Hee dwells in heaven by his glory yet though thou wert as low as hell in thy selfe God will come and take possession of thy heart marvellous graciously In the words so farre as they concerne my purpose the thing mainly observable is the necessitie and excellencie of this broken and humble soule It is the only receptacle of the Lord Iesus Christ If you will have Christ and grace to dwell in you you must get humble spirits Doct. So the Doctrine in generall from hence is this The soule must bee broken and humbled None but the broken heart is an house for Christ before the Lord Iesus Christ can or will dwell therein and before faith can be wrought therein There must bee contrition before there will bee an inhabitation of Christ in the soule As men specially great men will have their houses ayred before they come to lie there so this contrition is the ayring or sweeping of the soule that so it may be inhabited Foretold This was typified and foretold in the old law When the people of Israel were to goe into the Land of Canaan which shadowed the kingdome of grace here and of glory hereafter they must goe through the vast terrible troublesome and roaring wildernesse and through those streights and extreme hazzards before God brought them to the Land of Promise Whereby the Lord typified thus much unto us that before the soule can bee truely possessed of Christ it must goe through these rockie wayes of contrition and humiliation Hos 2.14 Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wildernesse Ad aperiendam spem Hieron and speake comfortably to her And in vers 15. I will give her the valley of Achor for the dore of hope and shee shall sing there as in the dayes of her youth and as in the dayes when she came out of Egypt Compare that 15. verse with Ioshua 7.25 The sloodgate of sorow a dore of hope The doore of hope is nothing else but the expectation of all good things from God which hee hath promised And here remember the story of Achor Achan had stollen the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment and therefore God departed away from the Campe. Now the Lord pursued him and caused the people to stone him with stones and they called the place The Valley of Achor to this day .i. The Valley of trouble and affliction The Lord hath reference to his former dealing As he did before in the time of Ioshua hee first subdued Achan and then hee gave them successe against all their adversaries As if he had said I will give them the Valley of contrition and humiliation for the Gate to all comfort and sweet refreshing here and hereafter So you must goe through the wildernesse to this Valley of Achor before you can come to this doore of hope to this Land of Canaan you must stone these corruptions of yours which have troubled the Spirit of God and then there is a doore of hope set open for you And as it was foretold so it was the end why the Lord Iesus Christ was sent as Isa 61.12 The Spirit of the Lord is upon mee saith Isaiah in the stead of Christ because the Lord hath annointed mee to preach glad tydings unto the meeke hee hath sent mee to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaime libertie to the captives and to comfort all that mourne Nay 2. Accomplished the Lord hath not onely sent Christ to this end and promised this but he hath done as hee did promise And this is the condition upon which he hath promised and given all comfort to his people as in Psal 34.18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit Hee is neere them to comfort them and to assist them and deliver them and thus the Saints of God have found it as 2 Chron. 33.12 where the Text saith that Manasses humbled himselfe mightily before the Lord and hee found peace to his soule and the Lord pardoned his sinne Hee was a mighty sinner and had mighty rebellions and mighty pride of heart and therefore the Lord laid him as low as the dust though hee were a King As hee had beene a mighty sinner so hee was now a mighty patterne of humiliation and the Lord had mercy on him Two reasons of the point The reasons and grounds of Gods dispensation this way are these two especially 1 Whether we consider the receiving of faith and Christ with it or 2 The keeping and maintaining of faith being received In both these it is plaine that God will breake our hearts before hee gives us Christ or faith I say it is necessary in the way of his providence Reas 1 1 It is an especiall meanes to make way for faith and for Christ because all the lets and impediments which hinder the entrance of faith into the soule are removed by humiliation and brokennesse of spirit Two let ts of faith removed by brokennesse of heart Now besides many other bolts and springs as in a locke there are many springs and little bolts besides the maine bolt so I say there are two maine bolts which make the soule uncapable of faith which being removed faith will come into the soule The first let which is an hinderance to the worke of faith is this 1 Lett. To seek contentment in the naturall condition there is a settled kind of contentment which the soule taketh up in its owne estate and the heart of a sinfull creature sitteth downe well apaid in that sinfull miserable condition wherein he is and hee desireth no other nay hee would have no change in this kind This is one maine bolt which stoppeth the way and keepeth faith from comming into the heart This is the frame of every mans heart naturally So we see in Deut. 29.19 And if it come to passe that when hee heareth the words of this curse that he blesse himselfe in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walke in the imagination of mine owne heart or adde drunkennesse to thirst The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoake against that man and all the curses that are written in this booke shall fall upon him and the Lord shall blot his name from under heaven People blesse themselves in their condition notwithstanding all the promises of blessing and threatning of judgement If any man have such a root of bitternesse in him and shall blesse himselfe in this condition and say I will promise my felfe an happy end let Moses threaten what he can I tell thee the wrath of the Lord shall smoake against that man See that notable place in Iob 21.14 It imports so much For they said to God Depart from us for wee desire not the knowledge of thy wayes that is wee are as we would be When wholsome counsels and exhortations are ministred namely that
and come to the Court and importune him for pardon it is likely that he may be pardoned nay it shall be so Marry saith he that I will with all my heart and so hee sets forward and comes to the Court his desire carries him thither Thus it is I say with a poore sinner hee is brought home to the Court and about the Court hee attends and askes for every man that comes forth Did you not heare the King speake of me and What doe you thinke of my case At last some of the bed-chamber say to him The King heareth that you are mightily humbled and earnestly desire his favour you shall heare more from him ere long At last the King himselfe lookes out at a window and saith Is this the Traytor Yes this is he that hath beene humbled and lyes at your mercy Then the King calls out and saith His pardon is drawing and it is comming by and by and so the King smiles on him Oh then his heart leapes in his breast and hee saith The Lord preserve your Grace I thinke there was never such a mercifull Prince knowne in the world This is the love and delight that is stirred up Now when the Pardon is sealed and granted then you shall see the worke of faith A poore humbled sinner is this malefactor that hath committed high Treason against the God of heaven for every sinner hath rebelled against the God of grace The stubborne rebellious heart hath stood out against the Lord God which is high Treason though you little thinke it when you goe on wilfully and say This man shall not rule over me Well bee humbled now in time while you have mercy offered for if you bee not humbled the Lord shall send a â—aylor to take and throw you downe to Hell and therefore you had better heare of it now than hereafter when there is no remedie Perhaps the Lord now pursueth a man with his heavie indignation and le ts flye at him and sets conscience on worke to follow him and to dogge him saying This is thy sinne and hell is thy portion to hell thou must Now the soule being beset with Gods wrath in conclusion seeth hee cannot escape the Lords hands and how to purchase mercy he knowes not nor is it possible otherwise for him to escape and yet hee hath nothing to purchase mercy withall therefore hee is content to lye downe before God saying I confesse I have sinned Oh Lord bee thou glorified though I be damned for ever my sinnes are so many and so vile I cannot almost desire mercy but if the Lord will who can let him Now when the heart is thus humbled then there comes a noise a great way off in the Ministery of the Gospell and that saith Thy sinnes are all pardonable so he lookes up and hope saith Lord it may bee a damned creature may bee recovered a dead dogge may be restored to life and a Traytor may be pardoned receiued Then the Lord sends another comfortable message namely That if thou canst but see a need of mercy and looke out and waite for him thou shalt be pardoned hereupon the penitent goes to the Court gate that is hee comes mourning to the Word and saith Oh yee faithfull Ministers of God you are of the bed-chamber and you know Gods minde I pray what doth God intend towards me Hereupon we that are the Ministers of God we tell him your case is right and happely if you attend upon God you may heare more of him hereafter for the Lord heares that you lye at the Court gate and that you are exceedingly humbled and thus farre desire goes At last the Lord Iesus Christ shewes and presents himselfe to the sinner and speakes with him in the Ministery of the Word and saith That fainting weary loaden heart of thine shall bee refreshed and then giveth him a looke of mercy so that his heart danceth within him Still you must understand that the Lord alwayes speaketh by the Ministery of the Word and therefore looke for no strange dreames and visions while the Lord saith Thou art hee that longs for my salvation goe thy way I have heard thy prayers thy pardon is granted and drawne it shall be delivered to thee afterward Now when a poore sinner findes some chearing of heart he may say The Lord spake to me it s done in heaven mercie is comming towards mee the pardon is now granted and is in drawing and shall be delivered to me in due time now againe his heart leapeth within him and hee saith Blesse the Lord O my soule who ever heard of such mercy what my sinnes be pardoned and is the pardon granted and drawne if I never heare more of it and if I goe downe to hell it is enough that God hath once smiled upon mee in his love it is enough though I have the paines of hell upon me for ever for it Esa 40.12 Comfort yee comfort yee my people saith your God Speake yee comfortably to Ierusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned So the Lord saith to poore sinners after they have waited long enough and God hath seene their desires to be sound the Lord I say saith Tell that poore man from heaven and from the Lord Christ and under the hand of the Spirit that his sinnes are pardoned and he shall bee received to mercy Esa 66.1 2 3. The Lord lookes to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembles at his word The poore creature comes and trembles at every truth and when hee heares of mercy hee saith Oh that is sweet mercy indeed but it is not mine and he shakes in the consideration of mercy that he should heare of it and not receive it The Lord lookes to him that is he casts a sweet looke upon him and lets in some sweet intimation of mercy and saith to the poore creature I have an eye to thee and my love is unto thee in the Lord Iesus Christ and with that his heart leapes in his bosome Of this kind I take that to be Ier. 31.18 19 20. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning and lamenting himselfe thus there is a heart humbled broken and thirsting thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a bullocke unaccustomed to the yoke turne thou me and I shall bee turned thou art the Lord my God Surely after that I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did beare the reproach of my youth Here you see Ephraim bemoaning himselfe as if hee had said I am the man that have enjoyed all the meanes in abundant plenty and yet never profited the Lord hath corrected mee and I was not humbled Oh turne thou me then O Lord for there is no abilitie in mee Now I see the sinnes that before I could not see and the basenesse of my evill courses and I am even
end of the chapter the phrase goes thus Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites Our Saviour Christ hath given us this patterne The explication of the point is nothing else but the drawing out of a sword and the particular application of it to the hearts of the people is like the striking of the blow The word is compared to a sword as if a man should draw a sword and flourish it about and should not strike a blow with it it will doe no harme even so it is here with the Ministers little good will they doe if they doe onely explicate if they doe onely draw out the sword of the Spirit for unlesse they apply it unto the peoples hearts particularly little good may the people expect little good shall the Minister doe A common kind of teaching when the Minister doth speake onely hoveringly and in the generall and never applies the word of God particularly may be compared to the confused noise that was in the ship wherin Ionah was when the winds blew and the sea raged and a great storme began to arise The poore Marriners strove with might and maine and they did endevour by all meanes possible to bring the ship to the shore every one cried unto his god and cast their wares in to the sea and all this while Ionas was fast asleepe in the ship but when the Marriners came down and plucked him up and said Arise thou sleeper and asked him Who art thou whence art thou what is thy name call upon thy God lest we perish When they thus behaved themselues toward Ionah then he was awakened and rowsed out of his sleepe The common delivery of the word is like that confused noise there is matter of heaven of hell of grace of sin spoken of there is a common noise and all this while men sit and sleep carelesly and never looke about them but rest secure but when particular application comes that shakes a sinner as the Pilot did Ionah and askes him What assurance of Gods mercy hast thou what hope of pardon of sinnes of life and happinesse hereafter You are baptized and so were many that are in hell you come to Church and so did many that are in hell but what is your conversation in the mean time Is that holy in the sight of God and man When the Ministers of God shake men and take them up on this fashion then they begin to stirre up themselues Simile and to consider of their estates This generall and common kind of teaching is like an enditement without a name if a man should come to the assizes and make a great exclamation and have no name to his enditement alas no man is troubled with it no man feares it no man shall receive any punishment by reason of it So it is with this common kind of preaching it is an enditement without a name We arrest none before wee particularly arraigne them before the tribunall of the Lord and shew them these and these are their sinnes and that unlesse they repent and forsake them they shall be damned for then this would stirre them up and make them seeke to the Lord for mercy this would rowse them out of their security and awaken them and make them say as the Iewes did to Peter and the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall wee doe to bee saved Acts 2.37 The second thing wherein this powerfull ministery discovereth and manifests it selfe is when the Ministers of God out of soundnesse of argument and plaine evidence of the will of God and the spirit of God make truth knowne to the spirits of men when a mans doctrine goeth so guarded and confirmed with Scripture and sound and plaine demonstration of argument that they stand as Mount Sion and are undeniable This is the second thing wherein the powerfull delivery of the Ministery consists and this is Saint Pauls meaning when hee saith The kingdome of God consisteth not in words but in power 1 Cor. 4.20 The kingdome of God that is the Gospel of the kingdom whereby God ruleth in the hearts of his chosen Now this consisteth not in words onely nor in a company of fine gilded sentences where there is nothing but a jingling and a tinkling nothing but a sound of words there is no kingdome all this while no power all this while in such a kind of preaching this will not worke effectually in the hearts and consciences of men It is with this kind of preaching as it is with rotten buildings which are all painted over but have scarce a sound beame or any other timber to beare up the house so it is in this case all this jingling and tinkling of words may delight the eares of the hearers but the power is wanting that should drive men to a stand Thirdly a powerfull ministery appeareth in this when there is a kind of spirituall heat in the heart when there are holy affections Si vis meflere dolendum est primùm ipsi tibi and the heart of the Minister is answerable to that he communicates and delivers unto the people Looke what those truths bee which he communicates to others his owne soule should be affected with them before and at the time of delivery of them that so he may speake home to the hearts of the people Mat. 12.34 For out of the aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh saith our Saviour So that the foundations and pillars of a mans speech are not in the tongue but they proceed out of the heart When the speech is raised out of the several affections we use to say Gracious speeches mercifull speeches the meaning is words arising out of grace and words arising out of mercy When the heart of a minister goeth home with his words then he delivers the word powerfully and profitably to the hearers He that mourneth for sin when he speakes of it will make others mourne also he that carries a holy indignation against sinne he stirs up the same indignation in the man that hears him And obserue that when a man speakes from the heart he speaks to the heart and when a man speaks from the head onely and from the teeth outward as wee use to say hee speakes to the eare onely he speakes to the conceit onely We lose the the greatest part of our speech and the strength of our speech unlesse wee speake out of the aboundance of our soules When a man speakes against sin hee should speake with a holy hatred of it from his very heart When a man speakes of the misery of poore creatures that are in the gall of bitternesse and under the power of Satan he should mourne for the judgement that God hath appointed for them and if men would doe thus they would make others mourne also It was an observation of a holy man upon this place We haue piped but ye haue not danced we haue mourned but ye haue not weeped That he that would affect others