus Christ will give us something sufficient to support us though not it may bee to satisfie us in all our desires Howsoever the
Lord may seem to put us off for a while and make as if hee would not give us a Morsel yet secretly hee will give supports to the soul as in Psal 138.3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst mee and strengthenedst mee with strength in my soul Secret sufficient soul-strength shall certainly bee given in by Jesus Christ however hee may carry it at first at last the soul shall bee able to say All the while Christ did frown upon mee I had some secret supports given So that though the example bee rare and though some things in it bee extraordinary yet in these three particulars every soul at last shall finde Christ will carry it kindely however at first hee may carry it strange To come now to give an account of the Reasons of the point There are many Reasons which if need were wee might dilate upon I shall onely name these four or five The first Reason whence it comes to pass that Jesus Christ will deal thus kindly at last Is taken from God the Father My Beloved that same Will Command and Commission which Jesus Christ hath received from the Father and which hee is careful to observe is the great reason of this Carriage of Jesus Christ I pray mark it a little Christ coming into the world hee comes not onely as our Saviour but as his Fathers Servant and this hath an influence upon the heart and upon the hand of Christ in all his carriage to us This i. e. That hee comes as the Fathers Servant and because God the Father will have him do thus and thus therefore to bee certain hee will do it As for instance doth Jesus Christ come into the world to dye for sinners what is the ground of it because God the Father hath given him in Commission so to do So will not Christ break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax as it is prophesied hee will not Isa 42 Why this is the Reason because hee is his Fathers Servant as it is there vers 1. and God hath charged him that hee shall not break the bruised Reed c. And so in this particular Jesus Christ will at last deal kindly with all that truly come unto him because this is the will of him that sent him This is particularly the reason in John 6.37 38. a Scripture that you may look upon as the foundation of your Faith but I wish you did well understand what you did build your Faith upon All that come to mee I will in no wise cast off What is the reason Mark the 38. vers For I came down from Heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent mee When you act your Faith upon Jesus Christ for his kindness I pray look to God the Father likewise and this will further strengthen your Faith The poor soul is ready to say why should Jesus Christ receive mee why should Jesus Christ carry it kindly to mee what is there in mee nothing But there is another ground there is the will of him that sent him there is the Fathers will God the Father deals well with us for Christs sake and Jesus Christ deals well with us for the Fathers sake So that now my Beloved when the poor soul goes to Jesus Christ you may imagine that God the Father saies thus Son deal well with that soul it is my will that thou shouldest not cast him off Indeed in this place Christ doth intimate that hee doth carry himself according to his Commission The Commission that was given to Christ it was the ground of this whole carriage of Christ But here is the Commission Christ hee shall not give childrens bread to Doggs yet if Doggs will come to him and lye at the Fathers door it is the will of his Father that hee should not cast them off Secondly The innate kindness and tenderness of the heart of Christ is the reason of this truth that hee will deal well at last though hee seem to carry it strange at first My Beloved the Lord Jesus hath that personal renderness in himself that if his Father should never have wished him nor willed him to deal thus kindly with poor souls his own bowels would have put him on to it Indeed the bowe 's of Christ are so tender that the tenderest love is set out by the bowels When Paul would have the Philippians to know how much hee did love them and long after them saith hee Phil. 1.8 I long after you in the bowels of Jesus Christ My Beloved the Lord Jesus Christ hee hath tender bowels and because of that it is that hee doth deal tenderly with poor souls that come to him What is the particular nature and notion of bowels in the Scripture it is this For a person to bee moved at last by the sense of a persons misery though at first hee may seem to stand off You have many notable instances of this That of Joseph what was it which made Joseph deal kindly at last though hee did deal roughly at first In Gen. 43.30 His bowels yearned within him and that made him to speak kindly to his brethren O my Beloved The Lord Jesus is full of bowels hee doth pitty many times when hee is not spoken to as in Luk. 7.13 It is said there concerning a Woman that Christ had compassion on her hee was troubled for his bowels did yearn towards her The Lord Jesus having therefore such tender bowels thence it comes to pass that though at first hee may carry it strangely yet at last hee will carry it kindly This poor Woman of Canaan once the Lord seemed to speak harshly to her but his bowels did yearn and upon that account hee dealt well at last The third Reason in a word is this Christ will carry it thus well at last because in a sense hee is very fearful and therefore very careful that none do perish in a good way at least through his neglect My Beloved Christ is fearful of the perishing of poor souls especially in a good way and most especially through his neglect Sinners look about you if you will rebel and run away from Christ and wander from him and perish Christ cares not but if thou hast a heart to look towards God if thou goest after Jesus Christ and criest to him hee is very fearful lest thou shouldest perish in such a good way Isa 57.16 Saith God there For I will not contend for ever neither will I bee alwaies wrath for the spirit should fail before mee and the souls which I have made If Christ should carry it tough alwaies the spirit of the poor creature would fail If so bee you will wander in the high waies from Christ then the speech of the Prophet may bee made good in Isa 51.20 Thy Sons have fainted they lye at the head of all the streets as a wilde Bull in a Net they are full of the fury of the Lord the rebuke of thy God Yea but if
you come to him that cries after you in the streets as it is Prov. 1. If you lye not still but come at his cry and upon his call then will hee pour forth his Spirit on you as in that place hee promiseth Prov. 1.23 If you perish in your own neglect to come so it is but if you come Christ will not let you perish at his doors Oh no The Lord Jesus will never bee a Dives a poor Lazarus at Christs door shall never perish there never did any that lay knocking and begging for mercy there go away and perish for the want of it Fourthly The Lord Christ will bee thus kinde at last That hee may stop the mouths of all those that are ready to speak hardly of him My Beloved if Christ should alwaies carry it strangely especially when the sould carries it humbly soon you would hear that speech of the man in the Parable I knew thou wert a hard Master But God is resolved that never shall there bee a witness brought against him of his hardness This Woman of Canaan might have been brought in as a witness against Jesus Christ if after all this hee should have cast her off but God will bee true and all men lyers Hee will bee kinde at last to confure that report and reproach which Satan and unbeleef are ready to cast on him truly I may say Christ will bee kinde for his own credir That none may slander him hee will and must bee sweet at last Fifthly and lastly Christ hath a particular design to destroy the work of the Devil Now my Beloved upon this account it is that hee will deal kindly at last for if Christ should not at last deal well with those that truly come to him the design of the Devil would not bee destroyed I build the foundation of this reason upon that Scripture in 1 John 3.8 For this purpose was the Son of God manifested that hee might destroy the works of the Devil When a poor soul comes to Christ and is roughly dealt withall the Devil hath a three-fold design upon that score Viz. One design is upon the soul it self to lead the soul to despair Another design is upon other sinners to discourage them for ever from comming to Jesus Christ And a third design which though last in execution is first in intention and that is to cast a disgrace upon Jesus Christ If this poor Woman should have been sent away and not been dealt kindly withall The Devil would have said now despair now no body go to him c. How doth Satan say it is in vain for you to pray to beleeve Nay though you worship him hee will not regard it Now mark it the Lord is resolved to destroy the designs of Satan and that Satan may never prosper in these designs Christ will carry it well at last however hee may carry it ill at first Doth Satan say it is in vain to wait No it is not in vain to wait for the Woman of Canaan waited and was accepted doth Satan say go not to Jesus Christ hee will not receive you Yes then say thou and thou O soul every one that is not resolved to hearken to Satan for his own ruine wee will go hee will receive us at last doth Satan say hee is a hard Master say no hee will deal kindly at last Well to come to the Application indeed the prime and the proper Use of this point is but one and that I shall principally stand upon but I shall add another though briefly Use The prime Use of this Point is but one Namely for the comfort and the refreshing of all those who it may bee are in the same condition that the Woman of Canaan was Who is there among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God Isa 50.10 What soul is there that hath found a want of Christ and hath had a desire after Christ and hath been a great while waiting upon Christ and hath not had your desires satisfied bee of good comfort though the Lord tarry long hee will come at last The Lord that seems to carry it rough at first at last in the issue will carry it kindly Therefore bear up your hearts it may bee your issue is not yet come and no marvel if Christ do not speak Possibly you are but in the Treaty as I spake in the Explication the last day or it may bee you are not yet fully come nor do really and rightly cloze with Jesus Christ For certain if that were hee would bee kinde unto you according to your hearts desire It is a full and everlasting speech of comfort that that you have in Job Job 8.20 21. Behold God will not cast away a perfect man neither will hee help the evil-doers till hee fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with rejoycing Thou dost lye before Jesus Christ and hee seems to reject thee I but know That hee will not cast thee away till hee hath filled thy mouth with gladness No though at present hee may seem to carry it strange yet in the issue hee will carry it well Because I would clearly hold forth this I shall speak my thoughts by two or three steps There are two things I would speak to all you who it may bee are in the condition of the Woman of Canaan First Beware how thou thinkest thy estate too strange and how thou inquirest after the cause of it too far Secondly Bee confident of this how strange soever thy case bee now the conclusion shall bee very sweet First Beware how thou thinkest thy state too strange and how thou inquirest after the cause of it too far Was there ever sorrow like to my sorrow and was there ever soul like to my soul saith the poor soul c. and what is the matter that I have knockt and knockt till I am weary of knocking Oh what is the cause c. bee not too curious in looking after the cause possibly there may bee a reason that at first you may not see but you may see it hereafter As Christ said to Peter What I do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter John 13.7 Hereafter thou shalt know why the Lord did keep thee from childrens bread so long and it may bee by the way it was to bring down thy proud stomach hereafter the Lord will satisfie thee but at present know that no new thing hath happened to thee others have lain as long as you Secondly Bee confident of this how strange soever thy case bee the conclusion shall bee very sweet My Beloved the Lord Jesus cannot shut up his bowels the Lord Jesus cannot alwaies refrain himself Isa 63.15 Where are the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercy towards us are they restrained That passage in Psal 42. is remarkable though David was very sad
yet saith hee in vers 8. The Lord will command salvation for mee and yet I shall praise him And verily at last you shall see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living hee will command and create comfort for you I but saith the soul though David might say so what is that to mee still I say remember it is to thee All that take hold of the Covenant of Grace that God made with David God makes with them the sure mercies of David as it is in that precious Promise Isa 55.3 But however mark the example wee are upon consider the Woman of Canaan and when you consider the whole story of her you may bee confident at last Christ will deal kindly with you Minde above and besides what wee have said Three things in this story to comfort your hearts that however Christ may deal harshly at first yet in the end hee will deal kindly First You cannot bee further off from Jesus Christ than the Woman of Canaan was Secondly You cannot bee dealt withall worse than the Woman of Canaan was But. Thirdly Though wee should grant you should bee further off than the Woman of Canaan was and dealt withalt worse than shee was yet there is hope in Israel for this thing First You cannot bee further off than the Woman of Canaan was My Beloved There were no people visibly so far from the Covenant of Grace and so much out of the Commission of Christ as the Canaanites and the Samaritans and yet it is observable you have two great instances the one of a Canaanite and the other of a Samaritan that Christ must deal well withall In John 4. It is said of Christ That hee must needs go thorow Samaria and what was it for but to bring home a poor Woman of Samaria now a Samaritan was far off from Christ and such a one as shee was very far from Christ yet the Lord at last must deal kindly with her And so this Woman of Canaan shee was far off from Jesus Christ shee was a Woman of Tyre and Sidon yet shee came to the Lord and the Lord dealt well with her Secondly Consider this for your comfort Christ cannot deal worse with you than hee dealt with the Woman of Canaan I beseech you in the Lords presence you that have been under any darkness clouds or trouble tell mee did ever the Lord speak to you as hee did to this Woman when you said Jesus thou Saviour of sinners have mercy upon mee did hee ever say I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel when in the anguish of your spirits you did turn into a corner and lay in the dust grovling and crying for a crumb of comfort did hee ever tell you It was not meet to give you childrens bread yet you see Christ said so to this Woman Indeed I think Christ never dealt with any all things considered so seemingly ill and rough as with this woman Certainly you cannot bee worse dealt with yet at last you see how well shee speed But then Thirdly Suppose suppose that you bee further off from Christ than the woman of Canaan was and that you have been dealt withall worse than the woman of Canaan was Yet there is hope in Israel concerning this thing Why what hope there is this hope that the Lord will create a new thing in the world It is often used in the Prophets that expression among others I shall now minde you onely of one In Isa 43.18 19. Saith the Lord there unto his people Remember yee not the former things neither consider the things of old Behold I will do a new thing c. As if the Lord should say My people look back to the daies past do not you remember former things happily they may say wee remember old experiences but ours is a new case wee remember what thou didst in the daies of old but our case is worse than theirs Behold saith God A new thing I will create and what is that new thing God will create Why the Beasts of the field shall honour him c. Time was when the Virgin Daughter of Sion did honour him time was when Israel followed him thorow the wilderness I but now God will create a new thing The Beasts of the field shall honour him My Beloved there is very much in this viz. in the Creating-power and the Creating-mercy of the heart of God Suppose never was any so far off nor never any so dealt withall yet the Lord will create a new thing in the world So that I say it may much comfort the hearts of all those that are in the condition of the Woman of Canaan that the Lord will deal well at last however hee may deal at first Object But now my thinks I hear the poor soul say But I am not like the Woman of Canaan were I as the Woman of Canaan then I should hope the Lord would deal well with mee but I am not as shee Why how is that Answ I have not that Grace as shee had I have not her Prayer her Humility I never worshipped the Lord as the Woman of Canaan did I never was so broken as the Woman of Canaan was I shall give two Answers First If you bee not so humble as the Woman of Canaan think of it now to bee as humble as shee was But yet I tell you in the Second place It was not the Woman of Canaan 's Humility nor her Patience nor her Prayer not the Worshipping but the Woman of Canaan 's Faith upon which the Lord did all And I take it to bee an undeniable truth that that Grace unto which all kindness is shewed is the Grace of Faith True Humility is good and so is Humiliation and the Lord give us our measure but yet I say the great Promise is not to Humility nor to Humiliation but to Faith Woman great is thy Faith Object I but then secondly saith the soul But I have not the Woman of Canaan 's Faith If I had her Faith I should think the Lord would deal well with mee It is said the Woman of Canaan had a great Faith but the Lord knows I have but a little Answ I have answered already this and shewed That it was not to the measure of the Grace but to the Grace it self that Christ did this Therefore I say as often as you read the story of the Woman of Canaan comfort your hearts with these words do as the Prophet Habakkuk chap. 2. vers 1. I will stand upon my Watch-Tower and observe what God will say for the vision will speak at last So say I to the Sons and Daughters of the Woman of Candan Go upon your Watch-Tower and observe the vision will speak at last I shall hint to you that speech in Isa 54.6 The Lord hath called mee as a Woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife of youth when thou wast refused saith thy God The Lord hath
called thee truly it was his anger and wrath that was upon her and yet hee had called her as a Woman refused Poor heart thou art as a woman grieved in spirit yet the Lord is kinde Object I but you will say That is a Promise made to those who once were in the heart of Christ who once were married to the Lord and afterwards seem to bee separated Answ 1. That is true and therefore by the way if there bee any of you that once were married to the Lord and by your sins are separated bee of good comfort the Lord doth caâ—l thee But secondly Though the sixth verse speak to one that was once a Wife yet the first verse speaks to one that was never a Wife Sing O barren thou that didst not bear for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married Wife So that mark it put it either way thou that once wast married to Christ and thou that wast never married there is a song of praise for you Whosoever you are that come to Jesus Christ whether it bee your first coming in the day of conversion from an unregenerate estate or second coming in the day of your return from a backsliding estate I say which soever it is if you come Christ will bee kinde unto you I will conclude And two words I shall speak First Know It is absolutely impossible that it should bee otherwise but that Christ should deal well with you at last You know the Apostles expression Heb. 6.18 That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye wee might have strong consolation c. When you have the Lords Word and the Lords Oath when you have the Lords Promises and many Experiences It is impossible now that God should fail here are immutable things You have the Experience of this Woman of Canaan and you have the Experience of many thousands besides the Promises and Oath of God and Christ so that I say it is impossible that it should change and bee otherwise It cannot bee but that Christ should deal well at last with those that come unto him I say again and Oh remember it it cannot possibly bee otherwise Secondly It is very probable your comfort may bee nearer than you are aware of Possibly thou wilt say It was never worse never further off Bee it so upon this account thou wert never nearer to comfort My Beloved it is a certain Truth When wee are ready to give up hope and ready to perish that is the time of our refreshing and reviving Possibly now thou dost think thou art at the worst the Lord may be ready to deal kindly with thee When did the Lord reveal this kindness to the Woman of Canaan when after hee had spoken worst of all Hee had said It was not meet to give childrens bread to Doggs and presently after this word hee saith Bee it unto thee even as thou wilt It may bee the Lord tells thee It is not meet to give thee bread now bee of good comfort now hee calls thee Dogg and is ready to beat thee off a thousand to one if hee do not give you childrens bread Indeed this I observe as a particular thing in the story of Joseph when was it that Joseph brake out in his kindness to his brethren See in Gen. 45.1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself c. When truly when Judah had told him such a sad story in chap. 44. vers 18. As if Judah should say My Lord great man what shall I do if thou do not let Beâ—amin go c. Then Josephs heart melted Happily thou art brought to this question Lord what shall I do Lord I have waited prayed cried and Oh Lord what shall I do why bear up thy heart now thou art near sinking the Lord may reveal himself to thee as hee did to the Woman of Canaan Well that is the first and the proper Use To comfort those that are in the Woman of Canaans condition I shall add but one word of Exhortation If it bee thus that the Lord Christ will deal thus kindly at last however hee carry it at first Then let the same minde bee in you that was in the Lord Jesus This you know is a great Rule That wee should bee followers of Christ Wherein shall wee bee followers of Christ First Carry it thus one to another Secondly Carry it thus to Jesus Christ First Carry it thus one to another If so bee through frailty you have carried it too roughly one to another hitherto carry it kindly now Bee not of a rough spirit irreconcilably It is time for Beleevers to lay aside their bitterness which hath been their sin and shame many years Oh that whatever unbrotherly ungospel-like carriage hath been amongst Saints and too much hath been may now at last end Let us in this imitate Christ to carry it well at last for a long time wee have carried it harsh and ill And in particular cases between one Relation and another one friend and another bee as Christ sweet and kinde in the cloze what ere you are or have been at first Secondly And especially Carry it so to Jesus Christ There is never a one of you but have carried it very strangely to Christ at first the Lord help you to carry it well at last Have not you carried it to Christ as Christ carried it to the Woman of Canaan The Woman of Canaan called but hee would not answer Christ comes to you and calls you but you will not answer Christ calls you you will not hear Young man saith Christ turn to mee it is not meet for mee to do so hath the young man answered I will not cast my youth and strength on a doting disgraced way as many do so have your hearts said too often And so for old and rich and great ones how oft have they put off Christ with no answer or at best with a delatory one I may say to you all that many a time after many a call and in many a case you have dealt unkindly with Christ Well but however though you have carried it ill to Christ heretofore yet pray carry it well at last I shall allude to a speech in Matth. 21.28 Christ speaks of two Sons of a certain man and hee came and said to the first Go work to day in my Vineyard hee answered and said I will not but afterwards hee repented and went c. The Lord Christ shews in that parable how some yea many deal with him Hee calls and commands the poor soul hee saith to the sinner Go to work leave off sin but the soul returns answer No I will not Oh this is naughty carriage yet now if wee recall our selves and say as hee said at last I go But afterwards hee repented and went This will bee doing good at last and however our former carriage hath been Christ will accept and count this well and say Here is good carriage
18.8 and it bears upon this Notion that I now hint It is said of Babylon That all her plagues shall come upon her in one day c. In one day why the intirest of Pride and Honour Idolatry and Persecution that so many ages were winding up to a height can this bee destroyed in so little time shall this bee done in one day Yes For strong in the Lord God who judgeth her A great God is never confined to any time Oh my Beloved bear up your hearts in the Lord Jesus Christ time can no way prescribe him hee can do what hee will and when hee will But there is one general point that I shall take up from the place and end this discourse And the general Point is this Doct. That faithful coming unto Jesus Christ doth sometimes prevail even in Corporal Cases This woman of Canaan came to Christ and shee came in Faith Here is a faithful commer to the Lord Jesus and shee prevails for her own soul I and shee prevails for her Daughters body shee prevails eminently for her own spiritual concernments I and shee prevails also for her Daughters corporal concernments That Faith prevails alwaies in spiritual concernments that wee have often opened and my Beloved it is a mercy that if it do not alwaies prevail for our body yet that it doth for our souls But God hath provided and doth so order it that sometimes it shall prevail for body and soul too Indeed going to Christ is good for every thing and they who truly go to the Lord Jesus shall one day have cause to sing the song of David Bless the Lord Oh my soul who forgiveth all thy sins and healeth all thy diseases You that go to Jesus Christ you shall have cause to say Blessed bee God I have soul-mercy and bodily-mercy too If you look thorow the whole story of the Life of Christ you shall see this truth The whole history of the Gospel gives us instances that faithful coming to Christ did sometimes prevail with him for corporal-mercies as well as for spiritual mercies A double instance I shall give First An Instance of prevailing for our selves Secondly An Instance of prevailing for others First An Instance of prevailing for our selves saith the Leper in Matth. 8.2 Lord if thou wilt thou canst make mee clean And that of the blinde man Barthomeus in Luk. 18.41 saith Christ What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee and hee said Lord That I may receive my sight and his sight was restored to him Many a time the Lord Christ was prevailed withall for corporal mercies But secondly As many did prevail for themselves so they did often prevail for others As in Matth. 15.30 It is there said Great multitudes came to him having with them those that were lame blinde dumb maimed and many others and cast them down at Jesus feet and hee healed them c. The Lord did many corporal kindnesses for others The like to this you have in Matth. 9.1 2. They brought to him one sick of the Palsie and Jesus seeing their Faith healed him But now here is one Objection against this Object But you will say This was true of the times wherein Christ lived Christ when hee was upon Earth healed Simon Peters wifes Mother of a feavour and such a ones Daughter and such a ones Son but now hee is in Heaven such things are not to beee expected so some do think Answ For Answer First If wee speak of his miraculous way of healing then it may bee said that miraculous way of healing diseases was a mercy more eminently put forth in those daies of Christs being in the flesh But if you speak of the thing it self healing diseases curing of bodies I doubt not but wee may expect the same mercy from Jesus Christ now that they did then And the Reason is Because there is the same ground for Christ to shew corporal kindnesses now which was then Where the ground of a thing is perpetual moral and eternally the same in all ages the same things may bee done upon the same ground But c. I finde in the Gospel a double ground why Christ did heal corporal diseases The first ground was his pitty and sympathy And secondly To fulfil Prophecie and Promise Upon these two grounds did Christ heal either upon the grounds of pitty and compassion as a man or else upon the ground of Prophecie or Promise For the first ground you have it in Matth. 14.14 It is said Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them and hee healed their sick Compassion did move Christ and therefore hee healed them Now observe Jesus Christ now in Heaven hath the same compassions that hee had here on Earth and that is founded upon his keeping or retaining of his humane nature still If Christ had not now in Heaven our humane nature hee would not have had this compassion for you shall finde that the compassion that was in Christ it was not built upon his God-head but upon his humane Nature And therefore in Heb. 2.16 17. It is said Christ took not on him the nature of Angels but hee took on him the seed of Abraham Why so that hee might bee a merciful and faithful High Priest c. Hee did therefore take Mans Nature that hee might have compassion Now this Jesus retains for ever and hee hath the same compassions now hee is in Heaven that hee had when hee was upon the Earth The second ground is that which I finde in Isa 53.4 compared with Matth. 8.17 I pray minde it for it is good to know what is the ground of Faith In Isa 53. Saith the Prophet there Surely hee hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows c. This was prophesied of Jesus Christ that hee should not onely have compassion on our spiritual infirmities our sins but our corporal and this was the ground why hee did heal diseases in the time of his flesh Matth. 8.17 It is said Hee healed all that were sick that it might bee fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the Prophet saying Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses Here was the ground why Christ did heal then because it was prophesied hee should bear our sicknesses Now this Prophecie is an eternal truth And if in the time of his flesh hee did shew corporal kindnesses that that Prophecie might bee fulfilled hee will now do the same that the same Prophecie might bee fulfilled Even in these daies wee may expect that our Lord Jesus Christ upon our faithful coming to him should shew corporal kindness to us and ours as well as spiritual One Scripture I shall add for the Truth of it and that is in James 5.14 Is any man sick among you Let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him c. and the prayer of Faith shall save the sick c. Here observe that faithful prayer shall prevail for
the saving of the sick Now a little to clear up this you must know first that this is to bee understood of corporal sicknesses and therefore the very two terms that are here used for saving and sick are usually applied to corporal diseases I but it is said this was by virtue of the anointing of the Elders To this I answer this expression hath been abused But however that this salvation doth not depend upon the anointing will appear if you observe the phrase And the Prayer of Faith shall save the sick Hee doth not say the Anointing shall do it but the Prayer of Faith and further observe this is a general Scripture concerning all ages built upon perpetual grounds and to hold now as well as then That coming to Christ in Faith will prevail with him for corporal kindnesses both for our selves and others Wee shall add no more for the proof but give you the Reasons There are five Reasons whence it comes to pass that sometimes our Lord Jesus Christ is prevailed withall by those that faithfully come to him incorporal cases for themselves and others Reas 1. That the Lord Jesus may shew that hee hath power in this particular My Beloved Jesus Christ will sometimes speak and do such a word and such a work for this reason that it may bee known what hee could do in that case In Matth. 9. and the beginning Why did hee say to the sick of the Passie Bee of good cheer thy sins are forgiven thee but that they might know the Son of Man hath power on the the Earth to forgive sins Beleevers Beleevers you shall know what your Saviour can do you shall know what a Christ you have and what hee can do in every thing You think hee can do for your souls you do not question it hee will make you know hee can do for your bodies too That hee may shew his power hee will sometimes shew corporal kindnesses Secondly That hee may shew himself to bee the same in all ages My Beloved poor hearts are too too ready to sing that doleful Psalm Is the Lords mercy clean gone is his loving kindness come to an end c. Poor hearts are too too ready to say the Lord did such a mercy at such a time but did hee not then resolve to do so no more at such a time the Lord healed such a one but did hee not end the work then No the Lord Christ is from everlasting to everlasting thorow all generations saith the Psalmist Psal 103.14 17. verses For hee knoweth our frame hee remembreth that wee are but dust but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his Righteousness unto childrens children That you may know that it is not onely a peculiar mercy to those times therefore thorow all generations hee will heal as hee did then that it may appear hee is the same in all ages That Text is to bee understood of corporals Thirdly The Lord Jesus will sometimes shew corporal kindnesses to our selves and others that hereby hee may ingage us Oh my Beloved Jesus Christ doth love to ingage poor souls to himself hee loves to lay his fair yoak upon your backs hee loves to lay the cords of men of humane love upon their hearts to binde them to himself Now corporal kindnesses do much ingage The truth is it is our folly and Christs kindness in a mystery that a corporal kindness works more sometimes than a spiritual and Christ therefore goes that way to work upon us Wee finde in dealing with children and the Lord knows silly children wee are the best of us that wee do oftentimes more win by an Apple than a better thing Oh wee have a good Christ that condescends to our childishness hee will have corporal kindnesses because hee sees they will prevail with us sometimes when others will not How stately is that Psalm Psal 116. Oh saith David there I will love the Lord c. What did ingage David I was in misery the sorrows of death took hold of mee and the Lord delivered mee c. Oh for the Lord Jesus to shew a kindness to our poor carkasses doth ingage much At such a time I had a childe sick a relation sick I prayed to the Lord and the Lord heard mee I will love the Lord as long as I live Fourthly The Lord doth it that hee may incourage Faith Sirs glorious things as Doctor Sibbs applied that Scripture are spoken of thee O thou Grace of Faith Now this is a great incouragement when Faith shall prevail with Christ for body and soul too for inward and outward mercies how is Faith incouraged Pray will you turn to John 4.53 The kindness of Christ to the Noble mans childe whom the Lord did cure upon his Fathers request mark how it did work upon that great man Hee enquired concerning the time and hee knew that it was at the time that Christ said his Son liveth What follows then Himself beleeved and his whole house Why did not the man beleeve before Christ had cured his childe Yes in vers 50. it is said Hee beleeved but the Master that beleeved before beleeves more I and the whole Family beleeved too Verily Sirs Faith is marvelously incouraged by corporal kindnesses What did incourage David against Goliah but this Thy servant slew both the Lion and the Bear and this uncircumcised Philistine shall bee as one of them Oh when the Lord shall hear us for our poor carkasses this will incourage Faith Many a person hath been wrought upon to come to Christ by the kindnesses that hee hath shewed to others There is a story of a poor Christian Maid in the Ecclesiastical histories whose Prayer and Faith cured a great Mans childe in a heathenish place The Governour of the place had a childe sick and every one was to give somewhat to help it but nothing would do at last a poor captive Christian was asked what shee could do shee said I can pray to my God and hee can heal shee did so and the childe was healed and it is said it was the occasion to work upon many to inquire after and to embrace Jesus Christ and the Christian Religion And let mee appeal unto you have you not known at least have you not heard of some poor wretched creatures that have been much wrought upon when they have observed that God hath heard the prayers of such a Minister of such a poor Christian when they were sick and this hath drawn them on in the way of Faith and Holiness Fifthly and lastly Jesus Christ will sometimes shew corporal kindnesses that so hee may make good all the Promises In 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness is said to have the Promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come Why now you know what is said in 2 Cor. 1.20 That in him all the Promises are Yea and Amen All Promises are made to Beleevers but the fulfilling of
all doth depend upon Jesus Christ Now my Beloved That the Lord may fulfil temporal Promises hee will upon the faithful coming of his servants sometimes give them temporal mercies Wee shall now come to the Use There are but two Uses that I would make of this Point First of all therefore Let this serve for a word of Conviction And Secondly For a word of Instruction First It serves for a word of Conviction To convince the folly and the mistake of many poor creatures who think and say that going to Jesus Christ may bee good for the soul but they cannot tell what it is for the body Repentance Faith real Conversion to the Lord Jesus may save our souls but they cannot see what it will do for their bodies This kinde of Dutch-divinity is every where to minde Mammon and body best and most and to think Religion is not for any profit or purpose in those particulars But see here this folly and know that Religion is good for all things Length of daies are in Christs right hand and in his left riches and honour Oh souls learn to see going to Jesus Christ is good not onely for our souls but for our bodies You shall go to the Lord Jesus Christ and have the mercies of Heaven and the mercies of Earth too Can the Son of Jesse give you Olive yards and Vine-yards c. Was the speech of Saul 1 Sam. 22.7 So say the men of the world Do you think to get any thing by being godly Yes if the Lord please you may get for body as well as for soul by going to Jesus Christ The world is mightily mistaken that think godliness is good for nothing but salvation it is good for this present world too But then Secondly Let it serve for an Use of Instruction To teach us all whither to go in all cases whether spiritual or corporal why to go to the Lord Jesus Whatever thy case bee away to Christ going to Christ is good for soul and for body What is your condition Say some I am a poor man and I have a little estate and a great charge I hope beleeving in Jesus Christ will save my soul but what shall become of my Family go to Jesus Christ hee can give corporal as well as spiritual mercies Saith another I am sick c. little do wee know what may bee expected from Christ even in corporal cases You have a fine speech in Proverbs 3.16 Length of daies are in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Shee is a tree of Life and shee is health to the Navel and the Flesh chap. 4.22 This is spoke of Wisdome what Wisdome why it is spoken of Essential Wisdome Jesus Christ why what of Christ it is said Length of daies are in his right hand Eternity of Life is a right-hand-mercy for Jesus Christ to give I but how shall I live here why In his left hand are riches and honour You go to Jesus Christ and say Lord I have a dead soul dead in trespasses and sins Lord Length of daies are with thee But thy body is sick why go to Christ hee can cure bodies too and is this onely for your selves No but for others too you may go to the Lord Jesus not onely for a morsel of bread for thy poor soul but for some cure for thy childe Object But may I go to the Lord Jesus will the Lord Christ accept mee who come to him upon a carnal account Answ For answer That Jesus that hath the mercy of God to pitty souls hath the pitty of a man to pitty bodies and humane compassions will prevail with him for bodily pitty Object I but will the soul say Is there then any hope that I may prevail with the Lord for my sick childe Answ My Beloved I told you in the beginning That the Prayers and Faith of the Parent will much prevail with Christ for the good of the childe In Gen. 17. Abraham goes to the Lord and hee praies for Ishmael Oh that Ishmael might live in thy sight That is that hee might bee the childe of the Promise Hee was a Son of the Flesh but not an Heir of the Promise but yet mark what follows though Ishmael should not bee the childe of the Promise yet the Lord doth there assure Abraham of this that Ishmael shall bee blessed Isaac is the childe of the promised seed yet Ishmael shall bee blessed too Many a time doth the Lord hear the prayers of his servants even for an Ishmael i. e. for a childe yea a carnal childe and this is certain even bad children have many corporal mercies for their Parents sakes and wee may expect it Object But wee have known many a Parent that have gone in Faith to Jesus Christ for a poor childe that never have prevailed How then can you build us up in this Truth when wee see the contrary Answ I answer If thou goest to the Lord and prayest for a childe and dost not prevail God deals no worse with thee than hee dealt with thy betters David who was a man after Gods own heart went to God for a childe and hee prayed hard but yet the Lord did not hear him You have the story in 2 Sam. 12.16 David besought God for the childe and fasted c. And if it bee so with you yet are you as well in this respect as David was But more fully to answer the Objection I pray mark it that in that place there are two things might satisfie David and so any in the like case First It was not good for David that the childe should live I make that appear thus what was the childe that David did desire might live you know the story it was the base-begotten childe which hee got upon Bathsheba Certainly it was not good for David that the childe should live had the childe lived it would have been his Fathers shame c. When thou goest to God to begg the life of thy childe if thy childe do not live what is the reason hee may live to bee thy shame Some have begged of God the life of a childe what ever came of it God hath given it as a curse and the childes life hath been a monument of their shame and a perpetual heart-breaking to the Parents all their daies As a good Woman once sadly said So that is one thing it may bee for good to the Parent that God should not hear prayers for a childes life and then that may satisfie us if hee do not But then Secondly Though the Lord did not hear David for the life of the childe I perswade mee Hee did hear David for the soul of the childe I shall give you this account of it Saith David in v. 23. I shall go to him but hee shall not return to mee Whither is that not so much I shall go to him in my body to the grave but in my soul to God And my Beloved that this is intended
doth appear upon this consideration nothing but this could have so quieted the heart of David that the childe was happy Indeed some think that the phrase I shall go to him is no more but I shall bee dead as hee is and they say David did acquiesce in this that the will of God was fulfilled and therefore David comforts himself in this I shall go to him But if this had not been to Heaven it could have been no great comfort Alass what comfort is this bare thought to a mourning Parent my childe is dead and I shall dye too David might have had that comfort in Absolons death but here was his comfort I shall go to him i. e. to glory the bare grave is not comfort nor was it to David but the glory beyond the grave is And this is that comfort which doth stay the heart I shall go to him Though God did not hear him for his childes life yet I think for his childes soul So that is another thing to satisfie any Christian in this case I say when Christ doth not hear prayers to restore a childe to life and health yet in this case in particular go to the Lord Jesus you may go and you may prevail for corporal kindnesses for them and if not for their bodies who can tell but you may for their souls Then I beseech you all in the words of the Apostle Phil. 4.6 compared with verse 19. Bee careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request bee made known unto God My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus Whatever your condition bee bee not over careful go to the Lord Jesus and hee will supply all thy wants hee will give a pardon to thy soul and a plaister to thy body and to thy childes body too you may go to Jesus Christ for what you will in a way of beleeving and to bee sure you shall alwaies prevail in spirituals and sometimes in corporals But there are two questions that wee must answer First But in what cases may it bee lawful to put Prayer and Faith a working in going to Christ for corporal kindnesses Secondly When may wee hope that wee may prevail with Christ for corporal kindnesses First In what cases may wee go to the Lord Jesus and set Prayer and Faith on work for corporal kindnesses It is a Case of Conscience which is not oftentimes touched upon Three things I shall tell you to regulate you and then in any case you may go to Christ and act Faith for corporal mercies First When the thing is lawful that you ask There are many things that are not lawful for us to ask Like Neroes Mother ask and say I will have my Son King though I dye for it You may not begg of the Lord that your childe may bee thus great or thus honourable but you may begg of the Lord life and health creature accommodations so far as necessary these things you may begg and go to Christ for Secondly You must look that your spirits bee not inordinately set upon the things When ever thou findest thy heart inordinately set upon any thing then do not pray for it And then Thirdly When you can appeal to Jesus Christ that the end for which you begg a corporal kindness it is for his glory then you may begg it As David there in Psa 119.17 Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word You may go and say Lord Jesus Let my childe live for what end that hee may bee a great man a rich man c. No the Lord will abhor it But that my childe may live to serve the Lord if that bee your end you may pray for it And then Quest 2. But you will say When shall I know or may I guess that I shall prevail with Christ What are the signs of the time and season when I may hope I shall prevail with Christ for mercy c Answ I answer When the frame of your spirit is as the frame of the spirit of the Woman of Canaan I pray mark it a little what the frame of the spirit of this Woman was Take it in some particulars I will name onely two viz. First Shee had this frame of spirit That though shee mentioned her childes case yet shee seems to minde her own soul most And Secondly Shee had this as the frame of her spirit To beleeve for both Now to urge it in a few words to you The first frame of her spirit was That though shee did begg this mercy for her childe yet the frame of her spirit was principally set upon her soul This poor Woman did desire her Daughters life but however Lord bread for my poor soul Oh Sirs when you can go to God and say Lord I would have such a corpotal mercy but however Lord soul-mercy when you can desire a sick childe may bee made well but especially an evil heart mended when your soul is set mostly upon your soul and its concernments then are you in a good frame Secondly This Woman was raised up to measure of Faith Indeed some great and considerate Divines do think that that Text of James 5. where it is said The prayer of Faith shall save the sick is to bee understood in reference to a particular Faith And my Beloved howsoever yet let mee tell you it is not alwaies necessary wee should have a particular perswasion yet when the Lord doth intend to answer in a corporal kindness hee doth secretly either out of the word or by providence hint some word that may bring the soul to a beleeving frame Something is presented to us which raiseth up a Faith in us so that when wee are in such a frame of heart as to minde spiritual things most and yet to beleeve that in a temporal thing God will gratifie us then may wee expect that wee shall not bee ashamed of our Faith and that wee shall have the particular corporal mercy granted to us But to end This is that I would press upon the whole As ever you would have mercy for body and soul go to Jesus Christ But now there is some general word that I would draw from the whole story Wee have now dispatched this whole discourse of the Woman of Canaan What is there that is upon my spirit to begg of the Lord for you and for my own soul but this That this story may bee alwaies a good story to us First of all therefore I say Look about you that the story of the Woman of Canaan may not bee a sad story to any Is there any such as may have cause to fear that you will say Yes man or woman whoever thou art who dost not faithfully go to Jesus Christ the story of the Woman of Canaan shall condemn you you have no excuse to keep you off from going to Jesus Christ but this Woman will condemn you