of my wants I want Faith and I want love and I want patience and I want beavenly mindedness And it is not a little of these things that I want neither Answ Yet know that complaining is no argument that you have not received Because our hearts are so full of injustice that they will deny that to be paid them by God which they have received But it is an argument that you have received and that you have Faith because you would have more and are unsatisfied with what you have received For Faith is a receiving Object This is my Condition saith one that I am unquiet till I get all when I have a little then if I could get but this and that I should be contented and I bow my knee before God for it and he gives it to me but when I have it I am where I was Answ I answer Although thou shouldst do well to cease murmuring when thou hast gotten any thing for a little will go far but it is best whatever thy receipts be that thou shouldst look after more The Grace and Comfort that thou hast is likely to be true because it doth enlarge thy heart and make thee still to be a receiver Learn to distinguish therefore between murmuring and coveting Covet spiritual Gifts saith the Apostle in 1 Cor. 14.1 Covet thou maist that is thou maist be as covetous after a thing that God hath as a covetous man is after any thing in the world But murmur thou maist not for murmuring supposeth all to be thy due And then whatever God should give thee thou shouldst not receive as an Alms from him and he should lose his Glory Coveting is a desiring much from God and murmuring is a repining to think that God should give to any besides thy self To shut up this Use therefore examine what thy Faith sets thy Desires after And that thou maist judgaright Consider Whether it be Gifts or Grace If it be Gifts confider whether it be gifts meerly or not or gifts that are sanctified If it be gifts meerly then it is no argument of grace nay an argument that thou shalt not receive from God in James 1.4 5 6. You ask and receive not because you would spend it on your lusts You would be counted more for them and more eminent Christians than others and to be the greater Stars and after your motions you would have all the rest to walk but God resists such proud men If so be it be after Gifts that is that thou maist have power of speech or utterance and be able to reason every Point and matter of Religion and to say somthing to every thing that may arise there is more suspition I say more suspition But if it be after Gifts that are sanctified or especially if it be after much grace thou hast the faith of adherence and thou wouldst have faith of assurance thou dost adhere somtimes but thou wouldst have no distance between thy soul and Christ at any time and at no time have a hankering of soul after relief any other way but from Christ If thou longest after Grace after Love and after more Godly Sorrow then thou hast less cause to be troubled because thou feelest thy wants and thy feeling of thy wants is but only the life of thy Faith as it is a Receiver There is one or two Uses more of the Point which I shal make and so shut up the Point CHAP. V. Use 4. Then Beleevers ought to behave themselves as Receivers And that in these Particulars 1. In waiting continually upon Means and Ordinances 2. In being humble whatever they do receive 3. In being communicative Use 5. Consolation to all that have Faith USE IV. IF Faith be a Receiving Then Beleevers ought to carry themselves as Receivers I shall Instance in Three Particulars First Wait continually upon the Means and Ordinances Jesus Christ is to be found among the Doctors that I may allude unto that story of him The Ordinances may be called the highway wherin Jesus Christ comes that so he may cure the blind and the lame If you look into Eph. 4.8.11 you shall find the Apostle saith That the gifts which Jesus Christ hath received for men he gives to them by Pastors and Teachers and the work of the Ministry And if you compare the 20. verse with the verses that follow after the Apostle cleerly saith that that man doth not walk like a Saint nor worthy of his calling who doth not attend unto the Ordinances He doth not carry himself like himself Eph. 4.1 I beseech you walk worthy of your calling wherewith ye are called and then he comes and tels them that God hath appointed the Ministers to bring them together And when they are together to fil them with gifts according to that measure that Jesus Christ hath received of his Father for them As faith doth at first come by hearing so it is nourished by hearing and other Ordinances A Beleever is not one that lives immediatly upon God but upon God by means Rom. 10.17 For to live upon God immediately is the life of sight and not of faith It 's as directly opposite unto a life of faith to neglect Ordinances as faith and sight are opposite And therefore you shal find that by the word and ordinances faith is wrought in men in the daies of the new Testament though the spirit be given abundantly The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation as it is preached Rom. 1.16 It is the immortall seed whereby men are regenerated and begotten again as the Apostle Peter speaks 1 Pet. 1.23 As in the times of the old Testament the word and the spirit went together And so it doth still And that Covenant is established for ever How can they beleeve saith the Apostle therefore in Rom. 10.14 except they have heard and how can they hear whithout a preacher There are none more greedy of Ordinances than those that have had their Faith by them or that have received which is the phrase here in the Text the fulness of Jesus Christ by them As soon as ever men have been converted though their faith have been exceeding weak yet then they have put themselves upon the use of the Ordinances as I might shew you out of John 4. and Acts 2 and divers other places In Rom. 11. when the Apostle would set down the rejection of the Jews and that they should receive no more he sets them down as being barred and shut out from the use of the Ordinances which God gave to his people If Faith be a Receiving then he continually attending upon the Means and Ordinances because by them Jesus Christ doth convey his fulness Secondly Whatever you do receive be humble in 1 Cor. 4.7 What hast thou which thou hast not received and if thou hast received it why dost thou boast If what thou hast attained unto were either of thy self or given thee for what thou hast done thou mightst then glory as
follows for the most part and other things are but by the by which he does So David was so much in Prayer that he saies he was Prayer And so Paul Acts 9. as soon as ever he began to beleeve he began to pray And as a Believer does pray so he praies upon the same tearms of Grace that he is a Receiver that is thus He is a Receiver for another he receives nothing as his own primarily and originally but as it is a gift and trust put into his hands by Jesus Christ to use for the services to which he hath appointed him He goes therefore to God not as one that is the Principal but as one that is a Receiver for another He goes with a Spirit that speaks after this manner to the Lord It is not for my self alone I am but the Messenger of Jesus Christ he sent me Jesus Christ hath undertaken for me and will see it made good to me and I shal have it Thirdly He that hath this Faith as it is a Receiving is unsatisfied with whatever he gets at any one time till he hath come to get all which the Promise is engaged for and to him And the reason of it is this Therefore he is unsatisfied because he hath much to receive and that which he hath received does but enlarge his capacity for more and encourages him that he shal have it as it is due Even as meat gets a stomach to meat so receiving gets an appetite to receiving As presumptuous persons wil find somthing or other to encourage themselves by so Faith upon one respect or other will ever be looking for and after somthing from Jesus Christ upon one account or other it wil be stil demanding Art thou therefore applying to thy self the things that are promised Art thou challenging from God more than thou hast urging him upon his Word that thou hast not so much as thou dost hope in him for Is what thou hast received as a tast that makes thy affections run out after more Then know that thy Faith is indeed a receiving Faith a Faith of the Son of God Fourthly This Faith as it is Receiving will take hold of every insinuation and intimation lay up every word that does give hope and works up it self by smal grounds as one would think to great expectations from Jesus Christ As a man that is trading takes notice of every thing that is said or spoken hopefully of getting more than he hath As there are some spirits that are ever growing upon one give them once and they wil come again Or as some Children that when they have received somthing from their Parents they have their Eyes continually upon them looking for more Such is the frame of the Spirit of one that beleeves as it is a receiving Faith makes a man to do so And therefore you shal find by experience that words spoken by the by often times in a Sermon yet are the great encouragements and hearteners and supporters of the hearts of Godly People Faith is of that having craving growing nature that if it can but get a word it will make a great matter of it sin makes us greedy of occasions to it As a word or a sillable hath great provocation in it unto sin so hath a word that is spoken but by the by a great efficacy upon the hearts of them that beleeve Thou complainest thou hast not what thou didst look for because thou dost complain it is a sign of thy Faith Thou wouldest have that which thou hast not and Faith is a receiving Then seeing both Understanding and Wil stretch forth their hands to receive the things of Jesus Christ Beleevers they have a rich and plentifull Condition Their hands it 's true are full of work they have much to do but they have much to get in too What they have a mind to they shal have and what they know or is revealed to be in the hand of God to do shall be done for them Their Understandings and Wills let them be extended and enlarged they shall both of them be filled full Psal 145.19 He will fulfill the desires of them that trust in him CHAP. XIIII Further Application of the Point This shews a necessity of Faith An Objection from 2 Tim. 2.13 Answered An Objection from the difficulty of Beleeving answered Incourage your selves to Beleeve And to that end 1. Consider the many and glorious things that are to be Received 2. Be convinced that you cannot live without these things which Faith helps to 3. Consider these things are to be bad only by Beleeving 4. Lay the command of God upon your Souls Severall Objections answered USE NOw I goe to another Use If Faith be a Receiving then if you would have Christ or any thing of his you must beleeve If you would have Christ or any thing of his I say you must beleeve The Use lies upon this that Faith is not only a Receiver but the only Receiver which God hath appointed and substituted There are other Graces which God gives besides Faith but he gives this vertue to none of laying hold and Receiving but only unto Faith Love that doth joyn the Soul to Christ and unites it but Faith receives and takes of the fulness that is in Jesus Christ In Jam. 1.7 saith James Let not such a man think that is such a one who asks not in faith but wavers that he shall receive any thing at the hand of the Lord. This wavering the Apostle doth oppose unto Faith And yet he that hath this true Faith may have this wavering in some particular acts though not in the frame of his spirit As in Matth. 14.31 Christ speaks unto Peter and tels him he was one of little Faith and asks him why he doubted And the word that he doth use there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a being between two opinions a halting as it were or an uncertainty of mind not knowing what to do whether to receive Christ or not to receive him or whether not to receive Christ or to receive him In particular acts there may be I say wavering in a man that hath true Faith But while he is so let him not think that he shal receive any thing at the hands of God We are wont to set other things besides Faith to be our Receiver As the Papists so do we put good works unto the work of Faith They think by good words we do apply Jesus Christ and his benefits Mark it Though there be much due unto thee from the Promise though thou hast God ingaged to thee deeply yet wil not God give thee any thing by the hand of any other Grace but only Faith God wil pay what he ows but he wil pay it through beleeving Therefore the Text runs expresly He that beleeves not shall be damned Mark 16.16 that is all he must look for at the hand of God He could not do any great work saith the Text among them because of
But most plainly in 2 Cor. 4.13 The Apostle speaks to this purpose Having saith he the same Spirit of Faith according as it s written I beleeved therefore have I spoken we also beleeve and therefore speak As the Apostle saith in 1 Pet. 1.11 That whatsoever the Prophets spake the spirit spake in them It was not they that spake but the Spirit of the Father that spake in them So the Apostle gives the Reason why he did deliver that Doctrin to the Corinthians because saith he it was suggested unto me by Faith and if you ask him how he came by that Faith he saith he had it by the Spirit It was not so much the Grace of Faith as it was the spirit of Faith which made him both to beleeve and speak It is indeed we that do beleeve As the Prophets Mouth and Lips and understanding were all used by the Spirit of Prophecy But as what they spake was put into them So what we do when we do beleeve is from the Spirit of Faith Having the same Spirit of Faith We beleeve saith the Apostle and therefore speak Beleeving is our act but it s by his vertue And that I may open this more plainly to you I shal insist upon these three Particulars I. That that Faith whereby we do beleeve is not of or from our selves but we receive it II. That in that act whereunto we are inabled by God we act as little as can be but are acted We are rather Receivers then doers III. That though we do beleeve never so little yet the least degree of Faith will give us Jesus Christ and all his priviledges As many as received him had this dignity saith he to be the Sons of God though they did but receive him For the First of these I. We cannot of our selves beleeve or receive Christ Therefore Faith is said in Ephe. 2.8 To be the Gift of God Not of our selves but through Grace ye are saved through Faith and not of your selves it is the Gift of God He laies no more upon Faith but only this that it was the means of our Salvation God was the cheif and principal and efficient cause ye are saved through Faith but even That you have not of your selves In Colos 2.12 It s called the Faith of the operation of God Even as the Heavens are said to be the work of his Hands and the Firmament in Psal 19.1 That is none could do and frame so glorious a thing besides himself We are not able to add one degree unto our Faith when we have gotten it and therefore we cannot obtain of our selves the least degree before we have it It is far more easie for a man to increase a stock then to get it In Lacke Luke 17 7. to the renth 17.5 The Disciples come and Fray Lord increase our Faith Our Lord tels them by and by a Parable that a Master doth not use to bid a Servant when ho comes from the feild to sit down but to waite upon him til he hath supped and he thinks not that the Servant hath any praise due unto him because he waites for his meat and waites at home as well as abroad And he makes this Conclusion of it when you have done all you can say you are unprofitable Servants This being spoken upon their desire of the Lords increasing of their Faith it holds forth thus much that Let us use al the means that we can for the getting and the increasing of our Graces yet that is a work which we shal never do of our selves We shal not move God to any thing nor do any thing that shal be an addition to what God hath done Now if we cannot add to the least degree of Faith then much less can we get the first degree of Faith I say beloved we cannot receive Jesus Christ For there is no room in our Hearts naturally for him All the faculties and places and capacities of our Souls being taken up with sin and self and with Satan In Rom. 1.29 We are naturally said to be filled with all unrighteousness We are born into the world as ful of sin as we can hold It is true we add to sin but it is because our capacity to sin is made greater by sin but as great as it is it is filled But we are ful of sin and therefore their is no room for Jesus Christ And if their were any room in our souls fit for Jesus Christ it being undefiled yet we have no Heart unto Jesus Christ He came to his own John 1.11 John 5.40 and his own received him not Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life Yea We cannot naturally but refuse to let Jesus Christ reigne over us For naturally sin hath our affections and is unto us as our selves A second nature and nature labors to preserve its self and therefore cannot but oppose Jesus Christ For his work is to take away sin Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world There are some material preparations unto faith as they are called whereby divers things that hinder Faith are removed in some measure And these are in the power of Nature A man may be in his Natural condition and have knowledg and yet that knowledg doth remove away ignorance which is a great hindrance unto Faith A man in his Natural state may be troubled for his sin and yet that trouble for sin doth take away pleasure in sin and that pleasure in sin is a hindrance unto Faith A man while he is in his Natural Condition may be in fear of the Judgments of God and thereby have the boldness and confidence of his presumptuous spirit somwhat abated These preparations these preparations I say are in our power But for al these a man may never beleeve upon Jesus Christ he may for ever be a stranger to him These preparations are not unto Faith as degrees of heat are unto fire There is not a necessary connexion between these and beleeving for a man may have them and perish as you know Judas had Much less are they the last disposition which immediately goes before Faith and least of all are they those things which get any thing at the hand of God But that which indeed doth prepare unto Faith properly that comes from the Spirit of Faith alone And so it 's said in Acts 16.14 That the Lord opened the heart of Lydia to attend unto the things which were spoken by Paul He opened her heart that is he opened her understanding to apprehend them he opened the things themselves that she might look into them he took away the prejudices that were in her thoughts against them She had by divers waies her heart shut up against the Apostles Doctrine even as a door in a Castle is barred that it must be broken open but the Lord broke al those bars Such thoughts as these were in her self That if she should receive such Doctrines she
is under this work As the wax is said to receive the impression when the Seal is put upon it Or as the ground receives the seed when it 's cast into it As the Air is first inlightened and then scatters light abroad Object How can this be counted a receiving The very giving a power cannot be a receiving Answ To that I Answer in a word or two That this giving us power doth comprehend within it two things First Gods working Secondly The Answer or Effect of that work As a Workman that makes a piece of plate or any other piece of mettal that is ductile or that may be beaten forth his hammering of it makes it of that fashion or Image So Gods working upon a man to receive makes him to receive And the truth of it is my beloved That this doth alter our state For though we are distinguished from men unregenerate by beleeving yet our beleeving is distinguished by this working of the spirit And though there be phrases in the scripture which speak of Christs dwelling in our hearts by faith yet that whereby Christ comes to dwell and take possession of us is his Spirit We have more security of our perseverance and continuance in the state of Grace from this that we are laid hold on by the Spirit and wrought thereunto as saith the Apostle and are apprehended Then we have from this that we do apprehend and lay hold upon Christ Thy apprehension were nothing were it not for this that thou art made to do this by him that alters and changeth not And I speak this to this very end That though this work be never without a work of ours following of it yet notwithstanding the frame and habit of the soul the dispolition temper which we are cast into by the Spirit through the word is unto a man a better ground when he cannot act faith or when he doth act faith it is a better ground than any thing else It is a ground when he cannot and a better ground than any thing else For Mark it Thy acting doth but flow from this work and cannot be made out to be good further than this is in thee As we say in al other duties The Lord looks to the heart It is not the gifts but the will with which we do any thing that God takes pleasure in So I say here It 's not any thing that I have mentioned concerning faith But it is that spirit of faith so the Apostle cals it also that frame of faith An heart cast into that mould which makes al your acts to be accepted If upon any act of ours though those acts were inabled unto by Grace our salvation did depend it might be hazardous But it cannot be hazarded There is no possibility of falling away because the Holy Ghost the Spirit of the Son and of the Father doth work and hath wrought us hereunto to beleeve upon him and will maintain that work As a child if I may so express it because born of such Parents hath a right unto the Estate though it cannot plead nor speak to it self It is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone So art thou one Spirit with Jesus Christ when thou art thus shaped and made to give up thy self when thou hast a tendency of spirit to God in all thy hopes when they heart and all within thee is unto Jesus Christ and thou takest all from him as he shall please to give it thee USE If Faith as it is thus in the understanding be a receiving or there may be so much gotten from Jesus Christ by the understanding and knowledg of him then I beseech you look unto the understanding There is a double reason that lies in the Text and in the Point that I have in hand By it you do receive as by a hand And in it is laid up as in an house or barn or treasure rich things from Jesus Christ It is his Cabinet and your Honor or it is your Treasure-house You have nothing to lay up the things of Jesus Christ in or you will not know where to lay them up if you have not a mind to know him Take heed to your understanding take heed what you beleeve Errors in the understanding hinder you from the getting of faith We live in the last and worst Age of the world wherein men make no Covenant with their understanding Job said that he would do so with his eyes that he might not look upon a Maid Yet that was lawfull But there was a snare laid in it Men keep not their thoughts from any thing that may be said pro and con against the Gospel of Jesus Christ So full of Adultery and unchastity are the minds of most that there is scarce any room for Jesus Christ to lodg in Let me but tel you thus much that so much as you are stuft with the things that are not according unto truth so much you keep out the things of the Lord Jesus If you do not beleeve the truth you may be damned So the Text saith in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians 2.12 That they all might be damned that beleeve not the truth That word All is put in to shew both how great the punishment is of those that do not beleeve As a fire grows hot by having much timber So the wrath of God is hot against such kind of Men It 's an increase of coles upon them God puts in All there because he would have men know how exceedingly he is provoked and that he will do nothing for them When Princes see whole Counties and Cities in a mutiny they take out one or two to punish and not al. And to shew you that if God do not damn you for receiving the truth yet you will be damnified for not receiving the truth That is you will be hindred Take heed that you miss not of receiving a full reward Why what will hinder them He reckons up the Errors of those times which are rank now as they were then that men do not abide in the Doctrine of Jesus Christ In 2 Joh. 10. If any man come unto you and bring not this Doctrine receive him not Nor bid him God speed for this wil hinder your of receiving a full reward And as the Apostle saith in the Corinthians You shall be saved it may be but as it were by fire it will cost you many an heart breaking and many a frown from God and many a sob and sigh when God opens your eyes that you should be so careless of letting things into your understanding which he hath made a place and treasure for himself Look you therefore unto your understandings Me thinks this should make a man very cautious yea very obstinate against Errors when he once understands that he must sustain so great a loss and be hindred from so great a gain by it As a man somtimes saith unto his friends If it were not for you I might
have gotten thus much and thus much Let me tell thee If thou didst beleeve the truth which thou canst not do while thy understanding is darkened through Errors thou mightst have gotten this and that from Jesus Christ for by beleeving in thy understanding there is a receiving of him CHAP. X. This Object That Receiving of Christ is not an act of the Vnderstanding for that may be in Hypocrites and Vnregenerate Persons answered OBJECT THese Acts of the understanding may seem not to be a receiving of and from Christ for these may be in an Hypocrite Hypocrites have their understandings inlightned and assent so firmly unto the things that are revealed in the Gospell as those which are regenerated do They are often times perswaded and affected with the perswasion of the word to go unto Christ The Seat of Grace it may be said is not in the understanding for it's Grace which makes good which no virtue in the understanding doth for no man is said to be good because he knows Faith so far as it is in the understanding is common as well to an unregenerate man as to a regenerate man The Objection is grounded upon these two things 1. Because the Scripture doth ascribe unto Hypocrites and men that perish that they do beleeve 2. Upon this Principle viz. That is only to be counted a Grace which makes a man good and no man is said to be good for what he knows but for what he doth Answ Because of this difficulty some have placed the difference btween a regenerate and an unregenerate man only in the Wil that a regenerate man approves and an unregenerate man doth not of the light that shines in him But though that be true yet the Scripture doth make a cleer and distinct difference between a regenerate man and an unregenerate man even in their very mind and understanding As you may see in 1 Cor. 2.14 The naturall man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that hath all the reason and understanding which a man as a man is capable of he doth not understand the things of God neither can he saith the text But we have the mind of Christ As the sense doth only meddle with the things that are sensible So reason and understanding in men doth meddle only with the things that are naturall or with things that are spirituall in a naturall way For as every thing is so it works So in 1 Thes 5.23 You have the whol man distributed into spirit soul and body I pray God sanctifie you throughout in spirit soul and body By the spirit be means the understanding as you may see by the like phrase in Rom. 12.2 where he bids them be renewed in the spirit of their mind And by Soul he means the Will and affections and by Body the outward practice and conversation And in John 6.44 Our Lord laies the reason why some come to him and not all because some were taught and some were not taught of the Father Murmur not among your selves for no man can come to me except my Father which hath sent me draw him for it is written in the Prophets You shal be al taught of God Every one therefore that hath learned and been taught of the Father comes unto me And in Eph. 4.20 You have not so learned Christ That word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Imports a different apprehension in men of the same object Jesus Christ You have not So learned him that is so as some other men have whose hearts are not renewed and changed to walk according to what they know of him If you do but observe it in that very place the Apostle gives that as the reason why some put off the old man with its deceitfull lusts and others are cloathed with the new man in righteousness and true holiness in verse 21.22 Because that they had not so learned Jesus Christ It 's a marvellous hard thing I confess to assign the difference that is between the historical faith of him that shal be saved and of an Hypocrite it 's hard but yet the Scripture makes a difference and distinction In the general therefore Grace or Virtue may be considered under a double notion Either as it gives a power and ability to do good And so Grace may be said to be in the understanding Or Secondly As Grace doth put that power into use and inables a man to use that power wel And so it 's properly in the Will For al vertuous acts must be voluntary and therefore they depend upon the sanctification of the affections But though the use of this light in externall acts depends upon the Will yet notwithstanding this light in its self doth differ from all other light For it 's a new one Bear with the Phrase for it 's the phrase of the Holy Ghost in Rom. 12.2 Be renewed in the spirit of your mind This saving Faith gives an intuitive knowledg of the things of God as they are in themselves 2 Pet. 1.9 saith the Apostle He that lacketh these things the word in The Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These things are not present It 's all one with that of 2 Cor. 3.18 We behold with open face And with that in Eph. 1.18 where he praies that they may have their eyes opened to see what is the hope of their calling what it is in it self For the better understanding of this you must know That unto the sight of the eye there goes two things First A Faculty and a visive power And Secondly There must be light to discover the Object unto the eye So unto the sight of the mind there goes these two things First Somthing which doth convey the mind of God which the School-men cals Lumen deferens Something which conveys things unto the understanding And that is the word of Scripture The letter Similitude discourse and reasonings wherby one thing is gathered and concluded from another And this answers unto the light which is in the air for the eye to see by There is also Lumen disponens or a light which makes the understanding to see or take notice of the things revealed that is as the light of the eye And this light which indeed is the light of Faith it is infused and comes not nor is caused by discourse or study or by deduction or consequence from any naturall thing but ariseth immediately from the spirit bringing the things of God and the Soul together You shall discern it in that similitude which the Scripture sets it forth by Tasting and Seeing Tasting That as a man that tasts a thing he hath it present with him the savor of it that there is no disputing against it or making him to beleeve otherwise Do not you tast it saith he So also the things of God are brought unto the soul so through the word by faith that there is not a possibility for the soul to be mistaken That you may see a little into this take the cleerest
it as an almes by Faith it is sweetest and you shal receive most The case stands thus Either you must yield to God or God to you It is fit you should yield to him Why should not the Cistern receive from the Fountain The Creature from the Creator It cannot stand with his honor to yield to you that is upon any other tearms to give you any thing but barely as an almes If you will not part with your honor as you must if you do beleeve know God will not part with his honor as he must if he gives any other way then by beleeving for Faith is a receiving And it is fit he should uphold his glory as the Fountain of all that good which the Creature hopes for CHAP. XV. Receiving denotes Passiveness This proved as to beleeving I. In that Faith is not of or from our selves II. In the very act of Faith whereunto we are inabled by God we act as little as possibly can be This appears if you consider 1. The opposition which is in us to beleeving 2. The Nature of Faith it self And that as it is an act either of 1. The understanding Or 2. The Will 3. Who are beleevers 4. Even the Saints are sensible of a power making them to beleeve I Have already as you may remember spoken of Faith as Receiving doth import and imply a getting an actual possession of that which God promised and gave unto us in the purpose of his Grace through Jesus Christ Election gives all The promises declare what is given and ingage God to make it good And Faith receives all In Election God resolves what to do for us The promise gives it under his hand And Faith puts it into our hands Of this I say I have largely spoken and shal repeate nothing but go on to what remains As Receiving implies and imports a getting into possession what was out of possession before So it denotes passiveness rather then action That is A powerful virtue in him that gives rather then any such thing in the receiver Such a passiveness Receiving hath in our ordinary speech As when we say an Army received the charge We mean they stood out and bore the force and strength of their adversary they did defend themselves So in the Scripture James 1.7 Let not such a man think he shall receive any thing from the Lord. In 1 Pet. 1.9 Receiving the end of your Faith the Salvation of your Souls In Heb. 6.7 The ground receiveth blessing from God In all these places Receiving is of passive signification noting somthing of action and excellency in the behalf of the giver but little of the subject at the first hand In all the passiveness of understanding beings there is some kind of action For the Soul is not passive in the same manner that a tree is unto the Ax that hews it or as a stone is unto the instrument and hand that cuts and carves it Our Lord Jesus Christ is said to have suffered yet even in that suffering He laid down his Life you know the Text speaks and he was obedient A man is not converted unto God as a stock or as a stone Phil. 2.8 John 11 15. but assoon as any Grace is given and infused into him immediately at the very next apprehension or upon his receiving the Grace you must suppose the Soul acting and moving and stirring toward God So it is in beleeving Assoon as Faith is infused so soon doth the Soul move toward God in Jesus Christ So that when I speak of the passiveness of the Soul you are not to understand it as altogether without action But the Soul is said to be passive because it is first wrought upon before it can work any thing that is supernatural The act of the Soul is not of it self but from another And there is more for degree of the vertue of him that works upon the Soul then there is of any inward form and principle or habit in the Soul But I uppose the distinction of active and passive obedience is not specifical but gradual That is that could not be called obedience wherein there was not some though not so much willingness and subjectiveness as there is bearing Christ is said to suffer not because he was not active but because that the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him And at that time there was more displeasure shewed by the Father against Christ then there was put forth of the vertues of our Lord Jesus Christ For that was the vail both of the God-head and of the Man-hood Now according unto this sence beleeving is a receiving and notes passiveness The Soul doth go unto God through Christ but that going is more from the power of God then it is from the habit of Faith It is more from that spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ then it is from that created quality which we call Beleeving We do beleeve but we are made to beleeve 2 Cor. 5.5 He that hath wrought us hereunto is God Wrought us hereunto Even as the Clay is wrought by the Hand of the Potter into this or that form as is pleasing to him So in Philip. 3. The Apostle expressed his passiveness If by any means I may attain unto the Resurrection of the Dead And apprehend that for which I am apprehended But more especially in Gala. 4.9 The Apostle doth correct himself for saying so much as this That they knew God After that they knew God or rather were known of God By knowing of God he means beleeving By his knowledg shal my righteous Servant justiffe many saith the Prophet Isa 53.11 And yet we are justified by Faith When the Apostle had said they knew God as Faith indeed doth give a man an apprehension of him because this apprehension or knowledg of him is in the light of God God makes known himself and gives that whereby he is made known he corrects himself therefore and saith I should not have said that I know God but rather that I am known of God John 3.21 It is given in as the note and tryal of the Hypocritical work of the distinction between true Grace and that which is not true Grace but counterfeit that that which is true and good is wrought and wrought in God That is it is wrought by God As the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in is used in the Scripture So that is said to be wrought in God the power and vertue whereof comes from God All actions consist of their cause and objects and ends Now as God is to be the object and the end so also to be the cause and the worker of all our actions Wrought in God You all know that Faith it is a spiritual Life In Gala. 2.20 I live by the Faith of the Son of God You know that by Faith you convert and turn to God For it is our answer in our calling Now both our life and our motion to God is from God
go By and by it resolves it must not go that is no way for it to take It is but presumption and carnal confidence A double minded man as unto principles cannot be a Beleever But in the act or exercise of a Grace especially of Faith the Soul is of several minds until the Lord comes to overcome and mightily to subdue by the power of his Grace all the imaginations that are in our hearts against him That is one thing therefore to prove that there is as little of us as can be in the act of Faith But Secondly The Nature of Faith it self wil cleer it Faith as you have heard hath its acts in the Understanding and its Acts in the Will But now as it is in the Understanding the Light of Faith is barely Gods Testimony The things themselves promised being left obscure and in the dark as unto their own Nature that is a man doth beleeve the things of the greatest consequence and concernment to his Soul only because God saith they are thus and thus and he know not God being but a stranger to him For as Naturally our Understanding pierceth and searcheth into the causes of things themselves and will not be contented to know with the light of another but with the light of the things In Prov. 3.5 Faith goes another way Trust unto the Lord and cleave not to thy own Vnderstanding In 2 Cor. 10.5 Every thought and imagination must be captivated unto the obedience of Jesus Christ or the obedience of Faith It is not an assent from the evidence of the things themselves but from the report of another As a man beleeves there is such a place as Paradice or such a City as Rome though he never saw it only because of report So that look upon Faith as it is in the Understanding and it is a most irrational thing and it hath as little of man in it as can be Let me explain my self thus There are but Two Heads of all Knowledg One is called an Artificial Argument which ariseth from the Natures of things themselves And another comes from the report of others As one beleeves there is such a place as Jerusalem though he never did see it Now for a man to beleeve because another saith it is to see with his eyes and to beleeve upon his knowledg And this is the way that Faith goes It denies a man of his own Reason and bids a man take al things upon the report of the Lord even in the things of his great Salvation 2 Look upon Faith as it is an act of the Will and what is it but a resting Let him stay himself upon his God and upon the Lord Esa 50.10 11. And what doth it but only put out the sparks of his own kindling A man must be in the dark before he can do any of these acts Who is it that fears the Lord and obeys the voyce of his Servant that is in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the Name of the Lord and STAY himself upon his God But he that kindles a fire and compasseth himself about with the sparks of it shall lie down in sorrow The Will hath divers acts and motions but faith ceaseth all and putteth an end to all the motions of the Soul and all the courses which the Soul did take for its good naturally it ceaseth from what it did naturally for its own good and gives them a Quietus est and dischargeth them from all their labor and only leaves the Soul with God in Christ and lets God do all And hence it is beloved that there is so great a venture in Faith Like the Lepers that knew not what would become of them only they knew that death would be if they stayed in the City and it might be if they went down into the Camp they might have some relief but they could find but death Or as it is said of Abraham That he obeyed the Lord not knowing whither he went So doth a man in beleeving Or as it is said in Joel Repent for none knows but the Lord may return and leave a blessing behind him So because God commands therefore the Soul goes upon these terms though it knows no certainty Yea therefore hath Faith little of us because a Beleever knows not the time of his first conversion He doth beleeve and knows not that he doth beleeve Were there much of us in that act it could not be but we should know when we do it As we know when we eat and drink because they are natural acts But we beleeve and know not that we do beleeve Yea often times because we do so little we are afraid we have no Faith Because we take Faith at the least-wise to be such an imployment action of ours as should make us to be abundant and forward and singular in whatever we do But that is a Second Demonstration That God doth by Faith take as little hold of us as may be and useth our Understanding and Will as little as may be Thirdly Let me add a Third and that is that of the Apostle in 1 Cor. 1.26 Not many mighty and not many wise nor chosen You would sometimes wonder to see what poor and weak parted men Beleevers are Faith requires no great parts The things that are not as the Apostle saith in the same Chapter verse 28. those are the things that God hath chosen Somtimes I have seen a man of no great imployment in the World and yet deeply insighted into the things of Christ Fourthly As the last Demonstration of it You shal find that the Saints are sensible of a power working in them and constraining them to go to Jesus Christ That even as a man that is under the power of Satan though that reason be against his Lusts yet still he is put on and egged to the committing of them It 's a sign there is somwhat more than Natural corruption in him because according unto the Motion of Nature these contrary reasons would allay his desire and hinder his acts There is a spirit of the Devil that blows up that lust puts on to that course again And Beloved Because we find that when we would not beleeve and sit down resolutely in our selves and say we wil not beleeve and it is not for us to look for any thing but sorrow and that is all we shall have at Gods hand yet notwithstanding that we find somthing within us bids us look towards the Lord and to go unto him and not to take our own words and not to think it shall be with us as we think Whence can this come but from the Spirit of Faith It is not from Grace only but from that hand that acts it That shall suffice for the Second thing That Faith is not that which we have of our selves so when God enables us to beleeve he takes as little concurrence with that Grace of his as possibly may be CHAP. XVI Though
in thy own eyes Seest thou less worth nay no worth in thy self Doth the manifestation or communication of Grace from Christ make thee to abhor and loath thy self But I shall speak a little more to this particular by shewing you That where ever indeed there is true Faith there is humbleness of Spirit manifested in these four Particulars There are four Particulars I say wherein humbleness of Spirit doth alwaies shew it self in a Beleever First In modesty or sobriety Not assuming unto its self the doing of any thing or being the motive unto God or the Reason why God should do any thing to him Not unto us O Lord not unto us but to thy Name be the praise is the voyce of Faith according to that of the Psalmist Psal 115.1 I live saith Paul yet not I but Christ that liveth in me Gal. 2 20. I have done more than they all yet not I but the Grace of God in me 1 Cor. 15.10 And as the Psalmist saith in another case We got not the Victory by our own strength and sword but it was thy hand and power that gave us the Victory Psal 44.3 So the Soul saith That it is not its praying or hearing or any thing whereby it doth attain unto any favor with God or any degree of Grace but only because the Lord so pleaseth As there can be no reason given why the Rain should fall upon one ground and not upon another but only because the Lord Reigns and Rules in Heaven So there can be no reason given saith the Soul why I that am a barren desert should have any life rained on me but only because it seems good unto him That is the first thing Secondly The humbleness of Faith shews it self in a sense and apprehension of that condition which a man was in before he did receive Grace As a man unto whom a prosperous estate is sanctified he remembers his poor estate and low condition So doth a man now that hath received by Faith from Christ remember what state he was in when Christ first came and gave him somwhat and bestowed himself upon him Here the Apostle Paul speaking of it in 1 Tim. 1.13 I was a Blasphemer and injurious and a Persecutor and the chief of all sinners And Eph. 2.3 We were by Nature that is we that are now quickned and who are now raised up together with Jesus Christ Children of Wrath as well as others and under the Prince of the Air even the Devil who Ruleth in the hearts of such Children of disobedience as we were And therefore upon all occasions you know he is up with his conversion telling what an ill course he was in and what wickedness he was practising when the Lord lighted on him as you may see in divers places in the Acts. It is true indeed that there is a passionate sense of a mans misery which doth cease when a man hath received mercy that is a man cannot so mourn nor a man cannot so weep and lament as he did do yet there is an understanding sense A sense that lies upon the heart as sure though it works not after the same way and as cleer though it hath not the self same passions that were before Though the wound be healed yet there is a scar that puts in mind And though the Lord hath been pleased to take away the danger yet the Soul cannot but stand and wonder at that condition wherein it was when the Lord delivered it That is the Second Thirdly The humbleness which Faith works in the heart of a man is this The acknowledgment and owning of al that is in a man unto God As we are wont to write in the Books that are given us The Gift of such a Friend or such a Friend Or as Jacob said he came over that Brook with a staff in his hand and now he had so many bands But the Lord hath given them to him Behold I and the Children which the Lord hath given me Or as Jacob said at another time when his father asked him how he came by Venison so soon said he The Lord brought it to hand So the Soul acknowledgeth whatever he hath received to be of meer Grace 2 Cor. 5.5 He that hath wrought us hereunto is God who hath also given unto us the Spirit Mark the word We are wrought hereunto That is as if he should have said if there had not been more done by another than was by our selves if we had been left to do for our selves we had never come to this state of Grace wherein we are We were but like Clay and He fashioned us into this Mould He Who is that Even God He that hath wrought us hereunto is God that is Infinite Power and Wisdom was imployed in those things and no less would have done the thing And so the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 2.12 It is given to us to know the things that are freely given us of God Ask a Beleever how it came to pass when he and others sate under the same ministry and in the same seat and it may be had the same convictions that one turned his back upon God and the other came in that one held up weapons of rebellion against God and the other laid them down Or thus That the one is more wrought upon and the other is less that the one hath perfect Peace and the other stand disputing being filled with fears and jealousies and suspitions The Soul will answer that it was not for any thing that I did more than any other it was not because I was better than another but because the Lord put forth his Power upon me and hath more effectually called and wrought in me than he hath been pleased to do upon others That is the Third Thing Fourthly The Humbleness which Faith works in the Soul is this that it makes a man to be marvelously wary and faithful in the use of all that which he hath received by beleeving If he hath gotten peace he keeps it warily and charily If he hath gotten Grace he maintains it watchfully and he is faithful not because he doth not look upon himself as a Lord over it but he looks upon it as a Gift meerly given him If a man you know hath any gift given him by a Friend though it be very useful yet he is very chary of the use of it and will not use it but upon great occasions There is you know a great deal of difference between a mans receiving his life by Grace and pardon from the Prince and a mans receiving his life upon tearms of Justice He that hath his life upon Pardon is afraid if he ever comes again within the breach of the Law any more Whereas he that hath his life upon Justice thinks not of any such danger nor of any such evil that he needs to beware of So much carefulness so much Wisdom and Wariness as there is in the Soul to use what it hath received
men even concerning the things of the Gospel which is contrary unto their lusts But yet it s not grounded upon any thing but meerly upon demonstration upon demonstration I say or experience and therefore it doth not save There are some therfore that receive Jesus Christ only into their reason Into their reason only I have made these severall steps in the laying open of this truth because that the Devil doth with the Souls of men even as Warriers do when they have a place to hold out against an enemy If so be that they cannot keep one Wal or one part of the Fort they get to another and there strengthen themselves They would keep them out of al. If the Devil can keep Christ out of the fancies of men he wil. If he cannot stay him there by reason of the means that they live under then he staies him in Reason and labors to set him up there You shal know what I mean by it by and by A man may receive Jesus Christ into his reason and yet have no good wil to him which is the Point that I have in hand For as the Eye being opened cannot but see the light so neither can the Understanding but take notice of the truth that is propounded unto it The Will hath a power when the Object is before it to refuse it But the understanding hath no such power But when as a thing is propounded it cannot but observe it A man may not like nor own what is propounded but he cannot but take notice of it And therefore by the way when we say that men will not know or men are wilfully ignorant The meaning is this They wil not be known to know or do wilfully keep themselves from reflecting upon the consideration of what they do know for when the light comes It cannot I say but be received Therfore for the better opening of a mans receiving Jesus Christ into his reason Know that there is a difference between Reason and Reasoning In the Latine tongue they have two words that do aptly express it Ratio and Rationis operatio It is that reasoning which God hath given unto men to joyn truths together which are of one sort and belongs unto one subject And to collect and gather the consequences which follow thereon This is reasoning And by this many men come to be great disputers and contenders as you shal hear by and by for that Faith of Christ which they have not dwelling in their hearts As in the time of the Law The Jews had some who kept their Genealogies who retained the knowledg of every Tribe the heads of the families and the kindred and the alliances which every one had to another by matches and marriages So God hath given Reasoning in the soul this office To keep the foundation or principall heads of truths and to keep also in memory the consequences which are as it were the kindred of those foundation truths the marriages which one common head hath with another the influences which one point hath into another This Reasoning ads nothing unto truth but doth arise from the nature of truth it self and is in the thing in the truth whether or no that it be reached by us or not As for example We reason thus If God made the World then the World was not eternall Whether we collect this or not yet in this saying viz. That God made the World This viz. that it is not eternal is comprised And this kind of Reasoning the Scripture makes use of in the matters of Faith Rom. 3.28 Therefore we conclude that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by Faith in Jesus Christ And in Matth. 22.32 Upon this Jesus Christ proves the resurrection of the bodies of men viz. God hath said That he will be the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and of those that beleeve upon him If he hath said saith Christ that he will be their God then by consequence They do live unto him and their bodies also shall live together with their Spirits And because the Scripture maketh such use of these consequences or this kind of reasoning therefore we are commanded to attend unto reading because the words of scripture are means whereby things comes thus into our Understanding And we are required to Search the Scriptures John 5.19 which is a Metaphor taken from Hunters whether they be Beasts or Men They look after the foot-steps of their Game As by instinct the Dog taketh the sent here and there and follows the Game as if it were following the conclusion So the mind of a man puts things together and must put the things together that are in the Scripture and conclude from them But besides this Reasoning There is also Reason which is the principles and notions of things that are in us by nature And these are of two sorts Some are common and universally true True in every Matter or Science As for example That the rule is before and more known than that which is ruled by it That the Cause is more excellent than the Effect That the means so far as it is a means is less excellent than the end These and divers others are true not only in humane Sciences but in matters of Faith As for example It is as true that the scripture because it is a rule is before mens Faith and before the Church and of greater authority and efficacy Even as it is true that the Laws of men are in order of nature before any thing can be done lawfully or to have a reward or acceptation And so again The Body of Christ though it be in Heaven and ful of Glory yet notwithstanding is as well contained there and not every where as it was in one place and not in another when it was upon the earth Now besides those generall and universal principles of reason there are in us by nature particular principles or notions which do belong unto particular subjects As Unto the nature of God and unto Righteousness and unto Justice Whether that righteousness be personall and morall or whether it be political or that which a man is to exercise as a Iudg towards others There are notions which are proper unto the beings and kinds of Creatures Now to draw unto the thing that I would speak unto in divers cases Both Reason reasoning may argue an unwillingness to receive Iesus Christ and so a want of true faith The receiving Jesus Christ may be such both into reason and into reasoning as argues a man not to beleeve upon Christ unto the Salvation of his soul Give me but leave to instance but in some of these as breifly as I can As I. When no more is beleeved concerning God and Jesus Christ Mark it when we beleeve no more of God and Jesus Christ then can be deduced out of the principles of the knowledg of God which are in us by nature Take the principles of the knowledg of God which
vers 21. It s said That he was not rich towards God What need you saiâ—â— our Lord take care for much when you haâ—◠〈◊〉 much time to live Take care for death and for eternity else after al your labor you shal meet with nothing but eternal misery I say the words of the Text are an answer to a harmless motion as one would think made by one that was a follower of him His motion was that Christ would do him right and arbitrate the business of difference between him and his brother about that estate which belonged to him by Inheritance As Christ refuseth the office in the 14. vers for he came into the world to help mens Souls and not to be a Judg so he therefore warns him of covetousness which would bring forth bitterness in the latter end which would make him die like a fool and hinder him from being rich towards God Al a mans riches cannot preserve his life one day and if he be not rich in God he shal die like a fool for ever and perish The Point that I shall insist upon is this Doct. That it 's the Duty of all men as they would attain to eternal life to take heed and beware of Covetousness It s the duty of all for upon one mans speaking unto Christ about his inheritance he turns his speech unto all He said unto them That is to al the Company at the thirteenth verse And it is a duty as they would attain to eternal life for to that end Jesus Christ bids them to beware of Covetousness that they might not die as a Pool doth as you have it in verse 20. Mens inordinate desires after the lawful things of this life do as well hinder them from Heaven as if they were sinfull things or gross prophaness for in the following verses of this Chapter you have the Anatomizing of a man that was dead and gone to Hell for he died like a Fool And it sheweth the Disease and Cause of the misery he was found not to live in any gross sin but only in this that he was Covetous And because the HEED cannot be too great therefore he useth two words Take heed and beware a double Caution because there is a great and double danger or as it is in the Greek See or watch to it and guard your selves against it A similitude either taken as some do conceive from mens going into the fields to gather wholsome Herbs who are very carefull least they should gather any thing that is poysonous And when they have made a confection they set it up carefully least any poyson should come into it The poyson of al a mans Spirit Duties is Covetousness And therefore he bids them to beware of it Or else it s taken from Souldiers for one of the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beware is properly a Military word As if he should have said stand Sentinell have your eyes open look this way and that way be Circumspect least the love of the world get into you fence your selves with al the whol Armor of God else you wil not be able to keep your selves from it They should do as Souldiers who do not only set Sentinels to look out but do set a Guard that they may keep the place that is in danger of the Enemy That which I shal do in the explication of the Point is to shew you I. What Covetousness is II. The Reasons why you should be so watchfull against it and heedful of it I. What Covetousness is for the great difficulty of the Point lies in the explication of what Covetousness is which may be taken two waies Either as it is a general Or as it is a special sin In generall or as it is a general sin and so it goes in a double Notion First It is a minding of Earthly things as the Apostle expresseth it in Phil. 3.19 It 's taken in generall for that evil frame of heart whereby a man when he hath once sinned desires to commit the same or another And so it is taken in Isa 57.17 For the Iniquity of his Covetousness was I wrath and I did hide my self The Hebrew word signifies any kind of desire whatsoever Not only after Riches as Covetousness is but after any thing that is unlawfull And it 's probable yea more than probable that the Holy Ghost doth so take it because he saith they did go on in the way of their own heart that is they did what they listed the more they sinned the more they had a mind to sin And the Apostle in Ephes 4.19 saith concerning some men that they did commit all sin with greediness In the Greek it is with Covetousness the Apostle there only speaks concerning the boundless appetite that is in men to do as much as they can against God The grossest sins that are contentfull and pleasurable are gainfull to them so that in the Scripture Covetousness somtimes signifies that desire of men to commit sin after they have once committed it and are left by God to take pleasure and contentment in it Secondly As it 's a general sin in that sense so also as it is an uncontentedness with a mans outward condition I say it is an uncontentedness in Heb. 13.5 it 's said Let your Conversation be without Covetousness and be content with such things as you have Uncontentedness is less than discontent For he is uncontented who is not well pleased But he is discontented who frets murmurs repines that thinks much of Gods distributions and that envies another that hath more than himself So you have it laid down in Psalm 37.1 Fret not thy self because of the wicked And by the Prophet Isaiah in Chap. 8. verse 21. where he brings in men which cannot have that liberty from their Enemies which they desire They do rage against God They do curse their Ring and their God and look upwards As a Dropsie is a thirst which is not to be quenched Drink and you are still dry So there is an evill frame of heart in men to be unsatisfied with any thing that God doth for them and that is called Covetousness Because that Covetousness is an uncontentedness with a mans outward Condition or a desire of more therefore it 's a breach of all the Commandments of the second Table by which mens outward Conditions are ordered As it is wel observed that as the first Commandment hath an influence into all the Commandments of the first Table The Love of God being the Sum of that So the last Commandment which forbids to Covet hath an influence into all the Duties of the second Table As for example In 1 Thes 4.6 the Apostle doth there call Adultery or mens lusting after their Neighbors Wives Covetousness when a man Commits Adultery he is there said to be Covetous Let no man go beyond or defraud his Brother Defraud But the word in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Covet to be covetous You have it
the deceitful lusts Look what Paul saith there concerning al sin that the scripture saith concerning this one sin of Covetousness In Math. 13.22 The deceitfulness of riches Covetousness wil plead Conscience of a mans calling Care of Gods command to provide for a mans family Yea the Glory of God I would have more saith a man that so I may do more service and good Saul did save the Cattel but it s said It was for sacrifice Covetousness wil put a man upon al duties of morality and civility The covetous man whom God abhors saith the Psalmist In Psal 10.10 He doth crouch and humble himself that is he is as sweet and loving and affable and courteous and as seemingly ready to do any office and service for one as any can be Nay it wil put upon any spiritual duties Artaxerxes was a great friend to the reformation of the Church of the Jews But it was out of Covetousness In 2. Kings 6.10 And Ezra 7.23 That so they may pray for the life of the King and of his children and that no wrath may come upon him nor his Realme Hewould give a toleration to those poore banished ones that they might go to their own Country and set up the religion of their Fathers It wil make a man keep a good Minister in his house In Judges 17.13 I have a good Levite saith Micaiah and now I know that God wil bless me saith he It wil make a man not fail to heare the best sermons In John 6.26 Ye follow me not for the Miracles that is not for the discovery of God by me in working of Miracles and that you may see in me more then a bare man as my Miracles do discover me to be but ye follow me for the Loaves That people did go after Christ the best of Preachers a great many miles and did run the reproach of the people of those times What made them to be the first at Church but because they thought God would the better provide for them in 2 Tim. 3.2.5 Those that are covetous at the second verse have a form of Godliness A form of Godliness is nothing but the picture of a thing to the life when a thing is so like another by Art as that it can scarce be known then it is said to be a form Jesus Christ is said to be in the form of God because he was as like God as could be And in the form of a Servant because you would rather have thought him to be born to misery than to be Lord of life Covetousness wil have a form of Godliness He will do the same duties that any Godly man in the world doth Fasting and praier is an extraordinary duty a great affliction of the flesh it 's a duty of the greatest seeming holiness that can be yet in Isaiah 57.17 the Reason why they fasted so often was but for Covetousness that they might put a greater face and a fairer shew upon their persecuting the Brethren who did differ from them When they had a mind to fall upon their Brethren for that which they should have born with them in then they call for a fast like the Crocodiles cry that is only to get a prey So like as a man may be to a Godly man so like will Covetousness make a man be to him If a Godly man praies so will he And if a Godly man forbears outward acts of gross sins so will he If a Godly man suffers so will he When God commends Job that there was not a man like him saith the Devill it is nothing for a man to do as he when he hath so good wages for his work Have you not given him much Riches and Honor and many Children in the world And as it doth thus deceitfully cheat a man and is hardly to be avoided because it seizeth upon all if they look not to it So that you may see Secondly That it is hard to be Cured And therefore in the Scripture you shal find if you observe it as many Arguments nay more Arguments against Covetousness than against any sin except it be Unbelief In Matth. 6. Jesus Christ spends a whol Sermon almost against it He doth so in Matth. 15. He doth so when he comes to speak to his Disciples of the ruine of Jerusalem He doth so when he speaks of the Hearers Look through the Gospel and the Epistles and you shall find that there are more Arguments against Covetousness than any thing but Unbelief And wherefore but because it 's a hard thing to cure it And that you may further see that it 's hard to be cured confider how it deals with a man The Scripture useth divers words to this purpose somtimes it saith it doth divide a man So the word usually is which in the Scripture is translated Care The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Care signifies division of spirit It separates a mans heart from God It makes a man a Beast To have a heart and a heart and not to walk perfectly with him It makes a man take Religion by the very throat in Matth. 13.22 for it did choak the word And in Luke 12.29 saith the Text Be not of a doubtfull mind The word in the Greek is Be not like unto Meteors As Meteors and exhalations that are drawn from the Earth that hangs between the Earth and the stars so wil Covetousness make a man that he shall not be totally profane nor throughly holy neither in the upper region nor in the lower region upon the dust He hath a spirit that is mingled and therefore is on all sides but hearty for nothing that is good or for salvation Nay it goes further in Luke 21.34 Take heed least your heart be overcharged with Gluttony and Drunkenness and the Cares of this life Christ doth joyn Covetousness with Gluttony and Drunkenness because it hath the like effects upon the Soul of a man that they have upon the body of a man When a man hath drunk extraordinarily his understanding is sensless and so is a man made by the Cares of this world Be not overcharged The word signifies Made heavy His spirit is like lead he hath no spirit in any thing that he doth for God further than he is acted by the world Of a meer spirituall duty he hath no more feeling than a stone hath If there be not Rhetorick in praier and Invention in Sermons it 's not food to him Nothing that is spirituall affects him but his heart is like a stone It 's a strange speech in Luke 18.27 to this purpose when Christ said It was as hard for a rich man to be saved as for a Camell to go through the eye of a needle And they said then none of them can be saved saith Christ The things which are impossible with men are possible with God Are possible with God That word I would insist upon a little There are some things that the Scripture saith are easie unto God Do
but speak the word saith he and my servant shall be healed And there are some things that the Scripture saith are hard to God there is more of God required to do them than other things And some things that are but possible unto God As if he should have said It 's all that God can do If there were but a whit of less strength in him he were not able to make a man that is covetous to beleeve Give me leave to speak with reverence according to the expression His strength is matched It 's as much as he can do It is but possible to him to make a rich man that is in love with this present evil world to come to Heaven And as if the Apostle Paul could not say enough to shew the hardness of being cured of this sin you shall find him heaping up words in 1 Tim. 6.9 There are Temptations and there are Snares and there are Sorrows The word properly signifies the pains of a Woman in Travel which can neither be avoided nor prevented and are impossible to be born long And he saith they are drowned in perdition and destruction having reference unto the 18. Chapter of Matthew at the 66. verse It was a kind of death to the Assyrians to tie a Mill Stone about a mans neck and to throw him into a deep water Look how there is no hope of saving such a man so little hope there is of a covetous man Observe it he speaks rather of such a man that was covetous who had made profession of Religion and known the truth rather than any other and he saith of them That they Pierce themselves through The word signifies they do as it s said of Julius Caesar that they came about him so with Bodkins and Swords that his Body was as a Butt or Pin-cushion there was not a whole place in him he was wounded in Back and Belly in Armes and Legs and in every part there was a wound So saith the Apostle You wil be by the Cares of this world you will be run through and through and through with Cares and Sorrows And what hope is there of a man when he lives thus when sin hath such advantage of him how hard a matter is it to be cured I have bin the longer in the explication because it is the sin of the times and the sin of Professors CHAP. IV. Use 1. Follâ—◠〈◊〉 Callings Use 2. Seek the Kingdom of 〈◊〉 and his righteousness and other things shall be added Use 3. Let all your care be for eternal life to be rich in God Use 4. You shall have all the things of this life that are needfull if you wil look after Grace Godly men never want but when they cannot be content to be at God's dispose Use 5. See your life lie in Grace not in Riches USE I. FOllow your Callings For the living in a particular calling is as necessary to pluck down the rankness of a mans spirit and to make him fit to serve God I say it is as necessary in its kind as the word is in its kind There are some sins that arise from the body and diligence in a particular calling mortifies them Follow your Callings Take what providence casts upon you in them but be not sollicitous Beloved Do not care how it may be with you so you may but provide for eternity Be content with a little so you may but have Grace If you have Food and Raiment be quiet As upon a day of fast a man may eat so much as may fit him to the work so my Beloved care for no more all the time of your life than what may keep you from temptations and inable you to the work of your Calling And that work of your calling you may certainly do for God whatever your condition be Turn all your care unto this that you may treasure up riches in Heaven What matter it if you be poor or have or not have as long as you do enjoy Christ This is the great exhortation of our Lord Jesus Christ in this place That time that men spend in forecasting how they should do in ill times that time is all lost and should be spent only in this How they may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a world to come I say it is all lost 〈◊〉 use you are not able to secure those things And it 's worse than lost because it is a sin to care for to morrow Prudently dispose of what God hath given you but be not troubled though you cannot so dispose of things as to save you from evill Be not afraid of any evill that can befall you fear nothing but sin and Gods wrath It is your wisdom to do so A wise man on a Journey cares not if his lodging be hard and diet course because he is upon his way and thinks to have better at home The love of his business makes him not think of these things What is your business but to provide for Heaven What is your home but to dwell with Jesus Christ and to have Communion with him Therefore mind not other things never be troubled what you are in other respects USE II. And let me add this in the second place That the more care you take for spirituall things the more care God will take for your earthly estate Seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shal be added to you in Math. 6.33 For al these things your Heavenly Father cares for that is if you care not In Heb. 13.5 6. Let your Conversation be without Covetousness for he hath said he wil never leave you nor forsâ—ke you God enters into Bond to save that man harmless from all losses and evils in the world that does but mind the things of him He were an unjust master to set us a work and to leave us to our own finding Is it not better a great deal to be at Gods hand than at your own That he should find you than your selves Therefore speak to your hearts after this manner I cannot by my care add one Cubit to my stature and make one business go well and get in one debt and take one penny the more and get one new Customer Let me speak to you in your own language If so be that I do what I can it wil be no advantage to me in these things But if I be careful to make my peace with God to get my pardon Sealed to get my waies Sanctified God wil give me so much of these as I need he hath enough and he wil give me liberally so that I shall have no cause to complain If I have not so much as another yet notwithstanding I shall have a blessing with what I have and that will be more than anothers much If men did put themselves upon this that it is to be their care to look to their Souls and when they have used meanes for their estates and bodies to leave all to God's disposing