the renewed state that grace hath brought them into For the Kingdom of God consisteth as in Righteousness so in Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. Believers receive not the spirit of bondage again to fear that is they are not under the bondage of the Law nor have the spirit or state of mind which is suited to those Legal impositions and terrible comminations but they have received the spirit of Adoption by which they cry Abba father that is As they are brought under a more gracious dispensation and a better Covenant and promises and God is revealed to them in the Gospel as a Reconciled Father through his son so doth he treat them more gently as reconciled children and the spirit which answereth this gracious Covenant and is given us thereupon doth qualifie us with a child-like disposition and cause us with boldness Love and confidence to call God Father and fly to him for succour and supply in all ouâ— dangers and necessities And how Pleasant it must be to a believing soul to have this spirit of Adoption this childlike Love and confidence and freedom with the Lord methinks you might conjecture though its sensibly known by them only that enjoy it Gal. 5. 22. The fruit of the spirit is Love Joy Peace c. when the word is first received by Believers though it may be in much affliction through the persecutions and cross that attend the Gospel yet is it ordinarily in the Joy of the Holy Ghost 1 Thes 1. 6. The Holy Ghost is the Comforter of true Believers And if he have taken it upon him as his work he will surely do it in the degree and season fittest for them And if Joy it self be part of the state of Grace and Holiness you may see that it is the most delightful Pleasant course 7. Yea that we may have a Pleasant and comfortable life the Lord hath forbidden our distracting cares and fears and doubts and our inordinate sorrows and commanded us to cast our care on him and promised to care for us 1 Pet. 5. 7. and he hath bid us be careful for nothing but in all things make our wants known to him Phil. 4. 6. And can there be a course of life more Pleasant then that which dost consist in faith and Love and hope and Joy that 's built on God and animated by him and that excludeth inordinate cares and sorrows as health doth sickness where it is unlawful to be miserable and to grieve our selves and no sorrow is allowed us but that which tendeth to our joy where it is made our work to Rejoyce in the Lord yea always to Rejoyce Phil. 4. 4. A servant or tradesman will judge of the pleasure of his life by his work If his work be a drudgery his life is tedious and filled with grief If his work be Pleasant his life is Pleasant Judge then by this of a Holy life Is it care and fear and anguish of mind that God commandeth you no it is these that he forbiddeth Care not Fear not are his injunctions Isa 35. 4. 41. 10. Do you fear Reproach Why you do it contrary to the will of God who biddeth you Fear not the reproach of men Isa 51. 7. Do you fear the power and rage of enemies Why it is contrary to your Religion so to do God biddeth you Fear them not Isa 43. 5 13 14. 44. 2 8. Do you fear persecution or death from the hands of cruel violence why it is contrary to the will of God that you do so Matth. 10. 26 28 31. Fear not them which kill the body c. O blessed life where all that is against us is forbidden and all that is truly Joyous and delightful and necessary to make us happy is commanded us and made our duty which is contrary to misery as life to death and as light to darkness Come hither poor deluded sinners that fly from care and fear and sorrow If you will but give up your selves to Christ you shall be exempted from all these except such as is necessary to your joy You may do any thing if you will be the servants of the Lord except that which tendeth to your own and other mens calamity Come hither all you that call for pleasure and love no life but a life of mirth Let God be your master and Holiness your work and Pleasure then shall be your business and holy Mirth shall be your employment While you serve the flesh your pleasure is small and your trouble great vexation is your work and unspeakable vexation is your wages But if you will be the hearty servants of the Lord Rejoycing shall be your work and wages If you understand not this peruse your lesson Psal 33. 1. Rejoyce in the Lord O ye Righteous for Praise is comely for the upright Psal 97. 11 12. Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Rejoyce in the Lord ye Righteous and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness Phil. 3. 1. Psal 5. 11. Let all those that trust in thee rejoyce let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them let them also that Love thy name be joyful in thee Psal 32. 11. Be glad in the Lord and rejoyce ye righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart Psal 132. 9. 16. Let thy Priests be cloathed with Righteousness and let thy Saints shout for joy 16. I will also cloath her Priests with salvation and his Saints shall shout aloud for joy such precepts and promises abound in Scripture which tell you if you will be Saints indeed that Joy and gladness must be your life and work I know objections will be stirring in your minds But forbear them but a while and I shall fully answer them anon 2. I have told you wherein the Inward part of Holiness is Delightful I shall briefly shew you that the Outward part also is very Pleasant and fit to feed these inward joys And 1. let us view the Duties that are more directly to be performed unto God and 2. The works of charity and righteousness unto men 1. How sweet is it to be exercised in the word of God In hearing or reading it with serious meditation For the man that hath been revived by it renewed sanctified saved by it to hear that powerful heavenly truth by which his soul was thus made new For the soul that is in Love with God to hear or see his blessed name on every leaf to read his will and find the expressions of his Love his great eternal wonderous love how sweet this is experience tells the Saints that feel it If you that feel no sweetness in it believe not them that say they feel it at leaâ—â— believe the word of God and the professions of his ancient Saints Psal 119. 97. O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day v. 103. How sweet are thy words unto my tast yea sweeter then
in their hearts Ephes 3. 17. Rom. 8. 11. 1 Cor. 3. 16. God himself doth dwell in them and converse with them and write his Law in their hearts and teach them himself by this his Spirit 2 Cor. 6. 16. Heb. 8. 10. â—â— 1â— Hereby we know that he dwelleth in us by the Spirit which â—e 〈…〉 given us 1 John 3. 24. Yea he that is joyned to the Lord is One spirit 1 Cor. 6. 17. For the Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty 2 Cor. 3. 17. We are an habitation of God through the Spirit Ephes. 2. 22. Because we are sons God hath sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father Gal. 4. 6. By this Spirit the Saints have access unto the Father Ephes 2. 18. and by this it is that they are quickened to prayer and holy worship and their infirmities are helpt Ephes 6 18. Rom. 8. 11 26. By this they fight against the flesh and overcome it Gal. 5. 17 18. Rom. 8. 13. In this they live and walk and work Rom. 8. 1 5. Gal. 5. 16 25. This Spirit is the Testimony of their Adoption Rom. 8. 16. and the seal and earnest of their heavenly inheritance 2 Cor. 1. 22. 5. 5. Ephes 4. 30. By this they are new born John 3. 5 6. And put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and being renewed in the spirit of their minds do put on the new man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness Ephes 4. 22 23 24. By the illumination of this spirit they have a new understanding and are brought out of darkness into the marvellous Light of Christ 1 Pet. 2. 9. that they may know what is the hope of the Christian Vocation and what is the Riches of the glory of Christs inheritance in the Saints Eph. 1. 18. In a word by this Spirit their sins are mortified their souls renewed and made like to God and they become a holy Priest-hood a peculiar people unto Christ and in this Spirit have Communion with him Rom. 8. 13. Tit. 3. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Tit. 2. 14. 2 Cor. 13. 14. And what is all the Riches of this world to this Heavenly Treasure the Spirit of the Lord They that have this Spirit are taught by it to set light by all your Riches and to esteem one dayes Communion with Christ above all the Gold and Glory of this world And that which sets the soul of man so far above Riches is better then those Riches As your Lands and honours do set you above the pins and points that children take for their treasure and set as much by as you do by yours so the Spirit of Christ and the Life of Faith doth set the souls of true Believers a thousandâ—old more above your Riches then you are above your childrens â—oyes If yet you see not the Riches of Saints consider but the wonderful expression â— Pet. 1. 4. that they have exceeding great 〈…〉 precious promises given them that by these they may be partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust And can there be more on earth bestowed on man then to be made partakers of the Divine nature As it would be a greater gift to a bruit to be made a man and have manly Riches then to have store of Provender suited to his brutishness so is it greater Riches to the ungodly to be sanctified and made partakers of that nature that is called Divine by God himself then to have provision for unmortified lusts and to have all the contentments of a fleshly mind It were a greater gift to an Ideot to be made a wise and learned man then to be furnished with feathers or sticks to play with So is it here 4. Every truly sanctified man is restored from the misery that he was brought into by sin He hath all his sins forgiven him and is freed from the curse of the Law by the merits of Christ and the promise of the Gospel For in him we have Redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins Col. 1. 14. And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Acts 13. 39. When we were dead in our sins we were quickened with Christ and had all our trespasses forgiven us Col. 2. 13. Ask a wounded Conscience that groaneth under the weight of sin and under the sense of Gods indignation Whether forgiveness of sin be a Treasure or not I am sure they that now are past forgiveness and feel what sin is in the bitter fruits would give ten thousand worlds if they had them for the pardon of their sins and would account forgiveness a greater mercy then all the Riches and Kingdoms of the world What a heavy curse did the Spirit of God pass upon Simon Magus for thinking that money was a valuable thing to purchase the Holy Ghost with Acts 8. 20 21. Thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased by money Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter for thy heart is not right in the sight of God repent therefore of this thy wickedness c. The name of Simon Magus is odious to us all and yet I doubt that most among us exceed him in the sin for which he is thus cursed For he thought the gift of the holy-Ghost to be better then his money or else he would not have offered his money for it But most men take their money to be better then the gift of the Holy-Ghost If he that would have purchased the Holy-Ghost yea a lower and less necessary gift of the spirit was pronounced wicked and cursed with such a heavy curse What are they that set more by their money then by the special gift of the Holy-Ghost yea that hate and deride it and plead against its Sanctifying work The time is near when your Riches will fail you and your prosperity die and your sins will live and then there is none of you all but will say that Pardon and Grace are greater Riches then all the world 5. Moreover the godly have Angels to attend them and be their guard as I have proved to you before And are horses and kine and oxen think you greater Riches then the Guard and Ministration of the Angels of God Heb. 1. 14. Psalm 91. 11 12. 6. And surely the very Communion of Saints and Ordinances of God which in the Church we here enjoy are greater Riches then all the world We are now no more strangers and forreigners but fellow-Citizens of the Saints and of the houshold of God Ephes 2. 19. We are members of that well-tempered body where all the members are obliged and disposed to have the same care one for another that if one suffer all suffer and if one be
the world and sin no longer and is put off with the leavings of the flesh and hath no more of their hearts their tongues their time their wealth then it can spare They ask their flesh how far they shall be Religious and will go no further then will stand with their prosperity in the world With the first and best they serve the flesh and with the cheapest and the refuse they serve the Lord When they go highest in their out-side carnal Religiousness they go not beyond this hypocritical reserved state and usually as Cain they hate Abel for offering a more acceptable sacrifice God must take up with this from them or â—â— without They alway serve him with this reserve though it 〈…〉 not alwayes explicite and discerned by them Provided that â—â— may go well with me in the world and I may have some competent proportion of honour profit or pleasure and Religion may not â—â—ose me to be undone If God will not take them on these 〈…〉 as most certainly he never will he must go look him â—â—â—er servants and so he will and make them know at last 〈…〉 their sorrow that he needed not their service but it was 〈…〉 that needed him and the benefits of his service I thought meet though I have done it oft before to give â—â—â— this difference between the Hypocrite and the sincere And â—â—w it is my earnest request unto you all that you will presently â—â— your souls to an account and know which of these two â—â—rses you have taken and which of these two is your own â—â—ondition If nature had made you such strangers to your selves as that 〈…〉 were unable to answer such a question I would never trouble 〈…〉 with it but I suppose by faithful enquiry you may know 〈…〉 much of your selves if you are but willing You know where it is that you have dwelt and what it is that you have been â—â—â—ng in the world and you can review the actions of your lives though they have been of smaller consequence Why then may 〈…〉 not quickly know if you will so great a thing as What hath â—â— the very End and Business for which you have lived in the â—â—rld till now Have you been running so long and know not â—â— what is the prize that you have run for Have you forgot the â—â— and that you have been so long going on Have you been â—â—sie all your daies till now and know not about what or why â—ertainly this is a thing that may be known if you are willing and â—igent to know it It is for one of these two that you have â—â—ed for the world or for God To please your flesh or to â—ease God and be saved Either to make provision for Earth or â—raven Which of these is it Deal plainly with your selves â—or your salvation is deeply concerned in the account Perhaps you will say that It was for both for as you have a soul and a body so you must look to both Yea but so as one â—â—at knoweth that One thing is Needful As your body is but â—â—e prison the case the servant of your souls so it must be proâ—â—ded for and used but as a servant and maintained only in a fitâ—ess for its work But the question is Which of them hath had the preheminence Which hath had the life of your affections and endeavours Which of them was your end and about which hath been the chief business that you have most carefully and diligently carryed on This is the great question You cannot have two masters though you may have many instruments and fellow-servants You cannot acceptably serve God if you serve Mammon Every wicked man may do somthing in Religion and every good man may do something that is contrary to Religion A carnal man may do something for God and for his soul and a spiritual man ought to do something subordinately for his body and too often alas doth something for it inordinately But which bears the sway and which is first sought and which comes behind and hath but the leavings of the other Be not deceived God is not mocked Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap If you sow to the flesh of the flesh you shall reap corruption but if you sow to the spirit of the spirit you shall reap everlasting life Gal. 6. 7 8. Love not the world nor the things that are in the world for themselves for if any man love the world with his chiefest Love the Love of the Father is not in him 1 John 2. 15. Is it not a wonder that any reasonable man can be such a stranger to himself as not to know what he lives for and what hath had his heart and what hath been the principal business of his life Some by-matters you may easily forget or over-look but can you do so by your end which hath been your chiefest care and business If indeed you no more know your own minds nor what you have all this while been doing in the world ask those that you have conversed with and judge by the effects and signs Others can tell what you have most seriously talked of They may conjecture by their observation what you have most carefully sought and resolutely adhered to Whether it be God or the flesh this world or Heaven The One thing Needful or the many troubling trifles in your way It is like that wise and godly observers can help you to discern it though sensualists will but deceive you A mans Love at least his chiefest Love cannot be hid but will appear in his behaviour If you Love God above the world you will seek him and his Glory before the world and if you do so it may partly be discerned if you have conversed with discerning men Heaven and earth are not so like nor the way to each of them so like but it may partly be discerned which way men are going and what they drive at in their daily course But I will urge you no further to the tryal I will take it for granted that your Consciences are telling many of you that you have been troubled about many things while the One thing Needful hath been neglected And if indeed this be your case suffer me to tell the guilty plainly what it is that they have done 1. Whatever you have been doing in the world you have lost your Time if you have not been seeking the One thing necessary If you have been gathering riches or growing up in honour as the rush groweth in the mire Job 8. 11. or filling your purses or your barnes or pleasing your fantasies and flesh you have but fooled away your time and done just nothing and much worse Nothing is done if the One thing Necessary be undone Believe it Time is a precious thing and ought not to have been thus cast away When you come to the end of it the worst and proudest of you shall confess it is precious Then O for one year more
then if they had never heard the Gospel It is you and such as you that despise the mercies of the Lord that make it a bad world and then you impudently complain of it and charge it on them that will not be as bad as your selves and take away the candle and shut the windows that the light may not trouble you 2. Well! but say you the world was better when there was less preaching and less ado about the serving of God and our salvation I do not believe you and I will tell you why yea Why I am certain that your words are false 1. Because you contradict the Lord. God saith those times are best when there is most of the Light of the Gospel and most helps for our salvation and when the people are most Holy The increase of Light and Holiness is a principal part of the Glory of the Kingdom of Christ and of the Promises to the Gospel Church as you may see Isa 9. 2. 36. 26. 42. 6. 60. 3. Mat. 4. 16. Luk. 2. 32. Joh. 3. 19 20. The word of God is the greatest blessing under heaven together with a heart to obey and practise it Luk. 11. 28. Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it Psal 106. 3. 119. 1 2. 1. 1 2. God himself pronounceth them blessed that meditate day and night in his Law and that make it their whole delight and because of the increase of Light and Holiness extolleth the times of the Gospel far above those of the Law affirming the least in this Kingdom of God to be greater as to the honour and priviledge of his station then the Prophets or John Baptist Matth. 11. 11 12. And would you wish me to believe such ignorant men as you before the God of Heaven that contradicteth you 2. I will not believe you because your objection is nothing but a Blasphemous accusation of the Living God If it were true that Preaching is bad it is Christ then that is bad that doth command it But I am sure that Christ is not bad and that such as Blaspheme him do it to their cost It is he that hath laid a Necessity on us and woe be unto us if we preach not the Gospel 1 Cor. 9. 16. and that chargeth us to feed the flock of God 1 Pet. 5. 2. Yea the spirit chargeth us before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom that we preach the word and be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine If any one be to be blamed for all this preaching and stir for heaven it is Christ that chargeth it so strictly upon us And if thou dare lay the blame upon the Lord speak out and stand to it at judgement 3. I know it is false that you say that the world is the worse for all this preachig and Godliness because it is against the very office of Christ and of the Holy Ghost Christ was a diligent preacher himself and dare you accuse him for it He came into the world to bring us the Light of heavenly Truth and dare you say that it were better be without it It is the work of the Holy Ghost to illuminate and sanctifie men and do you think that he doth us hurt Christ dyed to wash and purifie by the word and Spirit the Church which is his Body that he might present it spotless to the Father Eph. 5. 26. 27. And darest thou say that Christ came to do us harm By this thy despising of his benefits thou shewest that thou hast yet no part in him or in his saving benefits but art in the gall of bitterness and bond of thy iniquities and thy heart is not right in the sight of God 4. Moreover you are not to be belived because you speak against the experience of all the Prophets and Apostles of Christ David had rather be a door keeper in the house of God then dwell in the tents of wickedness and judged a day in his Courts to be better then a thousand Psal 84. 10. and accounted them the blessed men that might even dwell in the house of God and be daily taken up in holy praise and worship Psal 65. 4. 92. 13. 23. 6. When he was forced from the house and publick worship of God it was his daily lamentation and he fainteth and panteth and longeth after the house and worship of God again Psal 42. 84. 2 3 4 5. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of hosts My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord My bea rt aad my flesh cryeth out for the living God Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be still praising thee Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose heart are the ways of them The Prophet Isaiah saith In the way of thy judgements O Lord have we waited for thee the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee with my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early This was the mind of all the Prophets and Apostles and God hath told us that it is the practice of all blessed men to Meditate in Gods word day night Psal 1. 2. And yet will you say that it was a better world when there was less of this O self-condemning Hypocrites Why do you so much profess to honour the Prophets Apostles and Martyrs of Christ if you think that they were the troublers of the world and that their doctrine and practice makes us worse Why do you honour them with the name of Saints and yet despise both their doctrine and practice in those that do but endeavour seriously to imitate them Why keep you Holy days in remembrance of the dead Saints and say that the world in the worse for the living Saints O horrible hypocrisie to honour their names and hate their doctrine and course of life and say that the world was never good since it was troubled with such as they Do we trouble you with our Preaching and praying and our stir for heaven How would Christ and his Apostles have troubled you that went so far beyond us in all these and made a greater stir then we and turned the world as their enemies charged them up side down Act. 17. 6. so busie wâ—s Christ in preaching and doing the work of God that he neglected to eat his meat for it Joh. 4. 34. and his fleshly kindred would have laid hands on him as if he had been beside himself Mark 3. 21. It seems if you had then lived you would have been among the wicked enemies of Christ and of his Disciples and have said It was never a good world since these busie fellows made so much a doe with their Religion 5. Moreover you speak against the inward feeling and
doth but I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you Jam. 2. 23. Abraham was called the friend of God 2. And they are called the Lords Jewels Mal. â— 17. 3. They are called his Beloved and dearly Beloved Deut. 33. 12. Psalm 60. 5. 127. 2. Cant. 2. 16. 6. 3. 7. 10. Holy and Beloved are inseparable Rom. 4. 7. Beloved of God called to be Saints Col. 3. 12. the elect of God Holy and Beloved They are the dearly beloved of his soul Jer. 12. 7. For they are accepted in the Beloved Eph. 1. 6. Even in the Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased Matth. 3. 17. 17. 5. 4. They are called children or adopted sons Gal. 4 6. John 1. 12. And he disdaineth not to be called their Father Heb. 12. 9. Matth. 23. 9. 2 Cor. 6. 18. I will be a Father to you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty Mal. 3. 17. He will spare them as a man spareth his son that serveth him 5. They are called also the Heirs of Heaven Rom. 8. 17. A more Honourable heritage then earth affords 6. They are called a peculiar people to the Lord Tit. 2. 14. and his peculiar treasure Exod. 19. 5. Psal 135. 4. 7. They are called Kings and Priests to God Rev. 1. 6. They are a chosen generation a Royal Priest-hood a Holy Nation a peculiar people 1 Pet. 2. 9. 8. The sanct fied are called the Spouse of Christ Cant. 4. 8. to 13. Because of the similitude of the holy Covenant which they make with Christ to a marriage Covenant and because of the dearness of his love to them and the nearness and sweetness of his Communion with them Mat. 21. 2 4 9. The Lord is said to be married to them Jer. 3. 14. And their Maker calls himself their Husband Isa 54. 5. 9. Yea more they are called the Members of Christ 1 Cor. 6. 15. 12. 12. They are the Body of Christ and members in particular vers 27. We are members of his body of his flesh and of his bone loved and cherished by him as a man doth his own flesh Ephes 5. 25 28 29 30 32. They are kept by the Lord as the apple of his eye Deut. 32. 10. And he that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye Zech. 2. 8. What nearness what dearness do those terms express 10. Yea they are said to be one with Christ 1 Cor. 6. 17. â—â— that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit John 17. 21 22 23. That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be One in â—â— that the world may believe 〈…〉 â—â—oâ— hast sent me that they may be One even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one Not that they are One in God-head or personality or office with Christ but most nearly conjoyned as subjects to their Prince that make One Body Politick and as a wise to a husband and nearer then these can express in that they have the communications of his Spirit Judge now by all these wonderful Titles whether any but an Atheist or Infidel can deny that the Godly are the most Honourable people in the world If it be not a contemptible thing to be the son of a King much less to be the sons of the eternal King Deny the Honour of those that are so nearly related to him and you deny the Honour of God himself and consequently deny him to be God Atheism is the beginning and end of all 3. Moreover the servants of the Lord have the most Honourable Natures or Dispositions in the world And the Honour that ariseth from a mans intrinsecal Disposition is far greater then that which accrueth to him from his parentage or wealth or worldly greatness or any such extrinsick accidents Many a proud and worthless person doth boast of the Nobility of their Ancestors and tell you what blood doth run in their veins when they have debased souls and nothing advanced them of their Ancestors but their Riches or the pleasure of some Prince and they know that the beggars at their doors did come from Noah as well as they The Surgeon findeth no purer blood in their veins then in the beggars nor are their carkasses any more sweet or lovely and therefore if their manners are worse they are more base then honest beggars It is the mind that beareth the true stamp of Nobility They are the Noblest that have the Noblest souls All the Silks and Velvers in the world will not make an Ape as Honourable as a Man nor an Ideot as a wise man Solomon in all his Royalty was not cloathed like some of the flowers in the field Mat. 6. 28. 29. and yet he was more Honourable then they A Corpse may be most sumâ—tuously adorned A Crown may be set on the head of an image Such as the mind is such is the man And that the souls of the sanctified are more Nobly qualified then of other men is easily demonstrated For 1. Christ dwelleth in them by faith and by his Spirit Ephes â— 17. 2. 22. We are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. The new nature of the Saints hath no meaner an Author then the Lord himself It is the Divine Power that giveth us all things that pertain to life and godliness 2 Pet. 1. 3. As it is the Honourable work of God the Father to be our Creator and of God the Son to be our Redeemer so is it the Honourable work of God the Holy-Ghost to be our Sanctifier And therefore as it is a Blaspheming of the Creator to vilifie the Creation and a Blaspheming of the Redeemer to vilifie the Redemption so is it a Blaspheming of the Sanctifier to vilifie Sanctification Though â— I say not that it is the unpardonable Blasphemy yet a fearful Blasphemy it is O that those wretches knew their crime that mock at the special work of the Holy-Ghost 2. The new creature is illuminated with a Heavenly light and cured of its former mortal blindness and is brought out of darkness into marvellous light Eph. 1. 18. Acts 26. 18. Col. 1. 13. 1 Pet. 2. 9. and is taught of God John 6. 45. 1 Thes 4. 9. 1 Joh. 2. 27. And it is more Honourable to see then to be blind and to live in the open Light then in a dungeon And it is the highest matters in the world that the gracious soul is savingly acquainted with It is more Honourable to have the Knowledge of profoundest Sciences then of some low and poor employment And it is more Honourable to have the saving Knowledge of God and of the life to come which the poorest sanctified person hath then to have the most admired fleshly wisdom or all the common learning in the world What high and excellent and
1 Pet. 1. 15 16. And how high a command and strait a Rule is that given us by Christ Matth 5. 48. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect Well may it be called an exceeding Righteousness surpassing the Scribes and Pharisees which all have that enter into the Heavenly Kingdom Matth. 5. 20. There is nothing under Heaven that is known to man so like to God as a Holy soul Remember this the next time you reproach such All you that are the Serpents â—eed remember when you spit your venome against Holiness that it is the Image of God that your enmity is exercised against O what a strange conjunction of malignity and hypocrisie appeareth in the enemies of God among us A picture of Christ that is drawn by a Painter or a forbidden Image of God that is carved by an Image-maker in stone that hath nothing but the name of an Image of God these they will reverence and honour though God hath forbidden them to make such Images of him The Papists will 〈◊〉 before them and the prophane among us are zealous for them when in the mean time they hate the noblest Images of God on earth Forbidden Images of God have been defended by seeking the blood of his truest Images Do you indeed Love and Honour the Image of God Why then do you hate them and seek to destroy them And why do you make them the scorn of your continual malice Can you blow hot and cold Can you both Love and Hate both Honour and Scorn the Image of God Search the Scripture and see whether it be not the sanctified heavenly diligent servants of the Lord that are the Honourable Image which he owneth and magnifieth and gloryeth in before the world If this be not true then go on in your hatred of them and spare not These are not Images of stone but of Spirit not Images made by a Carver or a Painter but by the Holy-Ghost himself Not hanged upon a wall for men to look on but living Images actuated from Heaven by spiritual influence from Christ their head and shining forth in exemplary lives to the honour of their Father whom they resemble Matth. 5. 16. It is not in an outward shape but in spiritual wisdom and Love and Holiness of heart and life that they resemble their Creatour Whether you will believe it now or not be sure of it you malignant enemies of Holiness that God would shortly make you know it that you chose out the most excellent Image of your maker under Heaven to pour out your hatred and contempt against And in as much as you did it to his noblest Image you did it unto him 7. If all this be not enough to shew you the Honourable Nature of Holiness I will speak the highest word that can be spoken of any created nature under heaven and yet no more then God hath spoken even in 2 Pet. 1. 4. where it is expresly said that the Godly are partakers of the Divine Nature I know that it is not the Essence of God that is here called the Divine Nature that we partake of we abhor the thoughts of such blasphemous arrogancy as if that grace did make men Gods But it s called the Divine nature in that it is caused by the Spirit of God and floweth from him as the Light or sunshine floweth from the sun You use to say the sun is in the house when it shineth in the house though the sun it self be in the firmament so the Scripture saith that God dwelleth in us and Christ and the spirit dwelleth in us when the Heavenly Light and Love and Life which streameth from him dwelleth in us and this is called the Divine Nature Think of this and tell me whether higher and more Honourable things can easily be spoken of the sons of men 1 Joh. 4. 16. God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him O wonderful advancement high expressions of a creatures dignity Blessed be that Eternal Love that is thus communicative and hath so enobled our unworthy souls with what alacrity and delight should we exalt his name by daily praises that thus exalteth us by his unspeakable mercie Psal 75. 10. 89. 16 17. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound they shall walk O Lord in the light of thy countenance In thy name shall they rejoyce all the day and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted For thou art the glory of our strength and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted For the Lord is our defence and the holy one of Israel is our King Psal 148. 13 14. Let them praise the name of the Lord for his Name alone is excellent his Glory is above the Earth and Heavens He also exalteth the horn of his people the Praise of all his Saints He hath first exalted our blessed Head even highly exalted him by his own right hand and given him a name above every name Act. 2. 33. 5. 31. Phil. 2. 9. and with him he hath wonderfully exalted all his sanctified ones Heb. 2. 10. 11. For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons to Glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of One for which cause he is not ashamed to call them Brethren 1 Cor. 12. 12. For as the Body is One and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ What greater honour can man on earth be advanced to And the Honour of the just is communicative to the societies of which they are members The Churches are called Holy for their sakes Prov. 11. 11. By the blessing of the upright the City is exalted but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked Prov. 14. 34. Righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people Let therefore both the persons and Congregations of the Saints continually exalt the name of God O Bless the Lord for ever and ever and blessed be his glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise Neh. 9. 5. The Lord liveth and blessed be our Rock and exalted be the God of our Rock of our salvation 2 Sam. 22. 47. Psal 30. 1. I will extoll thee O Lord for thou hast lifted me up Psal 27. 6. And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy I will sing yea I will sing praises unto the Lrrd. Psal 28. 8 9. The Lord is their strength the saving strength of his annointed He will save his people and bless his inheritance and feed them also and lift them up for ever Psal 147. 6. The Lord lifteth up the meek and casteth the wicked down to the ground Thus shall it be done to
this man will I look saith the Lord even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my Word Isa 66. 2. This is the Honourable entertainment of the Saints 7. And they are members of the most Honourable Society in the world The Church is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Luke 1. 33. Col. 1. 13. The Kingdom of God Luke 17. 21. 18. 17. The Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 3. 2. 13. 31 33 44. It is the School of Christ or his University in which Believers are his Schollars learning to know him and serve him and praise him for ever and trained up for everlasting life Acts 11. 26. Luke 6. 13. Mat. 5. 1 2 c. It is the family or houshold of God Eph. 2. 19. 1 Tim. 3. 15. Heb. 10. 21. 1 Pet. 4. 17. It is the Spouse yea the Body of Christ Eph. 5. 25. So loved by him that he gave himself for it becoming the price of our Redemption and thought not his life too dear a Ransom nor his blood too precious to cleanse and save us Eph. 5. 25 26. Tit. 2. 14. The Church which every godly man is a living member of is a Society chosen out of the world to be nearest unto God and dearest to him as the beloved of his soul to receive the choicest of his mercies and be adorned with the righteousness of Christ and to be employed in his special service 1 Pet. 2. 4 5 9. John 15. 19. Eph. 1. 4. Psalm 132. 13. 135. 4. Eph. 5. 1. The Lord that Redeemed them is their King and Head and dwelleth in the midst of them and walketh among them as the people of his special presence and delight Psalm 2. 6. 89. 18. 149. 2. 46. 5. Isa 12. 6. Jer. 14. 9. Zeph. 3. 5 15 17. Rev. 1. 13. 2. 1. Psalm 95. 2. The Church is a Heavenly Society though the militant part yet live on earth For the God of Heaven is the Soveraign and the Father of it The glorified Redeemer is their Head The Spirit of Christ doth guide and animate them His Laws revealed and confirmed from Heaven direct and govern them Heaven is their end and heavenly are their dispositions employments and conversations There is their portion and treasure Matth. 6. 20 21. and there is their very heart and hope They are risen with Christ and therefore seek the things that are above For their life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3. 2 3 4. Their Root is there and the noblest part of the Society is there For the glorified Saints and in some sort the Angels are of the same Society with us though they are in heaven and we on earth The whole family in Heaven and earth is named from one and the same Head Eph. 3. 15. Heb. 12. 22 23. 24. We are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling c. This is the Honourable Society of Saints the eye the pearl of the whole Creation 8. Moreover the Godly have the most Horourable Attendance The creatures are all theirs though not in point of Civil propriety yet as means appointed and managed by God their Father for their best advantage The Angels of God are ministring spirits for them not as our servants but as Gods servants for our good As Ministers in the Church are not the servants of men but the servants of God for men And so whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or to come all are ours 1 Cor. 3. 22. The Shepherds servant is not the servant of the sheep but for the sheep And so the Angels disdain not to serve God in the guarding of the weakest Saints As I formerly shewed from Heb. 1. 14. Psalm 91. 11 12. 34. 7. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them For he giveth his Angels charge over us to keep us in all our wayes they shall bear us up in their hands left we dash our foot against a stone Sun and Moon and all the creatures are daily employed in our attendance O how wonderful is the Love of God to his unworthy servants in their advancement Remember it when thou art scorning at the servants of the Lord or speaking against them that those poor those weak despised Christians that thou art vilifying have their Angels beholding the face of God their Father in the Heavens Take heed therefore that you despise not the least of these It is the warning of Christ Matth. 18. 10. The same blessed spirits that attend the Lord and see his face in blissful Glory do attend and guard the meanest of the godly here on earth As the same servants use to wait upon the Father and the children in the same family or the bigger children to help the less 9. And it is the Honour of the Godly that they that are themselves most Honourable do Honour them To be magnified by a fool or wicked flatterer is small Honour but to be magnified by the best and wisest men this is true Honour We say that Honour is in him that giveth it and not in him that receiveth But it is God himself that Honoureth his Saints It is he that speaketh all these great and wonderous things of them which I have hitherto recited Search the Texts which I have alledged and try whether it be not he And surely to have the God of Heaven to applaud a man and put Honour upon him and so great Honour is more then if all the world had done it Yet we may add if any thing could be considerable that is added unto the approbation of God that all his servants the wisest and the best even his holy Angels are of the same mind and honour the godly in conformity to their Lord. And here Christian I require thee from the Lord to consider the greatness of thy sin and folly when thou art too desirous of the applause of men especially of the blind ungodly world and when thou makest a great matter of their contempt or scorn or of their slanderous censures What! is the approbation of the eternal God so small a matter in thy eyes that the scorn of a fool can weigh it down or move the ballance with thee If a feather were put into the scales against a mountain or the whole earth it should weigh as much as the esteem or dis-esteem of men their honouring thee or dishonouring thee should weigh against the esteem of God and the honour or dishonour that he puts upon thee as to any regard of the thing it self though as it reflecteth on God thou
soul may well be fullest of Delight that is most Happy And that soul is nearest and likest unto God whose Will is most conformed to his Will The trouble of the Heart is its unsettledness when it is not bottomed on the Will of God When we feel that Gods Will doth Rule and satisfie us and that we would fain be what he would have us be and rest in his Disposing Will as well as obey his Commanding Will this gives abundant Pleasure and quietness to the soul 2. The holy workings of Charity in the soul are exceeding Pleasant All the acts of Love to God and man are very sweet This is the holy work that is its own wages 1. The â—â—â—â— of God is so sweet an exercise that verily my soul had rather be employed in it with sense and vigour then to be Lord of all the earth O could I but be taken up with the Love of God how easily could I spare the Pleasure of the flesh Might I but see the Loveliness of my dear Creator with a clearer view and see his glory in his noble works Might I but see and feel that saving Love which he hath manifested in the Redeemer till my soul were ravished and filled with his Love how little should I care who had the Pleasures of this deceitful world Had I more of that blessed spirit of Adoption and more of those filial affections to my heavenly Father which his unutterable Love bespeaks and were I more sensible of his abundant mercy and did my soul but breath and long after him more earnestly I would pitty the miserable Tyrants of the world that are worse then Beggars while they domineer and tast not of that Kingdom of Love and Pleasure that dwelleth in my breast All the Pleasures of the world are the laughing of a mad man or the sports of a child or the dreams of a sick man in comparison of the Pleasures of the Love of God 2. And the Love of Holiness the Image of God hath its degree of Pleasure And so hath the Love of the Holy servants of the Lord. There is a sweetness in the soul in its goings out after any Holy object in spiritual Love Yea more our very common Love of men and our Love of Enemies hath its proportion of pleasure far better then the sensual Pleasure of the ungodly To feel so much of the operations of grace and to answer our holy pattern in Loving them that hate us doth give much ease and pleasure to the mind The exercises of Love to God and man and that for his sake are the exceeding Pleasure of a gracious soul And here by the way you may take notice of one reason why Hypocrites and ungodly men find no such sweetness in the exercises of Religion Because they let alone the inward Pleasant work of Love which is the soul and life of Outward duty This inward work is the Pleasant work while they are strangers unto this their outward duties will be but a toll 〈…〉 seem a drudgery or a wearysome employment There is a Pleasure even in Holy Desires When a Christian feeleth his heart enlarged in longing after the wellfare of the Church and the good of others Though the absence of the thing desired be aâ—…e yet the exercise of holy desire which is an act of Love is pleasant to us If the Lustfu have a pleasure in their vile Desires and the Ambitious and the Covetous have a pleasure in their vain and delusory desires the wise well-guided desires of a true believer must needs be pleasant 4. Especially when Desire is accompanied with Hope All the Pleasures of this world are far short of affording that Rest and quiet to the soul as the Hope of Glory doth to the believer O happy soul that is acquainted by experience with the lively Hopes of the everlasting Happiness It is not the Hope of corruptible Riches nor of a fading inheritance but of the Crown that sadeth not and of the precious certain durable treasure It is not a Hope in the promise of a deceitful man but in the word of the everliving God! The soul that hath this Anchor needs not be tossed with those fears and cares and anxieties of mind that worldly men are subject to This Hope will never make them ashamed If a man were in a consumption or sentenced to Death would not the Hopes of Life upon certain Grounds be pleasanter to him then sport or mirth or lustful objects or any such present sensitive delights Much more if with the hopes of Life he had the hopes of all the felicities of Life and of the perpetuity of all these O may I but be enabled by faith to lift up the eye of my soul to God and view the everlasting mansions and by hope to take possession of them and say All this is mine in Title even upon the Promise of the faithful God! what greater Pleasure can my soul possess till it enter on the full Possession of those eternal Pleasures O poor deluded worldly men What is the Pleasure of your wealth to this O brutish sinners what is the Pleasure of your mirth and jollity your meat and drink your pride and bravery your lust and filthiness in comparison of this O poor Ambitious dreaming men that make such a stir for the Honour and Greatness of this world What is the Pleasure of your Idol-honour and short vainglory in comparison of this while you have it you have no Hope of Keeping it you are troubled with the thought of leaving it Had we no higher Hopes then yours how miserable should we be 5. The Trust and repose of the soul on God which is another part of the life of grace is exceeding Pleasant and quieting to the soul To find that we stand upon a Rock and that under us are the everlasting arms and that we have so full security for our salvation as the promise and Oath of the immutable God what a stay what a Pleasure is this to the Believer The troubles of the godly are most from the remnants of their unbelief The more they believe the more they are comforted and established The life of faith is a Pleasant life Faith could not conquer so many enemies and carry us through so much suffering and distress as you find in that cloud of testimonies Heb. 11. if it were not a very comfortable work Even we that see not the salvation ready to be revealed may yet greatly rejoyce for all the manifold temptations that for a season make us subject to some heavyness 1 Pet. 1. 5 6. And we that see not Jesus Christ yet Believing can love him and rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory v. 8. The God of Hope doth sometimes fill his servants with all Joy and peace in believing and makes them even abound in Hope through the Power of the Holy Ghost Rom. 15. 13. 6. Yea Joy is it self a part of the Holy qualification of the Saints and of
so much in doubt of it If thou truly Love it thou hast it for it is only grace that causeth an unfeigned Love of grace And if thou love it not why canst not thou more quietly be without it Why dost thou make so much ado for it But if thou have it in the least degree and so art born again of the spirit thou hast with it an unspeakable treasure of delights The God of Life and Love is thine The Lord Jesus Christ is thine The Spirit is thine The promises are thine and Heaven it self is thine in title and shall be thine in full perpetual possession The God that made and ruleth all things is Reconciled to thee and is thy Father having by grace in Christ adopted thee to be his Son Rom. 5. 1 2 10 11. 8. 1 16 17. Gal. 4. 6. 2 Cor. 6. 18. The Son of God is become thy Head and thou art become a member of his body as flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone which no man ever yet hath hated Ephes 5. 23 27 29 30. Thou art become the Temple and residence of the Holy Ghost Thy title to Heaven is incomparably more sure then any mans humane title to his possessions or inheritance on earth And what rejoycing can be too great for a man in thy condition O what a Life should that man live with what sweet delight should he be transported that hath the Spirit of Christ now living in him to prepare him and seal him up for an endless life with Christ He that shall be shortly so full of joy should not be empty now when he remembreth what he must shortly be Doth it beseem him now to dwell in grief and refuse consolation that must in a few dayes be swallowed up with Joy If thou that fittest here in heaviness wert assured that shortly thou shouldst be with Christ and made a blessed companion of Angels and possessed of thy Masters joy a joy that hath no bounds or end would not thy Conscience then tell thee that thou greatly wrongest such abundant mercy in that thou art no more affected with it and that thy want of joy doth express thy too much want of thankfulness Dost thou sit there like a child of God and like an heir of Heaven and a co-heire with Christ Rom. 8. 16 17. Doth that sorrowful heart and that dejected countenance become one that must live with Christ for ever in such resplendent glory as thou must do and that hath but a few more dayes to live till thou take possession of these endless joyes The Lord pardon and heal our unbelief Did Faith more effectually play its part as it is the evidence of things not seen and withdraw the veil and shew us though but in a glass the glory which we must see with open face it would be wine to our hearts and oyl to our countenances and make our poverty sickness and death more comfortable then the wealth and health and life of the ungodly I know you will say still that you could rejoyce if you were sure all this were yours but when you rather think you have no part in it it can be but small comfort to you Answ 1. But who is it long of that you have still such fears Have you not in your souls that Love to Holiness that desire after it that hatred and weariness of sin that Love to the searching discovering use of the Word of God that Love to the Brethren which are the evidences of your title and to which God hath plainly promised salvation If then you have your Title in the Promise and your Evidences in your hearts and yet will be still questioning whether you have them or no and whether the Kingdom shall be yours your weakness and inconsiderateness causeth your own sorrows And when you have sinfully bred your doubts will you insist on them to excuse your following sins 2. Are you not sure that Christ and his benefits are yours I am sure they are yours or may be if you will and nothing but your continued refusal can deprive you of them For this is the very tenor of the promise And if you will not have Christ and his offered benefits why do you so dissemble as to take on you to mourn because you have them not But if you are willing they are yours Object But you will say if we had nothing but cause of comfort we could rejoyce but we have cause of sorrow also How can we live comfortably under so much sin and suffering Answ By this account you will never rejoyce till you come to Heaven for you will never be free from sin and suffering till then Nay it seems you would have no man else rejoyce and so would banish all comfort from the world For there is no man without sin and suffering But what can there be of any weight to prohibit a sincere Believer from seasonable spiritual rejoycing Have you sin It is not gross and reigning sin And sinful infirmities the best of the Saints on earth have had As your sin must be your moderate sorrow so the pardon of it and the degree of mortification which you have attained and the promise you have of full deliverance should be the matter of your greater joy Are your Graces weak Be humbled in the sense of that your weakness but rejoyce more that they are sincere and will be perfect Are your afflictions great Be humbled under them But rejoyce more that they are but Fatherly chastisements proceeding from Love and tending to your greater good and that you are saved from the consuming fire and shall live in everlasting rest where affliction shall be known no more Is it possible for that man that hath the love of God and shall have heaven for ever to have any sufferings that should weigh down these and be matter to him of greater sorrow then this of joy Can you imagine that there is more evil in your infirmities and sufferings then there is good in God and happiness in Heaven Is it reason and equity that you should look at sin only and not at grace and at what you want only and not at what you have received Seeing you have more cause of joy then sorrow should you not distribute your affections proportionably as there is cause I disswade you not from seasonable moderate sorrows But should not your joy be much greater as long as the cause of it is much greater 4. And here I would intreate you to consider well of the tenour of Gods commands concerning this matter in the Gospel and of the examples of the Saints there left on record And then tell me which course it is that God is best pleased with Your chearful or your dejected course of life I find that though I pitty the sad and miserable yet I had rather my self have a chearful then a drooping grieving troubled companion and friend Because I desire one suitable to my self in the state I would