is with the Body for these united make one person whereas the personality of the Spirit is incommunicable but that the Holy Spirit performs such Offices in a believing Soul as have some resemblance and are some way correspondent to what the Soul does in and for the Body and which the Scripture expresses in like terms and this we find frequently the Spirit is said to quicken and act those in whom he dwells they have new life and motion by his inhabitation Rom. 8.11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you The Apostle having signify'd in the former verses that our Union with God and Christ is by the Spirits dwelling in us he expresses what may be expected from this inhabitation Christ's Spirit dwelling in us will quicken our mortal bodies will be a principle of Life in them quickning them to a new Life a Life of Holiness The same Spirit as he quickens so he acts those in whom he dwells who are therefore said to be led by him ver 14. For as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God they are excited directed enabled to act like the Children of God by his Spirit dwelling in them so Ezek. 36.27 And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them the Spirit which I will put within you shall make you active in my wayes So much for the first Proposal II. What encouragement have we from Christs Prayer that this Vnion II. Observ and the Blessings relating thereto shall be vouchsafed Answ Our encouragement in general is the full assurance given us that his Prayer is prevalent for what he desired the particular grounds of this assurance are more particular encouragements There are several things requisite to a Prayer which when they concurr the Word of God assures us that it will prevail 1. When the things desired are according to the Will of God 1 Joh. 5.14 2. When the Person praying hath a special Interest in God and duly improves it There are some whom the Scripture declares God will not hear Joh. 9.31 Psal 66.18 Prov. 28.9 3. When the persons prayed for are such as the Lord hath some particular favour or respect for There are some for whom the Lord will not hear the best of his Servants interceding on their behalf Jer. 7.16 11.14 14.11 Now in the Prayer of Christ there is a concurrence and that in a transcendent manner of all those things that render a Prayer undoubtedly prevalent 1. The things that he prayed for were consonant to the Will of God in every instance He knew what was the Fathers Will in its full extent and discerned it with the greatest clearness and certainty for as he is God he is one with the Father of one and the same Essence and Will and as he is man he had in him all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge a fulness of the Spirit of Revelation so that he did perfectly apprehend what was the good and perfect and acceptable Will of God He did not only know this in particular instances by general rules of Scripture as we do but had the conduct of an Infallible Spirit and that alwaies not sometimes only and in some things as holy men of God the Prophets and Apostles had it but in every Act and Word And as he perfectly and infallibly understood what was agreeable to the Will of God in all points so he gave himself up intirely to the most exact observance of it without varying without the least shadow of mistake or deviation This was the end why he came into the World Joh. 6.38 This was his constant practice Joh. 5.30 in his Sufferings and Actings and in his Prayers this was his delight Joh. 4.34 Now since he presented nothing in his Petitions but what was his Fathers own Will desired nothing but it was his Fathers Will to grant we may be as certain that his Prayer was granted as we are sure that the Lord will comply with his own Will For the Second It will be apparent by shewing who it was that prayed and how he prayed of which take an account in some particulars 1. This was the Prayer of the Man Christ Jesus who was Holy Harmless and separate from Sinners he was a Lamb without spot or blemish and so was this Offering the pure Eye of God could see no blemish in him or it His requests were not prejudiced by any antecedent guilt nor tainted with any impure mixture either apparent or secret nor chargeable with the least defect in Fervour Faith Affectionateness c. It was a sinless Prayer in all respects and so such a Prayer as was never offered to God on Earth since the Foundation of the World and Sins entring into it It was not liable to the least exception no not at the Tribunal of strict Justice and so could not but be acceptable and prevalent Nay it was not only clear from every the least speck of sin but was the product of admirable Holiness such as is not to be found in the Holyest Soul or Spirit Saint or Angel He had it in larger measures in an higher degree and in a more excellent way Some tell us that if all the Holiness that is in all the Angels and Saints were united in one subject it would fall short of that which is in Christs Humane Nature However it is taken for granted that the capacity of his Soul was wonderfully enlarged by its personal Vnion with the Godhead far beyond the capacity of any other finite-Being and all this capacity was wholly filled with Holiness it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell and God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him Joh. 3.34 Saints and Angels receive it as Vessels of small measure but in Christ it is unmeasurable Now all this Holiness was exerted in this Prayer and diffused through it Grace in him was not acted sometimes intensely sometimes more remisly for remisness seems to import some culpable effect but was put forth on proper occasions and particularly in this Prayer in its full power and vigour Upon this account this Prayer was the Holyest Offering that ever was presented to the most Holy God either on Earth or in Heaven and therefore could not but be most acceptable to him and accordingly prevalent and succesful 2. It is the Prayer of him who is God of him who is God and Man in one person As the Blood of Christ is said to be the blood of God Act. 20. by the same reason the Prayer of Christ may be said to be the Prayer of God And though it be properly the Act of Christ's Humane Nature yet this Nature being personally united with the Godhead it is upon that ground duly ascribed to
Rule to act by His Internal Holiness and Perfection being his sole Rule But as to Vs in our Actings we have an External Rule by which all that we do is to be squared and therefore by and according to this Rule the Spirit guides us And our Conformity thereunto is both the Measure and also the Design and End of the Spirit in his Guidance of us The Word it self carries in it a leading and directive Property Prov. 6.22 23. VVhen thou goest it shall lead thee For the Commandment is a Lamp and the Law is light Psal 119.105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path 133. Order my steps in thy VVord Mic. 6.8 He hath shewn thee O man what is good The written Revelation of God's Will is the Christians great Rule the Compass by which in all things he must steer his Course the Star that must direct him in all his Motions 'T is to the Law Isa 8.20 and to the Testimonys that we must have our continual Recourse for the regulating of us in all matters of Faith and Practice Now this Leading of the word and that of the Spirit are never to be sever'd As that is in subordination to This so This is ever in Conjunction with That This Word we must in all things keep close unto or else we run our selves upon most dangerous Rocks The Enthusiast is for a Light within for immediate Revelations Inspirations Impulses from the Spirit and I know not what But are these Praeter-Scriptural much more are they Anti-Scriptural Oh then they are nothing but mens own Fancies and Delusions and not at all the leadings of the Spirit of God When any upon the pretence of these go off from the written Word what wild Opinions and Practices do they run themselves upon Of which we have had too many instances both at Home and Abroad The Spirit and the VVord are our full and compleat guide The Spirit gives Light and Life to the Word and the VVord gives Evidence that the Guidance is from the Spirit But it may be ask'd Does the Spirit guide only in this mediate way Quest Is there not an immediate Leading by him at least pro hic nunc No unless you state it thus That although he may not always Answ in an Express and in an Explicit manner guide by the VVord yet his Guiding always is according to the VVord and Consentaneous to it The Word evermore is in the matter though sometimes it may not be in the manner of the Spirits Guidance He may without making use of the Word by an immediate Divine Light and Excitation lead me to this or that duty but he never leads me to any thing but what the Word first makes to be Duty Take it in that other Act of the Spirit which follows here v. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit that we are the Children of God This witnessing of Adoption is usually Mediate and by the Word yet 't is not always so sometimes 't is Immediate and without the VVord That is the Spirit assures of this not only in a syllogistical way by such and such Scripture-signs Marks Qualifications Dispositions which evidence Sonship to God as He that is led by the Spirit is the Son of God Thou art one who art led by the Spirit therefore thou art the Son of God But he sometimes may and does directly and immediately say to a person Thou art a Child of God But now though here he thus witnesses Abstractly and praecisively without making use of the marks and signs of the Word concerning this Relation yet he never so witnesses but according to the Word i. e. where those marks and signs are In like manner 't is as to his leading this is not always managed by an express Revival upon the Heart of this or that passage in the Word yet for the matter of it 't is ever done in a way consonant and agreeable to the Word And so long as we keep to this I think there will be no great danger of Enthusiasm or Fanaticisme rightly so called The manner of it III. The manner of the Spirits Leading Concerning which not to run out into all the various Explications that occur about it I 'le confine my self to these two things The Spirit leads 1. With Power and Efficacy 2. With Sweetness and Gentleness Fortiter Suaviter 1. With Power and Efficacy The Spirit leads so as that the Person led shall certainly follow him For in this Act he does not only illuminate the Vnderstanding or barely dictate to the Mind and Conscience what way is to be taken but he does also Inwardly by a Secret Power upon the Heart incline and bend the Will to close with what he directs unto He leads with a strong Hand so as that the Soul shall not be able to resist him I mean ad Victoriam I speak not of his Guidance which is common and general but of that which is peculiar and saving of that which is put forth either in those that are regenerate already or in those whom God designs to make such This leading of the Spirit in such Persons is ever carryed on with Power and Efficacy I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them Ezek. 36.27 here 's not only an Informing Light but an Overpowering Influence I 'le cause you to walk in my Statutes Turn thou me and I shall be turned 'T is leading in the Text to shew the Mildness of the Spirits Operation elsewhere 't is Drawing to shew the Power of the Spirits Operation 'tis Drawing as to the depraved Will 't is Leading as to the Sanctified Will The Evil Spirit leads to sin How Why he moves perswades solicites to sin and further than that he cannot go But the Holy Spirit in his leading to Grace and Holiness pursues this with a Determining and Overcoming Power so as that the Effect which he aims at shall certainly be produced This we must grant or else we must hold a parity of Operation betwixt the two Spirits that the Holy Spirit has but the same causal Influx upon what is good which the wicked Spirit has upon what is evil then which nothing can be more absurd 2. Yet 't is Power acted and exerted with all sweetness mildness and gentleness Here 's leading but no Force Conduct but no Compulsion no Coaction vehemens Inclinatio non Coactio Ghorran The Will is determin'd but so as that not the least violence is done to it to the infringing of its Liberty Ne arbitreris istam asperam molestamque violentiam dulcis est suavis est ipsa suavitas te trahit Aug. How spontaneously does the Person led follow him that leads him so 't is here This and all the other workings of the Spirit are admirably suited to the Nature of Reasonable and Free Agents Efficacious Grace does not at all
destroy Natural Liberty Where the Spirit does not find sinners willing by his sweet Methods he makes them willing Psal 110.3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power a day of power yet willing Even the Spirits Drawing is managed with all consistency to the freedom of the will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys he draws but 't is one that he makes willing to follow Hos 2.14 Behold I will allure her ay there 's the Spirits leading This being the constant and avowed Doctrine of the Protestants and †Ductus spiritus non est impulsus violentus quo rapimur inviti ut stipites sed est efficax persuasio quâ ex nolentibus efficimur volentes Par. with many others particularly their Explication of the Spirits leading in the Text how injurious and invidious are the Popish Writers in their traducing and calumniating of them as if they asserted the Spirit in This or any Other Act to work with Compulsion or in a way destructive to mans Essential Liberty 'T is a vile scandal And yet how do Esthius Salmeron Contzen upon the Words charge our Divines with it We perfectly concurr with Blessed St. * Enchirid. Cap. 64. de verbis Apostol Serm. 13. c. 11 12. Austin in that excellent passage of his cited by the Rhemists As many as are led by the Spirit he meaneth not says he that the Children of God are violently compelled against their Wills but that they be sweetly drawn moved or induced to do good But no more of this IV. The Extent of this Leading of the Spirit The Extent of it A threefold account may be given of that 1. In regard of the Subject or person led So it extends to the Whole Man First to the Interior Acts of the Soul in its several Faculties Vnderstanding Will and Affections And then to the Exterior Acts of the Body yea to the whole Conversation For all these are comprehended within and fall under the Spirits Leading For as his Sanctifying Operation extends to all of these the God of Peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole Spirit Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of Christ 1 Thes 5.23 So does his Guiding Operation also these two being Commensurate and Coextensive This might be made out in Particulars was I not afraid of too much prolixity 2. In regard of the Object or Matter that the Spirit leads unto So it extends to the whole Duty of a Christian to all that he is to Know Believe and Do. Look as the Word in its External Leading guides us in all things that concern Faith and Practice it being a compleat and perfect Rule 2 Tim. 3.16 17. so 't is with the Spirit in his Internal Leading too Joh. 14.26 For Knowledge and Faith the Promise is But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you John 16.13 And again Howbeit when he the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth see 1 John 2.20 27. And so 't is as to Holiness also this Spirit directs those who have him to and in the Practice of Holiness in its full and utmost Extent and Latitude Tit. 2.12 As the Grace of God the Gospel Without teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously godly in this present world which is the summe of all Duty towards God towards Men and towards our selves So the Spirit Within teaches guides inclines to all these His Gracious Conduct is not confin'd to does not terminate in this or that particular Duty of Religion no but it extends to every Duty to the whole Obedience of a Christian 3. In regard of the Degree and Measure of it Concerning which 't is clear that this Leading of the Spirit in the Directing Inclining Governing Notions of it is not as to Degree equal in all God's Children All have the Thing in the Necessary and Substantial part of it yet so as that there is a Gradual Difference in their having of it Some having more and some less He being a Free and Arbitrary Agent does proportion this Act of his Grace to different Persons as he pleases And he making Some more ductil to his Leadings than Others accordingly he vouchsafes more of Them to Those than he does to Others But in None does it reach so high as to render them perfect here For although we should grant which I do not that the Spirit should advance his Guidance consider'd in it self and as it comes from Him to such a Degree and Pitch as to lay the Foundation of Perfection in Saints here below yet considering what the Capacity of the Subjects of this Act is here they being Flesh as well as Spirit 't is not imaginable that de Facto and in Eventu they should ever here be perfect upon it Wherefore it must be bounded and limited though not from what the Spirit could do yet from what he is pleased to do in Believers in their present imperfect state He shall guide you into all Truth what so as to make Saints Omniscient or Infallible He guides unto all Holiness what so as to render them sinless and impeccable here on Earth we must by no means carry it thus high It therefore must be qualified thus He shall guide you into all Truth i. e. into the Knowledge of all Necessary and Fundamental Truths And he shall guide you into all Holiness i. e. so far as your present state admits of and so far as is necessary for your future Glory Beyond this Measure we must not extend or heighten the Spirits Leading For the truth is if we take it in this bounded Notion we secure the Thing but if we go higher we totally undermine and nullifie it as all Experience proves And by the way Observe that this Guidance of the Spirit in the General and that Guidance of His in Particular in the Duty of Prayer do much stand upon the same level Insomuch that as the Former the Spirits immediate Guiding of Believers in the Matter and Manner of their Actions does not thereupon render Them or Their Actions perfectly Holy and free from all mixtures of sin So neither does the Latter the Spirits immediate Guidance and Assistance in the Matter and Manner of Prayer render the Prayers of such infallible or of equal Authority with the Scriptures as some Object Because as to Both this Agency of the Spirit is to be limited partly from the Consideration of the present State of the subject in whom it is exerted and partly from the Spirits Aim and End therein 'T is true to obviate a bad Inference that may be drawn from hence the Apostles themselves considered as but Men and as men in the State of Imperfection so they were fallible as we are But as they had in matters of Faith
Object of it is real the Ground of it certain the Actings of it sensible to himself and the Effects of it evident to others This I shall endeavour to do I. As for the Object of a Believers Faith and Hope that good which he believes shall be and expects after this life a state of glory for the spirits of just men He that shall deny that such a thing is must not own the Name of Christian when even the light of Nature will go so far toward the proving of it for 1. That shews us that the Soul is immortal as being of a spiritual nature and independent on the Body in its most proper and noble Operations the actings of the Understanding and Will 2. That there is a reward after this life for them that do well no less than on the contrary Punishment for evil doers This the generality of the Pagan World that knew not distinctly wherein that Reward did consist yet have granted the thing and who is not instructed by his own Conscience in the knowledge of it The work of the Law written in the Heart †Rom. 2.15 and the secret pleasure and satisfaction men take in their own Innocence or good actions proves a reward on the one hand as well as the fears and horrors which the Consciences of the most slie and secret sinners subject them to speak the punishment they expect on the other And if these things were only impressions made upon mens Fancies in their tender years it were strange that all the Reason they grow up to exercise and all the Art many obstinate Sinners make use of on purpose to obliterate them and to impress the contrary upon their Minds together with a thousand other Species printed on their Imaginations by their Employments their Pleasures and all the various Occasions and accidents of their Lives should never be able to rid them of these so unpleasing Sentiments 3. Something may be said even from natural Reason to prove this reward to consist in the enjoyment of God and so not only to evince the reality of some Happiness but of this in particular in the other life For 1. It will scarce be denyed but that the soul of Man is capable of enjoying God as its Sovereign good i. e. of most intensely delighting and entirely acquiescing in him as a good suitable to the spiritual Nature and sufficient for the vast capacity of an immortal Soul Some of the Heathen came near this when they stated mans Happiness as consisting in the Contemplation of the highest being And indeed the very Nature and Operations of the Soul and its apprehending spiritual Objects amounts to little less than a demonstration of this 2. The enjoyment of God is the greatest good any Creature can be capable of God is in himself absolutely the greatest good because an infinite one and comprehensive of all Perfection and there can be no greater good than to be possessed of him that is the greatest 3. The reward and happiness of an holy Soul can be nothing less than the greatest good and therefore must needs be the enjoyment of God himself this appears in that 1. Less than the greatest good cannot satisfie mans Soul and then to be sure cannot make it happy when its happiness consists in its being fully satisfied All the riches and pleasures of this World and delights of Sense can never be to the Soul instead of God because they are unsuitable to its nature which is spiritual to its duration which is immortal and to those appetites God hath implanted in it It 's very capacity of enjoying God is attended with a secret Inclination to it insomuch that many times when a man may not have an explicit and distinct knowledge of the good he wants yet being unsatisfied with what he hath though never so great he finds a want of something else and because he wants it he desires it though he know not clearly what it is to make him happy 2. It is most congruous to the Wisdom and goodness of God to appoint the greatest good to be the Happiness of the noblest of his Creatures not that they deserve it but because he may be most glorified by it and because he hath given them a nature capable of it As he suits the good of other Creatures to the capacities he hath given them so he doth the good of man None but Angels and men are capable of enjoying or actively glorifying him and God having capacitated them for that sutes their good to their Capacity It had not been agreeable to the Wisdom of God for man to have had only some inferiour good in this Life assigned to him as his chief Happiness when he had made him capable of an higher Thus much hath been said and more might even from Reason it self to prove the reality of those things Believers look for in the other Life How much might be said from Scripture with respect to which only they are the Objects of Faith but this I referre to the next head the ground of a Christian Faith 2. That is certain The same things sometimes may both be believed with a Divine Faith and known too by natural Reason but then the Medium whereby they are known and the ground whereon they are believed are very different the one is some rational argument the other the Word of God In the case before us the being of Eternal Life the present Object of Faith we speak of may be proved by reason but then so far it is not the Object of Faith but of Knowledge but withall it may be proved by Scripture and so it is the Object of Faith and as such I am now to speak of it and so to shew that the ground on which a Christian believes Eternal Life is most certain and that is no other than the Word of God particularly the Promise of the Gospel The Scripture therefore is the ground of the Faith of Eternal Life 1. As it reveals it for that it doth more fully and clearly though something a man may know of future Happiness by his natural light as before was said yet the fairest and most distinct notion he hath of it is by Revelation in the Word that tells us plainly what is that great good in which mans Happiness consists 1 Joh. 3.2 Seeing God as he is and being like him Life and Immortality are brought to light especially by the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 not only more distinctly discovered than ever Nature could discern them but than God himself had revealed them in the Old Testament 2. As it shews the way to it the terms on which it is to be obtained sets before us Eternal Life as in Christ it not only tells us of the thing it self but shews how man sinfull man may attain to the enjoyment of it declares true Holiness to be the way in which he is to walk and Christ the Door by which he is to enter 3. As it secures it upon
Word and Conscience says but the same the Scripture says Now the Comforts Believers pretend to may for methods sake be reduced to two sorts the truth and reality of both which we shall labour to evince 1. Such as proceed from the direct Acts of Grace by this sort I understand nothing else but that inward delight and pleasure which usually accompanies the exercise of any Grace or gracious performance of any Duty and is in a manner intrinsick to it And the reality of this is confirmed by the Experience of all the Saints who of them doth not find a secret sweetness delight and satisfaction in the exercise of â—aith on Christ love to God and Holiness Res jucunda est resipiscentia Luth. Nay sorrow for Sin Mortification Self-denyal have something of pleasure in them There is I dare say more pleasure in a kindly melting of the heart for sin where the sorrow is not meerly Legal but Evangelical and mingled with Love than there is in the Commission of it more in denying a mans self as to any unlawful Appetite than in gratifying himself in resisting a temptation than in yielding to it in mortifying a Lust than obeying it and how much more is there in the exercise of Faith and Love c If our natural faculties are delighted with their proper actions about sutable Objects why may not our spiritual too are they less capable of pleasure or are spiritual Operations less congruous to our faculties when renewed and spiritualized or the Objects less suited to them than natural actions and objects are to our Faculties in their meer natural state If excellent Objects and intense Operations commonly produce the greatest pleasure in our natural Powers when rightly disposed why may it not be so in spirituals too What more excellent Object than God and Christ what more noble act is there of a renewed Soul than Faith and Love what delight then may such a Soul take in closing with its chief good in those acts And so if a natural man may take pleasure in the Contemplation of natural things why may not a Saint in the meditation of heavenly If one may delight in the exercise of Moral Vertue why may not the other in the exercise of Grace If a just a generous a valiant act afford some delight to the Actor how much more an holy one If the Excuse or Applause of a natural Conscience and its testimony of our well-doing affords some delight and sweetness how much more may the approbation of a renewed Conscience yield to a renewed Soul 2. Such as proceed from the reflex Acts of Grace or mens reflecting upon and perceiving their own Graces as suppose a mans knowing he believes in Christ or that he loves God or hates Sin and this kind of comfort is no other than that which flows from Assurance which where-ever it is in Exercise alwaies brings Comfort along with it Assurance in the Act is nothing else but a Conclusion drawn by the practical Understanding of a renewed Soul through the assistance of the holy Spirit from two Premises whereof the major is of Faith the very Language of the Scripture usually some Gospel Promise For instance Joh. 3.16 Whoever believes in Christ shall have Eternal Life the minor is the language of Spiritual sence I believe in Christ the Conclusion from both is Therefore I shall have Eternal Life which following the major proposition which is of Faith and therefore inevident and consequently in a Logical sence the weaker though Theologically more strong as being more certain is it self of Faith too and therefore most certain No man that believes the Scripture will deny the Major and he that shall deny the Minor must deny all Spiritual sence and the reflection of a gracious Soul upon its own Actions and so all possibility of Assurance in any such way of ratiocination and then he may well deny the comfort of Assurance when he takes away Assurance it self And therefore there needs no more to prove the reality of this kind of comfort which is so strong and satisfactory to the Soul of a Believer that he is never at rest in himself till he have attained to it than to prove the being of that Assurance from whence it proceeds and all the Arguments which evince the one will inferr the other he that shall grant a man may be sure of Heaven cannot doubt but he may take abundant comfort and satisfaction in being so assured and that that Comfort is no Fancy And so if a man may certainly know he believes in Christ loves God above all truely fears him is pure in heart a Math. 5.8.3.6 poor in spirit b hungers and thirsts after righteousness c or hath any Grace which accompanies Salvation in sincerity in him which is an evidence of his right to and Interest in any Gospel Promise or Priviledge thereby convey'd it will amount to the same and the sight and sence of any such Evidence cannot but bring the greatest sweetness and refreshment to a gracious heart and which is as real as the delight he takes in the exercise of any of his natural faculties If a man may take much real delight in knowing his Interest in a Prince here on Earth is it a delusion when he delights in the knowledge of his interest in a Saviour in Heaven If a man be so much pleased with his being the Son of a great man may not a Believer be as much Pleased with his being a Child of God his being born of him and adopted by him If men do ordinarily comfort themselves with the hope of some worldly Inheritance they reckon themselves sure of why may not a Saint much more Rejoice in Hope of the Glory of God d Rom. 5.2 triumph in expectation of an Inheritance among the Saints in Light e Col. 1.12 When no man in the World can ever be so sure of obtaining the things of the World as a Saint may be of coming to enjoy the things of Eternity the Hope and Assurance a Christian hath is according as the Promise which is the foundation of it is but the Promise of future Blessedness is a better Promise than that of any temporal enjoyment not only because the good promised is better but because the Promise of the one is more peremptory and absolute when the other is but conditional and limited Thus much may suffice to have been spoken to the first General propounded That a true Believer may give an account of his Christianity and such a one as is satisfactory to himself and ought to be to others he may make it appear that that serious Godliness in the practice of which he lives is more than a Fancy 2. I come to the second General mentioned to give Directions and shew in answer to the Case How we may experience this in ourselves and evidence it in others There be two parts of the Question which must be distinctly spoken to How we may experience
them which yet may be no true Acts of Obedience to him because not according to his Word They do but obtrude a Worship upon God and Fancy it will please him because it pleaseth them Whereas indeed nothing is acceptable to him but what is enjoyned by him Nothing is Duty but that which hath a Warrant from God for the Performance of it Men may abound in Will-worship and come short in Obedience they may do more than is enjoyned them and yet less too much which will never be reckoned to them as it was never required of them You must judge of your selves not meerly by what you do but by the ground you have for the doing of it when Gods Will is the Reason of it and not the Precepts of men nor your own Fancies so much and no more you do for God as you do in Obedience to his Command 2. Vniversal both as to the extensiveness and continuance of it 1. As to its Extensiveness See that you be not Partial in the Law a Mal. 2.9 that you walk with God in all his Ordinances Luke 1.6 have respect to all his Commandements Psal 119.6 There is the same reason for Obedience to one Command as well as another b Gods Authority who is the Law-giver and therefore when men chuse one Duty and overlook others they do not so much obey the will of God as gratifie their omn Humours and Fancies pleasing him only so far as they can please themselves too and this is not reasonable we never yield him a reasonable Service but when it is universal 2. As to its Continuance and duration If Gods Command be still the same and the Obligation of it it is but reasonable that our Obedience likewise should be still the same Constancy and Perseverance in serious Godliness will greatly confirm and Evidence the reasonableness of our Practice and reality of our Principles Fancies are usually transient and variable and so are their Effects in mens actions few Live by Fancy all their dayes but one time or other they find their Error When a Christians carriage is uniform in the course of his Life and still continues the same in a congruity and suitableness to his Principles it can hardly be imagined that it should be the effect of meer Fancy but must proceed from something in him more fixed and settled 3. Spiritual If the Obedience we yield to God be conformable to his Nature who is a Spirit so far it is reasonable and that is such as Christ requires and this the reason he gives for it John 4.24 God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth See therefore that the Service you do him be not meerly external and carnal but inward and Spiritual 1. Spiritual in its Principle The goodness of your outward actions proceeds especially from within and you cannot judge rightly of them but by the Principles from which they proceed those Principles are Faith and Love Your work must be the work of Faith d 1 Thess 1.3 Rom. 1.5 your Obedience the Obedience of Faith Faith both in the Command and Promise must put you upon it and if your believing both makes you Act conformably to them the Faith of the Command presseth you to Obedience and the Faith of the Promise encourages you in it you therefore Serve the Lord because you believe him and trust in him that Service cannot be unreasonable And so likewise for Love Love to God must set you at work for God Exod. 20.6 those that love me and keep my Commandments If love within Command all without if that make you Labour in his Service fear to offend him strive to please him if you can not only see your own Obedience but feel your Love to God working your hearts to it you may be sure that Obdience is reasonable because its Principle is so reall Love felt in your Hearts and breaking out in your Lives cannot be a Fancy and what more Reasonable than for him that loves God to do all he can for God 2. Spiritual in the End for which ye Act. 1. Cor. 10.31 See that whatever you do you do it for the Glory of God as the Supreme End It is most Reasonable that as you do all from God so you should do all for him that he who is the first Cause of all you have should be the ultimate End of all you do and if you can be content to be abased that God may be Exalted to deny your selves as to your Credit and Interest and all Worldly concernments purely that God may be Honoured it is your desire that in all things Christ Jesus may be magnified in you whether by Life or by Death e Philip. 1.20 and so in doing or suffering that Obedience which is not only qualified as before mentioned but is directed to such an End is not Folly nor the effetct of Fancy 3. Spiritual in the Acts of it not that all Gospel Obedience or Worship consists only in the internal Acts and workings of the Mind for external Worship it self may be spiritual Worship and so it is when rightly performed that is when it is accompanied with and proceeds from internal but by Spiritual in its Acts I mean that which principally consists in the inward Acts of Faith and Love and Fear c. which is a Serving God in our Spirits f Rom. 1.9 yet withall is productive of and manifests it self in an outward behaviour correspondent to those internal workings See therefore that your Religion do not consist meerly in Externals that you make as much Conscience of inward and Heart-worship as outward and Bodily of the Actings of Faith and Love as of Praying and Hearing look as much at least to what is within as to what comes out Do not rest in the outside of Duty nor satisfie your selves with what you do when yet it is without life and warmth have as much regard to the Manner of Performing as to Performance it self to the motions of your Hearts as to the Labour of your Lips or postures of your Bodies To conclude this direction let your work in the whole of your conversation be as much about your Hearts g Prov. 4.23 as your Lives be the same in secret that you are in publick the same when under Gods Eye only that you are in the Face of the World This I am sure cannot be said to be foolish and unreasonable when it is grounded on the greatest reason God sees in secret h Math. 6.6 looks to the heart 1 Sam. 16.17 and calls for the heart i Prov. 23.26 and therefore it is but reason we should look to them too It is the seat of Sin the Fountain whence it springs and therefore must be look't too that we may prevent the working of it and mortifie the root of it and it is the seat of Grace there is no more good in any man than what is in his
Soul-mercies for his Children To see them poor in the World will not so much afflict him as to fear they will never be rich to God Besides the Sins of those that are nearly related are most frequently presented to our eyes and ears they cry nearest us and therefore they should cry loudest to us They are most committed to our care and therefore their miscarriages should be the greatest objects of our Fear Near Relations may also probably more endanger the residue of those that belong to our Family Sin in one or two though in a large Family may endanger and infect the whole We most strive to quench those Flames that destroy houses near us we are more fearful of them than of those at a greater distance A Snake in ones Bed is more formidable and a Toad there more odious and ugly than in my Field or Garden § 7 3. They that mourn for others Sins especially the Sins of those they most love must mourn more for their Sins than their Afflictions and outward Troubles They must be more troubled for the poysonful root of Sin than for the Branches and Fruits of Sufferings that spring from the Root We must more mourn for the sin of a Child than for the sickness of a Child More lay to heart what our Children have done than what they have undergone more for their Impiety than for their Poverty more because they have left God than because their Trades or Estates have left them more for fear they dy'd in Sin than because they dy'd The Troubles of the outward man must not so afflict us as the Unrenewedness of their Hearts and Natures To be afflicted for the death of thy Child's Body and not for his Soul-death in Sin is as if a fond Parent should when his Child is drown'd only lament the loss of the Child's Coat and Garment and not for the loss of the Child's Person § 8 4. We ought to bewail the Sins of others according to the Proportion of the Sins of the times and places where we live When Sin grows impudent and hath a brazen brow when 't is declared as Sodom Jer. 3.3 and not hidden when men are asham'd of nothing but not being impudent in sinning when Sinners cannot blush Jer. 6. v. 8 12. have lost the very colour of Modesty then is a fit Season for Gods People with Ezra 9.6 to say We are ashamed and blush to lift up our faces to thee our God to bewail and blush before God for those Sins of which Sinners are not ashamed and for which they have not a tear to shed Further when the Sinners of the times are obstinate and inflexible in Impiety as Nehem. 9.16 Harden their Necks 17. refuse to obey 20. are disobedient and rebell cast the Law behind their back 29 withdraw the shoulder and will not hear when they make their face as an Adamant Stone When the Wicked say as Jer. 44. As for the Word that thou hast spoekn we will not hearken to thee we will do whatever goes forth out of our own mouth then is the time for the Godly to have broken and melted Hearts when the Wicked are so Obstinate and Obdurate Next when Sin becomes universal when Governers and Governed from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head are all prophane and impious Isa 1.6 When a man cannot be found in the streets of Jerusalem Jer. 5.1 that will stand up for God and his Interest when as in dayes of Noah all flesh hath corrupted it self then is the time for all Gods People to mourn before God and to oppose an holy universality to a profane Lastly When not ordinary but the most horrid and gross Impieties are committed as Murder Sodomy Perjury broad-fac'd Adultery when these mountainons Wickednesses are acted then is the time for the Godly to endeavour to overtop these high towering abominations with a Flood of tears 5. We ought to mourn for the Sins of others advantageously to § 9 those for whom we mourn with the using of all due means to reclaim and reduce them 1. By Prayer for their Conversion and Gods pardoning them My hearts desire and prayer to God saith Paul is that Israel might be saved Rom. 10.1 He tells Chap. 9.1 how he bewail'd them that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart for them but here we see he mingled his tears with prayers for them We cannot mourn for those for whom we cannot pray for every Evil that makes us grieve because of its continuance we must needs desire may be removed Exod. 32.11.27 Thô Moses when he was with the People maintain'd the Cause of God with the Sword yet when he was with God he endeavoured the preservation of the People with prayer 2. We must endeavour to follow the Mourning for Sinners with restraining them from Sin if we have it by Power We must not hate Sinners and suffer them to sin we destroy those whom we suffer to sin if we can hinder them None may permit Sin in another if he can restrain it but he that can produce a greater Good out of it than the permission is an Evil. Restraining of Inferiors is as great a duty as Prayer for Superiours See it in the case of Eli's negligence to restrain his Sons from their Impieties 3. We must mourn for Sinners with advantaging them by Example that they may never be able to tax us with those Sins for which we would be thought sorrowfull Examples sometimes have a louder voice than Precepts Tears will not in secret drown those Sins which publick Examples encourage We confute our Tears and Prayers before God by an unsuitable Example before the Offender The blots of others cannot be wip'd off with blurred fingers 4. We must follow our mourning for others Sins with labouring to advantage them by holy Reproof for the Sins we mourn for If our place and opportunities allow us we must not only sigh for their Sins but cry against them Ezek. 9.4 Lot was not only a Mourner for the Sodomites Sins but a Reprover I know not whether it be a greater sign of a Godly man to give a Reproof duly or to take a Reproof thankfully 1. But be sure Reproofs be given with Zeal for Gods Glory not either out of hatred to the Person reproved or out of desire to promote thine own Reputation and Interest by the Reproof The Apostles Acts 14.14.17.16 reproved Idolaters but Zeal for God purely put them upon it Paul and Barnabas rent their Cloaths as well as reproved Idolaters And Pauls Spirit was stirr'd with inward Zeal Act. 17.16 before his Tongue stirr'd against the Athenians Let Reproofs 2. Be mingled with Meekness Passion is seldom prevalent with a Sinner Sweep not Gods House with the Devils Besom Let the Sinner see thee kind to himself when thou art most unkind to his Sin 3. Let Reproofs be qualified with Prudence by observing the nature and degree of the Offence and the
glorious and that in an eminent manner above all the outward Worship of the Old Testament in the Tabernacle and Temple whose Glory was great and as unto external Pomp inimitable To this purpose the Apostle disputes at large 2 Cor. 3.6 7 8 9 10. This therefore is agreed that there ought to be Beauty and Glory in divine Worship and that they are most eminently in that which is directed and required in the Gospel But withal the Apostle declares in the same place that this Glory is Spiritual and not Carnal so did our Lord Jesus Christ foretel that it should be and that unto that end all distinction of places with all outward advantages and Ornaments belonging unto them should be taken away John 4 20 21 22 23 24. It belongs therefore unto our present Design to give a brief Account of its Glory and wherein it excels all other ways of divine Worship that ever were in the world even that under the Old Testament which was of divine Institution wherein all things were ordered for Beauty and Glory And it may be given in the Instances that ensue 1. The express Object of it is God not as absolutely considered but as existing in three Persons of Father Son and Holy Spirit This is the principal Glory of Christian Religion and its Worship Under the Old Testament the Conceptions of the Church about the Existence of the Divine Nature in distinct Persons were very dark and obscure for the full Revelation of it was not to be made but in the distinct actings of each Person in the works of Redemption and Salvation of the Church that is in the Incarnation of the Son and Mission of the Spirit after he was glorified John 7.39 And in all the ways of Natural Worship there was never the least shadow of any respect hereunto But this is the foundation of all the Glory of Evangelical Worship The Object of it in the Faith of the Worshipper is the Holy Trinity and it consists in an Ascription of Divine Glory unto each Person in the same individual Nature by the same Act of the Mind where this is not there is no Glory in Religious Worship 2. It s Glory consists in that constant respect which it hath unto each Divine Person as unto their peculiar work and actings for the salvation of the Church so it is described Eph. 2.18 Through him that is the Son as Mediator we have our access by one Spirit unto the Father This is the immediate Glory of Evangelical Worship comprehensive of all the Graces and Priviledges of the Gospel And to suppose that the Glory of it doth consist in any thing but the Light Graces and Privileges which it doth it self exhibit is a vain Imagination It will not borrow Glory from the Invention of men we shall therefore a little consider it as it is here represented by the Apostle 1. The Vltimate Object of it under this consideration is God as the Father we have an access therein unto the Father And this Consideration in our worship of God as a Father relating unto the whole dispensation of his Love and Grace by Christ Jesus as he is God and our God his Father and our Father is peculiar unto Gospel-worship and contains a signal part of its glory We do not only worship God as a Father so the very Heathens had a Notion that he was a Father of all things but we worship him who is the Father and as he is so both in relation to the eternal Generation of the Son and the communication of Grace by him unto us as our Father so no man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him John 1.18 This Access in our worship unto the Person of the Father as in Heaven the holy Place above as on a Throne of Grace is the glory of the Gospel See Mat. 6.9 Heb. 4.16 châ—p 10.19 20 21. 2. The Son is here considered as Mediator through him we have this access unto the Father This is the Glory that was hidden from former Ages but brought to light and display'd by the Gospel So speaks our blessed Saviour himself unto his Disciples Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my Name he will give it you Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my Name ask and ye shall receive Iohn 16.23 24. To ask God expresly in the Name of the Son as Mediator belongs unto the Glory of the Gospel-worship The chief of them may be reduced to these three Heads 1. It is he who makes both the persons of the Worshippers and their Duties accepted of God See Heb. 2.17 18. chap. 4.16 chap. 10.19 2. He is the Administrator of all the worship of the Church in the holy place above as its great High Priest over the House of God Heb. 8.2 Rev. 8.3 3. His Presence with and among Gospel-worshippers in their worship gives it Glory This he declares and promises Mat. 18.19 20. If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven for where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them All Success of the Prayers of the Church dependeth on and ariseth from the presence of Christ amongst them He is so present for their assistance and for their consoâ—ation This presence of a Living Christ and not a dead Crucifix gives Glory to Divine worship He who sees not the Glory of this Worship from its relation unto Christ is a stranger unto the Gospel with all the Light Graces and Privileges of it 3. It is in one Spirit that we have Access unto God in his Worship and in his Administration doth the Apostle place the glory of it in opposition unto all the glory of the Old Testament as doth our Lord Jesus Christ also in the place before referred unto for 1. The whole Ability for the observance and performance of it according to the Mind of God is from him alone His communication of Grace and Gifts unto the Church is that alone which makes it to give glory to God in his Divine Service If this should cease all acceptable Worship would cease in the world To think to observe the Worship of the Gospel without the Aid and Assistance of the Spirit of the Gospel is a lewd imagination But where he is there is Liberty and Glory 2 Cor. 3.17 18. 2. By him the sanctified Minds of Believers are made Temples of God and so the principal Seal of Evangelical worship 1 Cor. 3.16 chap. 6.8 This Temple being of God's own framing and of his own adorning by his Spirit is a much more glorious Fabrick than any that the hands of men can erect 3. By him is the Church led into internal Communion and Converse with God in Christ in Light Love and Delight with holy boldness the glory whereof is expressed by the Apostle
persons and hardly known to the wisest physitians The Spleen is most commonly accused and often guilty and the Stomack Pancreas Mesentery Omentum Liver yea and Reigns not rarely are the root sometimes by obstructing humors and that of several qualities and sometimes by Stones and sometimes by various sorts of humours and sometime by Vesicles But obstructed if not tumified Spleens are most suspected Such a black distinct humour called Melancholly which hath of old been accused is rarely if ever found in any unless you will call either blood or excrementitious humours by that name which are grown black by mortification for want of motion and spirits But the blood it self may be called Melancholly Blood when it hath contracted that distemper and pravity by feculency sluggishness or adustion which disposeth it to the Melancholly effects But sometimes persons that are sound are suddenly cast into Melancholly by a fright or by the death of a friend or by some great loss or cross or some sad Tydings even in an hour which shews that it cometh not always from any humour called Melancholly nor for any foregoing Disease at all But the very act of the mind doth suddenly disorder the passions and perturbe the Spirits and the Disturbed Spirits in time vitiate the blood which containeth them and the vitiated blood doth in time vitiate the Viscera and parts which it passeth through and so the disease begining in the Senses and Soul doth draw first the Spirits and then the humors and then the parts into the Fellowship and Soul and Body are sick together And it is of great use to the Physitian to know where the Depravation did begin whether in the mind or in the body and if in the body whether in the blood or in the Viscera for the cure must be fitted accordingly And yet the Melancholly Brains may be eased and the mental depravation much kept under though an obstructed yea a scarrhifyed Spleen continue uncured many years And though the Disease begin in the mind and Spirits and tâ—â—â—ody be yet sound yet Physick even Purging often cureth it â—â—ough the Patient say that Physick cannot cure Souls For the Soul and Body are â—onderfully copartners in their diseases and câ—re and if we know not how it doth it yet when experience teâ—â—eth us that it doth it we have reason to use such means I. Right usage and diet are a great part of the Cure Of the first I spake before The Patient must be pleased delighted dealt with as capable kept from solitude and from musing and from sad and troubling words and things and their objections wisely answered and their judgments in Religion kept from troubling mistakes by right information especially they must be kept in diverting business and if it could be hard labour even to good transpiration and sweat to actuate contemperate and purifie the blood and excite the igneous spirits which are the instruments of the motion and purification of the blood and of life it self it would greatly help the Cure especially such exercise twice a day before Dinner and Supper an hour or two together discipate and concoct indigested matter excit natural heat and expels excrements As to Diet it must as Physick be fitted to the case of the body The Disease is sometimes in dry bodies and sometime in those that are moist and fat It is sometime in overheated blood and sometime in that which is overcold and sluggish And these must have quite different cures You may thus perceive the differences in the main One sort of Melancholly Persons are only sad misgiving fearful of troubled thoughts despairing as undone and solitary musing and cannot be satisfied and comforted much silent and dull to action and will hardly stir rather over cold than hot troubled with wind and ill digeâ—â—ion But there is another sort that have overheated blood that are fierce talkative bold boasting laughing that have seeming visions and raptures unruly confident and these must have another manner of remedy and are almost mad already And those that have dry lean bodies must have a moister dyet and medicine than the cold moist and fat I. For the most part all of them are meerly melancholly and not overheated near to madness should eat but sparingly so as may not spoil digestion though some of them have a greedy Appetite they should forbear Cheese and Beef and Swines Flesh and raw Fruits and for other things not be over curious in the quality But those that have hot and dry bodies should avoid fasting and eat as much as they can well digest but not more and should eat boyled Burrage and Lettice and Stew'd Prunes Stew'd or Rosted Apples half an hour before meat and raw Apples if experience of windiness or Rheum forbid it nor II. And for Physick though the overheated talkative confident sort be neer to Bedlam I shall briefly offer a little for prevention if there be hope 1. Be sure that they taste no Brandy or hot waters unless you would have them presently stark Mad no nor any hot Wines strong Liquors or aromatick things such as Ginger Pepper Cloves or any of the like nor Mustard Horse-Radish Garlike Onyons or any biting thing 2. Let them purge much with Sena in Whey Take three Gallons of clarified whey put in it two handful of Balm and as much fumitory if the time of years serve and as much Borage boil it to two Gallons and put it into a stean Pot of earth that hath a Spigot at the bottom or a small barrel and put into it in a thin Canvass Bag two ounces of Sena an ounce of Epithyme an ounce of bruised Anniseed and an handful of ground Ivie called Ale-hoof bruised and two gads of Steel to sink it when it hath stood two days or less drink a Pint every morning in bed and lie an hour after it and if it give not three stools drink near a pint more at five a Clock continue this three weeks at least every day having another vessel ready when the first is done Or else boyl all the same herbs in three points of Whey to half the quantity strein it and put in it three drams of Senna and a dram of bruised Anniseed let it stand cold an hour and half and after warm on gentle Embres one hour drink it the next morning and so on for three weeks 3. Boyl six sliced Pippens or Permains in three pints of Whey to a quart strein it and drink a pint every morning in bed and if you can sleep an hour after it and the other pint at night instead of other Breakfast or Supper Do this many weeks when you take not the purging Whey And if you drink the like instead of beer at Dinner to a hot dry body it is best 4. But it is the ordinary colder sad despairing Melancholly that I intend in these Prescripts And for such use these following means 1. If it be in the heat of Summer and they be not very cold the
and comfortable day They are arrayed with the robe of righteousness and garment of Salvation which adorn them more than garments of wrought gold Christ leads them into his Banquetting-House and there spreads over them the banner of his love which affords the surest protection and the sweetest shade Who but themselves are able to tell or conceive what unspeakable and glorious joy they have what triumphs and exultings of Soul when their best beloved Jesus kisseth them with the kisses of his lips and by his own Spirit witnesseth with theirs that they are the Children of God and with his most ravishing consolations doth delight their Souls what are mines of gold and rocks of Diamonds what are Lordships and mannors what are Crowns and Scepters what Kingdoms and Empires to one drachme of grace one smile from Heaven one whisper of divine love one embrace of a Saviour Cursed said noble Galeacius be that man who counteth all the world worth one hours communion with Jesus Christ and if one hour of Communion be so precious what O what is a life of Communion But then stay till the winding up of the bottom till that last and great day shall dawn in which there will be a revelation of the righteous Judgment of God and of the marvellous goodness of God wherein the wicked shall be stript of all their honour and power of all their riches and pleasures and turned into Hell for the wrath of God and the worm of Conscience eternally to feed upon them And those who have believingly closed with Christ and bowed to his Scepter and walked closely with God and studied the power of godliness and strictness of Religion shall enter into peace and be cloathed with glory and sit upon Thrones possessed of a fulness of joy and sporting themselves in Rivers of pleasure under the brightest and warmest beams of divine love and in the most endearing embraces of the Lord Jesus and in the plenarie uninterrupted enjoyment of those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor have entred into the heart of man without any disquieting apprehensions or fears of being ejected out of that possession or disturbed in it Then all the world the most stupid and unteachable part of it will be throughly convinced that there is a reward for the righteous a God that Judgeth in the Earth and that true godliness is profitable for all things both for the life that now is and for that which is to come and that however things go now yet it was not in vain to serve God And therefore in the mean time though Clouds and darkness are round about the Throne yet let us rejoyce in the firm belief of what the Prophet tells us Psalm 145 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works The last thing promised for the proof of the point that Gods governing the world may well support us in the midst of all distractions is to present to your consideration several things more particularly relating to the Church and People of this God And they are these 1. The nearness dearness and intimacy of that relation in which the Church and Saints stand to God What may not the wife and children of a loving and mighty King promise themselves from his government Certainly they may well be assured so long as he keeps his Throne and hath power in his hand they shall want neither defence nor comfort The Church is Gods Vineyard and will he not water it and keep it every moment lest any hurt it She is the Spouse of Christ and will he not be tender over her and kind to her He is a Father to his people and will he not look after them and afford them maintenance and necessary supplies He is more than a Mother to them and will he not draw out his breasts of consolation that they may suck and be satisfied milk out and be delighted Doubtless they may believingly expect all good from him all kindness all comforts from him who hath been graciously pleased to put himself into all relations unto them In the 23. Psal v. 1. holy David looked with an eye of Faith but to one Relation in which God stood to him the Lord is my Shepherd and from thence he saw sufficient encouragement to conclude that he should not want What mayest thou then O believer argue from all Gods relations He is my God my King my Master my Father my Husband therefore surely I shall not want He is a Sun and Shield a Sun for comfort and a Shield for security In his beams then his children shall rejoyce and in his shadow shall they sit safely and no good thing shall he with-hold from them that walk uprightly Jerusalem is the City of the great King and if she be Gods City God will be her security Never fear that O Saints for he is known famously known in her Palaces for a refuge 2. The special interest which God hath in his Church and People they are his Portion and Inheritance And no one will if he can help it lose his portion Naâ—oth would not part with his Inheritance upon any termes neither fell nor change it much less will Christ with his who is so greatly taken with it as to count the lines fallen to him in a pleasant place and that he hath a goodly heritage His people are his Jewels and will he suffer them to be lost They are his Treasure and what shall his enemies rob him of that no no where his treasure is there his heart is also and where his heart is there shall his eye be watching and his hand of power shall be stretched out and his wings of protection shall be spread abroad and Salvation it self shall be for Walls and Bulwarks The interest which God hath in all the world is not comparable to that interest which God hath in the Church The rest are but his Slaves these are his Children the rest are but the rude wilderness the Devils waste these are his Gardens inclosed In others he sees his power but in these his Image and his Son Others are the work of his hands but these are the Workmanship of his Spirit 3. That most endearing and entire affection which he beareth unto his Church and People As be stands in all relations to them so he hath all affections for them You that understand what love is do feel within your selves what a noble active liberal principle it is and what a mighty power and vigour there is in it Now there is no love in the world comparable to the love of God He hath a flame to our spark an Ocean to our drop The dearest of Gods love is placed upon Christ and in and for Christs sake the same love is placed upon the Church and people of Christ thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me And what will not such love do it will awaken care and call forth power and engage wisdom and open the
prevent and cure Spiritual Pride SERMON XVI 2. COR. XII VII And least I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the Revelations there was given me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me least I should be exalted above measure THE case that calls for resolution and falls under our present consideration is what we must do to prevent and cure spiritual pride Pride is said to be Spiritual in a double respect 1. In respect of its Object when that is something which is spiritual as gifts graces priviledges c. for it may be differenc't from fleshly pride which is conversant about more carnal objects as strength beauty riches honours or the like 2. In respect of its Subject which is the heart or spirit of man there is its proper Seat And so all pride whatsoever be the object of it may be said to be spiritual To prevent and cure are terms that may be thus differenc't the former respects more especially the actings of pride the latter the habit of it in the heart Pride is an evil and a sore disease some call it the tumor or timpany of the Soul it is dangerous to all it is deadly to some The scope of this discourse is to prescribe proper remedies against it Mâ—rc 1 23. and 5 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Is a man acted or agitated by a Diabolical Spirit These words of the Apostle Paul are the fundation upon which I shall build He speaks a little before of a man in Christ that had a wonderful Viâ—ion or revelation from God Bâ— a man in Christ he means either a man united to him or else a man that was extraordinarily acted and transported by him Some expound it by that passage in Revel 1 10. where the Apostle John says he was in the Spirit on the Lords Day That is he was extraordinarily acted and transported by the Spirit Farther by this man in Christ the Apostle means himself because he is speaking of his own priviledges and enjoyments he chuseth to speak in the person of another A good man is always backward to speak any thing in his own praise he knows it savours of pride and folly that it should come out of another mans lips and not his own therefore he never doth it but when 't is necessary for the hand of God and the vindication of his truth And as he is always backward to it for he is ever modest and self-denying in it therefore the Apostle speaks of another Person when he means himself I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago Some think the Apostle had this rapture or revelation he here speaks of at the time of his first conversion then he lay 3 days and 3 nights in a kind of extasy and did neither eat nor drink Several at their first conversion to God have found such raptures and ravishments as they have had cause to remember all their life after and such as they have not experienc't again during the whole course of their lives Others for the good reasons to long here to insert are of opinion that the time of this revelation was after his conversion yea several Years after it During the time of this extraordinary Vision or revelation he was caught up to the third Heaven for he calls it as some think with respect to the Heavens under it The air in which we breath is the first therefore the Fowls of the air are call'd thâ— Fowls of Heaven the Starry Firmament is the second and the place of the Holy Angels and Glorify'd Spirits is the third Others don't like this distribution of the Heavens and indeed we can speak of them but conjecturally This third Heaven which the Apostle was caught up to he calls Paradice v. 4. for he doth not speak of two raptures but of one and the same only he doubles it to shew the certainty of it Heaven is elsewhere in Scripture call'd Paradice in allusion to that excellent and diligent Garden that Adam was put into before his Fall Our Saviour said to the repenting thief thou shalt be with me in Paradice The way and manner of this rapture he possesseth himself to be ignorant off Hence he says it that whether he was in the body or out of the body he could not tell That is whether he was caught up Soul and Body together or in Soul only The Soul is not so ty'd to the body but that for a season it may be separated from it and afterwards return again to it While he was in this condition he heard unspeakable words such as he neither could nor might utter it was not lawful for him possibly he was forbidden God saw not all that meet to be communicated to a world of Sinners which was allured and indulged to this one eminent Saint This divine rapture or revelation was like to be an occasion of self Exaltation to the Apostle he was in danger of being exalted above measure by means thereof This he mentions twice that it might be the better minded It is the nature of pride as it is of Fire to turn all things into fewel to feed its self The holyest Saint on Earth is not secure from spiritual pride if one should come down from the third Heaven and bring this imperfect nature with him he were still in danger of this Sin To prevent this Sin in the Apostle least he should be exalted in himself as he had been exalted by God there was given him a thorn in the Flesh this prick't the bladder of pride and kept him from being trust up through the abundance of revelations By whom was this given him By God himself it was by his wise ordination or permission The love of God to his People is wonderfully seen in his preventing mercies particularly in his preventing their falling into Sins as here by putting a thorn into Pauls Flesh he prevents the pride of his heart This is thâ—â— mercy for which David prays and for which he also prayseth God T is as great a mercy to prevent our committing of Sin as it is to pardon it when it is committed But what was this thorn in the Flesh which was given the Apostle to prevent spiritual pride and self exaltation Various are the conjectures of Interpreters about it The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is but this once used in all the New Testament it signifies a sharp stake upon which malefactors of old were fastned when executed As also a pricking thorn that runs into a mans flesh or foot as he goes through woods and thickets Some think that this thorn in the flesh was a fleshly lust some evil concupiscence that the Apostle felt to be active or stirring in him Others think that we are thereby to understand some sore temptation of Satan a blasphemous or Atheistical suggestion or injection this is a pinching thorn indeed and hath made many of the Souls of Gods People to bleed Others understand it
Divine Perfections I. The many Doctrines which more immediately respect the Nature of God his Acts and Modes of Operation 1. More generally they are all such as represent somewhat of him who in all Perfections is infinite and infinitely above us God is a Spirit infinite infinite in his Essence or immense infinite in his existence or external There is according to the Conceptions we must form of God at least quoad nos a difference between Immensity and Externity Immensity denotes the Essence of God to be more large and comprehensive than can be measured but the import of Eternity is to be considered with regard to the Duration of the Divine Essence whence although we must assert the Essence and Existence of God to be so much the same that necessary Existence is included in the very Essence of God yet we may look on the divine Existence to be a pressior conceptus to that of the divine Essence for essence includes somewhat more than meer existence namely other perfections of the divine Nature which when considered as it fills Heaven and Earth and is infinitely beyond all without all bounds or limits 't is said to be immense but considered as enduring from everlasting to everlasting 't is Eternal The like of the other Attributes Thus our finite capacities may form some partial and inadequate Conceptions of these things but comprehend them we cannot If we look into any particular Attribute of God we are swallowed up as in a bottomless Ocean For there is not any one Divine Perfection that includes not in it Infinity the which is so far above us that we cannot reach unto it We cannot know him unto Perfection nor by searching find him out He is higher than the Heavens deeper than Hell longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea we cannot comprehend him His Nature his Attributes all his glorious Perfections being infinite are infinitely above us and seeing the Revelations made of God do after a sort represent somewhat of his glorious Nature they are not fully comprehended by us They point â—nto somewhat that is beyond us But to be more particular 2. God who is a Spirit Infinite is absolutely and simply One he is a pure Act but yet Three One absolutely and simply One God and yet Three Three Persons None can be more concerned in asserting the Oneness or Unity of the Godhead than the Christian how vehement soever the Mahometane Jew or Socinian may be in asserting the Simplicity and Oweness of the Divine Nature they cannot be more so than We are but yet a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead we must also affirm or our Religion is lost Whoever will but seriously acquaint himself with the Essentials of the Christian Religion will find that the believing a Trinity is as necessary to the being of our Religion as the believing the existence of God is to any Religion The Spirit of God has not only here and there expresly asserted the Doctrine of the Trinity but every momentous Doctrine of our Religion which is appropriate unto it as 't is Christian supposes it There are Three Fundamentals of our Faith all which conjunctly considered suppose a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead even God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost There is the Fall of Man his Redemption and Sanctification God at first made man upright and gave him a Holy Just and Good Law which was sanction'd with the Promise of a glorious Reward and with the severe Threat of Divine Wrath and Indignation Do this and Live but in the Day thou eatest thou shalt die Man transgresses this Law and is obnoxious unto the Threatning he must die For God who is Infinite in all Perfections is a God of Truth and must accomplish his Word He is essentially just and righteous and must proportion the punishment to the nature of the Crime An Infinite God is offended his Law is violated and this by Man by Adam the Head of Human Nature and therefore 't is impossible that any escape Infinite which is on finite Worms Eternal Wrath unless the Justice of God be satisfyed by proportionable Sufferings in that nature that sinned But if there had been but One Person as there is but One God there could not be an Infinite Person to undertake for us That one Person who was offended would be alone able to satisfie his own Justice but he is angry he demands satisfaction from another and should he enter into judgment with us we should not be able to stand He demands satisfaction and is ready to consume us unless an Infi-Person interposes on our behalf should he himself begin to capitulate with us singly he would be so far from offering himself to satisfie himself for us that he would immediately let out all his wrath Thus we see that the Doctrines about mans Fall and Redemption do necessarily infer that there is God the Father who gave us a righteous Law and who is highly provoked by the violation of it and as a righteous Judge proceeds to condemn us unless satisfaction be made unto his Justice and that there being God the Son a Person distinct from the Father who is also God sent by the Father and who assumed Humane Nature in which he suffered and satisfied the Justice of the Father whereby fallen man is in a way of recovery thus mans Fall and his Recovery suppose two Persons But whoever will more closely attend unto this Point will find that God being as Holy as he is Just and Righteous is as much concern'd for the Vindication of the Honour of his Holiness as that of his Justice whence our Sanctification becomes as necessary an Antecedent unto our Salvation as our Justification Though Justification and Sanctification are in their own natures formally and really distinct yet are ever in one and the same Subject You may and must distinguish them from each other but cannot separate them And the Reason is because God is as Holy as he is Righteous and as much concern'd for the Glory of his Holiness as for the Glory of his Justice And therefore the Holy as well as the Righteous Will of God must be satisfied But such are the Corruptions of our Nature so strong and powerful and we so weak and feeble that unless some one Almighty be our help we shall remain under the power of Sin unsanctified and no way advantaged by the Redemption of Christ's Death 'T is true Christ has died but not to save us in but from our sins It was never the Design of Christ that men should receive any special Blessings as the fruit of his Death while they continue under the power of Sin Enemies unto him He has made a purchase of Heavens Glories but will give it to none but such as submit themselves unto him He will that we humble our selves before him and be holy or continue in the state of Condemnation in which we are all by Nature but Holy we cannot
a religious respect to the will of God Herein lies the nature of all Practical Holiness to do every thing after a godly sort whatever you are doing be sure you be in the exercise of some Grace There can be no Godliness without Grace Grace in exercise consists in the gracious actings of a holy soul suitable to the matter or occasion that is before us for the exercise of such or such a Grace Or thus Grace in exercise lies in the various emanations of spiritual life shewing it self in suitable and seasonable actings as the matter requires The Spirit of God dwelling in Believers hath a hand in every thing they do as Saints and doth shape himself in 'em into that frame into those holy passions and affections that may best become a Saint in such circumstances i. e. the Spirit does act these things in and by our souls makes use of our faculties le ts out himself through our hearts makes us to act so and so The Spirit is said to cry Abba father because it makes us to do so For instance If the matter between God and a Soul be sin the Spirit works Faith in the Blood of Christ for our justification and pardon works repentance and humiliation brings us to self-denial in order to the mortification of sin in our hearts and lives If the matter be any lawful business that we are called to in the place and relation we stand in the Spirit directs us how to do it in the best manner so as God may be most glorified Grace in the heart guides the hand The heart is the seat of all affections The Spirit knows that man will act so or so as he stands affected and therefore the Spirit sets the affections right for God works in the heart a true love to God a holy fear of God a zeal for his glory These gracious dispositions towards God follow a Saint into all his Imployments inclining him to holiness in all his ways Object Do you Ministers take upon you to tell us what we must do in our Callings We have served an Apprentiship and know better than you what belongs to our business Ans Mistake me not for the mystery of your Craft whatever it is I meddle not with that God has left you to your own reason and understanding and so do I The directions I give you relate only to the religious manner of doing what you do tho I must tell you it is God that instructs you to discretion in all worldly business Isa 28.26 Whatever your skill and insight is in your calling prayer may make you wiser you may obtain a more excellent spirit in your way than you now have if you seek it of God Exod. 35.31 32. Tho you are left to the use of your reason as men yet Faith must go along with it as you are Christians Therefore I shall shew you how to put forth an act of reason in Faith Some think they are never to make use of Faith but when Reason fails them 'T is true in such cases Faith is of singular use Abraham found it so yet God expects that in the ordinary course of our lives in all common matters that pass thorow our Hands Reason and Faith should go together for both have their distinct parts in all our ordinary undertakings And Faith is always Superior to Reason Reason is fubservient to that as a hand-maid putting forth its utmost strength in all humane endeavours still leaving room for Faith to deal with God for a blessing that all may issue well at last Object How may we know when Reason and Faith go together Ans 1. When at our entrance upon any business we seek wisdom and understanding from God stirring up our Reason by our Faith looking up to him from whom comes every good and perfect gift that he would instruct us unto discretion 2. When in answer to Faith and Prayer thoughts â—o come in that clear up our way to us and do put us into a right method pointing out such probable means inclining to such apposite counsels as in a rational way tend to the expediting that business we are about In this case Reason owes its light to Faith and ascribes all its skill and discerning to God who opens the eyes of our Natural Understandings and causes the Spirit of a Man to move aright in giving a true judgment of what is before us Such a one can say The race is not to the swift nor the battel to the strong 'T is not in him that wills nor in him that runs but in God that sheweth mercy Therefore let not the wise man glory in his wisdom nor the strong man in his strength but only in this That he knows me 3. When under the greatest assurances of our own Reason we yet live in a humble dependance upon God for success knowing that God can come between us and our Reason and disappoint us He can dis-joynt our councils and let in his own will upon us when we have laid things never so well together God can spy a flaw in the best humane contrivances to overthrow all he can smite us between the joynts and the harness 1 Kings 22.34 and give us a mortal wound when we think we are shot-free Thus does God sometimes frustrate all mans preparations turning his wisdom into foolishness disappointing him in the height of his expectation he looks for good and behold evil comes he puts forth an act of Reason in Faith who trusts to God and not to his own Reason 'T is our duty to make use of it as men tho as Christians we ought not to trust in it 2. Consider present Providences Tho 't is Precept not Providence that makes Duty yet Providence points to Duty to the time and season of it Much of our duty lies in complying with the opportunity and occasion that Providence gives for the doing of this or that good work to every thing there is a season Eccles 3.1 and every thing is beautiful in his time ver 11. The beauty of holiness lies in timing our duties aright The godly man bringeth forth his fruit in his season Psal 1.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 6.7 meet fruit i. e. apposite fruit fruit well-placed What is done out of its place and proper season is not so comely and beautiful Do good as you have opportunity Gal. 6.9 10. If we would reap in due season we must sow in due season There is a sit season for both We are never more obliged to our duty than when we have the fittest opportunity to perform it and we must eye providence in this 'T is the Prerogative of God to appoint times and seasons not only for his own purposes but for our duty He appoints the day and the things of the day what and when it shall be done Should you order a Servant to do a business to day and he should not do it till the next day would you not count such an one a
12.1 ult That he formeth the spirit of man within him Which proves its distinction from the Body and its spiritual Nature too and if mans Soul were only as the Soul of a Beast the forming of it would not deserve to be reckoned up with those stupendous Acts of stretching out the Heavens and laying the foundations of the Earth as we see it is in the forecited place Add to this that when our Blessed Saviour dyed the Evangelist says he gave up the Ghost Matth. 27.50 that is his Spirit or Soul And St. Stephen dyed with these last words Lord Jesus receive my spirit Acts 7.59 2. That the Soul is a spiritual substance is evident in that it is not produced out of matter as the Body of Adam was and all our Bodies are as is observed in the Relation we have of mans Creation Gen. 2.7 and in Solomons Observation upon it Eccles 12.7 speaking of Death after his most admired description of Old Age then says he shall the dust i. e. the body return to the Earth as it was there is the Original of that assign'd and the spirit shall return to God that gave it The Spirit or Soul is as certainly made by God out of no praeexisting matter as the Body is made out of matter Gen. 2.23 and if we grant the one why should we doubt of the other To be sure when Eve was brought unto Adam he says she is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh but he does not say she is a Soul of my Soul Whether the Soul be made by God mediante Generatione or by an immediate Creation though I am perswaded of the latter yet I shall not peremptorily determine Nec tum scitbam nec adhuc scio August libr. 1. Retr finding St. Austin in a plainer case concerning the Soul modestly professing his Ignorance 3. My third Argument to prove the Soul is a Spirit is because in it man bears the Image of God God is a Spirit John 4.24 and nothing corporeal as such can be said to be in his Image or Likeness Neither is any bodily thing as bodily capable of Wisdom Holiness Righteousness by which man resembles his Maker Now though these Scripture-proofs are sufficient to any that believe undoubtedly the verity of Scripture and such I speak to yet to name one or two of another Nature Therefore 4. Fourthly The Actions or Operations of the Soul are such as cannot proceed from any bodily Being as intellection and volition To abstract and reflect upon its self and its motions In one thought to meditate on Hell in the next on Heaven No Corporeal Agent can in less than the twinkling of an Eye or turn of a hand move or act on things so vastly distant The Opinion of the motion of the Orbs of the Planets and of the Firmament is antiquated and almost laught at because no Bodies can be conceived to move so swiftly and this motion of the Soul incredibly exceeds theirs 5. And lastly The Soul is a Spirit in that it is in the Body and one Body cannot be in another non datur penetratio corporum The Soul takes up no place as bodies do 't is tota in toto or at least negatively It is not by parts in the Body as material things are part here and part there whereas the Soul is so in any part that it is not the less in the other Thus these being premised 3. In what the Souls Excellency does appear I come now to that which is mainly intended viz. to shew whence we may know the excellency of the Soul For as to some other particulars which may tend to the further explaining the Text. As 1. How a Soul may be said to be lost And 2. What this Phrase giving an exchange for the Soul imports I shall take occasion to speak to them as they will fall with what we are yet to speak unto For I would not make the Porch or Entry too large or wide Though I may suppose that in what I have said enough may be discovered to prove what I am upon and that I have laid down such Principles as the worth of the Soul may easily be inferr'd from them Yet it will not be amiss to be minded of the force of them with the addition of such things as will abundantly serve our present purpose 1. In its Original The first thing that speaks the Souls Prerogative is its Original It is accounted no small priviledge to be nobly born to be descended from Princes or Persons Eminent in any kind yet man in his best Estate is altogether vanity Ps 39.5 Man is a worm Job 25.6 and the Son of man be he who he will is but a Worm his Generation is univocal and like begets its like But the Soul is the Off-spring of God Acts 17.29 In that sense the Heathen Poet and St. Paul from him is to be understood there is no pretence for the Body to be the Off-spring of God who is a Spirit If it be warily understood we may admit of what is ordinarily said of the Soul that it is divinae aurae particula I am sure 't is this part only in man that may be said to partake of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 'T is remarkable that the Soul at its Creation was not made according to any pattern or sampler taken from amongst the herd of the visible Creatures but 't is a kind of an Idea of God as true and as full a one as in matter can be borne and though man be lower than the Angels by reason of his Body which is as a clog upon the Soul or a flaw which this precious Jewel appears with Yet in some respect the Humane Nature may vy with the Angelical Nature and man is the Crown and Topstone of the Creation being added last of all by the all-wise Architect to his building of the World In the End 't is design'd for 2. The Excellency of our Souls appears from the End they are designed for It cannot but speak the dignity of the Soul that it alone of all the Creatures is chosen and set apart by God for such great purposes As 1. To glorify him 2. To enjoy him Men though otherwise of the lowest rank are ennobled when their Prince appoints them to Honourable Employments Now 1. The Soul of Man is made for to bring glory to God Not as the body of Man only as an Instrument which moves as the Soul would have it as the Ax in the hand of the Workman nor as the other visible Creatures who glorifyed God only as they afford us matter for Gods glory but all the Glory that God expects or can reap from all and every one of the Corporal Beings is entrusted with Man Man is the Creatures High Priest and by him they offer up all their Sacrifices of Praise and Thanks When in Psal 148. the Sun and Moon nay Storms and Tempests are call'd upon to praise
an abomination Oh bury her out of my sight says Abraham of his beloved Sarah Gen. 23.4 What do men take pains and care about What are they at cost and charge upon rising early and going to bed late but only for such things as may serve and please the Body VVhich very Body must be beholden to the Soul for to keep it from becoming worms meat and rottenness VVe might value our Bodies and their concerns as much as we do or as we list to do would it but cause us so much the more to esteem our Souls as they deserve for keeping our Bodies in a capacity for our care and kindness 6. Our Bodies follow their Condition 6. It is in the last place very considerable as to us to enhance our opinion of the Soul that our Bodies follow the condition of our Souls As our Souls are so shall our Bodies be when raised up to all Eternity and therefore St. Stephen when he was a dying commends only his Soul to our Saviour Acts 7.59 and our Saviour himself in his last breath commends his Spirit or Soul to his Father Luke 23.46 neither making any mention of their Bodies as knowing that their Bodies by consequence would be happy that they would be cared for by God and raised up in Gods time to be blessed with their Souls to all Eternity If our Souls be found unbelieving and impenitent without Gods Image and favour all the rich attire and sumptuous fare will not keep our Bodies no more than they did Dives his Body from being tormented in those flames that shall burn and none can quench them on the other side if our Souls be sanctified and accepted notwithstanding any present poverty disease or misery they shall hereafter sit with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven Shall I carry this a little further it may be more home and close unto you The welfare of the Body even in this life depends upon the Soul As the case of thy Soul is so are all those very things that befal thy Body even in this world VVe judge amiss and call good evil and evil good take all things together and stay till the conclusion and you will then see that all the prosperity that befel a man his riches health friends reputation c. were all evil if his Soul be evil that is unpardoned unregenerated oh very evil Isa 3.10 11. Psal 7.11 God is angry with the wicked every day In his healthful prosperous days he hath the wrath of God the least drop whereof will imbitter all his sweets and this is mixt in the Cup and is as death in the Pot But one that hath his Soul pardoned and purged from sin by the Blood and Spirit of the Son of God All his very torments and Miseries if any such befall him are what God in wisdom hath chosen for him Rom. 8.2 8. and in faithfulness hath layd upon him they are the very best providences that God could find out for him thus to the pure all things are pure c. Titus 1.15 And now I hope that the pretiousness of the Soul being manifest although I have all a long enforc'd my Argumenes as practically as I could I may yet have room for the remaining Application which I am now come unto APPLICATION Informaâ—â—â—â— 1. If the Soul be so pretious we have heard enough to make us abhor sin for ever Sin must needs be the most mischievous thing to us It being that only which can ruine our Souls whereby only we can lose our Souls Other Evils can but bereave us of our Estates or at most of our Lives but they have no more mischief which they can do but sin does deservedly cast Body and Soul into Everlasting Fire Isa 59.2 they are only our iniquities which separate betwixt God and us not tribulation and anguish c. no loss or cross these can and do work for good but sin is such a bitter root that it can bring forth nothing but bitter fruits Sin is the Souls sickness nay its death causing a divorce betwixt it and God the fountain of its life Hence it is said to war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 and to pierce the Soul through 1 Tim. 6.10 I appeal to any whether they would not detest and oppose those that should do such things to their Bodies O fools and slow of heart to believe Luk. 24.25 If ye will not believe God who hath said there is no peace nothing truly good no Salvation to be sure to the wicked believe at least your selves who cannot but find that as sin grows stronger your Souls grow weaker and that by it you forsake your own Mercies and get Boiles and Ulcers nay the Plague in your Souls 2. This does recommend and endear our Blessed Saviour to us who is the Saviour of our Souls and the Shepheard of our Souls and therefore only it is that they do not want he washed them in his blood 1 Pet. 2.25 and quickens them by his Spirit and keeps them by his power and crowns them with his glory to them which believe these things he is pretious 1 Pet. 2.7 If ye value your Souls above the World ye will value our Saviour above all the world too for had it not been for his love and care your Souls had been the miserablest things in it 3. This commends Holiness in all its parts to us Holiness is nothing else but the right Temper and Healthful Constitution of the Soul 't is the beauty of the Soul without which 't is most deformed and loathsome in God's sight To be Heavenly and Holy is to be as God is and to have the Spirit of Glory rest upon you Heb. 12.14 nay without Holiness none shall see God For though there was no defect in the price that Christ pay'd he did and suffered till all was fulfill'd yet if we be wanting in our applying of it we may perish and it will be our sore condemnation that light is come into the World and we love darkness Colos 1.27 't is Christ within us that is our hope of Glory I must not take occasion to commend those comprehensive Graces Faith and Repentance unto you but in a word as ye love your Souls value and esteem them they are to you as tabula post naufragium a plank to get safely to shoar withal If you do not make timoâ—s use of it your Souls will be drowned and perish Everlastingly Godliness is the Souls food ye cannot live a day without it or your Souls will be weak and faint nay expire and dye It is indeed the Souls Life as Jacobs Life was bound up in Benjamins life so is the Souls Life bound up in Godliness where Godliness decays there the Soul goes down with sorrow to the Grave nay to Hell Where Godliness thrives the Soul exults and cryes out Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace Luk. 2.29 nay in this world What a Feast does Godliness
he calls our Souls ours and certainly they are ours so as nothing else is for we must forego all other things and be parted from them and have been and may be without them but without our Souls we never were nor cannot be And 't is thy only Soul thou hast to make thy darling and to be fond and careful of Most of other things we have double of as two Eyes two Hands and Feet c. but God hath given thee but one Soul Omnia Deus dedit duplicia animam vero unam If thou losest one of the members of thy Body the other in a great measure serves in its stead but thy soul must needs be more carefully looked to than thy right eye or thy right hand for nothing to be sure can stand in stead of it if it be once lost Oh remember this is the one thing necessary 5. You must answer for the loss of your Souls God hath entrusted them with you A great trust a great charge we must account for this Talent when our Lord comes David's Brethren asked him with whom he had left their Sheep God will ask every one of you with whom ye did leave your Souls Are not your Children nay are not your Goods many a man's Swine more cared for and look'd after than your Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza There are two words in the Text that are observed to be forensical and relate to a Court of Judicatory which the gaining and losing in the Text refers to The loss of his Soul will be as a Mulct or Penalty inflicted by the Just and righteous Judge upon every one that hath been careless of his Soul He that does not earnestly endeavour to keep his Soul whilst he lives the evil Angels when he dyes shall require it of him as you know the Soul of the Covetous wretch was adjudged to them How unconcernedly do we read or hear of such things But mutato nomine de te c. Yet but a little while and it may be thy case It may be the divertisements of the World will not let thee have the while to attend to what you hear but what are all the pleasures and enjoyments you can have might they be continued to thee as long as ever they were unto any but as the singing of a little longer Psalm before thy Execution Oh that my words therefore might be acceptable unto you I have shewn you the excellency of Souls as when the Disciples shewed to our Saviour the costly stones and curious Fabrick of the Temple Matth. 24.1 2. Our Blessed Lord told them the time was a coming in which not one stone should be left upon another but all should be thrown down The Application be not to all that hate us but to all that implacably hate God Oh awake arise bestir your selves watch and ward and above all call in the assistance of the Keeper of Israel that not only with all thy keeping but with all his keeping thy Soul may be kept by his Power through faith unto Salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 SERMON XXVI The Leading of the HOLY SPIRIT opened With some Practical Enquiries resolv'd about it ROMANS 8.14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God OUR Apostle in the close of the preceding Verse had made use of a very powerful Motive to excite these Romans and in them all others unto Mortification if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live In this Verse he backs that Motive with an Argument to †Probatio est ejus quod proximè praecessit Calv. Probat quod dixit vivetis Esth evince its Truth and Certainty Such as are the Sons of God shall live such who are led by the Spirit viz. to mortifie the deeds of the Body are the Sons of God therefore such shall live Others consider these Words not so much as a Proof of the foregoing Motive but rather as * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrys c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl another distinct Motive in themselves to promote Mortification Such who are led by the Spirit thereunto they are taken into the high and glorious Relation of being the Sons of God or the Children of God as 't is v. 16. Now what an inducement is this to Christians to live under and comply with the Spirits Leading as it directs and excites unto the mortifying of the deeds of the Body Both of these Connexions are good but I preferr the first If we take them apart and as they lie in themselves so they contain these three things in them 1. A Glorious Priviledge the being the Sons of God 2. A Description of the Persons to whom this Priviledge belongs they are such who are led by the Spirit of God 3. The Adaequateness or Commensurateness between the Persons describ'd and the Priviledge asserted As many as are led just so many and no more all such and none but such are the Sons of God 'T is Inclusive or Extensive to all of them Exclusive and Limiting to all others The words are an entire Proposition As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God The Subject hereof they that are led by the Spirit I am to speak unto as to the Praedicate they are the Sons of God that I shall not insist upon further than as 't is reducible under the Subject As many as are led by the Spirit of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some render it by Aguntur as many as are acted by the Spirit Some by * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. impelluntâ—r ad sanctas Actiones Piscat Impelluntur as many as are impell'd vigorously urg'd and mov'd by the Spirit The most by Ducuntur as many as are led by the Spirit We have the same Phrase with another Priviledge annext Gal. 5.18 If ye be led 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Spirit ye are not under the Law It 's evident the Expression is allusive and Metaphorical And it alludes either to Guides such as lead the Blind or those that are in the Dark or Travellers that know not their way Or to Mothers and Nurses who take their Children by the hand such as cannot goe and therefore they lead uphold and help them Answerably to both of these Believers are led by the spirit of God with respect partly to their Spiritual Blindness and Darkness and partly to their spiritual Weakness and Infirmity The Holy Ghost is both their Guide and Director to keep them from wandring and also their Vpholder and Strengthner to keep them from falling The Point to be discoursed of is this That Gods spirit is a leading spirit to â—os and in all Gods Children The Acts and Operations of this Spirit are various and multiform Several of which are instanc't in in this Chapter the Law of the spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the Law of sin and death v. 2. If ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live v. 13. The spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the Children of God v. 16. Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities v. 26 27. But I must confine my self to that One in the Text the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leading Conduct Manuduction which this Blessed Spirit vouchsafes to the people of God He is the Saints Leader their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dux viae the Guide of their Life Look as by Christ they have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leading Accesse Admission to God the Father in Prayer Eph. 2.18 and 3.12 So by the Spirit they have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leading and Guidance in their whole course of Life In the discussing of this weighty Point I will 1. Open the nature of the Act the Leading of the Spirit 2. Propound and answer some practical Enquiries about it For the better opening of it I must 1. Lay down some things more Generally concerning it 2. Then come to the closer and stricter Explication of it Under the First I shall commend the following Particulars to you Distinctions premis'd about the Spirits Leading 1. The Leading of the Spirit is either General and Common or Peculiar and Special If we consider him as God in his joint participation of the Deity with the Father and the Son and in his joint Operations with them according to their Divine Essence so there is a Leading by him which does extend to all Creatures whatsoever For all of them by his Divine Power and Influxe in their several Beings Actions Motions and Tendencies are disposed ordered governed and overrul'd to the Glory of the Creator and the good of the Universe Take them in all their Faculties and in all their Operations they are all excited directed actuated by this Spirit And so in a general Sence they all come under his Guidance and Regency This also may be said to extend to all men to the Unregenerate as well as to the Regenerate How why as they all doe act and move * Acts 17.28 in and by him as He in a Common and Providential way does order and regulate all their several Actions and Motions For this he does in all as he is the first cause and the supream Soveraign So that as there is his common Illumination common Conviction common Restraints common Gifts which even the Graceless partake of so there is too a common Leading by Him which they also have Now most certainly this is not that Leading which the Text speaks of for this cannot be the Foundation or Evidence of the Priviledge mention'd A common Act will never entitle to a special Relation Ductus spiritus quo Filij Dei aguntur non est Generalis Dei Actus quo omnia moventur sed est specialis Gratia quâ Filii Dei Sanctificantur in viâ salutis diriguntur ad Deum Pareus Observare convenit esse multiplicem Spiritus Actionem Est enim Vniversalis quâ omnes Creaturae sustinentur ac moventur sunt peculiares in Hominibus illae quidem variae sed hic sanctificationem intelligit quâ non nisi Electos suos Dominus dignatur dum eos sibi in Filios segregat Calv. in loc How many are thus led by the Spirit who yet are far from being the Sons of God! That Leading therefore must be here intended which is special and peculiar to Gods people such as will amount to the making of the Proposition here Reciprocal and Convertible thus All the Sons of God are led by the Spirit and All that are led by the Spirit are the Sons of God 2. The special Leading of the Spirit is Extraordinary or Ordinary The former was confin'd to some Persons and to some Times and was not to extend to all Saints nor to continue in all Ages Thus the Holy Prophets the Apostles were led by the Spirit as they were immediately inspir'd guided and moved by Him in the discharge of their Extraordinary Work and Office These in the penning of the Holy Scriptures and in all that they revealed of and from God were acted and †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1.21 and hereupon they were infallible in what they reveal'd But this was extraordinary and so Limited and Temporary The latter Leading of the Spirit therefore must be that which is here spoken of that which appertains to all Gods Children and at all times Did the Apostle when he says As many as are led by the Spirit are the Sons of God mean that as many as have Extraordinary Visions Revelations Inspirations Impulses from the Spirit of God are thus related to God and none Other surely no! Should we carry it thus high we should exclude all but the foremention'd Prophets and Apostles from being Gods Children which would be both sad and also false Wherefore 't is unquestionable that the Ordinary Abiding and Permanent Leading of the Spirit and that which reaches to all Believers is here intended 3. This Act of the Spirit may be consider'd either as 't is exerted at the first Conversion or after For as we distinguish the Grace of God into Prevenient and Subsequent so we may also distinguish of the Leading of the Spirit He leads at and in order to the first Conversion as he then does irradiate the Mind incline the Will spiritualize the Affections and so lead or guide the whole Soul to God and Christ Then he leads after Conversion as this is done by him all along in the whole course of a Christians Life for it is a continued Act. The Guidance of the Sp rit to bring a man into the state of Grace that 's done but once but the Guidance of the Spirit in the state of Grace that 's done Daily and Renewedly The first imports the infusing of a Living Vital Principle into the Soul the latter supposes this Principle and makes use of it in the Conduct of a Child of God in the way of Holiness Both are here to be taken in yet I conceive the last may be most proper And Observe these two Leadings of the Spirit have a different respect to our Sonship with God For the former Constitutes it the latter only Discovers and Evidences it The Spirit as leading me to God at the first Conversion makes me a Child of God the Spirit as leading me after Conversion causes it to appear that I am a Child of God 4. There is the Having of the Spirit and there is the Leading of the Spirit We have both in this Chapter the One v. 9. if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his the other in the Text. Now although these two be conjunct and inseparable whoever have the Spirit they are led by the Spirit yet they are distinct things To have the Spirit is to
be made a Possessor of Him in his Indwelling in us To be led by the Spirit is our partaking of his Directive Influence after we are made Possessors of him The First supposes the receiving of the Agent or Principle the second imports the Operation from that Agent or Principle The Greek Expositors do much insist upon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Whom Oecumenius and Theophylact follow Ideo non dicit Qui spiritum Dei acceperunt sed qui spiritu Dei aguntur i. e. qui illius actui obtemperant Musc but with that Explication of it which I do not drive at Observe say They 't is not said as many as have received the Spirit are the Sons of God but as many as are led by the Spirit For as they glosse upon it many receive the Spirit at Baptism who yet afterwards not being led by the Spirit to and in an Holy Life their Sonship to God ceases But this stating of the Having of the Spirit I meddle not with I consider the Reception of the Spirit not only in an external Baptismal way but in that which is inward real and saving And even this I make to be distinct from his Leading For although these are never disjoyn'd and separated but do always coexist and accompany each the other all Circumstances concurring yet in themselves they differ both as to Order and Precedence and also as to Nature and Essence The Having of a Soul and then the having of the subsequent Acts of that Soul are different things so 't is in that which I am upon These things that are more general being premis'd I come to a more strict and particular Explication of this Leading of the Spirit What is it to be led by Him It notes something on the Spirits part and something on the Creatures part Both must be taken in in the opening and stating of it 1. Something on the Spirits part So it imports 1. His special Guidance 2. His powerful Inclination 3. His Cooperation and Corroboration 4. His Regency and Gubernation 1. His special Guidance To be led by the Spirit The special Acts included in the Spirits Leading 't is to live under the blessed Guidance and Conduct of the Spirit This is the Notion which does most obviously comport with Leading How is the Blind man led why as he has one to direct and guide him to and in the way wherein he is to go So here Of this act as done by God and his Spirit the Scripture often speaks And the Lord shall guide thee continually Is 58.11 I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go Isa 48.17 Thou shalt guide me by thy Councel and afterward receive me to Glory Psal 73.24 Teach me to do thy Will for thou art my God thy spirit is good lead me into the land of uprightness Psal 143.10 Lead me in thy truth and teach me for thou art the God of my Salvation Psal 25.5 I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting Covenant with them Is 61.8 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Psal 37.23 Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying This is the way walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left Isa 30.21 Here 's the Leading of the Spirit What the Cloud was to the Israelites in the directing of them in their Motions what the Guide is to the Traveller who knows not his way that the Spirit of God is to Believers their Guide and Director in this their Journeying and Wilderness state II. His powerful Inclination He leads not only by a naked Guidance or Directive Light beam'd into the Understanding whereby Believers are brought to know God's Will and what they are to do Col. 1.9 that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his Will Quid est duci spirieu Dei Est a spiritu sancto soris Verbo intus Illuminatione doceri de Dei voluntate nec non efficaciter flecti ac Regi ad volendum faciendum ea quae Deo placent Par. in all Wisdom and spiritual Vnderstanding Eph. 3.10 Proving what is acceptable to the Lord But he leads also by the Efficacious Inclining of the Heart the bowing and bending of the Will the overpowring of the Affections to close with and follow his Guidance in the doing of what is good and in the shunning of what is evil Divines bring the whole of the Spirits Leading under two words Monendo Movendo he first counsels and directs as to what is to be done and then he excites and effectually enclines to the doing thereof Psal 119.33 teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes here 's the Informing and Directing Act of the Spirit v. 35 36. make me to go in the path of thy Commandments Encline my heart unto thy testimonies and not unto Covetousness here 's the Efficacious and Powerful Act of the Spirit They who feel and experience This in themselves they are the Persons that are led by the Spirit I shall have occasion to speak more of it in what will follow III. His Cooperation and Corroboration When one leads another both the person leading and the person led have their proper Action and Motion and both unite and concurr therein And so 't is in the Saints being led by the Spirit as to what is Holy and Good He Acts and They Act too something there is done on His part something on Theirs too and there 's a mutual conjunct efficiency or Agency in Both. He acts then they act acti agunt And the Act is Theirs and His too theirs Subjectively and Formally His in respect of Excitation to it and Assistance in it They do the thing but 't is by his Influxe Is 26.12 thou hast wrought all our works in us Philip. 2.12 13. Work out your Salvation for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure In short we move we act and the Spirit concurrs and cooperates with us therein and so we are led by him †Dicet mihi aliquis ergo agimur non agimus Respondeo imò agis ageris tunc benè agis si a bono ageris Spiritus enim Dei qui te agit agentibus adjutor est Ipse nomen adjutoris praescribit tibi quia tu ipse aliquid agis Serm. 13. de Verbis Ap. Austine when he is proving the Necessity of the latter from my Text does also prove the Reality and Verity of the Former The other Act of the Spirit Corroboration or Strengthning falls in with this in part So his Leading resembles the Mothers or Nurses leading the Child it being weak not able to go alone they take it by the hand hold it up joyn their strength with its weakness and so they enable it to go In like manner the strong and mighty Spirit of
God does as it were take weak Christians by the hand and communicate his strength to them by which they are enabled to do what is required of them As it follows in this Chapter with respect to Prayer likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lifts with us and against us at the other end of the Burden And so it is in all the Duties of Holiness the Spirit lifts with helps the infirmities of Believers and strengthens them thereunto I can do all things through Christ strengthning of me Philip. 4.13 That he would grant you according to the riches of his Glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man Eph. 3.16 I may allude to that of Elisha 2 Kings 13.16 He said to the King of Israel put thine hand upon the bow and he put his hand upon it and Elisha put his hands upon the Kings hands So we put our hands upon the bow attempt to believe pray mortifie sin and the like and then the Holy Spirit puts His hand upon Ours to confirm and strengthen us in all these Was it not for this we could do nothing Joh. 15.5 was it not for this Leading we could not move one step in the path of Holiness IV. A Fourth thing included in this Leading of the Spirit is his Regency and Gubernation Where he Governs there he Leads So vice versa and his Leading is ever attended with Rule and Authority 'T is like a Generals Leading an Army who Authoritatively disposes and orders all its motions like Moses his leading the People of Israel who had the Rule and Government over them As to Christ they are put together Behold I have given him for a Witness to the People a Leader and Commander to the People Isa 55.4 Such a Leading is this of the Spirit in Gracious Souls He has the Regiment of them He Commands and Orders them in their Course as he pleases they are subject to his Will steer'd by him in their Motions as the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophyl Ship is by the Pilot or the Chariot by him that drives it These are the Things on the Spirits part which do constitute his leading 2. To fill this up there is something on the Creatures part And that is their yielding up of themselves to the Guidance and Conduct of the Spirit Their free willing Bishop Halls Remains p. 147. Hollingsworth of the Spirit p. 65. spontaneous following of him in what he moves and dictates to them Without this 't is not Leading for that imports Motion after something that goes before And that Motion too must be Voluntary or else 't is being Hal'd and Dragg'd not Led This is the Disposition and Carriage of the Sons of God towards the Spirit He excites them to be Holy Heavenly-minded to resist and mortifie Corruption to Pray Hear Gods word perform other Religious Duties yea to take up their Cross in all they readily comply with him As David in that particular Case VVhen thou saidst seek ye my face my heart said thy face Lord will I seek Psal 27.8 He will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths Isa 2.3 Draw me we will run after thee Cant. 1.4 Here 's the Spirits Leading and the Believers following of him It 's set forth v. 1. by walking after the Spirit it supposes a Principle of Life dead things may be drawn but they cannot properly be said to be led where the Spiritual Life is such do willingly conform to what the Spirit directs them unto But this I shall say no more of in this Explanatory part it being a thing that requires our Practice rather than any large Explication of it Thus I have opened the Nature of the Spirits Leading But it being a point of great Importance and the due stating of it being highly Necessary upon sundry Accounts I will further speak to these Four things about it Four things opened about the Spirits Leading 1. The Matter or Terminus what the Spirit leads unto 2. The Rule by which he leads 3. The Way and Manner wherein he leads 4. The Extent and Measure of it The matter of it 1. The Matter what the Spirit leads unto This is of great Extent but all may be reduc'd to these two things Truth and Holiness Truth is seated in the Vnderstanding and speaks the Spirits Leading of that Faculty Holiness reaches to the Heart within and Conversation without and speaks the Spirits Leading of Both in their utmost Comprehensiveness These he leads and guides unto but not in the least to their Opposites Error and Sin Every Agent is for that which comports and suits with his own Nature and against that which is contrary thereunto Therefore the Spirit being a Spirit of Truth and of Holiness this determines him to lead to these and to these only So his Conduct is stated in Holy Writ John 16.13 When he the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth Eph. 5.9 The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and Truth Psal 23.3 He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his Names sake This Holiness includes in it Holy Affections the Exercise of the several Graces and these the Spirit guides unto 2 Thes 3.5 The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ The avoiding and mortifying of sin and this the Spirit guides unto If ye through the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live immediately it follows As many as are led by the Spirit shewing that the Mortification of sin is one special thing which the Spirit leads to Gal. 5.16 walk in the Spirit after his Guidance and ye shall not fulfil the Lust of the flesh why because he always makes this the matter of his Guidance to keep men off from the Lust of the Flesh from all sinful ways and Courses He 's a Good and Holy Spirit in himself and therefore all his Motions tend to what is Good and Holy As Satan he being the Evil Spirit suitably to his Nature does excite and urge to what is Evil Acts 5.3 John 13.2 So e contra the Spirit of God He being the Good Spirit does excite and urge to what is Good and to nothing else How do they blaspheme this Holy Spirit who do wicked things and yet presume to say the Spirit leads them thereunto This must be laid down as a Principle of undoubted verity that the sole and whole tendency of the Spirits Leading is to Purity Obedience Universal Holiness and in no case to sin and wickedness II. The Rule by which he leads The Rule of it And that in short is the Written VVord God guides by the Spirit the Spirit guides by the VVord He is our Guide and the Word is our Rule The Spirit himself as to his own Actings has no External
and Doctrine for a special End that Extraordinary Guidance and Direction from the Spirit which no common Believers now have so They and They only became Infallible Wherefore although Saints now are partakers of a special Assistance and Guidance from the Spirit in Prayer and in their General Course of Life quoad veritatem rei yet this does not make them infallible in the One or impeccable in the Other it being vouchsaf'd to them but in such a Degree as is consistent with their present state and subservient to the End of the Spirit in his present Operations in them Which is but to guide them to necessary Truth and Holiness to help them in their Infirmities and the like but not to advance them to Apostolical Endowments Of which now the Evangelical Doctrine being published and sealed there is no Necessity And thus I have gone over the Doctrinal Explication of the Leading of the Spirit I come now to resolve some Practical Enquiries about it which will be in stead of the Application The First is this How may We as to Our selves or Others know 1. Enquiry whether We or They be led by the Spirit of God It highly concerns us to be very inquisitive about this Both because our Sonship to God must be evidenc'd by it for the Text is express As many and no more then as are led by the Spirit are the Sons of God and also because there are great Mistakes in Men about this The Most lay claim to it when yet God knows but very few partake of it in truth and reality How many please themselves with the thoughts of their being led by the Spirit when 't is most obvious they are not Every man in the World is acted by Some Spirit or Other Omnes Homines aguntur aliquo Spiritu Orig. Now there being different and contrary Spirits some Evil and some Good the Question is What that is which we are led and acted by There 's the Spirit of the World 1 Cor. 2.12 by which the Men of the World are led There 's the Corrupt and Sinful Spirit Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain Jam. 4.5 The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy by this all in the Unregenerate state are led There 's the Spirit of Whoredom Hos 4.12 the Spirit of perverseness Is 19.14 the Spirit of seduction 2 Tim. 4.1 under the Conduct of which too many are These are the Evil Spirits within Us which influence Men in their Actings And then there 's the Grand Evil Spirit without the Devil the Spirit that worketh in the Children of Disobedience Eph. 2.2 And Oh what an Heart-piercing Soul-afflicting thing is it to consider how the Generality of Men are led by this wicked Spirit All these Spirits are Evil. In Opposition to which there are Other Spirits that are Good And they are either the Renewed Spirit in Gods people the Heart as sanctify'd as having a Vital Supernatural Principle infus'd into it which leads and inclines to Holiness Or the Renewing Spirit Gods own Spirit of whom the Text speaks These Spirits are contrary to the Former both in Themselves and also in their Leadings For as They are all for what is Evil so These are all for what is Good And the Contrariety is such betwixt them as that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incompatible in the same Subject in their full entire Power and Strength So as that a person can be led but by One of them Both cannot lead together I mean as to a Mans General Course and as to their Absolute Power and Dominion in Him The Text speaking of the Leading of Gods Spirit the Enquiry must be confin'd to that And so it s laid down How may we know whether we be led by the Spirit of God For the Resolution of which I must refer you to what I have been upon Having said so much in the Opening of the Thing it self by the comparing of your selves with that you will be able to determine your own Case whether it belong to you or not It would be superfluous for me to enlarge again upon those Heads in the Application which I have already been so large upon in the Explication Only therefore to give some brief Direction I would desire you to look back 1. To the Essential and Constitutive Acts included in the Holy Spirits Leading viz. Guidance Inclination of the Heart to Good Corroboration Gubernation Art thou One that art guided by this Spirit to and in the great Duties of Christianity One who art strongly inclined to what is good One that feelest an inward Divine strengthning for Doing and Suffering One that art ruled and governed by this Spirit Surely thou art led by Him But if it be otherwise thou art led not by This but by some Other Spirit 2. To the Matter or Terminus of the Spirits Leading Truth and Holiness Do thy Opinions carry Truth in them thy Practices Holiness Oh then thou art led by the Spirit But what shall we say to those who are led away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the error of the wicked 2 Pet. 3.17 or led away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with divers lusts 2 Tim. 3.6 why 't is a concluded Case these are not led by the Spirit The Course discovers the Guide The Fruits of the Spirit ever accompany the Leading of the Spirit Principiata respondent suis Principiis If the Action be Holy Spiritual and Good such as suits with the Holy Spirit it then proceeds from Him but if it be sinful and wicked Satan and thy own evil Heart are thy Leaders in it and to it Whoever doth not righteousness is not of God 1 John 3.10 nor led by his Spirit What live in Drunkenness Vncleanness Sensuality Injustice Malice Hatred And yet pretend to the Conduct of the good Spirit What a Delusion is this to thy self what a Reproach and Injury to the Blessed Spirit 3. To the Rule by which the Spirit leads the written VVord of God He Indited this Word and he Guides by it The Spirit and the Word go hand in hand together Is your Faith regulated by this Your Conversations steer'd by this hereby you may know that the Spirit leads you But if any Believe Live Speak not according to this VVord 't is because there 's no light in them Is 8.20 He that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth not us hereby know we the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of Error 1 John 4.6 Oh let all take heed of fathering any thing upon the Holy Spirit which does not comport with nor is founded upon the Holy Scriptures The Enthusiast is very bold with the Spirit but his Arrogance and Folly shall be made manifest at one time or another 4. To the manner of the Spirits Leading He leads with Power and Efficacy Well what do you find of this what have you more than a bare directive Light is there a Power working in
you Eph. 3.20 effectually to incline and draw you to what is Good To beat down and subdue the innate Renitency and Reluctancy of the Will Oh here 's the Leading of the Spirit To find out which two things must be searcht into 1. Whether it be the Spirit of God that leads us 2. Whether he leads us in a peculiar and saving or only in a common and general way Now the first must be found out by the foregoing Heads the last by that Head which I am now upon If the Spirit work in me as a Spirit of Power as well as of Light and Direction I may conclude I am led by Him I beseech you lay these Tryals and your Hearts close together and the Decision then will be easie and safe And pray consider as the Spirits Leading must evidence your Divine Sonship so the Things set before you must evidence the reality of that Divine Leading A Second Enquiry is What Inducements are there to excite and move men to endeavour to attain and live under this Leading of Gods Spirit 2. Enquiry Answ Many and Great Oh how strong are the Motives that are proper for the urging of this 1. As First The Excellency of the Thing The Person leading he is excellent the great Spirit of God The Act Divine and Supernatural Leading that is excellent The Object which this tends unto and terminates in that is excellent as the Loving of God Delighting in God Conformity to God all carry a transcendent Glory and Excellency in them Oh did but sinners know what this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Conduct and Guidance of the Spirit is what a blessed thing 't is to possess and feel it how earnest would they be in their Desires and Pursuits after it I 'me sure The Saints that have it would not be without it no not one Day for Millions of Worlds 2. The Necessity of it The Leading of the Spirit Oh how highly necessary is it who can be without it What becomes of the poor blind Man that has none to guide him Of the weak Child that has none to uphold it Alas the poor sinner in both respects does more need the Spirits Leading inwardly than either of These need external Leading Such is our Spiritual Blindness our Aptness to wander our Ignorance of our Way our lyableness to fall into Pracipices and the like as that without a Divine Hand to guide us we are lost And such too is our Spiritual Debility and Weakness as that if the Spirit of God do not hold us up in our Going taking us by our arms Hos 11.3 we fall immediately How absolutely necessary therefore is the Spirits Leading both for Direction and also for Sustentation 'T is true God has planted in Man a Natural Faculty to guide and direct him in his Actings the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Understanding Reason Conscience to be his Director and Monitor as to what he is to do And this in things of a meer Natural and Moral Consideration may be of great use to him Prov. 20.27 the Spirit of man is the Candle of the Lord Ah but as to things of a Spiritual Consideration the matters of Evangelical Faith and Practice he must have an higher Guide and Leader even the Holy Ghost or else in these things he 'l be at an utter loss Jer. 10.23 O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps Prov. 16.9 a mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps The Natural Light separate from what is Supernatural is a very incompetent and insufficient Guide which evinces the Necessity of the Spirits Guidance 3. As the Natural Guide is defective and insufficient so there are other Guids which are destructive and damnable such as Satan Deprav'd Nature Indwelling Sin the Flesh the World Oh what dangerous Guides are these If they be our Leaders whither will they lead us why first to sin and wickedness here and then to Hell hereafter 'T is with them as with Solomons Whore Prov. 7.27 Her house is the way to Hell going down to the chambers of Death Can the Course be good when the Guide is bad and can the End be good when the Course is bad neither can be expected The Conversation Naturally comports with the Leader and the End judicially comports with the Conversation So that if these lead you this will inevitably follow upon it you 'l be very wicked in this Life and very miserable in the Life to come And besides this pray consider what a base thing it is for such a Creature as Man to be under the Conduct and Government of such base things as These Oh what a Debasement is it to him who is of such a Divine Extract and Original to be at the beck and ordering of such vile Things as Satan Sin and the rest Yet this is the misery of the Falne State upon Adams Fall Man has sadly lost his way and has put himself under woful Guides And one great thing done in his Restauration to his Primitive State is to reduce him to God as his First and Best Guide and Leader To drive this a little further in a word know that where 't is not the Leading of the Good Spirit it is the Leading of the Evil Spirit For One of these it must be not a Man in the World but he 's led by One of them Now do you not dread the thoughts of being led by Satan Oh it will be so unless you be led by this Holy Spirit of God What the Devil thy Leader Oh dreadful What comes after a Devil leading but a Devil tormenting 4. Weigh the Way and Manner of the Spirits leading You see how the Conduct of the Opposite Leaders is stated well how does this Leader manage his Conduct with great exactness and Wisdom he so leads as never to mislead so as always to direct with the deepest Judgment For as in all his Other Acts so in This he is the Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel the Spirit of Knowledge Isa 11.2 I will instruct thee says God and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go I will guide thee with mine eye i. e. with great care and accuracy Psal 32.8 Thus the Spirit leads And He does this with infinite Truth and Faithfulness also As the wise man personating his Father says I have taught thee in the way of wisdom I have led thee in right paths Prov. 4.11 And as Abrahams Servant in the Particular Case before him Blessed be the Lord God of my Master Abraham which hath led me in the right way Gen. 24.48 And as the Psalmist with respect to Gods Conduct of Israel in the Wilderness He led them forth by the right way Psal 107.7 Such a Leading is this of the Spirit as to Believers in their whole course he always leads them in the right way And then he leads safely in
reference both to the Way and to the End He led them on safely Psal 78.53 I do but allude to it Here 's no such Leader as Those the Prophet speaks of Is 9.16 The Leaders of this people cause them to err they that are led of them are destroyed Oh who then would not be desirous to be led by him The skilfullest faithfullest safest Guide the Traveller pitches upon O Christian wilt not thou do the same for thy precious and immortal Soul 5. The Advantages Benefits Blessings that attend and result from this Leading of the Spirit are great and glorious As to instance in a Few inward Peace and Comfort whereever the Spirit is a Leading Spirit there he is or will be a Comforting Spirit A Readiness to all Dutys of Holiness so as to do them spontaneously and with Delight Gal. 5.18 If ye be led by the Spirit ye are not under the Law i. e. so as in your Obedience to act from a servile Spirit and from the meer External Compulsions of the Law but having the gracious Conduct of the Spirit this will make you do all Freely with the greatest Promptitude and Alacrity Sonship to God so it here comes in as many as are led by the Spirit are the Sons of God As it leads to Conversion it makes us the Sons of God as it leads after Conversion it evidences us to be the Sons of God as has been already said If the Spirit be thy Leader God is thy Father And what a Priviledge is this John 1.12 1 John 3.1 And then as the Consummation of all comes the Glory and Blessedness of Heaven as the certain portion of such who are led by the Spirit Death and Hell are not more sure upon the leading of Sin and Satan than Life and Heaven are sure upon the leading of this Spirit God ever saves in Heaven such whom he leads on Earth Gal. 6.26 As many as walk according to this Rule mercy and Peace be upon them Thou shalt guide me with thy Counsel Psal 73.24 and afterward receive me to Glory All being put together and seriously weighed have I not said enough and enough to excite you all to attain and close with this Blessed Leading of the Spirit of God Much more might have been added by way of Motive but if what has been said will not prevail I despair of ever prevailing with you A Third Enquiry follows 3. Enquiry How may this Leading of the Spirit be attained What is to be done by us that we may be thus led by Him Answ In order to this take the following Directions 1. There must be the having of the Spirit before there can be the Leading of the Spirit This Order is founded in the Nature of the Thing We cannot expect to participate of the Spirits Operations such as are saving before we participate of the Spirit Himself Therefore pray attend upon the Gospel by which He is convey'd to Sinners and then when you have once received him he will not be * Non est spiritus sanctus otiosus movet Mentes et ducit Mel. Idle and Ineffective but an Operative and Leading Spirit in you 2. The Antecedent First leading of the Spirit must be had before there can be the having of his Subsequent and Secondary Leading That is to say He must First lead you to God by Conversion first bring you into a state of Grace and then way is made for his subsequent Leading and Direction When he has been a quickning Spirit in the infusing of a vital Principle into the Soul then succeeds this Act which I am upon And not till then for who will attempt to lead a thing that is dead This Method of the Spirit therefore must be regarded and comply'd with 'T is first Sanctification then Manuduction in the several Things contained therein 3. Be willing to follow the Leading the Motions of the Spirit He gives again and again his secret Guidance to you shewing what you are to do what not if this be followed and comply'd with he 'l continue it if not he 'l withdraw and leave you to follow the Conduct of your own Inclinations a sore Judgment Psal 81.11 12. My people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me So I gave them up unto their own Hearts Lust and they walked in their own Counsel Oh dreadful Word The same will the Spirit do upon our rejecting or resisting of his Leading He may long strive but he will not always strive Gen. 6.3 If the person led shall once begin to struggle with him that leads him and shall refuse to follow his Guidance what is then to be done but to leave him to himself Continued rooted allowed Resistance to to the Spirit makes him so to cast off a person as to lead him no more His Initial Workings in this are to be closed with or he goes no further That one Act in the Leading of the Spirit viz. his Powerful Inclining of the Heart to comply with what he leads unto secures all the Rest If thou art an Opposer of the Spirit he will not be thy Guide Yield to Him and close with Him and he will not withhold this Grace from thee 4. Let your dependance be upon God and his Spirit for Guidance and Direction Would you have Him to lead you Oh let your Trust and Relyance be upon him and see that you renounce all confidences in yourselves He that thinks he has Wisdom or Grace enough in himself to order his Conversation aright shall never find the Spirit to be a Guide to him The meek will he guide in Judgment the meek will he teach his way Psal 25.9 VVhen a man is brought to this meek humble Frame then he is in the way of the Spirits Leading Prov. 3.5 6. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thy own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths Christian Prudence Caution and Circumspection is our Duty but do we lay the stress of our Confidence upon that The steps of our strength shall be straitned and our own Counsel shall cast us down as he speaks Job 18.7 Mans goings are of the Lord how can a man then understand his own way Prov. 20.24 So long as thou thinkest thou canst go by thy self the Spirit will not take thee by the hand to lead thee 5. Pray much for this Grace of the Spirit It being a free and Arbitrary Act on his part he will be sought to for it and give it forth in that way which best suits with his Soveraignty Psal 25.5 Psal 5.8 Psal 31.3 Psal 139.24 Psal 143.10 How much was David in Prayer to God for this Lead me in thy Truth and teach me Lead me O Lord in thy Righteousness Make thy way strait before my face For thy names sake lead me and guide me Lead me in the way Everlasting Teach me to do thy will for thou art my
himself no more about us Oh take heed how you carry your selves towards him Not only upon Ingenuity Jer. 2.17 its base to be unkind to our Guid Hast thou not procured this to thy self in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God when he led thee by the way But also upon the account of self-Love for as we behave our selves to him so he will behave himself to us Ita nos tractat ut a nobis tractatur 3. Labour after the having of the Leading of the Spirit in an higher Degree and Measure than what as yet you have attained unto 'T is not enough meerly to keep it but there must be a Getting more of it As there should be a Rise in our following so we should press after a Rise in the Spirits Leading of us And that in a threefold respect that he lead us 1. More Extensively as to the Object 2. With greater Light and Clearness Power and Efficacy as to the Manner 3. With more Eavenness and Constancy as to the Duration and Continuance of it He guides you to Truth but does he guide you to all Truth He guides you unto Truth but does he guide you into Truth and is this his Constant and Continued working in you Oh this high Measure of it we should aspire at and pant after taking up with nothing short of it And so as to Holiness and Practical Godliness the same is to be endeavoured after There is indeed much Mercy in the lowest Degree of this Act and they that have the lest should be thankful but yet a fuller Proportion may and ought to be desired by every Child of God And surely they who experience what this Leading of the Spirit is never think they have Enough of it 4. So live as that it may appear to others that you are led by this Spirit Christians your Actions and Conversations should be such as may suit with the Spirit that leads you Such as may evidence to the world that you are not in pretence only but in truth and reality under a Divine and Supernatural Conduct Do we lay claim to this Oh then what Good do we do more what Evil less than Others do VVhat live in sin do Evil things be Proud Worldly Covetous Passionate Unclean Malicious Fraudulent and yet pretend you are led by the Holy Spirit Lord what an Indignity and Affront do you put upon Him what a Cheat and Fallacy upon your own Souls Pray never talk of This unless your Lives be Holy and Good For ye who are real Saints oh that you would oft think of this and look upon it as one of the highest Engagements to Circumspect Walking You that are Guided by such a Word without and such a Spirit within What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness 5. Be very thankful for this glorious Mercy Led by the Spirit admirable Love VVhat Thankfulness is due to Father Son and Spirit for it for all These have an hand though the last be more Immediately concerned in it VVhen you know not your way this Spirit shews it to you when you are weak and feeble not able to go this Spirit strengthens you I taught Ephraim also to go taking them by their arms Hos 11.3 VVhen Others are left to the Conduct of their Own Light Vnderstanding Inclinations which lead them to Sin and Death you are under the Conduct of this Gracious Spirit which leads you to Grace and Glory what cause have you to admire this Distinguishing Grace How great is the Fathers Love in this who as Fathers here when they send their Sons into Foreign Countreys and they themselves cannot be with them they send a Tutor or Governour with them in all their Travels to instruct and govern and take care of them Just so does your Heavenly Father do for you in and by his Spirit in this state of your Pilgrimage and absence from him How great is the Love of the Son in this for he has Purchased and now does Actually send this Spirit to be your Teacher Monitor and Guid. And how great is the Love of the Spirit too in this All his Operations carry infinite Goodness and Condescension in them but none more than this his tender and patient Guiding of us Should not all the Persons therefore be heartily sincerely and with the greatest enlargedness of Heart blessed and adored for it Especially considering how they design and aim at the exalting of Themselves by this very Act. As in the Miraculous Leading of the People of Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea and so on set forth Isa 43. V. 12. that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm dividing the Water before them V. 13 14. that led them through the deep as an Horse in the Wilderness that they should not stumble As a Beast goeth down into the Valley the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest so didst thou lead thy people for what end to make thy self a Glorious Name Surely so in that Spiritual and Gracious Leading that I am treating of the great God whether Essentially or Personally considered designs much Glory and Adoration to Himself And let him have it for he well deserves it from all that have any Experience of this Grace A Fifth Enquiry May such who are led by the Spirit fetch comfort from it 5. Enquiry Is this a solid Bottom for any to build Holy Joy upon Undoubtedly it is You who have it may rejoyce and that greatly For 1. It 's a clear Evidence a deciding Argument of your being the Sons of God And what a Soul-rejoycing Priviledge is that Sons of God this assures of dear Affection tender Care strong Protection constant Provision free Access to God ready Audience of Prayer a gracious Presence in every Condition a favourable Acceptance of all Duties a good Inheritance and Portion and what not All These Blessings are yours if ye be the Sons of God and so you are if led by the Spirit Oh then what a Ground of Comfort is this 2. As 't is a certain Evidence of Sonship here so 't is a certain Pledge of Heaven and Salvation hereafter And that both upon the account of the Relation which it instates in For if Sons then Heirs Heirs of God and Coheirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 And also upon the account of the Leading it self For whereever that is as 't is in Order to Salvation so this Salvation by it shall certainly be obtained Never did any perish that liv'd under the Spirits Guidance and Conduct God ever saves where the Spirit leads All that he guids come safe to the End of their Journey to their Eternal Rest 3. Besides the Things which are wrap'd up in this Leading besides the Matter and Manner of it all of which carry in them Ground of the highest Joy consider but two things Further about it 1. That it is Abiding Permanent Continuing The Spirit does not lead and
then leave as some Guids do with poor Travellers deserting them in the midst of their Dangers no but he holds on repeats and lengthens out this Act to the very last True this depends upon Conditions on our part as ye have heard but yet these do not make the thing Vncertain and lyable to Intercision because 't is part of the Spirits Leading to direct encline and overpower to the performance of those Conditions So 't is secur'd as to the Continuance of it to all the Elect of God Every upright Christian may triumphantly say with David This God is our God for ever and ever he will be our guid even unto death Psal 48.14 The Cloud never left Israel till it brought them to the land of Promise so t is here 2. That it is managed and carryed on all along with Mixtures of all other Grace i. e. with the bestowing of inward Peace and Comfort and of all supplys necessary to the believing Soul 'T is not a bare naked Leading but such as is attended with the Conveyance of all Other Mercies According to that encouraging Text Isai 49.10 He that hath Mercy on them shall lead them even by the Springs of water shall he guid them Is not here Heb. 6.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strong Consolation for all who are led by Gods Spirit In the Sixth and last place it might be enquir'd 6. Enquiry Since this Leading of the Holy Spirit is a Special and Discriminating Act what Inferences may be drawn from it as being such I might instance in several if I had not already exceeded the Bounds of a Sermon Therefore take but this One That 't is not a thing much to be wonder'd at that Saints and Sinners do so much differ and that Saints and Saints do so little differ The Difference 'twixt the two Former is great Light and Darkness Heaven and Hell do not more differ than they That which the One Loves the Other hates in their visible Practices there 's little but Sin in the â—â—e there 's Holiness though imperfect in the other The One Curses Swears takes Gods Name in Vain lives a brutish Life minds not God the Other fears God avoids Evil desires to order Words Thoughts Actions by the Rule of the Word Prays Sanctifies the Sabbath does Good is not here a vast Difference There is indeed but can it be expected it should be otherwise they being led by Different and Contrary Spirits Oh upon this no wonder that their Actings and Courses are so different Men will and must Be and Do according to the Spirit which Guides and Governs them Therefore the Unregenerate and Wicked being under the Guidance and Power of the Evil Spirit they will do what suits with that Spirit e contra the Renew'd and Sanctifyed being under the Guidance and Power of the Holy Spirit they will do what suits with that Spirit And upon this Foundation there must be an Everlasting Difference and Contrariety betwixt them But then for Saints and Saints they do not thus differ As to lesser Matters there may be too much of Differences even amongst Them but as to the Fundamentals of Faith and Practice so there is an admirable Harmony Vnity and Consent amongst them Some live in one Age some in another some in one Place some in another yet there is a blessed Oneness and Agreement amongst them all They believe the same Truths performe the same Duties attend upon the same Worship walk in the same path of Holiness have and act the same Graces groan under the same burdens drive on the same Designs as Face answers to Face so do they to one another And whence is this why from this they are all led by one and the same Spirit Hence it is that they do so concurr in all the Necessary and Vital parts of Religion We having the same Spirit of Faith 2 Cor. 4.13 There is one Body and one Spirit which actuates and animates all that Body Eph. 4.4 'T is One and the self same Spirit which worketh in all as the Apostle speaks in reference to Gifts 1 Cor. 12.11 As many as are led by the Spirit of God here are Many that are led but 't is but One Spirit that leads them all This is that which causes such an Vnanimity and Harmony in Gods people both in Matters of Faith and Practice Oh that the World might see more of the Thing and then the Reason thereof would be obvious SERMON XXVII Quest What advantage may we expect from CHRISTS PRAYER for Union with HIMSELF and the Blessings relating to it JOHN 17.20 21. Neither Pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word V. 21. That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the World may believe that thou hast sent me IN this Chapter we have the admirable Prayer of Christ offered up to the Father a little before his last and greatest Sufferings In this Prayer we may observe the design and the contents of it The design of it is to encourage his Disciples ver 1. These words spake Jesus c. He had spoke much in the former Chapters for their comfort and encouragement and in pursuit of the same design he lifts up his eyes to Heaven and pours forth this Heavenly Prayer in their hearing The contents that which he prays for is Union with him and the Father and the blessings relating thereto of which more particularly afterwards The words considered joyntly with the design and contents of the Prayer offer us this Observation Observ The People of Christ have great encouragement from his Prayer in reference to Vnion with God and the Blessings relating to it In the prosecution hereof 1. I shall give some account of the severals he prayed for And 2. Shew what encouragement we have to expect what he prays for For the first he prays for Vnion with Himself and the Father for Faith the bond of this Union for Holiness the effect of it for Perseverance that it may continue and not be dissolved and interrupted lastly for Glory the Consummation of this Union 1. For Faith that those may have Faith who did not or do not yet believe ver 22. That the World may believe that thou hast sent me He prays that those who were chosen to Glory as the end and so to Faith as the means may be brought to believe on Christ as sent of the Father to be the Mediator and so accept of him as their Prophet Priest and King 2. He prays for Holiness the growth and increase of it ver 17. Sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth The word of Truth through the Spirit working with it and making impressions by it on the Heart is the instrument and mean both to begin Holiness in regeneration 1 Pet. 1.23 James 1.18 and to promote it where it is begun 1 Pet. 2.2
some few particulars 1. It is an Union of Believers with God with the Father and the Son not an Union of Believers among themselves at least not this only For the Union expressed in those first words that they may be one is declared or illustrated in these following as thou Father art in me and I in thee and so is the same Union with that in the last words which is taken to be an Union with the Father and the Son that they may be one in or with us or else the words here used to illustrate one thing would not illustrate that but another That they may be one how as thou Father art one in me and I in thee so they may be one in us Besides the same words in effect are used ver 22. that they may be one even as we are one and the same explained immediately ver 23. I in them ver 26. I in them by which without question Christ both here and elsewhere expresses the Union of Believers with himself though I will not deny that the Union among Believers themselves may be included being a consequent of the other and that which Unites them with Christ unites them among themselves 2. This Union hath some resemblance of that between the Father and the Son that they may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as denotes not any thing of equality but only something of likeness That we may know what of resemblance there is we must inquire but very modestly as becomes those who are so much in the dark how the Father is said to be in the Son and he in the Father For this purpose Christ may be considered either as God or as Man As God he is in the Father and the Father in him or which is the same he is one with the Father because they are of one and the same Nature and Essence the same Infinite Excellencies and Essential Perfections that are in the Father are also in the Son upon this account the Son is said to be in the Father and the Father in him Joh. 14.10 11. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me so that he that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father ver 9. and he that hath known the Son hath known the Father ver 7. because they are one and the same in Nature and Essence the very same as to all divine perfections And thus the Father and Son with the Spirit are said to be one 1 John 5.7 For there are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one one in Essence and all the perfections which are Essential to God though distinct in personality and manner of subsistence There is an Essential Union between the Father and the Son as he is God no such Union must be imagined between them and Believers the distance is no less than infinite and if there can be any resemblance it must be very remote If we consider Christ as Man he may be said to be one with the Father and is so because the same Spirit which is called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Father dwells in the Humane Nature of Christ Matth. 12.18 Joh. 3.34 And this may help us better to apprehend how we may be said to be one in or with the Father and the Son Therefore 3. The most intelligible way of expressing this Vnion which I meet with is this believers are said to be one with the Father because that Spirit which proceeds from him and is called his Spirit is in them They are said to be one with the Son not only because that Spirit which proceeds from the Son and is called the Spirit of Christ resides in Believers but because the same individual Spirit which dwels in the Humane Nature of Christ dwels also in them 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit he that is one with the Lord hath one Spirit with him he is quickned and acted by the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in him They are not one essentially as the Father and the Son are one being of one and the same Essence nor one personally as the Divine and Humane Nature of Christ being united in one person nor one morally only as he whose Heart cleaves to another by love is one with him but one spiritually or one Spirit because one and the same Spirit is in both So elsewhere our Union with God and Christ is said to be by the Spirit in us Eph. 2.22 In whom you also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit We are in Christ and God is in us as his habitation as those in whom he dwels how through his Spirit By his Spirit dwelling in us as it is expressed Rom. 8.9 10 11. But ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his and if Christ be in you and if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you c. Ye are Spiritual if the Spirit of God dwell in you but if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his none of his Members not united to him but if Christ be in you as is before signifyed by the Spirit of God dwelling in you c. So that this Union by the Apostles account consists in the Spirits dwelling in us and it will be farther cleared by shewing how the Spirit dwels in us 4. The Holy Spirit by virtue of whose inhabitation Believers are said to be united unto the Father and the Son dwells in them as a Principle of Spiritual Life and Motion quickens them to a new Life and all the acts of it There are some who will not have the person of the Holy Ghost to be in the Saints but I know not how this can be denyed without denying either the immensity or personality of the Divine Spirit For if he be a person and if he be every where his person will be present and reside in them It is true upon this account meerly nothing singular is ascribed to them for his person is not with them only but every where The peculiarity of this priviledge lies here that he is in them as a principle of spiritual Life and motion and thus he is not in any other Creature on Earth he quickens and acts them as a vital Principle like as an Humane Soul united unto the Body gives it Life and Motion suitable to its Nature so does the Spirit of God taking possession of the Soul of a Believer enliven and act it with the Life and Motions of a Divine and Spiritual Nature Not that the Spirit is united to the Soul as the Soul
Eyes are dazled with them and their Souls damned for them But at the things which are not seen Men in this World minding another World stand looking at these who have an Eye to see those things that are not seen There is a Mystery in Godliness 3. The Persons exerting this Act upon these Objects We that have the Spirit of God Who have our Eyes opened who consider we are hasting posting out of time into Eternity These things are set before the Men of the World who have Eyes but they do not see 4. The Property of these Objects 1. Things seen are Temporal 2. Things not seen are Eternal 5. The Reason moving Believers to keep a stedfast Eye upon Things unseen and to look off from things seen is the Eternal duration of the one and the short continuance of the other While we look for or because the things that are seen are Temporal not seen Eternal The good things in this World that are seen as Riches Pleasures Honours are things of time and only for time therefore we are not much concerned whether we win or lose them and the bad things in this Life which are seen as Poverty Imprisonment Persecution are at longest but for a short space and therefore we are not much concerned whether we endure them or be freed from them But that which addeth Weight to the things in the other World now not seen by the Men of this VVorld and draws our Eyes towards them and keeps them fixed thereon is the Eternity of them 6. The Influence that this looking upon things not seen hath upon the Beholders of them in keeping them from fainting under any Afflictions while we look c. Three words require a little Explication Looking Temporal Eternal I. While we look 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Verb is used six times in the New Testament and is variously translated 1. To take heed Luk. 11.35 Take heed therefore that the Light in thee be not darkness have a care see to it in this sense it is as if the Apostle had said We take not so much heed nor are we so full of care about these visible transitory things as we are of the Eternal Joys of Heaven and the unseen Happiness of the Saints above 2. To Consider Gal. 6.1 Considering thy self lest thou also be tempted q. d. We seriously consider and weigh in our Minds the Vanity Insufficiency and short Continuance of all visible things both good and bad whether Profit or Poverty Honour or Disgrace and the â—ulness excellency and everlasting Nature of things unseen and therefore prefer these before them 3. To mark observe and take notice of Rom. 16.17 Mark them that cause divisions among you Phil. 3.17 Be followers of me and mark them that walk so as ye have us for an example It is the Observation that Believers make that all seen things are Temporal unseen Eternal which worldly men take no notice of to influence them in what they do 4. To look Phil. 2.4 Look not every one on your own things To look with a diligent Eye as the Archer to the mark whereat he shoots to make a thing our scope and aim and so the Substantive is used Phil. 3.14 I press towards the mark In this respect the sense is the thing that we do aim at in all we do is to get a Title to and hereafter the possession of Eternal things to secure our Everlasting happy state to have treasures not for a while but for ever to have Honour and Glory and Joy not in hasty time but in abiding Eternity Believers are lowly in Heart but they look high the Men of this World are of an haughty Spirit but they aim at low things II. Temporal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Used four times in the New Testament twice concerning temporary Believers Matth. 13.21 but dureth for awhile Mar. 4 17. dureth but for a time Once concerning the pleasure of sin Heb. 11.25 then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and in the Text comprehensively of all visible things take then a summary account of all that wicked worldly men have and all is but for a while What the richest among them have their grandure dureth but for a time and then is past and gone and hath no more existence What the merriest among them have Pleasures Mirth carnal Delights and Joy and this is but for a season their merry bouts will be quickly over and then succeeds weeping and wailing for ever What the best among them have even their Faith is but for a time and their Hope but for a short time at longest 't is Death shall close their Eyes and then ly down in Everlasting despair that all their comings in whether profits from the World or pleasures from their Sin or supposed happiness from their supposed Graces have their goings out that upon all they have you may write all is temporal They had Riches but they are gone Honours and Pleasure but they are gone Many good things in time but at the end of time all have an end and then when their endless misery comes this will be their doleful tune all our good is past and gone III. Eternal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alwaies existing all duration even time it self taken metaphysically is nothing else but the permanency of Essence Time External in sensu Physico is but ens rationis or nothing Therefore according to the manner of Beings must be the manner of their Abidings All Beings may be ranked into three sorts whence arise three sorts of Duration 1. Some things have both beginning and end as Beasts and other corruptible Creatures and their duration is time which hath both beginning and end 2. Some things have a beginning and no end as Angels and the Souls of Men and the state of both in the other World and the duration by which these are measured in Philosophy to distinguish it from Time and Eternity strictly taken is called Aeviternity which imports only an Initial defectibility of the things in themselves though by the absolute power of God there might be a period put unto their being once begun but there is no principle of corruption in their own Nature which should cause a cessation of their existing Essence nor is it in the verge of any created Power or second Cause to take that Being from them which was given to them by the first and these things because they have no end are Eternal 3. One only Being hath neither beginning nor end nor can have and that is God and his duration is Eternity properly and most strictly taken which is a duration inferring simple interminability of Essence all at once existing without succession Eternity in the most proper acceptation doth exclude not only actual beginning and end but all possibility of both and denotes indefectibility of Essence a parte ante a parte post existing all at once in one continued immoveable instant without consideration of any thing in it past
trust him serve him and to cleave to him What! Davids Soul fitted for God and for self management converses and improvements Why should this Soul be thus disquieted and cast down He was not so vain and idle as to expect relief from Heaven by so engaging God for him as to neglect himself inward as well as other work must be performed 5. Observe the manner of his d scoursing with himself it is expostulatory He cites and challenges searches and chides himself and hints these things unto himself That 1. Something was attended to that it should not 2. Some thing was not attended to that should 3. That therefore all ought to be set and kept right as to his inward thoughts and sentiments with reference to his present Case and Cure 4. And that because mistakes and rashness in such important matters are dangerous and sinful in their tendency consequences and effects Hence then 1. He observes his pressures and the temper and behaviour of his Spirit under them and he finds some trucklings of Spirit which he dislikes and wonders at 2. He is Solicitous to know the most that can be found alledged and urged to countenance and justifie these disquietments and dejections 3. All this be searches after in order to a fair and an impartial Tryal and in this Tryal he concludes that nothing objected can hold weight 4. He is aware of other things that are to be produced for the suppression and rebuke of his dejectedness and for the revival and encouragement of his Soul through hope in God 5. These things he is ready and willing to produce and urge and so to adjust the whole concern And 6. Hereupon he drives the thing up to its utmost height and turns a faithful and impartial self censurer and instructour that so he may not be buffeted in the dark and prove a sinful Instrument in his own dejections and distress nor he baffled by these his Sorrows 6. His Self-arraignment and Discourses being finished thus he now proceeds to Self-instruction and Encouragement Grace in the Heart and God in the Eye when Saints have dealt faithfully and closely with themselves afford them no small relief under their Pressures and Discouragements from what they feel Here then Observe 1. What David advises himself unto Hope thou in God 2. How he Argues and Enforces this his Counsel upon himself For I shall yet praise him 1. The Counsel which he offers to himself is this viz. To Hope in God He would not look upon his Case as desperate But 1. Commit his Case and Soul to God and leave them wholy with him 2. And so expect Protection and Redress from God in doing thus And what is Hope but a desirous expectation of these Mercies and Reliefs from God which present Exigencies and Concerns may need and call for whereas Gods Name and Promises are our Encouragements thereto This David proposes to and urges upon himself in his dejected frame of Spirit as his best Succour and Support and as his choicest Refuge and Remedy and he was very apprehensive of this That his Soul must be active herein if he would be benifited hereby And hence he suffered not his Spirit to be Idle nor to be guilty of any culpable application and improvement of that great but oft times much abused Truth We can do nothing of our selves 't is God alone must help us But he turns Counsellor and Commander and becomes a strict Inquisitor and most impartial Judg to his own Soul and by the meek exercise of all just Providence and Authority towards his own Spirit he works himself up to his Hope in God by an Eye fixed there and thence and thus expects his help And though he was deeply sensible of his own doleful State at present and very prone to aggrevate his own Calamity and apt to give up all for lost yet he resolves upon all fit Enquiries after help and with Authority and great force of Argument he here Commands and so prevails upon himself to hope in God Such work requires good Consideration great Resolution and the just exercise of all Authority over our selves 2. His Arguments and Motives hereunto are impregnated with very great Sense and Strength and urged upon himself as the just Rate thereof Hope thou in God For he is 1. God 2. Thy God 3. The Health of thy Countenance And 4. One whom thou shalt certainly and for ever Sym. Praise as such And 5. Do it Yet viz. As lamentable and hopeless as thy Case appears at present through seeming difficulties or unlikely-hoods God and our Selves well understood deeply considered and skilfully urged and improved give Gracious Hearts the best Encouragements and Supports under the severest Accidents of Time And they will very strangely animate our Hopes in God under our soarest Troubles and Dejections David 1. Had Confidence in God And 2. Reasons for it 3. And Skill and an Heart to urge them When he reviewed himself he saw that his Soul was gracious and so he knew God valued it It was bent for praising God and so he knew that he should have an opportunity and cause to do it through some signal Favors from him He had an Interest in God and he would neither lose it nor neglect it and he had great experience of Gods former Mercies and he would not forget them And when he thinks on God then Praises must be thought on too and every thing relating to it and all the Divine Perfections within the Circumference of his Knowledg must have their fresh Remembrances and powerful Sense Revived upon his own Heart For he concludes that 1. God is Eminent and Infinite in all Perfection 2. That his Eminence shall be evident and conspicuous in the Salvation and Relief of now Dejected David 3. And that most suitably to all the Circumstances and Pressures of his Afflicted State And that 4. Rather much beyond than any way beneath his present Hope And hence he calls God the Health of his Countenance His Thoughts and Hopes are in their highest Flights and Vigor He looks upon God as his Saviour Hope and God and judges God resolved and propence to appear and act accordingly on his behalf He looks for such illustrious Signals of Gods Favor and Respects as shall 1. Embolden him undauntedly to face his Enemies without any marks of a dejected and disturbed Soul upon his Face 2. Such as shall shame his Enemies and humble their contemptuous and proud Looks and shame those Insolencies whereby they had upbraided him with his God and make them readily acknowledg that there is no Rock like Davids God and that his Hope and Refuge were not vainly fixed there 3. Such as should redeem his Holy Hopes and Courses from Contempt and Scorn and make his embittered Enemies to wish themselves even in Despised Davids Case for David here expects Salvation as something visible speedy and compleat even in the Land of the Living Well therefore might he say Hope thou in God thereby
for here he will find a full and truly great employment for every Faculty and Thought More here is requisite to self Redress than meer reading Complaints or Prayer Here is Work within him and above him God and himself must now take up his closest deepest and most serious thoughts and pauses much here must be enquired into remembred considered and debated and the distracted wandring careless inconsiderate Soul that is broken and scattered into wild and incoherent thoughts is no ways fit for this employment nor can it without due recollection of it self proceed to argue down what lies upon it as its Load and Burthen He that knows nothing of himself as to his State and Temper and as to those urgent circumstances under which he lies cannot know much of God nor well discern what fit and pertinent improvement may be made of Gods refreshing Name and Promises And he that through his negligence converses little with himself must know too little of his own affairs and straits to make right applications of Gods Promises and Memorials unto himself so as to derive herefrom what is fit to cherish and support him Prov. 18.1 all must be set aside that may distract and summoned in that may assist and thought upon that may relieve him in this strait Direct II. When thus retired and composed let him discourse and mind his gracious self Eph. 2.10 Isa 26.12 Grace in the Heart is a great pledge and earnest and gives us huge assurances of good things to come 2 Thes 2.16 17. God hath set gracious Souls apart for his own self Psal 4.3 and to the highest Purposes and Endowments are they wrought and framed 1 Pet. 2.9 Rom. 9.23 2 Cor. 5.5 What clearer dawnings of a glorious day And what more hopeful token and presage of special Favour and Respects from God to us can we imagine than the participation of a Divine Nature that never can be pleased but when aspiring towards God and that is insatiable till it get up to him What! a Soul created after God and formed to his Praise and bearing such impresses of the Holy One And yet determined to Dereliction and Destruction Oh how can these things be Read but those Characters of God upon thy Spirit Mind the propensions and ascents of Heaven-born Principles see but what wonders Grace hath wrought already Hath God assayed to tear thy Soul from Satans Paw Hath he transformed thy Spirit and made it so much a resemblance of his own Holiness and Wisdom Hath he advanced thine esteem of Holiness and Heaven Hath he cast out thy rubbish and raised in thee an Habitation for his own Holy Name And will he demolish and disrespect a Monument and Structure to his own Praise Why did God thus illuminate thine Eyes inflame thy Heart with Holy Fervours and so invigorate thy active Powers as to enable thee to move towards him but that thou mightest attain to and possess his highest Favours and Endearments Hath it been ever thus with thee that nothing can satisfie thine Heart but Holiness God and Heaven Why then hath God thus cast his Mantle over thee but to attract and draw thy Soul to him And hath God put these Principles Instincts and Propensions into thee only to torment thee by the unsatisfied enragements of an Holy Thirst Is Grace so beautiful in another And is it the less valuable and observable because God hath implanted it in thy own self Art thou made restless and dissatisfied every where but under the influences and sensible smiles of Gods most gracious Countenance And doth thy God impose upon thee and only trifle with thee Grace is a Principle and Design so truly Heavenly and Exalting as that its Tendency proves its Extraction and manifests Gods Purposes to do thee good for ever Let this thy experience be observed for who can think it likely that God should draw such paralel lines upon thy Soul to his own Holy Will and make thee such an Epistle so manifestly written by his own Spirit and yet not allow thee to peruse thy self and to form what is wrought within thee into such pertinent Encouragements and Supports as thy respective Agonies and Distresses may require And how can this be done if no Survey be made no Inventory taken and considered of thine inward Worth and Riches And certainly from what God works with in a gracious Soul may it infer great things determined to it and reserved for it for who can think that God would rear an Habitation for himself and not Inhabit it Or raise a Temple so magnificent and sumptuous as the Holy Soul and not fill it with his Glory Eph. 2.22 2 Cor. 6.16 see Eph. 1.17 20. Acts 26.18 Had God designed to forsake thee utterly would he not have delivered and resigned thee up to a stupid and polluted Spirit Then hadst thou been so inapprehensive of the sinfulness of sin the beauty of Holiness the pleasure of a well ordered Mind and Life and of invisible realities as that thou wouldst have easily received and born the Image of the Devil and the World upon thee The thoughts and prospect of an eternal State would never have reconciled thee so the Severities and Courses of true Godliness nor have made thee so ambitiouslly solicitous for Divine acceptance and the satisfactions and fruitions of that State where God is all in all as now they have done Surely the Soul that is visited with the Day-Spring from on High guiding its Feet into the way of Peace and all this by the tender Mercy of its God and ought not so easily to give up all for lost as to despair of Light and Help because of present Darkness and of the Valley of the shadow of Death This white Stone with such a New Name in it is no small earnest nor an obscure sign of everlasting Mercies and Endearments God that hath Sanctified the Soul hath thereby signified his gracious Purpose to do it Good at last and never so to forsake it as to return no more So then what Holy Principles Favours Aims and Actions God hath brought thee to and thence encourage and fix thy trust in God Direct III. Let him then well observe how far the Face of God is hid from him indeed lest otherwise his own condition and Gods aspects and deportment towards him should be mistaken by him Isa 49.14 16. Psal 77.6 10. How oft do Souls mistake God and form or fancy great Discouragements and Ecclipses which rather rise and issue from themselves than him What if the Brain or Body should be indisposed What if some bold and wanton Expectations or Desires irregularly formed and cherished come to nothing Suppose some Melancholick Christians such have I known and have rather pittied and reproved than cherished and commended them should Desire Expect and Pray for some Miraculous illapses of strength and comforts on them or Beg of God some such Deliverances and Salvations as suit not the ordinary stated Methods of Gods Providence