because the Lord hath anointed me to Preach glad tidings to the meek c. This was excellently held forth in the Person of Aaron the High Priest under the dark Dispensation of the ceremonial Administration an Eminent and Glorious Type and Shadow of Christ the Elects High Priest Psal 133.2 It is like the Precious Ointment upon the Head that ran down upon the Beard even Aarons Beard that went down to the Skirts of his Garment The material Oyl wherewith Aaron Christs Type was anointed did prefigure and type out the Effusion of the Spirits Gifts and Graces on the Human Nature of Christ to fit and qualifie him for the Work the Father hath sent him about this anointing was poured out on Christ without measure as witnesseth the Scripture Jo. 3 34. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the Words of God for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him This is further backt and confirm'd by Colos 1.19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell And Colos 2.9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily Besides the personal Anointing of Christs Human Nature wherewith the Father anointed him above his fellows Psal 45.7 there was a Soul enriching Stock of Grace put into his Hands as Mediator in time to be communicated to all the Elect who are to be the Members of his Mystical Body Hence it is that Believers are said to receive of Christ's Fulness Jo. 1.16 And of his Fulness have all we received and Grace for Grace Ephes 4.7 But unto every one of us is given Grace according to the measure of the Gift of Christ Christ as God is the Source and Fountain of all the Graces of Believers as God-man he is the Meriter and Purchaser of all Grace for them and Christ as Mediator he hath the dispencing Power committed to him by the Father to communicate to and bestow upon every Member of his Body what measure of Grace he pleaseth Secondly Christ far excels all Adam's Children on the account of the Work to which the Father design'd him in Eternity and whereto he in time call'd him This great Work is to reconcile God and elect Sinners together by the Interposition of his Mediatorial Righteousness to make up that Breach which the Sin and Apostacy of Adam had effected between God and the Elect and to keep and continue them in an everlasting Covenant of Love and Peace so as that there should never be any Possibility of their being at Enmity any more for ever 2 Cor. 5.19 to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their Trespasses to them By World in this as in other places is intended the elect World for whom Christ was made Sin and a Curse and between whom and God his offended Father he stept in as a Mediator to make Peace by offering up himself in Sacrifice to God's Justice 1 Tim. 2.5 6. for there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus Who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time Compare with this Jo. 10.15 and Jo. 17.9 and it will plainly appear that Christ became a Mediator of Redemption and Intercession for God's Elect and none else If what hath been said concerning what Christ is in himself and the great Work to which the Father hath design'd and call'd him be rightly considered it will appear beyond all Contradiction that he infinitely excels and transcends all the Children of Adam None of Adam's Posterity were ever qualified like him neither were any of them ever call'd to so great and glorious a Work as he was this in the general But more particularly to come to the Allegory or Metaphor by which his transcendent Excellency is allegorically set forth there are three things in the Apple-Tree which bespeaks the Lord Jesus a None-such to the Elect. First The Lowness and Comliness of the Apple-Tree above other Trees It grows lower and nearer the Ground than other Trees usually do The matchless Lowliness and Humility of Christ is hereby set forth none could ever compare with him herein Mat. 11.29 Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly This is anciently Predicted of him as appears Zach. 9.9 Rejoyce greatly O Daughter of Zion shout O Daughter of Jerusalem behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having Salvation lowly and riding upon an Ass and upon a Colt the Foal of an Ass Mat. 21.4 5. Six things wherein this will appear First His condescending to become his Father's Inferior first as a Son a Relation which imports Superiority and Inferiority Psal 2.7 I will declare the Decree the Lord hath said unto me Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee c. Jo. 3.16 For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. Jo. 14.28 For my Father is greater than I. Secondly As a Servant to do his Work Psal 89.20 I have found David my Servant with my Holy Oil have I anointed him Esa 42.1 Behold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth * This Inferiority of Christ to God is to be understood in respect of the Office he voluntarily took on him for the Elects sake not in respect of Nature or Essence as appears Zach. 13.7 Awake O Sword against my Shepherd and against the Man that is my Fellow Jo. 10.30 I and my Father are one Heb. 1.3 Who being the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person c. Secondly His condescending to assume the Humane Nature Heb. 2.14 Forasmuch as the Children did partake of Flesh and Blood he also himself took part of the same Vers 16. For verily he took not upon him the Nature of Angels but he took upon him the Seed of Abraham There are two things which if considered will put a bright Lustre on this Act of Christ's Condescention First The Baseness of the Matter of that Body he assumed viz. A Clod of Earth and that the worst of Earth viz. Red Earth so the word Adam in Hebrew signifies Secondly The abject State and wretched Condition into which it fell by the Apostacy and Rebellion of Adam to which he knew he must become subject Hence it is he is stiled a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief Esa 53.3 4. Rom. 8.3 For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh c. Thirdly In his being Born of mean Parents Christ as God did single out and choose the Womb in which his Humanity was to be Conceived which was not an Empress a Queen or some Lady of Rich and Noble Extraction according to the Flesh but a mean and despicable Maid of a mean and poor Family so poor that she was not able to compass a Lamb but must be trusting to a pair of Turtle Doves for a Sacrifice
own Performances Somewhat he must do in order to help and save himself but how or where to begin he finds himself at a loss Hence those Queries what shall we do Acts 2.37 Mark 10.17 Acts 16.30 which plainly shews that all Adams Children when awakened by the Terrors of God's Laws do seek for Life and Salvation in a way of Works this is further confirm'd by Rom. 10.3 For they being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God One while the Sinner resolves with himself he will amend his sinful Course and be for time to come a better Man He will say his Prayers he will confess and break off his sins he will forsake his vain Companions and sinful Pastime and the Church and serving God he resolves he will frequent and constantly attend He will now take on him a strict Profession a Church Communicant he must be to the Sacrament he goes and from that to other Duties such as Fasting and Almsdeeds and keeping up a strict Watch over himself in all his ways He is now not the same Man he was before he can with the Pharisee boast of his negative and positive Righteousness Luke 18.11.12 And now he thinks and hopes the work is done albeit he was never nearer Hell and eternal Ruin than by these acts of Morallity Negative and Possitive he hath brought himself He hath been all this while but scouring and making clean and bright the outside of the Cup and Platter not heeding or regarding the Filth and Nastiness which cleaves to the inside A change of State he is a Stranger to External Reformation he takes to be the Conversion which must fit him for Heaven tho' most certain it is that no Reformation but what flows from an effectual change of State will evidence or prove a Man to be a real Convert Such an External Reformation may qualifie a Man for Church Communion but never for Heaven And it is to be feared that there is but very little even of this visible Reformation in some Churches who seem at least in their own and other Injudicious Peoples Conceits to be far purer and holier than their Neghbour Churches who make not so much a Noise and Blunder as they themselves do There are some Churches so called who for want of Charity monopolize a pure Church State to themselves as if Christ had no true Gospel Church in this day besides themselves whose Preachers and Rulers are of so impetuous a Spirit as drives them to the very Precipice of Anathematizing all but themselves As if the Doctrin of God's Grace and the Form of a true Gospel-Church State were to be found no where but among them these are like violent Storms and Showers which will not hold long and indeed 't is pity they should All I shall further say of such is the Lord rebuke their furious and Bedlam-like Spirit and give them to see and in time to be convinced how far wide they are from what they fancy they have attain'd to viz. a Christ-like Spirit and a true Conformity to the Pattern of God's House a thing so much boasted of and gloried in and that without cause The Word of God assures us up and down that no Works or Duties which sinners are capable of performing can possibly give Ease or Peace to that Conscience which the Law of God set home by the Spirit of Bondage hath wounded Healing and Peace are to be found no where but under the shadow of Christ's Satisfaction there being nothing short of what satisfies Divine Justice for the violation of the Moral Law which can satisfie and quiet the Conscience of a wounded sinner Job 5.18 For he maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest A third Storm wherewith the elect meets is the fiery Assaults and Temptations of the Devil They are call'd fiery from their sad and dreadful Effects in the Soul and Conscience of the poor distressed sinner they being to the Soul what Poyson and Fire are to the Body Ephes 6.16 Above all taking the shield of Faith whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the wicked The Darts here intended are the Assaults and Temptations of the Devil which are injected or cast into the Soul suddenly and invisibly as Darts are cast or shot by an unseen Enemy which when they find Entrance they immediately inflame the Soul as poyson'd Darts or Arrows hardened in Fire Invenom or Poyson the Body These Temptations or satanical Injections are numberless and of various sorts sometimes to Presumption sometimes to Desparation sometimes to Atheism sometimes to Blasphemy against the Majesty of God sometimes to one Wickedness and sometimes to another Satan is a busie Enemy and a Restless Enemy always tempting and that all Men and to all manner of Folly and sin on which very Account he is by the Spirit of God stil'd in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Tempter who is always busie at his Trade piercing to know what is in Men that so he might accordingly suit his Baits to the Disposition and Temper of Adams Children whom he seeks to prey upon Yea so restless and unwearied is he at his Trade of throwing or injecting his fiery Darts into the Soul that he will not loose the time of Men's sleeping Satan in this case is like an Enemy that surprizes in the dead of the Night when Persons are bury'd in Sleep and Security And as in Nature no Alarm is so amazing and frightful as that which is given in the dead of the Night so as Experience teacheth no Temptation makes a sadder Hurricane in the Soul than the night Sallies which he makes on the Soul when the Person is buried in sleep Now in such Storms as these what can poor tempted Souls do were it not for the shadow of Christs Cleansing and Healing Virtue herein the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness did eminently type out the Lord Jesus Christ his Virtue to heal and cleanse the Sting and Pollution given and occasion'd by the infernal Serpents stinging temptations No way possible for Help or Cure in this Case but flying by Faith and Prayer to the shadow of Christ's healing and cleansing Virtue It is on this very Account that the Grace of Faith is preferr'd above all the other Parts of the Christians spiritual Armor in that it looks and flies to Christ immediately for Help and Cure No sooner hath the Devil cast in his Soul affrightning Dart into the Soul of a True Believer but the Grace of Faith like an expert and experienc'd Soldier who whips up the Granado thrown in by the Enemy and throws it back on the Enemy again repels and throws back the fiery poyson'd Dart injected by Satan A fourth Storm wherewith the Elect soul meets is the Wrath of God seared
Love and Favour and the benighted deserted Soul When the Waves and Billows from God are commissioned to pass over the poor Soul as if its utter Ruin were design'd by God This is a Storm indeed and the hardest to be wrestled with by the Man who hath been frequently visited with the sweet and Soul-ravishing Embraces of God's Love Either of these four Particulars if it be sharp on a poor Man it may be compar'd to a sharp Storm at Sea occasion'd by either of the four Winds which may set a Man hard to it But when all four come on a Man at once then the Soul is made to understand what a spiritual Hurricane means A Man may loose his All in this World his Substance may be lost his Trade may fail he may come to be as poor as Job and yet being in Esteem for his Goodness and Honesty he may have Trust and Credit among his Neighbours and so may in time recover his Losses If a Man may be clouded as to his Name and Credit among Men and yet having of his own wherewith to subsist in the sight and midst of his Traducers and Reproachers he may make a pretty good shift to weather the point A Man may be extream poor he may be blacken'd with Reproach he may be visited with bodily sickness yet having sensible Communion with God none of these single storms can overset him because the discerned Smiles of God's reconciled Face supplies all the other wants But for the same Person to be stript of all visible Substance and to become a Proverb of reproach among all sorts as well Friends as Enemies to be smitten in his Health and to feel himself under the actual Arrest of Death 〈◊〉 And at the same time for God to seem to write bitter things against him and to carry it towards the Poor Soul as if he were become the Man's Enemy if there be a spiritual Hurricane this side Hell this is one All these bitter Ingredients met together in that sad Hurricane which the Devil was permitted to raise against Job His Substance swept all away and he left as empty handed as when he came into the World He was cast out of the kind and charitable Thoughts of all as well his Friends and nearest Relations as Enemies and Strangers and the God of his Life and Comfort too did set himself in Battel Array against him Oh! what a Hurricane was this Holy Upright hearted Man in it must needs be very sore and sharp when such a Mirrour of Patience le ts fly such Expressions as to Curse the very day of his own Birth Job 3.1 2 3. and to wish himself to be ameer Non-Entity ver 16. with other Expressions full of unbecoming Reflections on that Just Holy and Tremendous God whom he lov'd and fear'd above all things It were worth while if those deluded and graceless Perfectionists who talk so boastingly and ignorantly of a sinless Perfection had power to consider without prejudice how far Job was from that sinless Perfection they teach and affirm is attainable in this Life and for Proof whereof they bring in Job for one Instance Asserting that he was perfect in their Sense let Job's great Impatience in the time of his sore and sinking Trials together with his own Acknowledgment of his Imperfection in Sanctification be weigh'd in the Ballance of an unbyassed and unprejudicate Consideration and then will it convincingly appear how vain and altogether contrary to God's Truth and the Experience of all true Believers that silly Opinion of theirs is If I justifie my self mine own Mouth shall condemn me If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse Job 9.20 If I wash my self with Snow water and make my hands never so clean yet shalt thou plunge me in the Ditch and mine own Cloaths shall abhor me ver 30 31. Holy David was somewhat near to Job in point of Troubles and Afflictions as appears by Psal 42.7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts all thy Waves and thy Billows have gone over me And in Psal 142.4 I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me refuge failed me no man cared for my Soul Other Instances might be here brought in to shew what Hurricanes the Saints of God have gone through and yet it hath not been in the power of those Hurricanes to overset or overcome those Servants of the Living God The higher and sharper the storms were the closer Faith did cling to its Object witness Job's fixed Resolution Though he slay me yet will I trust in him Job 13.15 That of David also is to the purpose Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet will I fear no evil Psal 23.4 These and all the most Eminent Saints of God Recorded in Scripture whenever they felt any thing of a storm approach them their way they took for self Preservation was to run by Faith and Prayer to the shadow of Christ And as they so every true and uprighted-hearted Believer when he finds himself stript of all outward Accommodations forsaken of all Relations and familiar Friends made an Obloquy of the blackest Reproach compast about with the shadow of Death and the Face of God himself seeming to Frown on the dying Believer yet in the very height of his Extremity his Faith will catch hold of the Appletree and there will hold come Life come Death Oh! the Excellency and Power of a Divine Faith To apply what hath been discover'd concerning Christ's Suitableness and Commodiousness to answer the necessitous Condition of poor sinners from this Metaphor of the Appletree let the first Use be of Information I will Branch it forth into six particular Branches Branch the first Learn hence how sacrilegious and wicked the Doctrin of Popery is which allows and teaches that there are more Mediators between God and Sinners besides Jesus Christ the continual use Papists make of the Virgin Mary and other Saints in their Praying to God is an evident proof hereof They that doubt hereof let them for their own Satisfaction look into the Rosary or Ladies Psalter which is the poor besotted Papists Vade mecum The which whoever reads comparing the same with the Word of God will soon be convinc'd of the Idolatry of the Church of Rome The Spirit and Word of God assures us that there is but one onely Mediator between God and sinful Men and that the Man Christ Jesus is that Mediator For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 But now hath he obtained a more excellent Ministry by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which was Established upon better Promises Heb. 8.6 And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant Heb. 12 24. To convince you of this sacrilegious and damning Doctrin I offer three things to serious Cosideration First The Word of God no where
are intended the Personal Graces of the Lord Jesus Christ these are all sweet and delightful to a real Believer and they are said to be so on a threefold Account First On the Account of the Purchase which the due and full Improvement of those Graces in him hath made for God's Elect. Hence those Expressions of the Apostle Acts 20.28 To feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood Ephes 1.14 Which is the earnest of our Inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased Possession to the Praise of his Glory That Stock of Grace put into the first Adams Hand to be improved for himself and us his Posterity was lost and thereby both he and we in him are become meer Bankrupts uncapable of ever paying to Justice a Ransom for our own Redemption But the Stock of Grace wherewith the second Adam was Intrusted for God's Elect it was improv'd to the uttermost for the everlasting Advantage of God's chosen Here by Christ hath purchased for the Elect Justification Sanctification and all other Good spiritual and temporal Secondly The personal Graces of Christ are sweet and delightful to the real Believer on the Account of their being both the Original from which the Graces of the Believers receive their first Rise and their After Nourishment Christ's Fulness is the Fountain the Graces in Believers are the Streams or Springs which flow therefrom Hence we have that Expression of the true Church of real Believers Psal 87. last verse All my springs are in thee From this Christ assures all Believers of the Infallible Certainty of their Eternal Salvation Jo. 14.19 Because I live ye shall live also Jo. 15.4 Abide in me and I in you as the Branches cannot bear Fruit except they abide in the Vine no more can you except ye abide in me Thirdly The Imputation of the Perfection of Christ's Graces to the Believer is that which renders both the Believers weak Graces and all his Imperfect Performances acceptable and pleasing to God They who question or oppose this will find it a hard task to shew in what other Sense the Scriptures following are to be taken Ephes 1.6 To the praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved Rev. 8.3 And another Angel came and stood at the Altar having a golden Censer and there was given unto him much Incense that he should offer it with the Prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which is before the Throne The highest and most refined Acts of Sanctification in Believers even those Acts which come nearest to that sinless Perfection which is every Believers Duty to strive after they are imperfect and therefore stand in need of the spotless Sanctification of the Mediator to recommend them to God Pertinent to the purpose in hand is that of Augustin Domine lavas lachrymas meas O Lord wash thou my Tears of Repentance Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood Rev. 1.5 And have washed their Robes and have made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7.14 Secondly By the Fruit of Christ we are to understand his Word this is the meaning of the Spouse in Cant. 5. last verse His mouth is most sweet yea he is altogether lovely Here the Words of Christ are Synechdochically intended by which the Love and Grace of God to sinners Elect and chosen in Christ is revealed in the Gospel and made sensibly manifest in the Conscience of true Believers by the Holy Ghost with this accords that of the Psalmist How sweet are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter than hony to my mouth Psal Three things there be which bespeaks the Words of Christ sweet and delightful to a real Believer First The Suitableness of them to a Believers necessitous Condition What is it which bespeaks the Gospel of Christ to be so sweet and preferrable before the Law but the Suitableness thereof to poor distressed sinking Souls the Doctrin thereof being a System of sweet and precious Promises suited to every Condition Believers can be in in this Life According to 2 Cor. 1.20 For all the Promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen to the Glory of God by us And 2 Pet. 1.4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these ye may be made partakers of the Divine Nature The Suitableness then of the Words of Christ's Mouth is one thing which bespeaks them sweet and delightful to a real Believer what is or can be more suitable to a Creature who is dying of the Wounds given him by sin than the glad Tidings and Discovery of a Saviour who is both Able and Willing to save and reconcile him to God The Spirit of the Lord saith Christ is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted to preach Deliverance to the Captives and recovering of Sight to the blind to set at Liberty them that are bruised Luke 4.18 What makes bodily Medicaments or Plasters so valu'd and desirable but their Suitableness to the Distemper or Ailment of the Body A Promise of the Everlasting Covenant of God's Grace suited to the afflicted tempted and despairing Condition of a poor Sinner It is like Physick or a Plaster suited to the Body When the poor sinner inwardly feels through the powerful Influence of the Holy Ghost the healing Virtue of the Promise Oh! how sweet and comfortable is such a Promise to that Soul I will never forget thy Precepts saith Holy David for with them thou hast quickned me Psal 119.93 Every experienced Believer can more or less tell how surpassing all other words the Words of Christ are and that on the account of their Suitableness to the necessitous and streightened Condition they have been in Hence the Commendations given by real experienc'd Believers to the Word of Christ above all other Writings and Sayings whatever I was saith one experienc'd Believer to another in such and such a Streight and the Spirit of Grace brought such and such a word of Promise to my Mind and Thoughts and thereby reliev'd and comforted my drooping pensive Spirit And saith another I was so and so tempted in such a place at such a time even to a bordering on the very Verge or Precipice of Desparation and Ruin And when I concluded my self past all Hope of escaping the Blessed Spirit brought to my Remembrance such and such a Promise which was every way suited to the tempted Condition I was in and thereby my Spirit was stayed and holpen Oh! how blessed a Priviledge are those Souls blessed with who can speak these things experimentally Secondly The Words of Christ are sweet to a real Believer on the account of the Seasonableness of them This was one of the needful Qualifications which was to be in Christ to make him a compleat high Priest viz. to know how to time Deliverance
and Comfort to poor fainting desponding Souls Esa 50.4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary c. The Spirit of God by Solomon tells us that a word fitly spoken is like Apples of gold in Pictures of silver Prov. 25.11 Here we are to understand that a word in due time and place and pertinent to the purpose As beyond all dispute it is Amiable and Ravishing to the Eye to behold so orient and dazling a sight as Apples of Gold drawn to the Life in Pictures of Silver So undoubtedly a word of Counsel and Comfort brought Home to the Conscience of a doubting wounded Sinner ravisheth and gladdeth the broken Heart As cold water to a thirsty Soul so is good news from a far Country Prov. 25 25. When the word suited to a poor tempted Souls Distress is brought home in the nick of time as we say Oh! how sweet is it then Thirdly A third thing which bespeaks the Word of Christ sweet to a real Believer is the Holy Ghost his Efficiency and quickening Power accompanying the same what we say of corporal Bread Rayment Physick Drink c. what can they avail to comfort and nourish the Body without the Spirit of God bless and sanctifie their use to the end for which they are appointed The same may be truly said of the Word and Sacraments c. what can they avail for the Souls good if the Efficiency and quickning Influence of the Spirit of God go not along with their use It is for want of this quickening Virtue of the Spirit of God that so many Sermons are Preached and so few sinners really Converted It is for want of this quickning Efficacy of the Spirit that so many Ordinances of Religion are attended and enjoy'd by thousands of Professors without any sensible or visible Growth in Grace The Word of God is like a well made Knife or Razor tho' never so keen and sharp yet without a living Agent they can neither Cut nor Shave So the Word of God neither the Law can awaken convince or wound the Conscience for sin Nor yet the Gospel Heal or Comfort a Soul in Distress without the Energy and quickening Efficacy of the Spirit of God There are two sorts of People who hereby appear to be in a woful Condition First such as frequently hear and read the Word Receive Sacraments and go the Round in all external Acts of Religious Duties and yet without any motion of spiritual Life from the Spirit of God in their Souls These are like blind Horses in a Mill going round all day long alway treading in the same Tract not seeing or considering where they are or what they are doing These keep to the Form in a Customary way but heed not the inward Power which is that which renders all Acts of Religious Worship both pleasing and acceptable to God and which proves the Soul to be in Reality a living Member of Christ's Mystical Body Esa 29.13 2 Tim. 3.5 Rev. 3.17 Secondly There be others who in pretence of internal Motion and Power in the Soul from the Spirit who to avoid the Damning Formality of the others now mention'd will not only neglect but even slight the Word and Ordinances reflecting on the Word as a dead Letter and the Holy Institutions of Christ in his Churches as carnal poor empty and beggarly Elements Some of these are Seekers in plain English Quakers who are always learning But never come to the knowledge of the Truth 2 Tim. 3.6.7 Others are super-ordinanced who have gotten above all ordinary Means These in their own Conceits at least are so near Perfection that they need not the use of outward Ordinances These are gotten in outward Shew and Profession above Ordinances but never yet were they acquainted with true Piety Both these sorts are under the powerful working of an Infernal Spirit of Delusion which feeds their Souls with Chymerical Whimsies and Enthusiastical Dreams instead of the Doctrin which is according to Godliness These wretched Extreams are to be carefully shunn'd and avoided as the as the Paths which lead to Hell and Eternal Ruin The sure way hereto is to keep within sight and hearing of the Shepherds Tents Cant. 1.8 Beâ—are of false Teachers and avoid the Doctrin which hath not God's Word for its Foundation Esa 8.20 In hearing and reading and all other Ordinances of Religious Worship see that the outward Form and the inward Power be not separated Those things which God hath joyned together must not be put asunder Esa 59.21 Mat. 19.6 That great Man Augustin us'd to call the Word of God Creating Words Verba Divâ—na saith he sunt verba creativa And that on the account of the quickening Energy and Power that goes along with them This is a Truth which hath been acknowledged â—s well by Enemies as by Friends to the Truth Jo. 7.46 The Officers answered never Man spake like this Man Luke 24.32 And they said one to another did not our Hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the Scriptures He that brags of the Word of God and is a Stranger to the Power thereof in his own Soul he is an hypocritical Formalist He who boasts of the Power of the Spirit within and holds not the Form of sound Words indited by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost to be a Rule of Faith and Holy Life he is a deluded Enthusiast From both these Extreams the Care and Faithfulness of the Great Shepherd will keep all who are given him by the Father Thirdly The Works of Christ are all sweet to the true Believer By Works here I intend the Works of his Mediatorial Undertaking Among the gods there is none like unto thee O Lord neither are there any works like unto thy Works Psal 86.8 Besides the Works of Creation and Providence which are common to the whole Trinity there are Works which are Peculiar to Christ as Mediator I will reduce them to six Heads First His Work of Incarnation or his Assuming the Human Nature into Unity with his Sacred Godhead This is the Mystery of all other Mysteries and of this the Temple and Tabernacle of old were shadowy Types To this Mystery that in Prov 8.31 had reference even before Christ came in the Flesh yea before the Birth of Time it self if I may so speak rejoycing in the habitable Parts of his Earth c. The then intended Union between the Godhead and our Flesh is in that Scripture pointed at and this is chiefly intended by John Jo. 1.14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us c. And by Paul in 1 Tim. 3. last And without controversie great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifested in the flesh c. There are three things especially which bespeak the Incarnation of Christ to be sweet and delightful to the true Believer
is not that Creature in this Providential Kingdom which is not subjected to the Power of Christ The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all Psal 103.19 All Power is given me in Heaven and in Earth Mat. 28.18 Thou â—ast put all things in Subjection under his Feet Heb. 2.8 I am he that liveth â—nd was dead and behold I am alive â—or evermore Amen and have the Keys â—f Hell and of Death Rev. 1.18 Thirdly Not only the Creatures but â—ven all their natural Influences and Motions are subjected to the Power of Christ yea the Craft and Subtilty of all the Churches Enemies are subjected to him No Fire can burn no Water can drown no Thieves caâ— rob no Persecutor can hurt without Christ It is a sure and an infallible Rule iâ— Divinity that as no second Cause caâ— of it self do good to a Man 〈◊〉 neither can it do him harm Weâ— this one Rule but rightly understood and practically improv'd iâ— would free the Minds and Spirits 〈◊〉 true Believers from many foolish aâ— panick Fears which frequently iâ—vade them to not only a lessening but also to a keeping out that Coâ—fort to which as Believers theâ— have Right and which they may oâ—dinarily enjoy were it not for theâ— wretched Neglectiveness herein Wheâ— at any time or in any Case 〈◊〉 meet with a Disappointment and Abuse a Loss or a Cross from aâ— Creature whatever I cease to complain or murmur in God's Presenâ— that which strikes me into a profouâ— Silence is the Consideration and Bâ—lief that such and and such Accidents â—ould not fall out without the Providence of God the Hand of God 〈◊〉 think I is in this rebuking Providence My Soul lay thine Hand upon thy Mouth and cease quarrelling with second Causes lest by going too far that way thou rob the Almighty of the Attribute of his Sovereignty and give it to second Causes as if they could do any thing without him On the other hand when my Meat Comforts and Relieves fainting Nature when the Bed and Sleep Reâ—resh the weary Body Oh! think I â—ow good is God Without whom â—ny Meat my Bed my Sleep c. would do me no good When at any time I am in great Streights as often God knows I am when this or that Instrument steps in to my Succour my Faith though weak is as busie as a Bee calling on me to take notice of the Hand of Providence in the present Mercy Thus if I and other Believers did do more and oftner than we do it would be better with us in point of Comfort than it is But we live more by Sense thaâ— we do by Faith and that 's the Reason why we are such Strangers to solid Comfort in our own Spirits Fourthly There is not the most contingent Accident which falls ouâ— in the World but the Providence of the Lord Jesus orders the same whether it be for chastening or comforting poor Mortals Who is he that saith and it cometh tâ— pass when the Lord commandeth it not Lam. 3.37 Shall there be Eviâ— in the City and the Lord hath not donâ— it Amos 3.6 What but the Cosideration and Belief of this struck Holy David dumb before God when under the Afflicting Rod of God I was dumb I opened not my Mouth because thoâ— didst it Psal 39.9 As hath been already observ'd there is neither Good nor Evil that can fall out without Christ Neither doth it from hence follow that those Creatures which are Active in the Business of Sin are therefore Excuseable and that because they Act from an ill Principle and to an end vastly differing from what Christ designs in permitting it Or that the Praise and Thanks which is due to God's Instruments in serving us should not be given them in due time and place Neither will it hence follow that a Believer is to stand stock still like a Sheep to be robb'd or murdered if he sees himself any way capable of making a lawful Defence The Reason is because self Defence is a Natural Principle and that Man or Nation that would not stand up to resist an Enemy who seeks their utter Ruin would not only herein fall short of the very Bruits but they would be Accessary to their own Murder which is the worst sort of Murder In this Case the true Believer is to look on the the Doctrin of Non-Resistance as a Doctrin which smells rank of Rome and which was â—ontriv'd and brought into these Kingdoms by the Romish Emissaries on purpose to manacle English Men that by that means under colour and pretence of Religious Obedience to Authority England might become uncapable of preserving it self from the Ruin design'd against it by Rome and France The Protestants in England and in all the other Nations about us have cause to Adore and Praise the Providence of Christ for the Entrance which it gave to the Jesuites into Magdalen Colledge and its permitting the Bishops being sent to the Tower For had not these two things Providentially fallen out when and as they did Pâ—ssive Obedience and Non-Resistance had ruin'd the Kingdom before this time But Glory to God on high who hath pitcht on one to Rule and and Govern his Providential Kingdom here on Earth whose All-seeing Eye penetrates into all the Dark and secret Counsels of his Peoples Enemies And who knows Exactissimè most exactly when to time his Peoples Deliverance May this wonderful Work of Providence never be forgotten in England How much of the Jesuites Infernal Craft and Pollicy there is in the Principles of the People call'd Quakers to forward Englands Overthrow would be worth while for all true Protestants and true English Men who love their Country and the Protestant Religion to consider Fifthly That the most dismal Dispensations which fall out in the World shall be all managed by the Providence of Christ for the Good and Advantage of true Believers yea even Sin it self with the most sharp and bitter Afflictions which spring from that bitter Root shall most certainly work for the Good and Advantage of Christ's true Members according to that in Rom. 8.28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God c. This Assertion that Sin it self works for Good to Believers hath not only startled but stirr'd up some to make a great Noise in the Kingdom and that in pretence of opposing and beating down Antinomianism to withstand and decry this as a dangerous Doctrin and that which Encourageth Men to commit and continue in the Practice of Sin Those who are of this Spirit and Principle will find sooner or later how wide they are off the Truth and how injurious they are not only to the Doctrin which is according to Godliness but to the Peace and Comfort of Christ's Members who are able both from the Word of God and their sanctified Experience to contradict this their contradicting God's Truth Concerning which I will only say