that Spirit revealeth and confirmeth unto us so every smaller sinne doth in its manner and measure grieve this spirit even as every distemper in the body doth bring paine in some measure unto the naturall soule A living member is sensible of the smallest pricke whereas a body in the Grave is not pained nor disaffected with the weight and darknesse of the earth the gâ—…awing of wormes the stinch of rotteâ—…nesse nor any violences of dissolution because the principle ofsense is departed so though wicked men lie in rotten and noysome lusts have the guilt of many millions of sinnes like so many rockes and mountaines of Lead on their soules doe dayly cut and teare themselves like the Lunaticke in the Gospell yet they feele nothing of all this because they have no spirit of life in them whereas another in whom Christ is formed would bee constrain'd with teares of blood and most bitter repentance to wash the wound of spirit which but one of those fearefull oathes or uncleane actions which the others multiply and wallow in with delight would make within them Now Hee who hath the Sonne hath holynesse upon two grounds according to that double relation which Holinesse hath unto Christ. For it respecteth Him as the Principle and Fountaine from whence it comes and as the rule or patterne unto which it answeres Holynes is called the Image of God now as the face is both the Fountaine of that Image or species which is shed upon the glasse and likewise the exact patterne and example of it too so Christ is both the Principle of Holinesse by whom it is wrought and the Rule unto which it is proportioned First Christ is the Principle and Fountaine of Holinesse as the head is of sense or motion from him the whole body is joyned together and compacted and so maketh encrease and edification of it selfe in Love The oyntment ran downe from Aarons head unto the skirts of his garment to note the effusion of the spirit of Holinesse from Christ unto his lowest members Ye have received an unction from the holy One saith the Apostle What this influence of Christ into his members is wee shall more particularly open in the consequent parts of this discourse Secondly Christ is the Rule and Patterne of holinesse to his Church Our Sanctification consisteth onely in a conformitie unto his wayes For more distinct understanding of which point we must note first that Christ had severall waies and workes to walke through Sometimes we finde him walking to Golgotha and the Garden which was the worke of his merit and passion Sometimes to the Mount with Peter Iames and Iohn which was the worke of his glory and trans-figuration Sometimes upon the sea and through the midst of Enemies which was his worke of power and miracles Sometimes in the midst of the seven golden Candlestickes which was his worke of government guidance and influence on the Church Lastly we finde him going about and doing good submitting himselfe unto his parents going apart by himselfe to pray and in other the like workes of his ordinary obedience Secondly of these workes of Christ we must note that some are uncommunicable others communicable Vncommunicable are first his workes of Merit and Mediation There is but one Mediator betweene God and man the man Christ. There is no other name under heaven by which a man may be saved but the name of Christ. There is no Redemption nor intercession to bee wrought by any man but by Christ. None have to doe with the Censer to offer incense who have not to doe with the Altar to offer Sacrifice Secondly his worke of Governement and Influence into the Church his dispensing of the spirit his quickning of his Word his subduing of his enemies his collecting of his members are all personall Honours which belong unto Him as Head of the Church Those which are Communicable and wherein wee may be by his Grace made partakers are such as either belong to the other life or to this In the other life our Bodies shall bee made Conformed to the transfigured and Glorious body of Christ when Hee appeareth wee shall be made like unto Him by the power whereby Hee subdueth all things unto Himselfe Here some are againe extraordinarily Communicable being for ministery and service not for sanctity or Salvation Such were the miraculous workes of the Apostles which were unto them by way of priviledge and temporary dispensation granted Others ordinarily and universally to all his members So then it remaines that our formall and complete Sanctification consists in a Conformitie to the wayes of Christs ordinary Obedience The whole Life of Christ was a Discipline a Living Shining and exemplary Precept unto men a Visible Commentary on Gods Law Therefore wee finde such names given unto Him in the Scriptures as signifie not onely Preeminence but exemplarynesse A Prince a Leader a Governour a Captaine an Apostle and high Priest a chiefe Sheepeheard and Bishop a Forerunner or Conduct into Glory a Light to the Iewes a Light to the Gentiles a Light to every man that entereth into the World All which titles as they declare his Dignitie that He was the first borne of every Creature so they intimate likewise that Hee was proposed to be the Author and Patterne of Holynesse to his people All other Saints are to be imitated onely with limitation unto Him and so farre as they in their conversation expresse his Life and Spirit Be ye followers of me even as I am of Christ. But we must 〈◊〉 pinne our obedience to the example of any Saint lest we happen to stumble and breake our bones as they did Wherefore are the falls and apostacies the errors and infirmities of holy men in Scripture registred Certainely the Lord delighteth not to keepe those sinnes upon record for men to gaze on which himselfe hath put behinde his owne backe and wiped out of the booke of his owne remembrance Hee delighteth not in the dishonour and deformities of his worthies But they are recorded for our sakes set up for landmarks to warne euery man to take heed of adventuring on any mans authority upon those rockes where such renowned and noble Saints have before miscarried Children of light indeed they are but their light is like the light of the Moone subject to mixtures wainings decayes eclipses Christ onely is the Sunne of righteousnesse that hath a plenitude indeficiencie unerring holinesse which neither is deceived nor can deceive Now further this conformity unto Christ must be in all his obedience First in his actiue obedience unto the Law Learne of me saith he for I am meeke and lowly I have given you an Example that you should doe as I have done unto you The action was but temporarie and according to the custome of the place and age but the affection was universall the humility of his heart Let the same minde saith the Apostle be
comprehending the head and the members in the unitie of one body So then every Promise carrying us to that Vnitie which we have with Christ by his spirit who is therefore call'd a spirit of Adoption because he vesteth us with the sonneship of Christ and a spirit of holinesse and renovation because he sanctifieth us by the resurrection of Christ doth thereby purifie us from dead workes and conforme the members to the Head building them up in an holy Temple and into an habitation of God through that spirit by whom we are in Christ. In one word Our interest in the Promises is grounded upon our being in Christ and being one with him and our being in him is the ground of our purification Every branch in me that bringeth forth fruite my father purgeth that it may bring forth more fruite And in this respect the promises may be said to purifie as still carrying us to our interest in Christ in whom they are founded Fifthly and lastly the Promises are causes of our purification as Exemplars patterns and seeds of purity unto us For the Promises are in themselves Exceeding great and pretious Every Word of God is pure and tryed like gold seven times in the fire it is right and cleane and true and altogether righteous and therefore very lovely and attractive apt to sanctifie and cleanse the soule Sanctifie them by thy truth saith Christ thy Word is truth and againe Now ye are cleane through the Word which I have spoken unto you For the Word is Seed and seede a similates earth and dirt into its owne pure and cleane nature So by the Word there is a trans-elementation as it were and conforming of our foule and earthie nature to the spiritualnesse of it selfe Therefore the Apostle useth this for an argument why the regenerate cannot siâ— namely in that universall and complete manner as others doe because they have the seed of God abiding in them that is his Word Spirit and Promises abating the strength of lust and swaying them to a contrary point For thus the Word of promise makes a mans heart to argue Hath God of meere Grace made assurance of so pretious things to me who by nature am a filthy and uncleane Creature obnoxious to all the curses and vengeance in his booke Hath he wrought so great deliverance and laid up such unsearchable riches for my soule and should I againe breake his Commandements and joyne in the abominations of other men Would he not be angry till he had consumed me so that there should be no escaping Should I not rather labour to feele the comforts and power of these Promises encouraging mee to walke worthy of so great meroy and so high a calling to walke meete for the participation of the Inheritance of the Saints in light Shall I that am reserv'd to such honour live in the meane time after the lusts of the Gentiles who have no hope Hath God distinguished me by his Spirit and Promises from the world and shall I confound my selfe againe Shall I requite evill for good to the hurt of mine owne soule These and the like are the reasonings of the heart from the beauty and purity of the Promises Thirdly and lastly Promises are Arguments to inferre our Purification because in many of them that is the very Matter of which they consist and so the power and fidelity of God is engag'd for our Purification I will clense them from all their iniquity whereby they haue sinned against me saith the Lord. And againe I will sprinkle cleane water vpon you and you shall be cleane from all your filthinesse and from all your idoles will I clense you c. And againe They shall not defile themselues any more with their idoles nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions but I will save them and I will cleanse them And againe I will heale their backeslidings I will Love them freely The Lord will wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion purge the bloud of Ierusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of Iudgement and by the spirit of burning Which Promises bringing along the fidelity and power of God to our faith doe settle our hearts amidst all the corruptions and impotencies of our nature When the conscience is once throughly acquainted with the sight of its owne foulnesse with the sense of that life and power which is in concupiscence it findes it then a great difficultie to rest in any hope of having lusts either subdued or forgiuen The Psalmist when his sore ranne and ceased not refused to be comforted thought himselfe cast out of Gods fauour as if his mercies were exhausted and his promises come to an end and his compassions were shut up and would shew themselves no more Therefore in this case the Lord carries our Faith to the consideration of his Power Grace and Fidelity which surpasseth not onely the knowledge but the very coniectures and contrivances of the hearts of men The Apostle saith That Christ was declared to be the Sonne of God with power according to the Spirit of holinesse by the resurrection from the dead That Spirit which raised Him from the dead is therefore called a spirit of Holinesse because the sanctifying of a sinner is a resurrection and requires the same power to effect it which raised Christ from the dead When Saint Paul had such a bitter conflict with the thorne in his flesh the vigor and stirrings of concupiscence within him he had no refuge nor comfort but onely in the sufficiencie of Gods grace which was able in due time to worke away and purge out his lusts And the prophet makes this an argument of Gods great power above all other Gods that he subdueth iniquities and blotteth out transgressions Though wee know not how this can be done that such dead bones soules that are even rotten in their sinnes should be cleansed from their filthinesse and live againe yet he knowes and therefore when wee are at a stand and know not what to doe to Cure our lusts then wee may by faith fix our Eyes upon him whose grace power wisedome fidelity is all in these his promises put to gage for our purification Thus wee see how promises in generall doe worke to the Cleansing of us from filthinesse of flesh and spirit The same might at large be shewed in many particulars I will but name those in the words before the Text to which it referres The Lord promiseth to Dwell in us as in spirituall Temples and this proves that wee ought to keepe our selues Cleane that wee may be fit habitations for so Dovelike and pure a spirit Flee forâ—…ication saith the Apostle why know you not that your bodie is the Temple of the holy Ghost which is in you therefore glorifie God in your bodies and spirits for they are Gods And againe If any man defile the Temple of God
in you which was in Christ that is have the same judgement opinions affections compassions as Christ had As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation Secondly in his passive obedience though not in the end or purposes yet in the manner of it Runne with patience saith the Apostle the race which is set before you looking vnto Iesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the crosse despised the shame c. If the head be gotten through a strait place all the members will venture after Therefore since Christ hath gone through shame contradiction death to his glory let us not be wearied nor faint or despaire in our mindes The head doth not thinke all its worke ended when it is gotten through it selfe but taketh care and is mindefull of the members that follow Therefore the Apostle cals our sufferings A fulfilling or making up of the sufferings of Christ. The Resolution of all is briefely this We must follow Christ in those things which hee both did and commanded not in those things which he did but not commanded But heere it may be objected Christ was Himselfe voluntarily poore Hee became poore for our sakes and he commanded poverty to the young man goe sell all that thou hast and give it to the poore Is every man to be herein a follower of Christ To this I answere in generall that poverty was not in Christ any act of Morall Obedience noâ—… to the yong man any command of Morall Obedience First for Christs poverty we may conceive that it was a requisite preparatorie act to the worke of redemption and to the magnifying of his spirituall power in the subduing of his enemies and saving of his people when it appeared that thereunto no externall accessions nor contribution of temporall greatnesse did concurre And secondly for the command to the yong man it was meerely personall and indeede not so much intending obedience to the letter of the precept as triall of the sinceritie of the mans former profession and conviction of him touching those misperswasions and selfe-deceits which made him trust in himselfe for righteousnesse like that of God to Abraham to offer up his Sonne which was not intended for death to Isaake but for tryall to Abraham and for manifestation of his faith It may be further objected How can wee bee Holy as Christ is Holy First the thing is impossible and secondly if we could there would be no neede of Christ if we were bound to bee so Holy righteousnesse would come by a Law of workes To this I answere the Law is not nullyfied nor curtall'd by the mercy of Christ we are as fully bound to the obedience of it as Adam was though not upon such bad termes and evill consequences as he under danger of contracting sinne though not under danger of incurring death So much as any justified person comes short of complete and universall obedience to the Law so much hee sinneth as Adam did though God be pleased to pardon that sinne by the merit of Christ. Christ came to deliver from sinne but not to priviledge any man to commit it though hee came to be a curse for sinne yet Hee came not to be a Cloake for sinne Secondly Christ is needefull in two respects First because we cannot come to full and perfect obedience and so His Grace is requisite to pardon and cover our failings Secondly because that which wee doe attaine unto is not of or from our selves and so his spirit is requisite to strengthen us unto his service Thirdly when the Scripture requires us to be Holy and perfect as Christ and God by as we understand not equalitie in the compasse but qualitie in the Truth of our Holynesse As when the Apostle saith That we must love our neighbour as our selves the meaning is not that our love to our neighbour should be mathematically equall to the love of our selves for the Law doth allow of degrees in Love according to the degrees of relation and neerenesse in the thing loved Doe good unto all men specially to those of the houshold of Faith Love to a friend may safely bee greater then to a stranger and to a wife or childe then to a friend yet in all our love to others must be of the selfe same nature as true reall cordiall sincere solid as that to our selves Wee must love our neighbour as wee doe our selves that is unfainedly and without dissimulation Let vs further consider the Grounds of this point touching the Conformitie which is betweene the nature and spirituall life of Christians and of Christ because it is a Doctrine of principall consequence First this was one of the Ends of Christs comming Two purposes He came for A restitution of us to our interest in Salvation and a restoring our originall qualities of Holynesse unto vs. Hee came to sanctifie and cleanse the Church that it should be Holy and without blemish unblameable and unreproveable in his sight To Redeeme and to purifie his people The one is the worke of his Merit which goeth upward to the Satisfaction of his Father the other the worke of his Spirit and Grace which goeth downeward to the Sanctification of his Church In the one He bestoweth his righteousnesse upon us by imputation in the other He fashioneth his â—…mage in us by renovation That man then hath no claime to the payment Christ hath made nor to the inheritance Hee hath purchased who hath not the Life of Christ fashioned in his nature and conversation But if Christ be not onely a Saviour to Redeeme but a Rule to Sanctifie what use or service is left unto the Law I answere that the Law is still a Rule but not a comfortable effectuall delightfull rule without Christ applying and sweetning it unto us The Law onely comes with commands but Christ with strength love willingnesse and life to obey them The Law alone comes like a Schoolemaster with a scourge a curse along with it but when Christ comes with the Law He comes as a Father with precepts to teach and with compassions to spare The Law is a Lion and Christ our Sampson that slew the Lion as long as the Law is alone so long it is alive and comes with terrour and fury upon every Soule it meetes but when Christ hath slaine the Law taken away that which was the strength of it namely the guilt of sinne then there is honie in the Lion sweetnesse in the duties required by the Law It is then an easie yoke and a Law of libertie the Commandements are not then grievous but the heart delighteth in them and loveth them even as the honie and the honie combe Of it selfe it is the cord of a Iudge which bindeth hand and foote and shackleth unto condemnation but by Christ it is made the cord of a man and the band of Love by which He teacheth us to goâ—…
in one night able to stay so many thousand men had been able to remove More violence and injustice against God in a wandring thought in an idle word in an impertinent and unprofitable action then the worth of the whole Creation though all the Heavens were turned into one Sunne and all the earth into one Paradise were able to expiate Thinke we as meanely and slightly of it as wee will swallow it without feare live in it without sense commit it without remorse yet be we assured that but the guilt of every one of our least sins being upon Christ who felt nor knew in himselfe nothing of the pollution of them did wring out those prodigious drops of sweat did expresse those strong cryes did poure in those wofull ingredients into the Cup which he dranke as made him who had more strength then all the Angels of Heaven to shrinke and draw backe and pray against the worke of his owne mercy and decline the businesse of his owne comming Secondly if the least of my sinnes could doe thus O what a guilt and filthinesse is there then in the greatest sinne which my life hath been defiled withall If my Atomes be Mountaines O what heart is able to comprehend the vastnesse of my mountainous sinnes if there bee so much life in my impertinent thoughts how much rage and fury is there in my rebellious thoughts In my thoughts of gall and bitternesse in my contrived murthers in my speculative adulteries in my impatient murmurings in my ambitious projections in my coverous worldly froward haughty hatefull imaginations in my contempt of God reproching of his Word smothering of his motions quenching of his spirit rebelling against his grace If every vaine word be a flame that can kindle the fire of Hell about mine eares O what vollies of brimstone what mountaines of wrath will be darted upon my wretched soule for tearing the glorious and terrible name of the great God with my cursed oathes my crimson and fiery execrations What will become of stiâ—…king dirty carrion communication of lies and scornes and railings and bitternesse the persecutions adulteries and murthers of the tongue when but the idlenesse and unprofitablenesse of the tongue is not able to endure this consuming fire 3. If one great sin nay one small sin be so full of life as not all the strength nay not all the deaths or annihilations of all the Angels in heaven could have expiated O how shall I stand before an army of sinnes So many which I know of my selfe swarmes of thoughts steames of lusts throngs of sinfull words sands of evill actions every one as heavie and as great as a mountaine able to take up if they were put into bodies all the vast chasmâ—… betweene earth and heaven and fill all the spaces of nature with darkenesse and confusion and how infinite more secret ones are there which I know not by my selfe How many Atomes and streames of dust doth a beame of the Sunne shining into a roome discover which by any other light was before imperceptible How many sinfull secrers are there in my heart which though the light of mine owne conscience cannot discover are yet written in Gods account and sealed amongst his treasures and shall at the day of the revelation of all things bee produc'd and muster'd up against me like so many Lyons and Divels to flye upon me Fourthly if the number of them can thus amaze O what shall the roote of them doe Committed out of ignorance in the midst of light out of knowledge against the evidence of conscience out of presumption and forestalling of pardon abusing and subordinating the mercies of God to the purposes of Satan not knowing that his goodnesse should have led me to repentance out of stubbornnesse against the discipline out of enmitie against the goodnesse out of gall and bitternesse of spirit against the power and purity of Gods holy Law Fifthly not the roote onely but the circumstances too adde much to the life that is in sinne See how notably Saint Austen aggravates his sinne of robbing an Orchard when he was a Boy that which others lesse acquainted with the foulenesse of sinne might be apt enough but to laugh over First it began in the will and the members follow'd I had a minde and therefore I did it Secondly I did not doe it for want of the things but out of the naughtinesse of my heart and my inward enmitie to righteousnesse Thirdly I did it not with any aime at fruition of the fruite but onely of the sinne it was not my palate but my lust which I studied to satisfie Fourthly the apples I stole were very unapt to tempt no rellish no forme in them to catch the eye or allure the hand but the whole temptation and rise of the sinne was from within Fifthly I did it not alone there were a troope of naughty companions with mee and wee did mutually cherish and provoke the itch of each others lust Sixthly it was at a very unseasonable time of night when at least for that day we should have put a period and given a respite unto our lusts Seventhly it was after wee had spent much time before and should now at least have been tired out in pestilent and foolish sports Eighthly wee were immodest in our theft we carried away great loades and burdens of them Ninthly when wee had done we feasted the Hogs with them and our selves â—…ed upon the review and carriage of our owne lewdnesse Lastly the chiefe sport and laughter which wee had was this that we had not only robb'd but deceiv'd the honest â—…en who had never so bad an opinion of us as that wee should doe it and thus another mans losse was our jest And after all this his meditations upon it are excellent with David hee goes to the roote Ecce cor meum Deus meus ecce cor meum O Lord what a nature and heart had I that could commit sinne without any 〈◊〉 without any incentive but from my selfe and againe What shall I returne unto the Lord that I can review these my sinnes and not be afraid of them Lord I will love thee I will prayse thee I will confesse to thy Name it is thy Grace which pardoneth the sinnes which I have committed and it is thy Grace which prevented the sinnes which I have not committed Thou hast saved me from all sinnes those which by mine owne will I have done and those which by thy Grace I have been kept from doing If every man would single out some notable sinnes of his life and in this manner anatomize them and see how many sinnes one sinne containeth even as one flower many leaves and one Pomegranate many kernels it could not but be a notable meanes of humbling us for sinne Sixthly not evill circumstances onely but unproâ—…ble ends adde much to the life of sinne when men spâ—…d mony for that which is not bread and labour for that which satisfieth not when
the things which himselfe hateth in them doth not that worke please him which he is pleased to reward and we finde the workes of wicked men in the Scripture rewarded Ahab humbled himselfe before God and therefore God brought not the evill denounced upon him in his owne dayes Iehu executed the command of God upon the house of Ahab and God established the throne of Israel upon him for foure generations Nebuchadnezzar caused his armie to serve a great service against Tyrus and the land of Egypt was given him for wages and for the labour wherewith hee served against it To this I answere that this God doth not to iustifie or allow wicked mens actions when they are in shew conformable to his Will but first to shew that his mercie is over all his workes when he is pleased to recompence the actions which hee might iustly punish Secondly to shew that God will never be upbraided for being any way behinde with men Wicked men are apt to twit God with the unprofitablenesse of his service and the unequalnesse of his wayes to boast that their worke hath beene more then their wages and therefore utterly to stop their mouthes when he shall proceede in iudgement with them he gives them such rewards as are most sutable to their owne desires the hypocrites pray and give almes to bee seene of men and that reward which they desired they have and such as are most sutable to their services As they bring him uncleane services so he rendereth unto them unsanctified rewards as the give him services full of hypocrisie which doe not please him so he gives them benefits full of bitternesse which shall not profit them Thirdly to preserve humane societie from violence and outrage for when wicked courses are from Heaven plagued and moderate prospered this keepes order and calmenesse upon the face of mankinde which might otherwise bee likely to degenerate into brutishnesse Fourthly to intice and incourage wicked men unto sincere obedience for thus may they recount with themselves If God thus reward my uncleane how aboundantly would he recompence my spirituall services If he let fall such crums unto dogges how aboundantly would hee provide for me if I were his Childe If the blessings of his left hand riches and glorie bee so excellent even to the Goates how pretious would the blessings of his right hand length of dayes and eternall happinesse be if I were one of his sheepe So then it is not Ex pretio operis but only Ex largitate donantis The reward is not out of the value or price of the worke but out of the bountie of God who will not leave himselfe without a witnesse but as a master for incouragement and allurements sake will reward the industrie of an ignorant scholler though hee blot and deface all that he puts his hand unto so God to overcome men by his goodnesse and bounty and to draw them to repentance is pleased to reward the workes which he might iustly punish But have not the wicked some measures and proportions of the Spirit given them by which they are enabled to do those workes they doe Heb. 6. 4. 1. Cor. 12 6. 7. And is not that a good worke which proceedeth from the supplies of the Spirit of God To this wee answere First as it is the influence of the same Sunne which ripeneth both the Grape and the Crabbe and yet though the Grape have sweetenesse from the Sunne the Crabbe still retaines the sowrenesse which it hath from its selfe so it is the same spirit which helpeth the faithfull in their holy and the wicked in their morall workes which yet still retaine the qualitie and sowrnesse of the stocke from whence they come Secondly we deny them not to bee good in Suo genere that is morally and in the sight of men but yet they are not good in Gods sight so as to procure acceptance with him for which purpose wee must note That God gives severall proportions of his Spirit and for severall purposes To some the Spirit to sanctifie and renew Rom. 1. 4. Tit. 3. 5. To others the spirit to edifie and profit withall 1. Cor. 12. 7. To some charitie and to others gifts 1. Cor. 14. 1. To some as Instruments that they may walke profitably before men as Cirus was annointed for Iacobs sake Esai 45. 1 4. To others as Sonnes and Members that they may walke acceptablie before him 1. Pet. 2. 5. But then comes the second Case proposed if a wicked man can doe nothing but evill then it seemes hee ought to leave undone all his Almes Prayers Fastings and Religions services because we are to abstaine from every thing which is polluted with sinne and that which God will not see man must not doe To this I answere No by no meanes The poore man at the poole of Bethesda though utterly impotent and unable to crawle in when the Angell came to stirre the waters did not yet neglect what lay in his power to waite at the place and to endeavour his owne cure Naturall impotency can give no excuse to wilfull neglect When Simon Magus was in the gall of bitternesse yet Saint Peter directed him then to pray Here then these two Rules must regulate this Case First a wicked mans necessity of sinning must not nullifie the Law of God which requires the doing of those things though not with such an uncleane heart as he doth them The impotency of man must not either prejudice Gods Authoritie or diminish his owne dutie As though where sinne abounds Grace doth more abound yet a man must not sinne that grace may abound so though when a wicked man doth the things of the Law he finneth yet he must not omit the duty upon pretence to escape the sinne Secondly when a thing is evill Propter fieri because it is done the doing of that thing is unlawfull and inti insecally sinfull and therefore to be avoided but when a thing done is evill not because it is done but because something which should make the doing of it good and acceptable is omitted and so it is evill not in the substance of thing but by reason of the defects which cleave unto it here this ought stiil to be done but the other ought not to bee left undone Iehu was commanded to destroy the house of Ahab he did so and thus farre he did well but his ends and Gods divide the same Action God out of Iustice he out of policie and therefore though he esteemed it zeale yet God accompted it murther and shedding of bloud and though as it was in substance the thing which God commanded he did reward it yet as the execution thereof was otherwise then he required so he threatneth to revenge it I will avenge the bloud of Iezreel upon the house of Iehu What then is Iehu to commit murther God forbid and yet is he to doe that in doing whereof he did commit murther
to the Soule a Spirit of Adoption and of a sound minde which sayes unto the Soule that God is our Salvation settles the heart to rest and cleave unto Gods Promises teâ—…ifies seales secures certifies our inheritance unto us Secondly to stoppe the mouth and drive out of Gods presence and leave utterly unexcusable that a man shall have nothing to alledge why the curse should not be pronounced against him but shall in his conscience subscribe to the righteousnesse of Gods severity In stead whereof we have in Christ a free approach into Gods presence words put into our mouthes by the spirit of supplications to reveale our requests to debate and plead in Gods Court of mercy to cleere our selves from the accusations of Sathan to appeale from them to Christ and in him to make this just apologie for our selves I confesse I am a grievous sinner and there is not a Soule in Heaven Christ onely excepted which hath not beene so though I the chiefe of all In Law then I am gone and have nothing to answere there but only to appeale to a more mercifull Court But this I can in truth of heart say that I deny my owne workes that I bewaile my corruptions that the things which I doe I allow not that it is no more I that doe them but sinne that dwelleth in me that I am truly willing to part from any lust that I can heartily pray against my closest corruptions that I delight in the Law of God in mine inner man that I am an unwilling captive to the Law in my members that I feele and cry out of my wretchednesse in this so unavoydable subjection that I desire to feare Gods Name that I love the Communion of his Spirit and Saints and I know I have none of these affections from nature in that I agree with Sathan these are spirituall and heavenly impressions and where there is a piece of the spirit where there is a little of heaven that will undoubtedly carry the soule in which it is to the place where all the Spirit is If God would destroy me hee would not have done so much for my Soule he would never have given me any dramme of Christs Spirit to carry to hell or to be burnt with me No man will throw his jewels into a sinke or cast his pearles under the feete of swine certainely God will send none of his owne graces into Hell nor suffer any sparkle of his owne holynesse and divine nature to be cast away in that lake of forgetfulnesse If He have begun these good works in me He will fiâ—…sh them in his owne time and I will waâ—…e upon him and expect the Salvation of the Lord. Thirdly to terriâ—… and 〈◊〉 the Soule with a fearefull expectation of fiery 〈◊〉 and execution of the curse In stead whereof the soule is calm'd with a spirituall serenity and peace which is the beginning of Gods Kingdome armed with a sweete securitie and Lion-like boldnesse against all the powers and assaults of Men or Angels crowned and refreshed with the joy of Faith with the first fruites of the Spirit with the clusters of the Heavenly Canaan with the earnest of its inheritance with the prefruition and preapprehension of Gods presence and Glory This is the Life of Righteousnesse which we have from Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Redemption and deliverance from sinne and the Law and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Priviledge right and interest in the purchased possession Secondly He that hath the Sonne hath Life in regard of Holinesse as he hath received Christ Iesus the Lord so he walketh in Him we are in Him created or raised up from the first death unto good workes that we should walke in them Of our selves we are without strength without love without life no power no liking no possibilitie to doe good not any principle of Holynesse or Obedience in us It is Hee that strengthens that winnes that quickens us by His Spirit to His Service Wee should here consider Holinesse something more largely and shew when good workes are Vitall and so from Christ and when onely mortall earthly and upon false principles and so from our selves But having done this before in the doctrine of the raigne of sinne I will onely name some other discourses of a Vitall Operation and so proceede First Life hath ever an Internall principle a seede within it selfe a naturall heate with the fountaine thereof by which the body is made operative and vigorous and therefore in living Creatures the heart first liveth because it is the forge of spirits and the fountaine of heate So Holynesse which comes from Christ beginnes within proceedeth from an ingraffed and implanted seede from the feare of God in the heart and the Law put into the inner man The Conscience is cleansed the spirit of the minde is renewed the delights and desires of the heart are changed the bent and bias of the thoughts are new set Christ is formed and dwelleth within the whole man is baptized with the Holy Ghost as with fire which from the Altar of the heart where it is first kindled breaketh out and quickneth every facultie and member Fire when it prevailes will not be hidde nor kept in Secondly Life hath ever a nutritive appetite ioyned with it and that is most set upon such things as are of the same matter and principles with the nature nourished so where a man is by the spirit of Christ quickned unto a Life of Holynesse he will have a hungring thirsting and most ardent affection to all those sincere uncorrupted and Heavenly Truths which are proportionable to that Spirit of Christ which is in him Thirdly Life is Generative and Communicative of it selfe all living Creatures have some seminarie of generation for propagating their owne kinde so that spirit of Holynesse which wee have from Christ is a fruitfull spirit that endeavours to shedde multiply and derive himselfe from one unto another Therefore he descended in fiery tongues to note this multiplying and communicating property which he hath The tongue is a member made for Communion and nothing so generative of it selfe as fire They that feared the Lord spake often to one another saith the Prophet Many people shall gather together and say come yee and let us goe to the Mountaine of the Lord c. Lastly where there is perfect life there is sense too of any violence offered to it so where the Spirit of God is will bee a tendernesse and griefe from the sinnes or temptations which doe assault him As that great sinne which the Scripture calls blaspheming of the Holy Ghost and despighting of the Spirit of Grace is after a more especiall manner called the sinne against the Holy Ghost as being a sinne which biddeth open defiance to the Truth Grace Life and Promises which
unto Christs First it must have the same principle and seedâ—… with Christs namely his Spirit As in Christ there were two natures so in either nature there was Holynesse after a severall manner In his Divine nature he was holy by essence and underivatively in His humane by consecration and unction with the Spirit and in this wee are to beare proportion unto him Our holynesse must proceede from the same Spirit whereby he was sanctified onely with this difference The Spirit of Holynesse was Christs Inrâ—… proprio by vertue of the by postaticall union of the humane nature with the divine in the unitie of his person By meanes whereof it was impossible for the humane nature in him not to bee sanctified and filled with Grace But to us the Spirit belongs by an inferior union unto Christ as our Head from whom it is unto us derived and dispensed in such proportions as Hee is in mercy pleased to observe towards his members But yet though wee have not as Hee a plenitude of the Spirit yet wee have the same in Truth and substance with Him As it is the same light which breaketh forth in the dawning of the day and inhereth in the Glorious body of the Sunne though here in fulnesse and there but in measure So the Apostle saith we are all changed into the same Image with Christ by the Spirit of our God And he that is ioyned unto the Lord is one spirit and that there is but one Body and one Spirit betweene Christ and his members Secondly our Holynesse must bee conformable to Christs in the Ends of it First the Glory of God Father saith hee I have gloryfied thee on earth I have finished the worke which thou gavest me to doe Wherein there are three notable things for our imitation First that God must first give us our workes before we must doe them We must have his warrant and authoritie for all we doe If a man could bee so full of selfe-zeale if I may so call it of irregular and unprescribed devotion as to offer rivers of oyle or mountaines of cattell or the first borne of his body for the sinne of his soule should neglect and macerate his body and dishonour his flesh into the gastlynesse and image of a dead carcasse yet if the Lord have not first shewed it nor required it of him it will all prove but the vanitie and pride of a fleshly minde Secondly as wee must doe nothing but that which God requires and gives us to doe so we must therein aime at his Glory as his Authoritie must bee the ground so his Honour must be the End of all our workes and thirdly God is never glorified but by finishing His workes To beginne and then fall backe is to put Christ to shame Secondly all Christs workes were done for the good of the Church He was given and borne for us He was made sinne and curse for us For our righteousnesse and redemption he came and for our expediencie he returned againe When the Apostle urgeth the Philippians not to looke to their owne things but every man also on the things of others hee presseth them with this argument Let the same minde bee in you which was in Christ Iesus Hee thought it no robbery to be equall with God and therefore to him there could be no accession all that he did was for his Church and this Saint Paul sealeth with his owne example If I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith I ioy and reioyce with you all And else where I will very gladly spend and be spent for you though the more aboundantly I love you the lesse I beloved Onely here is the difference Christs obedience was meritorious for the redemption of His Church ours onely ministeriall for the edification of the Church we doe all things saith the Apostle for your edification When the Apostle saith I fill up that which is behinde of the afflictions of Christ for his Bodies sake which is the Church We are not to conceive it in our adversaries glosse that it was to merit expiate satisfie for the Church but only to benefit and edifie it Let him expound himselfe The things which happened vnto mee namely my bonds in Christ have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospell and againe I endure all things for the Elects sake that they may also obtaine the Salvation not which my sufferings merit but which is in Christ Iesus To note that the sufferings of the Saints are ministerially serviceable to that Salvation of the Church unto which the sufferings of Christ are alone meritorious and availeable Thirdly our holinesse must bee Proportionable to Christs in the parts of it It must be universall the whole man must bee spiritually formed and organiz'd unto the measure of Christ. Every part must have its measure and every ioynt its supply Holynesse is a resurrection all that which fell must be restored and it is a generation all the parts of him that begetteth must be fashioned The God of peace sanctifie you throughout and I pray God that your whole spirit soule and body may bee preserved blamelesse unto the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ. Lastly our Holinesse must bee proportion ed unto Christ in the manner of working I shall observe but three particulars of many First it must be done with selfe-denyall He that will follow Christ must deny himselfe Christ for us denyed himselfe and his owne will His naturall love towards his owne life yeelded to his mercifull love towards his members not as I will in my naturall desire to decline dissolution but as thou wilt in thy mercifull purpose to save thy Church Many men will be content to serve God as long as they may with all advantage themselves but to serve him and deny themselves is a worke which they have not learned Ephraim loveth to treade out the corne saith the Prophet You know the mouth of the Oxe was not to be muzled that trod out the corne he had his worke and reward together But plowing is onely in hope for the present it is a hungry and a hard worke So saith he while Ephraim may serve me and himselfe make religion serve his other secular purposes he will be very forward but when he must plow that is serve in hope of a Harvest but in paine for the present hee hath an easier plow going of his owne as it followes ye have plowed wickednesse Secondly it must bee done in obedience unto God Christ emptied himselfe and became obedient It was his meate and drinke to doe the Will of his Father even unto that bitter worke of his Passion he was annointed with the oyle of gladnesse to note that though as made of a woman partaker of the same passions and naturall affections with us hee did decline it and shrinke from it yet as made under the Law hee did most voluntarily
Hee shall change our vile bodies into the similitude of his Glorious bodie When Hee comes we shall meete him and be ever with him Hee is ascended to his Father and our Father to his God and our God and therefore to his Kingdome and our Kingdome His by personall proprietie and hypostaticall union ours by his purchase and merit and by our mysticall union and fellowship with him He is gone to prepare a place for us In Earth Hee was our suretie to answere the penaltie of our sinnes and in Heaven He is our Advocate to take seifin and possession of that Kingdome for us Our Captaine and Forerunner and high Priest who hath not onely carried our names but hath broken off the vaile of the Sanctuary and given us accesse into the Holyest of all And hee that hath the Sonne hath this life alreadie in three regards First in pâ—…etio he hath the price that procured it esteemed his It was bought with the pretious blood of Christ in his Name and to his use and it was so bought for him that he hath a present right and claime unto it It is not his iâ—… Reversion after an expiration of any others right there are no leaseâ—… nor reversions in Heaven but it is his as an inheritance is the heires after the death of the Ancestor who yet by minoritie of yeeres or distance of place may occupie and possesse it by some other person Secondly Hee hath it in promisso He hath Gods Charter his Assurance sealed with an oath and a double Sacrament to establish his heart in the expectation of it By two immutable things faith the Apostle namely the Word and the Oath of God wherein it was impossible for him to he we have strong consolation and great ground of hope which hope is sure and stedfast and leadeth us unto that place which is within the vaile whither Christ our Forerunner is gone before us Thirdly He hath it in primitijs in the earnest and first fruites and hansell of it in those few clusters of grapes and bunches of figges those Graces of Christs Spirit that peace comfort serenitie which is shed forth into the heart already from that Heavenly Canaan The Holy Spirit of Promise is the earnest of our inheritance untill the Redemption or full fruition and Revelation of our purchased possession to the prayse of his Glory The Graces of the Spirit in the soule are as certaine and infallible evidences of Salvation as the day starre or the morning aurora is of the ensuing day or Sunne-rising For all spirituall things in the Soule are the beginnings of Heaven parcels of that Spirit the fulnesse and residue whereof is in Christs keeping to adorne us with when he shall present us unto his Father But this Doctrine of the Life of Glory is in this life more to be made use of then curiously to bee enquired into O then where the Treasure is let the heart be where the body is let the Eagles resort if wee are already free men of heaven let our thoughts our language our conversation our Trading be for Heaven Let us set our faces towards our home Let us awake out of sleepe considering that now our salvation is neerer then when we first beleeved If wee have a hope to be like him at his comming let us purifie our selves even as hee is pure since there is a price a high calling a crowne before us let us presse forward with all violence of devotion never thinke our selves farre enough but prepare our hearts still and lay hold on every advantage to further our progresse Since there is a rest remaining for the people of God let us labour to enter into it and to hold fast our profession that as well absent as present we may be accepted of him Secondly since we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternall in the Heavens Let us feele the burden of our fleshly corruptions and groane after our redemption Let us long for the revelation of the Sonnes of God and for his appearing as the Saints under the Altar How long Lord Iesus Holy and Iust. Thirdly let us with enlarg'd and ravish'd affections with all the vigor and activitie of enflamed hearts recount the great love of God who hath not onely delivered us from his wrath but made us Sonnes married his owne infinite Maiestie to our nature in the unitie of his Sonnes person and made us in him Kings Priests and Heires unto God Beloved what manner of Love How unsearchable How bottomlesse how surpassing the apprehensions of Men or Angels is the Love of God to us saith the Apostle that wee should be called the Sonnes of God Lastly if God will glorifie us with his Life hereafter let us labour as much as wee can to glorifie Him in our lives here It was our Saviours argument who might have entered into Glory as his owne without any such way of procurement if his owne voluntarie undertaking the office of Mediator had not concluded him Glorifie me with thy selfe with the glorie which I had with thee before the World was for I have gloryfied thee on Earth I have finished the worke which thou gavest mee to doe If we are indeede perswaded that there is laid up for us a Crowne of righteousnesse we cannot but with Saint Paul resolve to fight a good fight to finish our course to keepe the faith to bring forth much fruite that our Father may be glorified in us And now having unfolded this threefold Life which the faithfull have in Christ wee may further take notice of three attributes or properties of this life both to humble and to secure us and they are all couched in one word of the Apostle your life is hid with Christ in God It is in Christs keeping as in the hands of a faithfull depositary and it is a Life in God a full Life a derivation from the Fountaine of Life where it is surer and sweeter then in any Cisterne Here then are three properties of a Christians Life in Christ first Obscuritie secondly Plentie thirdly safetie or Eternitie First it is an obscure life a secret aâ—d mysterious life so the Apostle calleth Godlynesse a Mysterie As there is a mysterie of iniquitie and the hidden things of uncleannesse so there is a Mysterie of Godlynesse and the hidden man of the heart The Life of Grace first is hidden totally from the wicked A stranger doth not intermeddle with a righteous mans joy The naturall man knoweth not any things of Gods spirit Saint Peter gives the reason because he is blinde and cannot see a farre off Now the things of God are deepe things and high things upward they have too much brightnesse and downeward they have too much darknesse for purblinde
Divels to confesse him and God will have sinne to be felt and seene but as a dutie not as a temptation in his owne Word not in Satans false glasses to draw us unto him not to drive or deterre us from him When the spirit convinceth of sinne it is to amend us but when Satan doth it it is onely to affright and confound us And commonly hee drives to one sinne to cover another Againe the spirit opens sinne in the soule as a Chirurgian doth a wound in a close roome with fire friends and remedies about him but the divell first draw's a man from the Word from Christ from the promises and then strips the soule and opens the wounds thereof in the cold aire onely to kill and torment not to cure or releeve In such a case therefore the Soule should lay the faster hold upon Christ and when there is no light should trust upon the name of the Lord and stay upon his God Thirdly In spirituall desertions exercise faith to see God when Hee is absent goe into the watch Tower review thine owne and other mens experiences of Gods dealing resolve to trust him though he kill thee resolve to cleave to him as Elisha to Eliah though he offer to depart from thee resolve to venture upon him when he seemes angrie and arm'd against thee resolve to runne after him when hee hath forsaken thee endure rather his blowes then his absence therefore he removes that thou shouldst crie after him therefore he hides from thee not that thou shouldst lose him but onely that thou shouldest seeke him And there is most comfort in a life recovered Difficulties sweeten our fruition and there is a fulnesse in Chtist which will at last be an ample reward of all preceding discomforts Secondly the life which we have by Christ is a plenteous and aboundant life I am come saith he that they might have Life and that they might have it more aboundantly Hee that beleeveth on mee out of his bellie shall flow rivers of living water like the waters of Ezekiels vision which swelled from the ancles to the loynes and from thence to an unpassable Streame So the Apostle saith that the Lord had shed forth the spirit aboundantly in the renewing of his Saints And it is an observation which you may easily make that sundrie times in the Apostles writings the Graces of the Gospell are called the riches of Christ and the riches of his Grace and the riches of his mysterie and the riches of his Glory and the riches of his reproaches and the treasure of a good heart By all which is expressed the pretiousnes and the aboundance of the Spirit which wee have from the Life of Christ. Therefore the Spirit is compared unto water and that not onely to sprinkle and bedew men but to wash and baptise them ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost As water knowes no bounds within it selfe is onely limited by the vessell which holds it so the Spirit is of a very spreading and unlimited propertie it selfe and is onely straitned by the narrownesse of those hearts unto which it comes Yee are not straitned in us saith the Apostle or in our ministery wee preach aboundance of Grace unto you but ye are straitned in your owne bowels you are like narrow mouthed vessels though floudes of knowledge fall downe The Earth shall bee full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea yet but drops fall in This is a great grieving of the Spirit of Life and indignitie done to the springing and abounding vertue which he brings for us by our supinnes and securitie to damme up this fountaine to let this garden of spices be over growne with weedes to nippe stifle and keepe under the Graces of Christ not to receive a proportionable measure of growth to those meanes and influences which hee affords us Lastly the Life which we have from Christ is a Safe an Abiding an Eternall Life the longer it continues the more it aboundes It is such a life as runnes not into death Our earthly life is indeede but a dying and decaying life but our Spirituall life is a growing life It is called in the Scripture our abiding in Christ to note that our estate in him is a fixed constant and secure estate Life can End in Death but upon two reasons either by an inward principle and proponsion carrying it through slow and insensible progresses to a dissolution or by the assaults and violence of outward oppositions either it must be a naturall or a violent death Now the life which we have from Christ hath no seedes of mortalitie in it selfe because it comes from Christ and as hee saw no corruption so nothing that riseth from him doth of it selfe tend to corruption for Christ dyeth no more death hath no more power over him He now liveth ever not onely by himselfe but over his members not onely as man but as a member of his owne Bodie which Body of it selfe and as it is His Body in that Spirituall and Heavenly Constitution and under that denomination can no more die then Christ suffer againe For the Body of Christ quà tale hath no seedes of corruption in it from him For the Apostle saith that the seede by which we are regenerated is Incorruptible seede All the danger then must be from forren assault and externall violence But against all this we have the power and strength of Christ himselfe to oppose He is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him Let us consider more particularly the violences which may be offered to our Life in Christ. First the world assaults us with manifold tepmtations On the left hand with skorne misreports persecutions and cruell mockings with Giants and sonnes of Anak On the right hand with allurements objects promises dalliances and 〈◊〉 with midianitish women How shall wee secure our lives against such a siege of snares Our Saviour quiets us in that case be of good cheere I have overcome the World Alas may the Soule answere If Sampson should have seene a little childe under the paw of a Lion and should thus comfort him be of good cheare for I have overcome a Lion what safety or assurance could hence arise to him who had not the strength of Sampson But wee must know that Christ overcame not for himselfe but for us and as hee hath overcome the world for us so he doth it In us likewise by his Grace This is the victorie which overcommeth the World even your Faith Secondly nay but Sathan is a more powerfull subtill deepe wilie working adversarie then the world Where shall I have protection and securitie against him I answere in that promise to man and curse to the Serpent The seede of the woman shall bruize thy head and thou shalt bruize his heele He thy Head Hee shall teare out thy sting and crush thy
him shall God destroâ—… for the temple of God is holy which temple ye are He promiseth to be Our Father and make us his people and this also is a strong argument why wee should purifie our selves and as obedient children not fashion our selves according to the former lusts in ignorance but as he who hath called us is holy so should we be holy in all manner of conversation And if we call him father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every mans workes we should passe the time of our sojourning here in feare Ye are a chosen generation saith Saint Peter a royall priesthood a holy nation a peculiar people that you should shew forth the vertues of him who hath called you out of darknesse into his marvellous light When yee were of the world ye were then strangers to the Covenant and aliens from the house and Israel of God but now being become Gods houshold ye are strangers and pilgrimes in the present world and should therefore abstaine from the lusts of the flesh which are sensuall and worldly things Those that are a peculiar people are a purged people â—…oo He will purifie to himselfe a peculiar people that they may be zealous of good workâ—…s The consideration of which things should make us labour to settle our hearts to beleeve love and prize the promises to store up and hide the word in our hearts to have it Dwell richly in us that in evill times and dayes of temptation wee may have some holdfast to relie upon In times of plenty security and peace men go calmely on without feare or suspicion but when stonnes arise when God either hides his face or le ts out his displeasure or throwes men upon any extremities then there is no hope but in our aâ—…ker no stay nor reliefe but in Gods promises which are setled and sure established in heauen and therfore never reversed or cancelled in the earth And if this faithfull and sure word had not bin Daâ—…ids delight comfort if he had not in all the changes chances of his owne â—…ife remembred that al Gods promises are made in heaven where there is no inconstancie nor repentance he had perished in his affliction Though David by a propheticall spirit foresaw that God would not make his house to grow but to become a dry and wither'd stocke of â—…esse yet herein was the ground of all his salvation and of all his desire that the Lord had made with him an Everlasting Covenant order'd in all things and 〈◊〉 that he had 〈◊〉 by his holâ—…nesse that he would not faile David so that it was as possible for God to be unholy as for the Word of promise made unto David to fall to the ground be untrue Now that wee may the better apply the Promises to our selves and establish our hearts in the truth and fidelity of God by them wee may make use of these few Rules amongst divers others which might be given First Promisâ—…s generally made and so in medio for all or particularly to some are by the ground of them equally appliable to any in any condition unto which the promises are â—…utable All the promises are but as one in Christ as lines thoâ—…gh severall in the circumference doe meete as one in the center Take any promise and follow it to its originall and it will undoubtedly carry to Christ in whom alone it is Yea and Amen that is hath its truth certainety and stability all from him Now the Promises meeting in Christ cannot be severed or have a partition made oâ—… them to severall men for every beleever hath All Christ Christ is not divided any other wise then the exigence of mens present estates doth diversifie them and so fit them for such promises as now to others or at other times to themselves would be unseasonable and unappâ—…able The Lord in aslenting to Salomons prayer made a generall promise to any man or to all the people that what prayer or supplication soever should be made towards his temple he would heare in heaven and forgive c. 〈◊〉 beiâ—…g after in distresse applied this generall to hiâ—… 〈◊〉 present 〈◊〉 when the children of Ammon 〈◊〉 and Mount Seir came to turne Israel out of their possessions The Lord made a particular promise 〈◊〉 Ioshua that he would be with him to blesse his enterprises against the Cananites and to carry him through all the difficulties and hazards of that holy warre aâ—…d Saint Paul applies the promise to all the faithfull in any straites or distresses of life as the Lord himselfe had before applied it from Moses to Ioshua Let your conversation be without covetousnesse for as God was with Ioshua so will he be with thee He will not faile thee nor forsake thee Christ made a particular promise unto Peter I have prayed for thee that thy faith faile not And the same in effect he applies to All his I pray that thou wouldst keepe them from the evâ—…ll And the consequent words to Saint Peter make it good When thou art con verted strengthen thy brethren that is comfort and revive them by thine owne experience that when they are brought â—…nto the like case with thee they may have the benefit of the same intercessor and the sympathy and compassion of the same Saviour who deliver'd thee As our Saviour saith in matter of dutie What â—… 〈◊〉 â—…nto you I say unto All so we may say of him in matter of mercy What he promiseth unto any he promiseth unto alâ—… in an equall estate It is good therefore to observe the truth of God in his Promises to others and when we finde our selves reduced unto their condition to apply it unto our selves that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures may have hope This is the counsell of Saint â—…awes Take my brethren the Prophets for an examâ—…le of suffering affliction and of patience yee have heard of the patience of â—…ob and ye have seene the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pittifull â—…nd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And saint Paul assures us that for this cause God comforted him in his tribulation that he might be able to comfort them who might be in any trouble with the comfort wherewith â—…ee himselfe had beene comforted by God A poore Christian might object Aâ—…as If I were an Apostle if I had such graces such services such wayes of glorifying God as Paul had I might hope for the same power and providence of God in my afflictions as he findes But I am a poore ignorant unfruitfull and unserviceable creature who doe more blemish then adorne my profession of the Gospell of Christ and shall I looke for such care from God as saint Paul Beloved the members in the body would not so argue If I were an eye or a tongue one of the noblest parts of the body haply some compassion and remedy might be