and must be Submitted to the Will and Glory of God Be sure Christ put these things in their proper place and behold his Life and all are resolved into the Fathers Will and Glory Nor did he undervalue himself or them in laying them at his Fathers Feet Certainly he was most tender of that which was most Valuable All the Baptist's Credit was to Vanish at Christs appearing upon the Stage VVell did he Bustle in his own behalf Nay he bare witness that he that came after him was to be preferred before him Jo. 1.15 and being demanded who he was he confessed and denyed not but confessed I am not the Christ v. 20. VVhat need all this but that John was render of the order wherein God had plac't him So v. 27. O that it were thus with us that we would lay down our Selves our Lives c. At the Feet of God and subordinated them to his Glory That we were willing that he be Glorified though we Suffer 4 Be we never so great and high yet our Father must do his Pleasure with us and get Glory by us Though Christ were a Son yet he Learned Obedience Heb. 5.8 Yea he was Equal with the Father in Nature Phil. 2.6 Yet having Covenanted to be the Fathers Servant in the Mediatory Dispensation he made himself of no Reputation c. v. 7 8. O let this mind be in us which was also in Christ v. 5. How was God pleased with Abrahams Resignation of his Son his only Son the Son of his Love of his Age his Darling Child Gen. 22.12 15 16 17 18. VVell as great as any of us think our selves we are not so great as Christ not so Considerable as Abraham let us be Content God should Glorifie himself by making us little and laying us low in the VVorld VVhat an abasement was it to Christ to be sold for 30 Peices of Silver See what himself saith of it Zach. 11.12 13. a goodly Price that I was Prized at of them yet he could bear in Submission to his Father O that high proud lofty Stately Professors who stand upon their greatness who affect grandeur would consider this Certainly the hight of Christians is a great part of the Controversy God hath with us in this Day Pray le ts bow our Spirits and lour our Top-sails willingly for God is bringing us down and for any thing I know he cannot otherwise have his VVill and Glory 5 See hence whither we must drive our perplexitys in Suffering if we would Conquer them even to this Holy Resignation of our selves into the Soveraign VVill of God Our Lord Jesus came to no Composure till he arrived at this Frame Compare with the Text the foregoing verse As long as you reluct against Providence expect nothing but Tumult He resisteth the proud c. James 4.6 7. who so proud as the unresigned Soul Well if we submit not God will fight against us and judge what composure we can then have When Jonah opposed the Lords Will had he any rest chap. 1.2 3 4. Job 9.4 'till we resign he 'l visit our Souls with darkness our Bodies with pain and our Matter with frustration and disappointment A Man that will Swim against Tyde and Stream and Wind may waste and spend his strength but the longer he strives the more unfeasable his Attempt is So while you strive against the Lords pleasure expect universal disturbance For when the debate is who shall yeild whether God shall abate his Will or we submit ours we may easily conceive how bitter unquiet and vexatious the greatest will be on our part Well but come and resign to the Will of God and all will be calm Isa 30.15 There are three things herein exceeding composing 1. Our spirits and thoughts are now come to a conclusion before there was a contest between Grace and Nature that would this would not submit this created unquietness but now Grace hath got the day the Soul is calm When there are two Armies in the Feild Fighting all is in a cumbustion but when one is conquered Peace ensueth That which created Christ's trouble was the struggle between his Natural and Divine Will Now that being concluded by resignation he is at rest 2. Now there 's no difficulty in our way for we follow providence 3. Having resign'd the burden of our suffering is roll'd upon God A resigned Soul casteth it self into his Arms as well as submits to his Will and now God is engaged if not to save us from the hour yet to help us in and through it 6. Lastly Let me advise the people of God to take this course If we must suffer Imprisonment loss of Goods or Liberty or Life let Providence find us in this frame Well then let 's be earnest with God and contend with our own spirits till we come to this temper till we can in some blessed measure say with the Lord Jesus Christ Father glorifie thy Name Friends it may be this Doctrine and Exhortation will find very slight entertainment with some but I will promise them they cannot meet God in the way of his judgments in any other frame If the Lord Jesus would not venture upon his Agony till he had attained it how shall we be able to meet our sufferings without it Quest T is true this was the frame of Christ but is it possible for us to attain it Ans Yea it is feasable It was not peculiar to Christ but t is common to his Member with him I have given several instances nor doth God oblige us unto impossibilities There are two things I have to say in the case 1. God gives this resignation sometimes unexpectedly If he surprize an holy Soul with affliction he 'l sometimes surprize it with submission and resignation Nay every Believer in suffering for the Name and Cause of God hath the promise of the Spirit to compose and carry him through Mark 13.11 Observe this promise takes place in persecution what then Take no thought what ye shall speak We must not confine this promise to the Spirits management of our Tongues only nay it extends much more to our Hearts and Thoughts If the Spirit dictate our words how much more will it influence our Souls And I add the Lord doth not say it shall be given before hand but in that Day 2. This Spirit of resignation is ordinarily the Blessing of Exercise Psal 131.1 2. As in all other Cases Grace is given in and upon our endeavour Hos 6.3 Psal 119.2 so in this Case And therefore 1. Do what you can to clear up your interest in God This once cleared submission is in a manner easie Why did Isaac resign himself to his Father Gen. 22. because he knew he was his Father My Father saith Jophtha's Daughter if thou hast opened thy mouth to the Lord do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth Jud. 11.36 A dutiful Child will not dare not cannot prophane it's Relation by
effectually of sin of the sin of Nature and the Nature of sin all these little appendices and appurtinances of Vanity will fall and drop of course For this was our blessed Saviour's method Mat. 23.26 Mat. 12.33 Cleanse the inside of the cup or platter and the outside will be clean also And if we could as supernatural Grace only can make the Tree good the Fruit would be good by consequence Direction X. Whatever fashions of Apparel you have found a temptation to your own souls when worn by others in prudence avoid them You may reasonably suspect that what has been a snare to you will be so to another For tho all are not guilty of the same actual sins yet all have the same seeds of sins in them And what has awakened your Pride and Lust may awaken the same Corruptions in your Neighbour Direction XI Let all your indifferences be brought under the government and guidance ef Religion Indifferent things in their general Natures are neither good nor evil but when Religion has the main stroke in managing and ordering them it will make them good and not evil Advise with Gods Glory what you shall eat what you shall drink and what you shall put on That will teach us to deny our selves in some particulars of our Christian Liberty Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do else 1 Cor. 10.31 do all to the glory of God Than which all the Masters of the Art of Eating all the Mistresses of the Science of Dressing cannot give you a more approved Directory Direction XII Use all these indifferent things with an indifferent affection to them an indifferent concern for them and about them Treat'em value 'em as they deserve Cloathes commend us not to God nor to Wise and Good Men Why are we then so solicitous about them as if the Kingdom of God lay in them The Apostle in consideration that the Time is short would have us use this World as not abusing it because the fashion thereof passes away Yet a little while and there will be no use 1 Cor. 7.31 because no need of them But God and the World are commonly of contrary Judgments and that which is highly esteemed among men Luke 16.15 is oftentimes an abomination to him Lukewarmness is a Temper hot enough for what is neither good nor evil How great then is our sin who are stone-cold in those matters wherein God would have us fervent in Spirit but where he would have us cool and moderate all of a flame Direction XIII Lastly Seek that honour chiefly which comes from God only The World is never so wise or so good that we should much value its good word or approbation but oftentimes so bad and foolish that its commendation is our reproach What evil have we done that an evil World should speak well of us To be accounted honourable by him and made beautiful by him is true Honour real Beauty In his Judgment stands our absolution or condemnation in his Sentence our life or death to him and by him we stand or fall What a wretched honour is it that we receive from it Apparel which is no part of our selves and for which we are beholden to the trivial skill of a Taylor or Attire-woman but the true Reason of the affectation of these Vanities lies in that of our Saviour How can ye believe that seek honour one of another John 5.44 and seek not the honour that comes from God only Considerations to press to such a cautelous walking that we partake not in the sinfulness of strange Apparel I. Let us seriously consider How Apparel came into the World Sin brought in Shame and Shame brought in Apparel and Apparel has at last brought in more Sin and Shame The old Riddle has here found an Oedipus Mater me genuit peperit mox filia matrem In the state of Primitive Integrity Man was cloath'd with Original Righteousness He wore the glorious Image of him that created him in knowledg righteousness and true holiness But sin has now stript him of his glory and expos'd his shame to the view of God his Judg. How great then is that Pride when we are proud of what should abase us How vile that glory that glories in its shame It was good advice of Chrysostome Homil. 18. in Genes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the wearing of our Apparel be a perpetual Memorial to us of the good things we have lost and an Instruction what penalties mankind is liable to by disobedience For as Gregory Nazianzene reasons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. de Mort. If says he we had continued the same we were at first created we had had no need of a coat of skins the divine Image shining in our souls And therefore Chrysostom's Inference is very clear Tom. 6. p. 241. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cloaths were not given us to set forth our beauty but to cover that shame that proceeded from nakedness But Tertullian excellently prosecutes this argument Si tanta in Terris moraretur fides quanta in Coelis merces ejus expectatur nulla omnino vestrum sorores ex quo Deum cognovisset De hab Mulieb in initio de sua id est foeminae conditione didicisset laetiorem habitum nè dicam gloriosiorem appetisset ut non magis in sordibus ageret squallorem potius affectaret ipsam circumferens Evam lugentem poenitentem quo plenius quod de Evâ trabit ignominiam dico primi delicti invidiam perditionis humanae omni satisfactionis habitu expiaret If there was as much Faith on Earth as there is reward for it in Heaven there 's none of you since the time she knew God and understood her own condition that would have affected a joyful much less a splendid Garb but rather have lien in sackcloath and ashes carrying about her an Eve within that laments and repents that so she might compensate with the most mortified habit that she derived from the first Eve I mean the scandal of the first sin and the odium of having been the Ruin of Mankind Alas what pleasure could we take in these Vanities did we consider them as the Effect of so sad a Cause And what would the Gold of Ophir the Pearls of the Ocean the Jewels of the Indies signifie to a soul that was taken up with Reflections on its Exile from Paradise and the loss of God's Image II. It deserves to be laid to heart how we came into the World how we must go out and how we shall rise again Holy Job confessed that when he was reduced to beggary he was somewhat better than when he was born Job 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither i. e. to the Earth the common Mother of us all And we may add Naked shall I rise again I shall see my Redeemer at the last day with these eyes but I
our selves if any sins lie near our hearts and prove predominant in our conversations The Crimes whereby we have disgusted God must be repented of detested and rejected He that would trust in God and gain the views and comforts of his Face should throughly hate deeply resent and carefully watch against what God can take no pleasure in but hath entred his protest against repent and do thy first Works was grave and sober Counsel Rev. 2.5 Begin then with thy self and end with God and work thy self up to his Will and thou shalt see his Face with Joy Sin will raise Clouds and Storms and cause no small Eclipses of Gods Face where ever it enters is countenanced and prevails An heavenly Mind and Life must be recovered exercised and preserved and practical resolutions must be renewed and kept in their inviolable vigour whither God sensibly smile or not upon us Who ever mourns not over and watches not against what God abhors will find his seeing Gods Face with Joy to be too strange and great a Miracle to be expected from him He that contemns the ways and will of God can look for nothing but to be contemned by him 1 Sam. 2.30 the Laws of Peace and Favour must be kept Sins must be broken off by Righteousness and Repentance or else Gods Face is to be seen no more Direct V. Let him consider well how far God is unchangeably the God of gracious Souls Psal 89.30 34. Levit. 26.40 45. the Tenor of Gods Covenant is to be studied throughly and well understood to prevent extravagant or defective trust 'T is true Gods promises are large and his relation fixt Psal 84.11 Isa 41.10 God will be so far always theirs as to be ever mindful of them and of his Covenant with them to be duly provident for their good so as to prevent all that may truly harm and ruin their resigned Souls and Persons Rom. 8.28 2 Cor. 16.9 to be truly though wisely compassionate towards them in all their dejections and temptations 1 Cor. 10.13 Mich. 7.18 Isa 30.19 41 17. He will neither over-burthen them over-work them nor overlook them and he will be always so far theirs as to exemplifie the Power and Riches of his All-sufficient Grace and Goodness in them Rom. 9.23 2 Thes 1.10 12. God will refine and save their Souls renew their Strength and cloath them with his Righteousness and Salvations and give them such Encouragements and Supports as may be needful for their present State and Work Isa 40.31 2 Cor. 4.16 18. Col. 1.11 12. 1 Thes 5.23 24. Let them but act like gracious Persons and all Grace shall abound towards them and he will see that their Integrity and Uprightness preserve them whilst therein they wait on him Pardoned Sins refined Souls accepted Services Prayers and Persons with great Victories Tryumphs and Salvations at the last Gods Spirit in them his Presence with them and his Eternal Glory for them when time is folded up and reckoned for all these shall joyfully convince them in what respects and to what purposes God is immutably and will be their God Rom 8.31 39. But if they look or hope that God should be so far theirs as to keep them from afflictions and the fiery Tryal or to feast them continually with sensible consolations and clear views of Heaven and of his glorious Face or immediatly to give them what they ask at their discretion or to prevent all manner of perturbations in their Souls and all distempers in their Bodies Brains and Fancies or to redress miraculously what may be cured and relieved otherwise they have no promise for this For where hath God engaged that Grace must do the Work that is consigned to natural means or that Miracles must effect what an establisht Course of ordinary means may bring Men to Even in the sealing Age when Miracles were so multiplied we find that ordinary means were used in their just extent Moses must send for Jethro Cornelius must send for Peter Philip must turn Instructer and Interpreter to the Eunuch Manna must only be continued until the Israelites could Plow and Sow Why then should any one conclude that God hath hid his Face unless unreasonable and extraordinary expectations be accomplished If Parts be weak if Gifts be mean if Memory be frail through disadvantages of Age or Weakness if passionate Fervours be abated through those declensions which are entailed on Mortals by a setled decree must we infer from hence that God hath hid his Face from us and holds us for his Enemies unless he change the ordinary Course of Nature And as to Soul concerns and exercises what if our Spirits be disquieted through the Soul or expectation of sharp Tryals and Distresses What if Satan bluster in our Souls What if strange Suggestions like fiery Darts be cast into us What if we be strongly urged to such imaginations as God himself knows to be odious and ungrateful to us Must we from hence suspect or think that God disclaims us and renounces all his merciful relations and regards to us Hath God engaged any where that our War with Satan shall end before we dye Can militant Christians be discharged from this warfare before they have finished their Course Whilst you resolve and strive you Conquer and God abides your God till you give up the Cause and fall in love with what your God abhors and slights see Heb. 4.14 16. was not the great Jehovah the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ as much in the extremities of his Agonies and Conflicts as either before or after them But he never was so much his God as to excuse him from his bitter Cup and his contest with the Devil and this World The same I may also say of Paul 2 Cor. 12.7 9. Gods Covenant and not your thoughts or hopes must tell how far Direct VI. Let him consider and improve what God affords to help and quicken trust in him Psal 27.9 Rom. 15.4 13. God hath his part and Man hath his to do not that God needs him but because he hath laid him under Law unto himself and suited his remediating Duties to his Faculties and Circumstances Trust is a compounded Act and Duty made use of assent consent and reliance and it respects veracity goodness and fidelity in the object trusted in Let then the gracious Soul look upon God as fit and willing to be trusted in as actually engaged and concerned for him when he is his God and as faithful when thus related and engaged For God both can and will effect all that he undertakes yet he expects that gracious Souls shall fix their deepest thoughts upon what he hath given them to fix and raise their trust upon Idleness doth no good the thinking and industrious and resolved Soul thrives much whilst meer complainers cheat and dispirit themselves and trouble others dishonour God and scandalize and dishearten Men. It is here as it is in Nature God feeds us he