speaks 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing minde it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that a man hath not The law will have perfection whether a man hath power or no or else it will damn a man but in the Gospel a man may say as Peter to the lame man Silver and gold have I none but such as I have that give I thee Lord such a memory and such parts and gifts have I not but such as I have that give I thee according to that measure of knowledge I have according to that grace I have I will give it thee If a man can say thus he is accepted not according to that he hath not but according to that he hath as it was in the law of Moses Levit. 5.6 7. A trespasse-offering should be a lamb or a kid but if a man were not able to give that then two turtle doves or two young pigeons if he be not able to give that let him give two or three handfuls of fine flowre Levit. 5.11 So Levit. 14.20 Let him give according as he can get he shall be accepted according to that This is the perfection of the Gospel according to the help and assistance God gives a man and according to the means God affordâ— a man it shall be accepted Fourthly The perfection of the law admits of no failings if a man fails no matter though it be out of infirmity the law condemns him the law requires perfection without failings but the perfection of the Gospel by way of sincerity admits of failings as the best gold hath his allowances so it is with a true Christian he may be sincere and upright though he hath a thousand failings as it is said of David 1 Kings 15.5 He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord in all things but onely in the matter of Uriah That indeed would not stand with sincerity his sincerity was quite in a swoun then that could not stand with sincerity if he had gone on to sin in that fashion he could not have been sincere but in all other things he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. You will say he had a thousand failings yet saith the Text they all stood with sincerity he numbred the people and God was mightily angry with him and you know how unjust he was in the matter of Zibah and Mephibosheth you know how he told a lye to Abimelech and was the occasion of the death of the Priests of the Lord you know how he counterfeited himself mad and he had horrible disorders in his family and had lost the power of controul over his children were not these horrible failings and what a company of Wives and Concubines had he yet all these stood with sincerity because they were either done out of ignorance or want of due consideration sometimes or through humane frailty and infirmity or through violence of temptation contrary to his constant course and intendment and purpose they might all stand with sincerity and an upright heart according to the perfection of the Gospel Fifthly The perfection of the Law makes nothing of repentance if you break the commandements of God if you shed tears of blood and repent your heart out what cares the law the law will have perfect obedience or else to hell you shall But now in the perfection of the Gospel repentance is a great matter nay if a man be never so vile and wretched if yet he humble himselfe before God and be unfeignedly sorry for sinning against God this is a great matter this man is an upright man that is unfeignedly humbled and abased before God The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart thou shalt not despise This is the voyce of the Gospel So Ezek. 18.21 If the wicked will turn from all his sins and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die As it is Job 23.27 28. He looked upon men and if any said I have sinned he will deliver his soule from going down into the pit In the Gospel a man is an upright man if he come before the throne of grace with shame and confusion of face for all his sins with unfeigned sorrow that he hath broken Gods Covenant if he hath never so many failings if he set himselfe to please God and when he fails he repents and humbles himself before God this man hath the perfection of the Gospel Thus we see the meaning of the words Perfect before God The point of Doctrine is this That every man is to labour to be perfect that is the thing that God will require and enquire after at the last day whether we be upright You see this 1 Cor. 5 7 8. and so likewise in other places of Scripture The first Reason is from the nature of God with whom we have to doe Reason 1 he is upright therefore it concerns us to labour to be like him he himselfe is an upright God and there is no unrighteousness in him his wayes are perfect and his judgments are truth therefore if a man be not perfect he cannot be like him Mat. 5.48 Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect we know his spirit is the spirit of truth himselfe is the God of truth his Son is the way the truth and the life he is the faithful witness and as God is upright so he looks that his servants should shew what Master they serve that they may make it appear that their Master is an upright Master Psalm 92. ult to shew forth that the Lord is upright This is our duty God is upright and Christ is upright and therefore we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 22. Secondly God hath commanded us to be sincere though he remit from the first Covenant of absolute and perfect righteousness and holiness without sin ye he will have his people truly fearing him and hating sin universal in obedience that they shall be from the bottome of their hearts followers of him therefore this stung David to the heart when he committed sin O thought he Thou desirest truth in the inward parts Psal 51.6 As who should say thou lookest into the heart thou requirest truth of thy servants O what a false heart have I had in this businesse God hath many worshippers in this world such as they are but God cares for none but such as deale faithfully in his Covenant as Christ speaks John 4.24 Thirdly God knows our hearts therefore though we serve him and do duties to him though we call upon his name hear his Word come to his Table observe his Sabbaths keep his Ordinances yet if we doe not doe these things in truth his eyes are ever upon our bosomes he casts his eyes upon the secrets of men if our hearts be rotten and proud and vaine and loose and filthy if our hearts be not of a right frame all is nothing
not faith in Christ Jesus that man is no true Christian howsoever he may hope to be saved by Christ yet if he be not upright before God in all his wayes and commandements in some measure in studying and endeavouring to keep himself unspotted of the world in all things he hath not faith he doth not believe in Jesus Christ Psal 116.9 10. as David saith I will walke before the Lorâ— in the land of the living how comes David to speak that O I believed therefore I have spoken if a man believe in God it will make him walke well not only before men but before God who is privy to all his thoughts and affections privy to what he doth both at home and abroad privy to what he doth alone and in company in his shop and in the market unless he be upright before him that knows all things he is not a believer though Simâ—n Magus were baptized and did partake of Christian Religion and had some kinde of faith and joyned himselfe to Philip and the Church as a member of the Church and gave over his witchcraft and wicked courses yet when Peter saw his heart was not right before God marke what he saith Acts 8.21 God hath sworne an oath that whomsoever he delivers from sin from Satan from Hell from the wrath to come they shall be holy and righteous before him Luke 1.73 God will not be forsworne if thou dost hope to be saved by Jesus Christ and prayest and howlest and criest in thy afflictions from the bottom of thy heart with all thy eagerness to be saved by Jesus Christ God hath sworne an oath thou shalt not be saved by him unless thou wilt walk in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of thy life and be conformable to his will in all things so that you see the Gospel requires it that we should be thus Again This is the end of the redemption of the world by Christ that they should not only be upright but upright before God as Paul tells the Collossians chap. 1. To present you holy and unblameable in his sight not only to present you holy and unblameable before men for if a man in his outward carriage be civil and honest and faire this is to be holy and unblamable before men but if a man be holy and unblamable before God he must have a pure conscience and his ends must be right this is the end why Christ redeemed his people to purchase to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works And as it is in the end of redemption so it is the end of election whomsoever God doth elect to eternal life he doth elect to this end not only to be holy before men but before God As the Apostle saith Eph. 1.4 he hath chosen us to be holy before him not only to be holy before men though those that are not holy before men cannot be holy before God but it is not enough for us to be holy before men but before the piercing eye of the all-seeing God that he may see who knoweth our hearts that we do unfeignedly desire to serve his name and walk before him in the shunning of all sin and in the practicing of all good things so that we have not an argument of our election unlesse we be upright before him Fourthly Because the Lord will search us out certainly though we be upright before men if we be not upright before God he will search us out it is not our profession shall bear us out if we have an unbelieving heart to depart from the living God if we have a minde to live in any one sin and to allow ourselves in any one wicked way God will finde us out Neh. 9.8 he speaks there of Abraham what a comfort was it to Abrahams heart that God found his heart upright before him God will search us and put us upon the trial and bring something or other that if we be not upright though we be affected and pray and be Protestants and seem to be godly and seem to hold our godliness and uprightness yet if we be not sound at the core God will have something or other that shall discover us and it shall appear what we are nay God doth of purpose bring in heresies that those that are approved may be manifest 1 Cor. 11.19 Lastly It is God only that doth esteem of the worth of things holinesse is nothing but that which is holiness in Gods esteem and Religion is nothing but that which is Religion in Gods esteem Religion is a divine thing and no man hath the judgement of it but God it is God only that hath invented Religion and framed it to us and it is he only that can tell the worth of it and approve of it and unless we fear his name and hate all sin and be upright before him all is nothing As the Apostle saith 1 Pet. 3.4 concerning meekness in women in the esteem of God it is of high price may be a beautiful woman of rare parts and great gifts this woman is of high esteem with some men but a woman of an humble and meek spirit she is a mockery in the eyes of the world but in Gods sight it is of great price so for a man to be outwardly Religious this man is very devout and religious in the fight of men but it is the broken heart and the contrite spirit one that is holy inwardly as well as outwardly that is upright as Paul saith 2 Cor. 5.9 all our care and labour is that we may be accepted of him it is no matter what the world say of a religious man and a devout man all our care is to be accepted of him that he may account us upright for we must appear before him This condemns the ceremonious devotion that many content themselves with especially the Church of Rome they are so religious and whatsoever they do they think it is with such devotion therefore they have ceremonies for every thing they have ceremonies to shew that we must be strangers and Pilgrims upon earth therefore they have Pilgrimages to such and such places other ceremonies they have to shew that we must take up the Crosse of Christ and follow him they will have a ceremony to shew that they believe that Christ was offered for a sacrifice and a ceremony to shew that they believe he was God and man and so mixe Wine and water together the one shall signifie that they believe he was God and the other that he was man again they will have other ceremonies to shew that they believe the departure of the Saints therefore they bring in a catalogue of the Virgin Mary and of the Saints again they have another ceremony to shew that they honour the Lords prayer another ceremony they have to shew that they believe the resurrection of the dead another ceremony to shew that they should not be ashamed of the Christian faith and they are
as if a man should go about a thing that he hath no heart to so people go about prayer and the hearing of the word as if they had no heart to it they have no heart to prayer they have no heart to think soundly of God and of their latter end they come to duties but their hearts are a thousand miles off Thirdly There is senselesness of conscience it is not tender of little sins it feels them not at all and as for great sins it feels them but a little may be peoples consciences find fault with them from day to day for doing what they do and tells them they ought not to do it but yet they will not leave their sins it tells them thus and thus they ought to do but it hath no power to make them do it may be it accuseth them but they are never the better peoples consciences are dull and blunt and have no force at all Fourthly For coldness and lukewarmness of affections the affections of a man are not set upon God they pray without affections and hear without affections the doctrine of eternal life doth not affect their hearts hatred of evil is cold and love of God and goodness is cold as Christ saith the love of many shall waxe cold and so their desires are cold and languish and come to nothing we can find tears for other matters but not for our sins we can have our affections soon stirred when our selves and our own wills are crossed but God may be dishonoured a thousand wayes and we never grieved or moved at it so when we hear a fine story and carnal news this delights but when we hear the word of God the truth of God that concerns our eternal well doing we are not moved or affected at all with that Fifthly Another ingredient of this sin is the weakness and faintness of endeavours if people have any endeavours any kinde of putting themselves forth to that which is good it is with faintness as if they cared not whither they went about it yea or no as Solomon saith Prov. 13.4 people desire mercy and pardon and would have hope and salvation and the Kingdom of God but will not be at the cost and charges they ought to be at for these things this is nothing but the deadnesse of our hearts Lastly That same dulness and drowsiness of the whole man though men be careful enough of outward things yet how careless are they of their souls were our hearts broken and contrite under these things we should be soon quickned as the Lord saith Isa 57.15 I revive the spirit of the contrite one so God would revive us if we were sensible of these distempers of ours if we would humble our selves before God and plead to him for help he would help us but when we do not lay these distempers to heart and seek out to God for redress no marvel though we are dead and dull still well then is it so that there are so many horrible ingredients in this sin of deadness then how should we labour to fling it away and use all means to be quickned the Apostle being to disswade from following the will of the Gentiles he useth this very argument the abundance of the vile ingredients that is in the will of the Gentiles 1 Pet. 4.3 so you may see how the wise man disswades Prov. 26.25 when he speaketh fair believe him not for there are seven abominations in his heart so let us think there is seven abominations yea seventy times seven abominations in this sin of deadness therefore let us look out that God may help us and quicken us and revive us in all our wayes The second motive is to consider that as long as we are dead we cannot Motive 2 pray Psal 80.18 Lord quicken us and we will call upon thy name as who should say Lord we are not sit to pray and call upon thy name except thou quicken us therefore quicken us that we may call upon thee So Ministers cannot preach unless they be quickned as Dr. Ames tells a story of a godly man of France there was such cold preaching that he was fain to go out of the Town to sit under a powerful Ministry therefore we cannot preach if we be dead the Scribes and Pharisees preached without Authority and life they were dead and therefore had no authority in their preaching but Christ preached with Authority if we were quickned we should be the better able to preach So again you are not able to hear unless you be quickned a dead heart may hear a thousand Sermons but what doth it work upon them even as good as nothing if Paul or Apollos or an Angel from heaven should preach to us unless God quicken us all is nothing nay Christ tells us that his own Ministry and Johns Ministry there were not two such in all the world again yet how dead and fruitless were they whereunto shall I liken this generation c. Mat. 11.16 c. the meaning is this John the Baptist he came mourning and in a doleful manner fasting and afflicting himself and crying out Repent he mourned but none would relent Christ he came piping he came in another manner he came eating and drinking and he preached gracious things the Kingdom of God and the acceptable year of our Lord now saith he you have not daunced all these things have not affected your hearts a jot you are as blockish as if you had no Ministry at all as Christ saith Mat. 8.22 let the dead bury their dead what doth he mean by that he means those that are dead in their souls those that are dead in their spirits and souls they are fit for dead imployments and nothing else the coherence was this there was a man came to Christ and was willing it seems to be the Disciple of Christ but oh saith he first I pray thee let me go and bury my father bury thy father saith he any man may serve for that let the dead bury their dead those that are fit for nothing else may do that but if thy heart be alive thou art fit for me thou art fit for spiritual employments but when a man hath a dead heart he is fit for nothing as Christ he gave the bag to Judas he was the fittest man for that so let a man be in office if he be dead he hath no heart to punish sin no not so much as to use his faithful endeavour to root it out nay he will pull down the guilt of the sins of the parish upon his own soul rather then he will stickle a little for God Judg. 4.8 how backward was Barak to go against the enemies of the Lord if you will go I will go saith he to Deborah otherwise he had no heart to go so Esther how dull was she to stand for the Church of God she would let the Church be ruinated rather then she would go and speak to the King in
were a beast and a bruit for all his understanding if it did discover unto him his blockishnesse and blindnesse and ignorance that he knows nothing of the Mysteries of Grace and Salvation this would pull down his pearknesse take another man that hath more knowledge and can speak better a thousand times if the law hath shewed him his estate and truly humbled him all his brisknesse is taken away the law hath taught him such a lesson that he cannot be peark Oh! saith he I know nothing there is no man more foolish then I I have not the knowledge of the most High in me though he have never so much knowledge and gifts and parts yet the law hath discovered his estate unto him and pulled down the pearknesse of his spirit Again another man is ready to carp at every word every little occasion will make him on the top of the house his heart is so brisk that it is up upon every little occasion but when the law comes home unto him this will pull down all his pearkness alas he angry at a word speaking The law hath told him how he hath offended God and provoked his Spirit from time to time he is now cooled from being so peark to be angry at every word So take a man that is full of pleasure and voluptuousnesse and is ready to be vain and foolish every pleasure puts life into him but now let the law come and be charged upon his conscience and then all his pearknesse is presently down he is not able to look up he seeth so many sins discovered by the law that he is not able to look up Jam. 5.1 Go to now ye rich men saith the Apostle weep and howl for the misery that shall come upon you If the law were charged upon rich men it would make them weep and howle rich men are fullest of pleasure and delight and farthest from weeping and howling but if the Law were charged upon their consciences it would make them weep and howle and have little heart to be so pleasant I come now to the Uses and the First Vse is for Instruction to shew us Vse 1 the reason why there are so many men and women among us that think themselves alive that are so secure and fearlesse and carelesse that have their hearts so sound and their spirits so unbroken the reason is because the Law hath not yet come home and killed their hearts 2 Cor. 3.6 The very letter of the Law is able to kill as many of us as are in this estate and condition therefore the cause of this livelinesse and security is because we are strangers from the Law of God our eyes were never open to behold it the Law of God never came home unto our hearts The Second Vse is this When we find our hearts to be brisk and peark Vse 2 let us pray unto God that he would be pleased to charge his Law upon our Consciences Let us buy precious eye-salve that we may be able to look into the Law of God this will make our hearts that they will not be so wanton and our spirits that they will not be so brisk though they would never so fain mind earthly things they cannot If the Lord would be pleased but to charge his Law upon the heart it would make the stoutest spirit to yield Thirdly This takes away the imputation that is laid upon the Word of Vse 3 God many think hardly of the Word of God it takes away the spirits of men the Preaching of the Law it pulls down the spirits of men and breaks mens hearts it makes men have no spirits as they said of Jeremy thou makest the knees feeble so the Law infeebles the knees and takes away the spirits of a man why here we see that the Law of God will do so it is the Property of the Law to do so wheresoever it comes it kills the heart and pulls down all the pearknesse of it The Law it will ever break a mans bones as David speaks Let me hear of joy and gladnesse that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Psal 51. The Lord had broken his very back-bone by the Law and now he could not rejoyce Isai 57.15 I the Lord dwell with him that is of an humble and contrite spirit to revive the spirit of the humble When the Law of God hath broken a mans heart and made him contrite he is a dead man till the Lord comes to revive him and raise up his spirit I come now to the Second part of the Text When the Commandment came sin revived and I died Here also as in the former part are Two things to be expounded First What doth the Apostle here mean by reviving When the Commandment came sin revived Secondly What doth he mean by dying I died When the Law and Commandment came and discovered me to my self and shewed me what a damnable thing sin was and what a wretched dead creature I was for committing the same and how I lay under the guilt thereof sin revived and I died Therefore What doth the Apostle mean by sin revived I Answer The Apostle doth not mean here as if sin were indeed dead in him before the Commandment came for sin is alive in every carnal mans heart before the Commandment comes and therefore he cannot mean thus when the Commandment came sin revived as if it were truly and really dead before for his sins were not dead in him when he was a Pharisee his sins were not mortified when he was in his unregenerated estate and condition sin was not dead in him that cannot be the meaning eas if sin vvere dead before and now revived But he speaks of the Appearance of the death of sin though it vvere not dead before yet it did appear to be dead as a Snake in cold weather though it be alive yet it appears to be dead the life of it is in a swound though it hath life yet the cold benums it and keeps it from appearing so before the commandment came sin was in Paul but it seemed to have no life but when the commandment came and discovered plainly what a dead creature he was then the life of sin came indeed to be manifested Now the Law of God doth manifest the life of sin Three wayes it manifests Three lifes of Sin There are three lifes of sin that appear to the soul when the Law comes 1. First There is the life of Aggravation the Law of God doth aggravate and point out sin to the full life of it it makes sin appear in the true nature of it the true nature of every thing is the life of the thing the nature of a man is the life of a man Now the Law did shew the nature of his sins it painted them out to the very life in their lively colours this made him see how his sins were aggravated what a cursed and damned thing sin was and what a person it was
in the flesh I live by Faith in the Son of God Gal. 2.19 20. When the Gospel had made him dead for that is the meaning of the words he was not only dead by the law but by the power of the Gospel working by the law Now saith he though I have life and Christ be come into me and lives in me yet I do not live I live but not I but it is Christ that liveth in me I live yet do not mistake me I am a dead man I have no life it is Christ that liveth in me when a man is evangelically dead it makes a man content that God should keep life in his hand and keep the purse in his hand and all in his hand it makes him content to be without strength and ability and to have nothing in his own hand but to have all from the Lord and he saith I am a dead man and if I ever have comfort I have none in my self I must go to Christ for comfort and life and strength and ability and so for power and activity and riches and means and maintenance and every thing it is not my parts and gifts that can help me to them but I must go to Christ to fetch them now it is the desire of mans heart to have life at home he cannot abide to have life in anothers hands and though the law and hell it self proclaim a man a dead man and make a man see himself a dead man yet it cannot kill this Principle a man would have life and strength in his own hand and ability and sufficiency in his own custody we may see this Principle in Gods own Children though this Principle be begun to be killed yet it rests partly in Gods children there is still a secret lust in their hearts to have life and grace and strength in their own keeping and if any child of God be negligent in coming to God it is because of this Principle that remains in him 3. Thirdly He is most dead that death hath most power over Now when a man is legally dead and the law hath made him a dead man though he be a dead man yet death hath no power over him his heart is stubborn still and will not look toward Christ and the Gospel he is still as stubborn as ever he was he will roar and howl and hear every Sermon but still he hath a hard heart the law hath not power to break his heart to powder and to soften his heart but when a man is evangelically dead when the Gospel hath made him dead as it doth before it quickens a man it breaks the sturdinesse of a mans heart and shatters a man all to pieces that is the meaning of that place Psal 147.3 He healeth those that are broken in hearâ— and bindeth up their sores Now he is thus made a dead man it makes his heart to burst under the weight of his sins and it beats him to powder but a man that is onely legally dead he is heart-whole still and his spirit is as stout against the kind working of the Gospel as ever it was nay worse a great deal there are none more hardened then those that see themselves dead damned creatures by the power of the law without the power of the Gospel But when the Gospel comes it breaks the heart to powder Isa 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty one He that inhabiteth Eternity whose name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place and with him who is of an humble and contrite spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart This man is the object of Mercy that is evangelically dead he is the formal object of mercy Why because he is dead with such a kind of death as hath gotten power over him power to break his heart to make it an humble and contrite heart now saith the Lord I will revive such a man This man is the formal object of mercy and into him eternal life will come 2. The Second thing I promised to shew you is the difference between these two between legal and evangelical Privation Between one that is legally dead and one that is dead as the Gospel deads a man before it quickens him 1. First He that is legally dead lies all along in his death but when the Gospel makes a man a dead man it makes him stand up that he might have life Ephes 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee life He doth not mean stand up from being dead but stand up from the dead and then Christ shall give thee life he means such a standing up from the dead as before Christ gives him life the Gospel doth thus far awaken a man though he be more dead a thousand times then he that is dead by the law yet thus far it quickens him that he stands up from his secure estate when the law comes and shews a man that he is a dead man he still lies under his sins he is a dead man and cannot stand up that Christ may give him life That is the First thing 2. Secondly He that is legally dead made dead only by the law he is deaf to the Gospel but when a man is evangelically dead it boars his ears and makes him hear the voice of the Word and not only so but the voice of Christ in the Word Isa 55.3 Incline your ears and come unto me hear and your soul shall live He calls those that were evangelically dead Hear and your soul shall live they are made able to hear Let their profits and old courses and old companions come and tempt them to walk as they have done they are deaf of that ear they cannot go that way to work no now their ears are open heaven-wards seek the Lord and you shall live Amos 5.6 They are made to seek the Lord thus much life they have though they are more dead in regard of their own misery then one that is dead by the law yet thus much life they have put into them that they will go and seek unto God in the use of the means and follow him up and down and nothing will satisfy the heart but Christ they leave no stone unroled they seek up and down every where 3. Thirdly He that is legally dead it is a kind of death to love but he that is evangelically dead it is a death of love when the Church in the Canticles was but sensible of the countenance of Christ she was presently sick of love I charge you O ye daughters of Jerusalem if ye find my welbeloved tell him that I am sick of love Cant. 5. There is a great deal of difference between sicknesse and death death is a total privation of life sicknesse is but a partial privation now when the Gospel hath wrought upon a man that he hath some of Christ and is not deprived