Joh. 14. 23. If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come and make our abode with him Ver. 16. The Father shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever The Father dwells in us 2 Cor. 6. 16. I will dwell in them The Son dwells in us Ephes 3. 17. Christ dwells in your hearts by Faith The Spirit dwells in us Rom. 8. 11. Fourthly That all the people of God have the Spirit of God may plainly appear by the works â—f the Spirit which are to be found in every one of them 1. They are sanctified by the Spirit Ye are sanctified by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6. 11. 2. They are led by the Spirit As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God Rom. 8. 14. 3. They are upheld and strengthened by the Spirit Psal 51. 12. Vphold me with thy free Spirit Ephes 3. 16. To be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man 4. They are partakers of the first fruits of the Spirit Rom. 8. 23. Our selves have the first fruits of the Spirit 5. They are helped by the Spirit Rom. 8. 26 The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities and the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groans which cannot be uttered 6. They are taught by the Spirit Joh. 14. 26. The Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things 7. They are comforted by the Spirit Acts 9. 31. They walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost 8. They are sealed by the Spirit Ephes 1. 13. In whom after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise Quest 3. Why doth the Lord put his Spirit within every one of his Reasons of it people Sol. There may be assigned six Reasons for it viz. 1. Necessity 2ly Congruity 3ly Conformity 4ly Excellency 5ly The love of God 6ly The purchase of Christ First Necessity The presence and enjoyment of the Spirit is necessary for The necessity of it them in many respects 1. For applying of Christ unto them and for the applying of them unto Christ For applying Christ that there is a conjunction or union between Christ the Head and his Mystical body the Church is an unquestionable truth And how Christ who locally in heaven should be joyned or united to his Church here on earth this cannot be done but by the Spirit who doth knit or joyn Christ to us and us to Christ as really as the head is joyned to the body and as the body is joyned to the head But take the instance in any particular believer that Christ is his and he is Christs it is certain but how comes Christ to be his what is that on Christs part which makes this union it is the Spirit and none but the Spirit and what is it on our part which makes this union it is faith and it is caused by the Spirit So that the Spirit is necessary to this union on either part on Christs part to apply or unite him to us and on our part in causing faith which applyes and unites us to Christ And unto this reciprocal union the Spirit is such a necessary agent that without him there cannot possibly be any union at all No man can be united to Christ but by the Spirit neither can Christ I speak it with reverence unite himself to us but by his Spirit 2. For conveying of spiritual life into them or a new being into their souls For conveying of spiritual life Naturally all men are dead in trespasses and sins and every faculty in them is totally defiled and polluted and corrupted and is deprived of the glory of God nor can any man help himself in this case nor can any creature do it None can raise him from his death but that Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead Therefore is the Spirit called the Spirit of life and the Spirit of grace forasmuch as he is the authour of both unto our souls it is the Spirit who quickens them by infusing the life of Christ into them and who renews them by changing of them into the image of Christ 3. For all the actings of grace Take me any Christian though endowed with For all the actings of grace all the principles of grace and great measures thereof now put him upon any particular acting put him upon believing put him upon repenting upon mourning upon any acts of obedience why looâ—â—s no member of the body can move or strive but from an influence from the head no more can we act any grace we have but by an influence from the Spirit of Christ our Head Joh. 15. 5. And we find it in experience that it is with our souls Simile as with a ship which stirs not if the wind stirs not and it stirs more or less as the wind is greater or lesser so if the Spirit of God stirs not in us our graces stir not c. For all our receptions 4. For all our Receptions Would you know any truth of God you cannot know it unless the Spirit of God give you his light to know it 1 Cor. 2. 10 11. would you be acquainted with the love of God you can never perceive it unless the Spirit shed abroad that love in your hearts Rom. 5. 5. would you be clear and satisfied in your relation of sonship unto God as your Father all the men in the world cannot perswade and satisfie as to that unlesse and untill the Sperit beareth witness with your Spirits that you are the children of God Rom. 8. 16. Secondly Congruity It is meet and fit that the people of God should have the Spirit of God For Congruity 1. They are his children and is it not meet that the children of God should have the Spirit of God should they not bear his image if they were led by the same spirit by which the children of this world are led had they not another Spirit they could not be his children 2. They are his servants and therefore they have much to do for him and they have much to suffer for him Is it not meet that the Lord should help his servants The services of the people of God which they are to do for him and to suffer for him are above all their own strength and therefore God will give them his Spirit to enable them for all their services whether active or passive the Spirit can supply them for every work 3. They are his Heirs and intended for eternal glory and is it not fit that they should have the Spirit of grace who must have the Spirit of glory Heirs of God Rom. 8. 17. Before a person comes to heaven it is fit that he should be fitted for heaven be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. And who
us in you As a Parent who begers the children he looks unto those children and maintains and keeps them All your graces are the births of the Spirit of grace and as they are the effects of his power so also are they the objects of his care and therefore as they receive life from his presence in the Ordinances so shall they receive strength and growth and stability from his continual influence upon them We are sâ—rengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man Ephes 3. 16. As we are changed from our shameful condition to glory by the Spirit so by the same Spirit are we changed from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. 3. The Spirit is yours in respect of his works or operations And truly this The Spirit is theirs in respect of his works and operatioÌ„s consideration makes out an exceeding happinesse unto the people of God in as much as the participation of all their happiness depends upon the workings of the Spirit of God in whom they are interested by this Covenant of grace There are five choice works which the Spirit doth for all the people of God Five choice works which the Spirit doth for all Gods people He doth unite Christ and them who have God to be their God 1. He doth unite Christ and them Although the benefits by Christ are unexpressibly precious yet the fruition of them is impossible withâ—ut a precedent union with Christ forasmuch as union is a necessary foundation for Communion you must be in Christ and being his himself and all his benefits become yours Now it is the Spirit which makes up this union as love makes the union 'twixt Christian and Christian and as faith makes up the union from us to Christ for we are planted into Christ and are espoused unto Christ and live in Christ by faith so the Spirit makes the union 'twixt Christ and us there being no other way for him to be joyned unto us and to become Relatively ours but by his own Spirit it is the Spirit which doth let out the heart of Christ to us and who doth bring in our hearts unto Christ it is the Spirit by whom Christ applies himself unto us and apprehends us and by whom we also do apprehend and apply Christ by his Spirit he takes hold of us and by the same Spirit it is that we take hold of him In a word it is the Spirit by whom Christ speaks to our hearts and by whose light we see the excellencies of Christ and the great love of Christ and who gives Christ as it were into our hands and mightily allures and prevails upon our hearts to give themselves unto Christ again as Christ had never been effectually revealed unto you but by the Spirit so you had never been effectually brought to Christ but by the Spirit you had been Christlesse for ever without him And now consider the happiness in having this Spirit which hath wrought so effectually as to unite Christ and you and you and Christ that Christ is yours and you are his by him are you perswaded and drawn and brought into the possession of Christ and all the benefits by Jesus Christ 2. He doth conform us unto Christ We all saith the Apostle in 2 Cor. 3. 18. beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image He doth conform us unto Christ from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. As by the Spirit we do discern a most glorious nature of holinesse in Christ so by the Spirit we are changed into the same image of holinesse Hence are we said to be born again bâ— the Spirit John 3. 5 6. and to be renewed by the holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. And to be sanctified by him 1 Pet. 1. 2. You read that Christ was conceived by the holy Ghost and he was anointed by the Spirit So is every Christian he becomes a Christian by the Spirit and he is anointed by the Spirit The oyntment indeed is first poured upon our head and then upon us but as it is the same spirit in us which is in Christ so it is the same anointing only it is in Christ as the head and without measure and as in the pattern unto which we are conformed by the Spirit As by the unction of the Spirit we become like Christ in nature so also in Relation God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Sonne into your hearts crying Abba-Father Gal. 4. 6. Now judge of the blessednesse of having the Spirit He is the cause of our union and he is the cause of our unction he brings us into Christ and he anoints us with the same grace wherewith Christ himself was anointed so that we are like Christ himself we are anointed with the same Spirit and therefore we must needs be excellent and choice persons and very lovely in the eyes of God 3. He doth reveal unto us the highest and the choicest things of salvation He is called the Spirit of Revelation Eph. 1. 17. because he opens He revealeth to us the choicest things of salvation and reveals those things unto the people of God which are hid from the eyes of others There are five precious things which the Spirit reveales unto you He reveals 1. The mystery of life unto you even Jesus Christ who cannot be known The mystery of life or acknowledged but by the Spirit Flesh and blood cannot reveal him No man can confesse him No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12. 3. But we speak the wisdome of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdome which God ordained before the world unto our glory 1 Cor. 2. 7. 2. The love of God unto you The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts The love of God by the holy Ghost which is given unto us Rom. 5. 5. He makes the greatnesse of the love and your propriety in it known unto you and the exceeding riches of grace c. 3. The presenc of Christ within you Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us 1 John 3. 24. Christ without nay Christ The presence of Christ within us is not discerned by us without the Spirit 4. The wonderful glory prepared for us Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared The glory prepared for us for them that love him But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 9 10. 5. The most precious gifts bostowed on us In this life we have received the The most precious gifts bostowed on us Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God 1 Cor. 2. 12. The sight of your own graces is by the assistance of the Spirit O what
people Ver. 34. And they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more Jerem. 32. 39. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and their children after them Ver. 40. And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me Ezek. 11. 19. I will give them one heart and I will put a New Spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh Ver. 20. That they may walk in my Statutes and keep my Ordinances and do them and they shall be my people and I will be their God Hosea 2. 19. I will betroth thee unto me for ever and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse and in judgement and in loving-kindnesse and in mercies Ver. 20. I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulnesse and thou shalt know the Lord. Hebr. 8. 10. This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel I will put my Laws into their minds and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people c. Quest But why is God pleased to promise to give unto his people in Covenant Why God gives spiritual blessings as well as â—emporal His people have souls as well as bodies spiritual blessings as well as temporal Sol. The Reasons are these First Because his people have souls as well as bodies and their souls do stand in as much need of spiritual blessings as their bodies do of temporal blessings Every mans soul since the fall of Adùm is in a fourfold miserable necessity which cannot be relieved but by spiritual blessings 1. In an estate of spiritual death out of which it cannot be relieved but by the donation of spiritual life a quickning by the Spirit of Christ is necessary for a soul dead in trespasses and sins 2. In an estate of spiritual enmity and that enmity cannot be slain but by the death of Christ nor any atonement peace or reconciliation enjoyed but by his blood 3. In an estate of offence and guilt which expose the soul unto wrath and punishment by reason of which the soul needs exceeding riches of grace and mercy to forgive and acquit the sinner 4. In an estate of pollution and bondage being held under the power of sinful lusts in which regard the soul needs the Lord Jesus to be redemption and liberty unto it and the soul can never be freed nor free but by Christ and his Spirit John 8. 36. If the Son shall make you free you shall be free indeed Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death If a man had all the blessings of the world riches honour friends health pleasures c. they could be of no help or relief unto his soul at all notwithstanding all these the soul still remains sinful and miserable Give the soul Christ and grace and mercy or else you give it nothing it must perish for ever without them And therefore doth God give unto his people spiritual blessings because the soul needs them and they are sutable to the spiritual necessities of the soul Secondly His people are people of another life they have the promise of eternal His people are for another life life 1 John 2. 25. This is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal life Titus 1. 2. Inhope of eternal life which God that cannot lye promised before the world began 2 Cor. 5. 1. We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens But what of this will you say why hence it follows that therefore God will give unto them spiritual blessings and why spiritual blessings because spiritual blessings are necessary for them in relation unto that eternal life Acts 4. 12. Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other Name given under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Loe here is a necessity of Jesus Christ for our salvation John 3. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Loe here is a necessity of faith for salvation Matth. 5. 8. Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God Hebr. 12. 13. Follow holinesse without which no man shall see the Lord. Joh. 3. 3. Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Loe here is a necessity of holinesse and regeneration for salvation and they are congruous and fitting us for salvation or eternal life Colos 1 12. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light It is meet to enjoy grace before we come to enjoy glory it is meet to have a conformity to Christ on his Crosse before we come to have a conformity to Christ in his Crown c. Thirdly His people are designed and set apart for special duties and services His people aâ—e set apart for special duties the which they can never performe without spiritual gifts and blessings They are to glorifie their God Isa 43. 6. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth Ver. 7. Even every one that is called by my Name for I have created him for my glory Ver. 21. This people have I formed for my self they shall shew forth my praise They are to deny themselves and to take up the Crosse of Christ and to follow him they are to crucifie the lusts with the affections thereof they are to suffer losses and reproaches and persecutions and perhaps death it self they are to fight the good fight of faith to resist temptation to quench the fiery darts of Satan to overcome the world they are to live by faith against hope to believe in hope to walk in all well-pleasing before the Lord. They are to have daily communion with God and their hearts are to be set on him and on things above Can any of these duties and services be performed by them without spiritual strength or can they partake of spiritual strength unlesse and untill God doth give unto them spiritual gifts or graces Fourthly All the people in Covenant with God they have his image restored They have Gods image restored to them unto them they behold as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. They are made partakers of the Divine nature
reveales him who will be merciful to the penitent and will by no meanes cleare the guilty 2. Of union and complyance to bring us into Christ and to make us one with him and to give us fellowship with him and to make us one Spirit with him and to change us into the glory of his image if we had this faith the work were done Now we should be made like unto him in meekness and humbleness and tenderness of heart 3. Of dependence and reliance upon Gods Promises believing that what he hath promised he will also perform that all his promises are Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him that he is mindful of his Word and remembers his Covenant and will not suffer his faithfulness to faile and therefore he will give unto us humbly seeking and waiting upon him this soft and tender heart which he hath promised How quickly and easily would such a faith prevail with and obtain from such a Father and God! Fifthly If we would compass soft and tenderness of heart we must then Get hearts to love the Lord. get hearts to love the Lord Did we love him we would be tender of his glory and tender of his love tender to please him tender not to displease him tender to obey him and tender to honour him Joh. 14. 23. If a man love me he will keep my words ver 24. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings Love you know is of all affections the most tender most watchful to observe the most carefull to please and the most fearful to offend If we did love the Lord we would not we could not grieve him Beseech therefore the Lord to circumcise your hearts that you may love him and consider the exceeding greatness of his love to you that you may love him again We love him because he loved us first 1 Joh. 4. 19. And this love would raise a tenderness of heart in us in all the effects of tenderness which you have heard Sixthly What shall I say more if you would have softness and tenderness of heart indeed and to some purpose Then get the assurance of Gods Get the assurance of Gods love love and mercy and favour sealed unto your consciences by the testimony of his Spirit this would melt c. Ezek. 36. 27. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgements and do them THese Words are one gold link more of the precious chain of Promises in the Covenant of grace They do contain in them another excellent promise unto the people of God wherein you have 1. The matter promised I will put my spirit within you 2. The vertue or benefit of this promise which is twofold 1. Obedience and cause you to walk in my statutes 2. Perseverance and ye shall keep my judgements and do them I begin at this time with the matter promised I will put my Spirit within you CHAP. XII Doct. 1. THat all the people of God have the Spirit of God or that God will put his Spirit within his people I will put my Spirit within God will put his spirit within his people you Psal 51. 11. Take not thy holy Spirit from me Zech. 12. 10. I will poure upon the house of David and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication Rom. 8. 15. Ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father 1 Cor. 2. 12. We have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given of God 1 Cor. 7. 40. I think also that I have the Spirit of God 1 Thes 4. 8. Who hath given unto us his holy Spirit 1 Joh. 3. 24. Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us Chap. 4. 13. Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit For the opening of this excellent Point I will speak unto these particulars 1. In what sense the Spirit is given or put within the people of God 2. How it may be demonstrated that the people of God every one of them have the Spirit of God 3. Why the Spirit is put within every one of the people of God 4. Whether all the people of God do in the same measure partake of the Spirit SECT I. Quest 1. IN what sense the Spirit is given or put within the people of God Sol. There is a fore fold opinion concerning this In what sense the Spirit is said to be put within us Not to make us one person with himself First Some have held that the Spirit is so given unto the people of God as to make them one person with himself and to communicate unto them his very personal propriety so that they in their own persons are that person in the Trinity which is called the Holy Ghost This was the desperate opinion of Montanus the Heretick and I fear some wild persons amongst us are of the same wicked opinion But this cannot possibly be because 1. No Creature is capable to be God which yet he should be if he could be the person of the Holy Ghost for the person of the Holy Ghost is God 1 Joh. 5. 7. There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one 2. If any man were the person of the Spirit and the very Holy Ghost then 1. He is eternal for the Spirit is the eternal Spirit Heb. 9. 14. Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself c. And 2ly He is Omnipresent in every place for the Spirit is so Psal 139. 7. Whether shall I go from thy Spirit And 3ly He is Omnipotent for the Spirit is so Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead Rom. 1. 4. And quickens and changeth the hearts of sinners Joh. 6. 36. 2 Cor. 3. 18. And 4ly He is Omniscient for so is the Spirit Who searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. And lastly then he might be adored and worshipped with Divine Worship be prayed unto be trusted on c. Secondly Some do hold that although the Spirit be not so given as to make us one person with himself yet he is given personally unto the people of God i. e. Some say he is personally given he is personally in them not only his gifts and graces are in them but also his very person is in them and they do alledge several places of Scripture to make good this their Opinion Joh. 14. 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Ver. 17. Even the Spirit of truth Ver. 26. But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach
you all things Joh. 15. 26. But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father c. Whence it is thus argued That Comforter which proceedeth from the Father and the Son is the person of the Holy Ghost but that Comforter dwelleth and abideth in us Ergo the person of the Holy Ghost doth dwell in us 2 Tim. 1. 14. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us Hence it is also argued the Holy Ghost that keepeth the good gift or gifts in us dwelleth in us but the Holy Ghost which keepeth these gifts is not the gifts but the person of the Holy Ghost distinguished from them Ergo it is the person of the Holy Ghost and not his gifts only that dwelleth in us Rom. 8. 11. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Hence also 't is thus argued the Spirit that dwells in us is the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and shall likewise quicken our mortal bodies But it is not the gifts and graces of the Spirit but the person of the Spirit himself that raised up Christ from the dead and that shall quicken our mortal bodies Ergo the person of the Spirit himself dwelleth in us Thirdly Some do hold that the putting of the Spirit within the heart of the Some say it denotes only the gifts and graces of the spirit given to us people of God denotes only the donation of the gifts and the graces of the Spirit And so is the Spirit often taken in Scripture by a Metonymie of the Cause for the Effect Luke 1. 15. He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his Mothers womb Act. 6. 3. Look you out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom Ver. 5. And they chose Stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost 1 Thes 5. 19. Quench not the Spirit i. e. the gifts or graces of the Spirit for the Spirit in himself either Essentially or Personally considered is not capable of being quenched there is no abating or remission or vacation possibly incident unto him Fourthly Some do hold that the giving of the Spirit unto the people of God is only the letting in of his vigour and assistance for the works which they are to do Some for the letting in of the vigour and assistance of the spirit and not any Inherent presence of the Spirit in the people of God either as to his person or as to his graces But as a Bowle moves from that power and strength which the hand lends unto it so do the people of God act and move from the vigorous influence which the Spirit of God puts into them and not from any inherent principle of grace which they deny to be in them But this Opinion is not sound for the people of God do possess the Spirit not only in way of assurance to do good but also in way of inward influence to make them good Therefore they are said to be born of the Spirit Joh 5. 6. And to be washed and renewed Tit. 3. 5. And sanctified by the Spirit 1 Cor. 6. 11. which notes an inward change made by the Spirit and not a bare assistance only And besides here in the Text the Lord saith that he will put his Spirit within us which certainly is something more than external assistance Again They who do hold the donation of the Spirit as to assistance only hold likewise free-will to supernatural good that there is in the will of man such a power unto the same that it needs not any renovation by the Spirit but only the assistance of the Spirit to that purpose c. which is a dangerous Error Well then the meaning of this expression I will put my Spirit within you is principally to be understood of the person of the Spirit It is principally meant of the person of the spirit And there are three Reasons which incline me thus to think 1. One is because the graces of the Spirit were promised before in the 26. ver A new heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you which unquestionably takes in the renewing graces of the Spirit and if in this 27. vers by putting his Spirit within us should be meant only the graces of the Spirit then one and the same thing only should be promised But this is no way probable or congruous to affirm q. d. I will give you the graces of my Spirit and I will give you the graces of my Spirit c. 2. Another is because the Spirit here in this verse promised is that Spirit which doth cause us to walk in the Statutes of God and to keep them which cause of such walking cannot well be attributed to any but the Spirit himself 3. Unto which I may add a third viz The usual way of tryal and evidencing whether we have the Spirit here promised namely by the graces of the Spirit which were very improper if by the Spirit in the place were meant the graces of the Spirit q. d. you may know that you have the graces of the Spirit if you do find in you the graces of the Spirit How it may be demonstrated Quest 2. How may this be demonstrated that all the people of God in Covenant have the Spirit of God within them Sol. Besides these Scriptures already produced which do bear witness unto this truth it may be further demonstrated thus First All that are Christs have the Spirit of Christ for saith the Apostle Rom. 8 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his And 1 Cor. 6. 17. He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit But all who are in Covenant are Christs because all that are in Covenant are believers and all believers are Christs Ergo all that are in Covevant have the Spirit Secondly All that are in Covenant are the Sons of God God is their Father and they are his sons and daughters 2 Cor. 6. 18. Now saith the same Apostle in Gal. 4. 6 Because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father Nay Thirdly all the people of God have a fellowship and communion with every person of the Trinity and so high is that fellowship that every person of the Trinity doth as it were take up his mansion and make his abode and dwelling in them They have a fellowship with every person of the Trinity 1 Joh. 1. 3. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ Phil. 2. 1. If there be any fellowship of the Spirit c. Every person of the Trinity dwells and abides in them
on mans part or by way of promise on Gods part And well he may do so inrespect of that Infinite Goodnesse and Wisdome in God who knows much better how to lay the frame of a Covenant betwixt himself and man than man can know how to draw a Covenant betwixt himself and God SECT II. 2. THat there is a Covenant which God makes betwixt himself and believers There is such a Covenant So you have it often expressed in Scripture Gen. 17. 2. I will make my Covenant betwixt me and thee verse 7. I will establish my Covenant betwixt me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations after thee to be good unto thee and to thy seed after thee Deut. 4. 23. Take heed unto your selves lest you forget the Covenant of the Lord your God which he made with you 2 Sam. 23. 5. He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure Psal 50. 5. Gather my Saints together unto me those that have made a Covenant with me by Sacrifice Jer. 31. 31. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah which is repeated by the Apostle Heb. 8. 8. all which places do manifestly prove that there is a Covenant betwixt God and Believers Against this a great objection will lie There are some who argue that there Sect. 2. Obj. The Covenant is only betwixt God and Christ is no Covenant made betwixt God and us there is only a Covenant betwixt God and Christ by vertue of which all Good is derived unto us The ground of this opinion is drawn from Gal. 3. 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made he saith not And to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ Whence they inferre there is no Covenant at all made to us but only with Christ or to Christ Sol. I desire not to make rents but where I find them I would willingly make them up againe but of necessity I must consider this present opinion for if This opinion considered and cleared in three particulars this were true how can this Text I am now upon be true which saith I will make an everlasting Covenant not only for you but with you For the better stating and clearing of this doubt and difficulty I will deliver my self in these Propositions 1. That there is a Covenant made betwixt God the Father and his Sonne Jesus Christ 2. That there is a Covenant made betwixt God and every believing person 3. That the place alledged doth not infringe this truth 1. That there is a Covenant made betwixt God the Father and his Son Jesus There is a Covenant betwixt God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ Christ touching the whole businesse of mans salvation Hence it is that Christ is called the Covenant I will give thee for a Covenant of the people saith the Lord speaking of Christ Isa 49. 8. In hope of eternal life which God who cannot lye promised before the world began Tit. 1. 2. This promise which was ante tempora seculorum was made to Christ I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world thine they were and thou gavest them me Joh. 17. 6. All that makes up a Covenant passed betwixt the Father and the Son On the Father part He dâ—signed Christ to the office of Mediatour 1. On the Fathers part 1. He designed his Sonne unto the office of Mediatour him hath God the Father sealed John 6. 27. Set apart marked out for that work and the Apostle Peter speaking of our Redemption by the precious blood of Christ saith that Christ was fore-ordained thereunto before the foundation of the world 1 Pet. 1. 20. And hereunto did Christ consent and agree Heb. 10. 7. Then said I lo I come in the volum of thy book it is written of me to do thy will O God and againe ver 9. lo I come to do thy will O God 2. He promised to give him the Spirit in abundant measure The Spirit of the He promised to give him the Spirit in abundant measure Lord shall rest upon him Isa 11. 2. I have put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth judgement to the Genetiles Isa 42. 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me Isa 61. 1. God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him Joh. 3. 34. 3. He promised to assist him in that great work I the Lord have called thee And to assist him in that great work in Righteousnesse and will hold thy hand and will keep thee and give thee for a Covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles Isa 42. 6. What is that holding of Christ by the hand but his effectual supporting and strengthening of him to finish the work which he agreed to undertake 4. He promised a blessed successe to this undertaking he shall see his seed And a blessed successe to his undertaking and he shall see the travaile of his soul Isa 53. 10. Nations that know thee not shall run unto thee Isa 55. 5. 5. He promised him Dominion and Soveraignty His arme shall rule for him And dominion and soveraignty Isa 40. 10. He shall sit in judgement in the earth and the Iles shall wait for his Law Isa 42. 4. He shall judge amongst many Nations Mic. 4. 3. 6. He promised to glorifie him after all Joh. 17. 5. Now Father glorifie thou And to glorifie him after all me 2. Christ an his part consents to the Father undertakes the will and work of On Christs part He consents to him undertakes his work Depends on him dischargeth it and expects the glory promised There is a Covenant with Christ personally and mystically considered his Father Depends on his Father Trusts on him for help The Lord will help me Isa 50. 7 9. My God shall be my strength Isa 49. 5. And he dischargeth all the work agreed on for the Redemption and salvation of the elect I have finished the work thou gavest me to do And expects the glory promised by the Father I would be tedious to speak all that might be said concerning this high Covenant betwixt God the Father and Christ touching the elect and all that concerns them I might adde that as there is a Covenant betwixt God and Christ personally considered so also betwixt God and Christ mystically considered Take him as the Head of the Church his body the Covenant principally looks at Christ I will be your God this principally looks at Christ and I will be your Father this principally looks at Christ and so the maine promises as those of Life of Grace of Justification so they principally look at Christ As there was a respect to the people of God in the Covenant betwixt the Father and Jesus Christ so there was a respect to Christ in the Covenant
He will forgive you though not others There are six excellent comforts unto you who have God to be your merciful God 1. That he will forgive you Though the sinnes of others are sealed up and stand upon record against their souls yet your sinnes shall be forgiven The sinnes of others are written and stand upon record but yours are blotted out He will forgive your great sins 2. That he will forgive your great sinnes as well as your small sinnes From all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I clâ—anse you Ezek. 36. 3. That he will forgive all your sinnes though they have been many though He will forgive all your sinnes there hath been a multitude of them Your God who is rich in mercy and hath riches of mercy and multitude of mercies will abundantly pardon them Isa 55. 7. 4. That he will freely forgive them I am he that blotteth out thy He will freely forgive them transgressions for mine own sake and I will not remember thy sinnes Isa 43. 25. and Luke 7. 42. He will everlastingly forgive 5. That he will everlastingly forgive your sinnes so forgive them as never to mention them more All his transgressions which he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him Ezek. 18. 22. Though they be sought for there shall be none and they shall not be found for I will pardon them whom I reserve Jer. 50. 20. 6. That your God will certainly do this I will surely have mercy upon him He will certainly do this God is holiness Jer. 31. 20. 3. God is holinesse He is an holy God Joshua 24. 19. I am the Lord your God ye shall be holy for I am holy Levit. 11. 44. Holy holy Lord God Almighty Rev. 4. 8. Glorious in holinesse Exod. 15. 11. Gods holinesse is his infinitely purenesse without all sinne yea hating of it Being also the cause of all the holinesse and purity in the creature This is one of the great excellencies and the glories of God He were not God if he were not holy and the more that any one partakes of holinesse the more excellent is he Six things affirmed of holiness It is a glory attributed to every person in the Trinity Unto the Father Unto the Son Unto the Spirit There are six things which we can affirm of holiness 1. It is a glory attributed unto every person of the Trinity It is attributed Vnto the Father Holy Father keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me John 17. 11. Unto the Sonne that holy child Jesus Acts 4. 27. These things saith he that is holy Rev. 3. 7. Unto the Spirit who is called the Holy Ghost Matth. 3. 11. and the holy Spirit Eph. 4. 30. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God 2. It is a glory attributed unto all creatures and persons and things of excellency It is attributed to all creatures and things of excellency The holy Angels Matth. 25. 31. The holy Prophets Luke 1. 70. The holy Scriptures Rom. 1. 2. 2 Tim. 3. 15 The great City the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God Rev. 21. 10. Holy men of God 2 Pet. 1. 21. And indeed holinesse is our glory and therefore the Spirit of grace is called the Spirit of glory Heb. 10. 29. 1 Pet. 4. 14. And they who are stiled holy Isa 4. 3. are stiled the glory ver 5. 3. It is necessary unto glory unto that glory which shall be revealed unto It is necessary unto glory the exceedingly exceeding weight of glory unto that eternal glory that heavenly happiness as a means is necessary to an end as a lower step to arise unto an higher Heb. 12. 14. Follow holinesse without which no man shall see the Lord. 1 John 3. 3. Every man that hath this hope purifieth himself as he is pure 4. It is necessary unto your present communion with God He cannot take delight in you nor will he be neare you nor impart himself unto you unless It is necessary to our present communion with God you be holy What fellowship hath righteousnesse with unrighteousnesse and what communion hath light with darknesse 2 Cor. 6. 14. You read in the Law that all was holy which had a respect unto God the Altar was holy and the Temple was holy and the offerings were holy and the persons who offered them were holy To intimate unto us that there could or might not be any communion with the holy God without holinesse 5. It is the pawn and pledge of future glory the first-fruits of the Spirit It is the pawn and pledge of future glory Rom. 8. 23. The earnest of the Spirit 2 Cor. 1. 22. The sealing of the holy Spirit is stiled the earnest of our purchased possession Eph. 1. 13 14. 6. It is the distinguishing character of the Covenant No people are an holy people but the people of the Covenant and all those people are holy It is the distinguishing character of the Covenant 1 Pet. 2. 5. Ye are a spiritual house an holy Priest-hood Ver. 9. Ye are an holy Nation a peculiar people Isa 4. 3. He that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem 1 Cor. 3. 17. The Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are Now if God be your God He is and will be your holy God He will Comforts from this that God will be a holy God to you He will make you holy be an holy God unto you and that affords you many comforts 1. He will make you holy They shall call them the holy people the Redeemed of the Lord Isa 62. 12. He will give his holy Spirit unto you Luke 11. 13. Where is he that put his holy Spirit within him Isa 63. 11. As you read of Joshuah the High Priest The Lord said Take away his filthy garments from him Behold I have caused thine iniquity to passe from thee and I will cloath thee with change of rayment Zach. 3. 4. So the Lord deals with every person unto whom he is a God in Covenant He cleanseth them from all their filthinesses I will cleanse them from all their iniquities Jer. 33. 8. I will sprinkle cleane water upon you and you shall be cleane Ezek. 36. 25. So Ezek. 37. 23. They shall not desile themselves any more with their Idels but I will cleanse them so shall they be my people and I will be their God 2. He will encrease your holinesse He will sanctifie you throughout 1 Thes He will encrease your holiness 5. 23. He will give more grace James 4. 6. He will strengthen what he hath wrought Psal 68. 28. Holinesse is like the waters of the Sanctuary in Ezek. 47. â— 4 5. To the ancles to the knees and then a river that could not be passed over It is the field which the Lord will bless and prosper It is
1. Because he works where and on whom and when and how he himself pleaseth he blowes where he lists Joh. 3. 8. 2. And he is a â—ree Spirit in as much as all spiritual freedom and liberty is received of us from him hence the Apostle 2 Cor. 3. 17. where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 4. The good Spirit by Spirit is good â—sa 143 10 Thou gavest them of thy good Spirit The good Spirit Neh. 9. 20. The Spirit is essentially good and counsels good he is indeed a good Spirit unto us All the good thoughts in us and all the good desires in us and all the good we have or shall receive from God in Christ is handed to us by this good Spirit yea and all the sweet sights of God himself that ever we enjoyed and all the tasts that ever we have had of Jesus Christ and all the joyes and contentments in our souls we are beholding unto this good Spirit for every one of them though in some respect you are not beholding unto the Spirit for dying and suffering and satisfying and reconciling and purchasing for you yet this I may safely affirme that for all the enjoyments of all the sweet comforts depending on the sufferings of Christ you are singularly beholding to the good spirit for them you never could have partaked of Christ nor of any one good purchased by Christ had it not been for this good Spirit 5. The powerfull or mighty Spirit The Spirit of the Lord is called the Spirit of The powerful Spirit might Isa 11. 2. The power of the holy Ghost Rom. 15. 13. the power of the Spirit of God verse 19. the power of the Highest Luke 1. 35. It was the power of this Spirit which did convince you of your sins and which did break your heard harts and did rescue and deliver you from the power of darknesse which doth subdue your iniquities and pull down your strong bolds It was and is this powerfull Spirit by whom the Ministrations or Ordinances of the Gospel have been and still are of power with you The Word is called the sword of the Spirit Ephes 6. 17. The Ministrations of them selves are weak it is the concomitant presence of the Spirit which makes them powerful and lively for your conversion comfort and salvation you had laine in the same condition and darknesse and bondage and death with other men had not the powerful and mighty Spirit of God put forth the greatnesse of his own strength to the alteration of your hearts by his own grace 2. The Spirit is yours in respect of his gifts and fruits You read in 1 Cor. 12. The Spirit is ours in respect of his gifts or fruits 14. of diversities of gifts of the Spirit for edification or to profit withall ver 7. and you read of the first fruits of the Spirit Rom. 8. 23. and of the fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. The Spirit of God as to these gifts and fruits is called the Spirit of grace Zach. 12. 10. and the Spirit of wisdome Isa 11. 2. and the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and the Spirit of faith 2 Cor. 4. 13. and the Spirit of love 2 Tim. 1. 7. and the Spirit of supplication Zach. 12 10. the fruit of the Spirit saith the Apostle in Gal. 5. 22. is love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith and ver 23. meeknesse temperance There are six things which I would briefly observe concerning the graces or fruits Six things concerning the graces of the Spirit They are the beauties of a Christian They are necessary to salvation of the Spirit 1. They are the Beauties Glories Ornaments Chains Pearls Jewels of a Christian you have no excellencies till you partake of them but are dead loathsome polluted and vile These are the very image of God 2. They are necessary unto salvation No man can be saved without them They are the way to the kingdom though they be not the cause of reigning in the kingdom without holinesse no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. 14. 3. They are pledges of salvation therefore called the first fruits which were They are pledges of salvation the beginnings and the pledges of the full harvest and also the earnest of the Spirit which he leaves with us to assure us of that glorious happinesse which we are to receive shortly in fulnesse 4. They are given to none but unto such as shall be saved There are the common gifts of the Spirit which are for the edification of others These they may have They are given to none but such as shall be saved who shall perish like those who helped to build the Ark and yet were drowned But there are the special gifts of the Spirit which are for Renovation of the soule and for the preparation of it for glory These are given to none but unto such who are elected unto salvation As many as were ordained to eternal life believed Act. 13. 48. Matth. 11. 25. Hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to babes 5. Every gift or grace which accompanies salvation is by the Spirit given Every grace accompanying salvation is given to every child of God to every child of God to every one who hath God to be his God in Covenant every one of them hath every saving grace of the Spirit 1. The spirit of grace I will poure upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace Zach. 12. 10. 2. The Spirit of knowledge They shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them Jer. 31. 34. 3. The Spirit of wiâ—dâ—me The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ give unto you the Spirit of wisdome Eph. 1. 17. 4. The Spirit of faith We have the same Spirit of faith 2 Cor. 4. 13. You are all the children oâ— God by faith in Christ Jesus Gal. 3. 26. To them that have obtained like precious faith with us 2 Pet. 1. 1. 5. The Spirit of love 2 Tim. 1. 7. Ye your selvâ—s arâ— taught of God to love one another 1 Thes 4. 9. What should I speak of godly sorrow repentance humblenesse meeknesse patience c. whatsoever gift is necessary to our salvation the Spirit doth certainly work in every one of the people of God although not in the same measure proportion and height yet to the same truth and for the same efficacy unto their salvation Every child of God hath the same Spirit of grace and faith and love and though one Christians graces may fall short of anothers for the quantity yet they do not fall short for the present quality nor for the future glory The weakest grace of the Spirit is able to change the heart and save the soul 6. The Spirit doth cherish and preserve and keep all those saving gifts of his The Spirit doth cherish and prese ve all those saving gifts in
of mercy and forgivenesse but it is the Spirit c. It is the peculiar office of the Spirit to make all the Gospel effectual and effectual to the elect of God to the people of God There is not one part or branch of the Gospel but the Spirit is virtute officii to make it effectual to you He is to give you sufficiency of strength for all Evangelical obedience and he is to open and apply unto you all the good in Chrâ—st and all the comforts in the attributes of God and promises of God and he is to make out unto you all the mercy and blessings and happinesse sealed in Baptisme and the Lords Supper And as Christ never failed in any Office which he undertook so the Spirit will not fail but perform and accomplish all and every thing that belongs to his Office and therefore you shall have all the good intended to you in any Gospel-Ordinance whatsoever 2. Another is To witnesse unto us our present standing in grace and relation To witness our present standing in grace unto God you read this plainly in Rom. 8. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witnesse with our spirit that we are the children of God 1 John 5. 8. Thâ—re are three â—hat bear witnesse in earth the Spirit and the Water and the Bloâ—d A Witnesse is one who gives in a Testimony against a man or for a man and he is of use in all doubtful and litigious cases in all suits and trials Satan puts it many times in debate by his accusations Thou art not right thou art not the child of God thou presumest thou deeceivest thy self In this or such like cases there are two Witnesses for the Christian 1. One is his own Spirit 2. The other is Gods Spâ—râ—t Saith conscience this is the spirit of man I know that his heart is â—ight and that he belongs to God And saith the Spirit of God who searcheth the heart aâ—d knows me and all which himself hath wrought in the heart and I know that he is born again for I regenerated him and I know that he is a child of God for he hath received the Spirit of Adoption whereby he cryeth Abba-Father Aâ—d verily a greater Testimony and surer witnesse cannot be had then the Testimony and Witnesse of the Spirit of God who knows all â—hings and is truth 3. A third Office of the Spirit is to seal us in respect of our future happinesse To seal us in respect of our future happiness and this also the Scriptures expresly deliver Eph. 1. 13. In whom after ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise Verse 14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance untill the redemption of the purchased possession Eph. 4. 30. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption The sealing of the Spirit is that assuring confirmation unto the hearts of believers that the heavenly inheritance purchased by the blood of Christ is theirs and that they when this day of full Redemption comes shall assuredly possess and enjoy it Beloved what can be said more to expresse the happinesse and comfort of the people of God in having God to be their God the Father is theirs the Sonne of God is theirs and the Spirit of God is theirs theirs in his graces theirs in his comforts theirs in Offices witnessing their present condition in grace and assuring them of their future inheritance in glory what more happinesse can be enjoyed on earth than this 7. Lastly The Spirit is yours in respect of his presence Joh. 14. 17. The Spirit He is ours in respect of his presence of truth dwelleth with you Rom. 8. 11. By his Spirit that dwelleth in you 2 Tim. 1. 14. By the holy Ghost which dwelleth in us It is observable concerning the presence of the Trinity that every one of the persons is said to dwell in believers God the Father doth dwell in them 2 Cor. 6. 16. The Sonne doth dwell in them Christ dwells in our hearts by faith Eph. 2. 17. The holy Ghost likewise dwells in us O happy soul who art made such a Temple wherein God the Father and God the Sonne and God the holy Ghost dwells what canst thou want what dost thou enjoy how great is thy excellency how perfect is thy beauty how full is thy glory Dwelling notes a special presence and it notes a constant and permanent presence and truly such is the dwelling of the Spirit of God in the children of God it is a gracious residence and it is an abiding residence he never leaves you John 14. 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Can you reach this comfort of the perpetual presence of the Spirit in you and with you Let me tell you The bodily presence of Christ is not comfortable without the presence of the Spirit The absence of Christ is made up by the presence of the Spirit The presence of the Spirit makes all to be present with us You are safe and sure with whom the Spirit is 1. The presence of Christ I mean his bodily presence only was not comfortable without the presence of the Spirit It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing so Christ Joh. 6. 63. 2. The absence of Christ now in heaven is made up unto us by the presence of his Spirit now within us here on earth The Spirit only supplies his absence and makes our condition as good and as happy as if Christ himself were present with us 3. The presence of the Spirit makes all to be present with us all are present by the presence of the Spirit God comes to be present and Christ comes to be present and joy and salvation come to be present by the presence of the Spirit 4. And are you not safe and sure with whom the Spirit of God is and will be alwayâ—s present He is present with your souls with your faith with your graces and he can give you present strength and present help and present victory and present comforts SECT X. 5. A Fifth singular comfort unto you who have God to be your God in Covenant There is a conjunction of the whole Trinity in all the businesses of our eternal blessedness is this viz. A common conjunction of the whole Trinity in all the businâ—sses of yoâ—r etâ—rnal blessedness This is an exceeding high point and of exceeding comfort unto you that there is an union in the Trinity of persons in their gracious respects unto your salvation There is an union or common conjunction of the persons of the Trinity First In respect of love Secondly In respect of consent and in respect of A conjunction of the three persons purpose Thirdly In respect of operation Fourthly In respect of Relation Fifthly In respect of engagement Sixthly In respect of Communion 1. In respect of love what is that That is every
with your whole hearts O God I cannot be satisfied untill thou art pleased to become my God c. the Lord would certainly answer the desires of your hearts 2. If you would have God to be your God in Covenant you must then break Break your Covenant with sinne your Covenant with sinne There are two Covenants which are inconsistent with this Covenant of grace 1. One is the Covenant of good works 2. The other is the Covenant with bad works If one will set up his confidence on his own good works he makes void the Covenant of grace and if one will set his heart upon his sinne saying I will not leave my sinnes I love them I will not forsake them This man disables himself he doth debarre and exclude himself God will not be his God he will not make a Covenant with him and indeed this sinner will not make a Covenant with God There are three things which God stands upon if we will have him to be ours in Covenant 1. He insists upon your wills you must be willing to be mine saith God to be married unto me to take me for your Husband 2. He insists upon your hearts you must love me I must have your heart your love must be mine 3. He insists upon your service you must be willing to obey and serve me I must be your Lord and you must be my servants But â— one of these will be if you keep up a Covenant with sinne you will never be willing to be his if you resolve to keep your sinnes and you cannot love the Lord if you love your sinnes neither can you serve him if you will obey sinne as your Lord There is an absolute incompatibility for this both on Gods part and on your part and on the Covenants part 1. On Gods part for he cannot nor will not make any agreement with unrighteousnesse nor hold communion with any who will hold communion with darknesse he is of purer eyes than to behold sinne much more than to agree with sinne it is contrary to his nature it were dishonourable for him so to do to admit a competition with that which he so much threatens and which his soul doth hate and abhorre 2. On our part your hearts cannot be brought to hold up a Covenant with God and yet to hold up a Covenant with your sinnes you cannot love God and that which is contrary to God you cannot love sinne and that which is contrary to sinne at the same time for if you love the Lord you will hate sinne and if you love sinne you will hate the Lord. 3. On the Covenants part the Covenant of God is to change the sinful heart it is to subdue iniquity it is to cleanse us from all our uncleanesses it is to make us an holy people â—nto the Lord so that of necessity you must resolve on it to break off your Covenant with sin if you will have God to be your God in Covenant 2 Cor. 6. 17. Come one from among them and be ye separated saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you ver 18. and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sonnes and daughters saith the Lord Almighty Mark this place it shews expressely the way of coming into the Covenant you must not make agreement with darknesse nor with Idols you must separate from them you must have nothing to do with any uncleanesse that is you must resolve never to joyne your selves to any sinne never to love or serve it and then saith God I will receive you what 's that that is then I will be your God I will take you into Covenant I will own you for mine I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sonnes and daughters Are you sure that you will be so yea for thus saith the Lord Almighty Ezek. 11. 18. They shall come thither and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof verse 19. And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them c. verse 20. That they may walk in my Statutes and do them and they shall be my people and I will be their God Therefore examine your hearts what sinne lies there which makes a breach which keeps up enmity 'twixt you and God and put it farre away c. 3. If you would have the Lord to be your God in Covenant then judge your Judge your selves for your breach of Covenant with God selves for your ancient breach of the first Covenant with him and for your sins since that and confesse your absolute unworthinesse to be admitted and received into another Covenant with him O when a soul comes to be afflicted for sinnes and to acknowledge it self unworthy of mercies this soul is in a right posture for mercies God made a Covenant with us in Adam and stated life upon us in case of obedience but we presently brake Covenant with him and proved unfaithful and dealt treacherously with him fell off from him for a thing of naught and all the dayes of our lives have we been sinning and dishonouring and provoking of him so that had we our desert so farre might God be from accepting of us into a new Covenant that he might justly condemn us for our transgressing of the old Covenant if we did seriously and sadly review these things till our hearts were humbled within us and that we saw our life to be the free gift of God again and that we stood at his mercy only to spare us and pity us and accept of us and in this posture come to God and cry out O save me for thy mercies sake Lord I have undone my self I have left thee I have lost thee I have dealt unfaithfully with thee I have sinned exceedingly against thee I have gone farre from thee yet I come back to thee I hear thou art a merciful God though I am a sinful wretch I hear that thou art a gracious God though I am an unworthy sinner I hear that thou hast made a new Covenant to relieve and succour them who have violated the first Covenant I hear that this Covenant is full of grace and mercy and pity and help and happinesse I come to thee to make peace with thee to be reconciled unto me to shew me favour I perish if thou reject me I live if thou accept of me I can bring nothing I can challenge nothing only thou sayst That thou wilt have mercy on whom thou wilt have mercy and may not a poor miserable unworthy sinner be made capable of thy mercy may he not be received unto mercy why else didst thou give Christ why else didst thou set up a Covenant of grace O Lord receive me graciously and love me freely and for thine own sake become my God and make me to be one of thy people Verily this is a moving way and this is a taking way for
God and thou becamest mine 4. That the Lord doth love his people with a most tender love therefore he is With a most tender love said to betroth them unto himself in loving kindnesse and in mercies Hosea 2. 19. Loving kindnesse is a most affectionate love and mercies are tender bowels of love his love is more tender than the tenderest love of the mother to her sucking childe Isa 49. 15. yea his love is such to his people that he delights in them Isa 62. 4. and rejoyceth over them ver 5. and doth rest in his love Zeph. 3. 17. 5. That the Lord doth love his people with a love from everlasting With a love from everlasting to everlasting and to everlasting Jer. 31. 3. Yea I have loved them with an everlasting love Hosea 2. 19. I will marry thee unto my self for ever in loving kindnesse Certainly the Covenant 'twixt God and his people must hold and continue for ever it must last for ever where there is such a love of God to his people viz. such a love to them as to Christ himself such a love from which nothing shall be able to separate such a love as depends only upon his own love and which is so tender and so affectionate and is everlasting If a Covenant made only by love and if a people brought into that Covenant only by love and loved at such a rate and height even to the giving of the Sonne of God to save them I say if yet such a Covenant may be broken and if such a people may be cast off then is the truest and faithfullest love and bond never to be trusted more neither can be sure if this love be not sure 3. The power of God in relation to his people in Covenant which is a securing The power of God which is A securing power and preserving power 1. A securing power it secures their union with and relation unto Christ and that for ever peruse that excellent place in John 10. 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me Ver. 28. And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand Ver. 29. My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand Here is a description of such as are believers and are in Covenant they are called the Sheep of Christ and such as he knows and owns to be so and they hear his voice and follow him here is also a description of their sure and safe condition they shall never perish they shall never be parted from Christ ver 28. and here is a description of the cause or reason thereof viz. the greatnesse of the power of God He is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my hands as if he had said If these should misse of heaven and if these should perish it must be for want of power in me that I am not able to keep them some other power there must be which is stronger than the power of God by whose hand they are held and kept but my Father is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of his hands therefore they shall never perish but they shall have eternal life and if so then the Covenant 'twixt God and his people is an everlasting Covenant 2. A preserving power that God preserves his people the Scripture doth abundantly A preserving power testifie unto us and if I can make it evident that he by his power preserves them unto everlasting glory I think then that the everlastingnesse of the Covenant will appear unto you and for that see 1 Pet. 1. 5. who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation Mark he speaks of the people whom ver 2. he calls the elect of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit and ver 3. begotten again and of those he saith that they are kept by what power by the power of God by what means through faith unto what unto salvation untill they come to receive that incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that fades not away which is reserved in heaven for them ver 3. 2 Tim. 4. 18. The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me to his heavenly Kingdome 2 Thess 5. 23. I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelesse unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Ver. 24. Faithful is he that callâ—th you who also will do it why what can more clearly demonstrate the everlastingnesse of the Covenant with the people of God than this that they are kept by the power of God unto salvation that they are preserved unto his heavenly Kingdome that God will preserve their whole spirit and their whole soul and their whole body blamelesse unto the coming of Christ 4. The presence of God with his people he is so present with his people The presence of God with his people that he is said to be nigh unto them and to be with them and to go along with them and to hold them in his hand and to hold their hand and to bear them up nay so as to dwell in them and walk in them and this presence it is a watchful presence Isa 27. 3. I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day and it is such a powerful presence you need no other and no more but Gods presence if he be with you who can be against you I will tell you Gods presence is enough to comfort you and it is enough to strengthen you and it is enough to uphold you and it is enough to raise you and it is enough to protect you and it is enough to save you If God be present with your hearts this is enough to make your graces to act If God be present with your graces this is enough to strengthen them and enough to preserve them Now God is present with every one of his people as to their bodies as to their souls as to their graces and in a special manner and for ever I will never leave thee nor forsake thee the Lord is round about his people for evermore c. 5. The promises of God these also do cleare the everlastingnesse The promises of God God promiseth to work in his people what mâ—kes them stâ—dfast as A real work of grace of the Covenant which I shall shew unto you in six particulars 1. God doth promise to work in his people whatsoever conduceth on their part to the perpetuity or everlastingnesse of the Covenant There are five things which will make us stedfast and firme in Covenant 1. One is a real work of grace on the heart when the heart is indeed changed or renewed though counterfeit grace will faile yet real grace is permanent And God
hath promised this unto his people Ezek. 36. 26. A new heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you 2. Another is a sincere heart though hypocrisie be vanishing yet sincerity A sincere heart will continue there is faithfulnesse and stedfastnesse in sincerity and God hath promised to give this heart unto his people Ezek. 11. 19. I will give them one heart and one way Zach. 8. 3. Jerusalem shall be called a City of truth and ver 8. They shall be my people and I will be their God in truth and righteousnesse Isa 1. 22. Then shalt thou be called the City of righteousnesse the faithful City 3. A third is entire and exceeding love this will hold out unto the death yea Intire love it is stronger than death and this hath God also promised to give his people Deuteronomy 30. 6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul 4. A fourth is the fear of himself which is the beginning of wisdome and The fear of God the deliverance from sinne this also God promiseth to give unto his people in that Covenant Jer. 32. 40. I will put my feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from me 5. A fifth is sound faith 1. Of union 2. Dependance both these he Sound faith promiseth They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed but abideth fast for ever John 6. 45. They shall be all taught of God every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the father cometh to me Zeph. 3. 12. And they shall trust in the Name of the Lord. Hab. 2. 4. The just shall live by his faith 2. God doth expresly promise to keep his people from falling away from him God promiseth to keep his people from falling and that he will never leave nor forsake them 1 Sam. 12. 22. The Lord will not forsake his people for his great Name-sake because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people Psal 37. 24. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand Ver. 28. The Lord forsaketh not his Saints they are preserved for ever Psalme 94. 18. When I said my foot slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up Hosea 14. 4. I will heal their back-slidings 2 Thess 3. 3. The Lord is faithful who shall stablish you 3. God doth expresly promise to strengthen and increase their grace The righteous God promiseth to strengthen and increase their grace shall hold on his way and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger Job 17. 9. The path of the just shall be as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day Prov. 4. 18. He will make all grace to abound he will work in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure Those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God they shall still bring forth fruit in old age 4. God doth promise to confirm his people unto the end and to finish the work God promiseth to confirm his people to the end which he hath begun in them 1 Cor. 1. 8. He shall confirm you to the end that ye may be blamelesse in the day of our Lord Jesus Phil. 1. 6. Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begunne a good work in you will perform it will perfect it he will carry it on untill the day of Jesus Christ 5. God doth promise to break down all which might else cause his people to God promiseth to over-power whatsoever may make his people tâ— break Covenant break off the Covenant There are but five causes supposable for the breaking off that Covenant on our part and God removes every one of them from his people 1. One is the power of sin but God hath promised to subdue our iniquities Mic. 7. 19. And sin shall not have dominion over us Rom. 6. 14. 2. A second is the power of Satan but God hath promised that he will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape 1 Cor. 10. 13. He hath promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his people Matth. 16. 18. He hath promised that the seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head Gen. 3. 15. and that he will bruise Satan under our feet Rom. 16. 20. and resist the devil and he shall flye from you James 4. 7. 3. A third is the power of the world but said Christ to his Disciples John 16. 33. Be of good chear I have overcome the world and 1 John 5. 4. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even over faith 4. A fourth is the supposed liberty and inconstancy of mans will that a man if he will he may cast off his God and give over to be one of his people but this God promiseth to remove by giving of his own Spirit which shall cause us to walk in his Statutes and to keep his Laws and to do them Ezekiel 36. 27. and Jeremiah 32. 39. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever 5. A supposition that God will substract or with-draw his grace from his people Neither shall this be for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance so Rom. 11. 29. And Mary hath chosen the good part which shall not be takâ—n from her Luke 10. 42. 2. A second Argument to demonstrate the everlastingnesse of the Covenant 'twixt God and his people shall be taken from several considerations of Christ From several considerations of Christ and believers and believers who are the people in Covâ—nant 1. Christs suretiship 2. Christs Mediatorship 3. Christs union with them 4. Christs love 5. Christs intercession 6. Christs promises and preparations for them 1. The suretiship of Christ in Heb. 7. 22. Christ is said to be made a surety The suretiship of Christ of a better Covenant so I conceive the word should be rendred viz. Covenant and not Testament for a surety is not of a Testament but of a Covenant A surety is one who is engaged and stands bound for another and is responsable for him as Judah for Benjamine Gen. 43. 9. I will be surety for him of my hands shall they require him And in matters of contract 'twixt person and persons a surety is taken in for this very end That the contract may be made sure and good may not faile but be truly and perfectly performed and the surety is a distinct person undertaking and engaging in the behalf of him who is of himself the more weak and insufficient contractor As to this consideration Christ is stiled the surety of the
Our life 3. Our peace 4. Our hope The Titles of Christ 5. Our Shepherd 6. Our Father 7. Our friend 8. Our Brother 9. Our Head 10. Our Husband 11. Our King 12. Our Saviour Verily the Covenant must needs be everlasting 'twixt us and our God who have such a Christ so engaged for us so mediating for us so strictly united to us so exceedingly loving of us so continually watchful and careful and helpful ever loving ever praying ever helping and resolved to save us 3. A third Argument to demonstrate the everlastingnesse of the Covenant shall From the Spirit of God which every one hath who is in Covenant with God be taken from the Spirit of God which every one hath who is in Covenant with God Ezek. 36. 27. I will put my Spirit within you Now there are ten works which the Spirit of God doth for all the people of God 1. He doth change their hearts 2 Cor. 3. 18. We all beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2. He doth mortifie their sinful lusts Rom. 8. 13. If ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body 3. He makes known the things of God unto them and teacheth them all things 1 Cor. 2. 10. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit 1 Joh. 2. 27. Teacheth you of all things 4. He doth powerfully enable them for all the works of obedience Ezekiel 36. 27. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and you shall keep my judgements and do them 5. He doth dwell in them Rom. 8. 11. and he dwells in them for ever Joh. 14. 17. and dwelling in them he makes them a fit habitation for God Ephes 2. 22. 6. He doth guid and lead them Joh. 16. 13. The Spirit of truth he will guid you into all truth Rom. 8. 14. As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God 7. He doth sustain or uphold them Psal 51. 12. Vphold me with thy free Spirit 8. He helps them in their infirmities Romans 8. 26. and supplies them Phil. 1. 19. 9. He beares witnesse that they are the children of God and if children then heires Heires of God and joynt Heires with Christ Rom. 8. 16 17. 10. He Seals them unto the day of Redemption Eph. 4. 30. and moreover abides in their hearts he is the earnest of their inheritance untill the Redemption of the purchased possession 4. A fourth Argument to demonstrate the everlastingnesse of the Covenant From some considerations in the people of God They are born again of incorruptible seed Partakers of the divine nature They are the house built upon the Rock They are delivered from the power of darknesse Their hearts are set on God and only on him 'twixt God and his people shall have respect to some considerations in the people of God 1. They are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever 1 Pet. 1. 23. 2. They are partakers of the divine nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. and of the life of Christ 2 Cor. 4. 11. 3. They are the house built upon the Rock which fell not because it was builded upon a Rock Mat. 7. 25. and that Rock is Christ who is a sure foundation Isa 38. 16. 4. They are delivered from the power of darknesse and translated into the Kingdome of Christ Colossians 1. 13. And his Kingdome is an everlasting Kingdome unto the Sonne he saith Thy Throne is for ever and ever Heb. 1. 8. 5. Their hearts are superlatively set on God and only on him Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none that I desire upon earth besides thee God is my portion for ever Psal 73. 25 26. 6. They are strenghthened with might by his Spirit and rooted and grounded in They are strengthened with might They are the Pillars in the Temple of God They are the inheritance of God love Ephes 3. 16 17. 7. They are the Pillars in the Temple of God and shall go no more out Revelations 3. 12. 8. They are the inheritance of God his portion his peculiar treasure and purchased with the blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1. 19. He would never pay so dear a price for them and then put them off Isa 49. 25. And Israel mine Inheritance Zach. 2. 12. The Lord shall inherit Judah his portion Deut. 32. 9. The Lords portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his inheritance Psamle 135. 4. The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure 9. The commands and wayes and communions with God are no burdans to them The commands of God are not burdensome but delightful to thē not grievous because they are born of God and love him 1 John 5. 3. But pleasing and delightful The Law of God is written in their hearts Jer. 31. 33. Psal 119. 16. I will delight my self in thy Statutes Ver. 24. Thy Testimonies are my delight Cant. 2. 3. I sate down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet unto my taste 10. They hate evil Psal 97. 10. and loath their abominations Ezekiel They hate evil 36. and have crucified the flesh with the lusts and affections thereof Galations 5. 11. They are a people who live by faith and are much in prayer that God They live by faith and are much in prayer would work all his works in them and for them that he would not leave them nor forsake them that he would preserve and uphold and confirm and stablish them unto the end They work out their own salvation with feare and trembling 2. The reason why the Covenant which God makes with his people is an everlasting Reasons of it In respect of God Covenant and shall be so 1. There are reasons for this in respect of God 1. His Wisdome hath contrived this Covenant in a way of everlastingnesse His wisdome which appeares in three particulars 1. He layes the foundation of it not upon our selves but Christ not on our will and power but on the power and sufficiency of Jesus Christ 2. He engages himself for himself and for his people to keep them unto himself and from falling and to continue them to be his people for ever not only to give them grace but to preserve that grace not only to beginne a good work but also to finish it 3. He promiseth mercy to pardon the sins of his people and grace to heal their back-slidings None of these were in the Covenant of works and therefore that lasted not but all these are in the Covenant of grace and therefore it is everlasting 2. His purpose his purpose in making of this Covenant was to exalt and glorifie His purpose and magnifie the greatnesse of his love and the riches
righteousnesse of Christ by faith and you have the pardon of your sins by faith you are heirs of all by faith He that believeth on the Sâ—n hath everlasting life Joh. 3. 26. The promise that he should be the heir of the World was not to Abraham or to his seed through the Law but through the righteousness of Faith Rom. 4. 13. 4. All the dealings with God as a God in Covenant is by Faith you can have no communion with him at all without faith you cannot acknowledge him All our dealings with God is by Faith nor love him nor desire him nor delight in him nor call upon him nor trust him nor take any thing from him nor make any use of him or of his promises but by faith Heb. 11. 6. He that cometh to God must believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him James 1. 6. But let him ask in faith c. SECT II. Quest 1. BUt now come three Questions what Faith that is which is necessary and which must be put forth to bring us into the Covenant and without which we neither are nor can be in Covenant with God 2. Whether Faith only be the condition What faith it is that is the condition 3. Why Faith is the condition 1. What Faith it is that is the condition Sol. There are several distinctions of Faith considered in the kindes of it of which I shall not speak and there are several conditions of the same Faith in respect of the particular acts issuing or following from it 1. That Faith which brings us into the Covenant is a Faith which respects A faith which respects Christ Christ or which is conversant about Christ No other Faith but this Faith and of this Faith there are divers acts 1. One is an uniting act 2. And there is a justifying act 3. A third is a drawing act The faith which brings us into the Covenant is that faith which doth unite us unto A faith that doth unite us to Christ Christ which makes us one with him And we being thus united to Christ we are thereupon and therefore in the Covenant Faith considered as justifying doth not bring us into the Covenant for our justifying follows our being in the Covenant we must first be in the Covenant before we can have Righteousnesse and forgivenesse of sins Neither doth faith as drawing any grace from Christ bring us into the Covenant Forasmuch as all the fruits of communion are consequents unto us being first in the Covenant But it is faith considered only as uniting us unto Christ which brings us into the Covenant For the opening of this Point which is as difficult and weighty as any that I meet with give me favour to enlarge my self a little in shewing unto you 1. That there is an union twixt Christ and us 2. That faith is the means or instrument of that union 3. That our interest in the Covenant necessarily flows from this union with Christ 1. That there is an union twixt Christ and us not an imaginary union an union There is a union betwixt Christ and us only in the apprehension of the minde as an object apprehended is conveyed and united to the intellect but a very real union Hence it is that the Church is called the Body and Christ is called the Head Ephes 5. 23. Christ is the Head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the body And verse 30 Ye are members of his body and of his flesh and of his bonâ—s Now there is a real union 'twixt the body and the head and between every member of the body and of the head they are all joyned to the head by the Nerves and Ligatures from whence they receive their sensation and strength In like manner there is an union between us and Christ we are joyned to the Lord 1 Cor. 6. 17. and he is â—oyned unto us c. The Church is called a building and house and Christ is called the foundation and corner-stone Eph. 2. 20. We are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the Corner-stone 1 Pet. 2. 4. To whom coming as unto a living stone verse 5 ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house c. There is an union twixt the building and the foundation the building depends upon the foundation and the foundation bears up the building The Church is the Branches and Christ is the Vine Joh. 15. 5. I am the Vine and ye are the branches The living branches have their union with the roots there they grow and there they live and are nourished The Church is called the Spouse and Wife of Christ and Christ the Husband I will marry thee to my self Hosea 2. 19. I have espoused you unto one husband saith Paul 2 Cor. 11. 2. And twixt them the union is so near that they are called one flesh Gen. 2. 24. so likewise are Christ and they who are united to Christ called one Spirit 1 Cor. 6. 17. 2. That faith is the means and instrument of our union with Christ By which we Faith is the instrument of our union are near to him enjoy him are joyned unto him possesse him as ours And this the Scripture holds forth unto us abundantly in the several expressions of faith Our believing is sometimes stiled a coming to Christ Come unto me and No man comes to me except c. A receiving of Christ Joh. 1. 12. To as many as received him c. A livingly Christ and a living in Christ Because I live ye shall live also Joh. 14. 19. I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God Gal. 2. 20. and a joyning to Christ 1 Cor. 6. 17. A being in Christ Ye are in Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 1. 30. and that is by faith A partaking of Christ a planting of us into Christ and Christ is said to dwell in us by faith and so do we dwell in him by faith and abide in him by faith A eating and drinking of Christ Joh. 6. 56. When the Spirit of God works faith in our hearts our hearts are now brought in to Christ they are subdued and captivated We embrace Christ and we come in to Christ and Christ is ours and we are his and the whole heart ir setled upon Christ and knit unto Christ and becomes one with Christ 3. Our interest in the Covenant necessarily follows from this union with Christ Our interest in the Covenant 〈◊〉 from 〈…〉 The â—â—â—enaÌ„t was 〈◊〉 â—ade with Christ and 〈◊〉 us in relation to Christ Being brought by faith into Christ you are now in the Covenant And that I shall clear unto you thus 1. The Covenant of God was made first with Christ as the head of the Church and with us in relation unto Christ and with Christ in
a distance so that they cannot close that same hinders union Now there are four things which keep the soule and Christ at a distance Christ and we cannot close whiles they continue and faith breaks them all down 1. A proud conceit of our own fulnesse Righteousness sufficiency I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance said Christ And the whâ—le need From a proud conceit of our own fulnesse no physitian but the sick And the Son of man is câ—me to seek and to save that which was lost Now faith that unites to Christ breaks this partition wall and levels this mountain it empties the sinner of himself it takes away all confidence in himself and will by no means suffer him to rest upon or to be found in his own righteousnesse Phil. 3. 3. We rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh verse 9. And be found in him not having mine own righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ 2. A love of sin This is likewise an absolute hindrance of union with Christ From a love of sin That heart cannot close with Christ which closeth with sin and Christ will not close with that heart which is joyned to sin Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Hosea 4. 17. as if he should say his heart loves Idols and therefore I will have nothing to do with him So Joh. 3. 19. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light Christ is that light and he presented and offered himself to sinners but they loved thier sins and would not part with them to joyne with Christ Now faith which brings a soule to Christ hath parted that soule and sin it hath given a bill of divorce unto sin it takes off the heart from sin what shall I prefer hell before heaven shall I prefer damnation before salvation shall I for this sinful lusts-sake deny Christ my heart refuse to marry him who is the Son of God the Lord of glory the Prince of Peace the Saviour of sinners What have I to do any more with Idols said Ephraim Hosea 14. 8. Get thee hence said they in Isa 30. 22. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein Rom. 6. 2. 3. A love of the world He that loveth Father or Mother more than me is not From a love of the world worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me Matth 10. 37. If a man saith I will have my ease and I will have my liberty and I will have my pleasures and I will have my profits and I will have my friends and I will have my honours and I will not have Christ with any losse or crosse this man loves the world and this hinders union with Christ The young man lost Christ upon this very account Luke 18. 22 23. But if Faith indeed be wrought in the heart all this language is removed out of the way Faith overcomes the world 1 Joh. 5. 4. The Merchants sold all for to buy the pearle of great price and Moses in Heb. 11. 24 25 26. We have forsaken all and followed thee said the Disciples When a man hath faith he can be content to be Fatherlesse and Motherlesse to be friendlesse and landlesse to part with all rather than he will be Christlesse Faith sees enough in Christ though he should enjoy no more but Christ Faith will enable us to trample upon the world so that we may enjoy Christ it will enable us to break off with all and to breake down all to possesse him who is better than all 4. Vnbelief This locks and shuts up the heart that it cannot move at all to From unbelief Christ cannot see Christ nor hear Christ nor desire Christ nor give consent to Christ But faith breakes down unbelief breaks open the prison and breaks asunder all the shackles and fetters of unbelief answers all exceptions reasonings cavils delayes fears doubts and sets the soule at liberty and works in the whole soule to Christ O beloved try your hearts by what I have spoken in this particular you think that you have this uniting faith But what hath that faith wrought upon you and within you to bring you and Christ together It is not so easie a work to match Christ and the soule together nothing can do that but faith and no faith can do that but such a faith which presents Christ in that height of goodness and beauty and excellency that the soul is drawn out with that strength and vehemency of desire after Christ as to part with all to enjoy Christ c. And who hath found it thus Is there not yet something or other which stand between Christ and our hearts c. 3. Thirdly you may know whether your faith be indeed a faith of union by The acts by which the soul is brought into union those acts or workings in the soule immediately and necessarily to make up an union between a soule and Christ unto which when the soule attains then Christ is ours and we are Christs For as there are some acts which are immediate to constitute a conjugal union twixt person and person without which there is no conjugal relation between them and upon which the relation is immediately made so there are some acts of the soul immediate to the being of the Spiritual union twixt a person and Christ without which there is no relation and upon which there is an immediate relation twixt him and Christ There are two acts upon the soule when the union is made between Christ and us 1. One is an act or work of the Spirit on the behalf of Christ testifying unto our An act of the Spirit testifying that Christ is willing to be ours hearts and perswading our hearts that Jesus Christ is contented is very willing to become ours to be an Husband to us to be our Head to be our Saviour Jesus Christ doth outwardly expresse his consent in the Gospel but he inwardly delivers it unto us by his Spirit As by the spirit he becomes ours If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8. 9. So by the Spirit he testifies his willingness and consent to be ours yea and that he is ours Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us 1 Joh. 3. 24. 2. The other is the act or effect of faith on our behalf For the Spirit in testifying unto us the willingnesse and consent of Christ to be ours doth at the same An act of faith in a Reciprocal câ—nsent from us to Christ time work faith in our hearts which draws out a reciprocal consent from us to Châ—ist And therefore as Christ is said to abide in us by his Spirit so he is said to dwell in us by faith These
mercy grace joy peace salvation in him 7. This union 'twixt us and Christ by faith it is a firme and inseparable union A firm and inseparable union An union that can never be bâ—oken asunder and herein it goes beyond all other unions which are used to illustrate this union every one of them is soluble it may be broken off the Head and the body may be severed the Foundation and the House may be separated The Branches may be cut off â—rom the Vine The Husband may be taken away from the Wife and the Wife from the Husband Yea the soule and body may be disunited by death But the union 'twixt us and Christ remaines for ever There is not only a continuation of it all our life but also in death itself your very bodies sleeping in the the dust are even then in union with Christ I grant that the sense and apprehension of this union may in this life be much interrupted and many times be wholly darkned but the substance of the union still remaines and I grant that the substance or nature of this union may be exceedingly assaulted by Satan yet neverthelesse it continues and abides for ever For Christ will never part with the believer and the believer will never part with Christ And moreover as no power in the world is sufficient to over-power the Spirit of Christ which on Christs part makes union so no power whatsoever shall be able to conquer faith which on our part also makes the union This faith of union as it is produced by no lesse power than that of God so it is preserved and upheld by the same power to the end Neither God nor Christ nor the Holy Ghost nor the heart of a believer will break this union and neither Satan nor the world nor sin can do it 5. If your faith be indeed the faith of union this will appear by these influences The influences and effects which do attend this union and effects which do alwayes attend that union which faith works between us and Christ When we are by faith united to Christ then upon this union there follows a communion betwixt Christ and us in which Christ communicates or imparts somethings of his unto us And we likewise do communicate and impart some thing in us unto him Upon this union there follows such a communion twixt Christ and us as that we do partake of and have fellowship in the most excellent things of We have fellowship with Christ Christ We have fellowship with him 1. In the same Spirit Rom. 8. 9 11. and 1 Cor. 6. 17. And by the same Spirit are we reconciled and sanctified though not in the fulnesse and measure as In the same Spirit Christ himself was and changed by him into the same image of Christ 2 Cor. 3. 18. 2. In the same life As he that hath the Son hath life 1 Joh. 5. 10. so he that In the same Liâ—e hath the Son hath the same life which the Son hath I live yet not â— but Christ liveth in me Gal. 2. 20. The Head and the body the Tree and the branches partake of the same life 3. In the same Righteousness His Righteousnesse is our righteousnesse He is the Lord our righteousnesse Jer. 23. 6. and we are made the righteousnesse of God In the same Righteousness in him 2 Cor. 5. 21. 4. In the same Relation So that as he was the Son of God by eternal Generation In the same Relation in like manner are we the sons of God by adoption so that he is not ashamed to call us brethren Heb. 2. 11 12. 5 In his victories In all these things we are more than conquerors through In his victories Christ that loved us Rom. 8. 37. 6. In his glory The glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they In his glory may be one even as we are one All these things are most certainly imparted unto every believer upon his union with Christ Jesus Christ communicates unto him his own Spirit his own Holinesse his own Righteousnesse c. And hence it is apparent that they never were united by faith unto Christ in whom nothing of communion with Christ can be found Rom. 8. 9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature c. 2. Upon this union with Christ there is yet another part of communion in respect of us and there are two things especially which we do impart to Christ one We impart to Christ is love the other is subjection for by â—aith we are united to Christ as the Wife to the Husband which is an union of love and also to Christ as members of the body to the head which takes in an union of subjection 1. If saith hath united us to Christ then do we love Christ every Believer Love loves Christ Saw ye him whom my soule lâ—veth so the Church Cant. 3. 1. 2 3. Lord Thou knowest all things Thou knowest that I love thee So Peter Joh. 21. 17. Whom having not seen ye love so the Apostle 1 Pet. 1. 8. And how doth the true believer who is united to Christ love Christ How the believer loves Christ 1. He loves his Christ with the Love of friendship he loves Christ for Christ himself 2. He loves his Christ with a love of complacency O how sweet and lovely is this Christ 3. He loves his Christ with a love of satisfaction Christ is enough he is my center in whom I rest 4. He loves his Christ with a love of sincerity Christ and nothing that is contrary to Christ 5. He loves his Christ with a love of excellency nothing so much nothing so well as Christ 6. He loves Christ with a love of extremity he is sick of love for Christ he so loves Christ that he thinks he never loves Christ as Christ deserves to be loved 7. He loves Christ with a love of fidelity so as nothing can quench that love nor break off that love 8. He loves his Christ with a love of benevolence O how much prosperity doth he wish to Christ 9. He loves his Christ with a love of beneficency what would not he do for Christ what would he not suffer for Christ 10. He loves his Christ with a love of sympathy what Christ doth love he doth love and what doth please Christ that doth please him and what doth grieve and trouble Christ that doth grieve and trouble him O Sirs uniting faith sees so much in Christ and findes so much from Christ it makes us partakers of such a Christ and of such a love from Christ that it is impossible but that soule must love Christ which by Faith is united to Christ 2. If your faith be the faith of union with Christ then it will certainly cause in Sujection unto Christ you a subjection unto Christ
By pleading the Covenant he hath promised unto all his people in Covenant with him the strength to keep the Covenant lies in the Covenant and by faith you get it Thou said'st that thou wouldst do me good said Jacob Gen. 32. 12. So Lord thou said'st that thou wouldest give me thy Spirit to cause me to walk in thy statutes and to do them Ezek. 36. 27. Thou said'st thou would'st write thy Law in my heart Now Lord according to thy word and Covenant help strengthen keep direct establish my heart subdue mine iniquities suffer me not to be tempted above what I am able let thy grace be sufficient for me make thy power manifest in weakness c. 2. By keeping up communion with Christ and drawing vertue and influence from By keeping up communion with Christ him without me ye can do nothing said Christ I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me said Paul Why It is in and by Christ that we are what we are that we do what we do that we are strengthened with all might that we stand that we walk that we work that we run our race that we finish our course that we continue in wel-doing to the end Now faith keeps up our hearts and keeps up communion with Christ our Head our Root our Life our Fountain our Strength and our Sufficiency and receives out of his fulnesse and makes us partakers of his life and of his death and of his victories over sin and Satan and the world and of his strength for active and passive obedience 3. By taking us off from all our own self-sufficiencies and self-confidences which By taking us off from our own self sufficiency breed nothing but pride and presumption and hypocrisie and apostasie and carelesness and exciting our hears to pray and to fear and to watch and diligently to attend the Ordinances of Christ all which are meanes to strengthen and preserve us in well-doing c 4. By observing the continual mercies of God to us in the things of this life and By observing the continual mercies of God to us the gracious performance of his promises unto us both which are as so many cords to bind us faster unto God and are of great force with a believing heart to engage it more unto God and to walk the more closely and faithfully and exactly and fruitfully before him to be the more ashamed to sin against him to be barren and uneven with so blessing and encouraging a God! 5. By letting in the love of God in Christ the goodness and sweetness of his favour By letting in the love of God in Christ into our hearts into our Consciences It is faith which hath the sight of all the kindness of God and conveyes unto us the tasts of all the mercy of God how God stands affected to us how accepted we are with him what grace our poor souls have found in his eyes what his thoughts are of us and how dear we are to his soule And verily if Faith be the glasse as it were for us to see the face of our loving God O how will this inflame and knit our hearts in love to God again and how will that love continue us to the choisest to the fullest to the chearfullest to the faithfullest service of obedience 5. By holding out before us both the honour of God and the reward of God By holding out before us the honour of God Our faithfull walking with him is an honour to him and a delight to him These are my people these live like a people of God they glorifie him and that is the great Argument which faith useth to make the people of God and the rewards of God to be faithfull and stedfast Herein is my Father glorified Joh. 15. 8. And besides that it holds out the crown of life the great recompence of reward that Well done good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord Hold fast that which thou haâ—â— that no man take thy 〈◊〉 He that continues to the end shall be saved And faith he 〈◊〉 wâ—aâ— God hath done for us and what God â—s still to us and what an immortal inheritance and exceedingly exceeding weight of Glory he hath prepared and reserved for us doth thereupon quicken encourage support draw out our hearts to be industrious obedient diligent and faithful 3. The third and last duty from this that you are by Faith united to Christ Remember Jesus Christ and brought into the Covenant is this Remember your Jesus Christ remember that it is Christ only upon whose account you and God are in Covenant he is the door of your hope he is the Way the Truth and the Life in him are ye found and in him have you found life and love and mercy and grace and peace and salvation You could never have seen the reconciled loving gracious God as your God but in and by him He hath made you near and accepted and beloved and blessed He alone Therefore 1. Never magnifie your selves but Christ never ascribe any thing to your To magnifie him worthiness but ascribe all to Christ O Christ I had never seen nor tasted nor enjoyed this nor that nor any thing but for thy sake 2. Love Jesus Christ exceedingly for himself and for all the treasures of To love him the Covenant opened for you and laid out upon you c. 3. Go still in his Name unto the Father By him you come into Covenant Go unto the Father in his Name and by him you obtain successively every good 〈…〉 Coâ—enant c. Jesus the Mediatour of the Covenant Hebrews 12. 24. And to Iesus the Mediatour of the New Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel THE Apostle in the 14. verse of this Chapter exhorts the believing Hebrews unto whom he wrote this Epistle to the serious study and practice of peace and holinesse And in the 15. verse he dehorts them from all bitternesse of spirit and profanenesse of life This latter he doth enforce by an argument ab exemplo in verse 16. from Esau that loose and profane person who for one morsel of bread sold his birth-right preferring the satisfaction of his sensual appeâ—ite before the fruition of so a great blessing and dignity the which he therefore forfeited and could never obtain although he sought it carefully with tears verse 17. The former duty of holinesse he urgeth upon them from the consideration of their evangelical estate that is of the excellencies blessings and priviledges which they had obtained by the Gospel of Grace To illustrate this the more he makes a comparison between the Law and the Gospel and the condition under the one with the condition under the other from verse 18. to verse 25. wherein he doth represent unto them their admirable advantages by the Gospel and therefore their stronger obligation to embrace it and to live answerable
Sun at Noon-day there is such an iâ—lustrious evidence of our relation unto and propriety in Christ that there is not only no fear or doubts but also an abundant assurance and satisfaction that Christ is ours Now I dare not affirme this latter of every one for whom Christ dyed a triumphant assurance ordinarily is the portion of those who have been extraordinarily humbled and who are pick't out for gâ—eat seâ—vices or who are sufferers for Christ yet the former some time or other is the portion of every Believer Again there is an assurance 1. More fixed and permanent which abides and dwells with the soul for a long space of time 2. More quick and transient which I would call a saluting assurance Jesus Christ doth give an hint by the Spirit of his love and of his relation sometimes in our mournings sometimes in our praying sometimes in our meditations sometimes in our hearings Be of good comfort Thy sins are forgiven thee And this revives the soul but it doth not last long upon the soul Though every Believer for whom Christ dyed perhaps attains not unto the permanent assurance yet I humbly conceive that some time or other he doth to the transient assurance Once more there is an assurance 1. Mediate by way of Argument which is a conclusion from unquestionable premises as thus He that believes shall be saved and he that repents shall be pardoned Now a person throughly searching and weighing his condition by the Word and conscience finds full grounds that he believes and that he repents and therefore by an Argumentative faith and conscience concludes certainly that his sins are pardoned and that his soul shall be saved 2. Immediate by way of Illumination when the Spirit of Christ lets in such a brightnesse of light that we do plainly see all his workmanship of faith and grace in our hearts and all our titles and relations to Christ Simile all appears in that perfect evidence as the several colours do when the perfect light attends them I would be understood in the former sense and not in the latter so then this is the summe of my answer that every true believer some time or other of his life doth attain unto some real assurance though perhaps but weak and transient and argumentative and late Reasons The reasons inducing me to this opinion are these viz. First Some assurance is necessary though not to the absolute being of a Christian yet unto his comfortable being and unto the honour of the believing condition the soul would faint and fail if it should walk under perpetual silence and darknesse but God will not suffer that therefore some time or other he comforts the soul and that comfort lies in this assurance of inteâ—est in Christ and in the benefits of his death Secondly The earnest groans of the Spirit and requests causally made by it are not in vain for he makes requests according to the will of God Rom. 8. 27. 1 Joh. 5. 14. which request does certainly speed first or last but every Believer earnestly prays for assurance yea Christ himself saith John 16. 23. Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my Name he will give it you ver 24. Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full Whence I infer If the Father will give whatsoever we ask in the Name of Christ then he will give us assurance If we shall upon asking receive such an answer that our joy shall be full then some time or other we shall receive this assurance for upon this depends our joy and fulnesse of joy Thirdly Some time or other in this life every believer attains unto true peace of conscience for 1. That is one portion bought for us by the blood of Christ to be enjoyed in this life 2. That is expressely and often promised unto the people of God he will speak peace unto them and will create the fruits of the lips peace unto them 3. Otherwise the renewed conscience would be of as little comfort as the evil conscience but that peace of conscience flows from some evidence that God is satisfied and reconciled unto us in Christ and hath pardoned our sins and will save us for if these things be not done and if we in some measure know them not to be done conscience cannot speak peace unto us Fourthly God will not be wanting to any of his people in any means which may serve to draw out their love and praises That God who expects our praises and delights in our love certainly will present unto us the best means for our love and praises Now of all means whatsoever for the quickning and drawing forth of these none is comparable unto the assurance or certain knowledge that Christ is ours and God is reconciled unto us in Christ and hath for his sake forgiven us our sins Fifthly The sealing Ordinance of the Lords Supper is purposely instituted for to bring the believer in Christ to an assurance of his interest in the benefits of the death of Christ and shall this never take effect in the believer for whose sake it is instituted and who is told in particular This is my body which was broken for you 1 Cor. 11. 24. and given for you Luke 22. 19. and This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you ver 20. Sixthly Nay it would be very strange that any Believer should be interested in such a choice love of God and Christ and be brought into so near an union with Christ as to be married unto him Hosea 2. 19. and yet Christ should never tell or assure him that he loves him it is the nature of love to manifest it self and also into so gracious a communion with the Father and the Son as to have fellowship with them 1 Joh. 1. 3. every day to converse with them and yet never know their love unto him Moreover that God the Father and Christ his Son should come unto him and make their abode with him Joh. 14. 23. and that Christ should promise He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him ver 21. and yet that this believing person should never in all his life have any knowledge of this especially Christ assuring all that I have known of the Father I have made known unto you Joh. 15. 15. Seventhly Let me adde one thing more that a Believer should have all the helps and causes apt and able to give him an assurance v. g. all the promises faith a renewed conscience and the very Spirit of Christ and yet all these should lie dormant all his life long and not give one word of assurance that he is Christs or that Christ is his and that God is reconciled to him surely this doth not seem to be probable especially seeing the Believer is particularly concerned in all the transactions of Christ and all those transactions have a peculiar respect unto him Nor do I
upon earth that doth good and sinneth not Prov. 20. â—9 Who can say I have made my heart pure I am clean from sin James 3. 2. In many things we offend all 2. By the spiritual conflict 'twixt grace and sin in justified persons Rom. 7 23. I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members Ver. 24. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Gal. 5. 17. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit agninst the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would There is three-fold state of man 1. Corrupted wherein is nothing but sin and yet all is quiet 2. Glorified wherein is nothing but holiness as in heaven 3. Regenerate where there is flesh and spirit sin and grace 3. By the duties incumbent on justified persons as 1. Prayer to be kept from sin Psal 19. 13. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me Psal 119. 113. Order my steps in thy Word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me and prayer for the pardon of sins committed Psal 25. 11. For thy Name sake O Lord pardon mine iniquity for it is great c. Ver. 18. Forgive all my sins 2. Further mortifying of sin Colos 3. 4. When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear in glory but in the mean time Ver 5. Mortifie your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection c. 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having therefore these promises Dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God 4. By the examples of the best men sinning Noah Lot Abraham Jacob Moses David Jehoshaphat Peter and all these when they were in a justified condition 5. Experience What one child of God hath there been or is there in the world who doth not find much sin dwelling in him although he be delivered from the condemnation of sin Rom. 8. 11. and from the dominion of sin Rom. 6. 14. Yet he is not perfectly in this life delivered from the inhabitation of sin and motions and conflicts and actions of sin If any of us who indeed are in Christ and justified by him have ever surveyed the clearest and fairest day of our life when our hearts have been most enlarged and our feet most upheld we shall with all our good find a great mixture of evil so that we daily see as much cause to mourn for our own filthinesse as to blesse God for his goodnesse 2. As sin doth still remain in persons justified so God doth see that remaining God sees that remaining sin sin in them he that made the eye shall not he see all things are naked and open before him Gods seeing is diversly taken in Scripture First Sometimes for his approving Gen. 1. 31. And God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good Jonah 3. 10. And God saw their works that they turnd from their evil way He saw this with an eye of approbation Now in this sense God doth not see sin in any man neither good nor bad neither justified nor unjustified for he is of purer eyes than to behold evil Hab. 1. 13. and cannot look upon iniquity i. e. with approbation or liking Secondly For his wrathful observing and intention to condemn and destroy Jer. 7. 11. Is this house which is called by my Name become a Den of Robbers in your eyes behold even I have seen it saith the Lord ver 12. But go now unto my place which was in Shiloh where I set my Name at the first and see what I did to it for the wickednesse of my people Israel Hos 6. 10. I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel there is the whoredom of Ephraim Israel is defiled c. Gen. 6. God saw the wickednesse of man that it was great upon the earth If you understand Gods seeing of sin for such an apprehension of sin as for it in wrath to judge and condemn and eternally to destroy the sinner in this sence God doth not see sin in any that he pardons or justifies Thirdly Sometimes for his knowing and taking notice of a thing and that with dislike although not so far as finally to condemn Now in this sense God doth see the sins of justified persons The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good Prov. 15. 3. Job 10. 14. If I sin thou markest me Psal 90. 8. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee our secret sins in the light of thy Countenance Psal 51. 4. Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight 2 Sam. 12. 9. Why hast thou said Nathan to David despised the Commandement of the Lord to do this evil in his sight This was that which did so aggravate Davids sin and so much break Davids heart Object But these are places for Believers in the Old Testament whereas they who deny Gods seeing of sin mean it of Believers under the New Testament Sol. The Believers under the Old Testament were justified by Christ their sins were laid upon Christ and taken away by Christ as well as believers under the New Testament 2. Why do they bring most of their proofs for this Opinion out of the Old Testament As God seeth no iniquity in Jacob And thou art all fair my love and they shall be as white as snow and blotted out c. 3. But see for the New Testament Luke 15. 21. where you have the confession of a penitent child I have sinned against heaven and before thee or in thy sight Rev. 2. 4. I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love Thirdly As God sees the sins in justified persons so likewise is he offended God is offended with their sins with those sinnes But of this I shall speak more fully in answer to the next Question Fourthly Gods covering or hiding of sin in Justification is not Exclusive of or inconsistent with Gods seeing of sin in his people being rightly understood for Gods covering of sin is not exclusive of his seeing of sin there is a two-fold covering of sin 1. From condemnation Thus when God forgives sins he covers sins so that they shall never appear and rise up to condemn the person 2. From apprehension and dislike Thus though the person be forgiven and justified yet if he full into sin God sees it and dislikes it yea hates it though for Christs sake be doth forgive the Person Object But how can this be that God should see any sin in believers who have the Righteousnesse of Jesus Christ which is perfect and without all sinne Sol. I answer First If the Righteousnesse of Christ were
given him yet he may lose the comfortable sight and feeling of it either by some great transgression or by his pride or by his covetousness c. O but do not lose the hive which hath so much honey by all means so preserve this favour and this mercy that still you may fetch joy and comfort and support from it and therefore when you have attained unto the forgiveness of your sins learn then 1. To walk humbly with your forgiving and reconciled God the more is forgiven the more cause of humility confessing still your unworthiness of so great a mercy and that God did forgive your sins not for your sake but for his own Name sake be not lifted up at all but remember still your own sins which God hath forgiven as Paul did and upon what gracious terms God forgave you Who am I said David I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies said Jacob. 2. To walk exactly before your forgiving God David saith in Psal 32. 1. Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven Psal 32. 1 2. Blessed is the man in whose Spirit there is no guile and Psal 119. 1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the way of the Lord. Ver. 3. They do no iniquity they walk in his wayes O that my wayes were so directed that I might keep thy statutes 3. To walk stedfastly with so good a God O that we could but attain one thing viz. to keep up that frame of spirit and that path or practice of walking which we found in our selves when God was pleased to let into our hearts the news that our sins were forgiven and that we could still continue so to walk with that thankfulness with that humbleness with that tenderness with that delightfulness with that enlargement then would our Sun still shine with strength then would our forgiveness still appear in sight and would afford unto us a long harvest of joyes and living springs of lastâ—ng comfort Fourthly Improve the forgiveness of your sins so as to be able in your distresses Improve it in distresses and tryals to draw comfortable conclusions from it and tryals to draw out and maintain such Conclusions every way as that mercy is a ground and Foundation for Quest You will say What might one conclude from this that God hath forgiven his sins Sol. I will mention some Conclusions which may infallibly be drawn from it viz. First You may conclude the seasonable enjoyment of lesser mercies because God hath forgiven your sins which is the greater mercy if he fulfils his promise in the As The seasonable enjoyment of lesser mercies greatest blessings surely he will not fail you in the least blessings as the Apostle argued He that spared not his own Son but delivered him to death for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8. 32. So say I hath the Lord freely pardoned thy sins questionless he will freely give thee other things will he deny thee food and rayment who hath given thee Christ and forgiveness if his love extend to the greatest of mercies will it fail and fly off for the least of mercies Secondly You may conclude that certainly you are his people and that the Lord That you are Gods people and he is your God is your God that you do stand in a near Relation unto him and that he stands in a near Relation unto you why so because forgivenesse of sins is the portion only of the people of God of such who are in Covenant with him A Prince may forgive a Malefactor and yet there be no Covenant between them But God forgives none unless such as are first in Christ and by Christ are in his Covenant of mercy and peace Thirdly You may conclude that in all your changes and losses certainly you are That you are still under grace and love still under grace and love that the Lord hath set his love upon you that his favour is towards you Because forgiveness of sins is an act of special grace and favour and no man is forgiven but the Lord doth love him with an exceeding great love in and by Christ Object I but I am chastened and afflicted Sol. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth Heb. 12. 6. Fourthly You may conclude certainly that God is reconciled and that his wrath is off and shall never redound unto you and that the accusation and condemnation God is reconciled of the Law are stopt and superseaded c. Fifthly You may conclude that at length your souls shall go to heaven for your And you shall be saved sins are for that end forgiven that you might be brought to glory c. Fifthly Having your sins pardoned in Gods promise rest not untill you have got the notice and assurance of this in your own hearts and consciences Here let me Rest not till you have got the assurance of your pardon God doth sometimes pardon sin and not give the assurance of it speak briefly unto two things First That God doth sometimes pardon sins and yet doth not presently notifie or make the same manifest or evident unto the person pardoned no not though he truely repents As it is clear in David whose sin God did put away and yet it was a long time before David could get the evidence and assurance thereof in his own heart I grant that upon true repentance sin is forgiven and it is as true that sin may be forgiven and yet the forgiven sinner not be assured thereof Whether the Reasons of this may be 1. Because the manifestation of pardon to us is a meer act of grace and divine liberty 2. Or because God would teach us hereby that it is not so easy a matter to get the voice of joy after we have sinned and provoked him and should therefore fear to â—n any more 3. Or thirdly because it is so difficult to believe the forgiveness of sins though promised by God himself when the Conscience hath been previously troubled for sin c. Secondly That the assurance of our own hearts and consciences that God hath pardoned oer sinnes is a mercy much to be desired and would be of great advantage Yet it is a mercy much to be desired and of great advantage for our Setling Satisfying to pardoned sinners For 1. This would exceedingly settle our hearts and put an end to all our hard suspicions and fears and jealousies 2. This would abundantly satisfie the longing desires of our soules to see our great discharge and relief and acquittance under the hand and seale of God Returne O my soule unto thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee 3. This would admirably enlarge our hearts in the praises of mercy Psal 103. 1 2. Enlarging 4. This would wonderfully inflame our hearts in the love of God the sense of love begets love 1 Joh. 4. 19. We love him because he loved us Loving first 5.
heard thee preach in our Synagogues Have we not eat and drunk in thy presence c Luke 13. 26. There is not any one hypocrite there is not any one formal Professor but he doth deceive himself with a false opinion of his estate and with a false assurance And there are four great Reasons why these men do thus delude themselves 1. One is Pride of heart and vain-glory they will appear not to be inferiour to any and therefore will deceive themselves to deceive others and will boast of what they have not 2. Another is the reach of common gifts which may give them a taste of Christ and of the good Word and of the Powers of the world to come Hebr. 6. 5. A taste makes them think it is assurance 3. A third is the neglect of self-examination they take things upon trust and will not search their hearts and try their ways and bring them to the light to the rule to the touch-stone to the Word they will not try their hearts by the Word nor their supposed graces by the Word nor their comforts nor assurances by the Word and therefore they deceive themselves 4. A fourth is the just iudgement of God upon them to send them strong delusions that they should believe a lye because they received not the love of the ruth 2 Thes 2. 10 11. Only a notion of it but not the love of it only the form but not the power of godliness Thirdly As many have deceived themselves with a false assurance so Many still deceive themselves How one may know he hath a false assurance many still do deceive themselves with a false assurance instead of a true assurance Quest But will some of you say that is the question unto which we desire you to speak a few words what are the discoveries of a false assurance or how one may know that the assurance or perswasion which he hath if the forgiveness of his sins is false is but a delusion Sol. For your help in this I will present unto you six infallible discoveries of a false assurance First The first is When it is a seal without any date my meaning is when a person When it is a seal without a date always hath had assurance never was there any time when he doubted of this point he was never troubled concerning it but always believed and his heart hath always been confidently perswaded that Christ dyed for him and that his sins were pardoned Why this alone may convince thee that thy assurance is but a delusion Mark the Apostle a little in Rom. 8. 15. Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Ver. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God Here the Apostle lays out three works of the Spirit with the order of his workings 1. First He is efficientè operativè the spirit of bondage to fear i. e. making us rightly sensible of our sinful and miserable condition which makes our hearts to fear what the Lord will do against us 2. Secondly Hereupon in time he is the Spirit of Adoption working faith in us by which we become the children of God and look on him as a Father with love and without any servile fear 3. Thirdly After both these he is the Spirit of assurance bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of God This is the last work of the Spirit it is not the first nor the only work of the Spirit it comes after the Spirit of Adoption as that comes after the spirit of bondage to fear From this place thou mayst evidently discern the assurance of which thou boastest to be false to be no work of the Spirit who begins in a work of conviction and humiliation and ends in a work of testimony and assurance begins in bondage and ends in liberty begins in fear and ends in peace and comfort the Spirit never begins but ends in comfort Secondly The second discovery of a false assurance is this that as it hath It hath not the Spirit of God for the Author of it not the Spirit of God for the Author of it so it hath not the Word of God for the Instrument and means of it Beloved the Word of God is the Organ or Instrument which the Spirit of God doth ordinarily use for the forming of all his gifts and graces and comforts upon the soul of man I hardly know any one of them for which he doth not employ the Ministry of the Word when the Spirit 1. Enlightens the soul he makes use of the Word to convey and let in light into the soul Psal 19. 8. It enlightens the eyes 2. Humbles the heart he makes use of the Word to break the heart and to lay it low Acts 2. 37. When they heard this they were pricked in their hearts 3. Converts and calls the soul he calls it by the Word and converts it by the Word 1 Thes 2. 19. He called you by our Gospel Jam. 1. 18. 4. Brings in a soul by faith unto Christ he doth this by the Word Rom. 10. Ephes 1. 5. Raises and comforts when he strengthens and assures the soul he doth quicken it by th◠Word and comforts it by the Word and strengthens it by the Word 〈◊〉 assures it by the Word yea and recovers by the Word assurance when it is lost Ephes 1. 13. In whom we also trusted after that ye heard the Word of truth the Gospel of salvation In whom after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise 1 Thes 1. 5. Our Gospel came unto you not in word only but power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance Here you see the Word to be the means of believing and so making way for sealing and assuring Psal 119. 50. Thy Word hath quickned me but now a false assurance was never wrought by the Word which will appear plainly if you do consider three things that are usually found in men presumptuously and deludingly assured 1. They care little for the Word especially for that Word of God which doth powerfully search and prepare the heart and fit it for the assuring work of the Spirit 2. They have most peace and assurance when they keep them most from the faithful and powerful delivery of the Word and their assurance is never more interrupted and shaken and dashed than under the soul searching and convincing Ministry of the Gospel it cannot stand before it nor abide the tryal of it 3. Notwithstanding all their seeming regards unto the Word yet never is there any thing contributed by the Word unto their assurance nor further confirming or strengthening or enlarging all which doth evidently demonstrate that a false assurance was never wrought by the Word but is the fruit of fancy and a dream of our own hearts only Thirdly A further discovery of a false assurance is
cryes out O Lord pity and pardon and comfort my distressed soul with the assurance of thy love and of forgiving mercy for Christs sake And then the voice of comfort and joy speaks Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee and writes this good news upon the conscience Why this is right assurance and right comfort of the Holy Ghost Secondly There always goes a renewing and sanctifying work of the Spirit A renewing and sanâ—â—ifying work before the assuring and witnessing work of the Spirit Here I will briefly clear two Points 1. That the sanctifying work of the Spirit goes before the assuring work of the Spirit 2 Cor. 1. 21. He who hath anointed us is God Ver. 22. Who hath also sealed us Psal 85. 8. He will speak peace unto his people and to his Saints I beseech you tell me whose portion is forgiveness of sins and peace Hath the Lord promised it unto any but unto his people and who are indeed the people of God but Saints but holy people see 1 Pet. 2. 9. Ye are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood a holy Nation a peculiar people God will forgive none their sins but such as are his people much less will he assure any that their sins are forgiven but his people and all the people of God actually called into Covenant with him are holy therefore men must be sanctified before they are assured 2. It cannot be otherwise whether you consider First The Nature of the Spirit of God The Spirit of God is a holy Spirit and he will not aford his presence to any unless he first make them holy he always makes the Temple holy in which he intends to abide and dwell and if he will not abide in us unless he sanctifies us will he give us the assurance of the great love of God in Christ that our sins are pardoned before he sanctifies us Secondly You find in Experience that when the people of God fall into sin and do oppose the sanctifying work of the Spirit presently they lose comfort and assurance David did so Psal 51. if we must uphold sanctity to preserve the peace and comfort of the Spirit surely then there must be sanctity wrought before peace and assurance be spoken Thirdly A man must be in Christ before he can have propriety in the forgiveness of his sins and assurance that God hath for Christs sake forgiven him this all of you will grant as saith the Apostle If any man be in Christ he is a new creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. Fourthly Once more Mark what God hath threatned to wicked and ungodly persons namely wrath and judgement and destruction and visiting of their sins upon them this is the portion of their cup. Now would you have the Spirit of God to misapply the Word of God whatsoever God hath threatned or promised in his Word that the Spirit of God is to apply his work it is to apply threatnings and his work it is to apply promises and his office it is to apply the one and the other respectively to the persons under the threatnings and under the promises he knows the mind of the Lord and therefore as he will not apply the threatnings of wrath unto the godly so he will not apply the promises of God to the wicked and if so then no assurance shall be by him applied unless men be holy Therefore let no man deceive himself with a deluded perswasion or assurance that his sins are pardoned as long as he remains wicked ungodly or unholy no no the holy Spirit never seals any but holy persons And there is a twofold holiness wrought in us before the Spirit gives assurance 1. One is Internal and Habitual which is the renewing and changing of the heart into a conformity with the Image of Christ 2. Another is External and Actual in the life and conversation Psal 50. 23. To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God Although this be true that every one who is sanctified is not presentâ—y assured yet this is true that the Spirit of God assures no man but first he sanctifies him Thirdly There always goes the believing work before assuring work of the Believing work Spirit the Spirit of God is a Spirit of faith and then the Spirit of comfort or assurance Ephes 1. 13. In whom after that ye believed ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise Rom. 15. 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing Mark first believing and then a filling with all joy and peace Psal 13. 5. I have trusted in thy mercy my heart shall rejoyce in thy salvation This Assertion I suppose will pass without dispute that the Spirit first works faith and then assurance and really it must be so for 1. You must be in relation of children and heirs before you can assure your selves of the portion of children Therefore the Apostle placeth the Spirit of Adoption before the witness of the Spirit as I hinted out of Rom. 15. 16. But it is by faith that we are children Gal. 3. 26 And receive the dignity of sons Joh. 1. 12. 2. None can assure himself of benefit but he who hath first a propriety in Christ union is the sole foundation of communion see 1 Cor. 1. 30. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdome Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption What faith preceâ—es assurance Quest But now the question may be what faith that is which necessarily is precedent unto assurance Answered Sol. A twofold faith is previously required First A faith of union with Christ Secondly A faith of dependance upon the promises 1. A faith of union from which results propriety that Christ is yours and you are Christs as upon civil Marriage there ensues a mutual propriety this faith doth unquestionably precede the testimony or assurance of the Spirit for no part of Christs purchase can be sealed unto you before you have a part in Christ himself 2. A faith of dependance upon God that according to his promises he will both pardon you and also give you the assurance that he hath pardoned you for Christs sake and this faith is many times put forth to believe in hope against hope Rom. 4. 18. Before the Spirit lets in the assurance that our sins are pardoned I will hearken what c. Psal 80. 8. Fourthly There always goes praying and wrestling before this assuring Praying and wrestling work of the Spirit The Spirit of supplication goes before the Spirit of assurance Zach. 13. 9. They shall call upon my Name and I will hear them I will say it is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God Jer. 30. 21 22. Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me saith the Lord ye shall be my
with renewing Four things have a resemblance with renewing grace which yet is noâ— it grace and yet renewing grace is quite another different thing from them 1. Civil Righteousness especially if joyned with the true Religion 2. Restraining grace in the forbearance of sins especially notorious and flagitious 3. The presence of common gifts which man had not before 4. The powerful effect of an awakend conscience 1. Civil Righteousness especially if conjoyned with Profession Civil Righteousness of true Religion What do men generally repute for renewing grace and for godliness but this if they be no Papists if they hold no Errors if they keep their Church and deal fairly and justly with their neighbours why they conclude their hearts are good and their estate is sure and what can men have more But now give me leave to say two things unto this First Civil Righteousness is good and so is external profession of the true Religion Civil righteousness is good God requires that and this Matth. 7. 12. All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets Mich. 6. 8. He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God To do justly is one of the things required The like may be said for external profession as we must believe with the heart so we must confess with the mouth Rom. 10. 11. And we must hold forth the word of life Phil. 2. 16. Secondly Nevertheless newnesse of heart or renewing grace is a quite different Yet newness of heart is differing from it quality from their civil Righteousness and one may be civilly righteous and honest who never had his heart renewed by grace nay whose heart doth extreamly loath and oppose it Now civil righteousness and heavenly newness of heart doth differ in six They differ in six things things First Civil Righteousness is of a low and inferiour birth or original there are Civil righteousness is of an inferiour birth three things which may be sufficient to make a man civilly righteous 1. One is the light of nature which hath some notions and principles of common equity and honesty 2. A second is the power of edification Parents and Tutors may so represent the honor of just dealing and the forbid unworthiness of unrighteous dealing that young and tender natures may take in a savour and taste of them all their dayes though they never act upon any knowledge that God enjoyns them 3. A third is the influence of example beholding such a course and way of Righteousness in Parents and Superiours in Friends whose examples we are ready to imitate because their persons we do love and reverence But newness of heart or renewing grace is wrought by a higher hand than the dictates of nature or counsels of friends or examples of men it is the birth of the Spirit of God every regenerate or renewed person is born of the Spirit the immediate power of the holy Ghost is put forth in the creating of a new heart Secondly Civil Righteousness either totally confines us to the duties of the second Civil Righteousness confines to duties of the second Table Table as if we had none to eye and please but our neighbour or if it gives way to the duties of the first Table it is but to a formal and superficial observance The civil righteous man though he is strict in duties to man yet is irreligious in all his religious performances He saith a Prayer but he knows not how to pray in the Spirit and with Faith and he hears a Sermon but it is as if he heard it not sleeping and waking with running and roving distracted thoughts on the world he talks of a Sabbath but he knowes not how to keep a Sabbath and is weary of it and counts the strict observance of it a Jewish burden But renewing grace brings in the heart to all the will of God it enables to give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods to be righteous with good men and to be upright with God to serve him with love and fear Thirdly Civil Righteousness may look at some outward easie ordinary actions of It looks only at outward easie duties Religion but it leaves the heart destitute of the great inward actings of Religion When did you ever see a person only civilly righteous lay the Axe to the root of the tree searching of his heart and judging the corruptions of his heart and humbly mourning and lamenting under the sence of his wicked heart and hungring after Jesus Christ and importunately wrestling for grace and mercy striving to crucifie the lusts of his heart He is so farre from these that he thinks them either superfluous or impossible But renewing grace doth chiefly act upon the heart there it sets up the Throne and gives the Law and exerciseth Authority and Rule c. Fourthly Civil Righteousness rests mostly in negatives I am not as other men said he if the civilly righteous man doth not swear this is enough although he It rests mostly in Negatives should likewise fear an Oath if he doth not take away the life of another if he doth not do wrong that 's enough although he ought also to do good But renewing grace comes off to Positives as well as Negatives it teacheth us to cease to do evil and it learns us also to do good Isa 1. 16 17. It teacheth us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts And also to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2. 12. Fifthly Civil Righteousness it will allow such things which renewing grace will not It will allow us It must have its indulgence 1. To associate our selves in a way of familiarity with the enemies of God and holiness and rather with these than those that are good 2. To omit many personal and family duties 3. To deferre repentance and making peace with God 4. To mispend his time day after day week after week year after year in vain pleasures and sports dicings cardings c. 5. To conform and fashâ—on our selves to the world and perfidiously to flatter persons in their sins only to keep up a correspondency and interest it must have indulgence in sinful thoughts vile affections petty Oathes But renewing grace makes the heart to tremble at these things and to loathe and abhorre them It alters not one sinful quality Sixthly Civil Righteousness alters not one sinful quality in the heart nor gives it any new spiritual ability notwithstanding it the heart is as ignorant and malicious and unbelieving and impenitent and hardned and earthly and vain and proud as ever and cannot deny itself in any delightful way of wickedness c. II. Restraining grace by which a person forbears many sinfull
a dart Spira longing for death rather than life c. if the Lord should let fall any of these judgements upon thee what would become of thee Fourthly Meditate on the patience of God and on the goodness of God Of the patience of God 1. On the patience of God who hath been so long provoked by thy hard heart and yet hath spared thee held off his hand from striking of thee hath all this while born with thee and forborn to judge thee 2. On the goodness of God both to thy body and soul thou who hast so Of the goodness of God much hardned thy heart against him hast yet every day tasted of his bounty and blessings yea and that he is treating with thy soul sends Ministers deals with thee in a Gospel way calls on thee to repent offers thee Christ and mercy and heaven and assures thee if thou wilt yet hearken thy soul shall live 2ly Practical Actions and they are these Practical actions Come and hear First Come and hear 'T is true an hard heart cares not to hear the Word yet because thou hast a power to come and hear the Word as well as to go to any other place or work use thy power rather to come and hear the Word and that Word which is most convincing piercing humbling Moses rod made the waters to come out of the Rock The Word of God is able to save a soul and therefore certainly it is able to convert and soften the soul The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live Joh. 5. 25. All who have got the cure of hardness of heart they have found it at the Word and by the Word which is the Sword of the Spirit and the power of God Secondly Go and pray beseech the Lord himself to circumcise thy heart he Go and pray only can cure the stone in the heart he only can take away the stony heart out of the flesh nothing is too hard for him Lord Lord leave me not to the hardness of my heart Lord open mine eyes make me sensible over-power my stiffe and rebellious and gain-saying heart Object O but my heart is so hard that I cannot pray Sol. 1. Pray as thou mayst at least grieve 2. And sigh under the burden of thy hard heart cry out O that I were made sensible and that I could pray to God to be cured 3. And go to them that can pray beseech them to beseech the Lord for thee O Sirs be sensible of one who is not sensible of himself pray for me who cannot pray for my self Thirdly Look a little on Jesus Christ whom thou hast pierced that thou mayst Look on Jesus Christ mourn Zach. 12. 10 Look on him and what thy hard heart hath done unto him thy hard heart it was which crucified him which pierced him which shed his precious blood And now hearken what Jesus Christ saith unto thee O hard-hearted sinner thy sins have put my soul to grief thy sins have drawn tears from mine eyes and blood from my heart Thou hast been very cruel to me I will not be so to thee lo I offer my self unto thee and my blood unto thee it shall wash thee from all thy sins it shall make thy peace it shall save thy soul if yet thou wilt no more harden thy heart but forsake thy sins and receive my offers Methinks this cannot but bow and melt thee if this doth not what will if the love of Christ if the blood of Christ will not nothing will They say that the blood of the Lamb is that which can soften the Adamant if any thing will work on will melt an hard heart it is the blood which came from the heart of Christ Fourthly If at any time the power of God appear on thy heart in meditation or hearing or praying or affections or secret workings of his Spirit that it begins to yield to hearken and consider to relent to soften 1. Do not dash and quench these by sinning by unbelief or by wicked security 2. But cherish them work with these workings keep them up raise them up Quest 3. How may one know that he is cured of a stony and hard heart at the How may one know that he is cured least that the cure is beginning Sol. The resolution of this question hath reference unto the second Proposition viz. that God promiseth to take away the heart of stone from his people but to speak unto the question as it now falls First When hardness of heart is cured or curing there is instantly wrought a By a spiritual sensation spiritual sensation such a sight and such a feeling as the poor sinner never had the like in all his life Simile As when a man is delivered from a deadly palsie he begins to feel and complain of the benummedness and heaviness of his limbs saith he What ails my arms and my feet I can hardly stir them there is scarce life in them nor sense nor motion So when the Lord is curing any sinner of the hardness of his heart he begins to see and feel and complain O saith he What a hard heart have I what a sinful and wretched heart I have heard of a proud and stout heart of a careless and unbelieving heart of an hard and rebellious heart of an impenitent and obstinate heart alas my heart hath been and it is all this O what an untoward heart do I feel in my self to any good what an unyielding heart to any thing which God commands and an unwilling heart to part with sin what a gain-saying heart to stoop to Christ this my heart I now feel to be like the flint the Iron the Adamant no man hath such an insensible hard heart as I. This is the first evidence of the cure of an hard heart viz. the sensibleness of the unsensibleness and hardness of the heart Secondly When hardness of heart is cured or curing then the sinner will By judging of himself and sins in another manner judge of his â—â—ns and of himself so as he did never before He looks on his sinful heart as on a root of gall and wormewood and he looks on his sinful ways and doings as vile and cursed and wonders at himself what he meant to be so forward to sin and to be so obstinate in sinning and to be so desperately profane as to contend with God in slighting the knowledge of him in refusing to hearken unto him in opposing of his Word in rejecting all the gracious and saving offers of Christ O my madness and folly O my pride and misery to forsake my meâ—cies for lying vanities to pitch on hell rather than heaven to love darkness rather than light O how jâ—st were it with God to reject me who have rejected him and never to hear me calling upon him who have so often turned away my ears from hearing him when calling upon me I am the chiefest of sinners
when fervency daily degenerates into formality surely tenderness is falling into hardness of heart Watchlesness over the spirit Fifthly A watchlesnesse over the spirit or soul it is not minded observed lookt unto in its motions affections transactions as formerly but the guard is drawn off there is less fear and more security less diligent care and more loose presumption The man was wont to keep his heart with all diligence narrowly observing the passages and workings of his Spirit the inclinations of his heart temptations of Satan behaviours of every day alone and in company and accordingly did apply himself with variety of petitions to God and humbled himself for what was amiss and renewed his strength in the Lord for the time to come O but now it is not thus the precious soul is neglected the City is not watched the thoughts and affections and actions are not observed the poor man is asleep and drowsie and his spirituall frame is impaired and he considers it not 2ly The sadnesse of this condition The sadness of this condition It is an evill distemper First It is a very evil and naughty distemper an hard heart softning that is good but the soft hardning again that 's very evil Was it good to tremble at the Word what is it now not to be moved by the Word was it good to think of sin and mourn what is it now to hear of thy sins and not to be troubled at all was it good to act duties with affections and life what is it now to neglect the duties or to act them with a heavy and careless Spirit There are four things which shew this hardning to be very evil 1. The marvellous ingratitude in it that the Lord should shew so much mercy to heal the disease and yet you relapse into it again 2. There is an express self-condemnation why you were exceedingly troubled at the hardness of your hearts and prayed against it and sought the prayers of others and now to harden your hearts again 3. There is presumption in it you do tempt the Lord by it Do you mean to continue in this case then you are undone do you mean to come out of it why do you then tempt the Lord by falling into it and presuming on his grace to recover you 4. If you look not speedily to your selves where think you will this hardning end perhaps in some great desertion perhaps in some great transgression perhaps in some exceeding great and long trouble of conscience Secondly It is a very uncomfortable condition How is thy Sun eclipsed It is a very uncomfortable condition and thy Spring cut off what is become of that spirit of Prayer what is become of that excellent assurance of which thou hast so much spoken where is that sweetly excusing testimony of Conscience what is become of that joy in the Holy Ghost and that peace with which thou wast wont to work Ah! thou hast suffered thy heart to harden again and God looks not on thee as he was wont and Conscience speaks not as it was wont and the Spirit of God manifests not himself as he was wont and Ordinances smile not on thee as they were wont nor doth Providence shine upon thy Tabernacle as it was wont But instead of these thou meetest with many a sharp affliction with many piercing reproofs with many a sad item and reckoning and scourges which no man knows and feels in the sting and bitterness of it but thou thy self Thirdly It is a very formal and empty estate how may it grieve thee to see It is an empty state a fruitless Vintage of thy soul Tell me what returns hast thou had all this while that this hardning distemper hath been upon thee thou hearest carelesly and negligently what hast thou been the better for all the Sermons which thou hast heard thou prayest coldly and formally and what good hath returned upon thy soul after them thou hast had no trading all this while at heaven how dull must grace be which is not used and how decaying must thy Spiritual strength be which all this while recovers no more strength Fourthly It is a very dangerour posture though it be not absolute Apostacy It is a dangerous posture yet it looks toward it Though I will not say that it is the turning of the grace of God into wantonnesse yet it bends towards it Though it be not falling from grace and though it be not a forsaking of God yet unquestionably it is a gâ—ieving of God and a provoking of him and for which he may very far leave a person 3ly Directions in this case for recovery Directions for recovery Finde out the cause First By all means find out the cause or causes of the hardning observe well 1. What conscience tells thee in thy bed at night or in the day of fear and affliction or in a day of Solemn Humiliation or in the meditation of thy short appearances before God 2. What the Word of God hints and points at in thee at what it levels and strikes there is an arrow some time or other shot which falls into thy very heart a message that is secretly delivered in way of conviction and reproof which saith Thou art the man and this is thy way and thy doings 3. What thy faithful and watchful friends say unto thee what their suspicions and fears are and unto what their friendly counsels do tend A thousand to one but some of these things which I shall mention have brought on thee this new hardness upon thy heart 1. Either spiritual pride this hath made thee to neglect thy watch and to neglect the Ordinances 2. Or a worldly surfet thou hast been taking in too much of the world and worldly business and this hath robbed thee of thy precious time to converse at heaven to meditate to examine to read to hear to pray to confer with thy Fellow-Christians 3. Or the deceitfulness of sin Thou hast ventured on lesser sins and they have ensnared thee and drawn thee to greater sins and these have brought upon thee the hardness of thy heart again c. Secondly When you have found out the spiritual causes by which your hearts Judge your selves and repent have been hardned then judge your selves and repent remember from whence thou art fallen and repent said Christ unto Ephesus Rev. 2. 5. Nay do not stay to look when this hardning will fall off from thee but hasten but compel thy self to retiredness and to a penitential consideration of thy hardning with the causes of it and the great evils in it and fall down before the Lord in humble confessions of thy great back-slidings and poure out prayer upon prayer O wrestle with the Father of mercies for his Christs sake to pity and pardon and heal and once more to cure and recover thee Follow on to seek the Lord though he doth secretly upbraid thee though for a while he delays thee though to thy
apprehension thy heart is more hardned yet pray and yet pray that God would heal thy back-slidings Praise the Lord in the Name of Christ presenting his Covenant unto him wherein he promiseth to take away the heart of stone And this contains in it not only the natural or original hardness of heart but also the accidental contracted hardness by his people the Covenant of taking away the heart of stone extends to both of them O Lord cure this hardning as well as the former hardness I have hardned the heart which thou hast softned O do thou soften the heart which I have hardned revive thy work and quicken my almost dead heart restore my soul and recover my ancient estimations affections tenderness love fear care zeal c. Thirdly If the Lord at length begins to make thy heart to relent by Bless God for any softning his Word or by his Rod or by his Spirit O bless his Name He is come he is come said the Martyr so c. get thee into a corner help on the spring pump the water when the water comes enlarge thy confession abound now in supplications Fourthly Be earnest with God to pardon thee and to give thee assurance of the pardoning Be earnest for pardon and assurance of this hardning and be importunate with him for it I tell thee such a gracious assurance will presently soften and melt thy soul assuredly raise and restore thy soul to those careful and tender communions with God and watchful walking with him Fifthly When you are recovered then bless God and keep up tenderness Keep up tenderness of heart of heart and beware of suffering hardnesse to grow upon your hearts again Quest What is to be done for this Sol. I answer First Never trust hardning causes any more as Eliphas spake in Joh. 15. Never trust hardning causes 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity for vanity shall be his recompence After your great humblings and prayings and wrestlings and prevailings with God do not now go and tamper with sinne and sinful occasions again and do not go and over-world your selves again and do not go and renew familiarity with wicked company again and do not neglect the Ordinances any more c. If you do you will harden your hearts more than ever Secondly If at any time you do espy any hardness creeping and rising Resist hardness returning upon your spirits O make a present resistance and wrestle against it even unto present victory When you pray if you finde coldness and formality in your spirit O stirre up Prayer stirre up the heart and stirre up the graceâ— Simile blow the spark break the ice when it begins to harden c. Thirdly Be often in the search of your hearts and keep a daily and Search your hearts often strict watch over them and your ways Blessed is the man that feareth always Prov. 28. 14. Fourthly Constantly and seriously attend the Ordinances which do beget Attend the Ordinances and preserve and encrease softness and tenderness of heart Ezek. 36. 26. And I will give you an heart of flesh I Have finished two Propositions already from these words viz. 1. That there is a natural hardness in every mans heart 2. That God will take away that stonynesse or hardnesse of heart from his people I shall now proceed unto the third and last Proposition from the Text which is this CHAP. XI God gives a heart of flesh Doct. 3. THat God will not only take away the heart of stone from his people All the people of God have a softned heart given them but also he will give them an heart of flesh or that all the people of God have soft and tender hearts given unto them And by the way before I insist upon this Point observe two things 1. That Gods works in restoring and renewing of man are noâ— terminated in Privatives or Negatives but they are Positive also and Collative Evill is removed and good contrary to that evill comes in the place of it He doth take away the old heart and also he gives a new heart he takes away the heart of stone and also he gives an heart of flesh He takes away ignorance and gives knowledge he takes away pride and gives humility God is a wise and perfect Agent he will not only deface and abolish Satans Image but also he will repair his own Image he will not only root up what is evil but also he will plant and lay foundations and build up Therefore have a care of your selves that you be not deceived in the judgement of your conditions you are not so wicked as you were but what good is wrought in your hearts what contrary quality unto the former evil c 2. That as to the conversion or change of the sinner all the work rests on God he doth all he works all if the heart of stone be to be removed he must do that work he must take it away and if the heart of flesh be to be enjoyed he must also do that work he must give unto us the heart of flesh power against evil and power to any good all from God we are the Patients he is the Agent we are the receivers he is the giver you cannot take away the hardness of your own hearts nor can you give unto your selves an heart of flesh both of them are the work of God These things being briefly premised I now come to the Proposition it self viz. That the people of God are the people of soft and tender hearts God gives unto them unto every one of them an heart of flesh i. e. a tender and soft heart An heart of flesh in this place stands in opposition to the heart of stone to the unsensible unmournful stubborn unyielding resisting heart and it notes a sensible mourning relenting yielding complying tender teachable and tractable heart But for the opening of this excellent Point I shall discusse these three Questions 1. What this heart of flesh is what this soft and tender heart is 2. How it may appear that the people of God are a people of soft and tender hearts 3. Why the Lord gives such an heart to all his people SECT I. Quest 1. VVHat this heart of flesh is or what the soft and tender What a heart of flesh is heart is Sol. To understand this you must remember that there is a fourfold softness A fourfold softness or tenderness First One is Natural and this is that which we call commonly a good nature Natural and tender disposition and a softly spirit on which any thing is apt to work any harsh word any sad news any affliction any cross any thing that hath the notion of calamitous or grievous This tenderness or softnes is not the soft heart here in the Text for 1. It is no heavenly quality nor is it let in by heavenly means a man never got this tenderness by praying or
will never be quiet untill repentance be renewed and God appears to be pacified Thirdly If we have hearts spiritually soft and tender this will appear by the respectiveness of our hearts to the word of God And there are ten Properties of a tender heart in relation to the Word of God 1. It sets up the Word as a Light and Rule So Psal 119. 105. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my paths ver 133. Order my steps in thy Word 2. It studies the Word and meditates therein to understand the mind of God concerning it Psal 119. 15. I meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways ver 148. Mine eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate in thy Word 3. It layes up and gives special heed unto what God saith in his Word 2 Pet. 1. 19. We have also a more sure word of Prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed Psal 119. 11. Thy Word have I hid within my heart that I might not sin against thee Prov. 7. 1. My son keep my words and lay up my commands with thee ver 3. Bind them upon thy fingers write them upon the table of thine heart 4. It stands in awe of the Word Psal 119. 161. My heart stands in awe of thy Word 5. It is led and guided by the Word Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel Psal 73. 24. Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors Psal 119. 24. My sheep hear my voice and follow me Joh. 10. 17. 6. It keeps close to the Word in all matters of faith and practice receives all and admits no more will not go without it and dares not strive against it 7. It conformes itself unto the Word Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes and I shall keep it even to the end Psal 119. 33. All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient Exod. 24 7. O that my wayes were directed to keep thy statutes Psal 119. 5. He will teach us his wayes and we will walk in his paths Isa 2. 3. Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine whereto ye were delivered Rom. 6. 17. Moulded cast 8. It is quickly reduced wrought upon and recovered by the Word As in Davids case when Nathan said Thou art the man 2 Sam. 12. 7. David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord ver 13. So Judges 2. 2. Ye have not obeyed my voice why have you done this ver 4. And it came to passe when the Angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel that the people lift up their voice and wept ver 5. And they called the name of that place weepers Bochim and they sacrificed there unto the Lord. 9. It will often review and try itself by the Word lest it hath sinned or lest it should sin against God Psal 77. 6. I communed with my own heart and my spirit made diligent search Psal 119 59. I considered my wayes and turned my feet unto thy testimonies 10. It desires and endeavours to comply with all the Word of God and to fulfill all the will of God and to walk according to it in all things I have lived in all good Conscience unto this day Act. 23. 1. We trust we have a good conscience Heb. 13. 18. I have respect unto all thy commandements Psal 119. 6. Zachary and Elizabeth walked in all the Commandements and Ordinances before the Lord blameless Luke 1. 6. Fourthly If we have hearts Spiritually soft and tender this will appear by By our sensibleness in cases of Gods honour or dishonour our sensibleness and choice behaviour in the cases of Gods honour and dishonour This I think is one of the fullest discoveries of a soft and tender heart and therefore I will insist the more upon it by shewing unto you 1. The several wayes how God is honoured 2. The several expressions of a tender heart in relation unto Gods honour 3. The several wayes of Gods dishonour 4. The several affections and workings of a tender heart in the case of Gods dishonour First The several wayes of Gods being honoured God may be and is honoured How God is honoured As â—â— his Name and Attribuâ—es 1. As to his glorious Name and Attributes Deut. 28. 58. That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Name the Lord thy God When we do acknowledge and admire and exalt God in his holiness and goodness and mercifulness and Omnipoâ—ency and wisdom and greatness and authority and justice and faithfulness c. Exod. 15. 11. Who is like unto thee O Lord amongst the Gods who is like thee glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders Job 9. 4. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength Exod. 34. 6. The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering abundant in goodnesse and truth Ver. 7. Keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquiâ—y transgressions and sins and that will by no means clear the guilty Deuter. 7. 9. Know that the Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth Covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandements to a thousand generations 2. As to his worship and service Psal 29. 2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his Name or as it is in the Hebrew the honour of his Name worship the As to his Worship Lord in the beauty of holiness When we set up the true worship of God and serve him only and worship him only in Spirit and in truth and keep faithful unto it now we do honour and glorifie our God Thou hast not honoured me with thy sacrifices Isa 43. 23. The place where God is worshipped is called the place where his honour dwelleth 3. As to his Word and truths when they are magnified believed and embraced At his Word and upheld and obeyed when they have liberty and prosperity and success of efficacy 4. As to his works of Providence whether merciful respecting the good As to his Works of his people or judicial respecting the punishment of his adversaries in both which very much of God is to be seen and admired and blessed Secondly Now a soft and tender heart is exceedingly affected with Gods honour How the tender heart is affected in case of Gods honor and glory and with all the wayes publick and private for the honouring of God Such a person will take much pains to recover and restore the honour of God as you may see in Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah and Josiah to restore the true worship of God such a person will be at much cost to promote the honour of God 1 Chron. 29. 3. Because I have set my affection to the house of my God I have of mine one proper goods of gold and silver which I have given to the house of my God over and above all that I have prepared for thy holy house even three thousand talents of gold of the
keeps off from all the occasions thereof And from these two Consectaries do flow viz. Great peace in conscience For it is sin committed which disturbes and disquiets the Conscience and breaks up the peace of it but the more that any person is kept from sin the better doth he walk with peace and joy of Spirit Great peace have they that keep thy Law Psal 119. 165. Great confidence in access to God 1 Joh. 3. 21. If our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God And ver 22. Whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his Commandements and do those things which are pleasing in his sight Psal 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me ver 19. But verily God hath heard me be hath attended to the voice of my Prayer Job 11. 13. If thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine hand toward him ver 14. If iniquity be in thine heart put it farre away ver 15. then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot So Zophar 3. It would be a Table-book for God to write his will upon what the Apostle It would be a Table-book for God to write his will upon spake of the Corinthians that would be affirmed of us 2 Cor. 3. 3. Ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of stone but in fleshly tables of the heart The heart of flesh is the Table on which the Spirit of God writes the will of God his will is there engraven it makes impression it admits and receives the will of God there it is to be seen and read Thy Law is within my heart said David Psal 40. 8. How kindly would the Word of God take with us how powerfully and effectually would it work upon us how easily would it prevail and rule and order us how wonderfully would it prosper amongst us run and be glorified why all our soules would be convinced and converted and allured and brought into Christ and walk in Christ and be obedient to the faith and become the servants of righteousness if we had soft and tender hearts we would no longer walk contrary to God or to his Word we would no longer hate instruction and despise counsel and resist the Spirit but would presently fall down at the feet of God and desire to be taught the wayes of God and be willing and ready and glad to walk in his paths 4. It would be a means of upright walking There are three sorts of people in the world It would be a meanes of upright walking Some that walk not at all with God as all profane Atheists who walk without God and contrary unto God by reason of the blindness and hardnesse of their hearts Some that walk unevenly with God only in some things and in some places and at some times as hypocritical and temporary believers by reason of the unsoundness and deceitfulness of their hearts Some that walk cordially and uprightly before the Lord turning neither to the right hand nor to the left keeping close to the rule in the whole course of their life Isa 66. 7. The way of the just is uprightness they are undefiled in the way do no iniquity but seek the Lord with the whole heart walk in the Law of the Lord and in his wayes Psal 119. 1 2 3. Now softness or tenderness of heart is a special means of this upright walking For 1. It raiseth in the heart an universal regard to all the Commandements of God Psal 119. 6. And ver 10. would not wander from the Commandements and to walk in all well-pleasing before him 2. It fills the heart with a hatred and fear of all sin that it may not offend the Lord in any thing nor at any time nor in any place Still seeing him who is invisible Job 31. 4. Doth not he see my wayes and count all my steps Prov. 5. 21. The wayes of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings 3. It lifts up the glory of God that is the great end and aim and scope and motive to a tender heart he doth all to the glory of God and so that Christ may be magnified 5. It would be a means of promoting the knowledge of Christ and the power of godliness and of casting down whatsoever is contrary to sound Doctrine and unto the wayes of godliness for it would fill the hearts of men with spiritual compassion to souls with zeal and it would draw out their graces and gifts and powers in a right way for God and for the good and salvation of others If Magistrates had but as much tenderness of heart in relation to the interest of God as to their own interest they would be more quick and active for God than for themselves they would justifie the righteous and condemn the wicked they would countance the faithful in the Land and contemn the profane they would honour and exalt the truth of God and disgrace and repress the errors and blasphemies against God and his truths they would encourage every godly person and they would appear against all open ungodliness and unrighteousness of men If Ministers had more tenderness of heart they would in their places also give all diligence to make Christ known and the truths of Christ and contend for them and oppose men of corrupt minds and that which is Antichrist indeed and they would exceedingly perswade and encourage even to the knowledge of the truth and to the love of the truth and to walk in all manner of holiness and godliness and they would reprove threaten warn and declare the wrath of God against all sorts of wickednesse in all sorts of men If Parents and Masters of Families had this tender heart they would not suffer ignorance and looseness in their dwellings but on the contrary would study and take pains to instruct and teach their children and servants and would reprove and correct c. How would they pray and strive on the behalf of knowledge and faith and holiness and fear of God and of walking with God! Verily the whole Land would in a short time be made an habitation of holiness a Land flowing with knowledge and fear of the Lord had we more of this tendernesse of heart which would undoubtedly make us more zealous and industrious for the glory of God 6. It would be a special help unto stedfastness and perseverance to hold out and continue It is a special help unto stedfastness to the end Jer. 32. 40. I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me As long as fear holds stedfastness doth hold and as long as tenderness of heart continues the fear will continue Again where the heart is soft and tender it makes us to be much in Prayer and diligent and serious in our communion with God
sorts of truth of which the Spirit is the Authour and Divers sorts of truth of which the spirit is the authour Truth of Doctrine which he works in all those who do partake of him First The truth of Doctrine in opposition to erroneous and false Doctrines Joh. 17. 17. Thy Word is truth 1 Tim. 2. 4. Who would have all men to come to the knowledge of the truth The truth of Doctrine consists principally in knowing and understanding those points and wayes which do teach and guide us certainly unto salvation and this is called the truth in Jesus Epehs 4. 21. And the truth which is after godliness Tit. 1. 1. This truth doth the Spirit teach all unto whom he is given he makes them to know the Word of truth and which is the way of life he builds them upon Christ and roots them in Christ who is Joh. 14. 6. The way and life and truth and makes them to be sound in Christ Jesus Secondly The truth of judgement and understanding Joh. 17. 17. Sanctifie Truth of judgement them with thy truth by which some think is meant the true understanding of all things necessary to salvation This is called the Spirit of a sound mind 2 Tim. 1. 7. a mind not tainted not corrupted Sound in the Faith Titus 1. 13. and Chap. 2. 2. All who have the Spirit of God have truth of judgement they have the Spirit of a sound mind in the matters of salvation they are sound in the faith although they may mistake in other matters and differ in their Opinions yet they are all of them of a sound judgement in the Essential Points of salvation they are sound in the faith in the fundamentals Thirdly The truth of heart Psal 51. 6. Thou lovest truth in the inward Truth of heart parts This truth is that which we call uprightness and sincerity of heart in opposition to Hypocrisie the Apostle calls it the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth 1 Cor. 5. 8. This kind of truth also is the Spirit authour and worker of in all unto whom he is given he gives them true hearts of truth sincere and upright hearts even in the judgement of God himself Job 1. 8. Hast thou considered my servant Job that there is none like him in the earth a perfect and an upright man one that feareth God and escheweth evil Isa 58. 3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart Fourthly The truth of speech in opposition to lying fraud and falshood The truth of speech as Psal 15. 2. He that speaketh the truth in his heart Ephes 4. 25. Put away lying and speak truth every man to his neighbour They that hâ—ve indeed the Spirit of God dare not lye dare not be guilty of falshoods c. the spirit of truth ever causeth the lip of truth Psal 119. 163. I hate and abhor lying Fifthly The truth of faithful and righteous dealing between man and man in The truth of righteous dealing making and keeping just Covenants Promises and bargains Jer. 5. 3. O Lord are not thine eyes upon the truth i. e. of just and righteous dealing this also is in them who have the spirit Psal 15. 4. He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not But now what shall I say to whom shall I speak how few have the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of truth 1. How abundantly rife is the spirit of error Few have the spirit of God 2. How unsound are the judgements of men who do erre concerning the faith and contend to subvert it 3. How rotten and hypocritical the hearts of men they profess God in words and godliness in words but they deny him in works and though they have that shew yet they do deny the power of godliness 4. How lying and false and fraudulent 〈◊〉 are men in their speaking and dealings one hardly knows when many do speak truth because we find that they do constantly speak lyes with that boldness and confidence and impudency c. Jer. 9. 5. They will deceive every one his neighbour and will not speak the truth they have taught their tongue to speak lyes c. Sixthly The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love So Rom. 15. 30. I beseech you Gods spirit is the spirit of love brethren for the Lord Jesus sake and for the love of the Spirit c. 2 Tim. 1. 7. God hath given us the Spirit of love Gal. 5. 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love and he puts love in the first place In whomsoever the Spirit of God is in them is a holy and precious love kindled by that spirit A love First To God O love the Lord all ye his Saints Psal 31. 23. And I love the Lord saith David Psal 116. 1. We love him because he loved us first 1 Joh. 4. 19. Love to God The Lord direct your heart to the love of God 2 Thes 3. 5. It cannot be but that every one who hath the Spirit of God must love God For 1. The Spirit renews all the affections and carries them to their proper object God is the peculiar object of a renewed heart Reasons of it 2. The Spirit sets open unto us the precious thoughts of God towards us and the exceeding riches of his grace yea and sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts Rom. 5. 5. And makes us to know the things which are freely given us of God 1 Cor. 2. 12. Secondly To Christ Jesus Cant. 1. 4. The upright love thee Cant. 3. 3. To Christ Jesus Saw ye c. 1 Pet. 1. 8. Whom having not seen ye love Joh. 21. 17. Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee why how can it be otherwise but that if one hath the very Spirit of Christ he must love Christ If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be an Anathema Mran-atha 1 Cor. 16. 22. Would you have this affirmed of any one to whom God gives his Spirit but it must if any of them should not love Christ The Spirit makes the match between Christ and us causeth that union and can this be without a mutual love can any man give in his heart to Christ and yet not love him Object But every man will say that he loves God and that he loves Christ c. Sol. 'T is true men generally say so but there are few only that do so To love God and to love Christ is What it is to love God and Christ First To have the heart entirely set upon them Secondly To have the heart most set upon them Thirdly To desire exceedingly their presence and communion Fourthly To take special delight and satisfaction in that communion Fifthly Not to love any thing that is contrary to this against them or offensive unto them Sixthly To take heed to walk before them in all well-pleasing such a
love as this is in every one who hath the Spirit of God Thirdly To all the children of God and servants of Jesus Christ 1 Thes 4. 9. Ye are taught of God to love one another 1 Joh. 5. 2. Every one that loveth him Love to Gods children that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him 1 Pet. 3. 8. Love as brethren Col. 2. 2. Being knit together in love If this be the fruit of the Spirit then many men have not the Spirit for they Who have not the spirit hate the people of God The righeous are an abomination unto the wicked Pro. 29. 27. Yea and many who talk much of the Spirit have great cause to suspect their hearts because they do not love the people of God they do love men of their particular Opinion and men of their particular interest but if in these any of the people of God do differ from them now they cannot love them but they have very hard and uncharitable Opinions of them and speak evil of them and revile them and utterly shun and decline them SECT III. THus have you the discoveries of the presence of the Spirit of God by the qualities of the Spirit Now follows the last way to know whether we have the Spirit of God and that is 3ly By the properties of such persons to whom indeed the The spirit is known by the properties Spirit is given e. g. They that have the Spirit given unto them are spiritually-minded Rom. 8. 5. They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit Here the Apostle gives a different character Such as are Spiritually minded of two different sorts of persons Here are some who are after the flesh i. e. who are carnal unregenerate in their natural condition the character of these persons is that they do mind the things of the flesh sinful sensual vain things And there are some who are after the Spirit i. e. who are born of the Spirit who are Regenerate converted sanctified by the Spirit and the character of them is That they do mind the things of the Spirit The things of the Spirit i. e. the things which the Spirit of God commands suggests the things which are agreeable to a spiritual nature holy and heavenly objects holy and heavenly wayes and works the things which belong to the kngdom of God and the Righteousness thereof the things which do conduce to the glory of God and the salvation of their souls They do mind these things they do Cogitare think much of them they do Curare lay out their greatest care for them they do Sapere relish these things above all other they are most sweet and delightful unto them Psal 4. 6. But Lord lift thou up the light c. Psal 119. 103. How sweet are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter than honey to my mouth Cant. 2. 3. I sat down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet unto my taste O what a discovery doth this one tryal make They that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit Many men seldom or never think of the things of the Spirit God is not in their thoughts they say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes Job 21. 14. They mind not God nor Christ nor Word nor Soul nor Heaven nor Repentance nor Faith c. If they do think of them it is but carelesly and coldly not with any care to get them not with any affections to desire them or to delight in them they are not suitable objects c. The things of God the things of Christ the thinâ—s of salvation the things of the way to heaven they savor them not they relish them not at all but their sinful lusts they do mind on these do their thoughts run and in these do they take pleasure and they do mind earthly things Phil. 3. 19. on these are their affections set who will shew us any good any earthly bargain any earthly gain and earthly discourse these they savor and relish c. Yea I doubt that many amongst us who presume their estates to be good have just cause to fear and suspect themselves because spiritual Ordinances and spiritual Communions and spiritual Conferences and spiritual Exercises and Imployments and spiritual Meditations and Cares are no way favoury and relishing and delighting but rather burthensome irksome and displeasing O where is a David to be found amongst us who can say with him Psal 119. 97. O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day And ver 111. Thy testimonies are the rejoycing of my heart Where is a Paul to be found 1 Cor. 2. 2. I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified Secondly They that have the Spirit given unto them they are presently in They oppose their corruptions opposition or conflict with sinful corruptions abiding or dwelling in them Simile As you can no sooner put fire and water together but immediately they are a conflicting with one another So as soon as any man receives the Spirit of God which is holy and good there doth immediately ensue a commotion a war a combat in the soul with it and sinful corruptions Gal. 5. 17. the flesh against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other c. Before we do partake of the Spirit all is at rest and peace within us the flesh i. e. sinne doth reign and command and we do willingly yield obedience and service unto its lusts in the approbation and delight and execution of them But when the Spirit of God comes into our hearts and renews them now begins the conflict and war there being in us two natures contrary to each other and inclinations and affections contrary to each other and motions and services likewise contrary to each other For the work of Renovation We are renewed but in part from the Spirit although it passes through the whole soul and every faculty of it yet it is an imperfect work the whole soul is renewed but not wholly not a faculty but it hath renewing grace in it yet so that there is not a faculty but it hath sin also abiding in it And hence doth arise the Spiritual conflict from the presence and cohabitation of two such utterly different and irreconcilable adversaries as grace and sin the Spirit and the flesh Paul found this within himself Rom. 7. and so doth every regenerate person in the world The Spirit kindles such a war in a man renewed self against his sinful self as will never be quenched nor ended untill his course be finished and his life ended Thirdly They that have the Spirit given unto them for that very reason Such shall meet with great opposition shall meet with most deadly opposition from
through God to the pulling down of strong holds 2 Cor. 10. 1. Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ ver 5. This spiritual Ministry is that with which a spiritual heart doth and can most close O a Ministry which doth most dive into the heart and discovers the depth of sin and the hidden things of the heart and the secret guiles and hypocrisies of our spirits And that Ministry which shames our sins most and rents them out of our bosomes and makes our souls to loath them And that Ministry which like a spiritual Adamant draws a heart to Christ breaking down all the powers of unbelief And that Ministry which discovers and dashes in pieces all our self-deceits and all our self-confideace And that Ministry which presseth and leadeth one to the power of godliness and to the practical expressing of the virtues of Jesus Christ and of him that calleth us And that Ministry which raiseth a drooping soul with spiritual truth and rules though never so strict and contrary to flesh and blood This is a Spiritual Ministry and this is a Ministry of the Spirit and this is the Ministry which every one who indeed hath the Spirit of God doth highly prize doth cordially close with and desires from his soul to live under Psal 139. 23. Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts Ver. 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting Such are singularly tender as to the spirit Seventhly They who have the Spirit have this property also that they are singularly tender as to that spirit which appears in four things 1. In no case will they part with the Spirit Psal 6. 11. Take not thy holy Spirit from me 2. They are afraid by anything to grieve the Spirit Ephes 4. 30. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God by whom c. 3. If they have grieved him so as to withdraw himself they are not at rest untill the Spirit returns again in his gracious operations and manifestations Psal 51 10. Renew a right Spirit within me And Ver. 12. Vphold me with thy free Spirit 4. They strive more and more after purity of Spirit that so that good Spirit may take more and more delight to dwell in his temple Thus have I at length finished the Tryals and Characters by which we may know whether the Lord hath given his own Spirit unto us SECT III. 2. Use I Now proceed unto a second Use which shall be of Comfort unto all and every one unto whom the Spirit of God is given who do find him in their hearts in any of those works and saving effects before-mentioned Not without cause doth the Apostle Paul take pleasure in this I have the Spirit of Christ and we have received the Spirit of God and the Holy Ghost is given unto us Yea Christ himself look't upon the sending and giving of the Spirit to be the Comforter unto his Disciples as equivalent unto his own presence with them and as a sufficient cordial against all the troubles of their heart and against all the temptations of the world Quest But will some say What benefit and happiness is there by having the Spirit of God given unto us Sol. I will answer you 1. In the general 2ly In particular unto this Question 1. In the General The presence of the Spirit of God within you it is an infallible evidence of The benefits which come by having the spirit Such are assured of their election your happiness in the whole estate of it from first to last from eternity to eternity from the time past to the time present and the time to come First For the time past Beloved our happiness begins long before we do begin it begins in the eternal love of God and in the election of God before the foundation of the world Ephes 1. 4. The Records of election are Records of Eternity that is the date of writing our names in heaven and in the book of life And questionless this is a great part of our blessedness it is the first stone thereof which is said that we are out of a free and an immutable love and purpose set down and infallibly chosen and ordained for blessedness of which gracious act the presence of the Spirit is a sure evidence unto us 2 Thes 2. 13. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit Ephes 1. 4. He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy Secondly For the time present it is you know a common doubt and debate among serious and solid Christians whether their present spiritual condition Such have the spirits presence to assure them that God is their Father be right and sound whether or no they have a real relation to God as their Father and whether Christ be in them of a truth and verily that estate is really good and sound and sure in which there is such a relation and such a profession Now when the Spirit of God is given his presence and work are undoubted evidences of him Rom. 8. 15. We have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Ver. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God 1 Joh. 3. 24. Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us Thirdly For the time to come there is reserved for all the people of God in heaven an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 1. 4. Assured of their salvation A Crown of life Rev. 2. 10. An exceedingly exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4. 17. And of this also is the presence of the Spirit a sure evidence unto us Ephes 1. 13 14. The holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance q. d. The Lord will hereafter give you full possession he hath promised you no less than an heavenly kingdom and a glorious inheritance for you are his Children and Heirs and to satisfie and assure you of this he hath given you a pledge or earnest and that earnest is his own Spirit in that you have for the present the Spirit of God this is your earnest that you shall hereafter fully enjoy the kingdom of God And now I beseech you tell me whether the enjoying of the Spirit of God be not very happy and comfortable If you look back by this you know that your names are written in heaven If you look on your present condition by this you know that God is your Father and you are his children Christ is yours and you are Christs If you look forward by this also you know that heavenly glory is yours and shortly you shall perfectlâ— anâ— eternally possesse it and all this you may look on
as most sure because God hath given his Spirit unto you 2ly In Particular But let us descend unto particulars which if we do rightly understand and consider of we must confess that to have the Spirit given unto us it is an unspeakable blessing and mercy You read in Scripture of several Attributes if I may so call them given unto the Spirit and all of them in relation unto those to whom he is given And every one of them respecting their good and benefit all the dayes of their life He is called 1. A holy and sanctifying Spirit What the spirit is called in Scripture 2. A revealing and manifesting Spirit 3. A strengthening and helping Spirit 4. A restoring and recovering Spirit 5. A comforting and quickning Spirit 6. A dwelling and an abiding Spirit 1 Fifthly The Spirit of God which is given unto you is a holy and sanctifying He is a holy and sanctifying spirit Spirit He is the holy Spirit of God Ephes 4. 30. And the Spirit sanctifies 1 Cor. 6. 11. Now there are three comforts from this that the Spirit of God within you is a sanctifying Spirit 1. He sanctifies you in truth he renews your very hearts it is not a formal or Sanctifies in truth deceivable work but a real and effectual work which is indeen the new Creation 2 Cor. 5. 17 18. the image of God the life and glory of Christ which shall certainly end in happiness Partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. 2. He will go on with his sanctifying work he will begin and make an end Causeth growth in grace 1 Thes 5. 23. He will change you from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. Though it begins in weakness he will carry it on in power This sanctifying work of the Spirit shall move on in the soul as the sun doth in the firmament from strength to strength the Spirit within will more and more mortifie and weaken and destroy the body of sin and he will be renewing your inward man day by day 2 Cor. 4. 3. He will still maintain and preserve this sanctifying work against all the rebellions Defends it against all its enemies of our corruptions and against all the assaults of Satan and will never leave untill he hath crowned it with glory Secondly The Spirit of God which is given unto you is a revealing and manifesting Spirit He is expresly called the Spirit of revelation in Ephes 1. 17. and He is a revealing spirit verily herein doth lie most admirable comfort and joy yea all our actual soul joy in this life If all the thoughts and works of grace were hid from us we should have but sad dayes all our life long we should be in perpetual fears and doubts and complaints But the discovery of them which is by the light of the Spirit makes day with us makes joy and rejoycing abound within us Now there are four things which the Spirit of God given unto the people of God can and doth reveal unto them First The presence of Christ within us Though Christ be in us for he dwells The spirit reveals Christs presence within us in our hearts by faith Ephes 3. 17 yet we cannot see or discover his presence but by the Spirit Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us â— Joh. 3. 24. To know that Christ is mine and in me and that I am Christs and in him cannot be without the Spirit and this manifestation is from the Spirit and is not this joy and comfort indeed to know that Christ is in us Know ye not that Christ is in you except you be reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. Secondly The love of God towards us 'T is true that God doth love his people with a most gracious love and with a great love and with a most kind love Gods love towaâ—ds us his love is called loving-kindness Hose 2. 19. with a love that surpasseth all love And it is also true that the apprehension and experience of his love is most sweet and transcendent Thy loving-kindness is better than life Psal 63. 3. And if we could know his love unto us this would pacifie us and how should we come to tast how gracious the Lord is by the holy Ghost Rom. 5. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Simile The love of God is like a fountain that is sealed it is like a vessel of precious liquor like that box of oyntment none can open it unto us none can poure it into our hearts none can make us see and tast it he can and oftentimes doth make us to know that the Father loves us Thirdly The wonderful glory prepared for us Mark what the Apostle saith The glory prepared for us 1 Cor. 2. 9. Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Ver. 10 But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the Spirt searcheth all things yea the deep things of God the quality and quantity of future happiness prepared from eternity and must answer the blood of Christ c. Fourthly All the precious works of the Spirit himself with his finger hath The precious works of the spirit wrought in us Though there be an aptitude in them to manifest and discover themselves yet we cannot see them without the Spirit How often are we in darkness how often in doubts and enquiries but have I faith but have I repentance but have I godly sorrow but have I the new heart the tender heart the humble heart In truth Simile Beloved as there is no seeing of the heavenly bodies but by an heavenly light so there is no discovering of the graces of the Spirit but by the light of the Spirit 1 Cor. 2. 12. We have received the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things which are freely given us of God O what happiness is all this to enjoy the Spirit of God by whom we come to know Jesus Christ and as present in my soul to know the love of God and tast the sweetness of it in my heart to know the future heavenly happiness that is prepared from eternity and prepared for my soul and to know all that God hath freely given me in order unto my own eternal happiness Thirdly The Spirit of God which is given unto us is a strengthening and helping He is a stâ—enthening spirit Spirit Ephes 3. 16. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man Rom. 8. 26. Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities c. Is it not a benefit when one is weak and faint to find a friend to relieve to support assist uphold and help him we are weak we are fainting we are oppressed distressed burdened ready to sink to fail
commend to you that have the Envy not the gifts of the Spirit in others Spirit is this Do not envy the gifts and graces of the Spirit in any man nor speak evil of them Numb 11. 29. And Moses said unto Joshua Enviest thou for my sake Would God that all the Lords people were Prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them The Spirit of God gives different gifts unto men to profit withall 1 Cor. 12. 7. To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit Ver. 8. To another Faith by the same Spirit Ver. 9. And there are different measures of his gifts some do excell in one gift and some in another and this holds true in publick persons and in private persons all of us should rejoyce in all these manifestations of the Spirit It should not grieve us that any one is good nor that he can do good in his private way or in his publick way nor should it grieve and trouble us if any man hath more grace or that he can do more good bring more glory to Christ than we do or can The end of every Christian is Gods glory now every one should mind that and contribute towards that one man may contribute more and every man should contribute his utmost towards it is it not enough if Christ be magnified and thy soul saved Sixthly You should not be discouraged for any work which God puts upon Be not discouraged at hard tasks you though never so great and difficult for you have the Spirit of wisdom and power and sufficiency to assist you Zach. 4. 6. Not by might not by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts 2ly Now follows the Positive or affirmative duties for them that have received the Spirit of God The positive duties of such as have the spirit They should shew â—orth the vertues of the spirit As love First You should express the virtue of the Spirit which abideth in you you should walk like men of another spirit especially you should hold out those nine fruits or virtues of the spirit mentioned in Gal. 5. 22 23. The fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance these you should strive to act in your convesations 1. Love i. e. a loving behaviour especially towards the Godly nay and towards all men you should walk in love without hatred and emulation and envying and rash suspition and censoriousness 2. Joy i. e. such a behaviour as sets out a contentedness and well-pleasedness Joy with our worldly portion and a chearfulness and comfortableness in our spiritual relation unto and portion in God and Christ 3. Peace i. e. such a behaviour as exempts us from medling and wrangling and quarrelling and contentiousness and turbulency and tumâ—ltuousness and Peace variancies and that frames us to a quiet peaceable and unprovoking inoffensive carriage 4. Long-suffering i. e. we should bear much of the weaknesses and infirmities Long-suffering of those with whom we do converse and pass by slight injuries and forgive many a wrong done unto us as God for Christs sake hath forgiven us 5. Gentleness i. e. we should behave our selves towards others in speaking Gentleness or looking or dealing without pâ—ide austerity insolency scornfulness rigidness in a soft humble affable candid manner 6. Goodness i. e. we should not be hard-hearted and backward to do good Goodness to the souls or bodies of others but should be ready to distribute full of the fruits of mercy and be helpful and profitable and merciful to them that need especially to the distressed members of the body of Christ 7. Faith i. e. fidelity we should be just in our words promises and in all our Faith dealing with men by no means lye or deceive or over-reach or deal with guile deceitfully or falsly but squarely plainly and honestly and righteously 8. Meekness i. e. we should suppress all rash furious immoderate unlawful anger and frowardness and perturbation and passionateness and strive to Meekness manifest that we are in some measure able to deny our selves and to bear crosses and afflictions provocations injuries patiently and contentedly 9. Temperance i. e. we should not excessively lay out our cares and labours Temperance for any wordly thing whether honour or riches or pleasures but be soher in the desire and use of all the earthly blessings which God hath given unto us Secondly you should be wonderful thankful unto the Lord for giving of his We must be thankful for the spirit Spirit unto you Paul takes special notice of this mercy and often speaks of it We have received the Spirit of God and he hath given unto us his holy Spirit and his Spirit dwelleth in us c. There are four things for which God is eternally to be blessed viz. 1. For his free grace and love 2ly For his Christ 3ly For his Gospel And 4ly for his Spirit Quest And why for his Spirit Sol. Because what you are in relation to God you are by the Spirit First Are you in Christ this is by the Spirit are you new creatures born Reasons of it again this is by the Spirit are you delivered from Satan and your sinfull corruptions this is by the Spirit 2. What you can do this comes from the Spirit Can you mourn for sin can you poure out your hearts in Prayer can you at any time trust in the Name of the Lord can you look towards his holy place in times of desertion can you deny your selves can you do the will of God can you suffer the will of God all your spiritual strength is from the Spirit Thirdly Have you any discoveries of the Love of God have you any clearness of the love of Christ and of your propriety in him have you any satisfying evidences of your present relation to God have you any sealings and assurances of future blessedness have you ever tasted of joy unspeakable and glorious of a peace that passeth all understanding of recoveries out of sin of sweet refreshings under troubles of conscience then bless the Lord who hath given his own Spirit unto you Thirdly you should improve the Spirit that is given unto you and make Improve the spirit use of him 1. For works which he can do but hath not yet begun within you 2. For works which he hath begun but hath not as yet perfected and finished within you First For works which he can do but perhaps hath not yet begun within you He hath begun the work of humiliation and of vocation and of union and of regeneration but then perhaps there are other works wanting you have found him an healing Spirit but did you ever find him a sealing Spirit you have felt the power of his grace but did you ever tast the sweetness of his joyes you have found him a regenerating
the more able we are to trust God and to look on his Promises with as much chearfulness as others do If able to trust God without carking cares only in their performances If we can bless and praise God when he takes away as well as when he gives Psal 56. 10. In God will I praise his word in the Lord will I praise his word Sixthly The more complyance with and contentedness in all the changes which do befall us in our journey to heaven in these dayes of our pilgrimage certainly If contented in all changes this declares a presence of much grace The Lord saith of Job that there was not a man like him in all the earth he was eminently good and upright and he it was who blessed God in his great changes Job 1. 21. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Chap. 2. 10. Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil See Paul that strong Christian Phil. 4 11. I have learned in whatsoever estate I am therewith to be content Ver. 12. I know how to be abused and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need Fourthly A fourth duty which concerns you who have received the Spirit is Our hearts must be carried out to spiritual things this your hearts should be more earnestly and fixedly and entirely carried unto and laid out for spiritual things spiritual objects and treasures should be of more value with you and they should draw out your thoughts and affections to the utmost other things should be of small account with you If the Spirit be in you then the things of the spirit should be in you as wickedness is in the wicked man and the world is in the worldly man so should spiritual things be in a man of the Spirit In him i. e. his heart still in the mindings of his heart and in the projects of his heart and in the cares of his heart and in the desires and longings of his heart and in the delights and satisfactions of his heart he should be wholly given up to them and his soul should be resolved into them Psal 73. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee The spiritual man should be so addicted to spiritual things that he should spiritualize all things he should spiritualize the world and all his dealings in the world and he should spiritualize all the comforts of the world look on them as from his God and raise his heart more to God have much more delight and sweetness in him he should spiritualize all the afflictions and troubles of the world learn Righteousness and more holiness by them and more to live by faith Nay he should spiritualize all his fails grow more fearful selfdenying mournful watchful fruitful well he should spiritualize his conference and converse with all men edifying the good and admonishing the wicked comforting the weak supporting the feeble But to the main thing his heart should lay out it self for spiritual things O more of the favour of God and more of Jesus Christ and more of the fruits of the Spirit c. 1. The great Promises are of thâ—se 2. And the Promises of them are only unto you 3. They are the best portion and your best portion and your only portion 4. These are eternity or for eternity 5. The Spirit is given unto you to carry out your hearts for these 6. These are most suitable to a spiritual nature Now in the desires of spiritual things remember to 1. Desire grace infinitely more than gifts 2. Desire strength and power more than joys and comfort 3. Desire the means as well as the end 4. Desire all for the honour and glory of God SECT VII 5. Use DOth God promise to give his Spirit unto his people Then let us all be Let all look after the gift of the spirit perswaded to look after this great gift of God not to content our selves under the want of it but by all means to obtain it For the managing of this Vse I will present unto you 1. Some Motives to excite us 2ly Some Means to enjoy 1. The Motives to look after the Spirit of God e. g. First The Spirit and Christ come alwayes together If any man hath Christ The Spirit and Christ come alwayes together he hath the Spirit if any man hath the Spirit he hath Christ if any man hath not the Spirit he hath not Christ Christ and the Spirit ever go together Should not this provoke us to strive with God for his Spirit what sinner on earth would not have Christ what will become of us without Christ how happy is every soul in the enjoyment of him how miserable in the want of him how longing are the hearts of some for Christ and for the knowledge that Christ is their Christ But if the Spirit of God be yours then the Sonne of God is yours Here is a double portion at once a double gift at once the Spirit of God and Jesus Christ at once If you mind not the Spirit for the Spirits sake yet mind the Spirit for Christs sake your desires after him must come from the spirit and your union with him must come from the spirit and your knowledge of the person 〈◊〉 propriety or interest in him must come from the Spirit A man may think he hath Christ but if he hath not the Spirit Christ is none of his Rom. 8. 9. A man may fear that he hath not Christ but if the Spirit be given unto him then assuredly Christ is given unto him Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us 1 Joh. 3. 4. Secondly Forgiveness of sins and the Spirit alway are given together Though The Spirit and pardon of sin go together forgiveness of sin be one thing and the Spirit in us another thing yet they are both given together A man hath not his sins pardoned and yet he remains unsatisfied without the Spirit and a man is not sanctified by the Spirit and yet his sins remain unpardoned but both are given together at the same time 1 Joh. 5. 6. This is he that came by water and blood even Jesus Christ not by water only but by water and blood and it is the Spirit that beareth witness 1 Cor. â— 11. Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of of our God It is true that the blood of Christ is the only meritorious cause of the forgiveness of sins God forgives our sins for Christs sake but then it is as true that assurance of forgiveness and reconciliation of the Spirit are given together Hath God sanctified thy heart by his
been and are the cause of all our troubles The troubles which the Spirit causeth in us for sinne is a meanes to deliver us from sinne and the eternal troubles for sinne 2. The troubles which the Spirit causeth in us for sinne do end in much joy They end in joy and peace and peace The joy and peace of the Spirit are very precious and they cannot be delivered out unto us unless we be first troubled for our sin The Spirit comforts mourners and them that are cast down Now the Spirit troubles us for sin 1. To make sinne bitter to us 2ly To make Christ sweet to us As he troubles us for our sins so he leads and draws the troubleâ— soul to Christ that in him he may find deliverance from those sinnes and his peace made with God c. Trouble is not all the work of the Spirit it is an inceptive work and a preparative work he troubles you for sin that you may not be damned for sinne and that you may make out for Christ to save you from your sinnes Object We should be willing to have the Spirit but that then we must bid farewell to all our sins the Spirit is a mortifying Spirit he will not suffer us to love our sins nor to take pleasure in them as heretofore we are affraid of the sword of the Spirit Sol. I answer First It is granted that the spirit will do this as you do speak it will cast sin The second prejudice removed He dethrones sin The death of sin is our life out of the throne it will take off love and service from sin and it will be more and more â—â— mortifying of it Secondly But then where is the hurt the danger the prejudice which you have against this Gal. 5. 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Here is death and life If you keep your sins alive ye shall dye if you through the spirit mortifie your sins you shall live The life of sin is your death and the death of sin is your life Saul spared Agag but it was his ruine and Ahab spared Benhadad but it was his ruine c. Object O but the Spirit will make us holy and we must then live holily and not so lâ—osly and freely as heretofore Sol. First Will the spirit of God make you holy and should you not be The third prejudice removed so 1 Pet. 1. 16. Be holy for I am holy and should you not walk so As he who hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15. Secondly Consider only three places of Scripture for this 1. Isa 4. 3. He that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy even every We should be holy one that is written amongst the living in Jerusalem 2. Heb. 12. 14. Follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. 3. Matth. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Object But I shall be a derision and a mock if I should pretend to the Spirit c. Sol. 1. Who will mock you those that are led by the Divel wicked graceless The fourth prejudice removed ungodly men 2. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution 3. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of Christ resteth upon you 1 Pet. 4. 14. Secondly if you would come to partake of the Spirit you must not then resist We must not resist the spirit the Spirit Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resâ—st the Holy Ghost Acts 7. 51. Men resist the Spirit two wayes 1. When they will not hearken unto nor regard the counsel and commands of the Spirit delivered in the Word but set themselves against them and oppose and How the spiriâ— is resisted despise them 2. When they will not receive the offers and motions of the Spirit but harden their hearts against them and quench them and will not give way or enterance unto them Now take heed of this when the Spirit of God is knocking at your hearts and stirs your hearts to accept of him and of his graces which he is willing and ready to work in you by no means neglect them or slight them but lay hold of them presently as one of the greatest mercies that God is intending toward you bless him and cherish them and beseech him to go on with his work on your souls do not reject any work of the Spirit neither grieve him by neglecting his good motions Prov. 1. 23. Turn you at my reproof behold I will poure out my Spirit unto you I will make known my works unto you my Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man Thirdly If you would come to partake of the spirit then you must pray the We must pray for the spirit Lord to give you his spirit you must thirst after him and seek for him Isa 44. 3. I will poure water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will poure my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring Luke 11. 13. Your heavenly Father will give the spirit to them that ask him What a promise is this to encourage any man sensible of the want of the spirit to pray unto God! Jesus Christ assures him that if he will ask for the Holy Spirit he shall have him Object But who can pray unless he hath the Spirit first Sol. I grant that the spirit must make you sensible of the want of the spirit and he must stir up your hearts to pray for him there is some degree of the spirits presence in stirring us up to pray for these but then if you would fully enjoy the spirit you must poure out you hearts c. Fourthly You must attend the Preaching of the Gospel the Gospel is called Attend upon the Ministry oâ— the Word the Ministry of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 6. And you read that whiles Peter was Preaching the Word unâ—o Cornelius and the rest the Holy Ghost came upon them Act. 10 44. Whiles Peter yet spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word So Gal. 3. 2. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith They received the spirit upon the hearing of the Gospel which is the word of faith You read that aâ—l the works of the spirit and all the graces of the spirit and all the joyes and comforts of the spirit are let into us by the Word by that the spirit is pleased to convey himself First His works He enlightens our minds by the Word he convinceth us of He enlightens our minds by the Word sin by the Word I
his praises 1 Pet. 2. 9 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father c. Matth. 5. 16. You are bought with a price to glorifie God in c. 1 Cor. 6. 20. 3. His gracious disposition towards his servants and people which appears in four particulars First In his concurrence he passeth by many a failing in the performance of our duties Micah 7. 18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage Mal. 3. 17. I will spate them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him Secondly In his acceptance he will accept of a willing mind 2 Cor. 8. 12. If there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to what a man hath and not cording to that a man hath not The servant that gained two talents and the poor widow that cast in two farthings were accepted Thirdly In his assistance as he commands us to walk in his statutes so he puts his Spirit within us to cause us to walk in them underneath are the everlasting arms said Moses Deut. 33. 27. And I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me said Paul Phil. 4. 13. Fourthly In the recompence Psal 19. 11. In keeping of thy Commandements there is great reward Isa 1. 19. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the Land Rom. 2. 10. Glory honour and peace unto every man that worketh good Secondly In respect of the Statutes themselves they are holy and righteous and good The best way and the safest way to walk in are those which are pleasant to us well-pleasing to God The walking in the statutes of God is the best way that any man can walk in which appears thus First It is the way which the only wise and good God hath consecrated It is not a way of mans invention it is not a way of Satans delusion it is the way of God which he himself commands commends approves and likes Secondly It is the best way to walk in for our selves The benefit which comes by walking in Gods wayes 1. For a mans comfort and peace Great peace have they which keep thy Law Psal 119. 165. To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God Psal 50. 23. Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and sincerity we have â—ad our conversation 2 Cor. 1. 12. The people of God do find his paths paths of pleasure and never meet with sorrow but when they are wandring from them Prov. 19. 16. He that keepeth the Commandements keepeth his own soul but he that despiseth his wayes shall dye 2. For a mans safety you are sure of Gods protection whiles you are in his service and in his wayes Gen. 17. 1. I am God Almighty walk before me and â—e thou perfect q d. keep thou my wayes and I will keep thy safety 3. For a mans honour The service of God is our greatest liberty and our Itâ— our honor greatest dignity Deut. 4. 6. Keep therefore and do these statutes for this is your wisdom and understanding in the fight of the Nations which shall hear of these statutes and say Surely this Nation is a wise and understanding people 3ly In respect of the people of God themselves which have so many obligations In respect of Gods people upon them from their God 1. His Truth 2ly His Mercy 3ly Giving Christ for to them 4ly Giving his Spirit to them 5ly Shedding his love in their hearts 6ly Daily and hourly blessings 7ly The many sweet experiences found by them in the wayes of obedience 8ly The bitterness met with when starting aside and wandring c. Fourthly Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the way of the Lord Holy obedience blessed are they that keep his testimonies Psal 119. 1 2. Holy obedience or walking in Gods statutes is a testimony of our effectual calling to Christ of our salvation with him Rom. 6. 4. We are buried with him by baptism into death that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father so we should walk in newness of Life Ephes 4. 21. If so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus Ver. 22. Put off the old man c. Ver. 24. And put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Chap. 5. 8. Ye were sometimes dark but now are ye light in the Lord walk as children of that light SECT I. 1. Use ARe the people of God charged and bound to walk in the statues of God and to keep his judgements and to do them O how few people then Few are Gods people hath God where is the man that doth obey his voice who doth indeed take any heed to walk with God in his statutes who orders his steps according to his Word Some there are that instead of giving an ear unto all the Scriptures and to all the Ordinances and to all the Statutes and Commandments of God they are beyond the Scriptures and beyond Ordinances and beyond the Law or Statutes of God and they cry out against men as Legalists who press obedience and as Antichristian and favouring of works I do indeed believe that there are many Antichrists amongst us and fear the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that great Antichrist is too much amongst us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Apostle describing the great Antichrist 2 Thes 2 3. saith that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Exlex sine lege one who doth trample down the Law of God c. Many others there are who though they be not Antinomians in opinion yet are so in their practice like those in Psal 2. 3. Let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us Particular Libertines who will have no Lord over them and will walk after the lusts of their own hearts and despise the statutes of God Hose 8. 12. I have written unto them concerning Ephraim the great things of my Law but they were counted a strange thing Beloved take but a short view of Gods statutes and of mens walking and we shall confess that few there are that walk in his statutes The statutes of God respect 1. Himself 2ly Our Neighbour Who they be that walk not after Gods Commanments 1. Himself in the glory of his Nature of his Worship of his Name and of his Day O but how few walk in these statutes 1. The ignorant that know not God 2. The Atheists that acknowledge not God 3. Unbelievers that trust not God 4. The profane that love not God nor fear him 5. The superstitious and idolatrous worshippers 6. The cursed swearers and forswearers 7. The rabble of Sabbath-breakers who make the day of God the day of their idlest recreation or profaness
is Evangelical obedience and the Paths wherein we will walk 3ly In the love of them delighting our selves in them 4ly In an humble and sincere endeavour to keep them all This walking in Gods statutes and keeping of his judgements is not impossible and there is not a godly man on earth who riseth not to this Heb. 13. 18. We trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly Fourthly If this Evangelical walking in Gods statutes be impossible to any man this ariseth not from the nature of the statutes of God but from the wickedness of mans own nature which he should beseech the Lord to heal and change and renew by his grace and then the statutes of God would not be grievous unto him much less would they be impossible he should quickly find that of Christ to be true Math. 30. My yoke is easie and my burden is light Ezek. 36. 27. And cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgements and do them SECT II. 2. Vse THe second Use which I would make of this Point that the people of How to prove our selves to be of the number of Gods people God under the Covenant of grace are to walk in his statutes and to do them is this That as we are to approve our selves to be the people of God that we make it our care and business to order our conversations according to his Word to walk in his Statutes to conform our selves in all our wayes to the obedience of his will And for the better carrying on of this Use I desire to speak unto three Questions 1. How a man must be qualified that so he may be willing 〈◊〉 and in some measure able to walk in the statutes of God and do them 2. What mistakes a man must take heed of in the performances of duties of obedience to Gods Laws and statutes 3. What rules are to be observed in walking in Gods statutes and how one may perform acts of obedience or spiritual duties in such a manner as God will accept of them 1. Quest How a man must be qualified that so he may be willing and in some measure able to walk in the statutes of God and do them How we may be enabled to walk in Gods statutes Sol. There are six Qualifications as to this 1. A Credence that there is a God who hath given Laws unto men which every man is enjoyned to obey 2. A Knowledge of the Laws of God which do concern him to keep or obey 3. A Sanctified will or renewed heart 4. An Evangelical faith 5. An Vnfeigned love of God 6. An Humble spirit 1. A Credence that there is a God who hath given Laws unto all the sons of men and they are bound to keep and obey them If this Principle as I have expressed it be not granted it is in vain to offer any thing concerning walking in Gods statutes and keeping and doing of them If a person denies 1. That there is a God unquestionably he doth therein deny all the Lawes or statutes of God and likewise all obedience unto his laws and hold Three Atheistical Positions 2. That God hath no authority to prescribe Laws unto his creatures or that he never did constitute any Laws prescribing and limiting his creatures but hath left every man to walk in the wayes of his own heart 3. Though he hath set Laws and Rules of life yet his creatures are at their own liberty to obey them or not obey them if he obey them it is well and if they please not to obey them there is no sin or danger I say such Atheistical Positions as these do utterly void all the soveraignty of God and obligations of man and are the foundations of all wickedness and disobedience therefore of necessity if any person would walk in the statutes of God and do them he must be really and fully convinced of these three Principles 1. That there is a God a true and living God the Maker and possessor of Heaven and Earth who is the Lord and Soveraign of all men to whom the authority of making laws for them doth of right belong for he indeed hath the Soveraignty and highest power 2. That he hath given Laws or statutes unto all the sons of men in which he reveals his mind will and pleasure concerning them what he would have them to do and what he would have them to avoid 3. That those Laws or statutes of his are Obligations upon men they do not only teach what is good and evil but bind us also to do that good and to decline that evil The Lord God being bound to uphold his own will and glory and having threatned all transgressors of his Laws and revealed his wrath against them and hath punished them and still hath in readiness to avenge the disobedience of men Secondly When you do believe that there is a God who hath authority to prescribe Laws unto you and that he hath enacted and published them for all men to take notice of them then must you give diligence to know what his Laws are concerning you and to understand them that you may be able to say concerning your selves what the Apostle spake of others This is the will of God concerning you Psal 119. 27. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts Ver. 18. Open thou mine eyes that I may behold the wondrous things out of thy Law Ver. 12. Blessed art thou O Lord teach me thy statutes Isa 2. 3. Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his wayes Now here briefly are two Questions 1. Quest What kind of knowledge of Gods statutes is requisite towards our A threefold knowledge of Gods statutes walking in them There is a threefold knowledge of them First A knowledge of apprehension which is partly 1. Literal this is the least and weakest part of our knowledge when a man A â—iteral knowledge can say or read or hear the words of Gods Laws and recite them word by word yet without understanding the hiddenness of the Laws themselves as many say the words of the Lords Prayer who yet understand not the meaning of that prayer So do many say the words of Gods Laws or Commandements who yet c. 2. Spiritual and this is of that Law which is in the Law it is a knowledge of Spiritual knowledge the true meaning and purpose of any Law or statute of God Many know literally who yet know not spiritually so aâ— to dive into and reach the meaning of God e. g. Thou shalt have none other Gods but me Exod. 20. 3. These letters and words are known by many and yet the sense of them is known only to a few namely that we must set up the true God only for our God and make him the only object of our trust and love and fear Now look
salvation As are the sinews of all Religion As most concern our selves and families That concern righteousnesse and mercy That concern the avoiding of greater sins We should do all affectionately in or to observe Sol. I humbly conceive that our special care should be First Of those which do principally and immediately respect Gods Glory Summa ratio in summo fine Secondly Of those which do most absolutely and necessarily respect our own salvation as Regeneration Repentance Holiness Faith Thirdly Of those which are the bond and sinews of all Religion upholding it in the power and practice of it as the sanctifying of the Sabbath Fourthly Of those which do most concern our selves and such as are under our charge as family-duties Fifthly Of those which do require and enjoyn righteousness and mercy unto others and preserve publick society Sixthly Of those which do concern the greater sins which should be most carefully avoided Fourthly we should walk in Gods statutes and keep and do them affectionately we should affect the acts of obedience and be affected in them Suppose that a man did walk up to every statute of God yet if this were not done affectionately all were nothing Now there are four affections with which we should perform every service or duty that we do unto God 1. Love and delight 2ly Joy 3ly Fear 4ly Zeal First With Love and Delight We must love the Lord and his statutes and the With love and delight duties which he requires from us and take delight in obeying and doing his will Psal 119. 97. O how I love thy Law Ver. 167. My soul hath kept thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly Psal 40 8. I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy Law is within my heart Secondly With joy and alacrity Psal 119. I have rejoyced in the way of With joy and alacrity thy testimonies as much as in all riches Psal 100. 2. Serve the Lord with gladness Our walking in Gods statutes should be our meat and drink we should find more satisfaction and soul contentment and refreshing when we are doing the will of God and are enjoying communion with him than we do find or take in any earthly enjoyment whatsoever Thirdly With fear Serve the Lord with fear Psal 2. 11. when ye are a performing With fear any duty to God ye must do it with a 1. Reverential fear Thou shalt fear this glorious and fearful Name the Lord A reverential fear thy God Deut. 28. 58. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him Psal 89. 7. Pray and hear with fear and trembling 2. Humble fear of our own sufficiency and of our own performance left Humble fear any thing should fall in with our duties by which God may be offended and our service of him may miscarry c. Fourthly With zeal or fervor of spirit The people of God must be zealous With zeal of good works and zealous in good works fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12. 11. It was said of Jehoshaphat that his heart was lifted up in the wayes of the Lord 2 Chron. 17. 6. And of Josiah that he made a Covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his Commandements and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul c. 2 Chron. 34. 31. See also 2 King 23. 25. Wrestling and striving in Prayer attend earnestly in hearing We must not walk in Gods statutes with careless sloathful indifferent spirits but with heightned and lively and enlarged spirits doing his will with all our might and strength bringing out all the might and power that we have in his service stir up our graces and our hearts Fifthly We should walk in Gods statutes uprightly and sincerely Gen. 17. 1. Walk before me and be thou upright And 1 Kin. 3. 6. David my Father walked Walk in them uprightly before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee Isa 38. 3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart c. 2 Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world Quest But here now is the great Question how one may know that he walks Signs of sincerity uprightly in Gods statutes Sol. There are 〈◊〉 discoveries of this First The prevalent motive which alone sufficeth to his obedience and that If we obey because God commands is the will or command of God if a man be upright and walk with an unright heart then he will and doth act and move upon the sole account of Gods command that alone is reason enough and will prevail with him for obedience There are several Motives which induce men to do good works some do respect our selves and are drawn from a respect to our credit and profit as do such a work and perform such a duty and you shall have honour amongst men by it and you shall gain much by it these considerations are the prevailing Motives which men of unsound hearts to some things which God requires as it was with Jehu c. And some are drawn from God himself only from his Commandement and this is sufficient and this prevails with men of upright heart Psal 119. 4. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts dilgently Ver. 5. O that my wayes were directed to keep thy statutes Mark how his heart is drawn out to obedience upon the meer command of God Thou hast commanded us c. Isa 2. 3. He will teach us of his wayes and we will walk in his paths Mark there is no more considered to move to walk in his paths than this he will teach us of his wayes i. e. he will make us to know that this or that is his will and command concerning us Paul relates that it was the earnest prayer of Epaphras for the Colossians that they might stand perfect and be filled with all the will of God Col. 4. 12. It is not Compleri but Repleri 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some look upon that word as Metaphorical to be filled with the will of God as the sails of a ship are filled with wind which is enough to carry the ship in voyage so it is enough when the will of God fills our hearts and that carries them out to duty and David hath a singular expression in Psal 119. 6. When I have respect unto all thy Commandements you know that to have a respect unto a thing is this when that of all other swayes most with us as when a Master commands a servant he will do such a business because he respects him and at his command he will go and come though he will not at the command of any other this was Davids