duty you do to him can be accepted 4. You can hope for no pardon of sin 5. Cannot come to God with boldness 124. What meant by the only true God p. 126. viz. the whole Essence of the Godhead 3. Doctr. That the Father Son and Holy Ghost is the only true God p. 128. Reason For he only hath being of himself 2. He is the living God 3. None can do that which he doth 4. He only is Eternal 1. Vse Be stirred up to confirm your faith of this Motives 1. For then the more and better we shall walk with him 2. Serve and obey him p. 130. Direct 1. Give full assent to the Scriptures 2. Know him to be above all other Gods 3. Be resolved not doubtful of this point 4. Pray for faith in this particular p. 133. 2. Vse Obey serve and honour him as the true God p. 134. 3. Vse Let us have no other God but him only p. 135. Serve the Lord and not Idols p. 136. Times p 138. Lusts neither your own nor that of others p. 139. 2. Fear none but him 3. Trust in him alone p. 140. 4. Vse Learn from hence to be at unity among our selves 5. Learn to see our happiness of having chosen him for our God p. 141. 4. Doctr. That Christ is the Apostle or Messenger of God p. 142. Explication 1. Sent from God and from heaven How possible p. 143. 2. Into the world 3. The errand on which he was sent viz. to make peace preach peace 4. Therefore fitly qualified with 1. Authority 2. Ability Fulness of Merit to make peace p. 145. Spirit to preach peace p. 145. 1. Vse Admire the mercy of the sender 2. Of him that would be sent Void of fear and constraint p. 147 2. Be all intreated to receive and entertain him For 1. His errand is your business 2. It 's for your good and advantage 3. The Father expects you should honour his Embassadour and Son 4. He will avenge the refusers of him 5. This Messenger can prevail with God for you p. 149. Direction 1. Receive him so as to hearken to him 2. To believe in him 3. To obey him p. 150. 5. Doct. Whoever wil be glorified with God in heaven must glorifie him first on earth p. 152 Reason It is the everlasting counsel and decree of God Vse 1. Against vain expecters of future glory p. 153. 2. Vse Learn to glorifie God here 1. By a vocal declaration 2. By a real representation in what you 1. are p. 154. 2. do p. 154. Gods glory how to be our aim in all Ver. 4 1. Doctr. That Christ was ordered by his Father in the work he did in this world p. 156. Expl. Christ was so ordered in his works of Satisfaction His obedience Active p. 157. Passive p. 158. Application p. 158. As by the 1. Promulgation of the Word 2. Internal operation of the Spirit p. 159. Reas 1. Christ was the Fathers creature 2. The Fathers servant p. 160. 1. Vse Admire the humble condescension of Christ 2. Learn to be humbled in like manner and to suffer willingly p. 161. 3. Vse Some do the good others the evil which God hath not given them to do p. 162. Danger of neglecting Gods order p. 164. How Christ had finished the work before his Passion p. 165. 2. Doct. Christ did not do his work by halves but went through with it p. 166. Sufferings of Christs body Natural Mystical 1. Vse Who guilty of adding to the works of Christ 2. Let us persevere in our work and finish it Five Motives hereunto p. 169. Ver. 5 What glory Christ prayed for Doct. Christ as Man in some measure partaker of the divine glory 1. By the grace of union 2. By the grace of dispensation from the Father p. 173. 1. Vse Know the advancement of our nature in the Person of Christ 2. Their personal advancement that belong to Christ partly in 1. Fruition 2. Assured expectation 3. This should make us despise the shame of this world 2. So to walk as not to be a shame to Christ p. 174. Ver. 6 How Christ had manifested Gods Name Doct. Christ made an absolute and compleat discovery of his Father to the people 1. By his Personal appearance in the flesh 2. By his Word and Gospel 3. By his Spirit p. 178. 2. Q. Why Christ only makes this discovery R. 1. None but he is able 2. None but he is fit to make this discovery p. 180. 3. Q. Why the discovery he makes is so full and absolute R. 1. As being the faithful Prophet of his Church 2. That the discovery may be effectual 1. Vse The ignorant inexcusable 2. Learn to bless his Name for this discovery 3. Grow up in the knowledge of this Name made known p. 182. 4. Vse Be satisfied with the discovery which Christ hath made search not beyond it Pride Sin Danger vanity thereof p. 184. 5. Vse Walk worthy of this discovery i. e. Despair not under sin or misery p. 185. 2. Doct. Some the Father giveth to Christ out of the world 2. A certain number of them 3. Being once the Lords they are no longer of the world Confirm 1. The actual members of Christ are dead with Christ and of another world as are their kindred and alliance p. 190. 3. Their habitation is spiritual so is their action and traffique 1. Vse Therefore the world storms and rageth at mens being given up to Christ 2. Examin Are we given up to Christ p. 192. Marks 1. They are not conformable to this present world 2. They speak the language of another world p. 193. 3. They dearly affect their Countreymen 3. Vse Think not strange of ill usage in the world p. 194. 4. Vse Regard not the things of this world 5. Follow not a multitude to sin It s safe and honorable to be retired 6. Be not troubled at worldly troubles 3. Doct. All Christs people were first belonging to the Father p. 197. 1. The Father essentially taken 2. All belonged to God 1. By Creation 2. By Election 3. Christs people not so his as not the Fathers 1 Vse Christ will tenderly keep those that are so given him Word of God Inward and Essential p. 202. Outward and Declaratory p. 202. 4. Doct. They whom the Father gives to Christ keep his word p. 203. Christs Word is kept In the memory by retaining In the heart by believing In the affections by loving In the life by obeying with obedience Active Passive Vse Exam. Are we so given up to Christ that we keep his Word p. 205. 2. Vse Direct For helping memory 1. Be intent and fix your mind on the Word 2. Get a good understanding 3. Value the Word 4. Strengthen the memory by meditation repetition conference 5. Set instantly to practice the truth you hear 6. Pray for the Spirit to do his Office 3. Vse of Examination Do we keep Christs word by Faith Some believe none of it 2. Some but part of it
must have or else they are not capable of medling with the affairs and the negotiations of their master And therefore God hath furnished Jesus Christ with powers with ample and compleat authority for the Embassage he hath sent him in All power is given to him without any limitation You see he hath a large Commission and consequently what he doth concerning what he hath received in Commission is as valid and effectuall to all intents and purposes as if God the Father did it He hath not only set his seal to Christs Commission but he hath sealed Christ himself Him hath God the Father sealed Iohn 6.27 So that he came into the world with the stamp and with the seal of God upon him that all men might receive him as sent forth from him As God hath qualified him with authority so he hath qualified him with ability for the effecting of the business and the delivery of the errand which he sent him in He hath made him fully able to go through with it and to that end hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit and a fulness of Spirit A fulness of Merit to make Peace and a fulness of Spirit to preach Peace First as God hath sent him so he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace Made him able to the utmost to satisfie his justice and to obtain his pardon for his people For he is God as well as man in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily God that his Merits might be valuable for us Man that his merits might be applicable to us Secondly as he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace so of Spirit to preach Peace The Spirit of the Lord is upon me saith our Saviour Luke 4.18 and by this Spirit he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel as it is added there in that place As he hath sent and appointed me to preach so annointed me to preach And therefore grace is said to be poured into the lips of Jesus Christ Psal 45.2 so that he spake as never man did Iohn 7.46 That some were astonied at his doctrine and all men bore him witness and wondered Luke 4.22 JOHN 17.3 And Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent Use 1 NOW is it so that Jesus Christ is Gods Apostle a Messenger sent c. This then may teach us in the first place to admire the mercy of the Lord both of the Father and of the Son in this business The mercy of the Father in sending Jesus Christ and the mercy of the Son in that he would be sent by him In both of these the grace of God is eminent to admiration Let us here observe and wonder at the mercy of the Sender There was rich grace in this that God the Father sent his Son into the world for our sakes He is his Son his only begotten Son a Son that is extreamly like him the very picture of his Father the express image of his person a Son that never did displease him a Son that he dearly loves in whom his very soul delights in which respect he layes him in his bosom next his heart as a choice and precious thing And yet this Son of his he is content to part withall in some respect that he and we might come together To send him out of his bosom and to dispatch him down into this lower world there to continue for a while that when he returned again he might bring us up with him Had God any need of us that he should send his Son for us Ah my Beloved he is self-sufficient there is enough in him to make him happy everlastingly without us But we must be for ever miserable without him And therefore it was nothing else but free mercy that made him send down his beloved Son to us Herein is love saith the Evangelist 1 Iohn 4.10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son Here is love and here is mercy to be spoken of and to be wondered at in all ages Let us here take notice of the mercy of the Son in that he would submit himself so far as to become the Fathers Messenger in this business Though he be man he is the Fathers fellow notwithstanding so he stiles him Zach. 13.7 Awake O sword against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts Though he be found in fashion as a man he thinks it no robbery to be equall with God every way as good as God Philip. 3.6 And was it not an admirable condescention that when the Father had a Message to dispatch into the world for the recovery of lost creatures Jesus Christ should say to him as once the Prophet in another case Here I am send me I am very well content to be sent of this errand Especially if we consider where and whither he was sent from heaven to earth yea to the lowest parts of the earth as the expression is Ephes 4.9 In a sense to hell it self From the bosom of the Father if not into the place into the state and the condition of the damned In which respect he saith Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell Psal 16.10 He was sent to make peace to reconcile us to his Father as you heard before in Explication of the point and this he was to do by the blood of his Cross as the Apostle shews us Col. 1.20 By his extream and bitter Passion by suffering death it self yea such a shamefull and accursed death upon the Cross accompanied with such ingredients as made him roar and sweat and faint under it And was it not a miracle of mercy that Jesus Christ should yield himself to be sent on such an errand as this is That he should willingly submit himself to be the Fathers Messenger in such a business We need not wonder that he whose love and kindness was so full of wonder should be called wonderfull Isa 9.6 But you will say perhaps Object that this indeed was rare and admirable mercy if Jesus Christ had willingly exposed himself to this for us But it seems he was constrained it was against his will For he was afraid of it Heb. 5.7 Yea more then so he prayed against it Mat. 26.39 Father if it be possible saith he let this cup pass from me To this I answer my Beloved Answ that Christ must be considered in a double notion and respect either as a private man or as a Mediator and a surety for his people Take him as a private man who had assumed a nature to which death was an enemy especially so bitter and so sharp a death as he was now about to undergo and so he justly feared it and declined it Take him as a publick Surety and a mercifull high-Priest and so he willingly submitted to it And this his willingness by reason of his Office was the greater because his will by reason of his nature could not choose but shrink from
The Father loves believers as he doth Christ Reas For he loves them 1. In Christ 2. Through Christ 1. Vse Depend on him 1. Without doubting 2. By real love 3. Vse Comfort to all true believers In that 1. He will uphold them as he did Christ 2. Assist us in his service 3. Reward his own work in us 4. Hear us 5. Provide for us 3. Doctr. Christs will is even a Law with the Father Reas 1. Being the only Son 2. The Beloved 3. Never asks amiss 4. Sueth for nothing but what he deserver p. 491. Vse How to make Christ our Advocate Ver. 24 Direct 1. To prepare their hearts they must be 1. Purged 2. Humbled 3. Fixed 4. Awakened Then 2. For Matter of prayer search the promises p. 496. Manner Pray without wrath 2. Doubting 3. With much zeal 2. If we pray acted by Christs Spirit 1. There will be zeal 2. Desires spiritual 3. For spiritual things chiefly Not to be spent on lusts 4. We shall pray constantly 2. Doct. It is Christs will that they who are given him should be in heaven Reas He loves them with a love 1. Of benevolence 2. Of Complacency 3. To see his glory 3. Doct. God hath loved Christ from all Eternity Reas Being like him both as God and Man Vse Wo to them that hate Christ They hate Christ 1. Who willingly obey sin 2. Who love and hate that which Christ doth not 3. Who are friends to the Enemies of Christ Contra p. 513. 2. Vse God therefore loveth them that love Christ Christ is amiable and worthy of our love 1. In respect of his perfections p. 515. 2. In respect of our Interest and propriety in him 3. Of his great love to us 4. Of that he hath done for us 3. Vse Admire that he should so use him as he did for our sakes 1. Giving him up to the hands of sinful men and to his own wrath 2. So using him for such as we are p. 517. 4. Vse Comforts to those that belong to Christ that they are loved from everlasting 4. Doct. God is a very just and righteous God Confirmed 1. From the largeness of his Jurisdiction 2. The Immensity of his presence 3. From his inward propensity and disposition 1. Vse This should settle our minds amidst the confusions and disorders of the world 2. Vse Comfort to those that are abused and oppressed 3. Vse Come into him and become his subjects 4. Vse Terror to the ungodly 5. Vse Comfort to the righteous even in Gods Justice 6. Vse Admonition to Magistrates Perswasions to execute Justice 1. It will settle the land 2. Be amiable to God 3. Beneficial to your selves p. 526 7. Vse Meditate on Gods righteousness It will 1. help us against sin 2. Strengthen our faith in prayer p. 528. Ver. 25 Doct. Unbelievers and unsanctified persons know not God in such manner as they ought p. 531. 1. Know him not so as to delight in him 2. Nor so as to serve and obey him 3. Nor so as to know him in Christ Reason 1. Unbelieving Heathens want the means of knowledge 2. Unbelieving Christians want the Spirit to unveil 1. The understanding 2. The Gospel 3. In every unbeliever there 's something 1. Redundant to repell divine Truth 2. Wanting to receive it viz. The Spirit of God 4. They are unwilling to know God p. 535. 1. Vse The misery of unsanctified unbelievers 2. Vse Admire Gods mercy in vouchsafing us the means of knowledge p 537. 2. Doct. That Christ alone knows God immediately and others by his means p. 539. Vse None saved by his own natural knowledge 3. Doct. The most saving knowledge hath defects and imperfections standing in need of farther declaration p. 541. Reason Christ doth not shew them all at once 1. Because they are not capable 2. That he may keep them humble 1. Vse Be not proud of your knowledge 2. Vse Comforts to the humble 1. A sign that thy knowledge is right and sound 2. It 's the measure which Christ hath alloted thee 3. The time is coming when these thy defects shall be supplyed 4. We shall be rewarded according to our practice not our knowledge Ver. 26 Doct. Christ will be making farther declarations of his Fathers Name to the worlds end p. 546. 1. By his written Word and Ministers in all ages 2. By his holy Spirit p. 548. 1. Vse Believe what he hath spoken 2. Expect the execution of his promise 3. Thereunto strive with Christ in prayer p. 549. 2. Doct. The Love which is in true believers comes from God Reason For it cannot be Originally in of or from our selves yet not without means Vse If we want it have recourse to God Love is the chiefest thing 1. That comes from God p. 554. 2. That conformeth us to God p. 554. 3. Doct. Declaration of the Fathers Name is a special means to work love in them Reason 1. Beauty is a part of his Name 2. Goodness 3. Mercy 4. Love p. 557. 4. Doct. Where Love is there Christ is Reason 1. For where Love there the Spirit 2. Faith 3. God is p. 560. 1. Vse Misery of those that love not God and his children 2. Comforts to those that have love in them They have Christ and therefore 1. Have intimate Communion with him 2. Have free access to him 3. Have the confluence of all Accommodations 4. Are secure 2. Let Christ live quiet in your hearts Excellency of Christs prayer An Alphabetical Table of the Chief Heads contained In this TREATISE A ADopted children page 15 Admire the love of God and of Christ page 20 98 146 161 361 455 537 Affections of the heart testified by outward gesture page 11 Affliction should not dismay us See Tribulation page 104 195 290 291 367 Abilities of Christ page 145 Active Obedience of Christ page 157 Our Advancement in Christ page 174 The Apostle and Messenger of God is Christ 142 149 234 235 other Apostles page 407 our Affections are to keep Christs word page 204 213 Apostates from Christ page 41 210 Application of Christ page 158 441 Assurance Means and benefit thereof page 22 our Active and Passive obedience page 203 Authority grace and power of Christs words page 7. 473 Authority of Christ over all men 52 144. for the benefit and Salvation of his people page 72 73 Agreement with God and Christ necessary page 465 Agreement See Unity The benefits thereof page 303 304 All things revealed by Christ in what sense page 236 Aimiableness of Christ page 514 515 Adding to the work of Christ page 168 word of Christ page 241 Absence of Christ from the Father page 265 Ascension of Christ 266. End fruit and benefits thereof page 267 B PArtial Believers page 208 â—99 Belief See Faith Wrought by the Gospel page 443 444 Believers not free from the Law page 61 62 Believe the Trinity page 130 132 the Scriptures page 133 399 in Christ page 149 150 441 Christs word 204. 559
Love to God or his children page 561 M. MAgistrates to execute Justice page 525 526 Marks Of faith page 209 Of living by Christ page 84 85 Of Gods children page 24 Of being given up to Christ page 192 193 to 212 Mediator Christ page 47 52 73 101 145 250 Messengers and Ministers of Christ not to be slighted page 40 413 How they ought to use their delegated power page 76 406 408 414 Their faithfulness required page 245 246 390 Their duty page 391 Message and errand of Christ page 148 410 Manifestation of the Father by Christ page 177 Wherefore by Christ alone page 180 Memory means to strengthen it page 206 207 Meditation page 206 215 272 N. NAme of the Father declared a special means to work love in those that hear it page 556 557 Name of God is beauty mercy goodness love page 557 Name of God manifested by Christ page 176 Have recourse to it in any distress page 292 Natural knowledge insufficient page 539 540 Natural life how frail page 89 387 A blessing page 367 368 Neerness of Christ to God page 33 48 253 256 265 Neerness of believers to God page 446 to 450 453 474 562 Nobility of true Chirstians page 257 448 454 O. OBedience due to Christ page 19 69 76 150 203 Due to men also 64 to the Word page 220 Offices of Christ page 34 181 236 250 339 473 Obedience of Christ active and passive page 157 158 One God page 129 130 Omnipotent page 129 How to Obey and serve God page 130 134 God Only to be served page 134 136 138 Our Obedience ought to be total cordial constant page 220 221 228 Our Obedience active and passive page 203 Christ Ordered by the Father in his works page 156 157 c. P. MAtter and manner of Prayer page 496 497 Preparation of the heart for Prayer page 492 493 Passion of Christ page 158 165 166 433 Perfect manifestation of the Father page 180 Perfection of Christs work page 168 169 181 442 Words page 239 241 242 445 Peace of Christ page 145 Power of God doth preserve believers page 286 287 Power of Christ Legislative page 53 432 Judiciary page 53 432 Prayer the outward gesture and utterance thereof to be considered page â—10 Vocal when necessary and requisite page 14 154 Prayers of whom sure to be heard page 17 22 49 254 354 Pride page 104 296 393 Praise vocal page 154 real page 154 Propagation of the Gospel page 416 548 Preservation See Keeping page 361 Preaching of Christ page 4 159 178 546 548 Practice a help to the memory page 206 Perseverance Motives thereunto page 169 People of Christ are the Fathers page 198 255 Promises to be believed 209 who believe them not page 210 Our great Prophet is Christ page 234 236 c. Prophecies shall be accomplished page 332 c. Q VVHo Quickned by Christ page 84 85 Qualification of Christ page 144 425 Questioning proves not want of faith page 212 R. THat Christ ought and how to be Received page 149 150 Receive and entertain the Spirit page 271 272 Private Revenge condemned page 65 66 67. Sinfulness thereof ibid. Remedies and rules against Revenge page 67 68 Repetition page 206 380 Reproof page 413 Resignation to the Word page 228 S. SAnctification means thereof page 388 End of Christs Office page 434 Satisfaction of Christ page 157 Christ the Fathers Servant page 47 102 160 Scriptures to be believed and assented to page 132 444 445 Scriptures proved to be the Word of God page 230 231 Sons by Adoption page 15 Creation page 15 Sons of God 15 16 17 their comfort ib. Signs page 23 24 Spiritual desires how discerned page 498 499 Spiritual service promoted by gesture and utterance page 11 Signs of the Spirit 24 500. Of Spiritual Joy page 350 Spirit of Christ slighted page 40 270 271 Service of God 134. See Obedience Sending of Christ 142 145 c. Of Ministers page 406 425 426 Spirits operation page 159 178 206 233 548 Shame of the world page 174 To Christ page 175 Our Strength is in God not in our selves page 289 290 Sufferings of Christ glorious page 36 161 433 Society to be made choice of page 459 460 Solitude page 195 Helps and remedies against Sin page 283 284 Sins of Christians more sinful then of others page 257 456 457 Sooner and more sharply chastised ibid. How the Saints are kept from Sin page 373 374 How to follow Christ in our Spirits page 273 How we are to Seek unto God page 293 Security page 319 563 Believers ought not to be Sorrowful page 342 347 T. THreatnings have an implicit condition page 333 Threatnings to be believed 209. Comfort to the Church page 338 Thankfulnsss due to God and Christ page 81 86 182 284 423 Set Time of God the fittest page 28 Time not to be prescribed to God page 29 Time-servers condemned page 138 Titles of Christ 33 communicated to believers page 473 Temptation how we are kept from it page 372 Tribulation See Affliction Benefits thereof page 370 378 379 How we are kept from it page 373 Trial of Prophets page 237 411 True God page 128 129 133 335 Cleer Truths may be questioned and doubted page 212 Truth the whole word but especially the Gospel page 396 397 To be maintained how page 402 To be obeyed page 403 Trust in God alone page 140 237 Tryals and troubles of this life page 275 277 V. VEngeance See Revenge page 67 Unbelievers dishonour Christ page 39 Vnbelievers sin and danger page 56 208 395 531 537 Uncharitable page 58 59 Vngodly 70. See Wicked why they have prevailed page 243 Their destruction not intended by Christ page 72 77 79 Vnity of the Trinity page 128 130 173 Vnity to be studied and put in practice page 141 A matter of great difficulty and concernment page 295 c. Benefits of Vnity and means conducing page 307 308 459 466 Vnion of believers page 446 447 474 How one as God and Christ are one page 448 Defective Vnion of worldly men page 478 Vniversal Redemption page 251 328 Vnderstanding page 109 Vocal prayer page 14 Vocal praise page 154 W. VVAit Gods time Motives thereunto page 30 Will of Christ a law with the Father page 490 491 That they who are given him should be in heaven page 501 We must suffer Willingly page 161 433 Wicked men dishonour Christ page 39 Words of Christ worthy of our observation page 4 5 6 7 401 To be highly valued page 8 149 206 214 216 218 238 How kept in the heart memory c. page 203 205 To be loved and the signs thereof 213 214. Motives page 218 Word of God inward and essential outward and declaratory page 202 Gods Word must be known to be his page 224 225 Work of Christ how finished before his Passion page 165 Is full and perfect page 166 167 Worlds shame to be despised page 174 194 True believers are of another world page
his work as he professes to his Father in my Text I have manifested thy Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have brought it forth saith he into the light and set it in open view for so much that word imports By which he intimateth that his Fathers Name was like a rare and curious piece behinde a curtain like a rich treasure covered or a glorious Image vailed But now saith Christ the vail is taken off the covering is removed the curtain drawn I have exposed my Fathers Name to the veiw of all my people This Christ hath done you see and now let us consider what we are to do No question he hath brought it forth that we might see it that we might feed our eyes upon it that we might grow up in the knowledge of his Fathers Name of the dearness of his love and the sweetness of his mercy the tenderness and the abundance of his compassions unto poor lost creatures This is the Name which Jesus Christ hath manifested to us that we might be acquainted with it Now I beseech you my Beloved let us not by neglecting this discovery go about to frustrate Christ and do as much as in us lies to disappoint him of his purpose Oh let us labour that our knowledge of the Name of God may be in some sort answerable to the revelation that Jesus Christ hath made of it And that as we have since our Saviours coming in the flesh a fuller and a more compleat discovery of it then they in former ages had we may accordingly exceed and go beyond them in the knowledge of it too We may know more of God especially of his love and of his mercy to his people in his Son then they did Or if it be not so to what end is the pains that Christ hath taken to manifest his Fathers Name to us Oh let us be ashamed to come behind the Saints of the Old Testament in the knowledge of this Name who came behind us in the means of this knowledge Is it so That Jesus Christ hath made an absolute c. Then let us satisfie Vse 4 our selves with the discovery he hath made And let us not attempt or undertake to know more of the Father then he hath made known to us Indeed if Jesus Christ had fallen short in this discovery it were but reason that we should exceed and go beyond it If he had not told us all that is fit for us to know it were a congruous thing that we should strive to know more But seeing the discovery he hath made is so compleat and absolute in all respects so that there can be nothing added to it we have cause to rest in it and to content our selves with so much knowledge of the Father as he hath revealed to us Indeed there is an itch in Nature to search into those things especially concerning God which are concealed and hid from us Fain we would see his face when Christ hath manifested but his back-parts to us we would know more of his Nature of his Counsels and Decrees the order of them the measure of them the objects of them then he hath thought expedient to reveal to us We would approach too nigh to gaze we would intrude on those things which we have not seen for which we have no revelation as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.18 And this my Brethren is the evill Genius of these very times men go beyond themselves in sifting into things concerning God and beyond Christ too I mean beyond any thing that he hath manifested of his Father to them Indeed they tell us that Christ reveals it to them by his Spirit But that is not the Spirit of Christ which shews us any thing beyond what he hath written in his Word The business of the Spirit is not to bring us any other truths then those which are revealed in the Word but to clear those to us If any spirit bring us any thing crossing with or but so much as diverse from the Scripture if an Angel dropt from Heaven teach us any other Doctrine he must not be believed but accursed To the Law and to the Testimony saith the Prophet Isa 8.20 If any man or Angel speak not according to this Word let him pretend what light he will it is because there is no light in him And therefore let us satisfie our selves with that which Christ hath manifested of his Father in his Word and in his Gospel Since his discovery is so full let us not seek to go beyond it That speech of God to Moses who whether he were curious or no was very earnest to behold his glory is observable Exod. 33.19 I will make all my good go before thee that is I will discover so much of my self to thee as shall be good for thee to know And this our Saviour Christ hath done compleatly We need no further knowledge of the Father here to make us happy to make us wise unto salvation And therefore let us rest in it And to this end I shall present you with a few Considerations It is a fruit and evidence of pride to strive to know more of the Fathers Name then Christ hath manifested to us It proceeds from a desire to be observed as having something more then ordinary in us and this hath much prevailed with many men in these times to know no more of God then Christ hath shewed us in the Scripture this is no such great matter this will never make them famous And therefore they must have their nice and curious speculations by themselves beyond any written word they must have hidden things discovered to them which other men are not acquainted with that they may be observed to be men of singular depth and extraordinary intercourse with the Spirit of Christ This the Apostle notes in those Impostors Col. 2.18 Intruding into those things which they have not seen But how comes this to pass vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind There is the cause of this intrusion And hence the Prophet David to shew that he was not proud and haughty makes this the evidence Psal 131.1 I do not exercise my self in things that are too high for me It is a grievous sin to labour to know more of God then Christ hath manifested to us It is no better then intrusion on the right of God himself such a man doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the fore-alledged Text Col. 2.18 Intrudes upon anothers right enters on the possession of another Now whose possession are these secret things To whom do they belong to God saith Moses Deut. 29. ult The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and unto our children So that while we content our selves with these revealed things we are like honest-minded men that keep and use their own and love not to encroach upon their neighbours But if we be not satisfied with the things which God hath manifested
20.35 Remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said It is more blessed to give then to receive And so he mindeth the Corinthians of that whith Christ himself spake To the marryed I command and yet not I but the Lord 1 Cor. 7.10 As intimating that the words which dropped from his lips did challenge singular regard from them And such regard my Brethren let them have from us when we meet with his Prayers his Sermons his Sayings let us hear this Prophet and hear him so to be obedient to him It was a dangerous thing you know to refuse to hear Moses he that despised Moses Law was to die without mercy But it is much more dangerous to refuse to hear Christ There is a sorer punishment for such Heb 10.28 It went very hard with those who refused the word that was spoken by Angels But if we refuse the word that was spoken by Christ and do it finally there is but one way with us we are gone without recovery For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast for the execution of it and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which was spoken by the Lord If we hear him not we die and that without mercy too But if we hear him and obey him we shall live and that for ever The words that he spake are spirit and life And if a man keep his sayings he shall never see death 2. This should teach us in the second place to trust him since he is such a faithful Messenger that he varies not a word we may well rely upon him and believe him to the utmost His words are all heavenly all of God he hath given us those words that are given him of the Father all those and none but those and why then should we not depend upon them for our direction for our Consolation and trust him perfectly in all cases 3. To try other Prophets by this Prophet other Messengers by this Messenger and so accordingly to embrace them or reject them Other men that come from God really or in pretence may speak more or speak less then he hath put into their mouths Christ hath said neither more nor less and therefore let us always try their Messages by his Message if they agree with his let us embrace them but if they disagree let us reject them JOHN 17.8 I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me ANd thus far of the General Application Proceed we now a little more particularly and distinctly to apply the divers branches of the point in order Vse 1 Hath Christ himself approved himself a faithful Messenger from his Father to his people in this respect that he hath added nothing to his Message That he hath not delivered so much as a word more Then surely not a word of his must be neglected by us nor slightly passed over without the most exact examination All the words of Jesus Christ have weight in them and therefore they must all be weighed by them that handle them or read or hear them Every word that he delivered comes from heaven it is given him of his Father as you have it in my Text. And do you think his Father would give down from heaven so much as one vain word to be delivered by him to his Church and people And if there be not one superfluous word in his Message then certainly there is not one to be unadvisedly and lightly passed over by us And therefore let it be our care to pry into and study every word of Jesus Christ which he hath left upon record in Scripture to sift it and to scan it to the very utmost to seek to God by earnest prayer to open and unfold it to us that nothing in it as far as it is possible may scape us unobserved And truly my Beloved this deserves the more to be considered by us because we know not what we lose sometimes by our neglect in this particular by slight and careless handling reading or hearing of the words of Christ Oh the inestimable hidden worth that is wrapt up sometimes in one of his expressions and we take no notice of it Either we are ignorant of the Original the Language and the Tongue in which he speaks and so cannot or else we are negligent and idle and remiss and so do not dive in it It is not to be imagined what a world of light and information in deep and mysterious things of sweet direction of precious Consolation we lose by this means And therefore when we labour to expound the Scripture when we read or when we hear it let us not look upon a sentence or a verse in gross and so indeavour to find out the general intent and drift and meaning of it but let us scan and study every word Were there any loose expressions as there are in other writings that carry nothing of solidity and weight in them we might very well omit them and not spend our thoughts upon them But there is not a word to spare in that which Jesus Christ delivers from his Father to his people nothing but what is necessary to express some matter of importance and concernment to us and therefore let us value it and fist it well that we may know the mind of God and the mind of Christ in it Hath Christ approved himself a faithful Messenger from his Father to Vse 2 his people in this respect that he hath taken nothing from his message Then let us seek no further for direction in matters that concern salvation but let us satisfie our selves with that which Christ hath brought us from his Father Indeed if he were any way defective there were some colourable reason then why we should labour to supply him as the Papists do with their Traditions and unwritten Verities and so botch up as well as we are able that which he hath left unperfect But since he hath delivered to us all that his Father put into his mouth and hath not kept a word back Oh let us rest in the discovery he hath made as that which of it self is able to make us wise unto Salvation Let us beware of itching after novelties and hearkning after new and strange discoveries such as Christ hath never made as many do in these days Oh let not any of us who have heard and learned Christ turn away from wholesome doctrine and be turned after fables as the Apostle Paul speaks Let us not leave the Living Fountain and go to broken Cisterns that will hold no water But let us stick to Jesus Christ and satisfie our selves with that which he hath taught us in the Scripture as comprehending in it all that is necessary to salvation But here to clear my self a little that I may not be mistaken I acknowledge that many necessary things are not expresly delivered to us by our Saviour from his Father and
c. that in the mean time till he take us up to him to heaven personally he may draw us up to heaven virtually That till we follow him in person we may follow him in heart and in affection that may set them on the things that are above where Christ also fits on the right hand of God If Christ were still among us in the body and in a visible and fleshly way you are not able to imagine how much it would detain us here We should not care much to look higher then the place where Christ is But now he is departed from us into heaven this draws up our affections after him who is so infinitely dear pretious to us for where the treasure is there will the heart be also This makes us to desire with the Apostle to be with him to be dissolved and to be with Christ This makes us keep him company though at a distance It makes us heavenly in our discourses meditations conversations as the Apostle was Phil. 3.30 Our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour even the Lord Jesus Christ JOHN 17.11 And now I am no more in the world IS it so that Jesus Christ as he is man is gone away out of this Vse 1 lower world c. Then let us not expect to see him here till he return again from heaven It 's true he shall so come again from heaven as the Apostles saw him going into heaven as you may see Act. 1.11 He shall come down again in a remarkable observable and visible way Behold he cometh with the clouds and every eye shall see him Apoc. 1.7 And in the mean time my Beloved the heavens must contain him or confine him as to his bodily or fleshly presence he must be comprehended there Act. 3.21 I say then as our Saviour Christ himself upon the like occasion Mat. 24.4 Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ And though it seem so gross a business that there can be no danger in it yet it is added presently and they shall deceive many so that there may be need of this Caveat And therefore I beseech you my Brethren lay it up against the time of trial come if it ever come upon you For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets as the true Christs tell us Mat. 24.24 insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. And therefore if they say unto you Lo here is Christ or there believe them not If they say he is in the Desert go not forth he is in the secret chambers believe it not as Christ addes in that place If a seducing spirit tell you Christ is in such or such a place such or such a one is Christ as some have been so grossly impudent in these times believe him not If a Papist or Ubiquitary tell you Lo here is Christ lo he is corporally present in the Sacrament the bread is really and truly chang'd into his body believe him not No my Beloved do you depend on that which Christ himself affirmeth in my Text and now I am no more in the world as to my bodily and fleshly presence untill you see him come again as the Apostles saw him go away for every eye shall see him when he comes be confident he is not here in this world I say as Christ in the fore-alleadged place Take heed I have foretold you Vse 2 Is it so that Jesus Christ as he is man is gone away c. and that he hath withdrawn his corporal and fleshly presence from us Then let us make the more of the presence of his Spirit by which he is still among us If he be absent from us one way it is good reason that we should the more improve his presence with us in another The chief comfort of the soul consisteth in Communion with the Lord Christ in having fellowship with him Now Christ as he is man is ascended into heaven and so in that respect he is no more in the world We cannot yet go up to him though we would gladly die and be dissolved that we might be with Christ yet it cannot yet be But which way then shall we enjoy Communion with him Why my Beloved because we are not able to go up to him the Spirit will do so much for us that he will bring him down to us and thus though he be absent from us in the body yet he is present with us in the Spirit and will be to the worlds end according to his own promise Matth. 28.20 Lo I am with you always to the end of the world They are the last words of the Chapter and the last words of the Book and there is nothing added but Amen Let it be so and sure it is a sweet close Well then my Brethren let our work and business be to consider with our selves how we may the more enjoy him in the Spirit because we can no longer now enjoy him in the body How we may make the most of that we have And I shall give you the best advise that I am able in this great business If you desire to make the most of the presence of your Saviour in the Spirit now he is absent from you in the body you must be infinitely cautious that you do not grieve that Spirit by which he is present with you If you grieve and trouble him he will withdraw and hide himself from you and then Christ is wholly gone both in the Body and the Spirit too you do not sensibly enjoy him neither one way nor the other and so are in a very sad case Since the presence of the Spirit is all that you enjoy of Christ so that if he be gone my Brethren all is gone you must be very wary that you do not vex the Spirit and cause him to depart from you But you will ask me Which way do we vex and grieve the Spirit we would know it that so we might be careful to avoid it I might speak much of this Subject and draw out my discourse into abundance of particulars but I will say it in a word you grieve the Spirit when you deal unkindly with him any away This is the specal thing that grieves friends when one of them deals unkindely with another and so it is between the Spirit and the soul He comes to us from Christ in much love and much kindness to supply his absence from us and we are unkind to him and this grieves him out of measure Now we are unkind to him especially two ways and that is either when we slight him or resist him 1. When we slight him this is a very great unkindness and that which friends can very ill bear He makes tenders of himself and we take no notice of him he stands knocking at our doors or rather Jesus Christ by him and we let him knock still He would be
we thrive apace in knowledge then we grow to perfectness then the Church of Christ goes up But till the stones be joined close together there will be no edifying that is in English no building It is of great concernment to the entertainment of Christ Jesus in the world that his Disciples be at nearest c. If they be alwayes wrangling and contending others will not come among them No they will stand off from them and from the Master which they serve if he be owned and followed by none but by a company of quarrelsome contentious people And hence is that Petition of our Saviour in behalf of his Apostles and Disciples at ver 23. of this Chapter In my text he prayes the Father that they may be one even as the Father and himself were one And in the cited verse he renews the same petition that they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they may be one in us And why so That the world may believe that thou hast sent me q. d. If my disciples be not one among themselves if they be rent asunder by a spirit of division the world will not believe that I came forth from thee who art the God of love and peace that thou hast sent me down into the world to be a Mediator and a Peace-maker to make up all the breaches and the differences between thee and thy people They will look strangely upon me and I shall never bring them to believe that I am come on such an errand as this is And therefore I beseech thee Father that I may be entertained under the Notion of a Mediator that the world may believe that thou hast sent me on this business do thou take care that my Disciples may be at unity among themselves It is of great concernment to the happiness of Christs Disciples that they be at neerest c. Among the eight beatitudes the third in order falleth to the meek and peaceable Mat. 5.5 And if the meek and peaceable be blessed then certainly the fierce and furious are accursed It is a pretty observation of Ludolphus out of Bede on that place Heaven is promised to the pure blessed are the pure in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Earth is promised to the meek Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth So there remaineth nothing else but hell for the contentious and impure spirit Ah my beloved would we avoid the curse and would we be partakers of the blessing would we have heaven and earth to be our portion Let us be pure and peaceable let us make and keep peace and so the blessing of the God of peace will be upon us And therefore David having broken out into a passionate and pithy commendation of the unity of brethren behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity it is like pretious oyntment c. Psal 133.2 he shuts up all with this conclusion There the Lord commanded the blessing and life for evermore There where brethren live in unity and love there the Lord commands blessing it cannot choose but come upon them for the Lord himself commands it And this blessing it is life and this life it is eternal There the Lord commanded the blessing and life for evevermore Vse 1 Now to proceed to application Is it so my brethren that it is a matter of wondrous difficulty and of great concernment for Christs Disciples to be at neerest unity among themselves Then let this quicken us and stirr us up who would be taken to be Christs Disciples to labour after this oneness and to endeavour to the utmost of our power to get and keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace You hear it is a matter of great concernment and therefore it is worth the striving for It is a matter of wondrous difficulty and therefore is not to be had without striving Now I beseech you my beloved let us set our selves to this business There was never greater need them now when God hath suffered such a spirit of division to possess his own people And when the members of the body mysticall of Christ are of so many minds and draw so many wayes and have sometimes such vehement and hot contentions and disputes among themselves So that the Church had never greater reason to cry out as Rebecca sometimes did when she had parties in her womb If it be so why am I thus and therefore we had need to put some spirit into this perswasion and you had need to put some spirit into your endeavours and if the Lord will put his spirit of unity and peace into us it may subdue and overcome the spirit of division which reigns too much abroad in these times But you will ask me How may we attain this and what are we to do that we may come to be at neerest unity among our selves Though it be very difficult as you have heard it may be compassed notwithstanding by the blessing of the Lord upon the use of these directions You must endeavour to the utmost of your power to mortifie those lusts and those corruptions that incline you to dissentions I shewed you formerly in explication of the point that the cause of our divisions is within and not without us They do not come so much from outward provocations as inward corruptions If there were no lusts within there would be no wars without as the Apostle James insinuates And verily if our corruptions as pride and passion and self-love were throughly mortified within those outward provocations would never cause such wofull rents and such implacable contentions as they do And therefore let us set our selves effectually and throughly to subdue these lusts of ours though they be naturally as dear and near as the members of our bodies let us persue them to the very death as the Apostle Paul advises Col. 3.5 Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth Let nothing satisfie us till we have the life of them Let us not wound them only but destroy them that ought to be the Christians aim as the Apostle shews Rom. 6.6 that the body of sin may be destroyed Our lusts seek our life either they must dye or we And they seek Gods life Omne peccatum est Deicidium And they have sought Christs life and brought him to a shamefull and accursed death And therefore let us seek their lives too and never satisfie our selves till we have the blood of them Let it be far from any of us to nourish or to cherish our corruptions to favour them or to deal kindly with them any way No let us dash this Babylonish brood against the stones let us shew them no mercy And when they are once destroyed our differences and debates will end with them As we must mortifie our carnal lusts so we must chase away out of our hearts our carnal reasonings that foment
respect they are sensibly decayed and they are nothing like the men that they were in former times Fall into discourse with them alas their wonted faculty is gone either you shall find them dead and stupid as it were not having any savory word to say in any matter that concerns Religion or else they talk is so far of so barren so unprofitable that it administers no grace no benefit at all to them that hear it Follow them into their houses and there you shall observe that many holy exercises and religious houshold duties which had been formerly set up and constantly performed perhaps for divers years together are either utterly neglected or else discharged in such a cold and formal manner that there is no life in them Enquire of other men who knew them in their first beginning and they will tell you all is gone their wonted heat and zeal and forwardness is come to nothing and in them the Proverb is verifyed The Dog is turned to his own vomit and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire Vse 4 Is it so That the word of God is the ordinary means by which he sanctifieth his people not only in a way of inchoation but also in a way of augmentation Here then we see what we must do if we desire to thrive in holiness to make a daily progress and increase in grace We must attend upon the preaching of the Gospel And truly there is little hope that we should ever grow as Christians without the use of this means The tree that spreads and flourisheth and brings forth much fruit is said by David to be planted by the water side Psal 1.3 Even so the thriving and the growing Christian must be planted by the means he must be near the Word of God those waters of the Sanctuary as the Prophet calls them That saving Doctrine must drop down upon him as the rain it must distil upon him as the dew and as the smaller rain upon the herbs and as the showrs upon the grass as Moses speaks Deut. 32.2 or else he will be like in time to wither and decay and come to nothing Vse 5 Is it so That the Word of God is the ordinary means by which he sanctifieth his people not only in a way of inchoation but also in a way of augmentation Then certainly those men are in an ill condition who though they constantly enjoy the preaching of the Gospel yet do not thrive nor grow by it they hear it Sabbath after Sabbath yea and perhaps repeat it with their families and yet are not a jot the better for it any way Look at what point they were for knowledge practice and obedience many years ago at the very same they stay they are the very same men there is no alteration on them they have not gained any ground on their corruptions they are not grown a jot more constant and fervent in religious duties then in former times What is the reason that the Gospel produceth not its genuine effect in these men and that it bringeth forth no augmentation no increase of inward grace or outward obedience the fault is not in the inefficacy of the Gospel simply considered in it self but in the hardness and deadness of their hearts and as we use to say of ground that is manured and drest and watered much if it yieldeth no increase that it is very barren ground just so we may conclude of these men And certainly their case is fearful if they so continue as the Apostle shews us in the same Similitude Heb. 6.7 The earth that drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God But on the other side that which bringeth bryers and thorns is rejected and nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned And therefore I beseech you my Beloved as increase and growth in grace is one effect in Gods Word so let it bring forth this effect in you and that it may so do I shall prescribe you some directions Remove those impediments that hinder growth and profiting by the Word of God and they are principally such as follow 1. The first is pride and loftiness of heart and spirit for when a man is puft up with a self opinion of his own sufficiency and thinks he knows as much as all the Preachers in the world can tell him how can he profit by the Gospel He is so full that when the water of the Word is poured upon him either it runneth over and is spilt upon the ground or else returneth back upon the face of him that poured it If therefore you desire to thrive by it come to hear it my Beloved with teachable and humble spirits the Lord will teach the humble his ways 2. Infidelity or unbelief for if we give no credit to the Word of God if we believe not the report of the Word of God his arm will never be revealed to us we shall not benefit nor profit by it And therefore this is yielded as the reason why the Jews were not a whit the better for the Word Heb. 4.2 The Word did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it 3. The third impediment is strong passion for as obstructions in the stomach hinder growth by bodily and outward food so vehement and head-strong passions do keep us from receiving growth and nourishment and augmentation by the Word of God You shall observe it commonly that men that have such furious and unbridled passions in them that will not be subdued by reason nor by Scripture do seldom profit by the preaching of the Gospel no it must be received with meekness if we mean to grow by it Jam. 1.12 And therefore the Apostle yields it as the reason why the Corinthians could not bear strong meat substantial solid truths their stomachs were not able to digest them they were so cloid with these obstructions 1 Cor. 3.2 4. Prejudice against the gifts or person of the Teacher this will exceedingly abate the power and hinder the success and profit of his teaching If once the heart be prepossest with jealousies and sinister thoughts and disaffection to the Minister there is but little hope of any benefit that such a man will reap by his labours These are the lets which we must labour to remove if we desire to thrive and grow by hearing of the Word of God If we desire to grow and to increase by it we must not hear it only but labour to digest it too A man shall never thrive and prosper by the meat he eats if he digest it not unless there be concoction and assimilation of it to the substance of the person that is nourished Let such a person feed as plentifully as he will there will be no augmentation So let us hear as much and as often as we will if we do not digest the Word of God the
blood of Bulls and Goats But now it is confirmed by the blood of Christ himself which is a better and a more effectual confirmation And this is that which the Apostle shews at large Heb. 9.16 and in the following verses So that the blood which ratified the Old Testament was but the shaddow and the Type of that which ratifies the new and therefore this hath the advantage of the other I must confess that the Old Testament was ratified by the death of Jesus Christ in destination for so he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world But this is ratified by the death of Christ in actual execution which is if not in it self to us at least a cleerer and a better confirmation Gospel truth excelleth for the operation of it it hath effects transcendently beyond all other truth that ever was revealed to the world I shall name but two only suggested in those two great Gospel Epithites the word of grace the word of life 1. Gospel truth works grace Not common grace and common sorrow and humiliation and repentance as the Law doth but saving grace And therefore it is called the word of grace Acts 20.32 It is so exclusively it worketh grace alone without the help and the assistance of the Law in that business Something the Law may do towards us indeed but it doth nothing in the work of grace Of his own will begat he us saith the Apostle by the word of truth that is the Gospel James 1.18 That only that is properly and strictly sanctifying truth Sanctifie them with thy truth 2. Gospel truth infuseth life and that no other truth can do The Law indeed can kill but it cannot make alive It is the Ministry of death and condemnation The Gospel only is the Ministry of life and of Salvation And therefore this exceeds the other and surpasseth it in glory as the Apostle shews at large 2 Cor. 3.6 7 c. In this respect we find the Gospel called the word of life 1 John 1.1 because it is the word that worketh life It is the quickning word that raises men from death to life to the life of grace in this world and to the life of glory in the world to come And thus I think we have sufficiently cleered the point the word of God especially the Gospel is the truth Proceed we now to make some application of it according to the divers branches of the point in order I shall but touch upon the first because I would no be prevented in the second Is it so my brethren that the word of God is all truth then certainly Vse 1 it ought all to be believed This truth on Gods part calls for faith on ours For what is faith but the belief of truth as the Apostle Paul defines it 2 Thes 2.13 He hath chosen us to Salvation through Sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth So that if the word be truth it ought to be believed by us And this our Saviour Christ insinuates in his expostulation with the Jews John 8.46 If I say truth why do you not believe me Though that which is delivered in the word of God be never so improbable never so much above corrupt reason never so impossible to a humane apprehension yet it admitteth not of doubtfull Disputation and Expostulation but rather calls for absolute belief And therefore they are deeply to be censured who give no credit to the word of truth further then their private spirits close with it who do not answer Gods truth with their faith They read it and they hear it preached but they yield no assent to it No they oppose it and dispute against it they are meer Scepticks in religion There are a multitude of such in these times They consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to godliness as the Apostle Paul speaks 1 Tim. 6.3 4. Whereas they that have ever felt the saving power of Gods word have their thoughts captivated to it and will say as the Apostle we can do nothing we can speak nothing against the truth 2 Cor. 13.8 These men upon the other side when they hear the truth of God delivered to them speak against it contradicting and blaspheming as the stubborn Jews did Acts 13.45 They do not only ask with Mary how shall this be A question not of opposition but of inquisition Luke 1.34 But even peremptorily determine they can never be And thus they belye the Lord like those of whom the Prophet speaks Jer. 5.12 This in a word for application of the former member of the point We shall now apply the latter Vse 2 Is it so that the word of God especially the Gospel is the truth Is Gospel truth excelling truth Then let us give it the preferment before any other truth both in our inquisition and our acceptation Let us dive into it most and let us value and prize it most First Let us give it the due preferment in our inquisition let us dive into it most and labour more to be acquainted with it then with any other truth Let us read those books let us hear those Preachers and let us nourish those studies which help us most to this knowledge let us make this our main endeavour to be seen in Gospel truth let us undervalue and neglect all other knowledge incomparison of this It is the dangerous mistake of the greater part of men who had rather be acquainted with the matters of the world and to be skild in secular and humane learning then in the doctrine of the Gospel How do abundance plod to dive into the secrets and depths of nature and set their wits upon the tenter-hooks to search into the mysteries of Arts and Trades how do they beat and work their brains to get abundance of experience and skill in worldly dealings and employments but take no pains at all in hearing reading meditation to dive into the mysteries of Jesus Christ Tell me my beloved have you ever among all your earnest strivings after insight either into humane knowledge or into matters of the world been half so studious and industrious to search into this Gospel truth to be acquainted with Christ Jesus who is the subject of the Gospel to know that he was born and lived and dyed for you to know him and the virtue of his resurrection not by speculation only but experience raising you up to newness of life to know that he loved you and gave himself for you Alas the hearts of a great many of you cannot choose but tell you that you have hardly ever spent a serious thought on this And the very best among us cannot choose but say that we have been too slight and careless in our enquiries into this knowledge Ah my beloved had we the spirit of the Apostle Paul or of those blessed Angels who desire to peep and pry into the Gospel truth as you may
opinion But you will interpose and ask me then What are not private Christians to imploy their gifts for the common benefit Yes to the very utmost my Beloved As every man hath received the gift so let him minister the same one to the other as good stewards of the manifold graces of God 1 Pet. 4.16 Their gift they have received to profit withal and that not themselves alone but others also But still within their own sphere within compass of their own calling They may and ought as they are able to teach c. as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.12 in a way of conference and this lies as a duty on them all in some degree For this is no Evangelical counsel but an Evangelical precept it is not permitted only but required But none of them may take upon him to be the publick Teacher of the whole without a due Vocation and Ordination thereunto How shall they preach except they be sent saith the Apostle Rom. 11.15 How shall they do it lawfully He doth not say except they be gifted but except they be sent Qualification is not enough without mission he must not go forth of himself but must be sent forth by Christ Is it so That the Apostles and Ministers of Christ are sent by him Vse 2 This then may serve to let us see how far the power and the authority of Ministers extends in binding and in loosing and in proclaming either war or peace They do it but as servants in a ministerial way and by a delegated power and in the execution of it they must exactly keep them by the rule and the directions which they have received from him that sent them They may not act according to their own discretion and as it seemeth good to them but must proceed in every thing according to the orders and instructions of their Master Or if they swerve a jot from these they stray beyond the bounds of their Commission and their authority is void So that the power of Ministers in this regard is Ministerial and declarative Yet this I add because they do it by Commission from the Lord and as Messengers of Christ it comes from them by reason of his Ordinance with more assurance to the Conscience then from any private person Vse 3 Is it so that the Apostles c. This then may serve to mind them what their duty is and I shall give it you in two words 1. They must do his work and deliver his message the errand which he sends them in They must not bring their own devices to the people their own fancies and conceits the issue of their own brains the froth of their own spirits as many do in these times No they must speak the words of Christ and speak them fully and compleatly They must fulfill the word of God as the Apostle speaks Col. 1.25 They must without respect or fear deliver all their Masters message to any man to whom he sends them how great soever he may be They must not out of base and servile dread of any suppress or mince their errand in the least degree or deal so mannerly with men that they become unfaithfull to the Lord Christ No they must seriously consider that though themselves be mean and despicable persons yet they are Ministers and Messengers of Christ himself who is higher then the highest among men And therefore as the Noble Roman said non ita memor sum dignitatis vestrae ut obliviscar me esse consulem So they must say when they are dealing with the great ones of the world I am not mindfull of dignity so far as to forget that I am the Embassador and Messenger of Jesus Christ They must be bold and resolute with this assurance that he that sendeth them will bear them out according to his many pretious promises which he hath made for their encouragement to faithfulness in his service 2. And as they must deliver Christs errand and not their own so for Christs ends and not their own they must not seek their own profit or their own honour but the honour of their Master As Christ who was the Fathers messenger glorified not himself as the Apostle speaks but him that sent him Heb. 5.5 so they that are the messengers of Christ must not glorifie themselves but Christ that sent them They must act for him and wooe for him and win the souls of men to him Their work must be to set him up and to advance him that he may appear They must with John the Baptist be contented to decrease to wither in their reputation and esteem so Christ may be in the increasing hand They must not endeavour to take such a course in the work of the Ministry that they may seem witty and learned and eloquent that men may admire them and applaud their abilities but that they may admire Christ that the thoughts and affections of men may be carried to him They must not preach themselves but the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle did 2 Cor. 4 5. Vse 4 Is it so that Apostles Ministers c. Then let the Church be here directed and advised to prove those that pretend they are the Ministers of Jesus Christ whether they be sent by Christ or no. The Church of Ephesus is much commended for her care and diligence in this regard Apoc. 2.2 I know thy works saith Christ there and thy labour and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil c. And thou hast tried them who say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them lyers They said they were the Messengers of Christ and that they were sent by Christ for that 's the meaning of the word Apostle but indeed they were not The Church did not give them credit till she tried them and so discovered them to be impostors and deceivers And truly there are many such in these times who say they come from Jesus Christ when indeed he never sent them They are Messengers of Satan and not of Christ and therefore it concerns the Church to prove them well who come with these pretences and to sift them to the bottome that they may know not the speech of these men only but the power as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 4 19. And here you are not only to consider whether they have obtained the election and ordination of the Church or no for many reach to this who are never sent by Christ But there are other things to be observed I shall lay them down in order They that are sent by Jesus Christ are furnished with competent ability at least for the delivery of their message You must not think that Christ will send by the hand of a fool No if there be a Messenger of Christ he is one of a thousand for gifts and abilities In the time of the Law when he raised up Prophets what spirit what power what understanding was there in them And is his hand shortned
now my beloved in the dayes of the Gospel He is ascended up on high on purpose to give gifts unto men for the work of the Ministry Ephes 4.12 He makes able Ministers of the New Testament 2 Cor. 3.6 If he make them they are able and if they be not able they are none of his making Now this ability consists especially in two things 1. Ability of knowledge The Messenger of Christ is to deliver to the people the mind of Christ the mysteries the depth the secrets of the Gospel Such depths as the Angels desired to pry into but could not find the bottom of them And therefore Jesus Christ endueth them with more then ordinary understanding in these things They may not upon pain of being guilty of the blood conceal the very Counsel of God they must be able to evince the truth and to convince the gainsayers Tit. 1.9 To cleer the doubts of the erroneous and satisfie the scruples of the tender conscience They must be filled with knowledge their lips must be a store-house of it and at their mouths it must be sought for by the people Mal. 2.7 They must be ready upon all occasion to drop down the balm of Gilead the sweet and pretious comforts of the Gospel into the sores of those whom God hath wounded To speak even to the hearts of Gods people to utter a word in due season to which alone is required the tongue of the Learned Isa 50.4 To preach Christ and to deliver his errand with all wisdom Col. 1.28 And therefore whomsoever Christ sends he fitteth them accordingly in some measure He gives them that which the Apostles calls understanding in the mysterie of Christ Ephes 3.4 and makes them Scribes taught to the Kingdom of Heaven 2. Ability of utterance Behold I give you wisdom and a mouth said Christ to his Apostles Luke 21.15 So when he sendeth forth his Messengers he doth not only give them wisdom and understanding in the message that he sends them in but he gives them a mouth too to utter and communicate that wisdom to the people Or else what doth their wisdom and their knowledge serve for as Messengers or Ministers unless they have a mouth to bring it forth and to declare it to the people I do not say that all the messengers of Christ must have voluble tongues and fluent expressions There was among the Prophets a stammering Moses as well as a smooth and eloquent Aaron A plaâ—â— blunt Amos for the Countrey as well as a Rhetorical Isaiah for the Court among Gospel Ministers there was a chief speaker Acts 14.12 But yet however all that are sent by Jesus Christ have in a measure that which the Apostle calls a door of utterance Col. 4.3 a faculty to speak to edification The Priest of Old must have knowledge in his lips as well as in his head as Mal. 2.7 And the reason is annexed because he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts And you know a Messenger or an Embassador must not be dumb but able in some handsome terms to utter and express the errant of his Master And this is intended when the Apostle speaking of a Minister saith he must be apt to teach 1 Tim. 3.2 They that are sent by Jesus Christ as they are furnished with ability both of knowledge and of utterance so they are qualified with propensity And this is that which the Apostle calls a ready mind to feed the flock 1 Pet. 5.2 and a good will to deal to the people the Gospel of Christ 1 Thes 2.8 Suppose he have ablility yet if he have no mind to use it for the benefit and profit of the Church of Christ no zeal to stir up the gift that is in him but is remiss and idle and prefers his ease and pleasure before the bringing in of souls to Christ it is a shrewd presumption that Jesus Christ did never send him But if he can be well content to spend himself and to be spent for the salvation of the peoples souls if as John Baptist he be a burning and a shining light wasting himself and burning out that he may give the people light If he account it as his Master did his meat and drink to do the will of him that sent him John 8.34 so that he is not in his Element unless he be about his Ministerial work If he resolve with the Apostle this will I do if God permit and think no peril nor no pains too great that he may finish his course with joy and the Ministry which he hath received it is very probable that such a one is of Christs own sending They that are sent by Jesus Christ are qualified with sincerity I do not mean sincerity as Christians but as Messengers of Christ in the delivery of their message without addition or substraction In doctrine shewing uncorruptness gravity sincerity sound speech that cannot be condemned Tit. 2.7 And this is that which Paul himself professes he had done 2 Cor. 2.17 We saith he are not as many that corrupt the word of God but as of sincerity and in the sight of God speak we in Christ The Steward and the Messenger of Christ as he is wise so he is faithfull a faithfull and a wise steward He doth not for his own ends adulterate the Message of his Master or coin a Message from him which he never sent him in And hereby you shall know him from another that was never sent by Christ As Christ speaks of false Prophets by their fruits you shall know them Mat. 17.16 that is by their fruits as Prophets not as men Not by the fruits of their persons but the fruits of their doctrine The same may be applied to the false Messengers of Christ by their fruits you shall know them If the doctrine which they teach and the message which they bring be not the same which they have received from Christ if they speak not the words of Christ but fancies and devices of their own if they deliver that which is against Christ against the Word and Spirit and Ordinances of the Lord Christ which tends to looseness and licentiousness as many do in these times believe it they are none of Christs sending Is it so that Apostles and Ministers c. then certainly they ought to be Vse 5 received by you and so received as those that come from such a one as Christ is As Christ should be well entertained because the Father hath sent him so the Ministers of Christ should be well entertained because he hath sent them Oh how welcome should we bid them who come from such a dear pretious friend as Christ is How beautifull and lovely should their very feet their uncomliest parts be What are you come from Jesus Christ indeed hath he sent you are you come from our Master our Husband our Head You are very welcome to us And here to be a little more distinct the welcome entertainment we should give them consists
his Priesthood must of necessity be co-extended and so for whomsoever he is a Priest to sacrifice for them also he is a Priest to intercede as he hath offered up himself for them so he hath offered up his prayers for them and will do to the worlds end Use And this to give you but a touch of Application may serve to hearten us exceedingly when we are are putting up our prayers for them who are as yet without the pale who have as yet no faith or grace at all in them It may be they are neer to us Parents Children Husbands Wives and we are often carried out in prayer for them that God would yet shew mercy to them that he would yet prevail upon them and cause them to come in to Jesus Christ That he would break their stubborn lusts and work unfeigned faith in them And while we are breathing out our souls to God in such a way as this is we are surpized with distrustful thoughts that we shall never speed in this request of ours God will never be entreated and so upon a sodain our affections cool our hearts grow dead and flat within us In such a case as this is it may be some encouragement and comfort to consider that Jesus Christ for ought we know hath prayed and may be praying to the Father for the very same person though for the present he believe not yet he may be such an one as shall believe as is appointed to believe in after-times And then he is as you have heard within the compass of our Saviours Intercession so that the prayers that we make for him are seconded by Christ in heaven While we are asking such a child or such a friend of God it may be Christ is asking him or her of God too according to the Covenant of the Father with the Son Ask of me and I will give thee And therefore let us not grow cold or faint in such a suit as this is but let us follow and pursue it to the utmost Let us not cease to pray for such a person let us not cast him out of our prayers whom Jesus Christ hath not cast out of his I pray saith he for such as shall believe and this for ought we know may be one of that number And thus far of the first particular by which our Saviour Christ describeth those for whom he prays viz. the time of their believing They are not such as did believe when Christ put up this supplication for them to the Father but such as should believe in after-times Proceed we to the second thing by which he sets them forth and that is by the Spirit of this faith of theirs they should believe in Jesus Christ Neither pray I for these alone saith Christ here but for them also which shall believe on me He doth not say for them which shall believe on God or for them which shall believe the Word of God but for them which shall believe on me so that the point to be observed is this DOCTRINE That true Believers do pitch their Faith on Jesus Christ and make him the object of it Christ is the object of a true beleiving faith So he is represented in my Text you see The faithful do beleive on him It 's true indeed that faith in general which even Reprobates and Devils have looks with an equal eye on all the Book of God assenteth to the truth of all in gross But justifying faith whith is the faith whereof we speak picks out this special object Jesus Christ which is imbraced and received By him saith the Apostle Paul that is by Christ and none but him all that believe are justified from all those things from which they could not have been justified by the Law of Moses Act. 13.39 The Law will never justifie us but condemn us No we are justified by faith in Christ and him alone who is revealed and manifested to us in the Gospel The Rightousness of God that is the righteousness which makes us righteous the righteousness of man will never do it No it must be the righteousness of God himself This is ours by faith in Christ as the Apostle shews Rom. 3.22 He that believeth in the Son hath life Joh. 3. ult Observe it well he saith not in the Father nor the Holy Ghost though certainly we must believe in both these But Christ is the immediate object of the faith which justifieth or of it as it justifieth He that believeth in the Son hath life the life of holiness and the life of righteousness for both of them are very clearly meant in that place Object But you will say perhaps Is not the Word of God and is not God himself and is not everlasting life the object of our faith how then is Christ as I have said and Christ alone the next and the immediate object of it Sol. To this because it is compounded as it were of divers things I must answer divers ways 1. For the Word of God that is not properly the object of the faith that justifieth but is so called by a figure because it holds forth and exhibits Christ who is indeed the proper object of this justifying faith Or secondly the Word of God although it may in some respects be called the object of faith that justifieth yet not qua justificat not as it justifieth as the School speaks It 's true that justifying faith believeth other things propounded in the Word of God But faith as it justifieth lays hold on Christ and him only not knowing any other thing here but Jesus Christ and him crucified 2. As for the second thing propounded in the Querie True it is that God the Father is the Object of our faith I mean the faith which justifyeth but not the next and the immediate Object of it Christ must be first laid hold upon and God in Christ Such trust have we through Christ in God saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.4 Even Turks and Jews and Arrians boast of faith in God you know amd yet because they apprehend not Jesus Christ they miserably lose their own souls He that denyeth and so by consequence believes not in the Son can never have the Father as you may see 1 John 2.23 He is like a man goes about to grasp a thing that is too big for him a large and smooth round-bodyed Cup it slips away out of his fingers whereas he might have held it by the handle The faith which justifies us my beloved apprehendeth Christ receiveth and layeth hold on him and then as it is added in the fore-alledged Scripture He that hath the Son hath the Father also 3. As for the third particular propounded whether salvation and eternal life be the object of our faith To say the truth salvation and eternal life is not so properly believed as hoped for Nor can it be so fitly called the object as the consequent and end of faith So the Apostle calls it 1 Pet.
rigid Ministry must prepare the way for Christ He must be like a Pioner to go before to bring down every high exalted thought to make the Mountains levell with the Vallies The Law must bite and sting men with the curses and the terrors of it and so work inclinations in them to look up to Jesus Christ who is the brazen Serpents Antitype erected in the Gospel And this is all the Law can do it can but fit a man for Jesus Christ and prepare a man for faith which is indeed and properly effected in him by the Gospel This is the royall and triumphant Chariot in which the Son of God comes riding gloriously into the soul and so dwelleth there by faith as the Apostle Paul speaks Eph. 3.17 And hence the Gospel hath the name of faith in Scripture as you may see that place for instance Gal. 1.23 because it worketh faith in the hearts of Gods people Is it the Gospel word that makes believers Then surely they are in Vse 1 an infinitely sad Condition who want the Gospel who want it wilfully as the Jews do and have done many hundred years They have it but they put it from them as the Apostle speaks They receive the Prophets words but they receive not the Apostles words And how then should they believe through their word And there are others in the world who want it necessarily or of necessity and through the just severity and righteous judgement of the Lord upon them Many persons many Nations are in this lamentable case to this day They have no Gospel and so no means at all to work faith in them without which there is no salvation No they are shut up under unbelief as the Apostle speaks Rom. 11.32 God hath concluded them in that condition There they are and there is no coming out the door of wrath is shut upon them whose miserable case in bowels of compassion we have cause to pitty though they pitty not themselves Is it the Gospel word that makes believers then certainly it is no Vse 2 other word that is the means or ground of faith We have a company of men in our times that believe strange things that bottom faith upon a strange foundation Revelations and discoveries of a spirit that hath no commerce at all no agreement with the Gospel let the Apostles word be what it will if they have another word from that which they conceive to be the spirit of God they believe that and not this whereas the spirit that brings men any other Gospel then that which the Apostles taught though he come from heaven it self ought not to be believed but accursed And yet alas how confident have many been in their assent to such discoveries as have been clear against the Gospel and against the Apostles words Ah my beloved this is not revelation but delusion this is not faith but unbelief Our Saviour speaking in my Text of all that should believe from that time in which he prayed to the end of the world describes them to be such as should believe through the Apostles word Not through any other word but that of the Apostles only that which they preached and that which they writ which they have left recorded in the Scripture If any man believe through any other word or any other revelation that accordeth not with this he is none of Christs beleivers none of them which he owns none of them for which he prayes I pray for them that shall believe on me through their word For them and none but them He that believes through any other word you see is out of Christs prayer Vse 3 Is it the Apostles word the Gospels word that makes believers you then that are as yet without faith be hence prevailed withall to hear it and to attend upon it This is that which the creature can do I mean by general influence of common Providence without any supernatural grace and therefore this do you do It is the word of faith as I have shewed you formerly and when the Lord is pleased to concurr with it it worketh faith in those that hear it It s true you are not able to convert your selves or to believe in Jesus Christ but the Apostles word the Gospel is a fit instrument for this purpose Faith comes by hearing and therefore hear that you may believe You that are strangers to the life of faith be you entreated and prevailed withall to put your selves under the powerfull preaching of the Gospel as the Apostle speaks be swift to hear lay hold on every opportunity to be partakers of this holy Ordinance and then perhaps it may in time become a word of faith to you Wait diligently on the doors of Wisdoms house listen attentively to them that teach you Apostolical doctrine and who knows but you may yet believe through their word And thus of Christs description of the persons for whom he here becomes a Suitor to his Father Them which shall believe on me through their word Proceed we to the matter of the prayer which he makes for these persons And there are two main things that he desires in their hehalf First that they may be one next that they may be in one place together The first of these he proposes in the verse that I have read and prosecutes in the succeeding verses 1. He proposes it in the verse that I have read that they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us 2. And then he prosecutes this Suit of his with divers arguments and reasons to ver 24. as God permitting we shall see hereafter In the proposal of this Suit of his you may observe that it is both expessed and amplified First it is nakedly expressed in plain terms that they may all be one Secondly then it is amplified by a Similitude in which our Saviour shews how he would have them to be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us A strange expression if you look upon it with a superficial view That the Disciples of our Saviour may be one in some respects is very easie to imagine But how they should be one as God the Father and the Son are one how they should be in God and Christ as they are in one another is very hard to be conceived Yet this is the expression of our Saviour to his Father in my Text That they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us For clearing this beloved you must know that as in Scripture many times is a note of similitude not of equality It intimates the truth and the reality of that wherein likeness stands and not the measure and degree I might give many instances wherein that Particle is so taken See Luke 6.36 Be mercifull as your heavenly Father is mercifull It is impossible for any man
such grounds and reasons as his spirit naturally is not likely to suggest because they do not any way concern him as a natural man as when upon the apprehension of some great dishonour that will come to God if such a thing should be denyed a man is much enlarged and quickned in his prayers yea when his prayers are against his natural desires when he is earnest with the Lord in secret to help him to pluck out a right eye or to cut off a right hand to mortifie and curse and kill those lusts and those corruptions which naturally are extreamly dear to him and that upon such grounds and motives wherein there is no self respect When he shall seriously and sincerely beg the Lord to give but a little wealth a little honour if he perceive that more will do him spiritual hurt that it will puff him up and make him proud as Agur did Give me not riches feed me with food convenient for me left I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord this man is like to act by Christs Spirit If we act by Christs Spirit in our prayers we strive most for spiritual things What do you think the Spirit of Christ will make us long more after earth and earthly things then Christ himself that it will make us more importunate for wealth then grace more earnest after temporal and worldly blessings then after those spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus as the Apostle calls them Ephes 1.3 Is it a likely thing my Brethren that the Spirit should make us struggle more for bodily and outward things then for those things that are more agreeable and suitable to it more near to its own nature I make no question David acted by the Spirit in that Petition and request of his Psal 4.6 There be many that will say Who will shew us any good you must conceive it any temporal or worldly good many that look after this But this is that which I desire saith he Lord lift upon me the light of thy countenance and when thou hast done this Thou hast put gladness in my heart much more then in the hearts of worldly men when their corn and wine increaseth If we act by Christs-Spirit we pray for temporal and worldly things in reference to spiritual ends They that have the Spirit of Christ and they that are devoid of it do both pray for earthly blessings For there are promises of these as well as of the other But now the difference lies in this both aim not at the same ends He that hath the Spirit of Christ desires these outwards blessings moderately with submission that he may serve God with them that he may promote his ends that he may be the abler instrument to help his Church to support his people to advance his glory to appear for his cause Even these desires of his are spiritual although not for the matter of them at least for the end of them But now my brethren on the other side he that hath not Christs spirit desires these outward blessings that he may consume them on his Lusts as the Apostle speaks Jam. 4.3 Ye ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lusts That you may make provision for the flesh with it and that it may be oyle to nourish and to feed the sinfull flames that are within you And thus it is my brethren with a multitude of men they pray to God for some thing to bestow upon their sensual appetite to serve their carnal turns to satisfie their brutish and voluptuous pleasures and desires They would be in place and power that they may raise their names and families that they may swell and swagger over their inferiours that they may plague their enemies and pleasure those that are observant of them They would have wealth and riches in abundance that they may swimm in full delights and fare delitiously every day Agur measures the conveniency or inconveniency of his outward state as it would fit him more or less for Gods service Not poverty least I deny thee not riches left I forget thee But these men measure it by nothing but their sensual appetite and so their prayers serve their lusts and they would have God himself to serve them too if they could prevail with him And are such desires as these like to be raised by the spirit of Christ what will the spirit stir men up to pray for any thing to nourish and maintain the flesh the carnall part which is the spirits enemy The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit lusteth against the flesh for those two are contrary one to another And will the spirit notwithstanding strive for that which shall uphold and feed those lusts against which the spirit lusteth Believe it brethren they that pray for any blessings to maintain their lusts with them their pride intemperance c. do not act by Christs spirit Object But you will ask me then How shall we know whether we pray for blessings to consume them on our Lusts how shall we discern that I shall give you some discoveries 1. If you will observe deal impartially and freely with your selves you shall know it by your thoughts The end is first in the intention and last in execution and therefore certainly the heart works much upon it Now my beloved consider what runneth often in your thoughts when you are sick and pray for health and continuance of your lives are your aimes as Davids were that you may praise and glorifie the Lord among the living Psal 6.5 as Hezekiahs were Loth he was to die poor man but wherefore was he so averse from death The grave cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate Isa 38.18 Or do you feed your minds with nothing but pre-apprehensions of the carnal pleasure and delight and satifaction you shall have when you recover So when you pray for outward things do you entertain your spirits with pleasing dreams of honour and ambition by this you may discover what your aims are 2. You shall discern it by the manner of your prayers whether you pray for blessings to consume them on your lusts or no. If so you will be absolute and peremptory in your prayers Carnal desires will make the spirit of a man impetuous and impatient of denial He that aims at satisfaction of his lusts will not be at Gods disposal there will be no sweet submission to the will of God No he must have this or that and he cannot bear a check as Rachel must have children or she dies when once the heart is set on any thing that serves to feed a sensual appetite whether it be the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eye it is violently bent and it must not be denyed 3. You shall discover it by the effect I mean the use of those external blessings which you pray for you pray for health you pray for riches